Buenos Aires: The Grid, the Blocks, and the Corners

Expectations Buenos Aires Unlocked

Adwait Jadhav Ema Jovanović Lynn Bruers Majid Gharibian Lavasani Michael Holemans Sandro Armanda Sonya Nanayakkara Tingchun Lee

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03 THE GRID, THE BLOCKS, AND THE CORNERS Sandro Armanda & Adwait Jadhav

1 See Albert Pope’s ‘Ladders’ (1996)

The city always finds ways to escape its expectations. The grid and the blocks symbolise how the city was envisioned. However, all of this has been betrayed by the processes embedded in society, allowing life to take over and create their own narratives leaving the grid as some sort of an urban remnant but at the same time, the media where new lives superimpose and grow. The complex and contradictory character of the grid is that, as a homogenous apparatus it allows heterogeneity to emerge from it.

Our statements in this research are generated from our observations of the city as found and are subjective to our understanding.

1. The grid It’s important to note that in the city of Buenos Aires, there exist at least two fundamentally opposed systems: the grid of the pre-20th century era; and the ladder of the 20th century era. To distinguish the differences between these two spatial apparatuses that exist in Buenos Aires and what they are capable of, we demonstrate it with ten points that are placed exactly in the same place but on two different systems, a method that was used by Albert Pope in his book ‘Ladders’ back in 1996.

The grid system signifies openness and active urban process that is able to generate multiplication of intersections, while the ladder system signifies closure and static urban plan that eliminates options. On the open grid, the number of available options multiplies. While at its most fundamental level, the ladder is an exclusive system (Pope, 1996).

These interconnections in the grid system which are illustrated in Figure 01 will later be examined closer when talk about the corners in subchapter 3.

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Figure 01 Ten grid points Among a group of ten points on an open grid, several different routes can be shown to interconnect each point.

Grids function as non-hierarchical networks open to diverse responses and are capable of structuring complex associations.

The open patterns of movement generated by the grid demonstrate these qualities.

(Pope, 1996)

Figure 02 Ten ladder points In comparison to the multiple interconnections by the grid, the ladder is the agent of mechanical unity: of division, classification, and prescribed response.

While seeming to share a basic morphology, the ladder and the grid generate opposing patterns of order.

(Pope, 1996)

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2. The blocks We looked into the density map of Buenos Aires and realised that there are at least five different density levels that which manifest in the characteristics of their blocks. We then picked a typical block out of this five different zones with different density levels. Each of these blocks, not only act as an island with its own logic, but it has also its own language.

Figure 03 Density map Buenos Aires

of

Source: http:// www.ssplan. buenosaires.gov. ar/simulador/web/ sectorial/index.htm

5 4 2 3 1

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Zone 1: The regular block

Zone 2: The hybrid block

GSEducationalVersion GSPublisherVersion 258.7.9.100

Zone 3: The commercial block

Zone 4: The real estate block

GSEducationalVersion GSPublisherVersion 272.2.3.100

Figure 04 The blocks of Buenos Aires

Zone 5: The Tiro Federal block

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2. 1. The regular block The regular block consists of regular houses with one to two stories.

It has large amount of small houses congested into one square block, fighting for their spot on the limited ground. The use of ordinary doors and windows, the size of the buildings, etc. All of these things make the language of the block very clear. They signify domestic space, they signify domesticity.

Figure 05 Street view of the blocks in Zone 1.

Figure 06 Aerial photo of the blocks in Zone 1.

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crowded

1 to 2-story houses

Figure 07 The regular block

ordinary doors and windows

Figure 08 Typical section of the regular block

20m

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2. 1. The hybrid block The hybrid block consists of mid-rise apartment buildings mixed with slightly bigger houses compared to the regular block. Even so, the language is still readable. The elements mostly signify the same thing, which is domesticity, oftentimes there are supermarkets, restaurants, bars, and cafes which signify higher economic value of the zone.

Figure 09 Street view of the blocks in Zone 2.

Figure 10 Aerial photo of the blocks in Zone 2.

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more green space mid-rise apartment

Figure 11 The hybrid block

bigger houses

supermarket and cafes

Figure 12 Typical section of the hybrid block

20m

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2. 3. The commercial block The ground floor is aesthetically independent of the upper floor and there are many many buildings that have just the ground floor under renovation or construction, which makes sense because the shops keep on changing. So this characteristic of flexibility and adaptability seems important.

