PORTFOLIO SOPHIE COSGROVE
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2015
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5 . 1 Part 1 Reconfiguring Matter
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Urban and Spatial Experimentation MSA Atelier
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CONTENTS History
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I n d u c i n g C u l t u re
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Concept
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Site Choice
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Material Experiments
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Reconfiguration
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DORTMUND
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A Synopsis
The selected site for this year’s USE atelier M.Arch program is located within the Ruhr region of Germany. A predominantly agrarian area which rapidly developed into a densely populated metropolitan area in the 1920s due to burgeoning industries. Dortmund is one of the largest of these industrial cities in the Ruhr metropolis.
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RUHR 3
Va s t E c o n o m y The region experienced monumental industrial development in the 19th century around the industries of iron, coal and ste el making it the largest industrial region in Europe and attracting workers from across the continent.
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B a c kd r o p t o L i f e At the beginning of the economic development of the Ruhr there was no time or interest to establish refined cultural infrastructure. Those who came for work, as such these industries became the ‘backdrop’ to everyday life. The image of the Ruhr as a ‘region without culture’ remained as there was no bourgeoisie to take influence. 5
2012 = 2 Mines
1957 = 141 Mines
Shrinking Industry
1930
1967
2012
In common with many of Europe’s industrial heartlands the area saw rapid and devastating industrial decline stemming from structural economic changes associated with the end of coal mining and the ste el crisis of the 1970s. This created high levels of unemployment and out-migration, but also problems around the region’s sense of function and self-confidence (exacerbated by a decentralised urban form and strong local affiliations) as well as its external image.
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City of Holes Each mine and factory had be en the centre of each workers settlements. Once these industries were decommissioned the ‘heart’ was taken out, leaving behind a ‘c ity of holes’. The area became decentralised and fragmented. This decline of the coal and ste el industry not only set companies and economic branches, urban patterns and infrastructure, industrial sites and buildings out of function, it also devalued the regional model of a worker’s life. As such, next to economic, ecological and building dimensions the structural change of the Ruhr had to recognise the necessities of social and cultural changes. 7
“A new energy is being supported here. Its name is culture”
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‘ I n d u c i n g C u l t u re’ The authorities recently responded to these ne eds by entering the Ruhr region to secure the Capital of Culture.
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Change C u l t u re
Through Through
C u l t u re
CAPITAL
Change
Of
C U LT U R E
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U ni f ied a rea - loc alised id e n titue s
Si n gle met ropolis
Up d at in g i mage > tourism
Creat ive e con omy
of et h n ic groups
With the motto “Change through culture. Culture through change� the Ruhr metropolis was selected as Capital of Culture 2010. They defined culture broadly as - the everyday activities and interests of the general population. The final theme, City of Creativity focused more on creating platforms, structures, networks and initiatives than specific cultural products. The aim was not to develop art and culture for its own sake but to use it as a unifying force for the area, in order to achieve wider social and economic goals.
60% visited a neighbouring city
79% stated that the region presented as a single metropolis
86% that image had improved
59% agre ed region should be treated as a metropolis
50% increased self-confidence in the region
SOCIAL Legacy of Capital of Culture
Dimension
This unique form of urban regeneration, without investment in construction is connected to the concept of shrinking. Embracing experimental modelling of the city of the future that is sustainable in ecological, social and economic terms and is orientated to a development without growth, i.e. a qualitative urban development. 11
Creative Quarters
One of the initiatives undertaken by the area under the Capital of Culture scheme were the designation of ‘c reative quarters’. The theory was that by relocating and geographically concentrating culture and creative industries creative and economic potential would be unleashed because the force field of culture, urbanity and economy. The idea is that the presence and concentration of ‘a rtists’ in an area creates a milieu that attracts other types of talented and high capital individuals.
One of such creative quarters is ‘Union Viertel’ just west of Dortmund city centre Site for the brief ; INNESTADT WEST
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The Union Viertel was earmarked as creative quarter by city and local government. The area is physically and socially fragmented with a large distinction in demographics betwe en the east and west side. With a population of about 10 000 where the majority (41 %) non-native to Germany and working class. The changing of the Rheinische Straße,area name to the union quarter was the first real change of the perception of the inhabitants, whereby they felt connected under one purpose. The quarter’s motto is “Union- Unity in diversity”, trying to engage a common denominator and link people through creativity.
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“Union stands for the positive, which may arise from the change”
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Demographics
The neighbourho od includes about 150 residential buildings with over 900 apartments, most of which are privately owned, of which twothirds are single-person households. single person household
18 - 29 years old
Union Quarter
> 40 years old
Dortmund
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unemployed
The relatively cheap flats have prompted student influx, bo osting existing & causing further general population influx creating a relatively lower age demographic than the rest of the city, however the city as a whole is experiencing an aging population.
