DIAseries #4 - Redesign

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Redesign



Redesign Thesis Design Studio 2008-2015 Studio Master Gunnar Hartmann


DIA Series

This book is part of a series of scientific publications, which, at loose intervals, will publish the results of thematic studio projects as a reflection of the work accomplished within the DIA master course. As such, they will reveal a panorama of architectural discourse about the city, society, history as well as the tectonic object as perceived through the eyes of students from all over the world. Alfred Jacoby, Director DIA Johannes Kister, Director Public Affairs DIA #1 Amsterdam Housing (2012) #2 Jerusalem: The Damascus Gate (2013) #3 After Geometry (2015) #4 Redesign (2015)

Arie Graafland Arie Graafland and Alfred Jacoby Attilio Terragni Gunnar Hartmann


Introduction to the DIA Series Prof. Alfred Jacoby (Director DIA)

The DIA Series has attempted to shed light upon a variety of issues. While the first two publications by Arie Graafland and Alfred Jacoby were concerned with distinctive problems of two different cities like Amsterdam and Jerusalem, the third publication by Attilio Terragni discussed one of architecture's basic grammatical elements: geometry. In its latest publication, 'Redesign' by Gunnar Hartmann, the series embarks on yet another different route. The past 25 years have been generally considered a time of great changes. With his book 'When the Facts Change,' the brilliant British historical scholar Tony Judt reminds us that we need to be alert and should be in a position to act when new situations create an unforeseeable (political) paradigm shift. Gunnar Hartmann's studio work, developed over almost a decade of teaching at DIA, addresses the same phenomenon, yet this time referring to architecture, urbanism and design. 'Redesign' goes far beyond the simple formula to adapt form in order to maintain or expand flexibility when dealing with Gestaltung. With 'Redesign' Gunnar Hartmann presents his very special interdisciplinary teaching toolbox. It is based on an intellectual approach that refuses to be shelved into pre-defined academic disciplines. I am certain that Gunnar Hartmann's 'Redesign' will serve students and teachers at DIA well. So far, we have been in need of an Open Source Design Manual when tackling unexpected changes. Gunnar Hartmann has now provided it.



Acknowledgements After teaching at the DIA for almost a decade, I have many people to thank: the DIA coordinators, Beeke Bartelt, Ulrike Jost, and Larisa Tsvetkova, for their endless patience and devotion to the graduate program; the members of the past and present DIA board, Prof. Dr. Jasper Cepl, Prof. Alfred Jacoby, Prof. Johannes Kalvelage, Prof. Johannes Kister, Prof. Stephan Pinkau, and Prof. Carl Constantin Weber; the second thesis advisors, Prof. Dr. Omar Akbar, Dr. Regina Bittner, Prof. Dr. Jasper Cepl, Prof. Joris Fach, Prof. Jovan Ivanovski, Prof. Alfred Jacoby, Prof. Ivan Kucina, Prof. Lars Lerup, and Prof. Dr. Lara Shrijver; and those who supported the DIA research projects and workshops, such as Daniel Balean, Valerio Giacomelli, Yolandé Gouws, Andreas Kießling, Sumeth Klahan, Prof. Dr. Joachim Krausse, Kanin Manthanachart, Niel Meyer, Felicity Passmore, Catalina Pollini, and Grisha Zotov. I also want to mention Henry McKenzie and Catalina Pollini for their assistance with this book. For his many criticisms, insights into the city, teaching collaborations, and endless encouragement over the years, I am indebted to Prof. Lars Lerup. My greatest debt is to Prof. Alfred Jacoby, director of the DIA. I am grateful beyond measure to his commitment to my work. His unideological and freespirited mind has been a great source of inspiration. Finally, I want to thank the students—all of them, not just the few whose thesis projects I have chosen to share here—for their efforts and hard work. Without their courage to venture into a foreign country, the DIA experiment would have failed. I learned so much from them and from all the rich cultural experiences they brought with them. Berlin, September 2015



Contents

Preface 10 Redesign 14 Redesigning the Hydrologic Cycle of the Elbe Basin Prosumption of Water in the City Fields of Potential – The Thames Estuary Decoding Post-Socialist Transition – The Case of Skopje Luxury and the City Understanding Growth – The Case of Nasr City (De)constructing Architectural Memory Reading Self-organized Wealth and Emerging Markets Transforming Minimum Standard Housing Transformation of the Shop house Self-built Housing in Poor Communities Building in the Age of the Network Society Home of Access – Shared Urban Living The Internet of Architectural Things Designing China – A Creative Leap Forward

20 36 52 66 82 98 116 134 154 176 188 206 218 236 254

About the Participants

264

Credits 271



Preface


The Open Studio Lars Lerup How many people does it take to make an open architecture studio? Four: an open-minded program director, a friendly secretary, a dedicated teacher, and an eager student. How do you develop a studio in the shadow of the demanding legacy of the old Bauhaus? You take a new name: DIA (Dessau Institute of Architecture). You unshackle yourself from too much administration. You open the door to the world. You don’t charge very much, and you speak English (the new kind of Esperanto that is very generous in its attitude toward nonnative-speaker abuse and inventive manipulation). And you wait (not so patiently) while living (appreciatively) in and around the body of Bauhaus buildings and the historians that keep the flame. Suddenly, those who are not spoiled by higher education but steeped in urban experience show up. And the sleepy postwar city of Dessau wakes up from its dreams of a glorious past—even the nearby Elbe seems to flow a bit faster. A decade later, DIA runs like clockwork, with a broad record of production in its wake. One of the many highlights of Alfred Jacoby’s outstanding stewardship is a series of legendary studios run by an assortment of local professors and invited guests. All speak to an open project driven by endless enthusiasm, perseverance, and invention. And one example from that series is Gunnar Hartmann’s studios, evidence of which you now hold in your hands.

The student work presented here speaks largely for itself. Unspoken is the clear message that the traditional Plans for the City have been laconically replaced by Repair Manuals. Here architects operate like epidemiologists, adjusting a series of urban levers, which often function outside the architectural box, all to multifaceted ends. Buildings cannot solve problems; only people, engaging buildings as but one of many urban instruments, can. The projects displayed show these multifaceted tactics in all their breadth, depth, and determination, but what cannot be reproduced as easily is the studio life behind them—the endless conversation that Gunnar Hartmann orchestrates. (This may be why Internet education will never replace the heat of the studio.) His students attest to this, all forming part of a cohort of DIA alumni who are back Gunnar Hartmann embodies this will. A day or two after the fall of the Berlin Wall, he flies home working hard to adjust the complex to the United States, leaving Thuringia behind assemblages of humans and their machines. The book just scratches the surface of his studios—representing, as it does, the material residue of an event-space whose life force is not representable. However, these studio atmospherics persist, occupying the constantly evolving memories of those of us who had the privilege of being there. Although the student body is ever changing, the spirit of these students has remained constant. It is a spirit that is driven by a hunger for engagement in the urban that you typically only find among the less privileged of urban dwellers. These students all come from encumbered cities—cities that cry for attention. You get the palpable sense among these young people of a Will to the City that bodes well for their return to the urban once they leave…

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to study art and play music. A couple of years later, he shows up at Rice University in Houston with another displaced person like himself, though she is from the mountains of Laos, as his wife and muse. As the dean of the school of architecture, I watch the intellectual and material explorations of this highly unusual addition to a relatively homogeneous student body. (And they are not always easy to follow.) He graduates with a still mysterious thesis. After a short stint in the Swiss Alps, he ends up as a visiting professor at Anhalt University, imported there by Alfred Jacoby. And suddenly he and his family are repatriated in Berlin—just a stone’s throw from his birthplace. But here is where the circularity stops. A recently completed PhD at Humboldt University in Berlin, which takes as its thesis the built world of medicine and all that it entails, reveals one of the many trajectories that Gunnar Hartmann has excavated. Others can be found in the subtitles within his introduction to this volume: Long-term Thinking, The Bandwidth of Planning, Prosumption, The Capital Costs of Buildings, Buildings as Part of the Internet of Things, Sharing Economies—all parcels in the Endless Seminar he also cites—a seminar that never seems to end because it continues to proliferate under the auspices of his private outreach program, New Dialogues, and the weekly Skype session between Houston and Berlin.


In the end, DIA is not an edifice, like the old Bauhaus, but an urban attitude that loves invention, change, and multiplicity, manifested and exemplified best by the astonishing energy and inventiveness of its director, Alfred Jacoby. There is no doubt in my mind that good schools need spirited leaders who realize that change is not easy to deal with, but necessary, and that inclusiveness and generosity are the fuel that propels our complex future. DIA remains the mouse that roars. The world is better for it. Lars Lerup Houston, Texas

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Redesign


Redesign Gunnar Hartmann The practical work of perestroika was to renounce stereotypical ideological thinking and the dogmas of the past. This required a fresh view of the world and of ourselves with no preconceptions, taking into account the challenges of the present and the already evident trends of the future in the third millennium. During perestroika, and often now as well, the initiators of perestroika have been criticized for the absence of a “clear plan” for change. The habit developed over decades of having an all-inclusive regimentation of life. But the events of the perestroika years and of the subsequent period have plainly demonstrated the following: At times of profound, fundamental change in the foundations of social development, it is not only senseless but impossible to expect some sort of previously worked out “model” or a clear-cut outline of the transformations that will take place. This does not mean, however, the absence of a definite goal for the reforms, a distinct conception of their content, and the main direction of their development. —Mikhail Gorbachev A planet that could soon be supporting as many as 10 billion human beings has to work differently from the one that held 1 billion people, mostly peasants, 200 years ago. The challenge of the Anthropocene is to use human ingenuity to set things up so that the planet can accomplish its 21st-century task. —The Economist The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. —Alvin Toffler That our world is enormously complex is hardly a radical revelation. We have known this for a very long time. The problem is that we act accordingly. To widen our perspective, we narrow and confine our endeavors. Consequently, as academics and professionals, we sequester ourselves in various silos that encourage us to think laterally. Yet, in face of overwhelming evidence of our interrelatedness, from our bodies to our environment and our actions within it, we no longer have a choice other than to broaden our approach. 16

The Endless Seminar1 Perhaps the hardest task is to avoid binary thinking, such as the separation of mind and body, human beings and the environment, nature and artifice, city and hinterland, nation and world. At the same time, we must also accept the current limitations of challenging such thinking. Appealing to pragmatism, we must use humility and intersubjectivity to replace professional myopia and the misplaced belief that “we know best.” New dialogues must be established, dialogues that include not just humans talking to each other but also the involvement of spokespeople for the inanimate world (Latour). By focusing on the consequences of our actions and our designs, we will find ourselves part of an endless seminar, daunting yet bright with opportunity, having little patience for hubris and professional bullying, but open to experimentation and new coalitions that straddle former gaps with both ease and elegance. A new world of moderation will result. Although today’s proclaimed energy turnaround has initiated first and foremost a large and unprecedented process of redesign, this visible transformation of our landscapes and cities conceals a possibly even larger process of relearning. When the facts change, existing theories and tools as well as values are gradually replaced. Approaches generally believed to be reliable for solving problems are, in this new light, no longer indistinguishable from the actual causes. Hierarchies begin to totter. Oppositions soften. The environmental activist turns into an ecology-minded economist. The expert can effect change only when part of a multidisciplinary team. Multiple authorship modifies continuously and at a faster pace—both its general language as well as its discipline-specific terminology. The Internet of Things (IoT) makes possible new forms and spaces of community and communication. Thus technical challenges are inextricably linked with social opportunities. Everything is moving. Despite this disorder, we should enter this new era optimistically. Instead of striving for limited locations and resources, we will tap into the ever increasing possibilities of renewable energies. A world of diversity and differences will unfold. Overall discrepancies


will increase. Based on communication not only between humans and humans but also, most of all, between humans and the environment, this world will require multiple translators. Hence, technical interfaces will enable communication between the abiotic and biotic environment. Sensors, among other things, will measure differences and allow for our communication with the things that surround us. Walls may no longer remain silent.

The following research topics have been of repeated interest within the design studio. They are listed here in no particular order. Neither are they intended to form concluding statements. Yet, they sum up the most critical questions the studio collectively has explored over the past eight years. Long-term Thinking

“The destiny of our species is shaped by the imperatives of survival on six distinct time As for the role of the architect, his or her field scales,” observes the mathematician and of work has always been subject to change, physicist Freeman Dyson. “On a time scale and this remains true now. The architectural of years, the unit is the individual. On a time elements that the architect designs with, scale of decades, the unit is the family. On a e.g., walls, roofs, windows, doors, etc., have time scale of centuries, the unit is the tribe been continuously redesigned according or nation. On a time scale of millennia, the to comfort, security, and, most recently, unit is the culture. On a time scale of tens of sustainability (Koolhaas); the building, e.g., millennia, the unit is the species. On a time site, structure, space plan, service, skin, scale of eons, the unit is the whole web of and stuff, therefore changes in stages and life on our planet. Every human being is the at differing paces (Brand). Finally, the client, product of adaptation to the demands of all whom the architect designs for, e.g., church, six time scales.”2 The present age, one in state, developer, building cooperative, which humanity has affected the planet by dweller, etc., continuously redesigns the altering its climate, depleting its resources, architect’s role. and eroding its biodiversity, demands longterm thinking and challenges us to find The Design Studio systemic approaches. As one of my favorite informants—the ecologist Stewart Brand— At DIA, working in the format of a design studio (although this format has existed since has suggested, we ought to view the process the Beaux Arts era) continues to be relevant. of civilization holistically, as existing in the form of various layers coevolving at different However, the multicultural student body at DIA has turned the studio into a new place of paces. Once we do that, we begin to see the greater process of urbanization as a selflearning that extends beyond the academic regulating, nonlinear corrective—partially curriculum of the graduate program. In a globalized world, it is important to learn how stabilizing and partially contradicting current conditions. Brand’s cross-section depicts to thrive in a realm of cultural and social the differing paces of the various layers diversity. The diverse student body at DIA of a healthy civilization, whereby the fast has therefore increasingly challenged the parts, like fashion and commerce, propose traditional model of teaching. The design ideas and absorb shocks, while the slow studio is no longer based on knowledge, i.e., parts, like governance and culture, set the teachers telling students what to design or rules, maintain continuity, and integrate what to do in a specific context. Instead, the lessons. “The whole combines learning with studio grants access to a variety of cultural continuity.”3 experiences. That is, the aims of the studios are now to mobilize the intelligence of the various experiences that are present. To The Bandwidth of Planning explore collectively a range of topics and The pace of urbanization is undoubtedly contexts that we know very little about, related to whatever the prevailing energy the studios have supported peer-to-peer relations and encouraged participation rather source might be. Hence, wood, coal, and oil have produced cities at successively than judgment. Both students and teacher more rapid paces. Planning has proven have needed to acquire new skills: unlearn ideological thinking and relearn how to listen, to be an inappropriate tool to guide such urban transformations when a city’s growth as well as learn how to experiment. accelerates or decelerates too rapidly.

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While disciplines like urban planning and architecture have emerged and continue to be relevant at times of moderate change, masterplans are doomed to fail when applied in a context of rapid change. Because of their narrow bandwidth, masterplans can neither project a future nor accommodate the pace of rapid transformation. Hence, our attention and research must gravitate toward the city’s inherent capacity to self-organize its complex and nonlinear processes.

