Architecture and urban design are often powerful expressions of political desires to support and legitimise specific regimes. In many postcolonial cities, architecture and urban design are set out to construct national identity and affirm a political power that departs from the former colonial rule. Architecture and urban design may be used by successive postcolonial regimes to compete with each other to legitimise authority and symbolise power. While such concepts of national identity are established through a constellation of urban forms, national identity is always contested. Places may be used and interpreted in ways that differ from what is intended. Attempts to control the meaning of architecture and built form may conflict with the ways in which spatial practices undermine intended meanings.

Intro In this practice-led research project I investigate relations between structures of coercion in the built world and sculptural language. The aim of my project is to present a series of exhibitions and situations that examine architectures of bodily discipline as practices of form/space composition and spatial manipulation. Such architectures range from the delineation of public space to the choreography of bodies by urban design. The project engages the viewer in a dialogue around art and the spatio-visual codes that embody what Michel Foucault regarded as the coercive powers of modern 'carceral culture'. I research a range of studio and workshop, site and gallery based processes contextualised by contemporary notions of sculpture, materiality and art practice. I work from a position derived from the writings on art by the minimalist sculptor Robert Morris (1966, 1970), Rosalind Krauss (1977, 1979) and Hal Foster (1996), which stress the experience of the viewer as an integral part of the art work and emphasise the nature of art work in 'real' spaces. Proposed Project To investigate relations between 'structures of coercion' in the built world and sculptural language through a series of exhibitions and situations (installations at ARIs, public collaborative works, studio documentations) that examine architectures of bodily discipline as practices of form/space composition and spatial manipulation. The proposed artworks will engage the viewer in a dialogue around art and the spatio-visual codes that exist in urban space. Main objective The main objective of this research project is to: • Identify new ways of understanding spatio-visual codes of discipline in the city through sculpture practice.

This design project addresses the contemporary supermarket chain, seeking to bring back to this typology the traditional sociality and dynamic qualities of the urban marketplace. In this sense to ‘bring back’ does not mean to restore time, but rather to provide the means for public engagement by establishing the supermarket as an active civic space. By negotiating between the micro-levels of everyday life and the macro-levels of culture and civic society, I propose to transform the supermarket into a communal ‘event-space’ by formulating a ‘kit of parts’ that is applied to the national supermarket chain New World – “the only local supermarket nationwide” – thereby establishing it as a viable, productive social hub. Encouraging health and wellbeing benefits through the rituals of cooking, dining, learning, communing and consuming, this sociocultural connection to the commercial environment also reinforces health research studies, which advocate a community-based approach toward producing the best outcome for upward mobility and community revitalization. The concept is developed through research into historical and contemporary models to a final proposal of a range of Communal Elements. These elements are adapted and applied to three site-specific locations around New Zealand within an urban, suburban and rural context. This new approach to land use, innovative partnerships, health planning and sensory-based design strategies instigates a radical revision of the role of the supermarket. The thesis proposes that this is not only fiscally viable but that it provides positive assets to communities and neighbourhoods as a global entity within a local reality. The project investigates ways in which spatial design can reconstruct quotidian consumption and public space, revising amenity infrastructure through site-specific interventions that draw on commensality, ix ABSTRACT “the exchange of sensory memories and emotions, and of substances and objects incarnating remembrance and feeling” (Seremetakis, 1994, p.225).

