visual order : its limitations and possibilities
art
- shows us the meaning
- to illuminates the relationship between the life that each of us embodies and the life outside us
- to reassure us of our humanity
- rigorous
if large architecture problem , capable of being given order by converting the mistake of attempting to substitute art of life,
as a result , create profound confusion between art and life
taxidermy
creation of art and life in effect anonymous and consensus
society as enforcement and on the disciplined selectivity of purposes , materials and forms
designer should illuminate and clarifying life and helping to explain to us its meanings and order.
example : garden city planning
how to see a complex system of functional order as order? not a chaos?
1. understanding
2. clarify all as the mixture its self is key element ( kingpin ) its mutual support as order.
a city ‘s very structure consist of mixture of uses and we get closet to its structural secret when we deal with the condition that generate diversity.

the street pattern of a city
basic – gridiron plan
have many advantages , there are 2 main ways , nevertheless , of introducing sufficient visual irregularities and interruption
1. by adding additional streets where the street of the gridiron plan are too far apart , so additional street is necessary in any case for the functional purposes of helping to generate diversity
2. introducing irregularities and visual interruption where they are insufficient.
- create happy accident by natural means
example : San Francisco


( for more information , please refer to http://www.sfgov.org/site/planning_index.asp?id=41405 )
many hills constantly make separations between the nearby scene and the distance - looking along the street toward the rise? or looking down a slope?
this arrangement greatly emphasizes the intimate and immediate street scenes / ( straight and regular pattern can too ), without sacrificing the clarity of gridiron organization
a visual diversion need not extend across a straight street , but can be in the form of a building or group of building set forward from the normal building line to make jog, with the sidewalk cut underneath.
the pitfall :
a) there is little point in using them where there is no visual tale of street intensity and detail to tell. only 4 basic generator of diversity can be do.
b) visual interruption should be in functional terms , not dead ends , but “ corner ” . actual physical cut offs to foot traffic in particular are destructive in cities.
refer to : Eliel Saarinen said “ there must always be an end in view , and the end must not be final “
c) visual interruption get their force partially from being exceptions to the rule
if plaza along the side of a street are plentiful , the street disintegrates visually as a street , to say nothing of going dead functionally. jogs with arcades beneath, if they are plentiful instead of exceptional , just give us a narrower street and can be even become claustrophobic in their effect.
d) visual interruption is a natural eye catcher and its own character has much to do with impressions made by the scene.