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energy systems based on prosumption will start to emerge. Like any natural system, these heterotopic networks will resemble self-regulating infrastructures that coevolve and therefore are codependent on a wide range of inputs and outputs. Tomorrow’s city will rely on prosumers. The Capital Costs of Buildings

Architecture schools seem to be the last to admit that architecture does not come from design but from capital. In the context Prosumption of Europe, controlling cost factors have Rural life demanded that all inhabitants grow jumped from material to labor over time. and make things—the concept of a selfAt the beginning of the twentieth century, sufficient village economy (Gandhi). City life material costs were significantly higher than spatially segregated the place of production labor costs, while today (a century later) and the place of consumption. The city the opposite is true. As a result, the many presented a place of protection, allowed for diverse form-finding solutions that resulted cultural freedom, and granted greater access from cutting down material expenses have to trade. As a result, it allowed for a wide been replaced by a spatial uniformity that variety of activities to emerge. Knowledge limits labor costs. For example, while gain, specialization, and innovation happened a conventional beam today exhibits the only in cities—even agriculture was first same depth longitudinally, its modernist invented in the city and then exported to the equivalent was shaped by following closely rural areas (Jacobs). At the same time, the to the moment diagram (take a close look city “deskilled” its dwellers and made them at Gropius’s or Terragni’s work). Today, we dependent on an economy based on service.4 also find clients increasingly concerned In this way, the city turned its inhabitants into about their buildings’ potential maintenance consumers. Up until now, the consumption costs. Hence, the material performance of resources was dictated by geopolitical of a building as well as the building’s thinking (based on the location of coal, oil, services are receiving renewed attention, and gas reserves). These nonrenewable with improved performance even justifying resources require immense infrastructures, higher construction costs. Furthermore, cost which means that today’s prevailing energy determines whether the repair, renovation, systems rely on the logic of centrality. or adaptation of a building is more or less Although most urban centers have evolved feasible than its demolition and replacement into polycentric cities, their supporting by new construction. Of course, often other energy infrastructures are still based on factors are involved, such as legal matters a centralized and one-way organization. having nothing to do with the building in Tomorrow’s networks, based on renewable itself, that bring about a decision. By adopting energy, will draw their energy from the local the perspective that architects need to view a area and therefore will follow the logic of building in terms of its capital costs instead decentralization. As this happens, the places of its building costs, the studio further of production and those of consumption will addresses the obsolescence of programs and converge. With the trading and exchanging buildings. of various forms and amounts of energy, a new eco-economic market will rise. Such Buildings as Part of the Internet of Things an economy thinks “lean” by reevaluating any form of waste (a system’s output) as The concept of ubiquitous computing, i.e., a tradable commodity (another system’s the idea of embedding technology into the input). Within this market, various zones of background of everyday life, imagines a conflict inevitably arise. For example, the world of computing without computers rather recent enthusiasm for renewable (Weisser). That is, ubiquitous computing aims energy like biomass has turned literally into to simplify and distribute the computations a “biomess.” That is, the interests of food typically handled by discrete machines. When production are colliding with the interests powered by tiny and cheap microprocessors, of energy production—not to mention the the built environment becomes part of a coinciding side effects on animal habitats. computing network—the Internet of Things To resolve these conflicts, new multisector


(IoT). As buildings increasingly become a part of an IoT, it will add a variety of attributes to the conventional architectural elements of floor, wall, door, window, etc. Embedded technology will allow these elements not only to communicate whatever they sense or measure, but also to interact with the environment: they will not only collect data but also process this data to inform our behavior in the built environment. Sharing Economies The idea that unused value is wasted value is hardly new. Because any product or service individually owned contains excess capacity, people have always shared tools, services, and spaces, as well as experiences, with family and friends (and not always out of necessity). Considering that the consumer society of the twentieth century rested upon wasted value, this suggests that rampant consumerism (which to a great extent continues to dominate our current thinking) ought to be challenged. Our desire for possessions has to turn toward a new understanding and newfound satisfaction in sharing. Perhaps what will change is whom we share things with. As we attempt to fill the gap between the independence of our highly individualized consumer life styles and the reliability that before now only the extended family was able to provide, the Internet may provide the means. We currently are able to access more information about our neighborhoods and cities than ever before. We therefore navigate differently through the world. As the Internet gives rise to new models of sharing—the collaborative commons (Rifkin)—these models will soon dominate any design process, since distributed problem solving requires sharing knowledge. “It is no longer about one designer, one client, one solution, one place. Problems are taken up everywhere, solutions are developed and tested and contributed to the global commons, and those ideas are tested against other solutions.”5 Will there be a renewed enthusiasm for an architecture without architects? Not necessarily. Architecture is an old discipline, and it will not just go away. However, a wider audience will debate the consequences architecture may bring. Emancipated clients will stir inspiration, and specialized engineers will manage its implementation. Instead of conveying spatial concepts to a jury, architects ought to relearn how to communicate the values that architecture may add.

1

I was first introduced to the idea of the endless seminar and what it might entail as a graduate student at Rice School of Architecture when I enrolled in a seminar taught by Lars Lerup.

2

Freeman Dyson, From Eros to Gaia (New York: Pantheon, 1992), 341.

3

Stewart Brand, The Clock of the Long Now (New York: Basic Books, 1999), 37.

4

Socialism as well as capitalism exploited the environment. Both relied on standardized mass production (celebrating the division of labor) and mass consumption.

5

Bruce Mau, with J. Leonard and The Institute Without Boundaries. Massive Change (New York: Phaidon, 2004), 17.

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JosĂŠ I. Loza Quito, Ecuador DIA Graduate 2013



Redesigning the Hydrologic Cycle of the Elbe Basin José I. Loza keywords: long-term thinking Since the turn of the century, the Elbe basin has suffered three large floods, the price being human life and millions of Euros. The major cause of flooding in the Elbe basin is the substantial loss of floodplains. Farming and urbanization along the river’s banks, as well as the extensive construction of dykes to protect the former conditions have also been large contributors to the frequent flooding. In addition, the large use of groundwater for agriculture, industries and houses, the damage of water channels and the pollution of both surface and groundwater largely disrupt the water cycle, which in turns contributes to climate change. Climate change in return causes longer periods of drought and shorter but stronger periods of precipitation, increasing the likelihood of flooding. This feedback loop worsens the already damaged water cycle and places increased risk not only on the built environment and the Elbe basin’s agricultural landscapes, but also its ecosystems and biodiversity.

En los últimos 15 años la cuenca del río Elba ha sufrido tres grandes inundaciones que han causado grandes daños, pérdidas humanas y millones de euros en pérdidas. Las principales causas de las inundaciones en la cuenca del Elba son la gran pérdida de llanuras aluviales, debido a la agricultura y la urbanización que ha tenido lugar en los bancos del río y sus afluentes, y la vasta construcción de diques para proteger los asentamientos y cultivos agrícolas . Además de las causas mencionadas anteriormente el amplio uso de agua proveniente de acuíferos, para la agricultura, las industrias y las casas; el daño de los riachuelos y la contaminación de las aguas superficiales y subterráneas alteran en gran medida el ciclo del agua, que a su vez empeora el cambio climático. Esto empeorará el cambio climático, él cual a su vez producirá períodos más largos de sequía y períodos más cortos y fuertes de precipitación, causando así inundaciones más fuertes y frecuentes. Este círculo vicioso empeorará el ya dañado ciclo del agua y pondrá en riesgo el entorno construido y las glebas de la cuenca del Elba, así como sus ecosistemas y su biodiversidad.

The Elbe basin is a large region in north-central Europe drained by the Elbe river and its tributaries.

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The Elbe basin covers 4 countries: Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and Austria. More than 99% of the basin is located in German and Czech territories. The basin’s catchment area is 148,268 square km. And the river’s length is approximately 1,094kms.


August 14th, 2000

August 20th, 2002


It is necessary to design and manage the Elbe‘s hydrologic cycle in a different manner. The water cycle has to be understood as a seasonal effective infrastructure. Its parts recycle and reuse water whilst transforming residues into nutrients. This thesis investigates some of the causes of disruption to the Elbe basin’s water cycle, and proposes a set of designs for each of the problems that are particular to urban, suburban and rural zones. Through the use of computational design tools, it was possible to map the terrain and simulate the flooding process on the chosen region, (the middle Elbe biosphere reserve.) The region surrounds Dessau-Rosslau, 50 km west to east and 35 km north to south. Based on the findings from the simulations, the analysis then maps the most suitable locations for the designs in the region. Finally, it applies the designs into five transects, in order to visualize the proposal in more detail.

Por lo tanto, es necesario rediseñar y gestionar el ciclo hidrológico del río Elba de una manera diferente. No es posible seguir haciendo un mal uso del ciclo del agua. El ciclo del agua tiene que ser entendido como una infraestructura efectiva que recicla y reusa el agua y transforma los desechos en nutrientes. Esta tesis investiga y explica algunas de las causas m que han degenerado el ciclo del agua de la cuenca del río Elba, y propone una serie de diseños para cada uno de los problemas que son particulares a zonas urbanas, suburbanas y rurales. A través del uso de herramientas de diseño digital se mapea el terreno y simula el proceso de inundación en la región elegida, la reserva de la biosfera del Elba medio. La región rodea las ciudades de Dessau-Rosslau 50 km. de oeste a este y 35 km. de norte a sur. Con base en los resultados de los mapeos y las simulaciones, posteriormente se propone una serio de diseños de diversas escalas en la región. Por último, se aplica a los diseños en cinco transectos con el objetivo de visualizar los diseños con mayor detalle.

The water cycle is the continuous process of movement of the water above, on and below the surface of the earth through processes of, precipitation, infiltration and evaporation. Source: Project WET: Curriculum and Activity Guide. Water Cycle. n.p. Digital Image. Web. 05 May. 2013 <http://www.greatswamp.org/education/teachersguide/watercycle.htm>.

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Flow rate (m³/s) 600

6000

500

5000

2002 Floods 400

4000

2006 Floods 3000

300

1954 Floods 2000

200

Traditional Flow Rate

100

Hradec Králové Distance (m)

Praga

Ústí nad Labem Schöna

Dresde

Wittemberg

TangermündeWittenbergeNeu Darchau

Dessau

1000

Hamburgo

1091.5 km.

The Elbe historic floods: Floods of the Elbe river occur most frequently as a consequence of seasonal torrential rains. Meltwater from mountain glaciers, a consequence of sudden temperature rises at the origins of the river, may also cause increased flooding. Although the Elbe river basin has experienced flooding for centuries, in the past fifteen years floods have increased in quantity and strength.

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The causes of the Elbe basin‘s water cycle disruption Floodplains are important areas adjacent to rivers, their role is to retain seasonal excess water. In the past century, the majority of floodplains in Europe have been lost as a consequence of agriculture and settlement. On the Elbe basin, only 14.6% of the floodplains remain. To protect the former floodplains, cities, crops and large dykes have been built. As a consequence, the river acts as a channel and increases the risk of dykes breaking due to the stronger currents, increasing the risk of flooding.

Floodplain Loss

The loss of floodplains and the channelization of the Elbe river

Source: Adapted from Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN) Landnutzung in der Aue. 2011. Table. Flussauen in Deutschland by Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN). Web. 05/11/12 <http://geodienste.bfn.de/flussauen/Steckbriefe/ ELB_Elbe.pdf>.

Hamburg Lauenburg

Gorleben Wittenberge

Arneburg Berlin

Tangermünde Rogätz

Floodplain Loss 90%-100% 80%-90% 65%-80% 50%-65% 25%-50% 0-25%

Magdeburg Wittenberg

Dessau-Roßlau Torgau Halle Leipzig

Riesa

Elbe basin’s floodplain loss Source: Adapted from Koenzen, Uwe and Detlef Günther. Verlust von Überschwemmungsflächen. 2009.Dresden Map. Auenzustandsbericht: Flussauen in Deutschland by Walter, Alfred Maria, et al Berlin: Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit (BMU), 2009. Web. Mar. 2013. <https://secure.bmu.de/fileadmin/bmu-import/files/ pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/auenzustandsbericht_bf.pdf>.

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90%-100% 80%-90% 65%-80% 50%-65% 25%-50% 0-25%


2.1 Floodplain loss

2.1 Uneven groundwater recharge

2.1 Water channels in state of disrepair

2.2 Poorly built dykes

2.3 Groundwater flooding and drought due to climate change

2.4 River and groundwater pollution

Poorly built dykes Floodplains increase the process of groundwater recharge even in the case of precipitation and flooding. The construction of dykes however, make the process of groundwater infiltration uneven. Aquifers below the river recharge faster than the surrounding aquifers, placing areas next to the river under higher risk of groundwater flooding. Stream channels conduit the precipitation water to the river, whilst excess water in case of flooding far from the river, making the groundwater recharge process more even. Groundwater infiltration lessens when channels begin to degrade, often from pollution.

will cause droughts during the dry season, this in turn will severely affect all crops, cereals, root crops, and grass. River and groundwater pollution Although the Elbe river has achieved a better state in terms of water quality since the fall of the iron curtain, according to the international water assessment centre the river is still “critically polluted.” The pollution is a consequence of “dense population, industrial activities and the intensive agricultural land use.” Pollution from agriculture proves hardest to treat as agricultural pollutants go directly into the soil and the groundwater.

Climate change effects on the water cycle Precipitation, an essential process in the water cycle, infiltrates the soil and recharges the groundwater. Short and strong precipitation, however, (a direct consequence of climate change) will cause floods, more often. In turn the aquifers will recharge faster over a small period of time, as opposed to consistent recharge over a long period of time. This phenomena has the potential to cause flooding from groundwater, particularly in lower regions sitting over aquifers. But perhaps the greatest cause for concern, climate change

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The middle Elbe biosphere reserve is a biodiverse area located on both sides of the Elbe river starting in Wittenberg on the eastern side, and up to the city of Gommern on the northwesten side. Dessau is located in the centre of the reserve and south of the Elbe river. The goal of this chapter is to map the terrain and its morphological conditions whilst simulating the river's behaviour in order to find the most affected areas in case of flooding as well the areas that present the most potential to implement a set of natural and man-made infrastructures.

Mapping the Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve

recreated or built for other purposes such as water irrigation and containment.

The groundwater recharge During periods of precipitation the aquifers recharge faster or slower depending on the depth and steepness of the terrain. This map measures the location and quantity of groundwater recharge during periods of precipitation by analyzing the terrain’s height and steepness at more than 100.000 points. The darker the blue, the first these areas’ aquifers are recharged. Theriver bank slopes This map analyses the steepness of the river banks. The river banks colored in red are very steep and the areas with no color have low-angle slopes. The river banks colored in red are presumably either natural or manmade dykes whereas the zones with no color are probably floodplains. The river banks in yellow that are least steep (perhaps with no or small dykes), therefore the floodplains on those areas would be easier to restore. The stream channels

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This map measures the terrain’s lowest points contained within two steep banks to identify existing stream channels. This map also shows potential channels that could be

Flooding extent and volume This map shows the areas most affected by flooding in terms of water volume and the its extent over the territory. The more red the pixel is, the more water that particular area is holding. The closer to light green the pixel is, the less water that area holds. Flooding water level and the surrounding terrain In case of flooding, the Elbe river’s surface level grows from 3 to 8 meters. This map compares the flooding water level to the surrounding terrain height. In case there are no barriers (dykes) present, the blue dotted areas represent the areas that could be potentially flooded. Ideal areas for natural water retention This map shows the best suited areas to contain water naturally in case of flooding, due to their morphology and closeness to the river. These represent ideal reservoirs that could hold water for later use or serve as bio-filtration basins to filtrate and return water to the aquifers.


