Notes on Expression and Communication in the Cityscape Author(s): Gyorgy Kepes Source: Daedalus, Vol. 90, No.

1, The Future Metropolis (Winter, 1961), pp. 147-165 Published by: The MIT Press on behalf of American Academy of Arts & Sciences Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20026645 . Accessed: 23/09/2013 13:51
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GYORGY KEPES Notes Expression and Communication on

in the Cityscape

Our

to a small body of explicit sym in addition exhibits, or otherwise or tags, verbally bols?the coded, orientationally signs delivered or otherwise with directed, messages by unequivocal as vast body of implicit symbols of all kinds. visual means?a Just our to the way in which we respond to our environment gives shape and our arts and our arts, our social structures social structures our responses to our en of the mute of testimony quality provide all shades of that we can read?with vironment. This is testimony to our own aptness in proportion clarity and depth of understanding, of response to the objects and events that we encounter. this mute At its simplest level, the implicit symbol that provides from is the almost explicit testimony indistinguishable sign?for the officially accredited example, the initialed sweater that proclaims Such sweaters and such initials, our society agrees, college athlete. are the conventional indexes by which we are to recognize men who in physical the Phi themselves have distinguished sport. Similarly, attainment. mental Beta Kappa key proclaims socially recognized There are other indexes that, if less official, are equally socially have their uniforms of horsehide Juvenile delinquents generated. are bearded; and boots; beatniks jackets, belt buckle, blue jeans, wear crew cuts, soft-tailored tweed jackets, and undergraduates as our conventions slim trousers. We absorb these accultura part of trained tion. In a different context of visual meaning, archeologists, internal evidence of style in historically evolved forms, through the can determine within a decade or two the date of a of piece statuary or a carved bit of tracery. No matter how modern the guise, a church as a church, because is recognized of the persistence by everyone of familiar trends that go as far back as the era of Constantine. And society 147

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GYORGY KEPES a bank as a bank even more now than we did recognize easily the outer trappings of Greek the inner banks wore temples; is and still vault desk of the counters, same, tables, door, array giant into more elemental and and the colors, shapes although purified vast expanse of glass now permits us to see this inner structure di or the road. rectly from the sidewalk our memories, Our immediate the experiences trigger releasing our stored from into the focus cognate images experience temporary a relation between our present and our and establishing of awareness true of our individual, uncommuni past. This is obviously personal, is true it the but of cated experience, also that stored-up experience we share with other persons of our condition?our our profession, town, our income bracket, our political party, our religion, our na some Some images are common tion, our century. images, symbols, common men could not have common Without symbols, symbols. them men have evolved very far above the animal level; but with mere a or in five six thousand from years gone simple to ever more or standardization, The levels. social of such socialization, complex as the or the thickness of the human of foot divisions length spatial of a stone became unit thumb or the weight the human spatial or unit meas unit measurements, measurements, monetary weight to the selected urement connective index, or symbolic according the social of and thus basis characteristic, establishing technology we when
science.

life?the Foci of common the community church family home, or school?command the individual and collective respect of the common as as house it. In life involved. well group They symbolize our awareness, to concrete such shape symbols give rise to giving our and creating forms, molding expressive, manifestly significant arts and rituals. Monumental?self-consciously impressive?archi tecture arose many thousands of years ago out of the need felt to call to the place where men met to deal with their attention important to the Athenian common From Stonehenge from problems. Agora, to the United Nations the place of the Forum Romanum building, been formed by the power of impressive assembly has formed and to need and have varied according forms to The design. according considered to of the different necessary type cooperative activity of course, the radius of group group survival. Over the centuries, The different scales of a New has increased. involvement England Plaza indicate changing concepts of human common and Rockefeller the range of interest that these urban but, whatever cooperation; forms may express, there can be no doubt that they perform a sym 148

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Notes bolic and,

on

Expression They are

and Communication

in the Cityscape

function. as such,

images not be

belong of this world, or controlled. guided

a common symbols of perceptual reality, to a common world. the Without symbolic the growth of the urban environment could

