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70 2010
Sustainability
2010
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Sustainability – a concept that came to prominence within a short time and has to stand for so many things, now also appears in Topos. It concerns the efficient use of energy, a healthy environment, but also the challenges due to changing climatic conditions. The subjects in this issue thus range from eco-cities to sustainable sites, from land use to evaporation, from renewable energies to paracentric architecture, and from regenerative design for Expo Shanghai all the way to watersquares in Rotterdam. The main focus is always on landscape and its role in the sustainable planning and design of our future.
B E T T E R C I T Y, B E T T E R L I F E SHANGHAI WORLD EXPO 2010 NEW LIVING IN HAMBURG-JENFELD AND ECOLOGICAL PROJECTS
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Sustainability
,!7ID7G6-hbifgd!
R E G E N E R AT I V E D E S I G N QIAOYUAN PARK
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E C O - C I T I E S MASDAR AND XERITOWN
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FUTURE-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
PA R AC E N T R I C A R C H I T E C T U R E S T R AT E G I C S O C I A L
R E N E WA B L E E N E R G I E S LAND USE AND DESIGN CHALLENGE
F O OT P R I N T FREE MARKET AND CLIMATE CHANGE
ISBN 978-3-7667-1856-3
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WAT E R S Q UA R E S BUFFERING RAINWATER IN CITIES
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B I O C I T Y SELF-ORGANISING SYSTEMS
S U S TA I N A B L E S I T E S RATING SYSTEM
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CA R B O N
Cover: Robert Schäfer (photo)
18 Shibo Park is one of the new open spaces created for Expo 2010 in Shanghai along the
NITA Design Group
Maria Pfeiffer
Huangpu River.
62 Photovoltaic modules are part of the design of the “Sun Monument” on the promenade in the Croatian city of Zadar. At night, the technological elements glow in various colours.
80 Multifunctional umbrellas at Masdar Plaza in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, provide shade by
MIR
day and collect solar energy at the same time.
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SUSTAINABILITY
NANNAN DONG, LANG ZHANG, STEFANIE RUFF
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TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
CORDULA RAU
From Expo City to Sustainable City
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Shanghai: “Better City, Better Life” is the motto of the
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi Carbon-neutral and zero-waste city in the desert
World Expo 2010 SABINE MÜLLER, ANDREAS QUEDNAU
88
KONGJIAN YU
28
Qiaoyuan Park, Tianjin
Xeritown, Dubai Mixed-use development applies sustainable principles
Desertec UK
An ecosystem services-oriented regenerative design JOSÉ M. ALMIÑANA
94
CHRISTOPH ELSÄSSER
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New Living in Jenfeld
The Sustainable Sites Initiative Performance-based rating system for landscape projects
Future-oriented development on the periphery of Hamburg
56 One of the future tasks for landscape
MARCO SCHMIDT
architects is developing synergies of renewable
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Watersquares, Rotterdam
A New Paradigm in Sustainable Land Use
The elegant way of buffering rainwater in cities
Changes needed to increase evaporation and
FLORIAN BOER
42
energy installations and existing land uses.
precipitation rates SAMI RINTALA
48
Edge: On Paracentric Architecture Low-cost architecture as inspiration for contemporary
JODY BECK
104
Distribution of resources and the discourse on justice
solutions
SÖREN SCHÖBEL, ANDREAS DITTRICH
56
Renewable Energies – Landscapes of Reconciliation?
STUART MACKENZIE
106
The Contested Shore Sea Change 2030, an international ideas competition for
Reducing changes in landscapes and developing synergies
myrmician
Sustainability and Landscape
Sydney Harbour with Topos as media partner
MARIA PFEIFFER
62
Photovoltaics in Open Space Design
70 Ant colonies exhibit emergent organisa-
Integration of technological equipment as challenge for
tion through self-organisation. Emergence also
landscape architecture
Currents 6
provides a way of reading city development.
News, Competitions, Reports
ADRIAN MCGREGOR
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Biocity: Emergent Sustainability Cities as self-organising ecological biotopes
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Authors
CRAIG POCOCK
111
Credits/Imprint
The Carbon Landscape
Omnix/SMAQ/X-Architects
Using the free market to fight climate change
88 Xeritown, Dubai: windcatchers, typical for Arabic buildings, direct cooling air into the houses. Outside, solar panels provide shade.
