11.4. Framing

Aus Pattern Language Wiki

When planning your Walkable Streetscape or building Circulation Network and Passageway View, strengthen the relationship between different places in a Place Network.


11 4 01 Framing.jpg


Problem-statement: It is natural to want to remove elements that seem to obscure or clutter a view. But the most powerful views are in fact framed by other elements at their boundaries.


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Discussion: Any photographer knows that it’s important to have a foreground, middle ground and background, and that the foreground can serve as a powerful way of framing the view — even when it might seem to partially “block” the view. So too, a designer needs to recognize the power of a frame as a border, creating a more powerful relationship between the viewer and the viewed.


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The border of this carpet serves to frame the complex pattern inside it.


In mathematics, a region is intimately related to its boundary (Stokes’ Theorem), which means they are interdependent.¹ Borders and frames arise from a fractal scaling hierarchy, where something contains smaller structures, and is itself embedded into a larger structure. Often, hierarchical scaling is manifested as the presence of frames. Removing the frames destroys the fractal scaling hierarchy, with undesirable consequences. For example, a space that is not framed is perceived as psychologically ambiguous, hence anxiety-inducing.


Both information theory and eye-tracking experiments verify the need for framing. A message needs to be distinguished from surrounding signals by BEGIN and END tags, i.e. framing in one dimension. In ordinary writing, a sentence is framed by beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period. Eye tracking shows that we focus on frames as the boundaries of architectural surfaces, unless there are sub-frames in the interior. Human physiology has programmed us to look for frames as visual references.


Christopher Alexander and his colleagues described the need for frames in several design patterns in A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction, including patterns Deep Reveals, Frames As Thickened Edges, and Small Panes. Alexander went further in The Nature of Order, where he described the universal presence of “wide boundaries” in stable systems. He also described “boundaries” as one of fifteen fundamental properties of structure, seen repeatedly in natural and human architectures.²


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Use framing to enrich Human-Scale Detail. Enrich the framing with Construction Ornament and Complex Materials


Therefore:

Do not try to clear out and simplify a design when there is a natural frame around it — whether that is vegetation, a portion of another building, columns or other interruptions. Instead, work with these elements as frames, and use them to make the experience more powerful.


11 4 03 Framing.jpg




¹ See Katz, V. J. (1979). The history of Stokes’ theorem. Mathematics Magazine, 52(3), 146-156.


² Alexander, C. (2003). The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Order of the Universe. Berkeley Center for Environmental Structure.


Image: Jorge Fernandez Salas via Unsplash



Mehaffy, M. et al. (2020). FRAMING (pattern). In A New Pattern Language for Growing Regions. The Dalles: Sustasis Press. Available at https://pattern-language.wiki/.../Framing



SECTION I:

