2 Strategies for creating community terraces in the old city of Tiantai from the perspective of body perception

2.1 Analysis of existing creation strategies

Through the analysis of excellent cases designed by architects, five existing methods useful for folk construction in creating model reference and construction reference are summarized: The standardization of terrace planting and faÇade beautification of nantou old town plant building, the architecturalization of terrace space of nantou old town hybrid building, the modularization of terrace building of shenzhen bongshe apartment, the staging of terrace space of shanghai basse villa, and the quality of terrace space of TS11 apartment the strategy of terrace space standardization and elevation beautification of nantou old town hybrid building.

2.2 Proposed derivative strategies for existing strategies

Older neighborhoods with different building structures are not suitable for uniform planning, which can provide solutions at different levels or offer a variety of feasible design and construction modules to meet different buildings and needs. To address the issue of balconies, it is important to address not only the disorganized and dangerous nature of balcony design, but also the underlying reasons for the spontaneous construction of balconies by residents. To this end, a holistic planning and design of regional balconies and buildings can be carried out from the perspective of the government's unified planning and remodeling.

The plan allows for a relatively complete system for the renovation of the terrace space and the façade of the house, with structural reinforcement followed by the construction of the frame of the terrace, which consists of four steel columns as supports and four custom-made steel beams. An optional modular design system is provided for each function and paving of the terrace. The community façade and terrace renovation will retain the richness of the community form while becoming more integrated, aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly, as well as satisfying the autonomy of the residents.

2.2.1 Based on body and experience - the terrace framework design

For the summary of the creation behavior of the terrace space in Tiantai County, its terrace use is characterized by richness, temporary, participation and sustainability. In order to ensure the sustainable use of the terrace space by residents, the framework developed for it also needs to meet the above conditions.

(1) Body-based measure qualification

To ensure sustainable use of the terrace space by the residents of Tiantai County, the framework for the act of terrace creation should be rich, temporary, participatory and sustainable. To prevent residents from converting the terrace enclosure into a living space, the developed framework is limited to a height of 2 meters, which is similar to the height of most top-floor terraces on the site, in line with the scale of human behavior and facilitates daily actions such as planting, socializing and drying.

The spatial scale of the dwelling anchors the daily behavior of the residents, so the plan form of the frame corresponds to the relationship of the main network of the dwelling, allowing the plan scale of the dwelling to be extended upwards. This approach allows the behavioral scale of the residents' daily activities on the terrace not to break with the change of space. Retaining the customary behavioral scale will increase the residents' identification with the terrace space, thus making the renovated terrace space better integrated into the residence and daily life.

(2) Reservation and addition of modular accessories

In order to accommodate the residents' later living needs, holes for later additions are provided in the columns and beams of the terrace frame. The height positions of the vertical holes are 550mm, 1000mm and 1450mm respectively to meet different space requirements. The holes on the crossbeam are evenly divided accordingly to the site size to suit daily needs. A variety of accessories provide a rich selection of options such as modular storage shelves, storage boxes, flat countertops, adsorption LED lights, planting boxes, vertical greening rope nets, plant climbers, protective nets, track shades, light sun panels, horizontal plant climbers and clotheslines. These accessories can be combined to form a multi-level and multi-dimensional terrace space to meet the daily needs of different residents. The materials used for the accessories are lightweight and strong, ensuring flexibility and durability.

The assembly logic of the entire framework is designed to provide a "unified" approach in response to the projection of different residents' experiences of "home". The multiple options and combinations of accessories for the terrace simulate and restore the spontaneous creation of the terrace by the different residents of the original site, and achieve the controllability of the overall creation through the constraints of a framework paradigm. However, in order to maintain the everydayness of the residents, the original daily decoration space needs to be reserved to reinforce the everyday. The design of this framework adapts to the different understandings and needs of different residents for their homes and ensures their quality of life.

(3) Material and color selection based on experience and aesthetics

In order to avoid the conflict between the new terrace and the existing buildings and environment of the site, and to increase its richness, the frame structure selects five colors from the buildings and environment of the site: orange (roof tiles), white (color of the new buildings), green (plants of the site), wood (a large number of wooden structures in the site), and gray (color of most of the existing building facades of the site) for the residents to choose. By intentionally or unintentionally using materials and techniques from the site, the terrace space is shaped to be interdependent and inseparable from the site.

These materials and colors not only help to restore and transform the visual memory of the place, but also reinforce the residents' sense of identity with the terrace as part of the site and home. Residents' activities on the terrace create different perceptual experiences for them, such as planting to enhance the senses of smell, taste, sight and time, drying and shading to enhance the senses of touch and sight and time, and storage and socializing to enhance the senses of touch and sound. All these landscape reductions and perceptual experiences integrate the terrace space with the site, creating a poetic connection that is in line with Hall's notion of the interconnectedness of the outward and inward dimensions of the fusion of architecture and place mentioned in Anchor.

2.1.2 Based on the memory and experience of the place - terrace plan layout and paving selection

Residents can choose the arrangement of the terrace according to whether they need long-term planting, which is divided into those with planting needs and those without planting needs, and those without planting needs can include temporary planting or those without planting needs. According to the residents' choice, different spatial layouts will be arranged separately, including five types of single-sided small-deep planting area, single-sided large-deep planting area, multilateral small-deep planting area, multilateral large-deep planting area and infill-type planting area.

