ArticlePublisher preview available

Narrative spatial analytics (NSA) in urban landscape research and design

February 2021
URBAN DESIGN International 27(3):1-15

DOI:10.1057/s41289-020-00148-0

Authors:

Pavle Stamenović

University of Belgrade

Đorđe Bulajić

Politecnico di Milano

This research investigates the condition of unbuilt spaces in urban areas that reside in the interim between previous use and not-yet-decided new development. These unbuilt spaces are considered as valuable in the context of urban landscape. In order to acknowledge the character and quality of unbuilt spaces, design and planning procedures need to incorporate new interpretative techniques. The proposed NSA method integrates three research-by-design techniques that enable landscape researchers/designers to broaden the scope of disciplinary research practice. The conducted research is interdisciplinary and stands in the intersection of two research fields in the context of scale—urban planning and architectural design. The aim of this research is to propose the new methodological apparatus, which offers a holistic view on the notion of territory in regard to the notion of scale. The analysis takes the position that small-scale architectural design procedures and methods also apply to the scale of the landscape—territory. The proposed method—Narrative Spatial Analytics (NSA)—is based on simultaneous design procedures in opposing scales, assuming the overall significance of simultaneous understanding of the territory and the site.

GIS imagery representing the wider metropolitan area of Banja Luka, with selected locations extracted as specimens

…

Analytical map: Synthesis map. Location: Trapisti. Students: Students: Dabić, D. & Ćirić, T. Analytical maps presented in this paper are primarily based on documentation provided by GIS imagery software that shows the exact physical characteristics of space such as morphology of terrain, distance, geometry, materiality, etc. By selecting and highlighting the particular layers of a geographical map, analytical mapping is a technique that aims to investigate and better understand the circumstances and features of a given territory. The process of juxtaposing drawing against the GIS map enables us to trace the informal layers of the given territory that produce new knowledge about the current state of the given space. Featured layers of the map in their interactive composition create new maps that produce new meanings in relation to the research topic. In this particular case, analytical mapping is used as a technique that synthesizes several geographical layers of the given territory (physical structure, hydrology, pedestrian, other traffic paths, etc) and analytical architectural tools like grid, with an aim to better understand future architectural intervention (see Fig. 7)

…

Analytical map: Infrastructure and built structure analysis map. Location: Medeno polje. Students: Zorić, D., Luković, M. & Martić, B. Medeno polje is one of the most important areas in the city of Banja Luka for improving the railway infrastructure of the city. This research proposes new management of the existing railway infrastructure that would facilitate new urban rail traffic. Unlike the first map presented in this paper which synthesizes several layers of the given territory (Fig. 2), this analytical map is extracting only one layer of the territory—the built structures. By extracting the physical structure of particular territory and juxtaposing it with the toponyms and railway route of the same territory this map aims to underpin the potential locations for the new cityrail stations (see Fig. 5)

…

Narrative drawing: The spirit of the landscape. Location: Široka rijeka. Students: Andrić, O. & Božić, M. Narrative drawing is a technique that provides and represents all informal details of a place in a zoom-in scale. Through the cognitive drawing process, the narrative drawing is rethinking precise spatial situations instead of a priori accepting them as given data. In this particular case, narrative drawing is used as a technique that represents the flora and fauna characteristics of a territory Široka rijeka with an aim to examine the specific condition of a place and to establish a precise base for research and architectural intervention. Široka rijeka is one of the most valuable green landscapes in the city of Banja Luka with an abundant number of rare flora and fauna species. The master plan for this territory proposed by the city authorities implies the high-density residential development which would completely neglect the genius loci of the territory. Unlike the proposed master plan, this project aims to preserve the rare flora and fauna species on the particular territory and also to reactivate the space that surrounds them with architectural interventions that revive the genius loci (see Fig. 6)

…

Narrative drawing: Infrastructural railway optimisation. Location: Medeno polje. Students: Zorić, D., Luković, M. & Martić, B. Through the process of drawing over a photograph, narrative drawing is firstly representing the current state of a place and then unifying it with design proposal—an architectural intervention. The idea of this narrative drawing is to synthesize the existing layers of a particular railway station with proposed design elements that offer a new reading of a place. By conceptualizing the new strategy for the existing railway route (see Fig. 3), and implementing small-scale interventions (new proposals for urban design) on the territory of Medeno polje, this proposal strengthens the future expansion of the city of Banja Luka

…

Figures - available from: URBAN DESIGN International

This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.

