A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A murmuration of starlings is a fascinating sight. Constantly swelling, contracting and changing directions in the most unpredictable ways, it almost seems like an entity with a life of its own. This, of course, is not the case. The murmuration is the result of the individual actions of hundreds – if not thousands – of birds. A piece of banal architecture is like the flight of a starling. To the untrained eye, it may look identical to its neighbors, as it conforms to the same limited set of rules. Despite this, it is the result of highly individual and thus unique incentives. One must zoom out to a level where the individual constituent is barely recognizable to be able appreciate its effect on the whole. The murmuring city is a fascinating sight. Constantly swelling, contracting and changing directions in the most unpredictable ways, it almost seems like an entity with a life of its own. Murmuring City, Banal Architecture is a master’s thesis project on urbanity, emergent structures and the architect as an urban planner, asking the question: How can we plan for »murmuring« cities, and what is the role of the architect in such planning? Attempts to answer the research question is committed through a literature review on subjects connected to spontaneous urban development, the writing of a manifesto that allows the thesis to become propositional, as well as a series of design experiments of a much more speculative nature. During the research, it is found that planning for murmuring cities requires a departure from the status quo of modern urban planning – our view of both what the city is and the way it is conceived must be challenged. Murmuring cities can only be planned to a certain extent, the rest must be in the hand of its citizens. The subdivision of land into streets and plots is identified as an organizational framework that allows citizens exert agency in the city. Unlike architectural production, the murmuring city’s complexity must develop over time and cannot be planned with a fixed end-state in mind. ...
A murmuration of starlings is a fascinating sight. Constantly swelling, contracting and changing directions in the most unpredictable ways, it almost seems like an entity with a life of its own. This, of course, is not the case. The murmuration is the result of the individual actions of hundreds – if not thousands – of birds. A piece of banal architecture is like the flight of a starling. To the untrained eye, it may look identical to its neighbors, as it conforms to the same limited set of rules. Despite this, it is the result of highly individual and thus unique incentives. One must zoom out to a level where the individual constituent is barely recognizable to be able appreciate its effect on the whole. The murmuring city is a fascinating sight. Constantly swelling, contracting and changing directions in the most unpredictable ways, it almost seems like an entity with a life of its own. Murmuring City, Banal Architecture is a master’s thesis project on urbanity, emergent structures and the architect as an urban planner, asking the question: How can we plan for »murmuring« cities, and what is the role of the architect in such planning? Attempts to answer the research question is committed through a literature review on subjects connected to spontaneous urban development, the writing of a manifesto that allows the thesis to become propositional, as well as a series of design experiments of a much more speculative nature. During the research, it is found that planning for murmuring cities requires a departure from the status quo of modern urban planning – our view of both what the city is and the way it is conceived must be challenged. Murmuring cities can only be planned to a certain extent, the rest must be in the hand of its citizens. The subdivision of land into streets and plots is identified as an organizational framework that allows citizens exert agency in the city. Unlike architectural production, the murmuring city’s complexity must develop over time and cannot be planned with a fixed end-state in mind. ...
Murmuring City, Banal Architecture
Parkman, Mikael (author)
2022-01-01
Theses
Electronic Resource
English
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