Diverse morphology : a study of Chancery Square

Abstract

The design of the urban environment is a challenging and complex exercise. The way people experience and use public open spaces is a valuable source of information for planning our cities. Indeed, understanding how these urban spaces are used and perceived by their occupants can provide a platform for learning and testing their adequacy and success. Based on research conducted in downtown Auckland – at the Chancery Square project – this paper investigates the way urban compositions influence our perceptions of space, and the effects spatial elements have psychologically on their occupants. The paper identifies urban aspects that stimulate the use and perception of such open spaces; in particular, enclosure, the outdoor room, datum lines, here and there, compression, release, deflection of sightlines and occupied territory