Figure 13 Street view of the blocks in Zone 3.

Figure 14 Aerial photo of the blocks in Zone 3.

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bigger, denser buildings outdoor AC units

Figure 15 The regular block

ground floor: commercial upper floors: residential

crowded & commercialised corner

Figure 16 Typical section of the commercial block

20m

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2. 4. The real estate block The real estate block’s language is different. Most of us can agree that it doesn’t express domesticity. The elements which often used, i.e. big glass doors and windows, repetitive elements on its façades, high fences, Palladian composition on the socle signify exclusivity and power. While the gates, the fences and setbacks from the street also signify exclusivity and closure.

Figure 17 Street view of the blocks in Zone 4.

Figure 18 Aerial photo of the blocks in Zone 4.

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high-rise tower

Palladian socle

fenced

Figure 19 The real estate block

gated

Figure 20 Typical section of the real estate block

20m

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2. 5. The Tiro Federal block Tiro Federal block sits in the green zone of Nuñez District. It exists in the residue space just beyond the grid and thus it doesn’t follow the typical 100 x 100 sqm block in the grid system of Buenos Aires. The elements of the block don’t signify anything. Most of the sides are either fenced or walled. The language of the block is vague.

Figure 21 Street view of the blocks in Zone 5.

Figure 22 Aerial photo of the blocks in Zone 5.

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Figure 23 The Tiro Federal block

fenced/walled

Figure 24 Section of the Tiro Federal block

100m

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2 ‘The solids and the liquids’ in this context, among many possible interpretations, can be understood as both the physical and the nonphysical but also, the static and the dynamic of the urban fabric.

See Keller Easterling’s ‘Medium Design’ (2018)

3 ‘Specimen’: 1) An individual animal, plant, piece of a mineral, etc. used as an example of its species or type for scientific study or display.

2) An example of something regarded as typical of its class or group.

(Definitions from Oxford Languages)

3. The corners For the purpose of our research, it’s important to state that the corners which are being chosen and studied here are the corners as by-products of the Buenos Aires grid system as illustrated in Figure 01.

Departing from these findings, we propose a few hypotheses on the explanation of Buenos Aires street corners: 1. We can learn so much about the block’s relations with the streets and with its adjacent blocks just by observing its corners.

2. The corner is the place where all of the human and vehicular flows intersect.

3. The corner is also the place where the blocks connect.

4. The corner is the place where the solids and the liquids2 of the city intermingled.

5. Their interrelations are expressed in the architectural attributes of the corners.

6. These intersections exist as by-products of the grid.

7. If each block is an island, the corner is like its port.

8. It’s the only place where these adjacent blocks connect. Zooming out, it’s actually what makes the city, a city.

In order to understand to make the corners readable, we used Charles Darwin’s beetle specimens that he collected when he went to Cambridge as an inspiration for our research method. We thought we could do the same by looking at the corners as specimens3 and collect them as much as needed in order to make these seemingly over-diversified corners more readable.

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Figure 23 Charles Darwin’s beetle specimens from Cambridge in the 1830s.

Source: https:// museumcrush.org/ barnacles-beetlesfinches-andfishes-charlesdarwins-specimencollections/

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Figure 24 Corner specimens from Zone 1 (residential)

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Figure 25 Corner specimens from Zone 2 (hybrid)

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Figure 26 Corner specimens from Zone 3 (commercial).

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Figure 27 Corner specimens from Zone 4 (real estate).

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Figure 28 Corner specimens from Zone 5 (Tiro Federal).

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Figure 29 Corner specimens from beyond the grid.

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3. 1. The corner faรงades One of our hypotheses is that the interrelations of the blocks are expressed in the architectural attributes of the corners. To prove this, we began by cutting out facades of the corners, and putting each of them together in their respective zones. The same method follows for other corners.

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Figure 26 (left page) and 27 (right page) Faรงades of specimens from Zone 1.

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3. 2. The regular block corner • • • •

Multiple cases in which paved area is reduced due to softscape; Windows overlook the most public part of the sidewalk which is the corner. Private vs. public contradiction; Corner is faced with a black façade or garage door. In the case of a garage door the space then acts as a spillover for the garage activities, and remains a thoroughfare for vehicle; In some cases the corner acts as the entrance to the building.

Red: activities or usable spaces Blue: movement paths Yellow: utilities Violet: fillers/void Figure 27 Typical elements of regular block corners.

