Learning From Milton Keynes

PROJECT 3.
TYPICAL CHARACTERS IN THE ARCHETYPAL CITY
Identifying needs and aspirations

AIMS
We will continue our investigations into MK through further site visits (including an overnight stay), desktop research, lectures and drawn explorations to:
• Develop an understanding of what constitutes ‘the public’ in each grid square
• Develop and assess methodologies for gaining and understanding the needs and aspirations of this public, the first stage of brief development
• Propose and test techniques for representing needs and desires
• Formalise and represent research into how the existing fabric has been adapted by the users
• Refine techniques for conveying character and narrative through photographs
• Develop techniques for make a survey of an existing place

BRIEF
1. Just What Is It that Makes Milton Keynes So Different, So Appealing?
A city is defined by its citizens as much as it is defined by its form. The overall shape of the city may be established by a designer (architect, planner, council or developer) but its use, adaptation and subsequent character is generally defined by its users. Each of the residents of MK have different needs and aspirations yet it is likely that there are shared, typical themes, particularly within grid squares. To understand the suburban city archetype we must learn to understand the needs and aspirations of these typical citizens.

You are to research the users of your grid square and define three typical characters; graphically represent their needs and aspirations; and illustrate how they have adapted their grid square so far.

1.1 Research the residents of the grid square
When the artist Stephen Willatts developed a series of projects in Netherfield he devoted an entire year to the grid square. The studio does not have the luxury of this time frame, nor are you likely to in your professional life. You need to develop a number of methods for quickly and efficiently gaining an understanding of your residents. The following summary outlines the main methodologies. Explore and test their relevance for your grid square.

A. Quantitative research
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
Benjamin Disraeli, British Politician 1804-1881
Demography is the study of population through statistics. Many relevant statistics can be found in the census; the 2001 figures for each grid squares (estates) are all available online:
www.mkiobservatory.org.uk/document.aspx?id=6951&siteID=1026
These statistics claim to be direct and so could be described as fact. However you must consider the context of the statistic and use them with care. If there isn’t the statistic you need then consider gathering it yourself or exploring other sources e.g. ACORN
What relevance, if any, does each statistic have to your other research? How might it be combined with other statistics to create a more general overview? Are there any statistics within your grid square that contradict each other?

B. Qualitative Research
In contrast to the generic, large-sample methods of quantitative research, qualitative research relies upon smaller, more carefully chosen examples to provide a more in-depth understanding of a specific situation. Methods include:

B1. Direct observation
Used in projects 1 and 2 this is the most familiar aspect of research to architects and you should continue to use it, particularly when considering user adaptation. Record your observations through on-site drawings and photographs.
B2. Personal interviews
Interviews can either be formal (pre-planned questions and recorded answers) or informal (noted down afterwards). Consider whether your investigations would benefit from answers to a fixed set of questions or more spontaneous conversations.
B3. Analysis of documents and materials
Current Newspapers

• MILTON KEYNES CITIZEN: www.miltonkeynes.co.uk
• MK NEWS: www.mk-news.co.uk
Web sources
• MK WEB: www.mkweb.co.uk
• MILTON KEYNES INTELLIGENCE OBSERVATORY: www.mkiobservatory.org.uk
Marketing material
• Films and documentaries (Youtube, BFI)
• Adverts – TV and print
• Estate agents websites and windows
• Development agency materials e.g. station lobby presentation boards

1.2 Define three typical characters
‘Public’ and ‘Private’ are terms that lie at the heart of architectural design. When designing for the Private an architect often designs for a specific, known user, or for a clearly defined demographic. The Public, by contrast, is far less defined. The Public should always be thought of as The Publics, with the plural reminding us that the public collective – neighbourhood, community, grid square – is made up of a diverse range of individuals, with differing, and often conflicting, needs and aspirations. When designing it is essential to have some notion of the spectrum of these differences and so it is useful to develop a sense of the typical constituents of that public.

Typical is a loose phrase, option to interpretation. Some readings of typical you may consider:
- the most common types, as defined by the Census 2001 statistics
- characters that you feel most typify your situation
- real people you have met, or read about in the local paper
- fictional characters, based upon your research
- demographic groups e.g. Mondeo Man, Hockey Mums

Every point you define about your typical characters should be backed up with quantitative or qualitative research that is collected from your grid square, or elsewhere in MK .
Lazy, inaccurate stereotypes should be avoided.

How might you define a character’s needs and aspirations?
Consider the following:
Statistical profile – age, socio-economic group, employment, home ownership status, marital status
Behaviour – transport preferences, shopping habits, politics, cultural engagement, holidays
Aesthetic – home, garden, car, clothes, accessories, likes and dislikes
History – background, class, reasons for coming to/staying in MK
Future – location, home, employment
This list is suggestive, not exhaustive.

1.3 Graphically represent their needs and aspirations – a spatial constitution
Ultimately you will be making a design proposal for the publics of your grid square. These typical characters are your future client, their needs and aspirations your future brief.

The process of developing a written brief into a spatial proposal is complex. To encourage a strong connection between brief and proposal it is useful to re-describe the brief graphically. This visual brief, or spatial constitution, should be constructed from familiar elements to create something new. It should be spatial, but not a design.

The following examples illustrate methods for spatialising the characters’ needs and aspirations:

Richard Hamilton (1956)

 

Just What Is It that Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956)
Richard Hamilton

Media: Collage, images cut out from 1950s American magazines and glued on card backing
Method: iconic elements of popular culture combined to create a fictional room, inhabited by fictional characters, to convey the character, aesthetics and concerns of the modern age.
[Note, a key was not provided but could be compiled based upon the intent of each element.]

