STREET LIFE STUDIES | Observe, Compare, Intervene
We undertook an extensive on-field analysis of our urban streets and share it within our teams.
Through a series of directed observational exercises, we identified, documented, deconstructed and compared our
spaces, systems, users and usages, interpreting key patterns and driving forces.
Our visual analysis is presented in the form of graphically succinct, hand-drawn and digitally post=produced images to visually communicate urban observations and data.
We worked in our teams and compiled our
observations, identifying connective themes and comparing the expressions of these themes across the diverse international contexts of our groups.
How do global narratives play out in local contexts?
What lessons might be learnt through comparing the expression of these themes?
We used our observations and comparisons to inform the development of our small scale urban interventions for our individual street locations.
We were tasked to develop an artefact or system with the intent of envisioning planet-centric interventions that could contribute to creating inclusive and vital public street space.
How can observations be used as evidence to inform design decisions?
How can precedents from each city be intelligently translated to another?
Project Submission Date: Feb 4
Duration of Project: 4 weeks
Grade Received: High Distinction
This course is a collaborative effort between the School of Built Environment at UNSW, Sydney and the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at RUFA, Phnom Penh.
The course normally runs as a 4-week intensive program where students travel to Phnom Penh to study the local street life. Phnom Penh streets showcase clear examples of diverse urban activity, where city dwellers often exist in the public domain and appropriate their lifestyles to meet their varying needs. These appropriations are largely unplanned and informal in regards to the legislation of the built environment.
In Sydney, this kind of mixed informal activity is much less apparent. Street space tends to be more highly regulated and often vehicular-dominated with sidewalks used largely for the sole purpose of circulation. Both environments have their opportunities and constraints and much can be learnt from their comparison.
In the online context, the course prompts students to analyse urban street environments wherever they may be in the world. The current Covid-19 pandemic has shifted the balance between public and private space is shifting towards the latter. In the current zeitgeist where the use of public space has been significantly diminished, it is still important to retain a close eye on the status of the public spaces in our cities.
Vital public space tends to emerge as a product of numerous competing
forces. Along with climate change and social movements, planning guidelines, levels of regulation and attitudes can strangle or let flourish the behaviours in these key urbanscapes.
‘Street Life Studies’ puts forward the premise that the vitality of public spaces hinges on its ability to facilitate a diversity of unexpected usages, movements and interactions, by a broad spectrum of people (and other life), over varying time periods. It suggests that the street, as a fundamental public space of the city, is where this activity can and should occur.
The course is an opportunity to investigate the potentials and limitations of diverse conditions through a focus on street life. It aims to demonstrate how urban designers may need to take a more active role in understanding the complexity of an environment (in this case, the street) before designing for it.