An Examination of the concept of "Spirit of the Place" case study : urban spaces in Colombo Fort

Abstract

Place is the basic psychological need of the man and the structure of the place facilitates orientation and identity of man which are the two basic needs of dwelling. If not, he gets alienated. Dwelling is of vital importance to the human existence. The important attribute of the place which is the structure of the place creates the spirit of the place which expresses through the character which is unique and distinctive spatial quality peculiar to that place differ from that of all other places. Therefore the creation, preservation and maintaining the distinctive character in human environment is very important. Chaotic urban spaces have become a crucial problem today. The urban environments seem to be lost their place identity and character becoming disordered and placeless to chaotic new developments. They are not meaningfully integrated with the existing structure. Changing needs and functions of the society affects for that. The reason for . is the lack of proper understanding of the concept of the spirit of place in the urban Apace and the factors that determine and generate them. In this situation, most essential is the identification of the concept of spirit of place and the attributes of place making. Identification of these aspects in an urban space facilitates the community living. The complex correlation is analyzed and identified through a theoretical approach. First it will search the notion of space and the concepts of place and place making. Secondly it '1 search about the concept of the spirit of place identify, the principles of it with the attributes by which these principles of place can be created. Finally this theoretically established correlation illustrates with an actual example in Sri Lanka-Colombo fort which has a genuine character due to the foreign invasions of the Portuguese, Dutch & British. Now it seems as loosing its character as the new developments. The analysis proves the existence of the spirit of the place and the relationship of it with architecture in urban spaces and in conclusion it will compare the development guidelines proposed for the Colombo Fort area by the Urban Development Authority. (UDA).