The Art of the City: Refutation of Intellectual Discourse as an Introductory to Knowledge Enlightenment.

I

Urban Design Discipline: the fact of the presence in Egypt

This book focuses on the field of architecture, specifically, the art of the city or the discipline of urban design, particularly at the beginning of the third millennium, in the 21st century. It seems that a few Egyptian architects suffer from the lack of the ability to create and share knowledge, whether general or scientific in their field of proficiency. The assumption is that this weakness is the main reason that led to the invalidity of the local theorizing process.

Additionally, it is linked to ignoring the use of the traditional historical European and American intellectual paradigm shifts. Also, this ignorance includes architectural community movements, which obtained theories, approaches, trends, principles, methods, and techniques which nobody takes any advantage of. Mostly, this weakness and ignorance accumulate and occur while the students are studying in the three cycles of higher educational stages: undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate studies. They led architects to present a written intellectual production fragile, which has been apparently observing in poor architectural characteristics in the current urban status quo.

It should be noted the intention of this book is not the question of what is the poor architecture. Whatever, this book does not subject to any argument about the good or bad architecture. Whereas, in any case, it does not expose to concern of the descriptions of good or bad architectural products in the art of the city; in the level of planning and design. It based on stated for Rem Koolhaas sarcastic (1994) wrote about manifestly asserting what is good and necessary about architecture–‘in an age disgusted with manifestoes’. [1, p. 9]

This is related to what Véronique Patteeuw and Hans Teerds and Christophe Van Gerrewey (2013) said in a their book entitled what is good architecture in Delirious New York, for instance, not one long and in-depth search for what good architecture should be about or what it should be? [2, p. 2]

Moreover, the current work does not make a debate about the relationship between ‘beautiful’, ‘good, ‘bad’ or ‘poor’ architecture. It was going directly to explore what about the extent range of knowledge that exists in any architectonic product. This work focused its attention on how to presents a new concepts, or perhaps an innovative approach and theory. It should be carrying out norms or standards of knowledge was an able specialist to make an efficiency the art of the city. In the future, it concentrates on creates good architectural and interdisciplinary city planning and design products. With an emphasis that good is derived from quality.

Whatever, it is necessary for Koen Van Synghel (2012) ‘high-quality architecture is simply complex’ [3]. Magnus Rönn noted architecture is a field of knowledge embedded with values [4, p. 235], as well, architectural quality is an open concept built on knowledge. [4, p. 239]

In 1960, Kevin Lynch launched in his normative theory Good City Form, in the field of the urban environment about good city according to the visual quality. Where, the quality determines the degree of legibility. Which relates to the physical elements of the environment and the mental image of its users. [5, p. 62]

Lynch presents Imageability and noted; it is that in a physical object which gives it a higher probability of evoking a strong image in any given observer. [6, p. 9]. Whenever the quality levitated, consequently legibility increased, and then leads to the preference, and to promote city liveability.

In 1987, Allan Jacobs and Donald Appleyard proposed a number of goals that essentially for the future of good urban environment: livability; identity and control; access to opportunity, imagination, and joy; authenticity and meaning; open communities and public life; self-reliance; and justice [7, pp. 115-116]. As well as, they also stressed that the good city needs all these qualities…and others [7, p. 119]. Carel Weeber quoted by Van Dijk and De Graaf 1990 Functionally the building is well thought out, but architectonically it is poor, as well A building only becomes architecture when it is discussed. [8, p. 4]

In 1992, Ann Moudon Vernez noted; it is necessary to understand the city in order to develop concepts to design the city [9, p. 332]. In 1994, Cantacuzino noted what makes good building is, quite simply, a good client and good architects– in other words, enlightened architectural patronage [10, p. 203]. In 1999 Inam proposed an approach to urban design based on one that is truly consequential in improving the essential qualities of city life. [11, p. 14]

In 2010, Jan Gehl noted about the social values that should delivers to the society, in order to achieve sustainable, equitable and liveable city [12, p. 61]. Also, in 2010, Tridib and Anastasia indicate to urban design has emerged as an important area of intellectual pursuit, involving theory, research, and pedagogy, all intended to inform and improve practice. [13, p. 1]

Notably, according to the previous views, cognitive weakness is caused by the absence of quality or the lack of enlightenment and the expiration of controversy around any architectural work. With respect to all these reasons, that weakness may be twofold: first, the failure of the current method of education, which ignores the importance of studying history and theoretical knowledge (historical paradigms) and underestimates the benefits of philosophy (as a form of thinking) deliberately or as a result of a lack of knowledge (out of ignorance) and second, the failure of not using a learning methodology of interdisciplinary urban design that helps to improve thinking and solve the complex urban problems. That methodology that supposedly helps improve the way of thinking and understanding and solve the complex urban problems ignores the synthesis of different disciplines in the same field. That is what the current field of competence needs to confirm: that treatment must be at the level of the role models. Where the field of interdisciplinarity is always a site where expressions of resistance are latent. Many academics are locked within the specificity of their field. And the first obstacle is often linked to individual competence, coupled with a tendency to jealously protect one’s own domain. Specialists are often too protective of their own prerogatives, do not actually work with other colleagues, and therefore do not teach their students to construct a diagonal axis in their methodology [14, pp. 5-6]. Thus, that is what the current field of competence needed to confirm that the treatment must be at the level of role models.