Juxtaposition of Symbols
In the visual field, particularly in the successive we images that our in the of offers environment, perceive juxtaposition images the most potent The contrast of the symbolic qualities. towering cathedral with the cluster of small dwellings in a medieval city had a some of the In cities of the Near East, the symbolic quality. great undifferentiated of the offset bleak, desert, long span by the flam a the richness of clustered created boyant buildings, perceptual tension with great In our cities, the juxta power. symbol-evoking of busy with tranquil position of very large with very small buildings, than simple expressions of variety. areas, are more Contemporary in a restrained, almost inhuman urban dwellers living setting usually welcome that can be introduced. every sign of the natural world than a pleasant means Central Park is more for escaping the busy ness of the a its in with frame of high city; juxtaposition surrounding it is a symbol of the richness and of buildings strength metropolitan or existence. It is self-evident that the architect cannot planner create this scale with such of consciously grand poetry symbolic of the power and but, on the other hand, awareness juxtapositions; if we are to of contrasting forms is necessary meaning guide the a rich numerous In intricate of the and visual poetic city. shaping that the its offers sequence city relationships population, meanings are in accordance with the structure of the sequence conveyed path that we follow. We read the personality of a man through observing the sequence of his expressions and actions. We read the character of the cityscape in the same way. A single-cell organism is on immediately dependent its environment, and has no means of controlling it. when cells Only grow into complex masses do they develop a fixed internal organiza or disturbance tion capable of protecting them from in the change In this complex a external environment. is there of division stage the a with of In labor, specific organs coordinated. functioning a social similar Under primitive state, complex structuring develops. are free to move. individuals In the complex conditions, production the division of our civilization, of labor and the physical processes stability of the work place bring about a relative fixation of the 149

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Notes

on

Expression

and Communication

in the Cityscape

in the group. His mobility is a highly limited one. From individual to work, from work to home, from home to shopping, the indi vidual follows a defined path at a specified time. Each path of travel The basic unit of our urban vision, offers its characteristic challenge. not is the fixed spatial location but the transportation accordingly, defined pattern of a sequence of vistas. Let us compare the succession of impressions from opposite direc commuter A tions in a sequence takes the same experience. usually route in entering and leaving the city, but the elements of the se are reverse in sees order. he calm, well quence experience Entering, then the industrial then the belt of suburbia; outskirts; groomed slums; then the heavy traffic and kaleidoscopic variety of the business area. In the sequence each shift of vista conveys The jump meaning. from the tidy, pastoral quality of the suburban area to the garbage dumps and smoke rings of the industrial outskirts inevitably gives rise to some feeling in the perceptive traveler. Going home, he finds simi scenes of that the from the power-suggestive indus sequence larly of trial plants to the inhuman substandard the industrial dwellings in The same form elements, slums is charged with larger meanings. home reverse order, evoke different responses. The succession of distances elements of sym and the strength of the impacts are compositional bolic significance. a It is evident that without of the environment major restructuring But an analysis of their this chain of images cannot be modulated. tools for and, possibly, impacts can bring significant understanding awareness the environment. and An of of parts shaping controlling evoked in the spectator by certain sequence the qualities of meaning elements would help him to develop relations of morphological the a for sound is There necessary sensitivity forming judgments. new can be understood creative of formation that keyboard potential with the aid of technical tools, such as motion pictures, and itmay be of used with increasing scope. A careful survey of the relationships in succession is the necessary form elements Sequential beginning. relations of open and closed space, high and low buildings, rich or sim forms, and the many ple surfaces, natural features and man-created can be studied, recorded, and in order other variables, manipulated to gain some feeling for the expressive inherent in the qualities in the sequence chain. Regular features and irregular juxtaposed or of different sequences space contrapuntal rhythmical changes, and interpreted. have to be recorded The range is too distances, are means vast to be brought down to experimental testing, but there these processes. for helping us to understand 150

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Notes Because

on

Expression

and Communication

in the Cityscape

of the enlarged scale and increased complexity of the one as an core central civic of environment, expression metropolitan is insufficient for all purposes. is an increasing connectedness There need to express in symbolic form not one cooperative act, but the of the whole urban field. Architectural interrelatedness history sug a common to all cultures: the emphasizing of struc gests procedure the elements. To reveal functions of the turally important cooperative master structural members, and architects builders have separate the primary weight-carrying at accented the members, especially critical points of their function. There in the is a similar possibility broader scale of city structure. Dominant functional areas that reveal can effort be also articulated cooperative significant by decorative means to the scale and dimensions the of appropriate city. In our are areas various the The undefined. basic char present cityscape life is interdependence, of our present but the molding are this of still expressive symbols interdependence missing. in which effective distance The exploded space of the metropolis depends upon the mode of travel and in which vast areas and popu lations become linked in a single urban fabric makes the unit building or unit area a less important symbol than in the past. We must find acteristic substitutes and expressive of these new contemporary symbols is dimensions. This difficult when the dynamic especially parts of the are unclear; often one a suburban when in drives from city today, center of a residential area to the working the sequence of scenes city, are lost, and its is chaotic, its links connecting symbolic significance is stillborn. What is actually expressed is chaotic, haphazard growth. But the city's parts can be made clear, and a restudy of the sequence can offer new of vistas in expressive continuities symbols. Sharp accents signifying character two areas give between changes legibility and underline the structural logic of the total urban scene. The or of closed color schemes, open spaces, changing heights buildings, or the alternation of intense, vibrating shopping areas and disciplined can express in and public squares meaning through their connections. A new art form of our century is the a device collage, by which most materials from the are fields into a heterogeneous brought but complementing The cityscape ensemble. is to some contrasting a counterpart of the collage, in which the contrast and degree variety of the elements produces a vitality tension and the potential through of structure. the cooperation of architects, Through designers, paint ers, and sculptors skilled in the expressive nature of forms, a wealth of new architectural color, and textural values can be brought devices, into play. We must learn to make every building expressive, not just 151

