Assignment

For discussion this week, I would like you each to apply the ideas behind the planning for Barcelona and Vienna to something more tangible. We’ll do this through an exercise that I often assign in class. After reading the lecture and excerpt from Sitte’s book, take a close look at the current university campus map; I’ve uploaded a pdf on the main Moodle page by this week’s readings. (For San Diego students, you may not be familiar with the Burbank campus, so you can either work with the map of our campus, or work from a section of San Diego’s street plan). I would like you to discuss how you might approach a campus extension/redesign using the approaches of Cerda and Sitte. Describe how each planner might reorient the main spaces of the campus. Be as specific as possible, both explaining the main elements of the planner’s schemes and providing your own examples of how these ideas might translate to our own campus space (or San Diego’s urban landscape). You may upload sketches if you would like, but be sure to include a written description as well.
In addition to this exercise, I also need one more piece of information for departmental use. Please tell me whether you would be taking this course if it was not in online format.
So, to recap:
1. Would you be taking this class if it was not in online format?
2. How might Cerda and Sitte approach redesigning the Woodbury campus (or a portion of San Diego)?

My answer

1- Yes I would, because I think in this class we need to gather, and watch some videos, and look at some case studies together as group. However I have many classes in this semester, so I do not know if I would take it, having this busy schedule.
2- Cerda would completely redesign Woodbury. Because Woodbury is way off his original plan specified, so I think he will widen the entrance to at less 25 m, to have more space for the cars, and the entrance should be wider to be more welcoming.
Also he will get rid of some buildings, since Woodbury has more than 50 percent block’s surface.
Those building that he would get rid of will be replaced to gardens.
Sitte’s I think he would not completely redesign Woodbury because Woodbury’s path already arranged not in a formal way but in irregular way, so that one think Sitte was talking about.
But Sitte would change some streets types to have variety of street types.
For the plaza I think Sitte would make some changes on it, to have the plaza adequately sized and proportional to all the buildings.

Professor response

Abdullah,
Can you be more specific about how Sitte would redesign the plaza? What elements would he add to make the space feel more “human?” Also, what would Cerda do with the campus center if he needed to plan an extension surrounding he campus?

I NEED TO RESPONSE TO HER AFTER READING THE OTHER ATTACHMENT THAT I INClUDED (SITTE) .