Abstract Transitional spaces existing between neighbourhood units are essential facets of communal existence that have, in the past, unknowingly contr ibuted towards creating the indispensable spatial links in the environment. These links then accomplished the integration of the smaller neighbourhood units in to a larger whole through the cues implied, to enable greater awareness and deeper understanding of one anothers' cultural mindset. Consequently such an understanding al lowed them to exist peacefully, free of conflicts. In the contemporary scene, however, the inter-neighbourhood transitional spaces have become a mere function of motion, an ordeal, instead of a wonderful spatial experience. Their potentials have been severely undetermined. Their neglect in due course has succeeded in alienating the urban dweller from his neighbourhood, forcing him to b e c o m e a stranger in his own landscape. The study is then an at tempt to reveal the importance of the inter-neighbourhood transitional space within the main realms of objective space, which is described as a changing dimension. It is further perceived as a centre, an enclosure and a continuation that would serve to enhance the placemaking process. Many q social complicat ion has surfaced because of the negligence and failure to recognise the importance of this link as an asset to modern urban living scapes. The necessities for an urban context in which the marvellously inventive solutions are viable therefore still await accep tance . ii INTER-NE1GHB0UH00D TRANSITIONAL SPACE AN EXAMINATION OF ITS INCIDENT IN PLACEMAKING WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO TRANSITIONAL SPACES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURHOOD UNITS* c. 3. Sc •ir-.-; 'i9l)9 A Dissertation presented to the Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa. Sri Lanka. As a partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Architecture SC550 9'4zs)©o. § @«B»© ¥1708 7Z , , c l = r 71708 TVA A. TAMARA FERNANDO ftS.se 1999 Acknowledgements This dissertation would never have been possible without the invaluable support given by many, to whom I am indebted and thus sincerely acknowledge. My gratitude is extended to Prof. Lai Balasuriya the Dean Faculty of Architecture. Prof. Nimal De Silva Head of Architecture department. My sincere thanks are further extended to the fifth year master, Archt. Vidura Sri Nammuni, and Archt. Ranjith Alahakoon, Archt. Chris De Sarem and Dr. L S R Perera of the sixth year. To my tutor. Dr. Ranjith Dayaratne for his words of caution, encouragement in my times of despair, his incisive comments, pat ience and inspiration given to me. I am deeply indebted to him for all his help and appreciate the time and effort extended to me in carrying out my research. To my friend and senior col league Shanthini, Mohan, Bimba, Dilshan, Priyani; my friends and senior colleagues for the material leant and whose words of encouragement and support were immeasurable. To my cousin's Sherine and husband Kushan, and Dilanka and Dinesh for the trouble taken with scanning pictures I extend my deepest gratitude. To my sis and bil and Aiya and Nikki for their cont inued support and help given in many ways thank you for being there for me at all times. To Rekha, my dearest friend who has never failed to support and encourage me in