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GYORGY KEPES and structural principles, but by the nature of the life by its material it serves. Secure on this level of small units, the next step would be to the spatial relations with each other and group the buildings where with the ground could form a broader scale of differentiation by means The of a common of a building should spirit. individuality the expressive form of a group of This cooperate with buildings. can be of the articulation to include expressive cityscape expanded the districts, areas, and sections. features, By defining characteristic can be made manifest. interest variety that exists latently Redirecting would toward differentiation of visual dis inevitably bring qualities tinction to the fore. If the spatial network of a city is logical and its physical patterning clear and legible, then the people will be able to perform their com is a threshold beyond which social There plex activities efficiently. intercourse Our becomes processes simple perceptual impossible. select and edit the complex visual field until a meaningful hierarchy in the intricate pattern of group of significant shapes arises. Similarly, in an extended communication environment there is a need to break up the complex field into distinct groups and units and then relate them in a functional and logical pattern. The bigger the city area, the the component streets, greater the need to make parts (buildings, in character and with clearly defined boundaries. districts ) distinct not only in their individual must be sensed characteristics but They as a part of the over-all a The of pattern. background individuality or must in its unit also be realized functional connectedness group with the social, economic, and cultural whole of the city. Thus, the must not only take the of the urban environment physical makeup units into consideration, but these distinctly individual perceived in their relation to the spatial separate features must also be grasped and functional fibers of the whole. The increasing differentiation of the city offers a wide variety a scenes. Each city possesses total personality, of yet it contains a broad spectrum of individually units. The characteristic increasing scope of the living space of a city brings a greater variety of stimula and vistas to explore and If the city can tion, opportunities, exploit. be structured and unified, the increase in be therefore, complexity comes an asset. No richness is added, however, mere the through of identical units or areas. a differ multiplication Only disciplined entiation of the city offers perceptual as such to contribute challenges a city environment that is emotionally and intellectually stimulating. between The difference the impact of continuous on the challenge and on the organic level is a mechanical in clearly put phrase from 152

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Notes on Expression and Communication

in the Cityscape

thin through use, "The soles of our shoes wear D'Arcy Thompson: our feet become but the soles of strong through it." The challenge from a well created by the wide range of stimulations coming is environment and at the same time well-articulated differentiated an in richness of experi important factor in the growth of knowledge, ence, and in civic connectedness. must be purposeful. The variation Differentiation in character areas to consistent has be with articu otherwise realities; among city lation becomes tiresome repetition. Extreme contrasts?for example, a residential and an impoverished the contrast between slum wealthy a gap too wide because articulation of for and area?defy bridging nar attenuate the the of But open squares, they city. potential unity a business area, or a well-sheltered row streets, a resi tranquil park, are more more dential section?all perceived clearly, intensely, and more characteristically if they are in proper proportion to one another in size and distance, and in proper order in the sequential circulation In the artistic varied have to be of elements creation, any pattern city. a common a to A in must structure which a find city brought goal. is brought into a common functioning whole wide range of elements boundaries, contrasting through gradations, repeated rhythmically A well-harmonized basic spatial pattern can be greatly similarities. or in manipulating them group life, mixing people, helpful keeping same as necessary. it At the is time, however, separated, imperative that this pattern be flexible enough to permit new orientation via im new in and custom, groupings. proved technology, changes A city form that has such unity does more than facilitate the life inner logic, and harmony of units in an urban within it. The richness, In a certain sense, there arises an environment function symbolically. to increases sensitivity artistic creation that stimulates sensibilities, transforms attitudes. and surroundings,

Articulating
Every (1) The

the City: The Process

schematization follows this sequence. process of high-level of stress into the unstructured introduction field yields a units are read of the (2) Component figurai pattern. figurai pattern we aware of their the establishment become of boundaries; through The the parts of the structure. is of the read (3) connexity parts of the links among them. (4) The struc through the determination ture itself is read through integrating the parts in their connexity. a structure of the the field low-level struc becomes Thus, high-level
ture.

