EKISTICS
- IS"Ekistics starts with the premise that
- human settlements are susceptible of
- systematic investigation".
- Constantinos A. Doxiadis
The Principles
- The first principle is maximization of man's potential
- contacts with the elements of nature (such as water and trees),
- with other people, and with the works of man (such as buildings and roads).
- In this, man differs from animals; we do not know of any
- species of animals that try to increase their potential
- contacts with the environment once they have reached the
- optimum number of contacts. Man alone always seeks to
- increase his contacts.
- The second principle is minimization of the effort required for the achievement of man's actual and potential contacts.
- He always gives his structures the shape, or
- selects the route, that requires the minimum effort, no
- matter whether he is dealing with the floor of a room,
- which he tends to make horizontal, or with the creation of a highway.
- The third principle is optimization of man's protective space,
- which means the selection of such a distance from
- other persons, animals, or objects that he can keep his
- contacts with them (first principle) without any kind of
- sensory or psychological discomfort
- The fourth principle is optimization of the quality of man's relationship with his ----------- environment, which consists of
- nature, society, shells (buildings and houses of all sorts),
- and networks (ranging from roads to telecommunications)
- This is the principle that leads to order,
- physiological and aesthetic, and that influences
- architecture and, in many respects, art.
- Finally, and this is the fifth principle, man organizes his settlements in an attempt to --achieve an optimum
- synthesis of the other four principles, and this optimization is dependent on time and space, - on actual conditions, and
- on man's ability to create a synthesis.
- When he has achieved this by creating a system of floors, walls, roofs,doors, and windows
- which allows him to maximize his potential contacts (first principle) while minimizing the
- energy expended (second principle) and at the same time
- makes possible his separation from others (third principle)
- and the desirable relationship with his environment (fourth
- principle), we speak of "successful human settlements".
- What we mean is settlements that have achieved a
- balance between man and his man-made environment, by
- complying with all five principles.
WHAT IS THE EXTENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENT ?
the distance man wants to go or can go in the course of his daily life.
The shortest of the two distances defines the extent of the
real human settlement, through definition of a "daily urban system"
the process starts with the circle
whose radius is defined by man's willingness to walk daily
up to a certain distance and to spend a certain period of
time in doing so (the limit for the rural dweller is 1 hour,
or 5 kilometers, for horizontal movement; the limit for the
urban dweller is 20 minutes, or 1 kilometer). This leads to
the conception of a circular city, and of a city growing in
concentric circles
If we turn back in history we find, however, that,
throughout the long evolution of human settlements,
people in all parts of the world tended to build an urban settlement which reached an optimum size of 50,000 people
and physical dimensions such that everyone was within a 10-minute distance from the center
There is no question that, for people who depend on walking as a means of locomotion,
this unit is the optimum one from
the point of view of movement and social interaction
through direct contacts between people.
Also, experience has shown that, for people who can walk, it is a maximum
one from the standpoint of aesthetics; for example,
creation of the Place de la Concorde in Paris cut from the
total 3500-meter length of the Champs Elysees a length of
2100 meters, a distance from which one can reach, and
enjoy, the Arc de Triomphe on foot.
It is also perhaps an optimum one from the social point of view; for example,
Pericles in ancient Athens could get a reasonable sample of public opinion
by meeting 100 to 150 people while
walking from his home to the Assembly.
The Quality of Human Settlements
Judgement about quality can be made in several ways in
terms of the relation of every individual to his environment
- that is, his relation to nature, society, shells, and
networks - and the benefit that he gets from these
contacts. We can measure his relations to air and to its
quality; to water in his home, in the river or lake, and at
sea (its quality and his access to it); and to land resources
(their beauty and accessibility) and the recreational and
functional facilities provided by them;
WHAT IS MORPHOGENESIS
Morphogenesis is the development of body shape and organization.
WHAT IS SYNTHESIS ?
The combining of separate elements or substances to form a coherent whole.
The complex whole so formed.
Morphogenesis
Formation of the walls. Walls
have to fit the body and the senses of MAN
Formation of the walls. Curved
walls (left) lead to waste in the synthesis
of furniture and room; straight walls
(right) alow the most economic
synthesis of furniture and room.
Formation of the walls. Two
separate nonconnected rooms (left) can remain independent units, but people tend to bring them together. Two separate, connected rooms (middle) cannot remain independent units; they create many problem surfaces. Two connected rooms (right) tend to eliminate the problem surfaces; they tend to occupy a minimum total area
Morphogenesis in human settlements varies with the type
of unit we are dealing with. From the many types of units I
will select the room (the No. 2 unit) and will follow its
formation. We do not know how and when the formation
of a room started. It probably started in many parts of the
world, and probably the rooms had many forms and sizes.
We have reason to believe that the first rooms were of
moderate size (according to today's standards), but they
may have been very small one-man/ one-night huts
similar, in a way, to those built and used by the apes
In any case the moment came when some primitive
people had round huts and others had orthogonal ones,
and when there were different types of roofs or, in some
cases, no roofs at all. In at least one modern instance -
that of the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert in southwest
Africa - there is no door to the hut; the Bushmen jump
into it over a wall (Ref. 13).
Two myths
If we can analyze the problem of quality and understand the morphogenetic
process which should enable people to build properly and improve an undesirable situation, why are conditions so
bad in our cities?
myth of the city of optimum size.
Some define optimum size as being related to the income
of the people; but in a developing world, where the
average per capita income increases by 2 percent a year
(and by more in urban areas), what is the meaning of this
optimum over a long period?
Others argue in terms of optimum numbers of people and
of organization and, more specifically, municipal efficiency,
but they are not able to produce any convincing proof
(Ref. 17). Even if they could, comparisons of one city with
another have no meaning in a world where people no
longer live in isolated
Others base optimum size on organizational aspects such
as one school or one hospital for so many children or
people. But, in a world of changing ratios between age
groups and of changing technical and managerial abilities,
this line of thinking cannot lead anywhere. Such
considerations are very useful for calculating needs which
have to be satisfied in certain areas and periods, but not
for calculating the optimum size of the city. Technological
calculations based on the means of transportation cannot
be helpful either.
MYTH NO. 2
Another myth which still prevails is that
we can solve the problems of our cities through the
conception, and official recognition, of a physical plan
expressed by a two- or three-dimensional drawing. But our
cities are growing organisms. They need a development
policy leading to a development program which is
expressed, in space, by physical development plans, but
they also need economic, social, political, administrative,
technological, and aesthetic programs.
sources
10. C.A. Doxiadis, Ekistics, 1968, pp. 374-394 (June 1968).
11. C.A. Doxiadis, Emergence and Growth of an Urban Region, vol.
2, Future Alternatives (Detroit Edison Company, Detroit, 1967).
12. G. Clarke and S. Piggot, Prehistoric Societies, (Hutchinson,
London, 1965), p. 75.
13. L. van der Post, The Lost World of the Kalahari, (Penguin Books,
Baltimore, Md., 1962), p. 25.
14. C. A. Doxiadis, Ekistics 1968, pp. 395-415 (Oct. 1968).
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