Wholeness in architecture: an examination of the concept and a methodology for city design

Abstract

Urban settlements emerged due to the concurrence of mankind on land Mankind in its process of development, tend to increase its activities to meet the demands of day today life and hence preferred to have a central spot or place. The cities appeared as a result of this desire and hence the idea to shape and change the natural environment came to effect Cities generally are changed and shaped to become compatible with the aspirations of the living community at a given period. They are always designed, built and changed to satisfy the prevailing political, social or cultural demands. Therefore, the city is a medium through which the political, cultural and social ideas expressed to people. The expressive quality of the cities is a collective result of the components those which make the city. It is a common phenomenon that the expressive quality of the old cities are more powerful than that of the cities designed at present. Old cities display collective expressions more significantly compared to the cities designed at present despite the fact that they are also collections of individual buildings. The individual buildings of the old cities like Venice or Amsterdam could retain their individuality while contributing to the collective targets of the city. They express and communicate effectively compared to the planned out cities of the current practice