153

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GYORGY KEPES structure of the urban environment into bring the symbolic to From the the (1) sequence. per following legibility according we resolve such units as ceptual field of the urban environment to our streets, squares, neighborhoods, sections, houses, according We read the the of their features. bound of (2) grasp individuality define aries?rivers, walls, gaps, changes of form or expression?that aware we structure. the the become of these units. Thus parts of city of the parts in terms of their bonds and read the connexity (3) We links?on the one hand, the traffic arteries and rail and transit lines We the life blood of the city; on the other, that collect and distribute and long inclusive vistas. tunnels, doors, windows, (4) The bridges, are read as a common structure?the in their connexity parts together intrinsic symbol of the urban whole. symbolic form, the of New York is due largely to the exciting The "New-Yorkness" areas. Fifth Avenue, its constituent Central of Park, the variety East the United Nations building, Harlem, Greenwich River, Village, Wall Street, etc., together make up what we perceive as New York the we may toy with the idea of one city. In our imagination leaving out or another of these areas, thus changing the composite character of of the city, we may New York. To test our sense of the wholeness a series our in the and further carry game imagination gradually delete certain evident that eliminating of successive parts. It soon becomes a a not size of but parts of New York implies only change change of If we played the same game with a city like Los Angeles, character. the deletion whose of some of them parts are less differentiated, would mean more of a change in size than in character. We may carry on this instead of leaving out imaginary game in another direction: can a cer we them. We will try relocating parts, inevitably discover tain logic of growth expressed by the present structural configuration. areas is an the variety of characteristic Evidently, integral part of New one and York. The boundaries between another region are consequent and belong to its structural expressiveness. The communication path has less symbolic years essential have witnessed transformations for recent significance, the without altering

major characteristics of the metropolitan whole. smaller Many cities, however, have resisted the passage of new throughways bypass entail not only an economic ing the center of the city, for this would character. but also a major shift in expressive displacement In the town small enough to be grasped in a clear structural the communication and transportation network tells us the pattern, most. The larger the city, the more significant the differentiation of its a their On and links. visual level, the boundaries, parts, connecting 154

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Notes

on

Expression

and Communication

in the Cityscape

network as a whole becomes conceptual, increasingly transportation a abstracted from immediate visual legibility. of question cartography can become network Nevertheless, key parts of the transportation or other their stations, style: bridges, autographic symbolic through details. A bus stop in Boston ismarked by a band on a pole, in New York by a sidewalk standard. A Metro entrance with its art-nouveau run in in Boston. character means Paris. Trolleys subway tubes only not open station is sui The does door The Moscow generis. subway it must in the London open you yourself. underground; automatically in age further enrich the characterizing Differences parts. In, let us say, a small New town composed England largely of historically a a few new buildings may provide too sudden meaningful buildings, a to effect. of instead the have contrast, and, total, may jarring adding areas In a large metropolis, where historic growth has characteristic a one new is absorbed in a to the age rings of tree, each comparable continuum and adds to the rich connected visually and meaningful or sections have no formal ness of the whole. The new buildings one another in structural connections with the total but complement an or the United Na sense. The Lever Brothers building enriching tions building in New York may bring a shift of emphasis but always within the total field. On the other hand, the John Hancock building a contrast to the smaller scale of its surround in Boston is too abrupt a and unbalanced factor. Philadelphia, ings and is thus disturbing in visible finks connecting like Boston, abounding the modern super its and with past, has de city early nineteenth-century eighteentha master plan for ensuring the survival of these historic links veloped in the symbolic patterning of the burgeoning metropolis.

Articulating

the City: The Connections

or any opening between enclosed The door, the window, spatial on the actual units is an index to the freedom of movement possible on the visual level, to the freedom of the eye to wander physical or invented level. There are numerous devices men have discovered that bridge separate, bounded spatial regions. or the door has another important feature as well: The window it can be regulated, that is, it can be a part of the fence or barrier when it is closed, or it can function on its own terms when it acts as an the strength, the degree of opening The height, the width, opening. are also indexes of the opportunities for freedom of traffic. The link or areas a defined between path helps to articulate spatially spatial a di This may be an extended door or window providing continuum. 155

