As an urban design graduate student who studied architecture for five years, I find myself very interested in this type of design thinking that combines the space of human activity with the language of landscape and architecture. In my opinion, people, as part of the biosphere, always need to interact with nature, and the most direct manifestation of this interaction is the effect of people on nature and the influence of nature on people, both of which can be shown simultaneously in the interaction between designers through landscape and architecture, and this satisfies two basic needs of people at the same time, namely the so-called output and feedback. As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, in modern cities, people need both physical and psychological healing (or satisfaction), and the human output of an area creates spaces for physical healing (e.g. gyms) and interspersed with natural elements to enhance positive psychological feelings, healing or relieving the mental stress caused by urban concrete. By satisfying these two basic needs, a community can become very attractive. Imagine who would not want to visit a place that is well planned and well designed, with a mix of nature and humanity?
Using the landscape to enhance the experience of people moving through the building
In Urban design and the use of design codes I was confronted with the design of a triangular plot of land with a number of fitness-oriented buildings in its vicinity, such as a climbing gym and a boxing gym. There are also large farms as well as restaurants and mixed-use areas. In the future this area is planned to be a resort area. So my idea is to make this site a place where people can heal both physically and mentally.
My idea is to combine sport and leisure, with a sport area on one side and a leisure area on the other, using the landscape and architectural connections to make them more logical and compatible with each other. To this aim I have reviewed a number of cases and found a better solution.
This is an area of relaxation and the side of the building is almost not isolated by the use of walls. A number of columns have been used to support the roof in an irregular form. Holes have been left in the roof to allow plants to grow through these holes to higher ground. At the same time people can walk and do other activities on the 2nd floor and they can observe the plants sticking out from the roof. At the same time they can also see what is going on downstairs.
In this environment, people can get in touch with nature better. It is also a great place for social and leisure activities. The absence of walls makes the area very permeable and allows people to enter and leave from all directions. This makes it easy to access the surrounding sports areas and to feel the atmosphere of nature while exercising. Many sports and exercise areas are enclosed by walls, so that people can only exercise in a monotonous way, but here they can observe the plants in the distance.
The projecting eaves also connect the building at the first floor, allowing access to the other building from the upper floors, and green features such as green roofs can be used to further enhance the human experience. It is also very versatile, so that both elderly people who want to rest and minors and adults with jobs will have a good relaxing environment. At the same time it is very well integrated with the sports facilities and people will not feel strange when they enter the sports area to exercise here.
As an urban design graduate student who studied architecture for five years, I find myself very interested in this type of design thinking that combines the space of human activity with the language of landscape and architecture. In my opinion, people, as part of the biosphere, always need to interact with nature, and the most direct manifestation of this interaction is the effect of people on nature and the influence of nature on people, both of which can be shown simultaneously in the interaction between designers through landscape and architecture, and this satisfies two basic needs of people at the same time, namely the so-called output and feedback. As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, in modern cities, people need both physical and psychological healing (or satisfaction), and the human output of an area creates spaces for physical healing (e.g. gyms) and interspersed with natural elements to enhance positive psychological feelings, healing or relieving the mental stress caused by urban concrete. By satisfying these two basic needs, a community can become very attractive. Imagine who would not want to visit a place that is well planned and well designed, with a mix of nature and humanity?
The urban landscape environment is the most frequently chosen open place for urban residents and can be functionally divided into several types. The first type is the gathering type urban landscape environment, with assembly, sightseeing, stay and rest functions; the second type is the resting type urban landscape environment, which mainly meets the needs of resting, walking and viewing; the third type is the transportation type urban landscape environment, which combines walking, model, parking and freight functions. In addition, there are other composite spaces such as commercial-type spaces (mainly the landscape of business districts) and urban water landscape environments. The landscape can use the technical materials of the place and the artistic forms to make people participate in the spatial environment. Thus forming a communication and interaction between people and the landscape environment. Secondly, the use of landscape obstruction to guide the flow of people. For example the ‘Ha-ha’ wall as a landscape. The design may include a turf slope that slopes down to a sharply vertical surface (usually a masonry retaining wall). Ha-has are used in landscaping to prevent access to the garden through, for example, grazing livestock, without obstructing the landscape. In security design, this element is used to prevent vehicles from entering the site while minimising visual obstruction.
References：
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Ed.). (2022, April 1). Ha-Ha. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha-ha