Space Of The Historic Streets In View Of Phenomenology

Streets are the framework of a city, the major public space of a city. They are not only the natural element of a city, but also a kind of social element. The space in historic streets which reflects to some degree the social background and architectural achievements at that time is a perfect combination of natural environment and social and cultural environment. However, with the speeding up of urbanization, the regional features and historic heritage of cities and towns are dying out. As a result, a part of old streets overshadowed by modern buildings are being drowned in civilization. Then the genius loci of streets gradually elapse, and the new streets are no longer the public place for people to communicate.The historic streets in the traditional towns in Sichuan basin, bearing the characteristics of the local conditions and customs have long history behind them and have exerted profound influence on the local social life and the layout of towns. Meanwhile with their humanized space, the historic streets have become the best place for socializing and communicating.This thesis mainly consists of three parts:In Part One, the formation and the features of the space in historic streets are analyzed in detail, and then the natural and social economic factors which influence the pattern of the historic streets are summarized.In Part Two, with the guidance of the architectural phenomenology theory, the "genius loci" of historic streets are systematically studied, which further reveals the interaction between the people and their living space. A case study of historic streets in Sichuan basin is made to guide people to reexamine historic streets from the angle of architectural phenomenology and strengthen the "place awareness" in the protection and development of historic streets.In Part Three, the element of city is endowed with new life by emphasizing the creation of genius loci in the designing of urban streets and the application of the space in historic streets in architecture designs.