Goss - VPELA

Batmania
B
t
i to Batophobia
t B t h bi
Batophobia: the intense, persistent, irrational and unwarranted fear of heights or being close to high buildings
Building height has become a planning obsession both for the industry and the broader community. Do we really understand the drivers of building g
y
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height? Why has building height become such a hot topic for the community and the development industry? Can quality architecture reduce the fear of building
architecture reduce the fear of building height? How do we measure the implications of building height? These questions and more will be answered by
questions and more will be answered by those in the know.
Authored and presented by:
p
y
Chris Goss, Architect
Director of Orbit Solutions Pty Ltd chris goss@orbitsolutions com au
chris.goss@orbitsolutions.com.au
ARCHITECTURE | WAYFINDING | VISUALIZATION
Do we really understand the drivers of building height?
Building height is a lodestone in the ideological battle between traditionalists and progressives. As interesting as this ideological issue is I don’t have enough time to discuss thi t l th I ill t th
this at length. I will note though that much of the rhetoric we see in the media is driven by h th t
h f th h t i
i th
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the ideological position that is adopted by the likes of private enterprise, institutions, action groups and government or one persuasion or another.
The political response to building heights acknowledges that it is a hot topic. The media g
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also recognize this and all parties to various extents exploit the fear.
Batmania to Batophobia
What is the fear of building height based on?
Bataphobia is defined as a fear of being near tall buildings It is essentially a context issue because
buildings. It is essentially a context issue because people have varying responses to building heights based on the environment that the b ildi i
building is seen within. ithi
In Visual Amenity Assessment we analyze a proposal using our cognitive abilities. It seems obvious to say that we look at a proposal. There is a physiological transmission of light via our retina to our brain etc etc. But it is what the brain does with this information that is important to how we perceive and then react to this. Mostly it is psychological. In Visual Amenity
this. Mostly it is psychological. In Visual Amenity jargon this is referred to as the Perceptual Constancies.
What
is the fear of building height based on ?
OVERVIEW
Perceptual constancy denotes the tendency of animals and humans to see familiar objects as having standard j
g
shape, size, colour, or location regardless of changes in the angle of perspective, distance or lighting
distance, or lighting.
The impression tends to conform to the object as it is or is assumed to be, rather than to the actual p
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stimulus. Perceptual constancy is responsible for the ability to identify objects under various conditions, which seem to be "taken into account" during a process of mental reconstitution of the
during a process of mental reconstitution of the known image. Psychologists have proposed several explanations for the phenomenon of size constancy First
for the phenomenon of size constancy. First, people learn the general size of objects through experience and use this knowledge to help judge size. For example, we know that insects are smaller than people and that people are smaller than elephants. In addition, people take distance into consideration when judging the size of an object. Thus, if two objects have the same retinal image size, the object that seems farther away
image size, the object that seems farther away will be judged as larger. Even infants seem to possess size constancy.
What is the fear of building height based on ?
Not to be confused with vertigo, which is when someone suffers being elevated, Batphobia is a phobia of being in the presence of a high building or structure. In the course of researching p g
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for this talk I found a website with pages of blogs from people afflicted by this phobia. Some threads had over a thousand viewers, this is of interest to more people than might be first assumed.
POSTED By William on 15th of August 2010 “the fear comes from me feeling very small and surrounded.”
POSTED by Megan on 14th September 210
POSTED by Megan on 14
September 210
“”When I was 8,9 I started to freak out over anything over 4 stories high”
POSTED by the Joker
“Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground” ☺
The intimidation felt by people in the presence of tall buildings is not uncommon. How aware they are of it and how they deal with it depends entirely on context. Cultural, Geographic and Ideological learned responses will dictate for most people their response.
Ideological learned responses will dictate for most people their response. Why do people fear being near tall buildings?
As a parallel consider how you feel when someone enters your personal space who is of larger stature than y
you are. If you are not familiar with them you may well y
y
y
feel intimidated. This feeling is basic to survival, there is a trigger that alerts your fight or flight response. Likewise, in the fight for survival we see the predators and soldiers seeking the high ground and their prey being forced to the low ground
being forced to the low ground.
Being high denotes and enhances the position of power, being lower then denotes and exacerbates subjugation.
Why do people fear being near tall buildings?
