Urban Habitat

The city as a whole could be interpreted as a jungle; overarching vertical elements shading the ground below, the movement of a variety of species crossing paths and exchanging social interactions as they move throughout their day. Looking at the city as a big picture, be it New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, or Rome, we can see the same thing; countless individuals making connections with one another as they live out their daily lives. They shop, they talk, they move, and so on; busy little bees dancing around the mega-structure with no means of stopping.

On the small scale, we as architects see the strategies that the designers before us implemented into the users daily lives, they have indirectly impacted our lives as well as everyone around us. At this micro-observation we see architecture as a means to incept specified actions and reactions amongst the community. A park is planted, a tower is lifted, a bridge to cross an impassable; all of these were needs at an earlier point in time, and now have shaped the lives of the inhabitants.

There is, however, one variable that architects seem to dismiss in design, and that is time. In time, users adapt, materials erode, and occupants change (literally and/or metaphorically). Time responds to design, and design responds to time. An endless duel with man against nature, only this time nature is also man: the users that pass through and apply their influence to the space. The responses from the users are simple tactics that they apply to make sense of the space and use it to their specific needs for that exact time. Soon after, another user comes along and tactically implements their influence as well. Like a student to their school desk, slowly tattooed by pencil scratches and eraser marks, collecting chewing gum below the seat, and maybe even a drool stain from someone that slept through a less enthusiastic lecture. The desk is now changed than what it once was when implanted at the school. It carries scars and memories from the users that have inhabited the space. Ideally, the next generation of desks would be designed in a way to embrace these interactions and behave resiliently against these scars.

In the architectural profession, I think it can be a valuable trait to be able to take a moment’s pause and analyze individual users in the urban jungle, to observe their daily activities and how they go about them. When we are able to understand both how spaces impact people AND how people impact spaces, we can begin to link the two into a common ground of great design.