Abstract
The covered market appears in one form or another within most medium to large European cities and many have altered significantly in recent years due to economic stresses. In frequent cases they have suffered from a lack of regular visitors with some having been forced to close altogether. Others have been renewed and renovated into new upmarket independent shopping colonnades, usually very different from their traditional incarnations. How can we visually assess the character and identity of such places before they inevitably transform and adapt according to their new conditions and uses? The word ‘character’ is challenging to see, capture and discuss because its definition is not straightforward. In his 1961 book Townscape, Gordon Cullen focused primarily on the observable ingredients that contribute to urban character at ground level, and which offer the pedestrian a sense of encounter as they walk through a town centre. Cullen wrote about the visual phenomena that a pedestrian might come across on a normal journey through the city. He walked his sites and noted the views and engagements that he came across on the way. These approaches have been incorporated into a new photographic surveying framework to assess the character of Mercado dos Lavradores in Funchal as it anticipates a period of significant change. The study reveals how the investigative inquisitiveness of the Townscape movement can be reappropriated as a new human-authored surveying model, which might complement the technologically driven appraisal processes that are common in site research today.
Presenters
Dan BrackenburySenior Lecturer, Graphic Design, Falmouth University, Cornwall, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Urban market; Photography; Survey; Urban renewal; Urban character
