Paul Rudolph. Bond Center

YBL Journal of Built Environment

In a previous paper (Justification for ’Scrapping the Sky’, Ybl Journal of Built Environment, Vol. 7/1,) I set an overall framework for reviewing the elusive topic from its history to the state-of-theart, with a particular focus on urban design perspectives. While conducting the research, the subject offered many interesting (sometimes even surprising) findings. One of them is the so-called Hungarian connection: two epic protagonists who played a significant role in shaping the early skyline of Manhattan (Emery Roth and his sons) and Shanghai (Laszlo Hudec), respectively. Although their heritage is still striking on the ground, they seem to be not well known, particularly Roth, even among professional architects. Hence the rationale and the title of this paper.

2002

The physiognomy of the city has greatly changed in recent decades. The new urban model differs from the traditional one which was organized around a historical centre. Our study poses the question of a hypothetical link between the spatial representation the city dwellers have of the city centre and their expectations from urban centrality. Our hypothesis is that centrality is a psychological component with which the individual constructs a legible representation of the city. The study focuses on the influence of the urban structure on the way the inhabitant builds his/her spatial representation of the city according to their place of residence and on the link between their conceptual image of the city centre of the town they live with their expectations from urban centrality.

THE SIDE VIEW, 2022

This article is now online at the website of the journal THE SIDE VIEW: https://thesideview.co/journal/finding-the-center/ In this article, I highlight American architect Christopher Alexander’s concept of “center,” which offers one way to identify the crux of his work, whether thinking or designing. Most broadly, a center is any spatial concentration or organized focus of more intense pattern or activity—for example, an intricate carpet pattern, an elegant entryway, a handsome arcade, a gracious building, or an animated plaza full of users finding pleasure in the place. Whatever its specific nature and scale, a center is a region of concentrated physical and experiential order that provides for an intense spatial and lived relatedness among things, people, situations, and events. A center is “an organized zone of space … which, because of its internal coherence, and because of its relation to context … forms a local zone of relative centeredness with respect to the other parts of space." A pivotal question for Alexander is how an understanding of centers might help architects to conceive of and actualize vigorous places and environments that sustain thriving human life.

Progress in Human Geography, 2005

This paper argues that geographers have tended to neglect the substantial impact of skyscrapers on urban life. Yet the significance of these buildings -in terms of height, levels of human occupancy, aesthetic impact and popular representation and use -is in need of careful geographical interpretation. Synthesizing work from a number of disciplines -geography, social history, architecture, planning, and cultural studies -it argues that the skyscraper is an extremely complex spatial phenomenon. First, the development and diffusion of skyscrapers as a global form is considered in terms of its geographical contingency, and the relational nature of its production. Secondly, the representational nature of the form in relation to cities is discussed, including attention to cinematic, biographical and everyday practices of representation. Thirdly, the volumetric nature of the skyscraper in urban form is briefly reviewed, focusing on its differing impacts on urban space and at various physical strata of the city. Taken together, there are important urban, political, social, cultural and economic debates that underpin this apparently regularized, rationalized built form.

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, 2018

The tall building—the most popular and conspicuous emblem of the modern American city—stands as an index of economic activity, civic aspirations, and urban development. Enmeshed in the history of American business practices and the maturation of corporate capitalism, the skyscraper is also a cultural icon that performs genuine symbolic functions. Viewed individually or arrayed in a “skyline,” there may be a tendency to focus on the tall building’s spectacular or superlative aspects. Their patrons have searched for the architectural symbols that would project a positive public image, yet the height and massing of skyscrapers were determined as much by prosaic financial calculations as by symbolic pretense. Historically, the production of tall buildings was linked to the broader flux of economic cycles, access to capital, land values, and regulatory frameworks that curbed the self-interests of individual builders in favor of public goods such as light and air. The tall building looms ...