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CURRENTS
NEWS
NEWS
IULA 09: Hamburg-Jenfeld revitalisation project by West 8 honoured energy-and resource-efficient but also to take into account aspects such as usability and adaptability in view of demographic change. Projects in Germany and Great Britain were eligible. Thanks to the multidimensionality of the points to bear in mind in a truly sustainable urban design with future viability, the 50 projects submitted cover completely different domains. They range from residential developments adapted to high water levels through the regeneration of former harbour installations to the participatory initiatives
West 8
This is the third time that Eurohypo AG in cooperation with Topos sponsored the International Urban Landscape Award (IULA). While so far it distinguished two large parks, each having a major impact on urban development, namely Riem Landscape Park in Munich and Park Nou Barris in Barcelona, its focus in 2009 was on sustainable urban development. Realised or planned built projects that combine landscape and architectural aspects in one ensemble in exemplary fashion were wanted. They were required not only to be
The revitalisation of former barracks in Hamburg-Jenfeld into a sustainable residential urban neighbourhood, planned by West 8, received the International Urban Landscape Award 2009 (above); the second prize went to Lea River Park in
5th Studio
London (right).
of communities. The fact that many of the entries are still at the development or planning stage shows that the requirement was very topical. In many places we still have to wait for the really successful examples of structures that also include the landscape. The jury was impressed by the revitalisation of the LettowVorbeck Barracks in HamburgJenfeld, for which the landscape architecture firm West 8 of the Netherlands was responsible for the planning. It granted the first prize with a purse of 25,000 euros to this project. Following Hamburg’s guiding
principle of “The growing city”, West 8 developed a neighbourhood with different building typologies and a wide variety of open spaces. This is to upgrade Jenfeld, located in the borough of Wandsbek, and above all to initiate new neighbourhood development via social sustainability. Individually formed townhouses with gardens will shape an urban quarter with a functioning and fascinating mixture of proximity and independence. One innovation is its HWC (Hamburg Water Cycle) System, which includes solar and thermal energy as well as heat pumps, the use of biomass from wastewater to produce energy, and the separate treatment of rainwater and grey water. Fifty percent of the required electricity and 100 percent of the heating energy for the Jenfeld development will also be produced on site (see article on page 36). Endowed with the second prize, comprising 15,000 euros, was the planning for Lea River Park in London. The Lower Lea Valley in East London will be a metropolitan park, not only including 35,000 new res-
idential units and workplaces for 50,000 people but also upgrading the valley from the Thames to the site of the 2012 Olympic Summer Games. Its six individual park zones will link up existing structures with the new developments (see Topos 58). The third prize with 10,000 euros went to the British LifE project (Long-term Initiatives for Flood-risk Environments), which combines integrative flood control measures and CO2-reduced housing development. It was applied in three case studies (see Topos 68). Honourable mentions were awarded to Havenwelten Bremerhaven (Harbour Worlds) by Latz + Partner of Kranzberg and London (see Topos 54) and to East Oxford Commons, a concept for sustainable urban development strategies submitted by David Hammonds Associates. The prizes and honourable mentions were presented during an event held at the Deutsches Architektur Museum (DAM) in Frankfurt/ Main on 26 January. Klaus Töpfer, patron of IULA, reported on the 2010 World’s Fair in Shanghai and conducted a round-table discussion on stage about the stimulus effect of large-scale events with Herbert Schmalstieg, former mayor of Hanover and thus having Expo experience (Expo 2000) and Adam Williams, who is to implement the masterplan for the Olympic Park in London for the planning company AECOM. Robert Schäfer www.iula.com
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NEWS
CURRENTS
Topos Landscape Award 2010 and Seminar in Cracow Competition proposal for Toronto’s Don River and Lower Don Lands by stoss LU: Rather than re-shaping the river strictly according to the needs of the evolving city, the designers put the Don first, allowing the river to shape the metropolis, giving rise to dynamic, unique and engaging
stoss LU (2)
neighbourhoods and open spaces.
On 18 June in the Polish city of Cracow, the Topos Landscape Award will be granted for the fifth time around. This will be on the occasion of a seminar for specialists on the topic of “Designing urban space”. At the invitation of the City of Cracow, which is also assuming the sponsorship, and in cooperation with the Polish landscape architecture association Stowarzyszenie Zielen´ Polska, Topos is organising this international event in the historic town hall. Participants are expected from not only Poland but also neighbouring countries. Speakers include the EFLA President Nigel Thorne, as well as Anna Krzyzanowska (landscape architect, City of Cracow and vice director of ZIKiT), Artur Bronisz
(Bronisz Land Design) and Aleksander Böhm of Poland (Landscape Architecture Institute Director at Cracow University of Technology), Vladimir Djurovic (Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture) of Beirut, Eleanor Fawcett (Design for London) of London, Susannah Drake (dlandstudio) of New York, Andreas Kipar (LAND) of Milan, and last year’s winner of the Topos Landscape Award, Adrian McGregor (McGregor Coxall) of Sydney. The Topos Landscape Award 2010 will be going to stoss LU, a critical design and planning studio headed by Chris Reed and based in Boston, MA, USA. Operating at the juncture of landscape architecture, urban design and planning in the emerging field of land-
scape urbanism, stoss LU has won national and international recognition for landscape and urbanism projects rooted in infrastructure, functionality and ecology. Topos chose stoss LU for its 2010 Landscape Award in recognition of the theoretical and practical impulses the firm provides to advancing the development of landscape architecture in dynamic sys-
tems, and in order to encourage discussion on landscape urbanism. In the sense of the latter, Topos 71, due out in June, will be dedicated to landscape urbanism. The Topos Landscape Award 2010 and Seminar received generous support from Lorberg Nurseries, Ketzin, and Runge GmbH, Osnabrück. Programme and registration:
The winners of the Topos Landscape
www.topos2010.zielenpolska.pl
Award 2010: stoss LU with Jill Desimini, Senior Associate; Chris Reed, Principal, and Scott Bishop, Senior Associate.
