7 Shaping the hulls for part of a new town in greater Frankfurt
The most interesting and important thing which emerged from this phase, was the secondary system of narrow paths, which connected courtyards, and formed a secondary grid, this making the overall patterns of space, coherent, and truly fascinating.
When one bent down (to look through the model at a pedestrian’s eye level), we could see all the way through these narrow streets, going from courtyard to courtyard, making the whole thing connected, cool in summer, and beautiful. It was the elaboration and ordering of these secondary paths which finally gave the space its most essential form.
When we looked at the space of the project as a whole, and the overall three-dimensional pattern of this space, we could see that the system of secondary narrow streets connecting the courtyards, and functioning as a backup system to the main spaces of the larger streets, enormously increased the life of the thing. Every bit of space became more animated.
It was really only then, once we had that structure in the space, that we began the detailed design of buildings. So, the hulls of space in this case — indeed, nearly all the components of this complex spatial structure — were almost fully formed before we began to design and shape the buildings.
There were several of us making these judgements, together. That always helped to make our judgement more reliable. With some effort, we could reach agreement of feeling on any given issue. But it is not so easy to do these experiments. Although having several people together helps, because one can then get confirmation, and unity of judgement, it is not something anyone can do. […] [It] takes experience, and concentration.
But it is possible, and it is tremendously useful. After doing it, one feels more certain about the design, and experience has shown often that this confidence is reliable. After such experiments, the real places which result do have — nearly always — the right feeling, a wonderful feeling. When done right, there is carry-over from the experiment to the real thing one builds.
The main job the buildings have is to form the space.
#book/The Nature of Order/3 A Vision of a Living World/3 The hulls of public space#