Groundwater recharge

River banks slopes

Stream channels

Flooding extent and volume

8m flooding water level vs. terrain

Ideal natural reservoirs

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River Flooding Simulation

+2 days

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+12 days

Using simulation software, Realflow and programming languages such as Grasshopper, river and groundwater flooding simulations were performed to assess the potential effects of flooding in the area. 30


Groundwater Flooding Simulation

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A New Water Cycle for the Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve The proposal visualises a region that incorporates all of the designs (natural and man-made infrastructures) mentioned in the introductory text, in order to provide a new approach to the region's water cycle. These designs allow for a continuous water cycle, aligning themselves with the seasonal climate variations whilst still allowing water to be extracted for agricultural and domestic use before eventually returning to the water cycle. These infrastructures could be replicated throughout the whole Elbe river basin.

RoBlau

Steutz

Aken

Dessau

Kothen

Proposal for the Middle Elbe Reserve

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Coswig


Proposed Infrastructures

Dykes in urban areas

Recoiled dykes+public space

Dykes in rural areas

Collecting channels

Restored channels

Channels+dykes

Restored floodplains

Terraced floodplains

Floodplains+channels

Storage

Dykes+wetlands

Terraced floodplains+channels

Storage

Filtration

Bio-filtration/storage

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Transect 3

Transect 5

Transect 2

Transect 4

Dessau

Transect 1

The five transects have been selected after careful study of the proposed map by incorporating the designs proposed in the first chapter.

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Treatment plant

Wetlands + Filtration basin

Restored floodplains Groundwater Elbe river

Transect 2 - RoĂ&#x;lau east

Treatment plant

Filtration basin

Restored floodplains Elbe river

Wetlands

Groundwater

Transect 5 - Aken + Steutz

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Deepak Sankaranayanan and Cibi Coimbatore Balakrishnan Chennai, India DIA Graduates 2013



Prosumption of Water in the City Deepak Sankaranayanan and Cibi Coimbatore Balakrishnan keywords: prosumption Vq;fsj ,e;j ma;tpy;. Efuq;fspd; mikg;ig gw;wp kwma;tk; kwfl;likg;gk; nra;j mjd; %yk; efh;nthuk; cw;gj;jpahsuk; ,ize;j thok; nghul;l> gil efh;nthh; tho;tpl fl;likg;gfs; cuthf;fg;gl;ls;sd.

What were we asked to do: Within the studio framework of prosumer habitat, we were asked to re-evaluate how cities were organized and how they might be restructured to induce a landscape where producers and consumers can mutually cohabitate.

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Nrd;id nghd;w efuq;fspny> kdpjdhy; njhw;wtpf;fg;glfpd;w cl;fl;likg;g jf;f khw;wj;jpw;f cl;glhjjld;> gutfhy khw;wq;fsf;fk; ,zf;fkhdjy;y. Gutfhyq;fs; kw;wk; kf;fs; njhifapy; khw;wk; vw;gl;lhyk;> eph; tsq;fsf;fhd fl;likg;gpy; ve;j khw;wkk; ,y;iy. Vq;fsj tbtikg;gpd; rhuhk;rk; ,e;j tpj;jpahrq;fis khw;wp mikg;gj fwpj;nj. Xukfg;glj;jg;gl;ls;s eph; row;rp kiwfs; cs;s ,e;efuj;jpy; gpd;dh; ngufp tuk; njitf;nfw;g. Jz;zph; kw;wk; mw;wypd; mst gutyhf;fg;gl;l> rw;wronyhl ,izf;fg;glk; tz;zk; khw;wp mikg;gl;ls;sj. Mjd;gb> efu tbtikg;g nfhl;ghlfis kd;itj;j gilefh;nthh; thok; tpjkhf eph;tif kiwapy; kwfl;likg;g vw;glj;jg;gl;l mit gutfhyq;fs; kw;wk; kf;fs; njhif khw;wq;fsf;fk; vw;g tbtikf;fg;gl;ls;sj.


What we thought: Coming from Chennai, an Indian city with a population explosion, to Dessau, an industrial German city with a diminishing population, the question struck us as to what is the problem? Why is infrastructure overwhelming in Dessau yet under provided in Chennai? Why is water, a basic requirement for human survival presenting such difficulty in Chennai, a city with 2 rivers and heavy monsoon rains, whilst Dessau experiences flooding?

Chennai city at a glimpse

Dessau during 2013 flood

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What we did: The project evaluates, case by case, the limitations of water infrastructure in two contrasting, natural scenarios over time. Chennai and Dessau share the same area with rivers flowing across the cities. Chennai, with its dense population has a very low water level, while Dessau suffers from a high water table level, and low population. We conducted our research with a set of parameters over transects in both cities in order to investigate where the problem might be and to answer why infrastructure never satisfies each city’s changing needs. What we understood: Water cycles in these cities have been centralized and energy intensive. With varying demands for energy and water, there is a need for re-conceptualizing these infrastructures into a selective breed of decentralized cycles that cultivate lifestyle systems in cities to be connected to natural ecosystems.

Chennai Water Cycle

Chennai Densely Populated Insufficient infrastructure Very low water table level Dry summer and heavy monsoons treating water in smaller loops. creating public space under making water percolate below moderation of infrastructure

Looking at Dessau in Germany, and Chennai in India, we observed that man made infrastructures of the past are irreversible interventions that are static and non responsive to changes.

Dessau Water Cycle

Dessau Sparesely Populated Oversized infrastructure Very high water table level Flooded summer and wet winters using existing abandoned spaces retaining water above the surface holding and treating water in one loop downsizing infratructure

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A water graph, representing the infrastructure and the amount of water used, shows us that despite a changing population and the changing of seasons, the infrastructure remains the same.

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What we did: After mapping the problems on the transect, graphs were produced hilighting the gap between infrastructure and changes in season and population. We then used urban design tools to reconfigure the water systems of the city. We began by moderating infrastructures to make them flexible for seasons and for a population influx.

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Any intervention has an economic impact and a self regulating system should generate an economy to sustain itself. A prosumer habitat with water as its core function was created in both cities – at a scale which was bespoke for the city, its population and its need.


The solutions for the context Chennai will be looked in detail in the following pages.

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Chennai Proposals Location: India | area: 178.2 Km2 | density: 26,702 ppl/ km2 | Climate: Tropical wet & dry Chennai has its own unique water problems. In the Summer, despite heavy monsoon rains, a lack of permeable open spaces and infrastructure means only 8% rainfall penetrates the ground every year. The city’s growing population has been rampant and implementation of infrastructure was unable to match demand. Extensive implementation of water infrastructure called for large investments, which the city could not provide. The city’s Adyar river and Coovam river had been heavily polluted and the lack of drinking water is cause for serious concern. Intensive infrastructures had to be designed, replacing extensive plans for big change. Small infrastructures that support penetration of ground water, and slowly processing drinking water were proposed at specific locations.

Bus shelter - Summer and Winter Water Diagram

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Chennai Proposals - Bus Shelter A simple bus shelter was integrated with water retention tanks to hold and slowly penetrate water below. These tanks acted as slow natural treatment of sewage water during the dry spell of 8 months.

Similar interventions could be replicated at numerous locations, creating a multiplier effect. By introducing 450 new bus shelters in Chennai, the annual rainfall penetration to ground would increase to 15% close to the nominal rate to restore ground water systems.

Bus shelter - Summer view Energy: water access + treatment + ground water + solar thermal Activity: bus shelter + water point + sun shade +resting point

Bus shelter - Monsoon view Energy: water access + rain water catchment + ground water Activity: bus shelter + water point + sun shade +resting point

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Chennai Proposals Interventions such as canal markets, urban ponds, and periphery wells, varying in size were selected as prototypes to suit different situations of the Chennai city transect. These places were contextually integrated to provide urban open spaces, improving the living standards of the city.

Bus shelter - plan

Canal market - plan

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Urban pond - plan

Periphery well - plan


Chennai Proposals - Urban Pond

Urban Pond - Summer Energy: solar energy + ground water recharge Activity: water access + park + movie projection

Urban Pond - Monsoon Energy: water access + treatment + ground water + solar thermal Activity: bus shelter + water point + sun shade +resting point

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Chennai Proposals - Canal Market The stepped well along the river canal serves as a cleaning system turning sewage water into grey water before being released back into the canal. It also serves as a public market.

Water diagram of canal market

Canal market - Summer view Energy: solar energy + grey water treatment Activity: market + park + gathering

Canal market - monsoon view Energy: ground water collection Activity: water collection + market

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Chennai Proposals - Periphery Well This stepped well at the suburban edge serves as a water treatment infrastructure and also as a public space, bridging urban and the rural activities

Water diagram of periphery well

Periphery well - Summer view Energy: solar energy + grey water treatment Activity: market + park + gathering

Periphery well - monsoon view Energy: ground water collection Activity: water collection + market

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Creating an Energy Organism

Chennai map showing network of cells

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Gilefh;nthh; fyhr;rhuj;jpd;gb eph; tiffspd; cw;gj;jp kw;wk; efh;jyf;fhd ,ilntsp fiwf;fg;gl;l> ephpd; jdpj;jd;ik xoq;fglj;jg;gl;l gd;kf nray;ghlfs; nray;glj;jg;gl;l eph; epiyfs; rkjha efh;nthh; ,lkhf khwfpwj. Gilefh;nthhpd; cl;;fl;likg;ghdj xd;w nghy; gy khjphpfis cuthf;ftjhf ,uj;jy; ntz;lk;. Mj efh;gwj;j eph; epiyfis cgnahfg;gltnjhl fbeph;> mw;wy;> kpd;rhuk;> rkjha ,lk; mfpatw;iw cuthf;ftjhftk; mika ntz;l;k;. Gilefh;nthhpd; tho;tplkhdj vjph;fhyj;jpy; rpwpa ra xoq;fkiw mikg;gpid vw;glj;jp> epiyj;jd;ik nfhz;l nghpa rw;wroiy mikf;f ,d;wpaikahj njit mfk;.

The prosumer culture of shortening the distance between production and consumption is brought about by creating small, self regulating, multifunctional cells. Productive water systems also become socially consumable spaces. Sewage and rain water are taken as input, clean drinking water, penetrating ground water, and electricity as outputs. These mechanisms are intertwined with the urban fabric, crafted to suit the physical and cultural needs of the city.


Chennai Proposals - Apartment

Wet/monsoon landscape

Dry/Summar Landscape

What we concluded:

What happened:

A hybrid of water infrastructures and activities were created to produce a dynamic proposal making the habitat responsive to the city’s population and seasonal changes. The ability to replicate and produce for a city are important characteristics of a prosumer infrastructure that produces water, electricity and opens space whilst consuming the city’s water. Prosumer culture could be a potential model for the future where sustainability in true terms would exist, a place where smaller, self regulating cells guide a bigger ecosystem.

The thesis project received a honourable mention citation in the Futurarc awards 2014 in the professional category. We continue to demonstrate the ideas to the government in Chennai city whilst creating positive change. The project was presented to the mayor of Chennai, and the public water department, where it is currently under feasibility stage to be implemented.

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Felicity Passmore London, UK DIA Graduate 2013



Fields of Potential – The Thames Estuary Felicity Passmore keywords: prosumption, long-term thinking The Thames Estuary The Thames estuary represents a 60 mile tract of land in the shadow of London. A region both united and divided by the muddy flat tidal river. The human demands on the landscape are intensive and each new form of energy and mobility sees the focus of the transitional strip shift. It is home to 3 million people and one of the most populous parts of the UK. Yet in places it has the sense of leaving you feeling incredibly alone .

Since 2000 it has been rebranded as the Thames gateway and put on the political agenda. Its derelict and wild sites are seen as a catalyst for ‘regeneration‘ and ‘social advancement‘ of the region. New high speed rail links, housing estates, flood defences and shopping malls have popped up in the years since. The intense relationship between people and landscape needs to be re-thought.

1864_Bazalgettes sewers 1630_Coffee house

2050_ Thames flood barrier

1936_Battersea power station

1900_Thames barge

54 1680_Beached whale in the Thames


Predicting the Future?

The Region as a Prosumer

There are many visions of future possibilities for the Thames estuary, focussing on its connectivity and future as a more urban landscape.

The region is shaped by the river, a piece of natural infrastructure, constantly replenishing and supporting itself. In contrast, the man-made components of the region are entangled in long, wasteful and disengaged chains of services and power. In order to re-design this ‘natural infrastructure,‘ one must first engage a multi-disciplinary team of locals and experts. The challenge will be integrating and cultivating the mind of a prosumer into an existing consumer market.

All are valid and potential components for future proposals. Any proposal however needs to respond not just to human pressures but also the natural pressures. By researching the past, observing the present and incorporating visions we can build a plausible future that highlights where there is potential. Potential for prosumers.

2008_London gateway container terminal 1830_Tea clipper

2006_Thanet wind farm

55 2030 Thames estuary aiport_foster


Agro Systems

Diet of the Future

We have generated hugely complex wasteful food systems that entangle themselves around the globe and decimated resources - creating huge issues with our health and the ability for the natural infrastructure to function.

In an age where there is a desire for the local (to re-establish) cultural identity in our diets and reduce our demand for transported goods, there is great potential for the prosumer. Interest in the healthy and local, but still with the convenience and diversity of taste that we are used to.

The current agro-systems consume natural resources from the earth. It breaks them, mixes them and moves them so that they are unable to re-enter the natural system.

Opposite are three quite conceivable foods that could become a common sight in the diets of the inhabitants of the Thames estuary. They have been used as stimulants of the potential prosumer region over the next pages.

CULTIVATION PROCESSING SHIPPING

ROASTING >100 C

WOOD

GRAY WATER

HEAT

BIOMASS

BREWING FOOD

BEANS

CARBON DIOXIDE

THERMAL

GROUND WATER

RAIN WATER

ELECTRICITY

OIL

If we look at the chain of the production and consumption of an artefact we can understand where there is a need to re-design, where there is a huge demand for input and where the is a huge amount of waste.

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“There are over 20,000 species of edible plants in the world, yet fewer than 20 species now provide 90% of our food.� Plants for a future

(A) mealworm zophobas morio A potential protein source that can be grown with a tenth of the land as the same amount of beef while producing just a thirtieth of the greenhouse gases. Could be grown, cooked and sold on site - fulfilling a demand for local and healthy fast food.

(B) sea samphire salicornia europaea Foraged in the intertidal salt marsh its popularity is growing and it is becoming increasingly sought after by restaurants and local markets as a tasty and also a local food delicacy.

