Innovative Approaches Of Landscape Design In Solving Comfort Problems Increasing Urban Environment

The problem of improving the comfort of the urban environment

In the methodology of the urban design some years ago, specialists relied on the concept of core factors needed for industrial production: the technology requirements of these industries indicated the nature of the functional territory’s zoning and the usage of its natural resources based on the required amounts of labour determined housing needs and the institutions of socio-cultural sphere. This method increased the attitude to the city as to a secondary, dependent part from industrial production formation not having its own historical, cultural and ecological values.

The urbanization’s impact on the environment is very diverse. Being global, this problem can be solved if all aspects will be taken into account when exercising any particular urban setting. In urban areas in the relationship between man and nature, two directions are manifested. First, the city with its dense buildings and a concentration of industrial enterprises has a destructive ability in relation to the natural environment. Secondly, it is the scientific-technical and socio-cultural level of large cities’ development which can be a fundamental basis for the improvement and protection of the urban environment improving its sustainability. Citizens’ culture is manifested in the ability of the urban community restoring the broken and creating new conditions of comfort and safety of the urban environment.

Nature having limited capacity to resist human-induced is not always able to resist the technological expansion that often leads to its degradation. The lack of personal culture in maintaining a reasonable balance with nature, succumbing to the euphoria of victories over it, turns up in uncontrolled destruction of natural landscapes. There is an urgent need in maintaining and increasing the natural components of the environment, i.e. in the implementation of the system of landscape’s reconstruction measures in the open city’s spaces using new environmentally friendly approaches.

Analyzing fragments of the urban environment, intended for the implementation of certain functions, let us conclude that the lack of development of pedestrian connections, the disordered boundaries between vehicular and pedestrian spaces, shortage of play spaces for children, adolescents and adults, the lack of choice of service areas and communication complicate human interaction with the surrounding living environment, worsening the quality of life.

Chaotic use of territories is the cause of the ecological sustainability violation in the urban environment: compaction of the soil over root system of vegetation in natural places of spontaneous car parking, irreversible changes of soils due to informal movement of pedestrians, destruction of vegetation under the influence of vehicle exhaust. Nonpoint runoff of precipitation complicates the operation of transition pedestrian paths, complicates the usage of rainwater for the development of biomass.

The current practice of the urban environment beautification often leaves unresolved problems in the perception of objects from the point of view of a person’s cultural-emotional responses. The lack of equipped places for recreation in the natural environment, the predominance of grey concrete and asphalt surfaces, a dull kind of haphazardly planted many years ago different kinds of vegetation - all of these add a lot of negative emotions to the human condition. In any city, except for a very limited area of the central district, the spiritual content of the urban space has gone, which was materialized in folk festivals, fairs, celebrations and exhibitions. Favourite places filled with symbolic images should appear on new urban areas. A natural accent should be laid in each fragment of the environment by means of landscape design distinguishing this object from others due to the positive impact on the person’s psycho-emotional state. There is a great need in restoration of old and creation of new landscape’s key elements inspiring cultural landscape.

One of the most common problems of the modern city in our country is the lack of artistic expression and artistic intent, which should be expressed by its brand. Culturally artistically depleted urban environment does not cultivate and contribute to the formation of modern citizens’ artistic taste.

Innovative approaches to improving urban’s environment comfort

Engineering is not only the creation of the project and the departmental anonymous implementation of it. Design is at the same time a shared conceptual space, a flowing action of a project conceptualization, project discussion, critical reception and managing this project, having impact on the user’s lifestyle, the socio-functional and object-spatial environment, called recently by a special term "innovation".

Innovation, in respect to the design object, is the impact on this project that undergoes different changes in the course of the projecting and which will be forced to adapt to the user, not experiencing his life without any changes, but through symbols of some life concepts, professed values, meanings or even through the prism of life existence.

Today, a design innovation studies the symbols of design solutions novelty; it is not accidently that in the design, there is a challenge concerning development of a professional design critique, based on the ecology and axiology project; a project informatics is being formed seeking to streamline the design sector and make it predictable and manageable (Aurelius, 2011).

The realization of the fundamental importance of the concept of cultural landscapes conservation oriented to protect the values associated with the natural elements and their spiritual heritage, their authenticity and integrity, as well as with genius loci – the Genius of the place, is currently new. Genius loci covers the most important components residing in the centre of people's attention, such as a sense of place and unity or the cohesion of society, cultural identity and cultural diversity (as cited in Voprosy filosofii, 1998).

In design practice, it is necessary to strengthen the narrative structure and plasticity of architectural and design forms. The basis of the spectacular design solutions should be the synthesis of design and artistic ideas. Examples of thematic design are projects of an emotional intense form, a large-scale sculpture in the urban environment (pleasure gallery B. Tschumi in the Parc de La Villette, Paris).