The provision of water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure is an essential ingredient of cities. However, questions are being raised about the type and form of urban infrastructure, for economic and environmental reasons. Traditionally these techologies have offered linear solutions, drawing increasing volumes of water into cities and discharging waste at ever increasing levels, causing escalating stress on the environment. In addition the costs of water infrastructure provision and replacement, both in the developing and developed world, is becoming prohibitive. In response, a new paradigm has been called for and new solutions are emerging that have been labelled as Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM). This concept can be considered to consist of both technical and philosophical dimensions, and represents a new form of professional praxis. However, the adoption of these techniques and concepts is constrained by the inertia of the existing urban water systems. It is therefore argued that the introduction of any change must occur across a number of dimensions of the technoeconomic system of the city. These dimensions-artefacts and technical systems (i.e. the technology and knowledge systems), professional praxis and socio-political context (i.e. institutions, culture and politics) and biophysical realities and world views (i.e. the environment and underlying values) - provide a framework for analysis of the change process - both how it is occurring and how it needs to occur. This framework is used to illustrate the link between environment values and the process of technological innovation, and points to the need for the emerging values and innovations to be institutionalised into the professional praxis and socio-political context of society. Specifically, it is argued that a new form of transdisciplinary professional praxis is emerging and needs to be cultivated. A broad review of the literature, an evaluation of selected emerging technologies and three case studies are used to illustrate and argue this position. These examples show the potential economic, social and environmental benefits of IUWM and provide some insight into the potential which this approach has to influence the form and structure of the city and at the same time highlighting the institutional arrangements required to manage urban water systems.

Entre la fin des années 1960 et les années 1980, la ville de Paris a connu à la fois une période de grande transformation urbaine et un changement dans les stratégies de cette transformation par rapport aux héroïques Trente Glorieuses. L'analyse de ces modifications architecturales et urbaines et les processus de leur mise en œuvre sont souvent basés sur le point de vue de la morphologique ou des politiques urbaines. De plus, en France, l'étude des processus de décision et des transformations urbaines relève des sciences sociales. Cela a abouti à une malheureuse séparation des approches académiques: l'une portant sur la recherche du lien entre les politiques ou les théories de la communauté architecturale et les projets, alors que l'autre considère l'espace urbain déjà transformé comme un point de départ pour l'analyse sociale. Cette recherche vise à étudier l'écart entre ces deux approches méthodologiques influentes en France dans les années 1970 et 1980, grâce à une étude dans le domaine de l'histoire urbaine. Le principal objectif de la thèse est d'explorer le rôle de l'Atelier Parisien d'Urbanisme (ci-après APUR), une entité bureaucratique chargée de tâches multiples, dans le contexte du décalage entre rénovation et forme urbaine quant à la ville de Paris. Entre 1967 et 1989, l'APUR a joué un rôle essentiel dans la traduction du passage susmentionné en termes opérationnels, en créant un lien avec les institutions qui ont le pouvoir de transformer de vastes zones de la capitale française. Cela fut possible grâce au processus de négociation entre des institutions entre elles et avec les architectes et designers urbains dans lequel APUR a joué un rôle important. Dans ce contexte, la recherche étudiera également la relation entre les références culturelles et les processus par lesquels les espaces urbains sont convertis. Deux cas d'études nous permettent d'analyser ces changements urbains et le rôle joué par l'APUR: les transformations des Halles Centrales de Paris, et les projets pour le Secteur de la Villette, en particulier ceux de la place Stalingrad (Bernard Huet, de 1985 à 1989) et le Parc de la Villette au cours du premier concours organisé par l'APUR (1976).Ces deux cas sont liés. D'une part, ils illustrent un point de vue culturel; d'autre part, ils rendent compte des processus institutionnels et politiques, montrant une transformation qui s'est produite dans toute la ville. Enfin, ils croisent la trajectoire de certains des personnages les plus emblématiques de l'architecture française de l'époque. L'un d'eux était Bernard Huet, un enseignant, théoricien, critique et concepteur qui a joué un rôle fondamental dans la définition d'un nouveau paradigme culturel. La recherche montre un changement dans le processus