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GYORGY KEPES rect transition from one place to another; itmay be an extended transi areas. Roads, tion actually tunnels, air incorporating spatial bridges, river routes, rotaries, or overpasses, paths, subways, underpasses, are such patterns; connect cloverleafs they regions by concentrating traffic. Utilities and communications have corre and distributing water distribution pipes, telegraph and sponding paths: power lines, and television channels. Here the fines, radio again, telephone are or eatures certain events in visible f the indexes of actual potential or communication. a wide range of transportation They may have in different geometries. spatial configuration and links are important of the Boundaries, aspects openings, intrinsic symbolism of the urban environment. Their specific char to the life pattern?all acters, their esthetic features, their references constitute important elements of the symbolic structure. The degrees are determined between of relationship boundaries and openings by the type of life associated with them and are expressive of the values a well-fenced and aspirations of the group. The differences between in fluid space show clear differences suburban area and an unfenced A confining, restrained human attitudes. subdivision of space ex in a typical class, a caste, or a presses a lack of a sense of community Condensed without space, group. prestige rigid isolation devices, facilitates and expresses aspects of community life. have said above, single factors become intrinsic symbols these spatial only through their structural connectedness. Naturally, devices gain meaning to what they divide or only through reference are boundaries connect. The boundaries of characteristic spatial areas. The interior of a house and the garden outside are particular are their dividing boundaries types of surroundings; meaningful only in terms of what they separate. a is there Today, growing tendency to in which the boundaries between the inside and the design houses are outside minimized. Structural devices of the house accent the structure of the outside, den. On the other hand, inside the building. This semi-fusion reasons. As for example, walls landscape elements that extend assume an into the gar important role As we

is justified for spatial atmospheres enabled the of many knowledge production thermal with and illumination the old control, buildings heavy in order to give a feel masonry protective walls became unnecessary ing of shelter. On the other hand, as the increasingly mechanized isolated us from the rich fluctuation world of the organic world, the arose to borrow as much as need from nature psychological possible to make urban life acceptable. Here again, the structural combina technical 156

of two distinct

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Notes

on

Expression

and Communication

in the Cityscape

tions of the space areas, with their defining or connecting devices, are and values of contemporary of the needs, attitudes, characteristic man. In the broader urban pattern, similar needs may be recognized. it to protect The city is no longer an enclosed territory with walls a It to is that needs from an outside enemy. spatial pattern fight isolation from fresh air, sun against the internal enemy of complete links, and openings shine, and open space. Boundaries, connecting a new structure are in This is again a structured pattern. being certain values. form emerging expressing symbolic

Traffic and Symbolic Form

of the city's struggle to preserve Traffic is a major battleground it may continue to exist, the human life within itself as a place where to grow, and to encompass its organic and symbolic ends. Traffic and are a factor of confusion in our attempts to the parking of vehicles articulate the city form. form relation among those stable elements in the historic memories and well long relatively our esthetic roles. Though established and our spatial concepts we have accu dominant esthetic attitudes have undergone changes, mulated of what the satisfactory space patterns of related knowledge little historic for spatial forms are. We have, however, guidance as static such with fast forms, space relating buildings, today's moving vehicles of transportation. environment that have Problems arise at many levels. First of all, the aggressive dynamics must be balanced by the larger stable world. It would also seem that contrast between there is an incompatible the forms of buildings and of cars. This is most apparent whenever the cars are stationary and their endless line blurs the perceptual rela ordering of architectural The twoclash the colors of and of three-tone with cars, tionships. their chaotic geometry and chromium haloes, serves only to create dis turbance. Herein lies one of the most serious esthetic bottlenecks of cars tend to blend into a the urban scene. In motion kaleidoscopic stream that, in an esthetic sense, can accent the nature of the sur rounding buildings. they at best compete with and inmost Standing, cases suffocate their surroundings. Aside from functional needs, the esthetic handicap alone is serious our attention. Few of the innumerable enough to demand parking solutions take this factor into consideration. Although fringe parking the downtown traffic press, it takes unpleasant alleviates visual forms areas between in the important connecting and the city downtown 157 There is a basic

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GYORGY KEPES The problem of desk-side parking facilities for new office theaters, hospitals, and stores will be fully solved only when buildings, some esthetic the This will necessitate aspect is controlled. carefully screens to hide the groupings of considered, visually satisfactory motor cars. Natural or artificial screening, such as trees or esthetically the appearance of parking fences, will help to accommodate pleasing areas to the scene. or lots and meter city surrounding Municipal in like be must, lots, private garages, open-air alleviating parking, as to their location, considered their approaches, and their visual relations to the total space pattern. Open-deck, garages exposed-steel a new technical accent to the environment can in keeping with bring the car forms. periphery. Its gaudy, attention-catch The filling station is a similar problem. a sense are in "acrobatic" devices of ing justified by the necessity a the must fast the but find station, too, eye, proper attracting moving relation with its background. Both the problem of advertising and display and that of parking demand a thorough analysis and fundamental These fields proposals. are allied a at their visual Each needs. has arrived through point of at which been have lost supersaturation original purposes through a new Both problems demand structural exaggerated crowding. common denominators that can reduce their complexity solution, A possible all starting point is to eliminate an in of unnecessary attempt to simplify a codification redundancy the elements. in advertising. This need is already self-evident Park can be achieved those aspects of the ing simplification by concealing into controllable and physical traffic orientation. to of codification has two interdependent objectives: be functionally efficient and esthetically Both goals are satisfactory. important in a broader context, for they must be related to and fit in with their surroundings. There is no rigidly fixed code one can use, an efficient communication in for the underlying objective designing an system is to make it esthetically pleasing, vital form with flexibility to and susceptibility change. This system environment that choke off visual terms.