Q U A R T E R S TAT S
Dortmund City Council : Union as Creative Quarter Dortmund City City Council: Council: Union Union as as Creative Creative Quarter Quarter Dortmund
Funding is on a rigid top down structure from regional governments, trickling down to inhabitants. However, it se ems an important basis for the economic success of a region is to create a network of personal relationships for the generation of knowledge and innovation. As such the area ne eds to stimulate the ‘e very day’ residents into ‘g rass-ro ots’ and guerilla intervention to reclaim the space as their own creative quarter, not soley that imposed from above
TOP DOWN
Union Locals: Locals: Not Not Fussed Fussed Union
Union Locals : Not Fussed
Stimulating Locals
The vitality of cities is often determined by unplanned, slightly chaotic development. Spontaneity may ne ed to be encouraged just as much as control or management; there are right times for anarchy and right times for rules, right times for self-expression and right times for control.
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Rise of the Creative Class
G E N T R I F I C AT I O N Uniintegration with the local population runs the risk of mass influx and gentrifying the area.
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In ‘ The rise of the creative class’ Richard Florida chronicles the economic evolution of society, with a specific focus on the role of human creativity. He suggests that the ‘industrial age’ economy theory showed ‘people follow jobs’, whereas in the modern ‘knowledge economy’ it is suggested that - jobs follow talented people. The replacement of raw materials with human capital as the crucial wellspring of economic growth means success in the emerging age can come from attracting and retaining creative people. They are able to innovate, develop technologies and power economic growth.
However, Florida’s analysis is vulnerable to scrutiny as, according to Florida, Toronto was the ideal example of creative city success. He states: “in Toronto a thriving multidimensional creative centre”. Years of calculated planning went into the restructuring of Toronto along the creative economy lines. it experienced a provoked ‘resi-embourgeoisement’, re-regulating by sanitising, controlling, and sub-urbanising inner-city spaces, so as to transform them into sites for ‘e lite culture.’ They adopted Florida’s creative class argument and rhetoric for competing talent, and in so doing, forso ok many of their local citizens to cater to the creative class.
Artists to ok it over, luring developers and buyers into the area, who are now transforming the industrial hump into a bohemian wonderland. Jane Jacob ’s published in 2004 identifying Toronto as a city in crisis, acknowledging the serious failure of the city to respond to the ne eds for public housing. Citizens were pushed off the stre ets and into their designated corners of the increasingly gentrified city.
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Street Art mural location KEY Mural Location
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Known Artists 1 Blek le Rat / Beggar 2 Mad C 3 Blek le Rat 4 Alex Senna 5 Branco&Saci 6 Mark Gmehling 7 Rodrigo Branco 8 L7M Luis Seven Martins 9 Pener & Proembrion 10 Branco+Saci 11 Belin 12 Top Notch 13 TELMO+MIEL 14 Alex Senna 15 Rodrigo Branco + Pedro Saci 16 Claudio ETHOS
Known Artists
1 Blek le Rat / Beggar 2 Mad C 3 Blek le Rat 4 Alex Senna 5 Branco&Saci 6 Mark Gmehling 7 Rodrigo Branco 8 L7M Luis Seven Martins 9 Pener & Proembrion 10 Branco+Saci 11 Belin 12 Top Notch 13 TELMO+MIEL 14 Alex Senna 15 Rodrigo Branco + 18
Pedro Saci 16 Claudio ETHOS
STREET ART
This top down creative injection is evident through much of the artwork visible throughout the quarter, which have be en commissioned by higher authorities.
I N I T I AT I V E S
However, tagging over the top of these ‘king’ pieces highlights how the war betwe en legal and illegal artwork will always be a live debate within cities, engaging with the locals showing communication and the emerging creativity.
Initiatives are also being espoused by the local creatives of the RheinischeStrasse through collaborations collectively involving professionals and students, which creates diverse links in urban matrices and strengthens the public realm. An example of such is the painting of electric boxes scheme throughout the quarter, these boxes act as symbols of the emerging culture being recognised and unite the site establishing links due to diminishing sense of locality.
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Site Model 1: 1250
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The electric box initiative is an eample of an attempt to unite the fragmented quarter. It is fragmented both physically through the tram line and main road, and socially - by a large distinctionin wealth betwe en the east and west side.
F R A G M E N TAT I O N
The first unifying action with the comunity felt tied them together was the renaming of the area as The Union Quarter.
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DORTMUNDER U Fig. 6.
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2010
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2008
“ The people of the Union district lo ok forward to a future in which their history is identity and for the positives, which can arise from the change.” In 2008 the 70m tall former brewery building was renovated as a landmark symbol of the arts, the first step in the transition towards the new ‘united creative’ area,
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The building exemplifies the reconfiguration of past tangible industry into the future intangible creative industry.
Revealing Heritage Another example of offering new perspectives and appreciation towards the familiar is the signposted trail which has be en created to expose visitors to the highlights and latent treasures of industrial heritage along the Rivers Emscher and Lippe, Rhine and Ruhr.
The “Route Culture�
Emscher Park Bike Trail Road Round Course
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Industrial
Fig. 7.
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Preserving Heritage
LANDSHAFT PARK
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Landschaft Park , Duisborg, also embodies a positive reinterpretation of the past. The site is loved by the locals as it has reinvigorated a site which sto od for so long as a sad reminder of bygone times. Creating a platform to celebrate the past in close to its original state where recreational spaces are sensitively integrated into the structures.
