Abstract

The perceived deficiencies of the contemporary theory and practice of architecture and urban design lead to the main inquiry of this study: What theoretical approaches could reintroduce “human” elements of life, beauty and wholeness into contemporary cities? The primary thesis is divided further into the principal questions: (1) How practices are connected to space and place? (2) What structures underlie the everyday city life? (3) How nature and life are connected to the built environment? The study addresses the questions with Scenographic, Phenomenological, and Biophilic Approaches in order to attempt a reflective attention to the character of contemporary environments and human activities, in particular to their relationship with nature and life, and of an entire range of forms that evolved from this relationship. The Scenographic approach offers vast methodologies capable of overcoming the division between practices and space. It opens up the possibility for the creation of living places framed by the physical and passionate experience coupled with the creative energy of the dwellers that can find themselves acting and appropriating their environment. The Phenomenological approach is instrumental in the understanding of the most basic structures that constitute the everyday life in urban setting. The thesis views the phenomenon of everyday environmental experience from the vantage points of motion, rest, and engagement. The Biophilic approach fruitfully considers the elements necessary in order to assist designers in the practical application of the human affiliation to nature, in particular in the built environment. In addition, a short excursus to the work of Christopher Alexander introduces the concept of "pattern" as a "quality" of human relations that is activated and made possible by a specific architectural circumstance. Besides, it is stated that life and beauty in the built environment arise only from processes which allow living structure to unfold. The thesis is an effort to open up some theoretical directions potentially useful for the task of urban regeneration. For this treatise to be considered successful, the “effective stories” explaining, how life, beauty and wholeness may penetrate the urban fabric in specific cases, are to follow in its footsteps.