At present, many commentators indicate that the urban design interdisciplinary not just interests of collecting own knowledge, or how sharing it to improve its products. However, also it should think about developed knowledge of disciplines that appears from outside the field. As Anne Vernez Moudon (1992), urban design engaging with several fields of knowledge. [15, p. 332]

Vernez Moudon (1992) said, it is a professional, perspective field drawn from a variety disciplines, and an inter-disciplinary approach to designing the built-environment through the integration of the planning, design and recently, landscape architecture professions Where, Aseem Inam noted (2002) urban design as an ambiguous combination of architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, and civil engineering. [16, p. 14]

Anne Vernez Moudon (2002) noted urban design can be a mechanism to develop the knowledge base of design and planning. [17, p. 54]

A report entitled ‘Radical innovation: crossing knowledge boundaries with interdisciplinary teams’ (2009) indicates to in conventional management textbooks, academic knowledge might form a basis for ‘research and development’ that leads to new product concepts, and for training in professional skills to implement them [18, p. 7], where, the word ‘interdisciplinarity’ uses in this work to describe a far broader phenomenon, which extends across all sectors of society. [18, p. 8]

As Forsyth and Crewe (2009), urban design is one of the key intersection points between planners, architects and landscape architects [19, p. 434], and, the openness of urban design on a variety of disciplines offering significant opportunities for an evolving urban design knowledge. [20, p. 249]

For Matthew Carmona (2014) urban design is in fact a mongrel discipline that draws its legitimizing theories from diverse intellectual roots, as well, wherever it can [21, p. 2]. Jane Rendell said ‘interdisciplinarity’ is the term means how individuals work together towards end points decided through mutual consent. [22, p. 223]

As to see if the planning and design can categorized as a discipline, it should first define the concept of discipline. First as a fundamental element of teaching and learning in any cognitive field. Also, it describes the procedures that required from the professionals towards a particular person or group of people. Moreover, it considered as puts to all those involved in helping people to teach them how to protect themselves, the others and the whole world around them. Furthermore, it is a branch of instructions; a department of knowledge. [23, p. 2]

The intent of this work is the enlightenment of the importance of learning knowledge in the field of teaching and learning urban design interdisciplinary. Furthermore, refutation about to how find the way that should urban design discipline taught. This way revolves around a proposal utilization a new concept in Architectural educational institutions, known as ‘knowledge-based urban design interdisciplinary.’

The word ‘learning’ is not only the sum total of what is known, but also it is a conceptions of understanding and applying what is known. In Psychology, it indicate to this word as a complex process that is not easily defined [24, p. 44]. Multiple citations refer to knowledge, existing or acquired, as a process to generate, create, produce, use and apply knowledge in the process of learning. (e.g. Säljö 1979, John 2000, Erik and Hamer 2010, and Hunt 2003)

Learning is a quantitative increase in knowledge and is acquiring information or ‘knowing a lot’ [25]. Provide knowledge improves significant people’s abilities to become active learners, to understand complex subject matter and to transfer what they have learned to new problems and settings. [26, p. 13]

One of the learning conception is the increase of knowledge [27, pp. 2-4]. Also, learning called on the process of acquiring and retaining knowledge (and beliefs) in memory is called learning [28, p. 101]. Notably, in all cases, knowledge is a term synonymous to describe the understanding of the truth, but it is not the precise truth. As Hunt cited from Sveiby, knowledge is invisible because it lacks a generally accepted definition and a measurement standard." [28, pp. 100-101]

This book aims to propose the notion of knowledge in urban design interdisciplinary and will try to present the criteria for measurement. The presupposition of this book is that the absence of respecting the conceptualization of enlightenment during the two phases of preparing and teaching the educational programs makes the students urban design projects not well designed. Rönn noted, Quality represents something good, a well-designed object [4, p. 235]. As Anne Vernez Moudon (1992) said urban design born out of a search for quality in urban form [29, p. 439]. Michael A. Burayid (2001) said about urban design it is now primarily concerned with the quality of public urban which is both social and physical. [30, p. 123]

Prominently, regarding the projects of the students in some of the urban design studios in the architectural departments, all questions revolve around the quality of the art of the city. This architectural quality usually based on valid and correct planning and design scientific knowledge among students, specialists, and professionals. Mainly, in return, without this knowledge, the result will be presenting projects free from the actual meanings, as well as the implications that based on the real knowledge. Always, this condition was caused as a result of the inability to take advantage of the urban design historical and theoretical paradigms (intellectual frameworks). As Marshalla said; urban design theories helps to justify urban design as a distinct intellectual discipline. [31, p. 258]. Krieger (2006) noted