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Erosion and reconfiguration of heritage.
CONCEPT Disrupt the recognisable and familiar to reveal slow transition and emergence of cultures
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Month 2
Coinciding with the close of the last remaining part of the ste el factory an erosive sculpture appears to mark the slow conversion from tangible to non tangible industry.
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An artefact from the former ste el factory is chosen, deconstructed and reconfigured into an abstract sculpture, which is then encased in a soluble and errosive casing mirroring the orginal piece of heritage. Over time the piece dissolves to reveal the symbol for the Innestadt West area and its new emerging creative culture, birthed from the experimental opportunities of the post industrial setting.
Month 4
In 1850 the cast ste el factory by Friedrich Krupp was established, this month marks its final days, 125 years of production. In recognition the erosion is set to last approximately 125 days, a total of 4 months. This slow process forms a subtle spectacle of intrigue to the final reveal of a uniting symbol.
Time Line
Month 1
Union Tag
The concept of the sculpture arose from lo oking at the aforementioned projects implemented in the Ruhr region which offer new perspectives on the farmiliar.
SYMBOL
Vacant and overlo oked spaces are selected across the site with the aim to unite the fragmented quarter through disruptions to the familiar and a recognisable symbol of heritage and emerging culture .
U U
U
U
U
U
U
U U
U
U
U
U U
In the current liquid times symbolic values become more ..t han ever. The U was chosen as the symbol as it is already estblished with undertones of unity and creativity. This scattered abstract symbol is intended to be the ‘tag’ of the quarter, reclaiming marginal spaces and the area as a whole for local residents to espouse their own creative influence on the area rather than that positioned from the outside.
U
U
U U
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SITE CHOICE & Evaluation
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Lo ose Spaces
SITE
CRITERIA Criteria Difficulty in Access Lack of Spatial Function Levels of Stre et Art Min 3 Visible Indirect Uses Vacancy
The bo ok Lo ose Space delivers a reference for meanwhile uses and secondary criteria of which define how ‘lo ose’ or ‘tight’ a space is. Public space is a frequent theme in writing about cities. Chosen Sites
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Within the studies references are made to research which used a specific criteria to define and locate lo ose spaces within a city, we use this process as a reference to create our own criteria to locate and accumulate spaces suitable to our intervention and concept.
N O M I N AT E D SITES The sculpture is to be placed in overlo oked spaces throughout the site, to appropriate unmarginal spaces as part of the emerging creative realm, transforming neglected spaces into the unexpected. These spaces are atypical of meanwhile sites, where beyond the boundaries of orgamised space lo ose and indirect uses are employed due to disuse of original functions.
The Overlo oked 33
11 Main Use:- Passing point, pedestrian bridge access
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M AT E R I A L EXPERIMENTS 41
HeadSpace
Salt is highly soluble and it is one of the few materials that can metamorphose over human time scale. The artist used salt harvested from Lake Brown to create a cast of her head and subsequently reintroduce the form to the lake to photograph its dissolution progressively over 9 we eks
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Julia Davis 2010
Research began by exploring soluble materials to discover techniques and dissoultion time frames.
800 degre es
Casting Salt
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A method of creating this solid salt mould is to melt and recast, this however requires a temperature of 8000 which would be impractical for both experimentation and production
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Salt Block
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Anat Eshed Another method is to make it to the recipe of animal salt lick which comprises of 14 lbs table salt, 3.3 lbs bone meal. 1.3 lbs lime and 3.5 lbs clay
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C a s t i n g S a l t Te s t
Salt, Bone Meal, Fertilizer, Cement
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Duke of Cumberland Me ekyoung Shin h h t t p: //
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o rg / b l o g / a s t a t u e m a d e -
Soap requires long melting and setting time
Soap - melt & mould
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Sugar explored as the third material option, though decided transparency of gelatinous melted sugar was not appropriate
Casting Sugar
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Sugar combined with water compressed creates surprisingly moulds
and stiff
Sugar Moulding
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10 Minutes
Sugar - erosion test A single drip of water to ol under 10 minutes to penetrate through the mould as such sugar was eliminated as an option. Consequently to achieve the desired time frame it was decided to form the sculpture from a solid salt cast encased in a thin soap layer, to add longevity to the initial form and facilitate coloring to achieve a convncing original rusted ste el effect.
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3 Day s
S o a p - E r o s i o n Te s t The soap was left under one intermittent drip of water for thre e days to investigate its dissolution time
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Method of process
R E C O N F I G U R AT I O N 53
1. Analyse Artefact
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2. Explode & Deconstruct
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3. Inventory of Parts
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4. R e c o n f i g u re
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5. Expose the Hidden
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Revealing the Symbolic
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A Subtle Spectacle
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A Subtle Spectacle
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A Subtle Spectacle
The aim of the intervention was to unveil the latent creativity and act as a ‘tag’ for the quarter, reclaiming the area for the emergence of the new local creative discourse. However, the question remains of how to engage the union quarter citizen who has no apparent interest in ‘c reativity’ in the form presented by the local government, to coerce the post-cultured.
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