(C) coffee coffea arabica Our demand for the stimulant has created a global industry and deep rooted cultures. There is potential for sourcing local resources at one end of the chain and the dealing with the large amounts of waste resource at the other.

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Why do we not value the ‘free‘ natural infrastructure? Saline marshes are a natural infrastructure that are able to absorb the rising tide this ‘natural‘ flooding is essential to the maintenance of the marshes and the health of the river. In the 1300s we built seawalls with earth and branches. They enclosed the saline marshes so that it could be used for grazing. Climatic changes at the end of the century induced storm surges that broke the walls and the land returned to natures intentions. In the 1800s the Dutch engineers enclosed the land again with reinforced dykes to create grazing marshes which have in places transformed into urban development. As the sea rises the walls that hold out the tide also grow in size and cost. Saline marshes do not cost money to make or maintain. Alongside this, they are also landscapes that can provide other resources for us as the reclaimed land does now.

How can megawastes be reabsorbed into the system - thousands of miles from their origin? Global trade is based on the certainty of local resources at one point and its scales generates large amounts of waste at others. Grown, picked and dried in one hemisphere then ground and pressed in another. Coffee houses sprung up in London in 1650 arriving into the docks of London up the river Thames. We still drink coffee today and alongside tea is part of a mass national habit for warm beverages.


2013 Sea samphire is a seasonal vegetable which thrives in the Thames marshes it embraces the saline zone and twice daily inundations of sea water. It takes over a hundred years for grazing marshes to return to salt marshes - the enclosed land must return to a saline state so the haloyptic organisms like samphire can establish themselves.

2018 Once coffee grounds have been pressed they still contain energy. The oil can be extracted into a liquid bio fuel that can power our vehicles. The remaining biomass contains all the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous required to invigorate the fields in the region that have been previously sapped of energy. It can also be milled into solid bio fuel pellets to power our homes.

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What can exist alongside cleaner energy? A journey along the Thames estuary highlights our changing generation of electricity since the 1926 electricity supply act, which brought electricity to the masses. The national grid connected large power stations and brought cheaper and more regulated power. Recently ‘feed in tariffs‘ have allowed individuals and companies to sell unused energy back to the grid. Produced by ‘clean‘ energy technologies that can be located in our towns and cities with no known health impact.

How can our supply be more resilient? Electricity has altered all aspects of our lives since its adoption 100 years ago. Our ever increasing demand has challenged the supply, especially at peak loads. As we enter an age of ‘clean‘ solar based energy generation we have reached a dilemma. We are able to produce copious amounts of energy when it is least demanded (in the summer and the day,) but unable to produce energy when it is most needed (in the winter and in the night.) Without reverting to the lifestyles we need to find a way of storing energy.

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2022 The superworm fast food farm clad in photovoltaics can generate energy for the growing, cooking and selling part of the business. Excess energy produced during the day can be sold back to the grid as an additional source of income that could offset the costs of buying in power at other times.

2028 Superworms have one large output - the manure from the trays. This biomass inserted in a bio-digester produces methane, which can be stored until the shop opens used to cook the mealworms. The biodigester fuelled by the manure can also receive biomass from nearby homes and small businesses - who could then receive a supply of gas for personal needs. Proximity here eliminates the need to construct new national energy infrastructure - generating common resources.

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Do we design for nature? Or do we design nature ? The constant transformation of natural infrastructures requires us to keep adapting. As ports grow, so do the size of the ships that support them, the Mallaca strait is the current natural limit on container ships. Climate change could open up the north sea passage as an alternative.

Can a building be more like marshland? Salt marshes re-designed through natural processes begin to populate with reciprocal activity that extends the cycles of the marshland. The Thames estuary is sediment starved - the majority of sediment comes from the North Sea. Once sediment enters the river it needs to be deposited. Structures built, semi-submerged within the river, can slow the velocity and initiate the deposit of sediment - as was discovered with an early London bridge.

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2080 The cultivation of key specimens back in the estuary could manage the diversity of the coffee plant and allow us to keep this as part of our diet. If we went to the extreme of growing entire plantations, there would be a large requirement on inputs.

2113 Scarcity of freshwater is already a fear. Desalination on the Thames was practiced in the past but was unable to sustain itself due to the expense of shipping coal to heat water. Locally produced bio gas could fuel this process - generating freshwater and salt. The freshwater can be used in osmosis power plants to generate electricity.

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"Giant historic shifts are sometimes symbolised by minute changes in behaviour" (Toeffler, The Third Wave). The new culture will infiltrate both the acts of individuals and the collective. The collective activities generated by the municipality and collaboratives are more stable cells in the network - they are generated with a common goal and are able to evolve to changing inputs and outputs. For example, the water distillation facility can at one time send water to the osmosis power plant but also can send its flow elsewhere to the coffee plantation. Prosumer network The prosumption habitat requires a shift in shared cultural values. The network of prosumers would not appear all together but appear as an ongoing transition of our habits. Nature takes a long time to re-design, here, I am talking in decades. There will be parts of the network that will begin immediately and other parts that will appear later on - some of those that were there at the beginning will be lost as the re-design of nature takes place. I think that this is a key point - if there is anything to learn - it is that nature is not static. Nature shifts with the climate and the pressures placed upon it. The network will have to adapt to these changes as nature does. The further we look into the future, the more speculative the prosumption cells are. “Design has been extended from the details of daily objects to cities, landscapes, nations, cultures, bodies, genes, and, as I will argue, to nature itself - which is in great need of being redesigned.� Bruno Latour

Film essays Fields of potential can also be viewed as three film essays: Salt_natural infrastructure www.vimeo.com/69331031 Protein_energy www.vimeo.com/69312582 Caffeine_global trade www.vimeo.com/69325473


2120 The individual activities generated by entrepreneurs and small groups latch on to steady collective cells and are opportunistic to the current supply of resources entering and leaving the cells. These individual cells can multiply quickly and disappear quickly when certain changes in the system happen, for example if a more effective way is developed to complete a task.

Resource Movemen Pipelines

Electricit

Wate

Ga Flows biomass pellets

Dissipate

Transporte

co

ffe

e

bio

m

as

s

coffee biomass

biomass pellets

coffee oil

la

no

coffee oil

gr

coffee grounds

ou

nd

gr

s

ee

n

be

an

s

lin

co

ffe

e

wool insulation

ro

ro

as

te

as

d

tc

be

of

fe

an

e

s

roasted beans

sheep fleece

roast coffee

roasted beans

coffee grounds

c gr offe ou e nd s

H2

H20

H20

Resource Movement

se

a

sa

m

ph

sodium chloride

ire

Pipelines Electricity Water

Resource Movement Pipelines Electricity

Dissipated

Water

Transported

Gas Flows

ee

n

be

an

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Dissipated

gr

Gas Flows

Transported

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Jovan Ivanovski Skopje, Macedonia DIA Graduate 2008



Decoding Post-Socialist Transition – The Case of Skopje Jovan Ivanovski keywords: the bandwidth of planning, the capital costs of buildings Introduction

Вовед

This thesis is a contribution towards research regarding the process of postsocialist transition. It explores the process of transformation of the architectural and urban form, influenced by the changes of the political system from state socialism towards liberal democracy, it uses the city of Skopje, the capital of Republic of Macedonia as a case study.

Оваа докторска дисертација претставува прилог во истражувањето на процесот на постсоцијалистичка транзиција. Во оваа студија се истражува процесот на трансформација на архитектонската и урбаната форма под влијание на промената на општествениот систем од државен социјализам во либерална демократија, а на примерот на Скопје, главниот град на Република Македонија.

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to discussions on post-socialist transformation of cities. Discovering how political, economic and social changes have affected the production of housing. The thesis' specific aim is to discover, investigate and describe the specific housing outcomes, focusing on the role of the private developers. It argues that the emerging role of the private developers in the housing construction sector have given rise to previously unfamiliar spatial practices, resulting in hybrid housing outcomes. The thesis focuses on examining the patterns of housing transformations in the city of Skopje, over the period of fifteen years, from 1991 to 2006. The research attempts to answer the question - 'could the common transitional practice of simultaneous existence of two opposing housing concepts, the formal and the informal, evolve into a new concept for the development of housing?' Post-socialist transition

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Post-socialist transition can be explained as the simultaneous transformation of political, economic and social systems. It is a gradual process as it requires the establishment of new institutions, new organizations, new laws and new forms of behavior from various participants in the system. The political system undergoes a transformation which is constitutional and institutional, corresponding to the economic transformation that leads to the introduction of a new property regime and new criteria of distribution of the value. Establishment of a market oriented economy is considered to be the leading societal transformation. Being interpreted as a more efficient way of organizing the production and exchange of goods, it is to substitute the previous system

Целта на овој труд е да придонесе кон дискусиите за пост-социјалистичката трансформација на градовите, откривајќи како политичките, економските и социјалните промени имаат влијание врз развојот на домувањето. Специфична цел на овој труд е да ги открие, истражи и опише специфичните просторни практики на домувањето, насочувајќи се на улогата и влијанието на приватните претприемачи. Во трудот се тврди дека во развојот на станбената продукција, нагласена улога на приватните претприемачи доведе до појава на претходно непознати просторни практики чија последица се хибридни форми на домување. Трудот е насочен кон проучување на обрасците на трансформација на домувањето во периодот од 1991 до 2006 год. Истражувањето се обидува да даде одговори дали вообичаената транзициска практика на напоредно постоење на два спротивставени концепти за домувањето, формален и неформален, може да еволуира во нов концепт за развој на домувањето? Пост-социјалистичка транзиција Пост-социјалистичката транзиција може да се објасни како едновремена трансформација на политичкиот, екомскиот и социјалниот систем. Тоа е постепен процес за кој е неопходно воспоставување на нови институции, нови организации, нови закони и нови форми на однесување помеѓу различните соучесници во системот. Политичкиот систем е подложен на трансформација која е уставна и институционална и која соодветсвува на економската трансформација која води кон воведување на нов режим на сопственост и нови критериуми за распределба на вредноста. Воспоставувањето на пазарната


“Seldom has the gap between expectations and reality been greater than in the case of transition from communism to the market economy.“ - Joseph Stiglitz photo: “Belcho on horse“ by Zhivko Janevski

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of central planning where the new legal framework is suppose to (re)establish the principle of private property. Processes of privatization and restitution are to lead to a massive transfer of assets and re-evaluation of property by the rules of emerging market. City in transition The process of transition introduced a completely new framework for the urban and architectural development. The introduction of private property, the emergence of market relations, the decentralization of government power etc. has lead to a dramatic decrease in the role of the state in the development of the city. By changing the spatial planning system and the emergence of previously nonexistent partakers in this process, new pre-conditions for urban development have occurred. Skopje in transition is in the process of constant urban redefinition. The transition has made the city a creative urban laboratory that produces new urban substance daily. The existing urban matrix of the city is used as a base for parasitizing to it, a process of taking advantage of the previous condition in terms of the existing structures and infrastructures. Transformations are taking place in the function of the buildings, in their appearance, in their relation to the immediate urban environment and in their relation to the city in general. The recent forms of urban planning no longer hold any architectural relation to the city in general. Nor do they hold any architectural vision nor discourse but only a condition of total interest of the private.

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економија се смета за водечка општествена трансформација. Протолкувана како поефикасен начин на организација на производството и размената на добра, нејзина цел е замена на претходниот систем на централно планирање, каде новата законска рамка треба (повторно) да го воспостави правото на приватна сопственост. Процесите на приватизација и денационализација треба да придонесат кон голем пренос на целокупниот имот и превреднување на сопственоста преку правилата на пазарот. Градот во транзиција Како спрег на повеќе взаемни промени од политички, економски и социјален карактер, транзицијата воспостави комплетно нови рамки за развој на урбаното. Воспоставувањето на приватната сопственост, формирањето на новите пазарни односи и социјален поредок, процесот на децентрализацијата..., доведоа до драматично намалување на улогата и влијанието на државата во развојот на градовите. Преку промената на системот на планирање, односно појавата на претходно непостоечки учесници во овој процес, се создадоа нови предуслови за урбан развој. Во периодот на транзиција, градот Скопје се наоѓа во состојба на постојано урбано редефинирање. Транзицијата направи градот да претставува креативна урбана лабораторија во која секојдневно се произведува нова урбана супстанца.

Постојната урбана мрежа се користи како основа врз која се паразитира, што претставува процес на стекнување Housing in transition корист од постојната состојба, во Housing construction has been subjected to смисла на искористување на постојната remarkable transformation since the reforms структура и инфраструктура. Промените that started taking place at the beginning и трансформацијата се случуваат во of 1990s. For housing, the beginning of намената на објектите, во нивната transition represents the historical end of the појавност, во нивниот однос кон нивното social(ist) concept of housing construction. непосредно опкружување како и нивниот For the former socialist state, the housing однос кон градот во целина. На новите construction was considered a political форми на планирање на просторот не се priority because of two reasons; on one hand, засноваат ниту на соодветни архитектонски the state supported housing supply was one промисли ниту на соодветен дискурс, туку of the main activities of the centrally planned на состојба во која доминира исклучиво economy, on the other, housing represented приватниот интерес. the basics of the social distribution. Being an economic as well as ideological imperative of Домувањето во транзиција the socialist state, the housing construction Домувањето беше предмет на впечатлива was basically a state objective, and трасформација по реформите кои започнаа consequently the state was in almost total control of its development. As a consequence на почетокот на деведесеттите. За домувањето, почетокот на транзицијата of the shift of the political course towards го претставува историскиот крај на една democracy, the state basically lost its power


to be the planner, the investor, the contractor and the distributor of the housing supply. As a result, from an instrument of political ideology and basic social right, housing was transformed into (only) a commodity of the market economy.

