A Responsive street edge as a step towards place making

Abstract

The context of the study is the Street Edge. What is the Street Edge? The very thought of the street edge brings about a perception which includes two major forces that can be defined as the physical element and the social element. In this study the simple idea of the context which is the street edge is looked into within this logical frame of mind. Where the site of the designer is the street edge. The question what is the street edge? Would be the constituents of the site. As described by Habraken, in his book 'Transformation of the site' the site has material, space, form, place and an understanding. The site is space and material: Form, Place and understanding Make the site." In this study the material is looked into as elements of the built environment as the most basic physical components and then the form as the creation of a collection of such materials or elements and the space as what is defined by such forms and then the understanding interpreted as human responsiveness creates place. Therefore the understanding of the study would be that man responding to elements, forms and space creates place. This is the framework of the mind and is used as the framework for the study. In the light of its physical attributes it can be discussed in terms of its physical form and shape and the spaces it creates. In the light of its social attributes it can be discussed according to its social and cultural meaning which in architectural terminology constitutes the idea of "a place'. Therefore it is understood that the street edge constitutes of 'space' and 'place'.