every way at all times, in the most depressing moments, I offer my deepest and most grateful thanks. To Lilantha for all the endless discussions, support, guidance and help given and for enduring with pat ience all the trying ordeals of this dissertation, I offer my deepest and most heartfelt thanks. Finally to my parents for their relentless support which was always forthcoming, and for tolerating all the inconveniences caused I a m deeply indebted. in CONTENTS p g g e # INTRODUCTION 001 Topic explanation 001 Intention of the study 003 Scope and limitations 004 Methodology 004 Terminology 005 CHAPTER ONE - THE MISSING LINK INTER NEIGHBOURHOOD TRANSITIONAL S P A C E A N D ITS EFFECT O N THE C O M M U N A L EXISTENCE 006 (4183 words) 1.1 INTER COMMUNAL EXISTENCE; NEIGHBOURHOOD AS A SIGNIFICANT HUMAN NEED 007 1.1.1 Basic human needs 007 1.1.2 Communal living as a significant human needs 008 1.1.3 Inter-communal existence; neighbourhood as an imperative for human survival 011 1.1.3.1 Perceptions of the'neighbourhood' 012 1.1.3.2 The Sri Lankan neighbourhood'unit' as an imperative for social cohesion 014 1.2 INTER-NEIGHBOURHOOD EXISTENCE AND ITS PERCEPTION OF SPACE 016 1.2.1 Public- private profiles of space 016 1.2.1.1 Subjective spaces 017 1.2.1.2 Objective spaces 018 1.2.2 Inter-neighbourhood space as an 'Objective Space' 020 1.2.1.1 Spatial Perceptions of inter-neighbourhood space 021 a) Permeability 021 b) Accessibility 022 c) Adaptability or change 022 d) Legibility 022 e) Personalisation 023 1.2.1.2 Inter- neighbourhood space as an Objective Space" for transition 023 a) Inter-neighbourhood transition 023 b) Inter-neighbourhood transitional iv s p a c e as t h e O b j e c t i v e S p a c e 024 1.3 TRANSITIONAL SPACE AS AN INTER-NEIGHBOURHOOD LINK 027 CHAPTER TWO - THE LINK A S A PLACE THE ARCHITECTURAL MANEFESTATION OF INTER-NEIGHBOURHOOD TRANSITIONAL SPACE IN PLACEMAKING 030 (3560 words) 2.1 SPATIAL DIMENSIONS OF INTER- NEIGHBOURHOOD TRANSITION 031 2.1.1 C o n c e p t o f s p a c e a n d i n t e r - n e i g h b o u r h o o d transit ion. 031 2.1.2 Dimensions of s p a c e ; I n t e r - n e i g h b o u r h o o d transition 034 2.1.2.1 Physical Dimensions 034 a) Boundar ies 034 b) Scale a n d p r o p o r t i o n 035 c) Texture a n d c o l o u r 035 d) Light a n d S h a d e 036 e) A r c h i t e c t u r a l e l e m e n t s 036 2.1.2.2 Psycholog ica l Dimensions 037 a) C e n t r e 037 b) C o n t i n u a t i o n 038 c) Enclosure 039 2.1.2.3 Funct iona l Dimensions 040 a) Social 040 b) Cul tura l c) E c o n o m i c a l 041 2.2 INTER-NEIGHBOURHOOD TRANSITION SPACE AS A 'PLACE' 042 2.2.1 P lace as a n a r c h i t e c t u r a l man i fes ta t ion of s p a c e 042 2.2.2 I n t e r - n e i g h b o u r h o o d transit ional s p a c e as a p l a c e for existential 'links' 043 2.3 PLACEMAKING IN INTER-NEIGHBOURHOOD TRANSITIONAL SPACE AS A GREATER NEED AS A GREATER NEED 050 2.3.1 P l a c e m a k i n g as a n a rch i tec tu ra l resolut ion for placelessness 045 2.3.2 P l a c e m a k i n g in i n t e r - n e i g h b o u r h o o d transit ional s p a c e 048 2.3.3 P l a c e m a k i n g in i n t e r - n e i g h b o u r h o o d transit ional s p a c e v a s a n i m p e r a t i v e for t h e o v e r a l l s e n s e of p l a c e 0 5 0 CHAPTER THREE - IN SEARCH OF THE LINK INTER-NEIGHBOURHOOD TRANSITIONAL SPACES IN