голема социјална идеја. Домувањето претставуваше нераскинлив дел на социјалистичката идеологија заради две основни причини; од една страна, државно организираната изградба на станови претставуваше една од основните активности на централно планираната After the introduction of the economic економија, од друга, домувањето reforms, profit-driven housing construction претставуваше основа на социјалната projects targeting only consumers represent дистрибуција. Како економски и идеолошки the core of activity for private developers. импе¬рaтив на социјалистичката држава, With no idealistic interest whatsoever in во сите свои аспекти домувањето improving the life of people and instead претставуваше државен проект; сé до being interested only in following the пропаѓањето на социјалистичкиот модел demands of the newly established housing на управување државата во целост го market, private developers begin to have контролираше и диктираше развојот на a crucial role in shaping current housing домувањето. Како последица на промената developments and their spatial outcomes. на политичкиот курс кон демократија, Contrary to the program of the socialist state, државата ја изгуби својата моќ да биде the private developer’s agenda of housing главен планер, финансиер и реализатор is not rooted in any kind of universal idea or на станбената изградба. Како резултат, narrative based on a certain system of values од инструмент на политичката идеологија upon which a certain consensus over the и основно социјално право, домувањето question of public interest or collective good се претвори во еден од комоди¬тетите на could be formed. пазарната економија. However, it seems that this condition is a По воведувањето на економските consequence of a process that goes way реформи по кои дојде до комодизација на beyond the power of private developers; домувањето, станбената изградба насочена the deconstruction of the system of values исклучиво кон профит која за своја цел came as a result of the general substitution ги има исклучиво потрошувачите, го of the humanist (modernist) with the liberal претставува средиштето на активноста на (post-modernist) narrative that is taking приватните претприемачи. place on a global level, and which clearly leads to disappearance of certain urban Без никаков иделистички императив and architectural concepts in general. So, it за подобрување на животот на луѓето и would appear that the pressure arising from заинтересирани исклучиво за следење private developers is just another (of many) на барањата на нововоспоставениот indicators of the rapidly changing working пазар на недвижнини, приватните environment that emerges for architects, and претприемачи започнаа да имаат клучна which accordingly requires our appropriate улога во обликувањето на развојот на response. In that sense, a few questions домувањето и на неговите просторни arise: could we turn this condition from a последици. Спротивно на програмата на difficulty into our advantage? Could we have социјалистичката држава, во агендата a greater consideration of the importance of на приватните предприемачи не постои (mystery of the) capital in order to redesign универзална идеја или наратив кој би the architect’s role in the process? претставувал вредносна предлошка околу која би се формирал консензус по прашањето на јавниот интерес или колективното добро. Но, изгледа дека ваквата состојба е последица на процеси над кои приватните претприемачи и немаат некоја особена моќ на влијание; пропаѓањето на системот на вредности дојде преку замената на хуманистичкиот (модернистички) со либералниот (пост-модернистички) наратив; тоа доведе до постепено исчезнување на одредени урбанистички и архитектонски концепти за домувањето. Така, изгледа дека притисокот кој доаѓа

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Case study - Skopje Three housing neighborhoods from Skopje were chosen to be referential examples, they will be used to research the extreme phenomenon of the transition of the urban and architectural space. The recent housing developments in the selected neighborhoods Karposh1, Bunjakovec 2, and Rasadnik are representing the unique challenges of the development of the city, its architecture as well as the housing in the state of transition. The first two cases are related to the process of densification of the city central area, the third is related to the city’s urban expansion processes. The case studies are extracts from different administrative, social, morphological, and typological urban contexts where the post-socialist transition has been experienced in a spatial sense. Also, each case study is related to some major aspect of the socioeconomic changes such as reintroduction of property and land market, privatization and restitution of property, and growing income differences, etc. After careful examination of the conditions within each of the three case studies, the prototypical urban and architectural outcomes have been identified. They represent interesting programmatic, spatial, social, and aesthetical mixtures of various intensities. Focusing on the transitional “archeology”

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од страна на приватните претприемачи е само уште еден од многуте показатели за промената на местото и улогата на архитектите, а која последвателно бара соодветен одговор. Во таа смисла, неколку прашања сами од себе ни се наметнуваат: дали можеме ваквата новонастаната состојба да ја претвориме од недостаток во наша предност? Дали можеме да прифатиме важноста на капиталот, како би ја преформулирале улогата на архитектите во процесот? Студија на случај - скопје Три станбени населби во Скопје беа избрани да претставуваат референтни примери преку кои ќе бидат истражувани екстремните феномени на транзицијата на урбаниот и архитектонскиот простор, но истовремено и нивните можностите. Скорешниот развој на домувањето во избраните станбени населби - Карпош 1, Буњаковец 2 и Расадник ги претставува уникатните предизвици за развојот на градот, неговата архитектура, како и на домувањето во транзиција. Првите два случаи се поврзани со процесите на згуснување на централното градско подрачје, третиот е поврзан со процесите на урбано ширење на градот. Избраните случаи претставуваат исечоци од различни управни, социјални, морфолошки и типолошки урбани контексти, каде пост-социјалистичката

Four Skopje neighbourhoods - Case studies of housing in transition


Developers response to the paradigm of private and public space in the post-socialist city.

of the housing, the research discovers previously unfamiliar spatial and build practices. The main discovery is that the recent housing texture is generated as result of the friction between two opposite processes, those of planned and spontaneous development (and building) practices. As result of this overlap, new urban prototypes of housing are formed, within which many different housing textures are being generated. In some cases, spontaneous spatial practices are dominating the housing development to a level that can be described almost as a radical condition within which а planned (formal) development of housing becomes nearly impossible and the “new” housing texture emerges only after the termination of the “old” structure.

транзиција била доживеана во просторна смисла. Исто така, секој од случаите е поврзан со некој од главните аспекти на социоекономските промени, како што се повторното воведување на пазарот на недвижнини и земјиште, приватизацијата и денационализацијата на имотот, растечките разлики во примањата итн. По внимателно проучување на состојбата во рамки на секој од истражуваните примери, идентификувани се урбаните и архитектонските прототипови. Тие претставуваат интересни програмски, просторни, социјални и естетски мешавини со различни интензитети. Насочувајќи се исклучиво кон транзициската „археологија“ на домувањето, истражувањето открива претходно непостоечки просторни поведенија и градбени практики. Главното откритие е дека новата станбена текстура се генерира помеѓу напнатоста на два спротивставени процеси, на планиран и на спонтан развој. Како резултат на овој преклоп доаѓа до формирање на нови урбани прототипови од кои се генерираат мноштво на нови станбени текстури. Спонтаните просторни практики на развој на домувањето во одредени урбани подрачја се толку доминантни што укажуваат на појава на една радикализирана состојба во која планираниот развој на домувањето станува невозможен. Новата станбена текстура се раѓа преку изумирање или преку трансформација на старото. 73


Case study 1 Housing settlement Karposh 1. Tactics of densification of the existing housing stock emergence of new urban prototypes.

Case study 1 - Housing settlement Karposh 1 - tactics of densification of the existing housing stock

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Case study 1 - Housing settlement Karposh 1 - building as hybrid of formal and informal spatial practices


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Case study 2 Housing settlement Bunjakovec 2. Typical "greenfield" expansion of the city.

Case study 2 - Housing settlement Bunjakovovec - old vs. new scale of architecture of the city.

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Case study 2 - Housing settlement Bunjakovovec - architecture and city under construction.


ɛɥɨɤ

ɧɚɫɥɟɞɟɧɚ ɫɨɫɬɨʁɛɚ

ɪɚɡɜɨʁɧɚ ɫɨɫɬɨʁɛɚ

ɩɥɚɧɢɪɚɧɚ ɫɨɫɬɨʁɛɚ ɉɪɢɥɨɝ

Ɇɨɪɮɨɥɨɲɤɚ ɚɧɚɥɢɡɚ ɧɚ ɧɚɫɟɥɛɚɬɚ Ȼɭʃɚɤɨɜɟɰ Ȼɥɨɤ ɩɪɨɫɬɨɪɧɢ ɬɪɚɧɫɮɨɪɦɚɰɢɢ ɧɚ ɛɥɨɤɨɬ ɚɪɯɢɬɟɤɬɨɧɫɤɚ ɮɨɪɦɚ

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Case study 3 Housing settlement Rasadnik. Hybrid housing plan - formal and informal spatial practices at work.

Case study 3 - Housing settlement Rasadnik - architectural anonymity of a typical residential building.

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Case study 3 - Housing settlement Rasadnik - emerging urban panorama of the periphery.


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Towards a new pragmatic concept of housing Кон нов прагматичен концепт за design домувањето Is it possible to develop new pragmatic housing design concepts based on the discovered emerging spatial practices? We speculate that this could be the case; that the collective and the individual can work together; and also the public and private. The informal (unplanned, spontaneous, etc.) transformation of the housing texture evidenced in the case studies, should be considered as “bottom up” experiments that emerged out of the necessity of alternative interpretation of the formal housing design. Behind the idea of spontaneous spatial development, one finds the need of the inhabitants to adapt and to adjust the space in accordance to their own needs. In the researched cases, this need of adaptability of the space is, on one hand, a result of the reduced residential mobility of the inhabitants (economic reasons), as well as of the variable structure of the families, of new ways of utilizing the housing space, of multiplication of the lifestyles of the inhabitants, of the rise of the consumerism etc. On the other, the overlap between the planned and spontaneous processes of housing design represents a hybrid condition between two approaches – strategic and tactic; (the planned is strategic, the spontaneous is tactic). The strategic approach represents a superior position (“top to bottom”), where the tactical approach is a reaction to that position (“bottom to top”). The necessity to search for new housing concepts housing comes exactly out of the need to unite the strategic and the tactical approach.

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The transitional phenomenon of parallel existence of the opposites could evolve into a new concept for housing design. The opposites could come together; spontaneously created actuality could be transformed into a newly planned reality. The opposing paradigms united into a single entity. The core of the new paradigm of housing design will be found in the new role and meaning of the dweller. He/she is no longer an anonymous “human,” but a concrete person with their own demands and lifestyle. Housing in the contemporary context is no longer related only to the practical aspects of living; new housing should be much more than a “shelter” for man. The existential (intimate) space could no longer be framed by universal architectural assumptions that are formalized through an “optimal” housing

Дали е можно да се развие нов прагматичен концепт на домувањето кој ќе го темелиме на транициските станбени практики? Шпекулираме дека е тоа можно; дека колективното и индивидуалното можат да соработуваат; јавното и приватното, исто така. Неформалните (неплански, спонтани...) трансформации на станбената текстура евидентирани во сите студии на случај, треба се сметаат за симптоми на потребата од алтернативно толкување на планираниот развој на домувањето. Во основа на идејата за спонтан просторен развој се наоѓа потребата на жителите да го прилагодат и приспособат станбениот простор кон сопствените потреби. Во истражените примери, оваа потреба за прилагодување на просторот се јавува како резултат на спрегот помеѓу намалената резиденцијална мобилност на населението (како резултат на економскиот фактор) од една страна, и променливата структура на семејството, новите начини на користење на станбениот простор, умножувањето на животните стилови, триумфот на потрошувачката култура, итн., од друга. Во таа смисла, спојот помеѓу планираните и спонтаните процеси на развој преставува спој на два пристапи, на стратешки и на тактички (планираниот развој е резултат на стратешки пристап, спонтаниот на тактички). Стратешкиот пристап подразбира позиција на надреденост (од горе кон долу); тактичкиот пристап претставува одговор кон таквата наметната надреденост (од долу кон горе). Потребата од нови концепти за домувањето произлегува од неопходноста да се обединат стратешкиот и тактичкиот пристап. Феноменот на транзициското напоредно постоење на спротивностите може да еволуира во нов концепт за домувањето. Спротивностите можат да бидат обединети; спонтано создадената реалност претворена во нова планирана реалност,а спротивставените парадигми обединети во една. Средиште на новата парадигма на домувањето е новата улога и значење на станбениот корисник. Тој повеќе не е анонимен „човек“, туку конкретна личност со сопствени барања и сопствен начин на живот. Домувањето во современиот контекст повеќе не се однесува само на практичните аспекти на живеењето; тоа е многу повеќе од „засолниште“ за човекот.


plan. As an anti-thesis to the modernist (Le Corbusian) “machine for living,” the new goal of housing design is about building homes, not housing units. Bearing in mind the fact that home represents a dwelling within which its resident manages to establish an emotional and psychological relation to the space, the aspect of complicity in the process of housing design must be considered an utmost priority. In that sense, it is only the housing design based on adaptability and flexibility that could be a possible answer to the axiomatic variability of living and life itself.

Егзис¬тен¬цијалниот (интимен) простор не може повеќе да биде врамен преку универзални архитектонски претпоставки кои се формализираат преку „оптимален план“. Како анти-теза на модернистичката (Корбизјевата) „машина за живеење“, нов императив на домувањето претставува градењето Дом-ови, не станбени единици. Тргнувајќи од сознанието дека домот означува живеалиште во кое неговиот жител преку процес на (взаемно) прилагодување успева да изгради емоционално и психолошко заснован однос со просторот, аспектот на (со)учество во процесот на планирање го сметаме за императив. Сметаме дека е неопходно е станбениот план да остане „отворен“ за одреден степен на флексибилност на архитектонскиот простор, а во насока на обезбедување можности за различни типолошки интерпретации и „слободи“. Домувањето засновано на приспособливост и флексибилност претставува единствен одговор на аксиоматската променливост на живеењето и животот воопшто.

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Alison Pedder Melbourne, Australia DIA graduate 2011



Luxury and the City Alison Pedder keywords: the capital costs of building, building as real estate, obsolescence of program and building

Frankfurt am Main is currently (2010) experiencing the highest office vacancy rate in Germany by population ratio, with a 45 square meter availability per capita. 15% of the city’s 11.3 million square meters of commercial building stock remains either vacant or has been rendered obsolete. The city’s initiative toward fulfilling the demand for high-end residential space affords a new freedom for developers in which to explore opportunities for the transformation of obsolete high-rise office buildings. Luxury & the City investigates the influence of accumulative wealth and the growth of luxury markets in Frankfurt, and considers how changing economies can present lucrative solutions to spatial problems. image source: www.frank-feil.de



source: Untersuchung im Auftrag des Magistrats der Stadt Frankfurt am Main, Stadtplanungsamt, 2006 86

102 buildings are responsible for 50% of the office vacancy in Frankfurt Diagram produced by the studio from Banking to Housing (2010) source: Untersuchung im Auftrag des Magistrats der Stadt Frankfurt am Main, Stadtplanungsamt, 2006

O According to Frankfurt’s city planning bureau, it was concluded that half of the office vacancy in Frankfurt was abnormal. Its causes are bad planning and speculation. The office vacancy rate sky rocketed after 2001 as a result of speculation due to a lack in demand for office space. The conclusion was that 50% of the vacancy could be attributed to 102 objects. The majority of these buildings are in the range of 5.000 to 19.999 square meters and built after 1998.


Not enough

30%

Too much

102 OBJECTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR 50% OF THE OFFICE VACANCY IN FRANKFURT. THIS REPRESENTS THE ABNORMAL PROBLEM OF VACANCY. 25%

20%

*based on data of 2005

15%

10%

5%

SQM

UNDER 50

50-99

100-249

250-499

50-999

Rentable office space by building size year 2005

1.000 2.499

2.500 4.999

5.000 9.999

10.000 19.999

20.000 MORE

COLONE

FRANKFURT AM MAIN BERLIN

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Property negotiations in million Euros (since 2005) Negotiations have risen since 2005 by 50% for property assets sold between €1.5 million and €3 million, by a further 80% for property assets between €3 million and €6 million, and by an incredible 450% for those over €6 million. Remarkably, this boom has not been affected by rising interest rates; on the contrary, it is proving particularly attractive to an increasing number of global investors when compared with other investment tools.

