Ballast - Environmental Analysis & Project Planning Flashcards
The First Human Settlements began as what?
A collection of people engaged in agricultural pursuits rather than leading a nomadic life.
in greek cities the remple became the center for religious activity while the agora became…
…the marketplace
The starshaped city with bastions was developed as a result of what invention?
gunpowder
- bastions were placed that the the entire enclosure and all approaches to the city could be defended
- street radiated from the center
describe a medieval city
- organized around a church and a market ( two most important aspects of life)
- started at the crossraods of two main street and was irregular in layout
Camillo Sitte planning concepts:
- city should bel laid out according to medieval principles (curving irregular streets)
- irregularity created a variety of viewsl more interesting than standard grid
- proposed using t intersections
- suggested creating civic spaces around a pinwheel arrangements of streets (turbine square)
What fundamental change did the industrial revolustion have in the city in England?
- factory systems required that the work force be close to the factory
- as production exapnded, population of factory towns increased
- citites became filthy, overcrowded, and dvoid of open space
Ebenezer Howard
-published the Garden City Conpcept
what was important about tony Garnier concept of cite industrielle?
- city would be organized into separate zones (e.g. residential, public, agricultural)
- fist plan to emphasize the idea of zoning
Who was the planner that designed Washington DC, and what were the underlying principles in the city’s planning?
- Pierre Chalres L’Enfant
- Washington DC was planned using Rennaisance and Baroque planning concepts of diagonal and radial streets superimpose on a regular grid
- plan was centered on the Capitol, the Mall, and executive mansion
Who designed New York’s Central Park?
Frederick Law Olmsted assisted by architect, Clavert Vaux
Wite the proliferation of the automobile, cities have expanded in a number of patterns. What are these patterns?
1) grid
2) star
3) field
4) satellite
5) megalopolis
imageability:
- the quality of a physical environment that gives it a high probability of evoking a strong image in the mind of a given observer (e.g. hills of san francisco are part of the image of that city in the minds of most people who visit or live there)
- concept proposed by Kevin Lynch
Kevin Lynch’s 5 basic elements of the urban image (imageability) as described in The Image of the City:
1) paths
2) edges
3) districts
4) nodes
5) landmarks
- all are created by buildings, natural features, roads, and other components of the city
What is a planned unit development (PUD)?
- extention of the superblock idea
- each large parcel of land can have a mix of uses: residential, commercial, recreational, and open space designed with variable lot sizes and developements
- advantages: make more efficient use of land by grouping compatible uses without the sometimes unneccesary requirements of setback regulations in zoning ordinances
Superblock
- a large parcel of developed land that intends to minimize the impact of the car on housing and allows the the development of pedestrian circulation and park space within one block
- drawback: much of contemporary life revolves around the automobile and caould be counterproductive to social interaction (driveways and parking spaces of superblocks are ofen used more than the park spaces)
New urbanism:
- counters the many undersireable aspects of city development
- concept works at building, enighborhood, district, and regional levels
- important feature is the idea of mized use neighborhoods
new town concept:
- idea that proposes that entirely new communiites can be built away from the crowding and ugliness of existing cities
- often times, new town still depend on its main adjacent city for jobs; never became independent because they lacked significant employment centers
density
- refers to the number of people per unit of area
- refers only to a ratio, not the total number of people or how they are distributed
sociopetal
-environmental conditions that tend to bring people together
sociofugal
-environmental conditions that tend to discourage interaction or social contact
territoriality
-the need for human beings to stake a claim on personal space
what are the 4 basic distances of personal space and who proposed these ideas?
- proposed by Edward T Hall
1) intimate distance: 6 in - 8 in
2) personal distance: 1.5 ft - 2.5 ft
3) social distance: 4 ft - 12 ft
4) public distance: 12 ft +
what is defensible space and who proposed this concept?
- porposed by Oscar Newman
- a ragne of design elements that used the basic concepts of serveillance, territoriality, and real and symbolic barriers to reduce crime
catchment area
-the base population within a geographical area that is served by a particular piece of developed land
Who came up with the idea of a neighborhood?
Clarence Perry
- neighborhood is defined as a relatively small area in which a number of people live who share similar needs and desires in housing
- area within walking distance of an elementary school
- area that is surrounded by major streets rather than interstected by them
what is the forumla for finding the slope on a topographic map?
G = (d/L) x 100%
G=slope
d=vertical distance
L=horizontal distance
What is a water table and what considered a high water table? What problems do high water tables cause?
- a water table is the level below grade in which the soil becomes saturated with water
- 6 ft - 8 ft below grade is considered a high water
- high water table can cause problems with excavations, foundations, utility placement, and landscaping
runoff coefficient
-the fraction of total precipitation that is not absorbed into the ground
if runoff is greater than the capacity of the natural or artificial drainage from the site, what options can an architect propose to avoid drainange problems?
- holding or retention ponds must be considered to to temporarily hold site runoff and release it at a controlled rate
What are the advatanges of sands and gravels?
- excellent to construct on
- can be used for sewage drain fields
- unsuitable for landscaping
What are the 4 basic categories of raods?
1) local: lowest capacity; direct access to buildings
2) collector: connect local streets and arterial streets; usually controlled by stop signs
3) arterial: intended as major, continuous circulation routes; usually connect expressways; usually controlled by stop lights
4) expressways: designed to move large volumes of traffic; connect population centers; have major influences on land because of the space they require
albedo
- the fraction of the radiant energy received on a surface that is reflected
- a flat black surface that absorbs all the energy and reflects none has an albedo of zero
- a mirror that reflects all energy striking it has an albedo of 1
conudctivity
-the rate at which of flow of heat through a material
ecology
-the study of living organisms in relation to their environment
what is the prupose of an environmental impact statement (EIS) and who enforces it?
- enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- required to understand the impact of construction on the surrounding natural environment
Sustainability issues that must be considered during analysis of a site include:
- portions of the site the shouldn’t be built on
- historcial qualities of the area
- analaysis of types of developments mught surround the site in the future
- existing air quality
- soil and groudnwater testing
- presence of endangered species
bioswale
-a shallow grass lined ditch or channel designed to detain storm runoff and remoce sediments and other contaminants while allowing water to seep into the ground
infiltration basin
- a closed depression in the earth from which water can escape only into the soil
Zoning was originally an attempt to preven what types problems of rapidly expanding cities?
- crowding
- factories being built too close to housing
- tall buildings blocking light and air
Zoning is…
the division of a city or other governmental unit into districts, and the regulation of the use of land and the location and bulk of buildings on property within those districts
zoning primarily regulates…
- the uses allowed on a parcel of land depending on the zoning district
- the area of the land that may be covered with buildings
- the builk of the structures
- the distances the buildings must be set back from the property lines
- parking and loading space requirements
Zoning districts are based on…
- residential, commerical, and industrial occupancies iwht subdivisions within each of these
example: residential zones include single family, low density multifamily, high density multifamily