Regulatory framework for design of the public realm - Rangwala ...

DubaiLe Corbusier’s Contemporary CityIconPrivateDiversityCityPublicHarmonyWe are familiar Le Corbusier’s vision to replace the street-grid with mega-blocks and the tower redefined as a free-standing replicable iconic objects rather than part of a continuous urbanfabric. is vision has been realized with fervor in Asian cities with eerie similarity in cities like Dubai.Well designed tall buildings contribute at two scales:at a very personal level, the designer working with the owner conceives and offers the city a personal statement and asserts the building as an iconic figure and a functional space for thepeople that work and live within these towers.the second level is public level: where the tower interacts with the ground or the city. It is at this second level, which involves the design of the public realm that I think Corbu’s vision failsto conceptualize the public realm.e focus of form-based regulations are primarily to address this second level and ensure a rich public realm.