450%

source: Luxury Fine Homes Properties Portfolio

50%

€1.5-3

80%

€ 3-6

The Deluxe Economy Ever since the division of labour allowed wealth to accrue, affluence has existed. One fundamental effect of prosperity is that it allows people to pay more than the utility value for what they buy. It means that the value of goods can rise far in excess of the cost of labour, materials and transport, so that value starts to reflect perceived cultural importance rather than production costs. Affluence drives cultural change. Global Luxury Marketplace The luxury goods industry, as it is known today, is a €110 billion business that produces and sells clothes, leather goods, shoes, silk scarves and neckties, watches, jewellery, perfume and cosmetics, conveying status and a pampered life – a luxurious life. The treatment of architecture as a lifestyle commodity has also emerged as a factor of particular significance within the luxury sector, creating a unique situation where the retail and real estate marketplaces begin to merge and influence one another. A predicted surge in spending by high net worth individuals on luxury goods over the next 5 years, coupled with the strength of several worldwide trends, such as increasing personal GDP and tourist flows, fuel optimism toward the long-term outlook of the worldwide luxury goods market. 88

€6 >

Luxury consumers are an increasingly global phenomenon; travellers purchased US$9.7 Billion worth of luxury goods in 2005, accounting for one-third of all global travel retail sales. The travel experts say it is only going to increase: according to the international civil aviation organisation, annual global air traffic is expected to reach 2.8 billion passengers by 2015, up from 2.1 billion today. The global luxury marketplace had grown consistently over a 12 year period, experiencing its most significant growth of €54 billion, an improvement of 14% between 1995 and 2000. In 2009, the market experienced a decline of 10%, its first set back in 7 years. However the market had recovered by the beginning of 2011, with a significant increase expected by the beginning of 2012. Though much of the real estate market may be showing signs of crisis, demand for top quality property is booming on a global scale with more and more buyers willing to purchase properties, regardless of their geographical location, throughout the world. Luxury properties, or “those valued at upwards of €1.5 million” according to luxury fine homes properties portfolio (an exclusive affiliate of leading real estate companies of the world) are reportedly surging ahead. Negotiations have risen by 50% for property assets sold between €1.5 million and €3 million, by a further 80% for property assets


Luxury residential units

source: “Property Developments 2009 QUARTERLY Special”. Bulwein Gesa AG, July 2009, www.bulweingesa.de

2,0

375

2,1

225

150

75

0

NUMBER OF LUXURY RESIDENTIAL UNITS

300

1,2

69 Düsseldorf

2,5

1,9

0,6

205

357

140

251

Berlin

Hamburg

Frankfurt a.M

München

between €3 million and €6 million, and by an incredible 450% for those over €6 million. Remarkably, this boom has not been affected by rising interest rates; on the contrary, it is proving particularly attractive to an increasing number of global investors when compared with other investment tools. According to the world wealth report, 18% of “high net worth individual’s” assets are invested in real estate, with the proportion dedicated to residential markets rising in 2010 by 48%. Plutonomy and Power A study conducted by Citygroup has specifically addressed this kind of wealth accumulation through a study focusing on the dynamics of plutonomy. The term “plutonomy” refers to economic growth that is powered and consumed by the wealthiest upper classes, and where the majority of the wealth is controlled by an ever-shrinking minority. As such, the economic growth of that society becomes dependent on the fortunes of that same wealthy minority. Research has revealed that the world’s wealthy are only going to get richer in the coming years as affluent capitalist entrepreneurs receive an even greater share of GDP, and are benefiting disproportionately from globalisation and the productivity boom. Capitalist countries have seen the rich take an increasing share of profits and assets

NUMBER OF RESIDENTIAL UNITS PER 100,000 INHABITANTS

Luxury residential units per 100,000 inhabitants

2,0

1,5

1,0

0,5

0,0

over the last 20 years, to the extent that this minority now governs spending and wealth accumulation within nation's economies. Additional findings indicate that the world’s rich are in fact the primary source of income and wealth in countries that have an economically liberal approach to wealth creation, and have subsequently become the drivers of demand around the world. This bodes extremely well for businesses selling to or servicing the rich, such as luxury goods, stocks or private banks, which have handsomely outperformed the S&P 500 index (the prices of 500 large-cap common stocks actively traded in the United States) since 1986, with trends predicted to continue in the coming years. Forbes magazine’s CLEWI (cost of living extremely well index), an inflation index of the cost of luxury goods, indicated the relative pricing power of the deluxe market in preference to medium or low end consumer businesses, advising investment in those companies with business aimed toward the production or consumption of luxury. Not only are capitalist global economies experiencing a demand for luxury goods but also pricing power (the change that a firm’s product price has on the quantity demanded of that product) remains positive.

89


If these predictions are accurate, then affluent consumers will continue to drive the pace of change in markets worldwide, and maintain a demand that will only continue to strengthen the deluxe economy in the foreseeable future. The Luxury City Apartment The city of Frankfurt only covers around 248 square kilometres. With such a compact geographical area, and a growing population, the municipality has the highest dwelling density of all German major cities. It can be noticed that in high-rise cities the world over, a new building typology follows suit. A demand for high quality residential space in the city centre has provoked a considered look at innovations regarding the city apartment, if only because an important part of the housing task has shifted to the densification of existing urban space. Demand

90

Europe is clearly experiencing a rise in new urban lifestyles, such that even in a country like Germany with a relatively undeveloped tradition in high end, high rise apartment

construction, only recently have developers begun to dedicate serious investment into the marketing of luxury skyscraper living, with advertisements appealing to the idea of an urban lifestyle that emphasizes new freedoms of space and choice. ‘Urban living,’ so it seems, has become a new sales argument. With 650,000 people, Frankfurt is tall, but small. Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne are all gigantic in comparison. Frankfurt is Germany’s most cosmopolitan city, nearly 30% of Frankfurt’s residents carry a foreign passport. In no other city outside the United States can there be seen such a large concentration of American businesses (750 by last count). A survey of globetrotting executives by fortune magazine in 1995 rated Frankfurt fifth among the world’s important cities as a place to live and work. It therefore comes as little surprise that property investment in Germany is taking a new turn as specialist firms target Frankfurt as having major potential. The share of international developers in Frankfurt amounts to 21%, considerably higher than the average for all “A-cities”


at 16%, emphasizing the relevance of Frankfurt to international market players. Good economic growth and stable property prices is encouraging individuals as well as investment funds to view Germany as a prime target. Pricoa (the European mezzanine finance and private equity subsidiary of the prudential insurance company of America) and investment Ab Bure, a Swedish investment company, identified Germany as the top property investment market in Europe, based on their examination of cyclical factors: current economic position, property cycle position, and currency risk; and structural factors; transparency, landlord’s obligations, and exit liquidity. The location advantages of the city are clearly evident in the GDP per capita. At 266% Frankfurt is several times above the average for Germany as a whole, boasting approximately €84,000 per wage earner and thus exhibiting the highest economic power of all cities in the country. However, the high per capita figure in Frankfurt also reflects the low population number living within the city limits, of which the city compensates for with very large numbers of commuters.

Of Frankfurt’s workforce, (the financial and insurance sector employs 74,000 workers), 15% of all employees in the city are subject to social insurance contributions. With an average net income wage of €53,300 annually, financial and insurance sector workers are by far out-earning those employed in all other sectors of industry. This sector is also responsible for the highest number of foreign companies in the city, bringing with it a local and international demand for high-end residential space that the city at present is struggling to provide. In 2010 the demand for households was 7% higher than the number of residential spaces that the city could supply. This is especially the case in respect to high-value apartments in old buildings offering 150 square meters or more, and high-value apartments in new buildings, which in recent times have pushed prices in this sector up by an incredible €18 per square meter. Residential real estate practitioners in Germany face a marketplace with a low percentage of buyers in comparison to the country’s wealth. The mortgage market is well organized and structured, albeit

91


somewhat inflexible requiring a minimum 20% down payment, which serves as a barrier to home ownership. Frankfurt however, has the highest concentration of homeowners in Germany which can in part be attributed to the high wage earning capabilities of its residents, thus overcoming the limitations experienced by other Germans when seeking entry into the local property market. Corporate investment is also growing in respect to residential real estate. According to David Stanley Redfern asset management (an international property investment organization), wealth funds, insurance companies and pension funds are keen to increase their portfolio allocations in stable property markets with the potential for rising prices. Spokesman Liam Bailey, head of international research, suggests that demand has also been boosted by the return of many German property investment funds to their home market. DSR has long been predicting that major players in the financial sectors are considering entering or re-entering the German property market and buying apartments in bulk, which therefore stands to reason that some equally big players outside the financial sectors would follow suit, thereby generating segregated growth within Frankfurt’s real estate market. The effects are already beginning to be seen, with inner city residential rental prices rising across the board. Frankfurt may have a modest number of luxury residential developments underway, but the city’s planned supply is considerably higher than any of the other locations, offering 2.1 luxury apartments per 100,000 residents. Hamburg actually offers fewer luxury dwellings in ratio to its population, with 2 apartments built per resident share at 38%.

larger office tower to the left and smaller residential tower to the right


Emerging Markets

its high earning executive population, whilst simultaneously combating the tidal Due to the scarce number of new effect that corporate commuter culture constructions and building permits issued, is having upon the city once drained of the residential market in Frankfurt is its weekly workforce. The combination of characterized by a tightening housing shortage that is particularly evident in inner- luxury residential apartments and office tenancies is an investment model that city locations. Consequently, condominium has been previously tested by the skylight prices in these locations continue to be high residential tower, one of Frankfurt’s and have remained significantly unaffected pioneering examples of inner city high-rise by the recent global financial crisis. luxury apartment development. A hybrid of According to the latest residential market commercial and residential use is becoming analysis prepared by Bulweingesa, focusing specifically on Frankfurt’s trend of emerging a standard model for the implementation of high-end residential space in Frankfurt’s inner city condominiums, residential units were considered “luxury” if they were offered inner city. However the combination almost always allows for office space tenancies to at a price of at least €4,400 per square occupy the tower. This reflects the notion meter. that Frankfurt’s investors usually earn more The average price for high quality apartments out of leasing office space than residential with inner-city locations that offer close apartments. proximity to both the city’s banking quarter What makes this project unique is the and primary university campus (Johann developer’s dedication of residential space to Wolfgang Goethe-Universität), currently the tower. Designed by London based office stand at approximately €3,660 per square Richard Rogers partnership, and developed meter. However, apartments within by Dete Immobilien (a Frankfurt based real Frankfurt’s established high-end inner estate investment company), the €51 million city districts with these same location project commenced construction in 1999 and advantages are asking considerably more, was completed by early 2001. In keeping with selling between €4,100 and €6,000 per a standard model of investment, the complex square meter. On the basis of permanent remains dominated by a larger proportion market monitoring, the same Bulweingesa of office space, yet manages to justify the study analysed a total of 27 commercial commitment of residential apartments to luxury high-rise projects, comprising of the tower by targeting the luxury market. 972 freehold flats. Of these, 60% of all It appears that the available returns for developed condominiums are located in residential apartment developments aimed at the northwestern part of the inner city in the luxury market are able to compensate for the districts of Bockenheim, Westend and Nordend west. These three districts have the any financial losses as a result of less office space. combined advantage of a local association with high-end inner city living, and an established mid-rise to high-rise typology.

When comparing the number of luxury residential units currently under construction or in the planning phase across Germany’s five major cities, Frankfurt’s 140 luxury apartments fall well behind the leading city of Hamburg, with a staggering 357 highend units scheduled for completion by the end of 2012. However, a distinction can be made between the quantities of apartments being developed in the city, compared to the number of inner-city residents. One could reason that this is a result of recent changes to city planning laws, which require a 30% dedication to residential apartments in the development of new office towers. Thus in an effort to re-urbanize the city centre, Frankfurt is creating a supply of luxury apartments in which to house

93


94

Kaston Tower, Frankfurt am Main (depth from core to facade 7.5 meters)

Dominian Bank Tower, Toronto (13 meter depth from core to facade)

Bundesrechnungshof Frankfurt am Main - vacant since 2000 13 meter building standard width

Eurotower Frankfurt am Main - vacant by 2014 16 meter building standard width


The Frankfurt Office 102 Buildings are responsible for 50% of the office vacancy in Frankfurt, representing what urban planners have described as abnormal. Against a landscape of redundancy, the city is experiencing a new wave of building that seeks to supply a demand for high-end housing in the inner city commercial zones especially that of the banking district. Amongst 82% of luxury apartments currently under construction only 16% are located in existing buildings, despite an available 878,000 square meters of empty office space already located in areas allocated for prime development. Supply Frankfurt’s current situation concerning obsolete high-rise building stock within the city centre presents a unique opportunity for the development of luxury in a way that not only reflects the changing demands of the city but also becomes an eloquent interface between the new and the old. The implementation of luxury can therefore provide a method in which to rehabilitate obsolete buildings, whilst simultaneously creating attractors for areas in need of reurbanization. The design and thus productive life-span of office buildings, both low and highrise, are as much about the translation of technological and functional requirements, as they are about local urban context, market conditions, labour relations, culture and building regulations; all of which leave a distinctive mark upon office architecture according to the building’s specific location. In Frankfurt, external forces such as developers and investors have had little influence on the design of the city’s highrise office building stock due to German corporations owning about 70% of the real estate they occupy. In this unique climate of commercial development, investment in the quality of the workplace environment is the outcome of relatively harmonious relations between employers and employees, belonging to the general German image of high wages and excellent secondary working conditions. The creation of offices with as much concern for employee desires and ecology would not have been possible without a prosperous economy. As a result, German corporations usually spend more money on property than their counterparts in other countries.

A crucial market characteristic is that users, rather than suppliers of office space dominate the local market. German corporations tend to build their own buildings rather than leasing or renting them, traditionally borrowing money from their bank to erect custom built offices. The fact that German corporations are bank-funded rather than stock funded enables them to invest in resources such as buildings that do not result in immediate profit. In Frankfurt, organizations have been able to afford accommodating their employees in rather spacious cellular offices due to the prosperity of the local economy, demonstrating a willingness to invest money in such long-term advantages as employee satisfaction and quality working environments. Companies have been able to focus on their own specific interests rather than those of developers, who are mainly geared to ease of construction and short-term profit. Frankfurt’s unusually high number of owner developed commercial towers has resulted in better quality constructions, with the form of the building designed to ensure an excellent standard of interior working conditions. One crucial requirement in the design of German offices is that all workplaces are intended for permanent use must have visual contact with the outside world. Regulations give no specific distance from workplace to window, but in practice this means that every workplace is located within 6 meters of an exterior view. Floor plans of office buildings in Frankfurt are therefore narrow, with widths averaging somewhere between 12–16 meters, resulting in linear floor shapes or floor plans that seek to maximise efficiency by wrapping the office space around a courtyard or atrium. As a result, the ratio between the total space of the building and the space that can actually be used for work is relatively ‘inefficient’ when compared to the monolithic American style skyscraper, with large floor slabs. By comparison the floor plan is also rather inflexible (less layout options) and inefficient in terms of the ratio of external wall-to-floor area (more expensive façade). One of the most radical examples of such a solution is the Commerzbank tower, the building’s triangular floor plan has a 160m atrium, bringing light and a view into the middle of the structure. Each floor has three wings, two of which serve as office space and a third wing that forms part of one of

95


the four-storey high gardens. These gardens allow employees who are located toward the centre of the building, and who would only have views of the atrium, an outside view also. The limited depth of the German office floor is also related to climate control in buildings. The advantage of narrow floors is that they open up the possibility of using natural ventilation, saving on energy costs, whilst restoring direct contact between employees and nature, thus enhancing the quality of the workplace. It is characteristic that even in very tall towers, such as the Commerzbank, windows can be opened. These distinctions can also be observed in some of Frankfurt’s older office designs. Bundesrechnungshof was custom built in 1954 for the German federal audit office. This tenancy was honoured for 47 years. In 2000 the German federal audit office moved to Bonn and the building has remained vacant. The Turm centre was built in 1971 and leased to Ernst & Young who occupied the building for 34 years, relocating in 2005. The owners Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) have received approval for renovation of the building into new offices spaces, however the city is encouraging developers to explore residential solutions. Eurotower was built in 1977 and is currently the seat of the European central bank, who will leave this building and move into a new, larger headquarters that is currently under construction and due for completion by 2014. Inherent Possibility The architectural design brief required for German offices has resulted in a unique high-rise typology that is local to Frankfurt as the country’s only city with a skyline. The very nature of the Frankfurt office and the methods of development by which these buildings have been introduced to the city, lends itself to far greater opportunities for conversion into luxury residential apartments than high-rise typologies common to American or Australian cities. Because of the limited floor depth, German high-rises tend to be very slender, producing buildings of a linear shape, consisting of office ‘wings’ in different configurations, x-shaped, l-shaped, u-shaped, and so on. Some of the very first successful high-rise residential buildings in non-European cities were inspired by these very configurations, in seeking new concepts for city living and high quality methods for construction that could satisfy the demands of wealthy clients.

