For the first time in the history of the Architecture Biennale the American Pavilion earned special recognition in 2012 for Spontaneous Interventions. The exhibition portrays an emerging phenomenon where citizen-led movements address urban problems with small-scale, low cost interventions. Sometimes sanctioned, sometimes not, the concept behind this movement has become known as tactical urbanism. This report examines the rise of tactical urbanism as an opportunity for the field of urban planning and describes how tactics can fit into the formal planning process. Currently, there exists a lack of understanding and research on the concept. This report contributes to the limited research by analyzing existing theory which discusses and supports the concept of tactical urbanism. After providing a theoretical foundation, four interventions displayed at the Biennale are reviewed to demonstrate the potential of this emerging approach. By evaluating the theoretical support behind tactical urbanism, the lacunae in planning literature, and the potential of this emerging approach as demonstrated by the four case studies, this report attempts to legitimize the discussion on tactical urbanism and identify how this emerging approach can fit into the formal planning process. / text

This article responds to the rapid urbanisation of sub-Saharan Africa. It laments the loss and deterioration of its pre-colonial urban artefacts due to neglect and even war, and pleads for their conservation and the recognition of relevant characteristics as contemporary urban solutions. Part one outlines the conceptual framework and highlights four theoretical considerations pertaining to definitions, preconceptions, methodology and sources of information. Part two contextualises the origins and nature of African urbanism with a brief historical perspective. Part three analyses the morphology of urban space, while part four concludes by discussing some seemingly intrinsic urban characteristics and their compatibility with current urban theories.

Few countries have ever had the opportunity to rethink their architectural dogma as abruptly and radically as South Africa since the few years leading up to the democratic elections of 1994. With only a few exceptions, the pre-democratic South African architecture of the 20th century has always lacked a unique identity. But, coinciding with trends towards Critical-Regionalism and ‘green’ initiatives, the emergence of a new South Africa has inspired the profession as a whole to search for new directions.

This dissertation examines the transformation of the French built environment alongside medical discourses of the body in the early 19th century, arguing that emerging theories on health and hygiene comprised a politically charged subtext in the design of spaces where gender and class identities were formed. Following the military defeats that led to the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire, fears over national decline spurred medical thought on the regeneration of French citizens. The ensuing debates about the body and hygiene gave rise to new architectural programs - such as gymnasiums, swimming schools, and public gardens - where emergent practices for rehabilitating the bourgeois body, both male and female, were implemented. I trace the translation of these spatial forms and practices across a range of military, educational, and recreational settings, to analyze the role of architecture in shaping 19th-century embodiments and expressions of gender, class, and citizenship.

In an attempt to engage the fundamental issues of design that are integral to our understanding of architecture and the built environment, this thesis investigates how spontaneous architecture can transcend political and social boundaries by acting as a catalyst in the urban environment. The act of catalyzing is exemplified in the informal sector through street markets and street vendors. And while the complexity of the current economic reality in the United States has resulted in a fragmented architectural typology, the dynamic articulation of marginalized vacant space in the urban core has become a strong player in a revival of localism. The underpinning goal of this thesis is to develop an understanding of the significance that these catalytic engines play in the reintegration of cities still fighting to overcome the spoils of modernity. Through a revival of localism and a re-appropriation of urban energies, markets exemplify the bottom-up approach of incremental urban design powered by formation of strong micro economies. Market case studies we visited in 6 cities in the United States: St. Louis, Missouri; Los Angeles, California; Portland, Oregon Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Detroit, Michigan; and New York, New York. The case studies were used as means of deriving at potential insights to the state of the American street market. An examination of prescription of catalytic opportunities – a dynamical system that has a sensitive dependence on the initial conditions of a place – presents a series of guiding principles for successful market design. / text

The city remains one of humanity’s greatest challenges, demanding solutions to complex problems that arise from a network of interoperating systems at different scales. As urban centres densify across Canada, the dialogue of how to create vital, highly functioning mixed-use communities within urban environments is of utmost importance. This thesis assesses the methodologies designers have used to handle this issue, and proposes analytical and generative tools that contribute to a framework for emergent outcomes to assist balancing multi-scalar overlapping variables. This framework is tested on a site rich in conflicting contextual cues: the False Creek Flats in Vancouver, British Columbia. Following a hierarchy of urban, building, and pedestrian scales, information from analysis is implemented into design processes and critical response. Focusing on issues of connectivity, responsivity, and identity, the design proposal synthesizes the outcomes into a new district and building typology based on three dimensional environmental and social constraints.

