Daniel Toole is a 26-year-old, Seattle-based architect who has, quite accidentally, found himself immersed in the hidden world of alleys. Recently awarded a travel fellowship by the local American Institute of Architects branch, he headed to Japan and Australia to study this arguably under-appreciated urban form. — theatlanticcities.com
3 Comments
such an interesting topic, great read!
probably wasn't intended as such, but I appreciate this type of analysis of our existing condition moreso than the implicit/self referencial bombastic/spectacular architecture avante garde theories that typically run amock and screams "look at me! I'm special!"
I too agree that ‘Alleys deserve more attention.’ I am reminded of a recent trip to Shanghai and the Lilong/Longtang “traditional” lane neighborhoods there. The urban form is also referred to as Hutong in Beijing. I imagine the form was exported to cities outside China as immigrants created Chinatown communities in familiar forms within their new hometowns. Unfortunately, these types of urban neighborhoods are rapidly disappearing in China and elsewhere. They are being replaced with Modern towers and housing blocks, wide auto-oriented roads and other western cultural forms. Hopefully we all can find the many benefits of human-scaled, people-oriented, walkable alleys and incorporate more of them into the design of neighborhoods and communities of our present and future.
it's interesting to look at the Lilong alleys in Shanghai - but it's worth noting that the tower blocks are essentially an evolution of the lilong form - unlike Beijing's Hutong, Shanghai's Lilong/Shikumen developments were developer-driven from the very beginning, and over 100 or so years followed a clear evolution (increasing in population density) from 2-3 floor courtyard row houses, to 4-6 floor walk-up slab apartments... the typical residential tower in Shanghai today (10-20 floors) is essentially an evolution of the Lilong form - there's a great thesis on the typology here: http://www.mcgill.ca/mchg/student/lilong
What's really lost in the demolition of the old Lilong lanes is the sense of community you get from the close quarters, but more importantly from the entrepreneurial activity along both the internal lanes and the perimeter streets (hard to have an improvised noodle shop in a hallway on the 11th floor....)
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.