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By-product as main product

Lentsch, M; (2005) By-product as main product. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

This thesis investigates spatial attraction in urban space and arising potential for spatial interaction. It grounds on Space Syntax theories that spatial attraction is governed by network configurations of the urban grid but also by the particular nature of land use activities which at tract across distance in space. An open question is raised concerning the interplay between those attracting forces and the configuration of the urban grid: how can spatial attraction be conceived of as the main driver in creating surplus-value for trips through urban space - and what are the consequences for both local building attractors but also for the performance of the urban grid as a means to communicate space The research is carried out through the analysis of the Barbican Arts Centre (BAC) and the Royal Festival Hall (RFH) as two London based cultural venues. On the one hand, both places are acting as local attractors within their urban context due to their land use activities as concert halls. On the other hand, both places reveal pathological malfunctions related to spatial attraction. Based on the notion of the urban grid itself being a spatial attractor, this thesis focuses on the by-product of movement, which is the series of spaces passed through when moving from an origin a to a destination b. A method is tested which considers the local context around each case study as a field of attracting forces. Space Syntax axial analyses transforms urban space into the graph structure of an axial map, whereas land use data is assigned to buildings or groups of build ings of same land use to represent interfaces of activities. It is hypothesised that combinations between attracted movement flows and interfaces are either amplifying or reducing the effects of the by-product in urban space. The application of the analyses reveals no contribution of the by-product on the segregat ed site of the BAC, and little impact of the by-product on the RFH. Thus, a more general question can be asked: do local building attractors necessarily have to rely on spatial attraction in the form of the by-product of movement Or do specific kinds of local attractors overcome low segregation by means of their specific transpatial nature The conclusion shows that local attractors are able to do so - to the expense of not amplifying but reducing the by-product effects for the local urban context. Hence, it is speculated about the advantages of the urban grid as a physical, faster and more powerful communicator of space in contrast to transpatiality as a virtual, constraint and less efficient communicator. Keywords Spatial attraction, spatial interaction, decay, urban grid, by-product.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Title: By-product as main product
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Thesis digitised by ProQuest.
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Architecture
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1567882
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