The alley known as the "FOOD STREET" in Lahore, Pakistan, is lined with partly defaced, multi-storey houses build in the first half of the nineteenth century.
Most of the houses are in a depleted and worn-out state. When one really observes the building closely, only then can you imagine, the state of these buildings at its prime. A private citizens committee with donations and government help has tried to restore the pre-independence architecture, but it has been a really poor effort. Since the Food Street comes to life at night, the defaced buildings and the really bad renovation work is hidden, in the darkness. The street has been cobbled and the open drains have been covered.
The architecture of the houses on Food Street is basically pre-independence, i.e. a mixture of Colonial and Hindu architecture. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Gowalmandi was inhabited by the rich Hindu merchants, who had moved out of the congested, narrow alleyed Walled City. The Hindus had a passion for building houses with fine exterior detail work that is still found there. Since the British were the ruling class - the elite tried to copy them and it is visible in the houses constructed at that time, i.e. the Anglo-Indian style. After partition, most of the inhabitants of Gowalmandi migrated to India and those who came to Pakistan were alloted houses in this vicinity. Being multi-storeyed houses, these were alloted out in different floors, thus leading to the destruction of these buildings, because of multiple ownership.
As one walks down Food Street the buildings are mostly multi-storeyed and all the ground floors have been converted into shops. These shops are like cafes, with sitting on the roadside.
In some buildings the mode of decorations dominates the architectural composition, instead of being subordinated to the structure. Most buildings on the right side have beautiful hand-carved wooden balconies with cast-iron grills in very delicate and intricate designs. The buildings on the left side have a mixture of decorative designs and symbols that underline the electicism of the architecture of the early twentieth century. The building that houses Sarder Fish Shop is the best example on the street. This building has rustic masonary and rustic columns and pillars surrounding the balconies, that makes it very eye catching.
The poetry “Your buildings” was written by Rita Joe who is aboriginal author. She has been describing her feeling about aboriginal people and history. Rita Joe wrote your buildings reflects on the changed landscape of her people, and her homeland area to the most modern building have replaced the natural landscape and destroyed the beauty of her homeland. Now only a memory in her hearts of people. The author tone in to the poetry was sad, hurt and sarcastic by saying “Your Buildings” she was talking to the white man what have you done to her homeland. Also when the author mentioned in her poetry “while skyscrapers hide the heavens, they can fall” Rita joe mean all of those buildings you build high, they hide the beauty of her homeland, and
Old Chinatown's heyday was between the years of 1890-1910. It could count 15 or so streets and alleys, and perhaps 200 building units. I...
A new phenomenon happening in our city is the rebirth of many of our older and rundown areas. One of the best examples of this is the "Soulard" area of town, which now has an established nightlife as well as exquisite historical antique homes. Lafayette Square has also enjoyed the same type of success as Soulard. It is still in the middle of a high crime area, but is populated by upper-class people with beautiful homes with elaborate wrought iron fences and intricate security systems. This trend of fixing up old flats is spreading out from the areas of Soulard and Lafayette Square to neighboring communities at a rapid pace. The Compton Heights area is coming back with rebuilt old Victorian styled houses and private gated streets that contrast the French styled flats of Soulard. The Shaw and Tower Grove area are also following the lead of revitalization similar to these charming old neighborhoods.
(Image taken from Tranchtenberg, Marvin, Isabelle Hyman. Architecture: From Prehistory to Postmodernity. Second Edition. Prentice Hall, Inc. New Jersey: 2002.)
To appreciate a row house neighborhood, one must first look at the plan as a whole before looking at the individual blocks and houses. The city’s goal to build a neighborhood that can be seen as a singular unit is made clear in plan, at both a larger scale (the entire urban plan) and a smaller scale (the scheme of the individual houses). Around 1850, the city began to carve out blocks and streets, with the idea of orienting them around squares and small residential parks. This Victorian style plan organized rectangular blocks around rounded gardens and squares that separated the row houses from major streets. The emphasis on public spaces and gardens to provide relief from the ene...
Between the walls of the various wards, one witnesses the everyday life of a city totally apart, with its
But these contrived differences give rise to esthetic difficulties too. Because inherent differences—those that come from genuinely differing uses—are lacking among the buildings and their settings, the contrivances repre...