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window overlooks the corner

more softscape

Figure 28 Typical regular block corner.

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Figure 29 (left page) and 30 (right page) Faรงades of specimens from Zone 2.

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3. 3. The hybrid block corner • • • • • •

In most cases the corner is used as an entrance for small shops and restaurants; These corners act as a spillover for the establishments (tables, sale signs, etc.); In rare cases, it is occupied by a private garden/ softscaped area belonging to a homeowner; Amount of hardscape is maximized to accommodate more people from surrounding mid and high-rise towers; Awnings and shades encourage people to wait there unlike the regular block corner which is completely exposed; Activities can take place on these corners as they invite a larger mix of people due to their location in the city and their public characteristic.

Red: activities or usable spaces Blue: movement paths Yellow: utilities Violet: fillers/void Figure 31 Typical elements of hybrid block corners.

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shades

spillover area less softscape

Figure 32 Typical hybrid block corner.

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Figure 33 (left page) and 34 (right page) Faรงades of specimens from Zone 3.

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3. 4. The commercial block corner •

•

• •

The ground floor is aesthetically independent of the upper floor and there are many many buildings that have just the ground floor under renovation or construction, which makes sense because the shops keep on changing. So this characteristic of flexibility and adaptability seems important.

Maybe places the building above is not chamfered so this creates a distinction as well as an overhang which acts as a weather-shed (making the space more usable, maybe during more hours than the other parts of the street).

Many ground floors are contemporary or have been adapted to look more contemporary while the above remains the same.

The corners which are not chamfered just don’t stand out (two images on the top right corner, Figure 26).

Red: activities or usable spaces Blue: movement paths Yellow: utilities Violet: fillers/void Figure 35 Typical elements of commercial block corners.

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signage

residential balconies R E S T A U R A N T

even less softscape

big glass windows and doors

Figure 36 Typical commercial block corner.

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Figure 37 (left page) and 38 (right page) Faรงades of specimens from Zone 4.

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3. 5. The real estate block corner • • • • •

•

These corners do not exhibit any sense of belonging, neither private nor public.

It seems as though they exist solely due to the face that the grid is being maintained aesthetically.

In most cases they do not allow for an entrance into the building complex and are blocked with a physical barrier such as a wall or fence.

Wherever there is a lack of space the corners act as a pedestrian entrance to the real estate establishment.

These corners do not have any common specificity and are generally leftover spaces each with their own unique urban condition. These may be: fenced with a parking lot beyond, fenced with a garden/ amenity area for a housing complex, open with a softscaped island, fenced with a softscaped island, etc.

In any case, these corners are not the forefront of the block but rather the burden.

Red: activities or usable spaces Blue: movement paths Yellow: utilities Violet: fillers/void Figure 39 Typical elements of real estate block corners.

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fenced

void space

no sense of belonging

Figure 40 Typical real estate block corner.

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Figure 41 (left page) and 42 (right page) Faรงades of specimens from Zone 3.

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3. 6. The Tiro Federal corner • • • • •

This is an uncommon and varied corner typology which is generally seen near sports complex The corners are either neglected completely and fenced, or They are part of another elaborate entrance area for a park/sports complex In most cases there is a micro transportation path, oftscape area, and pedestrian foot path.

These corners may not be identifiable in the standard grid block typology due to their location/size of block/shape of block.

Red: activities or usable spaces Blue: movement paths Yellow: utilities Violet: fillers/void Figure 43 Typical elements of Tiro Federal block corners.

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netted

not the standard grid corner

Figure 44 Typical Tiro Federal block corner.

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3. 7. The other corner The other corners, or the corners that don’t belong within the grid system and don’t work to provide a lively neighborhood: • There is a disconnect with he other side of the street; 1. Either there is no sidewalk on the other side or the sidewalk leads nowhere; 2. They are not the ports for the block as they don’t allow entrance or exit from the block; • The corner houses the backside of a building or campus and is there to maintain the aesthetic and not for any activity; • These type of corners can appear in any of the block typologies and are not restricted to any one particular typology although they are more evident in the Tiro federal typology and the real estate typology; • These corners serve the functions of services/parking/etc. but do not welcome human activity; • Such corners can be found near: 1. Dead end streets 2. Streets with no intersection 3. Streets where the T-intersection has been blocked to create and L-shaped vehicular road.

• There are no typical attributes and each such corner is different.

