Create Streets recently published this review of the proposed Shoreditch Works development project in Hackney, London. And one of the interesting things they did as part of it was something they call a visual preference survey. What this means is that they showed a statistically representative sampling of over two thousand British people some before and after images so they could choose which they prefer.
Here's how they responded:
As you can see, from a visual perspective, there was/is strong support for the proposed development. At least according to these three views. This is despite the fact that the proposal is, of course, taller than what's there today. What I think this starts to show is that good design matters. People respond positively to beauty. And, that it's important to show what will happen at street level above all. This is how we all experience cities.
Visual preference surveys aren't all that common. I'm not sure I've seen one conducted for a new development. But it's a great idea and I plan to borrow it from Create Streets.
Cover photo from Shoreditch Works
Brandon Donnelly
Over 4.1k subscribers
Let’s compare the 22% image against the 76% image: 22% is so ugly it makes 76% look comparatively good. As an architect in practice for three decades and someone who has sat on my city’s Design Committee, it can’t help but wonder if the architect and developer ‘conspired’ to draw something deliberately repulsive to make the meh alternative acceptable. This is essentially bait and switch tactic as old as time. I wonder why we -as a society- entertain this sort of activity. Thinking of a hockey analogy, players get paid to put the puck in the net, not to bounce pucks off the goal. The 22% image is essentially a weak shot on net. Why do we put up with iterations that are not a development team’s best efforts?
But isn't the 22% image just a photograph of the current reality?