NEIGHBOURHOOD UNITS (words 2330) 3.1 PREAMBLE 0 5 3 3.2 CASE STUDIES 0 5 5 3.2.1 P a n c h i k a w a t t e - M o h i d e e n M u s j e e d R o a d 0 5 5 3.2.1.1 F u n c t i o n a l d i m e n s i o n s 057 a . S o c i a l 057 b . C u l t u r a l 0 5 8 c . E c o n o m i c a l 059 3.2.1.2 O b j e c t i v e s p a t i a l p e r c e p t i o n s 0 6 0 3.2.2 S l a v e I s land 0 6 3 3.2.2.1 F u n c t i o n a l d i m e n s i o n s 0 6 5 a . S o c i a l 0 6 5 b . C u l t u r a l 0 6 5 c . E c o n o m i c a l 067 3.2.1.2 O b j e c t i v e s p a t i a l d i m e n s i o n s 067 CHAPTER FOUR - THE INTIMATE LINK INTER NEIGHBOURHOOD TRANSITIONAL SPACE AND ITS INCIDENT ON PLACEMAKING 0 7 0 (words 3950) 4.1 C h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l Analysis of i n t e r - n e i g h b o u r h o o d t r ans i t i ona l s p a c e 071 4.1.1 Analysis of O b j e c t i v e S p a t i a l a d a p t a t i o n s 071 4.1.1.1 P e r m e a b i l i t y 071 4.1.1 .2 Access ib i l i ty 0 7 4 4 .1 .1 .3 A d a p t a b i l i t y o r c h a n g e 0 7 5 4.1.1.4 Legibility 077 4 .1 .1 .5 P e r s o n a l i s a t i o n 078 4.2 Phys i ca l ana ly s i s of i n t e r - n e i g h b o u r h o o d t r ans i t i ona l s p a c e 079 4.2.1 B o u n d a r i e s 079 4.2.2 S c a l e a n d p r o p o r t i o n 082 4.2 .3 Tex tu re a n d c o l o u r 0 8 3 4.2.4 Light a n d s h a d e 0 8 5 4.2.5 A r c h i t e c t u r a l e l e m e n t s 0 8 6 vi 4.3 Perceptual analysis of Inter-neighbourhood transitional space 087 4.3.1 Inter-neighbourhood transitional space as a centre 087 4.3.2 Inter-neighbourhood transitional space as a continuation 092 4.3.3 Inter- neighbourhood transitional space as an enclosure 094 4.4 Inter-neighbourhood transitional space as the essential towards 'placemaking' of neighbourhood units 096 CONCLUSION 100 REFERENCES 103 vii ¥ List of Illustrations List of P la tes 1.1 S h a r i n g of t i d ings 0 0 9 1.2 The f r i g h t e n i n g m o d e r n real i ty 0 1 0 1.3 The i m p e r s o n a l c o n c r e t e j u n g l e 011 1.4 Mul t ip le u s e a n d s h a r i n g of s p a c e 011 1.5 The o b j e c t i v e s p a c e t u r n e d s u b j e c t i v e 0 1 7 1.6 g r o u p p r i v a t e r e a l m 0 1 8 1.7 Family p r i v a t e r e a l m 0 1 8 1.8 Ind iv idua l p r i v a t e r e a l m 0 1 8 1.9 P u b l i c r e a l m 0 1 9 1.10 G r o u p p u b l i c r e a l m 0 1 9 1.11 S e m i - p u b l i c r e a l m 0 1 9 1.12 P e r m e a b i l i t y c o n t r o l l e d p r o g r e s s i v e l y 021 1.13 The i n t i m a t e s c a l e 021 1.14 Limited a d a p t a b i l i t y 0 2 2 1.15 Highly a d a p t a b l e s p a c e 0 2 2 1.16 S p a c e for t r a d i n g a c t i v i t y 0 2 3 1.17 A c o l l e c t i v e p e r s o n a l i s a t i o n 0 2 3 1.18 W a t e r a m e a n s of t r ans i t ion 0 2 5 1.19 F u n c t i o n a l ac t iv i t i e s in p u b l i c r e a l m 0 2 6 1.20 D i m e n s i o n a l c h a n g e s b e t w e e n r e a l m s 0 2 5 1.21 Dist inct p e r s o n a l i s a t i o n in t r ans i t ion 0 2 6 1.22 N e i g h b o u r h o o d a n d i n d i v i d u a l ' s w i n d o w t o t h e w o r l d 0 2 7 1.23 Territorial Infliction 0 2 7 1.24 Colourfu l d i s p l a y s a l o n g t h e p a t h 0 2 8 1.25 T h e n e i g h b o u r h o o d unit 0 2 9 2.1 C a v e s a s b o u n d a r i e s 0 3 4 2.2 G a t e w a y s m a d e i n t i m a t e 0 3 4 2.3 E n c h a n t i