AOC (2006)

 

The Lift Spatial Constitution (2006)
AOC
Media: Adobe Illustrator, black and white, outlined (traced) elements with text
Method: 13 points describe the client and users expectations for the building. Familiar elements (top hat, window, triumphal arch) are used as an object-signifier for each point. The elements are arranged in a spatial composition to suggest appropriate adjacencies and the beginnings of a design approach.

Benjamin Edwards (2002)

Study for an Excursion (The Monuments of Passaic, Revisited) (2002)

Benjamin Edwards (2002)

 

Monuments of Passaic (2002)
Benjamin Edwards
benjaminedwards.net
Media: acrylic, texture media and foam on canvas

Method: ‘Edwards’ composites are taken from umpteen digital photos of present-day artifacts. The pictures are superimposed, details are removed or re-ordered, and a template is computer-generated before Edwards uses all these elements to embark upon time-consuming acrylics.’
www.mocoloco.com, 13.12.05

1.4 Illustrate how they have adapted their grid square so far.
Much of MK demonstrates examples of citizens adapting their homes, gardens and surrounding areas to meet their needs and aspirations. The geodesic greenhouse in the garden. The new brick-effect cladding to the front elevation. The garage conversion to create an office to run an internet business from home.

How have your three typical characters adapted their homes, gardens and grid square?

Use photographs and on-site sketches to capture your direct observations. Additional drawings may be required to further illustrate your adaptations e.g. measured survey of revised cladding, sketch section through garden showing geodesic dome with dimensions, diagram showing additional space gained.

Note: you may need to assimilate a number of typical adaptations from various sources into each typical character.

2. Surveying the centres of the decentralised city
Milton Keynes is a decentralised city. This is not to be confused with a centre-less city. It has a central area, CMK, that is geographically central and contains a larger scale of resource e.g. department stores. On a neighbourhood scale, every grid square aims to have a centre of sorts. These vary significantly in nature, character and scale. If MK is both a suburban and polycentric city then an understanding of the nature, use and character of these centres is essential. Careful analysis will lead to propositional representation and the beginnings of a design for MKs new centres.

2.1 Describe the centre of your grid square with a single framed photograph, minimum A3.
What constitutes the centre? Building(s)? Space(s)? A geographical point? A social or cultural point? A virtual space? A newspaper, noticeboard, green, public house, church, garden, cul-de-sac?
Who defines the centre? What are its limits? What is its character?
In Project 2 you presented a 120×80mm photograph of your grid square. Is this still relevant?
Remember the notes and seminar on Greg Crewdson’s photographs in Project 2. Does your photograph have that intense, scratch’n’sniff quality? Is there a narrative to the image, a story? If so what relevance does this have to the centre, the grid square, or MK as a whole?

2.2 Accurate, computer produced scale drawings of the ‘centre’ of your grid square, including minimum:
2.2.1 one plan – at what height do you take your plan?
2.2.2 two sections – long, short, along a route?
2.2.3 one elevation – how far does your context need to go?

The scale of your drawings will depend upon the scale of your centre but you should aim for each drawing to be minimum A3. Consider the use of colour, line weights and tone. The drawings should not only show the precise scale of the drawn elements but they should convey their character.

Second years, note, these drawings will form the basis of your DMR submission.

REQUIREMENTS
1.2 a written description, for three typical characters, with photo if appropriate
1.3 a spatial constitution, minimum A3, for each of the three characters
1.4 minimum 5 (ideally 12) photographs/sketches of adaptation, printed 120×80mm(landscape), for each of the three characters
+ drawings to support, as necessary

2.1 a single framed, high quality photograph of the centre of your grid square, minimum A3.
2.2 accurate, computer produced scale drawings of the ‘centre’ of your grid square, including
2.2.1 one plan
2.2.2 two sections
2.2.3 one elevation
+ additional drawings, as discussed and agreed with your tutors.

TIMETABLE
Tuesday 2nd December 2008 Cross Studio Crits, Warehouse
Friday 5th December 2008 cross Studio Crits, D2.01

SOCIO-CULTURAL REFERENCES
Publications
1. DEREK WALKER, The Architecture and Planning of Milton Keynes, London, Architectural Press, 1982 (available from Derek on 7th November)
2. MARK CLAPSON, A social history of Milton Keynes, London, Frank Cass, 2004
Institutions
3. LOCAL STUDIES LIBRARY
555 Silbury Boulevard, Saxon Gate East, Central Milton Keynes MK9 3HL
4. MILTON KEYNES CITY DISCOVERY CENTRE: www.mkcdc.org.uk
Alston Drive, Bradwell Abbey, Milton Keynes MK13 9AP

REPRESENTATION REFERENCES
5. POP ART, Tilman Osterwold, Taschen GmbH, 2007
6. BENJAMIN EDWARDS, Works, Projects, Archive, benjaminedwards.net
7. STEPHEN WILLATS, Beyond the Plan: The Transformation of Personal Space in Housing, John Wiley
& Sons, 2001
8. HAMMOND & PETHICK, Person to Person, People to People: Stephen Willats,
Milton Keynes Gallery, 2007
9. RICHARD WENTWORTH, Making do and getting by, 1973-2007, Tate Britain
10. TIM PITMAN, A photographic study of misplaced and misused manhole covers www.misplacedmanholecovers.co.uk
11. CREWDSON & BANKS, Beneath the Roses, Harry N Abrams, 2008

‘TEXTBOOKS’ ON DRAWING & REPRESENTATION
12. FRANCIS CHING, Architectural Graphics, John Wiley & Sons, 3rd Ed. 1996
13. EDWARD TUFTE, Envisioning Information, Graphics Press USA, 1990