de transformation de l'espace urbain à Paris. Les pratiques sont passées de projets qui ont été générés par un débat animé, fortement lié aux sciences sociales contemporaines françaises, à une normalisation successive des projets urbains et d'un imaginaire urbain ainsi qu'à une légitimation culturelle de l'APUR. Le rôle crucial de l'APUR dans les deux cas d'études est analysé en comparant les archives de l'Atelier, celles des architectes impliqués dans les projets urbains ainsi que les fonds ministériels et présidentiels. Les sources orales sont limitées à un rôle de contrôle. Enfin ce travail vise à mettre en évidence le processus de « faire la ville » en soulignant le rôle d'une bureaucratie publique dans les transformations urbaines qui mènent, entre 1967 et 1989,à la conception contemporaine de la ville de Paris / Between the end of the 1960s and the 1980s, the city of Paris faced a period of extensive urban transformation and a change in the strategies of this transformation at the same time, in comparison with the heroic Trente Glorieuses. The analysis of these architectural and urban changes and the processes of implementation, are often based on a morphological or a policiy-oriented perspective. Moreover, in France, the study of decision-making processes and urban transformation falls within the scope of social sciences. This has resulted in an unfortunate separation of academic approaches: one focusing on finding the link between the theories of the architectural community or policies and the projects, while the other taking the already transformed urban space as a starting point for social analysis. This research aims to investigate the gap between these two methodological approaches, both influential in France during the 1970s and 1980s, through an urban history-oriented study. The main goal of the thesis is to explore the role of the Atelier Parisien d'Urbanisme (hereafter APUR), a bureaucratic entity charged of several different tasks, within the shift from urban renovation to urban form, concerning the city of Paris.Between 1967 and 1989, the APUR had an essential part in translating the aforementioned shift into operative terms, in connection with those institutions that had the power to transform large areas of the French capital. This was possible thanks to a negotiation process involving different institutions , as well as architects and urban designers, in which APUR took a major role. In this context the research will also investigate the relationship between the cultural references and the processes through which urban spaces have been converted. Two case studies allow an analysis of these urban changes and of the role played by the APUR: the transformations of the Halles Centrales of Paris, and the projects for the secteur de la Villette, especially those for Place Stalingrad (Bernard Huet, 1985-89) and Parc de la Villette during the first competition organized by APUR (1976).These two cases are intertwined. On one hand, they illustrate a cultural point of view; on the other hand, they give an account of institutional and political processes, showing a transformation that occurred throughout the whole city. Finally, they cross the trajectory of some of the most emblematic figures in French architecture at that time. One of them was Bernard Huet, a teacher, theorist, critic and designer who played an fundamental role in the definition of a new cultural paradigm. The research shows a change in the process of transformation of urban space in Paris. The practices shifted from projects which were generated through vivid debate, strongly linked to contemporary French social sciences, to a later standardization of urban projects and urban imaginaire and a cultural legitimation of APUR. The central role of APUR in the two case studies is analysed by comparing the Atelier's archives, the ones of the architects involved in the urban projects as well as the ministerial and presidential ones. Oral sources are restricted to a control role. In the end this work aims to highlight the process of city-making trough the role of a public bureaucracy within urban transformations: an active contribution which led, between 1967 and 1989, to the definition of the contemporary conception of the city of Paris

abstract: This study is an initial step in exploring how urban design typologies can help inform community asset research to broaden the definition of physical assets. Asset based community development research identifies specific types of physical assets such as streets, structures, housing or vacant lots. This research argues that a comprehensive look at physical assets is needed, taking into consideration urban typologies such as paths, landmarks, views and districts as well as the spatial relationships that influence their significance. Community asset literature and conditions specific to the Sunnyslope community in Phoenix, Arizona suggest that differences in ethnicity such as spatial segregation, and socio-economic status exist. However, the literature does not address how these differences in ethnicity might influence residents' perceptions of physical