PATTERNS OF SCALE


1. REGIONAL PATTERNS

Define the large-scale spatial organization…

1.1. POLYCENTRIC REGION

1.2. BLUE-GREEN NETWORK

1.3. MOBILITY CORRIDOR

1.4. 400M THROUGH STREET NETWORK

2. URBAN PATTERNS

Establish essential urban characteristics…

2.1. WALKABLE MULTI-MOBILITY

2.2. LEVEL CITY

2.3. PUBLIC SPACE SYSTEM

2.4. BIOPHILIC URBANISM

3. STREET PATTERNS

Identify and allocate street types…

3.1. URBAN GREENWAY

3.2. MULTI-WAY BOULEVARD

3.3. AVENUE

3.4. SHARED SPACE LANE

4. NEIGHBORHOOD PATTERNS

Define neighborhood-scale elements…

4.1. STREET AS CENTER

4.2. PEDESTRIAN SANCTUARY

4.3. NEIGHBORHOOD SQUARE

4.4. NEIGHBORHOOD PARK

5. SPECIAL USE PATTERNS

Integrate unique urban elements with care…

5.1. SCHOOL CAMPUS

5.2. MARKET CENTER

5.3. INDUSTRIAL AREA

5.4. HOSPITAL

6. PUBLIC SPACE PATTERNS

Establish the character of the crucial public realm…

6.1. PLACE NETWORK

6.2. WALKABLE STREETSCAPE

6.3. MOVABLE SEATING

6.4. CAPILLARY PATHWAY

7. BLOCK AND PLOT PATTERNS

Lay out the detailed structure of property lines…

7.1. SMALL BLOCKS

7.2. PERIMETER BLOCK

7.3. SMALL PLOTS

7.4. MID-BLOCK ALLEY

8. STREETSCAPE PATTERNS

Configure the street as a welcoming place…

8.1. STREET AS ROOM

8.2. TERMINATED VISTA

8.3. STREET TREES

8.4. STREET FURNISHINGS

9. BUILDING PATTERNS

Lay out appropriate urban buildings…

9.1. PERIMETER BUILDING

9.2. ARCADE BUILDING

9.3. COURTYARD BUILDING

9.4. ROW BUILDING

10. BUILDING EDGE PATTERNS

Create interior and exterior connectivity…

10.1. INDOOR-OUTDOOR AMBIGUITY

10.2. CIRCULATION NETWORK

10.3. LAYERED ZONES

10.4. PASSAGEWAY VIEW



SECTION II:

PATTERNS OF MULTIPLE SCALE


11. GEOMETRIC PATTERNS

Build in coherent geometries at all scales…

11.1. LOCAL SYMMETRY

11.2. SMALL GROUPS OF ELEMENTS

11.3. FRACTAL PATTERN

11.4. FRAMING

12. AFFORDANCE PATTERNS

Build in user capacity to shape the environment…

12.1. HANDLES

12.2. CO-PRODUCTION

12.3. FRIENDLY SURFACES

12.4. MALLEABILITY

13. RETROFIT PATTERNS

Revitalize and improve existing urban assets …

13.1. SLUM UPGRADE

13.2. SPRAWL RETROFIT

13.3. URBAN REGENERATION

13.4. URBAN CONSOLIDATION

14. INFORMAL GROWTH PATTERNS

Accommodate “bottom-up” urban growth…

14.1. LAND TENURE

14.2. UTILITIES FIRST

14.3. DATA WITH THE PEOPLE

14.4. INCREMENTAL SELF-BUILD

15. CONSTRUCTION PATTERNS

Use the building process to enrich the result…

15.1. DESIGN-BUILD ADAPTATION

15.2. HUMAN-SCALE DETAIL

15.3. CONSTRUCTION ORNAMENT

15.4. COMPLEX MATERIALS



SECTION III:

PATTERNS OF PROCESS


16. IMPLEMENTATION TOOL PATTERNS

Use tools to achieve successful results…

16.1. FORM-BASED CODE

16.2. ENTITLEMENT STREAMLINING

16.3. NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING CENTER

16.4. COMMUNITY MOCKUP

17. PROJECT ECONOMICS PATTERNS

Create flows of money that support urban quality…

17.1. TAX-INCREMENT FINANCING

17.2. LAND VALUE CAPTURE

17.3. EXTERNALITY VALUATION

17.4. ECONOMIES OF PLACE AND DIFFERENTIATION

18. PLACE GOVERNANCE PATTERNS

Processes for making and managing places…

18.1. SUBSIDIARITY

18.2. POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE

18.3. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PLACE MANAGEMENT

18.4. INFORMAL STEWARDSHIP

19. AFFORDABILITY PATTERNS

Build in affordability for all incomes…

19.1. INTEGRATED AFFORDABILITY

19.2. COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

19.3. MULTI-FAMILY INFILL

19.4. SPECULATION TAX

20. NEW TECHNOLOGY PATTERNS

Integrate new systems without damaging old ones…

20.1. SMART AV SYSTEM

20.2. RESPONSIVE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY

20.3. AUGMENTED REALITY DESIGN

20.4. CITIZEN DATA