• Most of these corners lie in places where this is less footfall or dead end streets (which do not allow for even a passage of pedestrians.

• The “other corners” serve as a study of what no to do and help in identifying similar qualities.

• We may notice that a street is stopping at a cul-de-sac or dead end, and assume the possibility of the “other corner” appearing in the vicinity.

Red: activities or usable spaces Blue: movement paths Yellow: utilities Violet: fillers/void Figure 45 Typical elements of the other corners.

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no activities

no crossing

street turn as parking space

Figure 46 Typical corner beyond the grid.

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4. Innovation Park 4. 1. The grid or the ladder?

From the information we could gather of the Innovation Park project, we try to examine what we think could be improved or even dismissed out of it based on the research we have conducted specifically on the grid, the blocks, and the corners of Buenos Aires.

In Figure 48, we draw lines to make the spatial configuration of the Innovation Park more readable, and it clearly shows how the ladder system is implemented. This is where we think the problem arises. It’s important to state that in this particular case, the distinction of the grid and the ladder systems is not a matter of good and bad, but it’s a matter of choosing the right system for the right problem.

It was mentioned quite repeatedly that the problem with the existing Tiro Federal site is that it fragments the urban fabric of the city, specifically the Nuñez District, and this Innovation Park design proposal is supposed to solve that. This particular area where the site belongs, is a residue of the city grid expansion. The fact that it is located next to a highway is one of the reasons why this area has become a vast vacuum space.

However, going back to Innovation Park design proposal, if urban fragmentation was the main problem, then we thought using the ladder system was the wrong move. It would instead create another gigantic island that acts as a closed, inclusive system instead of making it more integrated to the city.

Therefore, in the design phase later, we would like to propose an alternative system that we think could be the right answer to the actual problem.

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Figure 47 The Innovation Park site plan.

Figure 48 The ladder system of the Innovation Park.

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4. 2. The corners From the visualisation of the project. The corners don’t really seem to give any formal resemblance to the typical corners that exist in the city of Buenos Aires. Since this is only a design proposal, we cannot do much but assume that these corners don’t act, or perhaps, don’t reflect any particular values nor importances. These corners, unlike the ones in the city, are not nodes, nor islands’ ports as the results of the spatial configuration system that allow each adjacent blocks to interconnect.

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Figure 49 The Innovation Park.

Figure 50 Corners of the Innovation Park.

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5. Conclusion In this research we have gathered information which shows us the expectations of each of the blocks. We have collected this data in the form of specimens and assessed it without bias and without a judgement of right or wrong. Instead, each specimen has been examined individually and within a group to see whether it is fit for the zone in which it appears.

We have not stated, for example, that the corner of regular typology has less activities and is less lively but rather that it respects the domesticity of the residential typology. A similar statement can be made for all the corner typologies which shows whether it corresponds to the need of that block. In case of the ‘other corner’ which appear as an inoperative space, the study generates a faction which can be used to predict problematic spaces in the urban fabric. The study of the corners has helped us extract the narratives from the fabric of Buenos Aires. These narratives have been extracted through the observation of the symbolism of the blocks and the corners. They can now act as a starting point for analysing the upcoming Innovation Park establishment.

The Tiro Federal block is a challenge due to its vague fabric and surrounding change in block typology (real estate block, residential block, highway, sporting facility). The current solution for the Innovation Park services the Tiro Federal block with the ladder system. Although it may work within the block, the narrative does not carry through to the surroundings of the district.

Creating only active spaces will not be the intention of the design process. The intent is to produce an equitable space which does not repeat the negatives of the various block typologies and enhances on the positives. With the aim of creating corners in the figurative sense, we propose to find a solution which is fitting for the district, site and the program of the Innovation Park. By identifying the problematic areas of the Innovation Park and addressing how the fabric interacts with the surroundings and the needs of the people of Buenos Aires, we wish to create a heterogeneous solution that has arrived as an advancement of the rest of the city.

Using the extracted symbolism requires a process which is inherent in our hypotheses: Reiterating the urban fabric of the city as a design solution will directly contradict our hypotheses’s sensibilities. Hence the extracted symbolisms need to be adapted for the program alongside densification and diversification. This interconnected process will allow introduction of heterogeneity alongside the homogeneity of the spatial organisation. The interface should attract density and mixité to the Tiro Federal site. Although empty, the site cannot be considered independent of the societal processes which it too will go through during its lifetime. This dynamic process is the expectation which we must cater to.

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