These building forms are of particular benefit when accommodating high end apartments. The winged shapes create conditions of privacy, allow light to penetrate throughout the living areas and reduce the size of corridors, thereby making available more space that can be dedicated to private tenancy and less required for communal lobbies. A paradoxical aspect of the luxury city apartment is that it embodies one of the most important ideas of modern housing construction at the beginning of the twentieth century – namely collective living with shared facilities. However, this new collectivity is combined with a carefully designed and guarded privacy: the collective domain must never come at the expense of the private. Conclusion Upon reflection of these case studies, it can be observed that design criteria for the Frankfurt office has been taken and adapted as much from requirements for residential environments, as high-rise residential design has taken from the success of this particular model of office tower. The potential for conversion of these spaces into high-quality residential apartments, both in respect to buildings that are currently vacant and buildings that hold the possibility for vacancy in the future, is particularly feasible to Frankfurt as a consequence of local office design characteristics, resulting in better quality building stock, well considered servicing and a stronger foundation for renewal. Under these circumstances, the available returns for residential apartment developments aimed at the luxury market are able, (to a greater degree than standard apartment dwellings,) to compensate for financial losses incurred for the expense of updating building services, therefore resulting in a more economically viable investment.


Bibliography 1. “Architecture and Affluence”. Royal Academy of Arts. www.royalacademy.org.uk 2. Bell, David; Jayne, Mark; City of Quarters – Urban Villages In The Contemporary City. Ashgate Publishing Limited, England, 2004.

23. “The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York”. The Museum of Modern Art, revised publication, 2004 24. “Profound Market Analysis 2009 QUARTERLY”. Bulwein Gesa AG. September 2009. www.bulweingesa.de 25. “Property Developments 2009 QUARTERLY Special”. Bulwein Gesa AG. July 2009, www.bulweingesa.de

3. Cassis, Youssef; Capitals of Capital – The Rise and Fall of International Financial Centers

26. “Property Developments 2010 QUARTERLY”. Bulwein Gesa AG. July 2010. www.bulweingesa.de

1780 – 2009. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2010.

27. “Real Estate Market Germany 2010/1”: Research Publication by DG HYP. Hamburg, Germany, March 2010. www.dghyp.de

4. Cassis, Youssef; Cottrell, Philip L; The World of Private Banking. Ashgate Publishing Ltd, England, 2009. 5. “Commercial Sites in Frankfurt Rhine Main”. Frankfurt Rhine Main GmbH International Marketing. www.frmunited.com 6. “Equity Strategy – Revisiting Plutonomy”. Citygroup. March 2006. 7. Felsenstein, Daniel; Schamp, Eike W; Schachar Arie; Emerging Nodes in the Global Economy: Frankfurt and Tel Aviv Compared. Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherands, 2002 8. Fischer, Christian; Freytag, Tim; Hoyler, Michael; Mager, Christoph; Commuting and the Definition of Functional Urban Regions – Rhine Main. Institute of Community Studies with The Young Foundation and Polynet Partners, 2005. 9. “Frankfurt Office Market – Quality Counts”. Helaba Research. Landesbank Hessen Thüringen Girozentrale, Volkswirkshaft Research, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, October 2010. 10. “Future Luxury”. David Report. Issue 6, Sweden, March 2010. www.davidreport.com 11. “Future Space”. Frankfurt am Main Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Frankfurt Economic Development GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, 2011. www. Frankfurt-business.net 12. “Germany Real Estate Year Book 2009”. Real Estate Publishers. 2009. www.germay-re.com 13. “Global Property Market Outlook July 2010”. Aberdeen Asset Management. www.aberdeen-asset.com/property 14. “Hamburg – The Place To Be In The Luxury Segment”. Immobilien Zeitung. September, 2010. 15. “IFM Immobilien AG 2009 Annual Report”. IFM Immobilien AG. Frankfurt am Main, 2009. 16. Koolhass, Rem; Delirious New York. The Monacelli Press, New York, USA, 1994. 17. Lee Levine, Mark; International Real Estate – A Comparative Approach. Dearborn Financial Publiahing Incorporated, Chicago, 2004. 18. Lorimer, James; The Developers. James Lorimer and Company Publishers, Toronto, 1978. 19. “Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study”. Bain & Company. June 2009. www.bain.com 20. “Luxury Market Update 2012 Outlook”. Bain & Company. June 2009. www.bain.com 21. “Major Investment Players Looking to Germany”. Major Property Wire. Monday June 23rd, 2008. www. propertywire.com 22. Marcuse, Peter; Globalizing Cities – A New Spatial Order? Blackwell Publishing, Australia, 2005.

28. “Real Estate Market Germany 2010/2”: Research Publication by DG HYP. Hamburg, Germany, September 2010. www.dghyp.de 29. Reddy, K. Narayan; Urban Redevelopment – A Study of High-rise Buildings. Concept Publishing Company, India, 1996. 30. “The Luxury City Apartment”. DASH Magazine. Delft Architectural on Studies on Housing. NAi Uitgevers Publishers, Rotterdam, 2009. 31. “The Luxury Market Summary 2011”. FOCUS Magazin Verlag GmbH. Munich, 2011 32. Thomas, Dana; Deluxe – How Luxury Lost It’s Luster. Penguin Books, 2008. 33. Van Meel, Juriaan; The European Office – Office Design and National Context. 101 Publishers, Rotterdam, 2000. 34. “World Wealth Report 2010”. Capgemini and Meryll Lynch Global Wealth Management. 35. Zukin, Sharon; Loft Living – Culture and Capital in Urban Change. Rutgers University Press, USA, 1989. Websites: 1. www.emporis.com 2. http://luxuryproperty.com 3. www.skyscrapercity.com 4. www.Frankfurt.de 5. www.tishmanspeyer.com


Omar Akl Cairo, Egypt DIA Graduate 2015



Understanding Growth – The Case of Nasr City Omar Akl keywords: the bandwidth of planning, the capital costs of buildings The change happening to cities today is not dictated by planners, municipalities, architects or even its dwellers. The realestate market has become the main engine for change in the city. This has become increasingly obvious in Cairo, where the formal (planned) neighbourhoods of the city are being collectively reshaped by micro processes of real-estate investment on the scale of apartment buildings. Co-operatives vs Extended Family With the intention of re-engaging endusers of apartment buildings with the architecture of their lives and their built environment, rather than being determined by the processes of money-making, this research focuses on the culture of extended family dwelling in one apartment building in Cairo. The extended family acquires a piece of land and develops a low-rise apartment building. They live in its apartments with the opportunity to sell or rent the remaining apartments later. The culture of extended family dwelling is gathering a group of people with blood ties, to eliminate the middle man and make the process of building both economical and personal. The extended family is a co-operative housing process already taking place in Cairo. Nasr City Growth Until the 1980s, the culture of extended family dwelling was prevalent within the low-rise apartment buildings of Nasr city; a middle class neighbourhood in Cairo. Nasr city was planned in the 1950s by Sayed Karim, a Swiss trained Egyptian architect and planner, inspired by modern concepts of city planning at the time. These low-rise buildings stopped being built as a result of the transformations that occurred to the housing market in Nasr city, where in the 1980s high-rise buildings started to be developed, driven by investment plans.

100

‫التغيري الذي يحدث للمدينة ال يتم إمالئه عن طريق أياً من‬ ‫ أصبح سوق‬.‫ املعامريني أو حتى السكان‬,‫ البلديات‬,‫املخططني‬ ‫ أصبح ذلك‬.‫اإلسكان هو املحرك األسايس للتغيري يف املدينة‬ )‫ فأحياء املدينة الرسمية (املخططة‬,‫واضحاً خصوصاً يف القاهرة‬ ‫تتغري بشكل كىل عن طريق عمليات االستثامر العقاري الجزئية‬ .‫يف العامرات السكنية‬ ‫التعاونيات واألرس املمتدة‬ ‫بهدف متكني سكان العامرات السكنية من االشرتاك يف هيكلة‬ ‫ بدالً من هيكلتها عن طريق عمليات‬,‫حياتهم وبيئتهم املبنية‬ ‫ يركز البحث عىل ثقافة سكن األرسة املمتدة يف عامرة‬,‫الربح‬ ‫ حيث تتحصل األرسة املمتدة‬,‫سكنية واحدة الشائعة يف القاهرة‬ ‫عىل قطعة أرض لبناء عامرة منخفضة االرتفاع للسكن يف‬ ‫ تحشد ثقافة‬.‫ مع إمكانية بيع أو إيجار الشقق املتبقية‬,‫شققها‬ ,‫سكن األرسة املمتدة مجموعة من الناس لهم عالقات أرسية‬ ‫لىك يتخلصوا من الوسطاء ويجعلوا عملية البناء اقتصادية‬ ‫ األرسة املمتدة هي عملية إسكان تعاوين تحدث‬.‫وشخصية‬ .‫بالفعل يف القاهرة‬ ‫منو مدينة نرص‬ ‫ انترشت ثقافة سكن األرس املمتدة يف‬,‫حتى الثامنينيات‬ ‫ وهو حي للطبقة‬,‫العامرات منخفضة االرتفاع يف مدينة نرص‬ - ‫ صممه سيد كريم يف الخمسينيات‬,‫املتوسطة يف القاهرة‬ ‫ باستخدام نظريات‬-‫معامري ومخطط مرصي عمل يف سويرسا‬ ‫ توقف بناء هذه العامرات‬.‫التخطيط الحديث يف ذلك الوقت‬ ‫املنخفضة االرتفاع نتيجة للتغريات التي حدثت لسوق اإلسكان‬ ,‫ فبدأ يف الثامنينيات بناء عامرات عالية االرتفاع‬.‫يف مدينة نرص‬ .‫مدفوعة برغبات استثامرية‬


planning map of Nasr City, circa 1960s

recent satellite image of Nasr City.


The densification of Nasr city not only stopped the extended family dwelling from taking form in the built environment but also recently saw the dissolution of such extended family modes of dwelling within its low-rise buildings. Only to be demolished and replaced by high-rise buildings, housing nuclear families in single apartments. Mapping the Economies of Displacement This research examines the apartment building of Nasr city districts, and maps the different building processes that led to the densification of Nasr city, since the beginning of its development in 1959 until June 2015. Whilst mapping the simultaneous change of the patterns in which families dwell within these apartments. The result of the mapping process can be applied to a wave of urban migration that has extended-family dwelling patterns outside Nasr city, and into the desert city on the margins of Cairo.

102

Apartment buildings of Nasr city. Image by: Amr El-komy

‫مل تكتفي زيادة الكثافة السكانية يف مدينة نرص بإيقاف تكوين‬ ‫ ولكن‬,‫سكن األرسة املمتدة يف البيئة املبنية يف مدينة نرص‬ ‫ عن طريق عمليات هدم العامرات‬,‫ساعدت أيضاً عىل تصفيته‬ ‫املنخفضة االرتفاع واستبدالها بعامرات عالية االرتفاع التي تباع‬ .‫شققها لعدد كبري من األرس الصغرية‬ ‫رسم خرائط اقتصاد النزوح‬ ,‫يركز البحث عىل العامرات السكنية يف أحياء مدينة نرص‬ ‫ويدرس عمليات البناء املختلفة التي أدت إىل زيادة الكثافة‬ ‫ حتى‬1959 ‫ منذ بداية تطويرها عام‬,‫السكانية يف مدينة نرص‬ ‫ ويدرس يف نفس الوقت تغري أمناط سكن العائالت‬.2015 ‫يونيو‬ ‫ توصف نتائج البحث موجة من‬.‫يف هذه العامرات السكنية‬ ‫ يف اتجاه‬,‫النزوح الحرضي لألرس املمتدة خارج مدينة نرص‬ .‫االمتداد الصحراوي عىل أطراف للقاهرة‬


Mapped building heights of a district in Nasr city.


Definitions Low-rise buildings of Nasr city

Extended family apartment dwelling

Up to 5 stories in height, they were built at the beginning of the development of Nasr city in 1959 through till the 1980s. They became economically infeasible to develop, and as a result, only high-rise buildings have been developed in Nasr city since the 1980s.

An apartment building developed and occupied by an extended (multi-generational) family. This type of development characterizes the low-rise buildings of Nasr city.

High-rise buildings of Nasr city Up to 16 stories in height. High-rise buildings began to be developed following the “unified building code“ issued in 1976, which allowed the buildings to rise up to 36 meters height.

Nuclear family apartment dwelling An apartment attained by a nuclear family though the real estate market. This type of dwelling characterizes the high-rise buildings of Nasr city.


18 m

13 m

25 m

Extended family tree

Nuclear family 18 m

apartment buildings of Nasr city, view from above image by Amr Elkomy


ring road

1905

1959 1888

NASR CITY

2000 new cairo

Growth of the formal city in Cairo: Locating Nasr city within the growing formal city in Cairo towards the east

Position of Nasr City in Cairo The growth of the formal city eastward has been ongoing for more than a century. Nasr city is not the first nor the last addition to the city‘s urban fabric, distinct moments in time were chosen to illustrate the position of Nasr City in relation to the growing metropolis: Old Cairo

1888 - The borders of urbanization then, including old Cairo and the recently developed “downtown“ at the time. 1905 - Start of development of Heliopolis. Red highlight- informal Cairo.

Downtown 1888

1959 - Start of development of Nasr city. 2000 - Start of development of new Cairo. Densification of Nasr City

Heliopolis 1905

Nasr city 1959

Nasr city densified rapidly during the 1980s and 1990s, as one of the key formal city districts that housed the booming population of Cairo at the time, with few other extensions to the formal city. “Over the 1986-2006 period the population of Madinet Nasr increased by 401,000 inhabitants, expanding the 1986 population almost fourfold.“1 Urban Migration

New Cairo 2000

Urban patterns of formal Cairo

106

The development of new Cairo in 2000 formed a new opportunity for relocation of citizens of the formal city out of the overcrowded central locations such as Nasr city. 1- Sims, David , Understanding Cairo (2009) The American University in Cairo Press; Reprint edition (September 15, 2012)


Case study district: Satellite image of Nasr city, highlighting areas where the studied apartment building typology is spread.