Light
are the visual manifestations of the urban world Today, greatly use of artificial modified the and their forms through lights. Spatial are overlaid with a different interrelations type of pattern because of at more illumination and the has than ever a double life. city night, Both 158 the problem of orientation and the problems of continuity are

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Notes on Expression and Communication

in the Cityscape

transformed when day changes to night. Cues that are fundamentally largely useless at night. Forms, colors, legible in the daytime become that by day may have a satisfactory esthetic configura and distances are tion transformed by the lights, which usually have considerably form relation little to do with the surfaces, edges, and consequent that we perceive remains object to understand constant during this double the life, it is important in this transformation. Few of continuity particular people problems to perceive the would deny that it is a rewarding esthetic experience at dusk. In this first phase, the major first stages of transformation forms and spaces of the cityscape are still clearly indicated, but a new on this form world system of space is superimposed through the into holes of electric the dark window of bright sparks light. change receive their new of buildings Streets once marked by the boundaries trans traffic is gradually outlines in street lights. The multicolored traces of the cars. illumination formed into the mobile of the inherent possibilities of exploitation are There been attempted. many promising its wide range of intensity and color, illumi an important device for guiding orientation. street their role of illuminating, Without primary lights sacrificing in position and color to synchronize with could be carefully modified the coding of location and direction. The incredibly rich esthetic potentials of the new range of colors, as are offered to us new their shapes and their brightness they by the a new civic art. It are the of tools of illumination, potential palettes is not difficult to imagine what such purposeful efforts could achieve, we some in have accidents, for, through examples amazing lucky the accidental of with which combined lights configurations display the car lights produce visions of great splendor. In a certain sense the forms of modern architecture and the very existence mination. in illu of the present scale of urban life stem from advances The transmission of light?natural and artificial?through in the development of a new large sheets of glass has been decisive sense of space and a new awareness of lighted structures. Without artificial lighting in our houses and on our streets, we could not orient of our goods and our persons would and the circulation ourselves, to a comparative diminish trickle. All twenty-four hours of the day are now and nature's articulation of night and day exploitable, sharp has in our cities fused into a single day-night fabric of time. More or a over, no matter how chaotic, blighted city is, it is trans illegible 159 As yet, a conscious these changes has hardly Because of possibilities. nation can be utilized as ships of the daylight hours. Since the city as a physical

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GYORGY KEPES formed when evening comes and the lights go on. Points, lines, plane and winking, moving and still, figures, and volumes of light?steady and colored?from white windows, signs, spectaculars, headlights, traffic lights, street lights, combine into a fluid, luminous wonder?one a of the great sights of this or any age. This impressive sight is by an accident if of its but wealth accidental you will, product utility, reminds us of the concentrated, ordered beauty of the great windows of thirteenth-century cathedrals. has been said previously between about the periodicity as well. true and random holds The here orderly patterning major are darkness and light. It is a commonplace poles in this context to have a strong response when moving from a dark unlit experience But there are innumerable side street to a gaudy theater district. these two extremes. The utilization gradations of experience between as such transitions evoke could create a of such qualities of experience new of the urban night scene. The contrast and type of patterning What the brightness of illumination and gained by regulating sources their and intervals locating fight heights through varying source of and enrichment. A focused could give both articulation as a candle, a or a a focused such fireplace, generates light, lamp, or are so almost a feeling of warmth attention, nesting. Our interests use of is function-centered that such emotional rarely given light a new is a growing interest in developing meaning thought. There and a new form to city cores. A carefully devised ordering of light could become an important tool in drawing people together in certain
areas.