When choosing the decking material for the terrace floor, residents can choose from four materials and colors taken from the site, including light-colored floor tiles, mosaic floor tiles, light-colored paint, and preserved wood. Unlike the material of the frame, the decking material of the terrace floor can restore the visual and tactile memory of the site, and residents can choose the material and form that better fits the site and its use based on their experience and memory. The selected materials and forms will present a multi-layered landscape that will then be rich in perceptual perception of the site.

2.2 Individual autonomy and participation in assembled terraces from a phenomenological perspective

2.2.1 The participatory nature of assembled terrace creation for individuals

Places need to be created and operated as places where everyday events occur and gather. People become familiar with and give meaning to the site through operation, and the physical participation in this process reinforces residents' sense of identification with the terrace space. Therefore, while providing a choice of terrace assembly systems for residents to choose from, the system also leaves the opportunity for residents to participate. Residents can jointly participate in the act of creating the decking framework upfront, while the installation of accessories at a later stage is provided by safety personnel for residents to create their own based on the safety assessed by the system. The physical participation of the residents and the installation of accessories based on their own needs and experience ensures their self-identification with the deck and their ownership of the space.

While the system can provide diverse deck options and flexibility, individuals are still limited by the rules of the system. There are still a variety of possibilities that can be created for oneself outside of the system, so if a resident has an alternative deck construction need, they can apply to the system and the system will decide whether to allow it based on the assessment. The system will also provide recommendations for changes in building use according to the relevant codes. During the whole construction process, residents need to design and construct the space by themselves, and the selection of the construction unit is the responsibility of the residents themselves, and the system will conduct the relevant assessment. The system ensures the residents' autonomy over the terrace space.

2.2.2 Different presentation of assembled terraces for different occupants

The occupants' different understandings of home are externalized to different degrees in the terrace space, while the residential scale also determines the state of terrace use, which is the result of the joint influence of home, place and occupants. The occupant's participation in the creation of the terrace system can restore or optimize the perceived experience of the terrace in the place.

The system promotes the principle of non-architect architecture, leaving the choice and creation function to the occupants, and restoring the local terrace space in the site with the principle of restoration using the terrace creation system. Although it is a modular assembly frame system, the overall vision presents the richness of the original site due to the different choices of building types and occupants. The constraint of the frame makes the terraces different but similar, creating a remarkable order that does not dissolve the daily sense of the site, but rather creates a new urban landscape.

2.3 The creation of terrace possibilities in conceptual perspective

Based on the above thinking of the assembled terrace system, and in response to the phenomenon of insufficient space for terraces in the community while the adjacent terraces are vacant and wasteful. The authors thus derive the concept of shared terraces:

1. Connect and integrate the adjacent terrace to form a larger space.

2. The short sky corridor is erected to connect the adjacent but not connected terraces to form a terrace group.

3. Use the sky promenade to connect groups and clusters and single terraces to avoid shading problems to the community.

4. Use the roof for bridging and setting up the sky park to solve the problem of cluttered rooftop facilities.

5. Form an air square, air farm and air park according to the area and space demand.

6. The shared terrace is owned by each homeowner and can only be accessed by each homeowner's home, with a high degree of privacy, excluding the emergency fire escape.

2.4 Residential design thinking under terrace space design thinking

Terrace space is a common priority element in the design of residential projects. The authors discuss how the spatial compositeness, flexibility, and low cost of terrace framing design can be used to retrofit buildings in older urban areas. Terrace spaces in older urban areas are well-lit, but some buildings lack light. The need for light needs to be considered when retrofitting building forms and spatial layouts. The flexibility and modular configuration provided by the terrace frame design and the efficient frame system design can be a reference for retrofitting old city buildings.

As with the terrace system, a framework needs to be defined first, the approximate extent is determined by the foundation, and the boundaries are tightened according to the site environment and the direction of light in the space to ensure maximum space utilization. The layout and minimum scale of the space are determined according to the weight of sunlight and scale requirements. The floor plan is replicated vertically upward, and each floor is correspondingly bounded according to the residents' spatial needs to ensure that the spatial relationship between the upper and lower floors is not contradictory. If the demand for light is not satisfied, oblique skylights can be set. A frame structure is set on the terrace to cope with different living needs. Finally, the materials and colors are selected using the color cards provided by the system to make the whole design more uniform, meet the residents' aesthetic needs and improve the living experience.

2.5 Chapter summary

This chapter introduces a spatial design method based on a modular terrace design system for residential terrace spaces in old communities in Tiantai County. The system refines the details of materials, colors, scales, accessories and construction behaviors, and provides diverse options to meet the needs of different service life, usage nature and façade renovation. In addition, the system adds user application and evaluation functions to enhance the user experience of autonomous construction and comfortable use. The authors also propose the design of linked and shared terrace spaces to solve the problem of missing public land and insufficient space for some terraces in the site environment. Finally, based on the framework design of the terrace, the authors propose a redevelopment scheme system applicable to demolished buildings within the old city, with certain site adaptability and flexibility. Although this chapter mainly focuses on the situation in Tiantai County, the system can be adapted accordingly to the site and has some reference value.

3 Summary

As an important node along the Tang Dynasty Road, Tiantai County should pay attention to the urban interface in the renovation of the old city. By subdividing the study into types of dwellings, types of terraces, types of terrace use, and types of terrace construction, the renovation can be made more focused, not just superficially painting white paint and adding unnecessary decoration. For the old urban face of the rooftop, the amount of information that can be experienced and perceived should be improved, and its own unique human environment and characteristics should be found as the basis for community creation. For the terrace space, modular design under the framework can be considered for better spatial forms and practice prospects.