Nannan Dong, Lang Zhang, Stefanie Ruff
From Expo City to Sustainable City From 1 May to 31 October 2010 the World Expo will be held in Shanghai. With the motto “Better City, Better Life� the central theme of cities has been chosen for an Expo for the first time.
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he Expo site covers an area of 5.28 square kilometers and has the biggest participation in the history of world expositions, attracting about 200 different nations and international organizations. During 184 days Shanghai will experience the greatest city event in its history. It is estimated that around 70 million people will come to Shanghai and visit the Expo site. The masterplan for the Shanghai Expo site comprises both sides of the Huangpu River – 3.03 square kilometers on its east bank and 1.35 square kilometers on its west bank. There are five functional zones with an average size of 60 hectares. With more than half of mankind living in urban areas, harmonious life in the world’s cities is a key issue of our time. In Shanghai, with about 18 million inhabitants, this topic has highest priority. The Expo itself aims to implement the principles of sustainable planning in order to become a model example of sustainable design. At the same time it will provide valuable opportunities for its visitors to learn how to create an eco-friendly and sustainable urban environment. Innovations in the fields of sustainable urban lifestyle and development will be shown not only in separate pavilions but also in the exhibition space of the Urban Best Practice Area, which presents various ongoing practices as well as experimental examples of livable cities, sustainable urbanization, protection and utilization of historical heritage as well as new building technologies. Moreover, the planning of the Expo site and the construction of the Expo buildings them-
selves can be regarded as experiments of Chinese sustainable urban development. Based on sustainable principles, the masterplan pays great attention to five environmental aspects: water, air, soil, energy and materials. In order to ensure a high environmental quality, the plan requires the use of clean energy, such as solar and wind energy, as well as the reduction of pollutant emissions and land consumption. The masterplan’s land use guidelines have induced compact and high density structures, in order to minimize the consumption of open space, which is already rare in the city of Shanghai. As the underground space of the site is intensively used for all kinds of infrastructural facilities, valuable above ground areas could be saved in order to meet the manifold spatial requirements during and after the Expo. In the public facilities and buildings new and innovative technologies are applied: most buildings were designed following various ecological concepts, such as rain water collection, solar energy generation, LED lighting, natural ventilation and eco-friendly materials. This goes to such lengths as using the river water of the Huangpu as the cooling or respectively heating medium in the air conditioning of the Expo Performance Center. The Expo traffic planning supports public transportation, fuelled with clean energy. Thereby harmful environmental impacts of motorized private transport can be reduced considerably. Under the impetus of the World Expo not only a new subway transportation hub has been set up within the Expo site, but beyond that, the rail
The Expo site showcases ecological ways of water treatment and their integration into contemporary landscape architecture, like in Houtan Park designed by Turenscape.The structure is built from steel panels reclaimed from the site.
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Christoph Els채sser
New Living in Jenfeld The new residential development on the periphery of Hamburg is the perfect testing ground for futureoriented development. It combines social and ecological sustainability in an innovative landscape masterplan. In January the project received the International Urban Landscape Award 2009.
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I
n close cooperation with the city of Hamburg and the district of Wandsbek, West 8 is developing an urban structure for the former Lettow-Vorbeck army barracks in Jenfeld. On the 29-hectare site, a complete new neighbourhood for living and working will be created over the next few years. The conversion of the former barracks area will support the much needed change of Jenfeld’s image, which is a key priority for Wandsbek. Jenfeld has been known as a monotonous and characterless neighbourhood in the east of Hamburg, with a high proportion of social
housing. It has a grey suburban charm, lacks a heart and historical relics are rare. Nevertheless, Jenfeld has hidden qualities that not many are aware of. The poor reputation of some parts, especially in the immediate vicinity of the notorious high-rise estates, obscures the fact that Jenfeld is really a green neighbourhood where life can be quiet and comfortable. Large green areas, ponds and lakes embellish green housing areas, which have grown from allotment gardens into a colourful residential district. The former barracks site has grown over decades of low key use into a green
The plan of Hamburg-Jenfeld shows how the structure of green areas, water and open space is connected with green corridors.The main square of the neighbourhood provides access to the water and spaces for recreation (page 36).
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Maria Pfeiffer
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Photovoltaics in Open Space Design Photovoltaic elements can be used on buildings and built structures to supply electricity. Integrating this technological equipment is a design challenge not only for architecture but also for landscape architecture. Including elements providing solar energy for electricity and heating will develop into a widespread task in open space design.
On the promenade in the Croatian city of Zadar, circles of photovoltaic modules glow in various colours at night.The solar power generated during the day operates not only the nightly display but also the lighting of the entire port area.
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