transition

This

now used for the dramatic Light is emphasis of major buildings. a broader into the could be carried scope, defining emphasis of city scenes, indicating and boundaries characteristic differences, the most important foci of common life. accenting The great need is to bring the isolated accidental effects into a coordinated

in which the individual features pattern sequential one another accents define of their unique by contrasting mutually It is also important to create a common, continuous night qualities. on its own terms to the structural, scene that corresponds spatial, and living aspects of the urban reality. At the moment, the lighting of almost all work connected with or by cities is done by illumination engineers advertising-display Each of them takes on a task with his limited horizon, specialists. of his own work for the adjacent the implications utterly disregarding areas or for the problems to which his work gives rise. A new type of is needed, one that can combine knowledge creative mentality of the 160

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Notes

on

Expression

and Communication

in the Cityscape

and greater awareness esthetic of craft with heightened sensibility the problems of the city. in the of climatic world The utilization changes surrounding area of is to It evident the this under that cityscape belongs thinking. the day through transformations the changing goes major during our In and shadow. of patterns light speed-obsessed, fast-growing factor of shadow change. cities, there is little use of the important Here again, the consciously planned act has little value, but a careful analysis help plot in the relationship of fight, shadow, and form. to clarify and inform architectural spaces and light a no command of not is We have yet discipline. complex cityscapes creative principles based upon a thorough understanding of light and to the tools of lighting and upon a full awareness is of what needed a to raise the art of employing light high level. Certain preliminary steps have been taken. We know, for instance, how to make illumina significant richness inherent The use of tion sufficient and comfortable. This has been the goal of illumina tion engineers, who have learned all that physiology and physics can teach them in this respect, both in natural and in artificial lighting. Architects and city planners want more than comfort and ampli in tude in lighting. They know that they have great opportunities new stainless with for reinforced and concrete, steel, designing light, are for fighting structural tools and, with systems fitting partners a new architectural of for whole them, suggest range light qualities surfaces and spaces. But they do not know how to take full advantage No doubt their capacity will grow as they of their opportunities. seems to deal with the problem, but a major breakthrough continue a in It is that such the however, hardly offing. possible, breakthrough an effort that is not directed toward could be at least hastened through and planning but toward the the immediate problems of architecture as a field for artistic expres itself the realm of of lighting exploration sion and the creative imagination. into a common realm By joining territories presently unconnected of fundamentally of the use of light, we can hope for the development new the based artistic full mobilization of sensibilities upon principles and a full grasp of technical knowledge. All of our experience leads us to believe that there is a higher unity among the great traditional systems of working with light: the twelfth- and thirteenth-century glass techniques of York, Chartres, Bourges, Le Mans, Sens, Laon and the vibrating the Sainte-Chapelle; the sculptural modulation mosaics; play of light of the Ravenna glass in the Mediter of simple buildings 161 of the esthetic areas could implications in certain of changing shadows are in tune with that the changes

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GYORGY KEPES their unsur from ancient times to the present, with and enhance to define form of surface; sunlight passed exploitation use in still modern the of and, finally, photography light stagecraft, instrumentation of light, the pro and movies, display, the electronic ranean region, Their controlled lighting devices. jected play of light, electronically in common must be discovered and important applied principles
tasks.

area of modern use of imaginative light is the neglected and artists In other areas, architects, engineers, planners, design. in environment the basis for a physical have established impressive in and its of solution needs, scale, authentic prom twentieth-century in lighting of our life. Technical advances ising in its enrichment have taken place, and designers with fight have had their victories. can be in ways we have not even Nevertheless, developed lighting an to explore, and undreamed-of of esthetic experi opulence begun The
ence awaits us.

Texture and Rhythm

is an important factor in the per that periodicity our visual environment. of scenes, high Complex ceptual structuring and open closed and lighting, low-intensity buildings, high-intensity recur. in recurrence are of features The visual that elements spaces a textural a structured sequence produces facilitates that per rhythm of the form of the city. ceptual unification are the two basic units of Abrupt change and gradual change For the modulation. example, angles of streets may change periodic a in unison, bringing order. rhythmic Similarly, gradual diminution or increase of the height of width of streets, and the the buildings, structure. flow of traffic organizes a directional is taxing to the human organism and has func Total regularity Initial steps in planning park tional as well as esthetic shortcomings. were taken in the current design of throughways) (abandoned ways a constant to to in to avoid changes rate, and direction, adjust speed and landscaping. to frame the roadway with standardized buildings is not only of a long trip over one of these turnpikes The monotony as well. The urban en but dangerous displeasing psychologically on the other hand, suffers more from the dangers of over vironment, than from those of monotony. complexity in the as surface are significant Textures rhyth qualities of living In a complex environment like ours, mic structuring of the cityscape. and is becoming less and less dominant the architectural spatial order We have found 162