A preview of this full-text is provided by Springer Nature.
Learn more

Preview content only

Content available from URBAN DESIGN International

This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.

Vol.:(0123456789)

URBAN DESIGN International (2022) 27:307–321

https://doi.org/10.1057/s41289-020-00148-0

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Narrative spatial analytics (NSA) inurban landscape research

anddesign

PavleStamenović1· ĐorđeBulajić1

Accepted: 28 November 2020 / Published online: 18 February 2021

Abstract

This research investigates the condition of unbuilt spaces in urban areas that reside in the interim between previous use and

not-yet-decided new development. These unbuilt spaces are considered as valuable in the context of urban landscape. In

order to acknowledge the character and quality of unbuilt spaces, design and planning procedures need to incorporate new

interpretative techniques. The proposed NSA method integrates three research-by-design techniques that enable landscape

researchers/designers to broaden the scope of disciplinary research practice. The conducted research is interdisciplinary

and stands in the intersection of two research ﬁelds in the context of scale—urban planning and architectural design. The

aim of this research is to propose the new methodological apparatus, which oﬀers a holistic view on the notion of territory

in regard to the notion of scale. The analysis takes the position that small-scale architectural design procedures and methods

also apply to the scale of the landscape—territory. The proposed method—Narrative Spatial Analytics (NSA)—is based on

simultaneous design procedures in opposing scales, assuming the overall signiﬁcance of simultaneous understanding of the

territory and the site.

Keywords Narrative spatial analytics· Landscape architecture research methods· Narrative drawing· Analytical mapping·

Architectural montage· Iterative design

Introduction

The contemporary urban context has a dual nature: the rais-

ing ecological concern serves as the metanarrative of the

ﬁrst decades of the twenty-ﬁrst century (Myerson 1997),

while the ever-growing urbanization is consuming ever-

more spatial resources. In regard to this condition, this paper

focuses on acknowledging and emphasizing the potentials

of unbuilt spaces in the context of the contemporary state

of built environments. Namely, this research focuses on the

relationship between the built and the unbuilt that together

compose the context of urban landscape. The notion of

unbuilt or informal urban greenspace—IUG (Rupprecht and

Byrne 2014a, b)—is conceptualized as the open space voids

in between the constructed environment. Also, the unbuilt

can refer to conceptual spaces and designs that have not

come to be constructed, which therefore transcend the con-

straints of physical space. In this sense, the archipelago of

these spaces holds the potential for improving the condition

of urban landscape. This attitude towards the unbuilt space

drives this research towards landscape design theory and

practice, through rethinking of the ways of improving urban

landscape without building. Furthermore, regarding urban

development, singular architectural or landscape design pro-

jects often do not communicate with a bigger scale of the

city and the territory. Therefore, in order to better under-

stand the impact and relevance of a particular architectural

design intervention, it is necessary to acknowledge broader

spatial context. On the other hand, planning framework is

often focused on quantitative data-based analytics, which

signiﬁcantly diminish the importance of qualitative char-

acteristics of a given territory. The result of this dichotomy

between the scale of design and the scale of planning is

perceived as unfavorable to the overall quality of decision-

making processes both in the ﬁeld of planning as in the ﬁeld

of design. Thus, this paper explores some concepts on inter-

disciplinary capacity of this subject, attempting to contribute

* Pavle Stamenović

pavle.stamenovic@arh.bg.ac.rs

Đorđe Bulajić

dj.bulajic.phd@edu.arh.bg.ac.rs

1 Faculty ofArchitecture, University ofBelgrade, Bulevar

Kralja Aleksandra 73/II, 11200Belgrade, Serbia

Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.

ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.

