Responsive Environment Grp. 9

RESPONSIVE
ENVIRONMENT
GROUP MEMBERS:
FRANCISCO, RALPH MENARD F.

UNATING, JANELLE P.
GALSIM, JOHN JOMAR J.
Lesson Overview
Introduction to Responsive Environment

7 Qualities of Responsive Environment
Permeability
Variety
Legibility
Robustness
Visual Appropriateness
Richness
Personalisation
RESPONSIVE ENVIRONMENT
We are concerned with those areas of
design which most frequently seem to go
wrong. As a starting point, we are
interested in why modern architecture and
urban design are so often criticized as
inhuman and repressive, despite the high
social and political ideals shared by so
many influential designers over the last
hundred years. The tragedy of modern
design, it seems to us, is that designers
never made a concerted effort to work out
the form implications of their social and
political ideals.
An effective urban layout can be
seen to the response of its
environment. The seven design
quality shown in the book
Responsive Environment by Ian
Bentley, that the activity of
users could influenced by many
factors such as access and
space zoning.
How does design affect choice?
The design of a place affects the
choices people can make, at many
levels:
• it affects where people can go, and
where they cannot.
• it affects the range of uses
available to people.
• it affects how easily people can
understand what opportunities it
offers.
• it affects the degree to which
people can use a given place for
different purposes.
• it affects whether the detailed
appearance of the place makes
people aware of the choices
available.
• it affects people’s choice of sensory
experiences.
• it affects the extent to which people
can put their own stamp ‘on a place.
7 QUALITIES OF RESPONSIVE
ENVIRONMENT
1. PERMEABILITY
 Permeability is designing the

overall layout of routes and
development blocks.
1. PERMEABILITY
Nowadays urban environment faces a huge
problem with regards to permeability.
Urban areas suffer from traffic and
countless number of pedestrian and car
accident. This concludes that the design
for the overall layout of routes and
development blocks for urban areas fail
this because the designer fails to consider
some important factors or only designed th
e layout for acertain time line.
THE DECLINE OF PUBLIC PERMEABILITY
Three current design trends work

against permeable public space:
- increasing scale of development.
- use of hierarchical layouts.
- pedestrian/vehicle segregation.
2. VARIETY
The objective of variety is to maximize the
variety of users in the project. In designing, an
architect always has a macro and micro
analysis of the site to indicate the actors that
could affect the project. The two analyses are
significant in assigning the zoning of different
spaces. In macro analysis we always use the
city Comprehensive Land Use Plan; the plan
indicates the different zones in the whole city.
DIFFERENT LEVELS OF
VARIETY
Variety of use unlocks the other levels of
variety:
a place with varied uses has varied building

types, of varied forms.
it attracts varied people, at varied times, for
varied reasons.
because the different activities, forms and
people provide a rich perceptual mix, different
users interpret the place in different ways.
3. LEGIBILITY
Legibility is designing the massing of
the buildings, and the enclosure of
public space.
Legibility shows the city as a one
big plan, it also shows the blocking
of building and its accessibility to
the users.
KEY PHYSICAL ELEMENTS
• PATHS
Paths are amongst the most significant
of these elements. They are channels of
movement - alleys, streets, motorways,
railways and the like - and many people
include them as the most important
features in their images of the city.
• NODES
Nodes are focal places, such as
junctions of paths: examples extend
from roundabouts to market squares.
• LANDMARKS
In contrast to nodes, which can be
entered, landmarks are point
references which most people
experience from outside.
• EDGES
Edges are linear elements which are
either not used as paths, or which
are usually seen from positions
where their path nature is obscured.
• DISTRICTS
Paths, nodes, landmarks and
edges constitute the skeleton of
the urban image, which is
fleshed out with areas of less
strongly differentiated urban
fabric.
4. ROBUSTNESS
Robustness is designing the spatial
and constructional arrangement of
individual buildings and outdoor
places.
Robustness indicates the flexibility

of a certain place for future
exchange of use. This is more focus
on individual buildings and outdoor
places.
5. VISUAL APPROPRIATENESS
This quality focuses in the pattern of
building in the city. Each building
should have harmony to each other
by sharing some common
characteristics.
Visual appropriateness is particularly
important in the places which are
most likely to be frequented by
people from a wide variety of
different backgounds; particularly
when the place's appearance cannot
be altered by the users themselves.
What makes the visuals
appropriate?
The interpretations people give to a place
can reinforce its responsiveness at three
different levels:
o by supporting its legibility, in terms of

form and
o by supporting its variety.
o by supporting its robustness, at both
large and use. small scales.
6. RICHNESS
Richness is developing the design for
sensory choice.
This quality is much detailed than

visual appropriateness. It indicates
what specific place in the area
should be highlighted, what kind of
materials should be used and how it
will go to achieve to give a sensible
place for the users.
DESIGN FOR ALL SENSES
For most people, sight is the dominant
sense. Most of the information we
handle is channeled through our eyes.
But richness is not a purely visual
matter. Other senses also have design
implications:
- the sense of motion

- the sense of smell
- the sense of hearing
- the sense of touch
7. PERSONALISATION
The design quality allows the users

to create a space for their own
choice but not exceeding the
property line and trespassing a rule
and regulation.
THE END

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RESPONSIVE

FRANCISCO, RALPH MENARD F.

Introduction to Responsive Environment

 Permeability is designing the

Three current design trends work

- increasing scale of development.

- use of hierarchical layouts.

a place with varied uses has varied building

Robustness indicates the flexibility

o by supporting its legibility, in terms of

This quality is much detailed than

- the sense of motion

The design quality allows the users

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