8850 Form Urban 2016-2025

Music perception form was first researched by city planner Kevin Lynch in his book "The Image of the City". Lynch reports how people read the urban environment in their daily lives. He defined five urban form elements with the potential to influence design practice and policy. These elements are pathways, nodes, landmarks, districts, and edges. Pathways serve the movement of people and goods. All cities need pathways as they connect destinations. Lynch referred to these pathways as localized space, which is endowed with physical identity and social meaning, transforming space into a place - the soul of the urban public realm. In contrast, Lynch called pathways flow space, which includes streets of all kinds, open trails, greenways, and more. Collectively, they accommodate flow activity, including driving, walking, running, biking, and so on. Nodes occur at pathway junctions. They increase accessibility and the potential for human interaction, thus producing economic value at the location. For example, the node at the heart of Charlotte is accentuated by a Plaza and cascading water. Additionally, small intimate nodes offer neighborhood gathering spaces. Major landmarks like the Bank of America tower are visible from many points in the city. They help with spatial orientation and can reinforce a node's sense of place. Meanwhile, minor landmarks help increase local identity. For instance, Sharla's glistening fiber indelibly marks the cultural district and provides a popular photo-op. Districts are visually distinct areas of the city, comprising both built forms and open spaces. An area of fine-grain modest single-family homes will differ from an area of moderate and high-rise apartment buildings. This visual contrast creates a sense of place within these districts. Edges are created by linear elements, such as urban streams like Little Sugar Creek, which also supports a Greenway. These edges visually subdivide the city into distinct...