Architecture is the critical component in mediating the urban and human scales, however consideration of the human perceptual system must be addressed in order to be successful.
High density architecture within the United States has historically neglected human perception. The consequence of flagrant disregard to the human condition within the built environment is the ever present “skyscraper canyons” which now define American cities. The skyscraper canyon is best articulated as solid facades that extends infinitely upward and indefinitely in section. Within such conditions, the architecture holds little influence at the ground level, offers minimal transition between public and private spaces or between the street to the architectural facade. Ignorance of site and environmental forces are additional effects of the disregard to human perception and urban way-finding. On the whole, much of high-rise architecture has disengaged the social sphere and resulted in environments that are non-conducive to connection making and productive life on the street.
For decades, theoreticians such as Jan Gehl, Rob Kreir, and Camillo Sitte have done extensive analysis on the relationship between the success of public (and private) space with the careful consideration of human perception. To date, these theories have predominately been tested on European cites and have yet to make way into the highly dense American cities. This thesis aims to translate such concepts onto the “skyscraper canyon” with the intention to prove that architecture of every size can mediate between the human and the urban scales via new configurations of the ground plane and the first through fifth floors. Conclusions emerging, via precedent analysis and theoretical overlays, will render the potential for an architecture that provides an improved quality of living, optimal conditions for connection making and links the site to its surrounding context.