assets. This study explores the questions - How do perceptions of physical assets vary among women of different ethnicities? What, if any, are the reasons behind these ethnic differences in perception? The research applied a survey instrument with open-ended and close-ended questions, and a map to mark frequently used routes. Assets identified by recoding open-ended responses were statistically analyzed for frequencies. The most frequently mentioned assets were analyzed by GIS for spatial relationships. Women of White and Latino ethnicities frequently chose individual buildings and locations as physical assets over paths, views, districts and landmarks. White women identified urban typologies as physical assets. In contrast, Latino women identified no significant urban typologies as assets. The inclusion of urban typologies confirmed and expanded upon physical assets previously identified by other asset-based studies on the community of Sunnyslope. Notable differences in ethnicity were found in the perception of physical assets of economic significance, assets for use and assets of visual appeal. Besides ethnicity, age and proximity to assets also influenced asset perception of White and Latino women. Community organizations need to take into consideration the ethnic differences in perception of physical assets, in the context of culture, spatial segregation and differing family structures. The inclusion of urban typologies helped highlight the differences in ethnicities for physical assets of visual appeal, and the use of leisure and recreation facilities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Environmental Design and Planning 2011

Esta pesquisa investiga os impactos do desenho urbano tradicional e modernista na orientação espacial em campi universitários, a partir da avaliação de usuários que diferem quanto ao grau de familiaridade com tais espaços. O problema de pesquisa reside na reprodução de projetos urbanísticos que remetem à lógica espacial preconizada pelo urbanismo moderno, os quais tenderiam a dificultar a legibilidade urbana, afetando negativamente a navegação. Assim, o objetivo é realizar um estudo comparativo detalhado dos efeitos de atributos físico-espaciais que compõem tais desenhos urbanos quanto à orientação espacial de seus usuários, a fim de contribuir para um melhor entendimento dos impactos de tais configurações na experiência espacial. Para tanto, são selecionados dois campi da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), localizados em Porto Alegre- RS: O Campus Centro, que representa o desenho urbano tradicional, com variedade arquitetônica, cujos prédios tendem a estar dispostos junto ao perímetro dos quarteirões e apresentam os acessos principais voltados para as ruas; e o Campus do Vale com características do desenho urbano modernista, onde verifica-se o predomínio da repetição e uniformidade entre os prédios dispostos em amplas áreas verdes, cujos acessos principais tendem a estar desvinculados das ruas. Os métodos de coletas de dados fazem parte dos utilizados na área de estudos Ambiente e Comportamento, sistematizados por meio de levantamento de arquivo, levantamento físico, mapas cognitivos, identificação e descrição de percursos, questionários e entrevistas. A análise de dados é realizada através de testes estatísticos não-paramétricos e da Sintaxe Espacial. Os resultados desta investigação demonstram que, independentemente do campus, os atributos físico-espaciais que remetem ao desenho urbano modernista tendem a ser avaliados negativamente quanto à orientação espacial pelos alunos calouros e, inclusive, pelos técnicos administrativos da UFRGS. Ainda, atributos arquitetônicos dos prédios como a falta de clareza no destaque formal do acesso principal e a menor visibilidade do acesso principal a partir da rua tendem a dificultar a orientação espacial. Foi confirmado que a avaliação do nível de facilidade de orientação espacial é influenciada fortemente pelo grau de familiaridade com o espaço. Entretanto, verifica-se o predomínio dos atributos físico-espaciais sobre o grau de familiaridade quando avaliados os níveis de facilidade de descrever o percurso para acesso ao prédio. Por fim, espera-se que os dados obtidos possam contribuir para qualificar projetos urbanísticos, a fim de responder melhor às necessidades dos usuários quanto à orientação espacial no espaço urbano. / This research investigates the impact of traditional and modern urban design in wayfinding performance in university campuses, based on evaluations of users who differ in the degree of familiarity with such spaces. The research problem concerns the propagation of urban projects that replicate the spatial logic advocated by modern urbanism, which would tend to hinder urban legibility, negatively affecting navigation. The purpose is to realize a comparative study about the impact of physical-spatial attributes considering different urban designs for its users wayfinding performance, in order to contribute to a better understanding of the impacts of such settings in the spatial experience. Therefore, two campuses of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), located