The designer vision of the object gave rise to a phenomenon of design culture as exteriorization and interiorization – the saturation of the interior of the exterior forms and the removal of interior objects in the urban environment, the effect of the dissolution of architecture into the environment. It is due to the fact that these compositional methods of organizing interior environments are transformed. The transparent building’s walls hide continuation of the scenery reflecting the landscape, which creates an optical effect of dissolved space. The notion of interior as a closed space is being dissolved. For example, in the Gallery of the Cartier’s Foundation in Paris Jean Nouvel, the interior is the Park surrounding the building. Such plastic compositions qualitatively change the nature of the environment.

Today and thousands of years ago, the main mission of the plants has not changed – they continue to pose health, comfort and beauty. But the requirements of rational space organization have been greatly increased. Improvement becomes both philosophy and industry. The city does not have to be grey and boring. Landscape architects have a strategic objective to make the city so beautiful that every neighbourhood would be pleased with their own variety of colours featured in a special style. To achieve the goals one cannot do without modern technologies and materials, qualified specialists and irresistible desire of each resident to make their city beautiful.

Objectives of city improvement should not be limited by devising driveways and car parking, fencing and installation of gates.

The formation of residential areas approach brings together a whole range of issues: planning organization and zoning, architectural and landscape colours, green spaces, flower decorations, vertical gardening, geoplastics, small architectural forms, lighting, street furniture and equipment, holiday decorations, sculpture, water composition, etc (Simonds, 2006).

Orientation on the environment humanization of the majority of the population predominated the artistic and creative content in environmental objects. Any scientific analysis like any project begins according to the laws of art, as an account of events, the story from the first person. In design practice, it is necessary to strengthen the plot. The basis of compositions spectacular design solutions is the synthesis of design and artistic ideas. These are the thematic design projects made as large-scale sculptures in the urban environment (pleasure gallery B. Tschumi in the Parc de La Villette, Paris).

Such plastic compositions qualitatively change the nature of the environment. The tendency to the entertainment, staginess is not a goal in itself, priority is given to practical problems, and there is nothing minor when it concerns the human environment.

Modern designers’ projects take into account the relationship with the construction materials and production technology, functional terms and ergonomic requirements, with the region's traditional construction methods, with the features of the landscape, with the specifics of the local everyday culture. This approach led to a typological diversity, the lack of a rigid hierarchy for identifying the significance of elements as a part of the whole, which is manifested in the selection of the co-subordinates system, which reflects the idea, where a dominant role is chosen by any topic.

Summarizing the listed above approaches, one can distinguish such qualities of modern design as expressiveness, elegance, imaginative expression; the convergence of the activities of designers and architects, caused by a change in design ideology; the emergence of new environmental paradigm, focused on the behavioural situation of the human in the environment, on the functional parameters of the environment; technological process, new materials and modern technology.

The restructuring the urban life content– the welfare, tourism, non-manufacturing trends, the increase, growth and diversity of the service sector, the strengthening of city’s cultural and leisure components form new conceptual approaches to the urban environment and environmental compositions. In the analysis, the authors systematize the basic concepts of modern urban environment comfort:

• Elimination of the consequences of the total designing, which corrode the ties of the historical centre connection , the stylistic imagery of the cities' central areas, the structure of these areas have been violated, the traditional shopping districts have lost an easy walking distance to the centre.

• A departure from the simplified organization of the environment according to the principle of "metro, boulot rated, dodo" ("metro, work, bed"), led to the disruption of urban infrastructure, to environmental alienation, loss of the feeling of the house, the self alienation and depersonalization of man.

• The nomination of a new environment concept, which is human, oriented, including the re-designation of the environment: the historic districts of European cities are given new functions – recreational, cognitive, educational and meaningful. City streets and squares are organized as a pedestrian, convention and gaming space, shopping malls – as a creative, entertaining environment.

One of the most promising aspects of environmental design is projecting the urban environment, taking into account its perception from the point of view of an involved observer, the active role of the human as an element of the environment into which he is included. This involves such tactics of environmental design as:

• taking into account the dynamics of person’s migration;

• the urban environment is modelled in such a way that he does not feel it in a state of distance and disinterest;

• environment is perceived by the person with all the senses of his whole nature, including not only vision and hearing, but smell, tactile-skin sensations, motor reactions;

• environment is visually not panoramically covered by near point or peripheral sense of sight

• distance is extremely shortened.