n g a b o v e g r o u n d t rans i t ions 0 3 5 2.4 W a t e r a s a n e n v e l o p i n g b o u n d a r y 0 3 5 2.5 Vivid u s e of c o l o u r a n d s u r f a c e t e x t u r e 0 3 5 2.6 V a r i a t i o n in light a n d s h a d e 0 3 6 2.7 I n t i m a c y t h r o u g h a r c h i t e c t u r a l e l e m e n t s 0 3 6 2.8 Trellis - a n a r c h i t e c t u r a l e l e m e n t 0 3 6 2.9 N a t u r e ' s gift of c e n t r e 0 3 7 2 .10 C e n t r e of c o m f o r t 0 3 8 2.11 The p a t h a w e a v e b e t w e e n n e i g h b o u r h o o d units 0 3 9 2.12 E n t r a n c e t o a s e c l u d e d n e i g h b o u r h o o d 0 3 9 V l l l 2 .13 S o c i a l e v e n t s b e t w e e n n e i g h b o u r h o o d units 0 4 0 2.14 Rel igious festivities c e l e b r a t e d in t r ans i t i ona l s p a c e s 0 4 0 2 .15 The river- a m e a n i n g f u l c e n t r e of e c o n o m i c ac t i v i t y 041 2 .16 M e a n i n g f u l c u e s - self e x p r e s s i o n 0 4 3 2.17 The link a s a p l a y s p a c e 0 4 3 2 . 1 7 a The m e a n i n g f u l link in c h a n g i n g d i m e n s i o n s 0 4 4 2 .18 The superf ic ia l ly p l a n n e d n e i g h b o u r h o o d s 0 4 5 2.19 The d e a d a n d rigid r o a d s y s t e m s 0 4 5 2 .20 The p l a c e in t h e link 0 4 7 2.21 V a n d a l i s m in i n t e r - n e i g h b o u r h o o d t r ans i t ion 0 4 8 2.22 S e n s e of b e l o n g i n g 0 4 8 2 .23 A p a u s e in m o v e m e n t 0 5 0 2 .25 Your w o r l d a n d m i n e 051 3.1 The e x t e n d e d c o m m u n i t y c e n t r e 0 5 7 3.2 The c o n t i n u o u s l ine of s h o p s 0 5 7 3.3 The w a t c h f u l e y e of d w e l l e r s 0 5 8 3.4 W e s p e c i a l i s e in m o t o r v e h i c l e s p a r e p a r t s ' 0 6 0 3.5 The b u s y n o d a l a c c e s s of S a n g a r a j a M a w a t h a 0 6 0 3.6 The p e d e s t r i a n a c c e s s c a r v e d o u t 0 6 0 3.7 The t e m p o r a r y e c o n o m i c c e n t r e 061 3.8 The sma l l t e a kiosk 061 3.9 The a l l ey a m e a n s of i n t e r a c t i o n 0 6 2 3.10 The c h u r c h , t h e B o - t r e e sh r ine a t S l a v e Is land 0 6 5 3.11 H indu t e m p l e - d i r e c t i o n a l links 0 6 6 3.12 Fest ival of V e s a k c e l e b r a t e d 0 6 6 3 .13 The bus t l i ng c o m m e r c i a l ac t iv i ty 0 6 7 3.14 The d i r e c t p h y s i c a l a n d v isual links wi th p u b l i c r e a l m 0 6 7 3 .15 D i r e c t i o n a l links 0 6 8 3.16 Beira- n e g a t i v e r e s p o n s e 0 6 8 3.17 W e a v e d e x c i t i n g p e d e s t r i a n links 0 6 9 4.1 V e r g e a t M a r a d a n a 071 4.2 C o n v e r g i n g p o i n t s a t M u s j e e d r o a d t o Sri S a n g a r a j a 071 4.3 P e r m e a b i l i t y m a i n t a i n e d 0 7 2 4.4 V a r i e d p e r m e a b i l i t y a n d c o n t i n u i t y 0 7 2 4.5 The p e r m e a b i l i t y of t h e i n n e r s a n c t u m 0 7 2 4.6 Twisting p a t h s wi th d i r e c t i o n a l links 0 7 3 4.7 The i n s u r a n c e c o r p . a d i r e c t i o n a l g u i d e 0 7 3 4.8 Access ib i l i ty res t r ic t ions 0 7 4 4.9 p e n e t r a t i o n in t o t h e n e i g h b o u r h o o d units 0 7 4 IX V. 4.10 I n t e n s e p e d e s t r i a n ac t i v i t y of s e m i - p u b l i c r e a l m 0 7 5 4.11 V e n d i n g s p o t s o n i n fo rma l c o r n e r 0 7 5 4.12 P lay s p a c e in i n t e r - n e i g h b o u r h o o d t r ans i t ion 0 7 6 4 .13 