“Fine “Fi
ne art is that in which the hand, art is that in which the hand, t i th t i
hi h th h d
the head, and the heart of man go together.“
‐ John Ruskin ‐
John Ruskin ‐
John Ruskin, who was professor of Art History at Oxford and author of “The Poetry of Architecture” ,
wrote, at about the time that first tall structures of Melbourne were being set upon foundations was, tha
the quality of art is for the judgment of a trusted few of taste and talent
taste and talent” who bestow upon the artist their
who bestow upon the artist their
“of
fame.
“Not so in Architecture” Ruskin laments “There, the power is generally diffused Every citizen may box
power is generally diffused. Every citizen may box himself up in as barbarous a tenement as suits his taste or inclination; the architect is his vassal, and must permit him not only to criticise but to perpetrate.”
He goes on to observe,
“We shall consider the architecture of nations as it is influenced by their feelings and manners, as it is
influenced by their feelings and manners, as it is connected with the scenery in which it is found, and under the skies under which it is erected…”
Can quality architecture reduce the fear of building height?
II love Melbourne and have chosen it as my l
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it
home and base for a practice that works around the country and abroad. But there are a few somewhat unique anomalies that, I suspect are enshrined in the Victorian Planning Scheme as a p y
result of what Ruskin aptly described in the previous quote.
A quick overview of established Melbourne sees A
quick overview of established Melbourne sees
a sprawling, unrestrained suburbia where its inhabitants have created their own versions of the much heralded “great
the much heralded great Australian dream
Australian dream”. Large lots with low rise dwellings centered and surrounded by front and back gardens, where neighbouring
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homes are glimpsed in part and l
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high fences avert most neighbourhood disputes. It is a land of plenty that has been adopted by millions as the city has grown through resettling immigrants from sundered nations in the post war era.
war era. Melbourne
The topography and climate lend themselves to Th
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d li t l d th
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this idea of refuge. But it must be remembered that the people who aspired to live in these homes were returning from the trenches of the first world war or the bombed and ruined cities p
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of Europe then Asia following the Second War and the Vietnam War. The psychological turmoil of these people is a The
psychological turmoil of these people is a
major catalyst for the choices they made. The conditioning of the next generation who grew up as children in these places is an extension
up as children in these places is an extension then of this history. The idea then that a tall building might be h d
h
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ll b ld
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inserted into this established environment is going to cause a reaction. Conditioning
The physical presence of the building is Th
h i l
f th b ildi i
described in our Planning Scheme as having “Visual Bulk” and defined as being the combination of the buildings height and proximity to the boundary. It is deemed as g
ameliorated if it is articulated through setbacks and changes in materials. A tall building is described as “DOMINANT” within the environment. environment
People, as I have demonstrated, don’t like to be dominated by bulk Conditioning has taught
dominated by bulk. Conditioning has taught them that if someone is above them they are most likely going to cop short shrift.
DOMINANT
How do we measure the implications of H
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th i li ti
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building height?
The implication I suggest, is not that people fear the building itself. The tall building evokes a passionate response – often one based in fear, because of what it embodies.
It represents POWER – power over them.
It signifies CHANGE – change is to be feared.
It signifies CHANGE change is to be feared
It takes the HIGH GROUND – which puts them on the low ground, and that’s not going to end well.
well
The important realization is that it is actually the people that they are worried about. l h h
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The people that will look down on them from their high ground.
To address the fear of high building it is important to address these basic issues.
Implications
II will finish with an example. In a recent ill fi i h ith
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application that was decided at VCAT Orbit prepared and lodged an application that was advertised at 4 storeys. There was initial support at Officer Level and the review of the g
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Strategic Policy was silent on height other than requiring incremental change.
The Application was refused with a treatise of 99 reasons outlining the projects failures
99 reasons outlining the projects failures.
The application went to VCAT after a tumultuous process of mediation and public out cry the scheme was reduced to 3 levels
out‐cry, the scheme was reduced to 3 levels with, ostensibly no other major changes in the yield. A slight increase in the setbacks to b
boundaries was provided to ‘round up the d
d d ‘
d
h
dimensions’. The 3 storey scheme was supported by Council, most of the applicants for review dissipated. Can
Can you spot the height difference? you spot the height difference?
OVERVIEW