The analysis showed that the main feature of the present project concepts is in the pursuit of the universality of the environment, tendency to the versatility leads to increasing recreational spaces in the environment. Comfortable urban environment should include such environmental objects, which can relieve tension, help mentally relax man, make him smile. It should be noted that by itself, the accessibility, the lack of distance between the environmental object and a pedestrian offer the prospect of contact, involve the subject in the environmental space, making his walking or exploring of the city emotionally captivating journey.

Innovative approaches conceptually change the nature and meaning of the urban environment formation. The spread of the movement ideas, the sense making development updates the design, which leads to the interpretation of the urban environment as events and as cognition. The event-driven nature of environmental situations leads to a new behavioural type of modern man in the city. The dynamics of modern life does not allow a person in one place only to shop, in another to work, and in the third one to relax, so modern urban environment in each place needs to show some features of universality. This applies not only to its utilitarian suitability, but also to an even greater extent and aesthetic qualities. It is necessary to implement a recreational micro-environment in any place of the urban environment, as the possibility of a short rest and informal interaction: water paths, dry fountains, fragrant gardens, green terraces and bridges, open floral green cafes, etc.

All environmental initiatives in many European cities can be described as aimed at redefining the behaviour of the citizen from the mainly contemplative to active work. Formation of the environment with the inclusion of educational and gaming techniques allows for environmental situations design in which a person can achieve such a dynamic state where he feels free and authentic as himself, without a psychological defence and social roles. The ability of a person to get in touch with his own feelings and the ability to sincerely express a cultural urban environment leads to the assumption forming the objective world corresponding to the human nature helping to achieve congruence, reflected in human behaviour that reveals what he really is. It cultivates harmony, beauty, sociability, compassion, kindness, liveliness, communication, respect and understanding of traditional norms of the urban behaviour.

In solving such problems, designers began to use environmental objects, functioning in space, being born from human interaction; they can be defined as open. In this case, not a person adapts to the system, but the system is organized around the person. Reception of this open form is widely used in environmental art objects, fountains, water trails of Western European cities. Social openness as declarative gesture was given pride of place to environment organization of the square near the Paris city hall in summer – sand soccer with children's arenas, skating-rink in winter (Bauer, Shabatura & Iatsevich, 2016).

Innovative approaches of landscape design are focused on dynamic and informative intentions of the modern man; qualitative change in the urban environment — the degree of movement freedom outside the contours of the pedestrian areas increases. Return of pedestrians to the city centre was the biggest achievement of environmental design. Surfaces adapted for various types of travellers assume their new functions. The natural landscape is complemented by artificial elements; all the possibilities of landscape design are used including the changing geometry of the terrain, plastic and colour modelling of vegetation, the construction of water devices. Searching architectural and environmental objects that are compatible with the natural landscape, which is evident in the integration of gardens and parks with the city's structures in a sign of understanding the role of green spaces (Nefedov, 2012).

Previously, the city design involved the collection of small designs that formed separately private properties and environmental feathers: the designing of urban spaces and process starts from engineering thought to practical designs in project, their landscape organization, decorative and scenographic interpretation. Now the methodology of environmental engineering is focused on creating design concepts. The category "environment" is understood as an understandable and comfortable part of the city.

To solve the existing socio-cultural problems for increasing the urban environment it is necessary to use innovative landscape design approaches (see table 01 ):

Innovative approaches in the landscape design of any project become technologically, culturally meaningful and humanistically oriented. The same innovative approaches help to turn the urban environment into an object that, by increasing the artistic and creative content, should enhance humanization, humanitarization, ecologization, organic culture of all listed levels – from the artistic image of a single landscape object to figurative contents of the ecological system of the urban environment.

Orientation of the landscape design in improving the way of life demanded a more humanitarian and developed project culture, that all was typical for the practical-methodical and design-program stages of its development. Invoking theme of way of living in landscape design has led to the formation of the relationship concept between lifestyle, environment and project-oriented culture.

Innovative approaches are based on the method of direct and indirect relations detection of citizens’ life between different spheres of reality making new associations. With their help, landscape design is becoming a focus of the intersection of the spiritual and material, scientific, technical and technological, humanitarian and industrial culture. The design culture in the context of the environment focused on the future livelihoods of people should improve standards of living basing on approval of spiritual and moral values, endlessly transforming person.

Person-oriented environmental design changes even the targeted person – the word "consument" in this concept does not reflect its content but changes it to more appropriate terms as environment, people, subject. In the context of innovative landscape design approaches, the concept of comfort formed in the modern sense of the word, meaning "warmth, coolness, light, contact and harmony with the natural elements". The paradigm shift has led to a different understanding of the project, which included not only the everyday material environment of man, but also the person himself not as a passive consumer, but as an adequate, reasonable, active, highly organismic environment component (Azizyan, 1990).