in Porto Alegre-RS were selected: The Campus Centro, which refers the traditional urban design with architectural variety, whose buildings tend to be arranged at the perimeter of blocks and feature the main entrance facing the street; and Campus do Vale with characteristics of modern urban design, where there is a predominance of repetition and uniformity among the buildings, usually arranged in large green areas, whose main accesses tend to be disconnected from the streets. Data gathering means are part of those used in the Environment and Behavior area field of study, including archival records, field surveys, cognitive maps, identification of paths and route description, questionnaires and interviews. Data analysis was carried out through non-parametric statistical tests and space syntax theory. The results of this research show that, regardless of the campus, the physical-spatial attributes related to modernist urban design tend to be evaluated negatively on the wayfinding for freshmen students and even by UFRGS employees. Still, architectural attributes of the buildings, such as the lack of clarity in the identification of the main access and the lower visibility of the main access from the street tend to impair wayfinding. It was confirmed that the evaluation of the wayfinding facility level is strongly influenced by the degree of familiarity with the space. However, there is a predominance of physical-spatial attributes over the degree of familiarity when assessed levels of ease of describing the way to access the building. Finally, it is expected that the results obtained may contribute to qualify urban projects in order to better respond to users’ needs of wayfinding in the urban space.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning / Jessica Canfield / Located eight miles from the heart of Dallas, The Dallas Air Naval Station is a 1045-acre decommissioned airfield site. Since its closure in 1998, it has predominantly sat idle, bringing little value to adjacent neighborhoods and the greater community. Due to prolonged site remediation and no formal redevelopment plan, the site’s full potential has yet to come to fruition. Current urban design models tend to primarily focus on achieving a singular, end-result. However, as cities and the environment become more complex and unpredictable, these types of models often lack the ability to respond to change. Adaptive design, on the other hand, allows for more exploration of innovative practices, tools, techniques and methods that are informed by ecological knowledge and research design. As means of illustrating how adaptive design can catalyze and benefit brownfield sites, this project proposes an urban design framework informed by ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are an essential component to human well-being and environmental health, and when used as a guiding principle in site design, can add resiliency and beneficial outcomes to a site. To inform the development of the Ecosystem Services Urban Design Framework, this project uses literature, a site analysis, an applicable ecosystem services analysis, and precedent analyses. The framework is then applied to an urban brownfield site, the Dallas Air Naval Station, to show its applicability for short-term and long-term adaptive design scenarios. Dallas’ current issues and needs are addressed by the short-term plan, whereas informed projections of future issues inform the long-term design scenarios. Collectively, this project illustrates the imperative for incorporating adaptability into urban design, and for the value of using ecosystems services as underlying foundation.

The thesis is focused on the construction of cartographic systems not only as a tool for environmental representation, but also for shaping practices, values, technologies, and cultural narratives around sustainable development of human landscapes in non- Western contexts. Cartographic theory is employed to question existing mapping techniques, especially in relation to documenting sustainable development. The thesis investigates the merging of technology, science and art in the process of making maps and explores the possibility to represent several spheres of reality in cartographic elements. Representation concepts and methodologies were tested around the Mexican settlement of Ciudad Obregon, within the bioregion of the Gulf of California. Parts of the agendas for sustainable development revised stimulate the collection of dreams, images, and fantasies about non-Western human agglomerations and their ecosystems, critically informing sustainable narratives framed in other contexts. The works reviewed reveal an absence of complex cartographic and visual systems, portraying instead emerging landscapes in growing economies as exotic, mysterious, folkloric, chaotic, less developed, and in need of corrective study and supervision from a Western viewpoint. Interpretive, visual, and technological instrumentations were utilized with the aim of constructing a cartographic system that exposes dynamics of sustainable development in emerging settlements. The