Of transitional places: an attempt at a topology of supermodernity with encounters in Vienna, Shanghai and Tokyo

Abstract

The subject of this thesis are urban, transitional places; public spaces whose utility is defined by transit and traffic. Places that are highly frequented but most people are passers-by and don't spend extended periods of time in them. While these places are part of the everyday life of a large amount of people, most of them are passing through, driving by, changing trams or subways; only few of them sit down and linger other than to wait for the next train. For planners these places are transit hubs where people should be able to transit quickly between modes of transportation. Yet recently urbanists have discovered potential in these seemingly lost open spaces and attempt to revitalize them by injecting new functions that would invite people to linger, to sit down and to spend time in them. While this has been done with great success in many cities, my question is if the domination of transit, circulation and constant movement is an inherent or a surmountable issue in these places. This thesis is structured in three main parts. I will begin by defining the term "transitional place" and research and explain it's theoretical context in relation to ideas such as non-places, supermodernity, heterotopia, lost space, and everydayness. This will lead into the second part where I will explore transitional places by means of direct spatial analysis. The core features here are the urban morphology, the public space design, transit & circulation as well as spatial perception, public life behavior and cognitive mapping. In the third part I will apply all these elaborated theories and methodologies in field research. The methodologies for this part include walking audits, interviews, photographic documentation, and behavioral and cognitive mapping. For this I will conduct three case studies in specific sites in Vienna and Shanghai. After the conclusion of my findings I will explore how I as an architect and urban designer would approach these places based on the insights I have found. This final addendum will feature rudimentary design proposals that are supposed to be seen as part of the analytical framework rather than to consider design a separate task that simply builds on the theoretical groundwork.