Greenways as an element of urban planning: Banja Luka case study

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2018

The continuous presence of the landscape concept in planning and design of the Banja Luka area until the end of the 20th century influenced the formation of the identity of Banja Luka as a green city. However, in the last twenty years, there is an absence of the green city concept from planning and designing of Banja Luka's area. In order to improve the state of urban greenery and achieve the satisfactory condition of the endangered landscape elements, this paper re-examines their significance for the city. The green infrastructure has ecological, social and aesthetic functions and it becomes an imperative in defining the strategic goals of a sustainable city. The study showed, that there are possibilities of increasing the size of green areas and improving the quality of green areas in the built city tissue. One of those possibilities is transformation of the existing brownfields into green areas. From the perspective of urban planning, the purpose of this paper is to point out the possibility of implementing the greenways in the city structure for the case study in Banja Luka. In this context, the research focuses on the area of the former Incel factory and the ability to transform the abandoned railways into a greenway. In this research, the sustainable spatial development context of Banja Luka is regarded as a permanent category which includes, among the others, the ambient values, the spirit of the place and the features of a green city are important for the city's inhabitants.

TRANSGRESSING SCALE Architecture and nature: ECO Station, War Island, Belgrade

Conference Paper

Full-text available

Dec 2017

The aim of this paper is to investigate the potentials of utilizing the notion of scale as a methodological tool during a process of architectural design. This design method is exercised through a framework of Architecture and Nature design studio, within the program of undergraduate studies, Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade. The major architectural challenge was the issue of scale of a design (micro) in relation to the scale of the context (macro), proposing micro design as macro concept, the overall significance of concurrent perception of the whole and its parts. The proposed design method is based on simultaneous design procedures in opposing scales. In architectural design, scale is commonly perceived as a mere tool for optimizing and communicating the project. During the course of design process, answers for each architectural question are searched for in the scale of the context (a network - topography), as well as in the scale of a detail (a dot – element). Within such a framework, students were expected to give a proposal for localized programmatic and spatial intervention that, as an impulse point, has the potential influence on and affects the ground of the overall context of the War Island. Keywords: architectural design, scale, micro-macro, nature, education

On the Idea of Montage as Form of Architecture Production

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2017

Luca Galofaro

In my work montage takes on great importance because it is an operative tool, the medium, through which to interpret my personal archive, constructing the annotations that form an interpretative Atlas of the real. Montage is the ordering principle that helps me to construct annotations. These annotations have to be hospitable, they have to encourage viewing and establish a relationship with the observer. It is important to establish a visual dialogue between the space one wants to represent, the idea that attempts to give it form and the context one tries to construct as the background. An ability to recreate a measurable space, a precise geometric structure, must be demonstrated. Which does not shape but structures the space. I see montage as a principle of order, rather than just a technique of assembly. Montage is the perfect tool to produce architectural ideas.

Applications of GIS in landscape design research

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2016

Steffen Nijhuis

Despite its widespread availability there is evidence that GIS is underused in the realm of landscape design research. Though recognized as a useful tool for mapping and planning, the potential of GIS is often still underutilized due to a lack of awareness and prejudice. This paper explores some concepts of GIS-based analysis which link to the very heart of landscape architecture in a natural and intuitive way. Hence the possibility to break down barriers of using GIS in landscape architecture this paper aims to put forward some characteristic principles of study and practice that can be made operational via GIS while cultivating spatial intelligence in landscape design through exploiting its powerful integrating, analytical and graphical capacities. In this respect educational and research institutions have an important role to play, they must take the lead in knowledge acquisition on GIS-applications and passing it on, contributing to the academic underpinning and development of a digital culture in landscape architecture.

The Narrative Turn in Urban Planning: Plotting the Helsinki Waterfront

Book

Oct 2020

Lieven Ameel

Planning as Persuasive Storytelling in the Context of 'the Network Society'

Preprint

Jul 2003

James A. Throgmorton

This article revisits Throgmorton’s 1996 claim that planning can be thought of as a form of persuasive storytelling about the future. It responds to three broad lines of critique, connects the claim to contemporary scholarship about ‘transnational urbanism’ and the ‘network society,’ and revises the author’s initial claim. This revision suggests that planners should tell future-oriented stories that help people imagine and create sustainable places. It further argues that, to be persuasive to a wide range of readers, planners’ stories will have to make narrative and physical space for diverse locally-grounded common urban narratives. It recognizes that powerful actors will strive to eliminate or marginalize competing stories.

DISCOVERING THE VERNACULAR LANDSCAPE

Article