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Notes

on

Expression

and Communication

in the Cityscape

in sequence the textural play of buildings To increasingly noticeable. a order, certain bring the vibrating, changing surfaces into perceivable One is the grain or among them have to be emphasized. regularities In the esthetic organization density; another is the inherent direction. of the urban scene, both aspects of texture can be utilized. Regular changes from finely to coarsely grained surface textures bring their own type of order. The direction can best be of textural qualities seen from a distance, illustrated by simple examples. When roof pat terns whether made from tile or shingle vary in their apparent directional to the movement of the eye, thus alignment according an texture. A tree surface leaves are wav whose producing oscillating a brick wall shows two textural surfaces, different both before ering in grain and in mobility. The flutter of the leaves is important to the esthetic quality perceived. Our city scenes are made up of a rich combination of such textural and textures stable mobile with different intensities characteristics; are woven and different directions into a common fabric. At this all the threads are accidental moment, sense, and, in an esthetic uncontrolled. there is very little chance to control com Although the an awareness textural of some range of the environment, pletely of its effects could be a guide to those who are with the tasks charged of city planning. There are many natural visual experiences that are esthetically of because their the pleasing mainly periodicity: rhythmic oscillation of waves; the modulation of flames in a fireplace; the repeated pat terns of and shadow The of light everywhere. regular repetition action and repose is the key to every or of work esthetic rhythm
process.

urban

In our performance of so complex a task as the perception of our more com has intricate It environment, aspects. periodicity bines regularly repeated as ar or such dense traffic configurations,

of park benches. Part of the great richness of the Paris rangements scene is owed to the number of small large parks recurring at almost intervals. must so should As be regular activity punctuated by repose, the task of orientation be balanced recurrent oppor by frequently tunities for rest. In there traveling through the urban environment are a lulls such as traffic lights or bus stops. great number of periodic These directly underscore the rhythmic structure of the environment. It is important to have a variety of situations each with its rhyth mic character, contrasting with one another, one another. flowing into The vitality of the cityscape on this. is It that depends significant some of the most sensitive and our of have been age daring painters 163

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GYORGY KEPES in the rhythm of the urban scene. occupied reading and expressing one of the major figures in contemporary art, is obsessed Mondrian, His Broad the rhythmic richness of the metropolis. with expressing a of art, draws way Boogie-Woogie, twentieth-century major opus idiom from the pulsation of New its stimulation and its expressive to the beats and measures of streets and York city traffic according buildings. of the images reaching us may be and frequency The amplitude out above, terms of thresholds. in As we have pointed interpreted is certain limited for human the by capacity physiological perception factors. We must close our eyes when we look into and psychological limit to the is a definite of the sun. There the extreme brightness can of elements we number clarity. perceive with instantaneously cannot be grasped individ a certain signals speed, changing Beyond into a blur. ually, for the impression fuses can derive either from the motion of thresholds These delimiting in the of the objects or patterns the observer or from the velocity there is to be order or whether and they determine environment, factor is The frequency in continuous visual experiences. disorder in our per one here. Because of the threshold the more dominant certain limited impacts when we pass through ceptual capacity, only a city scene can be retained and interpreted. establish Some thresholds we ourselves pur through immediate our becoming sensi or else have established pose, long ago through are some There of the environment. to qualities tive or resistant we are on a us to when close however. absolute thresholds, Objects we are as a are and for blur, train, perceived example, speeding unable to resolve clear forms. In the total pattern of perception, both clear and distorted vision A continuous chain of clear information are esthetically important. not give the necessary us our it attention if to does break force may of the succession to the process of perception. Without periodicity so scene dense our be would in the perception, activity and repose lie beyond our grasp. A world made that it would with information or an extreme speed of impacts illegible by overcomplexity continually strains and irritates the observer. Artistic forms employ a periodicity of order and disorder to build up a total continuity through the proper these of relationships. sequence In the urban scene, the sequences of a consciously planned pattern of extremes and a timing of certain are impossible, but a modification For aspects of the poles of order and disorder could be accomplished. can a be of the instance, city space monotony regularly patterned 164

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Notes on Expression and Communication

in the Cityscape

a condensed shopping area, full of variety and extreme interrupted by in complexity the complex dense atmosphere and tempo. Conversely, can some be broken by small squares of patterned urban centers of an increased It will to make such require landscape. sensibility conscious changes. In its processes of growth, the city goes through these phases of a and patterned unstructured orderliness. randomness Only after to certain stage of structuring and activity does it become necessary them in a planned, interconnect the logical fashion. After reaching in new out the branch ordered will of directions stage, city again and com uncontrolled vistas, full of challenge introducing the interconnection between By clearly understanding city plexity. our we may find some processes, perceptual growth and guiding for regulating the evolution of the city. principles growth,

165

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