The history of Architecture started long time ago. The nomadic were groups of people whom move from one place to another in order find shelter and food to survive. As they progress, their techniques to survive evolve. The need for a permanent shelter became vital for a better stability of the group. This is the time when the first structures that provided protection appeared. Post and lintel were the first forms of Architecture, that satisficed the basic needs. Architecture evolved to be more sophisticated and fulfill the people’s needs. Consequently, Architecture evolved throughout different periods such as: Ancient architecture, Romanesque, The medieval, Renaissance, Early modern, and the industrial age, Modernism and Contemporary architecture. During the Medieval period a style of Architecture named Gothic Architecture was very notorious. The concept of this type of Architecture still continuous now days, in the city of Los Angeles many building have taken this concept of Gothic Architectural Style and have developed to a new level of experience and expression. Some of them have recreated in a modern way the features of the physical aspects of this style. Other structures have taken this concept beyond the physical features and used the emotional concept behind Gothic Style to connect people feelings with magnificent elements of the Cathedrals.
“… gave details of the house: it was white with black doors fitted with iron bars; four rooms were stuccoed, but other parts were less finished; the front floor was stone slabs. She loc...
resolve conflicts within the design. Meiss further identifies that the first use of brick is the wall , and accordingly, in my design brick conveys its history structurally through walls, narrating and expressing itself through its construction, details, texture and verticality. The existing brick façade flows into the interior, implementing a barrier between the existing spatial conditions and revitalized elements. The three-storey brick façade is replaced with glazing, introducing large amounts of natural light into the atrium. Similarly, the Highgate House by Carmody Groarke, utilizes brick as a predominant material creating a sculptural pattern . This project is not of new or old, it takes on a Georgian style approach, hence the use of brick as a traditional material and wood as a modern and comforting material for the house. The atrium allows for natural light through a floor to ceiling spanned window with a circular skylight centralized in the space . The use of existing brick in my design represents human history alongside speaking of what the brick conceptualizes. During the revitalization of the Distillery District, there were mainly brick construction; a period in architecture where brick was popular for many reasons such as
The thatched roof slums have been torn down, the neighbourhood gangsters have been removed and the air raid bunkers have been sealed (with some sections preserved as a war relic and opened for visits). Yet, some of the familiarities remain – bird-lovers still gather to admire each others’ prized pets, the spiral staircases, though weathered around the edges, still adorn the alleys behind the apartments and the famous Tiong Bahru Hokkien Mee still serves its customers after six decades.
street in Syracuse, New York (Winders, 2011). It will look at how the built environment of
Throughout the world, there are an abundance of diverse cultures, each truly unique in comparison to another. Culture is described as the “characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts” (Zimmermann). Each of these traits is what sets each society apart, and is what influences their expression of design. Throughout this course, we’ve learned how planning and design have varied all through history, however we decided to take it a step further and focus on how different regions throughout the world create spaces that reflect their own cultures’ particular interests. Being a group composed entirely of Interior Design majors, our emphasis is investigating the use of material, color, motifs and layouts of their interior spaces, and how they reflect their societies. Not only do we explore a culture’s influence on design, but we briefly touch on environmental factors as well. Of all of the regions throughout the world, we decided to focus our research on the cultural practices and designs of Mexico, India, and Japan. Our reasoning behind centering on these three cultures is that these cultures are some of the most well-known, yet each entirely distinct within their own way, thus providing a greater understanding of design styles around the world.
My childhood was a playground for imagination. Joyous nights were spent surrounded by family at my home in Brooklyn, NY. The constantly shaded red bricks of my family’s unattached town house located on West Street in Gravesend, a mere hop away from the beach and a short walk to the commotion of Brooklyn’s various commercial areas. In the winter, all the houses looked alike, rigid and militant, like red-faced old generals with icicles hanging from their moustaches. One townhouse after the other lined the streets in strict parallel formation, block after block, interrupted only by my home, whose fortunate zoning provided for a uniquely situa...
Solar Flare Studios. "Modern Architecture : International Style." Solar Flare Studios. Accessed April 22, 2014. http://www.solarflarestudios.com/demosites/architecture/international.htm.