Place and Placelessness - University of...
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Place and Placelessness Relph’s ‘instant environment machine’ = high modernism ‘condition of postmodernity’ (Harvey) • commodification of culture/social life • Standardization • Space-time compression • Symbolic capital Relph’s ‘genius loci’ – spirit of place
Transcript of Place and Placelessness - University of...
Place and PlacelessnessRelph’s ‘instant environment machine’ =
high modernism ‘condition of postmodernity’ (Harvey)
• commodification of culture/social life• Standardization• Space-time compression• Symbolic capitalRelph’s ‘genius loci’ – spirit of place
Standardization/Commodification
Placemakingby formula
Placemaking by formula
London Westway An improbable public space:
A street market underneathan elevated expressway
Paris-Plage, ParisAn improbable public space:A riverside expressway is closed andturned into a beach with trucked-in sand during the summer.
Parc André-Citroën, Paris
Reclaiming lost space: Postmodern park and plant museum on the former site of a car factory. The square hedges poke fun at modernism. It is well-used by people at all hours.
TD Centre
Can art make modernism friendly?Pull up a chair and make yourself at home…
There are no imperfections.
TD CentreThe best of the Country and the City?
The image/symbol of rural life in the heart of the financial district.
(What would Ebenezer Howard think?)
Nicolet Mall, Minneapolis
Applying a placemaking formula: Taxi- and bus-only street witha decorated streetscape and eclectic façades. Where are the people?
New Urbanism
The City as a Web of Distinct Places
The City as “Flow”
SurveillanceandPrivacy
CityWalk L.A.
Applying a placemaking formula: A movie-set reproduction of the “real” Los Angeles, reconceived as a shopping mall.
Sorkin’s city as television screen: Façades become advertising surface
Mel Lastman SquareLate 1980s-early 90s:Create an instant “downtown”by encapsulating a whole skylineinto a single building façade.
Mel Lastman SquareEvery square inch of the square is tightly programmed to prevent any kind of spontaneous use!
(Who’s going to use the square? Nooooobody!)
The PATH: Public or private space?
The PATH: Public or private space?
Eaton Centre
An indoor street, complete with trees and birds…
Eaton Centre
… but when the trees float in mid air and the birds are made of fibreglass, what does this say about our relationship to the natural world?
Turning the Eaton Centre inside-out
Before: A near-blank wall
Turning the Eaton Centre inside-out
After: new façades on Yonge Street.
Turning the Eaton Centre inside-outThe east side of Yonge St.: differentiated façades, separate buildings.
The west side: mock-differentiated façades are attached to the mega-structure. The upper “floor” functions as a frame for advertising.
Turning the Eaton Centre inside-out