methodological scheme considers a series of associations between quantitative and qualitative approaches, employing eighteen dialectical negotiations in the representation of six ecologies. The outcome was a hybrid system of representation concerning bi-dimensional maps, photography, and chronicles from local newspapers. Two fieldtrips to Mexico were completed in 2012 and 2013, visiting and studying eighteen human agglomerations in total. The outcomes (measured and gathered data, perceptions, bibliography, photographs, and cartographic evidences) of both fieldtrips were linked to the hypothesis previously outlined in the literature review. The methodological structure was influenced by the cartographic representation interpretation of the biosphere of Ciudad Obregon and its natural ecosystems. On the other hand, the cartographic representation-interpretation of different networks resulted in the study of polymorphous infrastructures that facilitate the flow of goods, capital and people throughout the same territory. The correlation of the research interrogates the paradigmatic challenges of the ‘network society’ in developing contexts. It questions the notion that human settlements develop sophisticated infrastructure networks, selectively connecting together the most favoured users and places, linking valuable segments and discarding irrelevant habitats, locales and people. As the cartographic and visual evidences gathered by this research suggest, these commodity landscapes allow terrestrial and aerial flow of physical and knowledge resources (food, water, gasoline, telecommunications, transport, information, services, waste) in granulated and disseminated environments of buildings and networks, materializing a palimpsest of infrastructures. The research finds that the assessment of social, cultural, and environmental sustainability in emerging and dispersed landscapes requires an adjacent design of cartographic and visual frameworks that represent the complexity found in developing locations.

A reabilitação de orlas fluviais degradadas encontra-se em fase de grande prosperidade no Brasil. O estudo de medidas de reabilitação e dos fatores que definem seu sucesso são temas frequentemente debatidos na ciência. No entanto, esse debate está, geralmente, centrado em parâmetros mais facilmente mensuráveis que aderem à objetividade científica, ignorando, muitas vezes, aspectos mais subjetivos como a estética da paisagem ou o valor recreativo que poderiam ser identificados a partir da percepção dos indivíduos. Desta forma, o objetivo principal desta pesquisa é gerar subsídios para a elaboração de projetos de urbanização de orlas fluviais por meio da identificação dos níveis de satisfação e das preferências dos indivíduos em relação aos aspectos de desenho urbano dessas áreas. A estratégia de pesquisa adotada foi um estudo de caso realizado em uma área de orla fluvial degradada localizada no campus do Vale da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul em Porto Alegre-RS. Os métodos de coleta de dados englobam levantamento de arquivo, levantamento físico, observação e questionário com uso de simulações. Os resultados indicam que as preferências dos indivíduos envolvem ambientes com grandes áreas alagadas, mas mantendo uma proporção equilibrada com as áreas secas, margens com aspecto visual mais natural, alta densidade de vegetação arbórea de grande porte, distribuição desta vegetação de forma a criar grandes áreas sombreadas e ensolaradas, maior aceitação de equipamentos de lazer ativo do que passivo, distribuição de vias para automóveis acompanhando o traçado dos cursos d’água e trilhas e ciclovias próximas e distantes da água. / The rehabilitation of degraded waterfronts is in great prosperity phase in Brazil. The study of rehabilitation measures and the factors that determine their success are frequently debated topics in science. However, this debate usually focus on easily measurable parameters that fits the scientific objectivity, often ignoring subjective aspects such as landscape aesthetic or recreational value, that could be identified by the perception of individuals. Thus, the main goal of this research is to provide support for the development of waterfront urbanization plans by identifying the levels of satisfaction and preferences of individuals in relation to urban design aspects of these areas. The research strategy adopted was a case study in a degraded riverfront area located on the Vale campus of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre-RS. Data collection methods include file and physical survey, observation and questionnaire using simulations. The results indicate that the preferences of individuals involve environments with large wetlands, while maintaining a balanced proportion to the dry areas, banks presenting a higher natural appearance, high density of large tree vegetation, vegetation distribution that allows to create large shaded and sunny areas, greater acceptance of active leisure activities than passive, distribution of streets following the route of waterways and trails and bicycle paths near and far from the water.