Cultural Heritage and Science, ISSN 2757-9050, 2022

The paper introduces a brief analysis of the historical processes that have contributed to the paralysis and degradation of downtown Phnom Penh (capital of Cambodia). It shows the impossibility of implementing stringent regulation in favor of negotiating practices among various urban actors based on relationships established by social and economic subordination and culturally embedded in the population. It seems that these unavoidable mechanisms should be explored to devise strategies aimed instead at the redevelopment of green space and the consequent valorization of historic real estate, creating a stimulus for the emergence of public-private cooperation capable of supporting the necessary investments. The paper discusses the actual situation in the city of Phnom Penh and tries to indicate possible solution in order to make a compromise between the conservation of the historical centers, or what is left of it, and a socially useful rehabilitation of the districts. A more pragmatic and sustainable operation will mitigate the risk of fragmentation or worse the disappearance of the historic fabric, focusing on the once-recognized identity of the city, considered a "green garden" and the "pearl of Asia." To support the analysis carried out in the paper some reference from other similar experiences in other city in the world are presented.

VLC ARQUITECTURA, 2019

Abstract: The American architect Paul Rudolph (1918-1997) conceded drawing a fundamental role in his creative process, which corresponded to a highly emotional conception of architecture. During his training and first years of work, he acquired a type of representation that allowed him to convey his personal vision of each project. His relentless will to overcome the International Style was based on six determinants: environment, natural conditions, materials, function, psychological demands of the space and spirit of times, which guided him in the search for answers and marked his work until the end of the sixties, when he achieved his creative maturity. Taking the drawing as the axis of the investigation, we analyse how these factors intervene in his residential projects in Florida, whose tectonics he conceived based on the spatial unit; in his collective housing projects, whose social facet he channelled towards urban modular groups; and in his projects of a monumental scale, whose materiality he imagined and defined accurately. In all of them spatial and constructive decisions relate intimately to his method of representation, establishing a continuous parallelism between drawing and building. Resumen: El arquitecto americano Paul Rudolph (1918-1997) concede al dibujo un papel central en su proceso creativo, que responde a una concepción altamente emocional de la arquitectura. Durante su formación y sus primeros años de trabajo, adquiere un tipo de representación que le permite transmitir una visión personal del proyecto. Su constante inquietud por la superación del estilo internacional, parte de seis factores determinantes: emplazamiento, condiciones naturales, materiales, función, psicología del espacio y espíritu de la época, que le guían en la búsqueda de respuestas y marcan su obra hasta finales de los años sesenta, cuando alcanza su madurez creativa. Tomando el dibujo como eje de la investigación, se analiza cómo intervienen estos factores en sus proyectos residenciales en Florida, cuya tectónica concibe desde la unidad espacial; en sus proyectos de vivienda colectiva, cuya componente social orienta en agrupaciones modulares urbanas; y en sus proyectos de escala monumental, cuya materialidad imagina y define con precisión. En todos ellos, las decisiones espaciales y constructivas están tan íntimamente relacionadas con su método de representación, que establecen un paralelismo constante entre dibujar y construir.

In a capitalist society, public buildings are essential social assets that balance private and civic interests while providing convenience and comfort for the entire community. The performance of public buildings is remarkable as they are related to most people instead of a handful of users/owners in the private sector. Hence, architecture of public institutions occupies a central, subtle, and decisive role in the quality and the state of civility in the city. Living in compact environments, Hong Kong people always need and aspire for more acute use of public spaces. In this local context, common space and public buildings naturally form an extension to city living. As a consequence, public buildings are becoming multi-use, multi-value and multi-level. This article is a short account of the evolution and development of the public building in Hong Kong, from the early1960s to the new millennium. It considers the historic background of the modernist movement and the socio-economic setting of the city. In chronological order, the paper delineates six examples: the City Hall (1962), Town Hall in Shatin New Town (1985), Cultural Centre (1989), Heritage Museum (2000), Central Library (2001) and Wetland Park (2006). The authors present the statistical analysis of public buildings during this period and examine the cases with established criteria of public/civic buildings. Furthermore, social background and the strategies that those designs adopted are discovered and discussed. While generally following the modernist principles, the government architects in Hong Kong adopted alternative methods to respond to the increasing societal expectations along the timeline, for example, pragmatism, neo-classicism and sustainability. It concludes by suggesting the future of the city’s public buildings in the West Kowloon Cultural District in the coming decade.