This dissertation analyses the endurance of colonial logics of assimilation and cultural segregation in contemporary urban France by connecting them with their origins in colonial Algeria. French urban planning and policy in Algeria emphasized the capacity of the urban environment to establish the cultural supremacy of imperial France, to ‘evolve’ Algerians toward French lifestyles and civility, and to provide stable and controllable social environments. The migration en masse of Algerians to France following the Second World War, and in the context of the Algerian war of independence, prompted the creation of new state institutions in France to house, integrate, monitor and police France’s purportedly suspect, hostile immigrant population. This paper argues the refraction of this colonial apparatus during the post-war period has rippled into the contemporary era, posing significant obstacles to social cohesion between immigrants – and their descendents – and the white ethnic majority in France.

After the industrial revolution, the increase in population of urban centres created a severe housing shortage. In North America there were two contrasting responses to house the masses, the urban tower and the garden city suburb. These solutions have since been criticised harshly as blunders of modernism. Today, we are undergoing unprecedented urbanisation and a changing paradigm. We are again in a position where the idea of mass housing needs to be rethought. Low-rise mixed-use neighbourhoods, such as Montreal’s Plateau, can provide sustainable vibrant urban environments. However, given the current paradigm, there are instances where buildings of higher density are necessary. How can successful urban neighbourhoods be re-interpreted to develop a design methodology for buildings of higher density?

In examining the Canadian residential fabric, this thesis advocates for the design of urban dwellings which respond directly to a number of contemporary urban challenges. A number of these challenges stem from the largely suburban nature of North American cities; there are major concerns about the relative isolation and automobile dependence of contemporary suburbs, their spread into conurbations, and their environmental impacts. On the other hand, there are challenges with many typical urban infill developments as well; they are often developed for a limited range of households, lack much in the way of connections to the outdoors, and, in contrast to some of the key arguments for intensification, often perform below the level of energy efficiency we might reasonably expect in a compact, contemporary, and sustainable urban form. All of these challenges are further discussed and evaluated in chapter three of the thesis. In attempting to address these challenges in a holistic manner, this thesis makes a case for conscientiously increasing the density of the many existing low-density areas within our urban fabric, in a form which incorporates varied outdoor spaces, varied uses, varied unit types and sizes, within a relatively energy efficient form and skin. Chapter four looks at design principles, strategies, and precedents, as well as schematic designs which attempt to integrate and synthesize these objectives. In order to illustrate the application of these principles and schematic designs to an existing low density urban area, chapter five proposes a more detailed design on a large site in Westboro, Ottawa, an evolving semi-suburban area whose development dates largely from early and mid 20th century.

Urban design has splintered into increasingly narrow specialist disciplines since the mid Twentieth Century. Traffic engineers, statutory planners, civil engineers, landscape architects and architects each make specific but isolated contributions to urban design frameworks. Each consultant documents their position predominantly through text and two dimensional representations, occasionally with specious perspective images produced by a hand rendering specialist. This fragmented and sequential design approach inadequately addresses contemporary urban agendas, practice constraints or the potential of digital design techniques, particularly in light of increasing fears of an imminent environmental crisis and peak oil, and concerns for health, amenity and accommodating an increasingly urbanised population. The aim of my thesis is to identify and address disparities between contemporary urban design practice and society's prevailing urban agendas for integrated and sustainable cities. The hypothesis tested by my thesis is that the gulf between prevailing urban agendas of society and urban design can be reduced by developing a 'defragmented' design approach that uses rapid, parametric, four-dimensional, digital analysis and design techniques, which build upon software commonly available within the industry. This hypothesis has been tested in four ways: firstly through the analysis of urban agendas, design techniques and urban design paradigms, in both historic and contemporary contexts; secondly by identifying currently available technologies with the potential for adaptation and customisation; thirdly by development of new digital techniques; and finally by testing this defragmented approach on both simplified models and various case studies within an urban design practice as part of the embedded research program. Techniques I have developed and tested as part of the approach fit into four categories: firstly pedestrian connectivity - walkability and accessibility; secondly daylight amenity assessment; thirdly visual impact analysis assessing urban form visualisation, generation and composition; and finally feasibility modelling, including linked data yield analysis. I have evaluated the success of the approach in these studies with regard to practice constraints (time and budget) and contemporary society's pr evailing urban agendas. My rapid, defragmented design approach has resulted in new techniques shown to be used quickly and concurrently 'in-house' contributing to the urban design process, whilst meeting fee budgets and project deadlines. I have demonstrated that issues that are currently difficult to solve using the constraints of conventional planning techniques can be addressed more effectively than they are currently, whilst avoiding the considerable expense of specialised hardware/software or the appointment of additional consultants. My thesis concludes that the rapid, defragmented approach can demonstrably yield more synergistic urban design responses. The inherently flexible approach can be tailored for a myriad of different urban design scenarios, as well as potentially other disciplines. The defragmented approach can expand the realm of urban designers and increase their contribution in the generation and advocacy of sustainable planning policy and reduce the disparities between contemporary urban design practice and society's need for integrated and sustainable cities.