The d w e l l e r s s p e c i a l i s e d t r a d e a c t i v i t y 0 7 7 4.14 Es tab l i sh ing p o t e n t i a l for s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n 0 7 7 4 .15 Bustling d a y t o d a y ac t iv i t i e s 0 7 7 4 .16 The n o d e w i th c o m m e r c i a l ac t iv i t i e s is t h e link 0 7 8 4.17 'My n e i g h b o u r h o o d ' 0 7 9 4 .18 S t rong ly d e f i n e d b o u n d a r i e s 0 7 9 4.19 S p a c e l imi ta t ions- b o t t l e n e c k v e r t i c a l g r o w t h 081 4.20 V e r t i c a l e x p a n s i o n - e x c i t i n g p o t e n t i a l s 0 8 2 4.21 I d e n t i f i a b l e uniformity of c o l o u r 0 8 3 4.22 Textura l v a r i a t i o n 0 8 3 4 .23 C o l o u r v a r i a t i o n s a t t h e v e r g e 0 8 4 4.24 M a t e r i a l s d e f i n e a s o c i a l s t a t u s 0 8 4 4 .25 Light p e n e t r a t i o n f rom wi th in 0 8 5 4.26 Light p e n e t r a t i o n a t t h e v e r g e of t r ans i t i ona l z o n e 0 8 5 4.27 Nice ly s h a d e d a r e a s p r o v i d e a m b l e p l a y s p a c e 0 8 5 4 .28 A r c h i t e c t u r a l e l e m e n t s 0 8 6 4.29 C e n t r e s of e x i s t e n c e a l o n g a n a l l ey 0 8 7 4.30 The r e c u r r i n g c e n t r e s 0 8 8 4.31 C e n t r e s of s p e c i f i c a c t i v i t y 0 8 9 4.32 The w a t e r s o u r c e , p l a y s p a c e a n d d r y i n g s p a c e 0 8 9 4 .33 E c o n o m i c s c e n t r e s e s t a b l i s h e d o v e r t h e y e a r s 0 9 0 4 .34 T e m p o r a r y s h e d a s p r a y s p a c e 091 4 .35 B a t h i n g s p a c e s 091 4 .36 A c o n t i n u a t i o n b e t w e e n t w o r e a l m s 0 9 2 4.37 E c o n o m i c ac t i v i t i e s t r ansp i r ing o v e r t h e y e a r s 0 9 3 4 .38 E n c l o s u r e t o c o m m o n a r e a 0 9 4 4.39 Beira e d g e n a t u r a l l y e n c l o s e s t h e s p a c e 0 9 5 4 .40 The m o b i l e o u t l e t s 0 9 7 4.41 The c o n f i n e d p l a y a r e a s u s e d mul i tp ly 0 9 7 4.42 The e s s e n t i a l link 0 9 8 List of Figures 1.1 I d e n t i f i a b l e n e i g h b o u r h o o d leve l s 0 1 2 1.2 The n e i g h b o u r h o o d in a p l a n n e r s def in i t ion 0 1 3 1.3 N e i g h b o u r h o o d uni t a t P a n c h i k a w a t t e 0 1 5 1.4 P u b l i c p r i v a t e profi le of s p a c e 0 1 6 1.5 Ident i fy ing i n t e r - n e i g h b o u r h o o d t r ans i t ion 0 2 4 x 2.1 The c e n t r e e n c l o s u r e a n d c o n t i n u a t i o n 037 2.2 The p l a n e s of d i r e c t i o n 038 3.1 L o c a t i o n of s e l e c t e d u r b a n n e i g h b o u r h o o d s 053 3.2 The l a r g e r r e s i d e n t i a l n e i g h b o u r h o o d 055 3.3 The c o l l e c t i o n of l o c a l e n e i g h b o u r h o o d s 056 3.4 E c o n o m i c d a t a of P a n c h i k a w a t t e r e s i d e n c e 059 3.5 The n e i g h b o u r h o o d iden t i f i ed b y p r i m a r y n o d a l a c c e s s 063 3.6 R e s i d e n t i a l z o n e s f r a g m e n t e d a n d d i s a r r a y e d 064 4.1 Typica l n e i g h b o u r h o o d unit a t a c o n v e r g i n g p o i n t 080 4.2 D i m e n s i o n a l v a r i a t i o n of t r ans i t i ona l s p a c e 080 4.3 Typica l n e i g h b o u r h o o d uni t a t c o n v e r g i n g p o i n t s 081 4.4 D i m e n s i o n a l v a r i a t i o n of t r ans i t i ona l s p a c e s 081 4.5 The d i m e n s i o n a l v a r i a t i o n s of p l a c e s 099 A