Planning

‫عبدالرزاق السنهورى‬

‫عباس‬ ‫العقاد‬

‫مكرم‬ ‫عبيد‬

Nasr city was planned as a grid of main streets 50m in width, divided into a number of sectors (districts). It contained many land plots for private development as apartment buildings. A central district was mapped as a case study, including 549 land parcels, 2 schools, markets, mosques and a central public park. The chosen district is surrounded by four main shopping streets. Building Heights The heights of the apartment buildings were mapped, they vary between 2 and 16 floors in height.

‫مصـطــفى النـحـــــاس‬ Chosen case study district, apartment buildings are colour-coded according to their heights, varying from 1 to 16 floors height.

GF+1

GF+2

GF+3

GF+4

GF+3

GF+4

GF+5

GF+6

GF+7

GF+7

TYPE 1 BUILDING

GF+8

GF+9

GF+9

GF+10

GF+11

GF+12

GF+13

GF+14

GF+11

GF+15

GF+16

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TYPE 2 BUIDLING


Housing market and family dwelling Three economies were examined to break down the history of development of Nasr city, according to the nature of the real-estate market mechanism during each period. Examples of apartment buildings within the case study district are shown in each period in order to describe how a family structure within the apartment buildings changed accordingly.

1- Family Dwelling (1959 - 1980s) Low-rise buildings were being built until the 1980s, rising up to a maximum height of 4 stories according to regulations at the time. While the infrastructure was developed by the publicly owned “Nasr City Company,“ land parcels were sold privately, mostly for families seeking extended family dwelling as a prevalent mode of development.

Building process 1: low-rise buildings

2- Investment (1976 - 2000s) High-rise buildings with up to 16 stories started to be built following the “unified building laws,” first issued in 1976. The law allowed apartment buildings to rise up to 36 meters in height; raising the value of the land plots as an opportunity for real-estate investment. Consequently, the building processes started to be increasingly driven by investment plans rather than family dwelling needs, the apartments within the high-rise buildings were sold according to the speculative real-estate market to many separate nuclear families. This transformation of the housing market has collectively changed the family structure within the apartment buildings of Nasr city.

Building process 2: high-rise buildings

3- Migration and Displacement (2000s - current) Replacement of Low-rise buildings with high-rise buildings started to occur in the last two decades, accompanied by the displacement of extended family modes of dwelling that characterized the demolished buildings, and their replacement with multiple nuclear families within the developed apartments of the high-rise buildings. The case studies detected a rising wave of urban migration of the extended family dwelling patterns towards the recently constructed desert developments on the outskirts of Cairo.

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Building process 3: replacement


Elhakeem family Extended family Nuclear Families

1980s

A father of five built this house in the 1980s to house himself and his five children‘s marriages, occupying six apartments in the building and selling the remaining apartments. They ended up sharing the building with three other families.

18 m

13 m

Extended family Nuclear Families

This 14 storey high-rise building houses almost entirely nuclear families, a family that recently moved to the building have chosen Nasr city due to its central location in comparison with new Cairo neighbourhoods.

1990s

25 m

18 m

Abdel‘aal family Nuclear Families

1970s

2015

24 m

15 m

Replacement

A father and his 6 children‘s families entirely occupied this building, built by the family in 1970s. The entire family migrated to new Cairo before they sold the house in 2006, it‘s now being demolished to be replaced with a high-rise on the main shopping street.

109


Housing Market And Urbanisation

2000 New Cairo development

549 district parcels

HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS

1976 unified building code

26 unbuilt parcel

242 High-rise buildings

37 REPLACED BUILDINGS 1959 start of development of N.city

LOW-RISE BUILDINGS

1980

1970

GF+1

GF+2

GF+3

GF+4

Low-rise buildings

GF+5

GF+6

GF+7

1990

GF+8

GF+9

maximum height without the need of an elevator

2000

GF+10

GF+11

2010

GF+12

GF+13

GF+14

2015

GF+15

High-rise buildings

1- Family Dwelling (1959 - 1980s) In 1959, the Nasr city company sold land parcels to upper-middle class families. Small size investment processes existed as well. The buildings were planned to have a maximum height of 3 story apartment buildings with the exception of 4 story buildings on the main streets. Until the 1980s, living in Nasr city was dependent on its connection with the city centre, as a constellation of family housing that is lacking services, described by older generations as “the desert.“ 2- Investment (1976 - 2000s) In 1976, the “unified building code“ was issued in Egypt, it stated: “It is not possible for the total building height to exceed one and a half times the street width with a maximum height of 36m.” This law allowed the construction of high-rise buildings in Nasr city reaching 11 stories. As a result, a wave of high-rise building construction started in the early 1980s, even exceeding sometimes the maximum height stated in the law. Nasr city today has buildings rising up to 16 stories, and houses around 500,000 inhabitants, more than double the population it was planned for. This unplanned densification has exhausted the infrastructure designed for a lower density community causing traffic jams and water supply deficiency. 110

273 Low-rise buildings

3- Migration and Displacement (2000s current) Influenced by the extension of the formal city of Cairo, the development of “New Cairo” in 2000 took place. Extended families are relocating outside the overcrowded Nasr city, where plots of land that are unavailable for development have become scarce and overpriced. As a result, more and more low-rise buildings are being demolished and replaced by high-rise buildings, the investment is shared between informal developers and migrating families.

GF+16


Mapping the development of the case study district. sources: (field mapping, Google earth satellite images) 1980 situation is speculated accordingly.

1980

2003

2015

111


Housing market and migration within Cairo (2000 - current) Background

Sharing in investment process

Over the last two decades of development in Nasr city, the investment of demolishing low-rise buildings to be replaced by highrise buildings started to take place, this type of investment is a result of a number of changes that happened to the Nasr city and Cairo:

While the owners of low-rise buildings (families) want to move outside the overcrowded Nasr city, the informal developers are in a continuous search for new opportunities for investment. The two parties meet, where informal developers and the owners of a low-rise building share the investment of replacing it with a highrise building. The mapping (opposite page) shows that such replacement processes have started slowly in the 2000s, and have accelerated remarkably in recent years.

1. Rising market value of real-estate in Nasr city, because of its relative centrality within Cairo and its completed development. 2. The development of new Cairo in 2000 presented an opportunity for the displacement of upper-middle class families from the over-crowded central locations such as Nasr city. It provided an economical opportunity to form the extended family dwelling patterns again. 3. Scarcity of empty land plots in Nasr city. Now the informal developers (Me’awleen) are searching instead for opportunities of low-rise buildings that could be demolished and rebuilt.

This replacement process not only indicates the continuous densification of Nasr city, but also indicates the dissolution of the extended family dwelling modes in Nasr city, represented by demolishing the low-rise buildings which used to house such family structures within its apartments.

Residential land plots for sharing in Nasr city (available offers 29) - Building 520 m2 for sharing in Nasr city Building 520 m2 four stories in a renowned street parallel to Abbas El Akkad in a commercial residential area, on a north west corner, ......., The building is currently occupied, after contract the tenants shall leave the building within two months, the building has a license for a ground floor and nine floors and a demolition license.

4,000,000 Egyptian pounds

Translated Online advertisement made by owners of apartment buildings in the case study block, to share the investment of demolishing with a developer ( http://beldo.com/ ), March 2015.

MARKET VALUE OF LAND PARCEL= 14 MILLION EGP

DEMOLITION AND CONSTRUCTION

REAL-ESTATE MARKET PROFIT

3M

construction

inf. developer

14 M

inf. developer

%50 ownership

OWNERS

%100 ownership

OWNERS

%50 ownership

4 M cash

%50 profit

OWNERS

%50 profit

Process of sharing the investment between owners and informal developers illustrated with numbers (March 2015)

112


demolished Low-rise

built High-rise replacing demolished Low-rise

built High-rise on empty parcel

Start of Replacement Economy 2003 - 2011 In this period, high-rise buildings were mostly built on empty land (black), in a period of 8 years only 9 low-rise buildings were demolished to be replaced by high-rise buildings (red & yellow).

Domination of Replacement Economy 2011 - 2015 In this short four year period, 20 low-rise buildings were demolished to be replaced by high-rise buildings. The replacement process is accelerating, and has become the main investment in Nasr city while the empty parcels are becoming increasingly rare and expensive.

construction and demolition processes between. 2003 & 2011

construction and demolition processes between 2011 & 2015

These diagrams map the construction and demolition processes in the case study district in Nasr city over two different periods.

113


Conclusions The real-estate market is the main engine of change of the built environment. It affects not only the district’s buildings, but also the family structure of the city. This research focused on the extended family as an economical mode of developing apartment buildings, eliminating the middleman (investment) and creating a more personal building process. This culture of dwelling is practiced by the upper-middle class in Cairo. The extended family took form in Nasr city during its early development and is now disappearing due to the force of the realestate market. The extended family is now taking form on the outskirts of Cairo, due to the increasing value of land in Nasr city making it a place for real-estate investment rather than family dwelling. Although Nasr city was planned according to the modernistic planning concepts of the 1950s, its change is a pattern of many different dynamics (growth of the city, urbanization, densification, building laws, overcrowding, social change, migration, etc). This change is not coherent, nor centrally planned. What happened and what is still ongoing should rather be described as informal.

114


Low-rise building being demolished in Nasr city to be replaced by a high-rise building (June 2015). Image by: Hesham Abozekry

115


Aleksandra Shulevska Skopje, Macedonia DIA Graduate 2015



(De)constructing Architectural Memory Aleksandra Shulevska keywords: long-term thinking Skopje is the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. Since 2010 there has been an ongoing project in Skopje, called “Skopje 2014”. This thesis is an analysis of the actions and effects of the “Skopje 2014” project. The “Skopje2014” project is financed by the government of the Republic of Macedonia and its most used medium of action in architecture. It introduces a new architectural language, previously unseen through Skopje’s history. The architectural style is a form of ancient classical and baroque expression. Its production is not a reflection of modern times, but in its essence is the intention to give Skopje an ‘older’ appearance. It is implementing a new layer of architecture with a newly invented narrative and style. The “Skopje 2014” project doesn’t just mean new production, but a way of dealing with the modifying and reshaping of the existing architecture in the centre of the city. Its main target is buildings which are considered to be important urban artefacts. The project is entirely disrespectful towards the city’s architectural heritage, which proves its ideological background. The “Skopje 2014“ project brings a process of dramatic reshaping upon the city, especially its central area. It is characterized by a large quantity of construction and enormous growth of the built tissue of the city centre. Many monuments and buildings, as well as other structures like bridges and fountains, have populated the central area in the last years with great density. The project expanded and is still ongoing today.

118

Скопје е главен град на Република Македонија. Во моментов во Скопје, во тек е проектот “Скопје 2014” кој започна во 2010год. Овој труд ги анализира активностите и ефектите на проектот “Скопје 2014”. Проектот “Скопје 2014” е финансиран од Владата на Република Македонија и неговиот најупотребуван медиум на дејствување е архитектурата. Тој воведува нов архитектонски јазик, непознат низ историјата. Архитектонскиот стил е форма на антички класичен и барокен израз. Продукцијата на проектот не го рефлектира денешното време, туку во неговата суштина е намерата да му се даде на Скопје ‘постар’ изглед. Проектот имплементира нов архитектонски слој во градот, со нов наратив и стил. Проектот “Скопје 2014” не подразбира само нова продукција, туку и модифицирање и преобмислување на постоечката архитектура и тоа на постоечките објекти, кои се сметаат за урбани артефакти на градот. Проектот воопшто не го почитува културното наследство на Скопје, што ја покажува неговата идеолошка позадина. Проектот „Скопје2014“ предизвикува драматично реформулирање на градот, особено на градскиот центар. Се карактеризира со голем квантитет на изградба и огромен пораст на процентот на изградено ткиво во центарот. Многу нови споменици и објекти и други структури како мостови и фонтани, го населуваат центарот во последните неколку години. Овој проект и денес е сé уште во тек.


119


This thesis examines the processes of erasing architectural memory and inventing a new one, both actions included in the term ‘(De)Constructing Architectural Memory’. The “Skopje2014” project is erasing architectural representations of real, past events and is inventing architectural representations of unreal events in order to change the course of history and to promote a newlyconstructed one. The premise of this thesis is that the “Skopje 2014” project is unsuccessful in its attempt to reinvent history. This research tried to prove that premise, by analysing the modifications done to the previously existing architecture and through analysis of the newly-constructed architectural layer of Skopje. As architecture is the medium used for reinventing history, architectural tools were used for this analysis. This thesis did not just try to provide architectural evidence for the failures of the “Skopje 2014” project, but also to serve as a starting point for discussion on the necessity to rethink the position of the architect and the role of architecture in Skopje. Do buildings remember? They do not. Buildings are physical objects. They are materiality, containers of people’s lives. People remember. They are the breathing soul of buildings. They remember through images composed by the physical objects. In his book, “The Image of the City,” Kevin Lynch said that the generalized mental picture of the exterior physical world held by an individual is the product of both immediate sensation and of the memory of past experience. Therefore, buildings do not remember, but are reminders. They are physical representations of a city’s history. They are witnesses of events passed. Buildings are portrayals of people’s memories. The architectural memory of a city is constructed by people’s perception of its architecture. In order for a building to be an urban artefact of the city, it needs to evoke memories of an important historical event. That can be only done if the building physically witnessed that event.

120

The “Skopje 2014” project, as shown through this research, has an ideological goal to promote an invented city past. It wishes to present historical events that have never happened and to rewrite history. The project

Овој труд се занимава со процесите на бришење архитектонска меморија и измислување нова, и двата содржани во терминот ‘(де)конструирање архитектонска меморија’. Проектот “Скопје 2014” ги брише архитектонските репрезентации на вистински настани од минатото и измислува архитектотнски репрезентации на невистинити настани, за да го промени нивниот тек и промовира новоконструрана историја. Оваа теза тврди дека проектот “Скопје 2014” е неуспешен во своите обиди да ја преобмисли исторјата. Извршеното истражување се обидува да го докаже тоа преку анализа на модификациите на постојната архитектура, како и преку анализа на новиот архитектонски слој во Скопје. Бидејќи избраниот медиум за преобмислувањето на историјата е архитектурата, оваа анализа е направена со употреба на архитектонски алати. Овој труд не цели само да го докаже по архитектонски пат неуспехот на проектот “Скопје 2014”, туку и да отвори дискусија за неопходноста да се преобмисли позицијата на архитектот и улогата на архитектурата во Скопје. Дали зградите паметат? Не, не паметат. Зградите се само физички објекти. Тие се материјалност, контејнери на живеењето на луѓето. Луѓето паметат. Тие се живата материја на објектите. Тие паметат преку сликите конструирани од физичките објекти. Во неговата книга “The Image of the City”, Кевин Линч вели дека генерализираната ментална слика на една индивидуа од надворешниот материјален свет е продукт на моменталните сензации, како и на сеќавањата од минати настани. Што значи дека зградите не паметат, но се потсетници. Тие се материјални репрезентации на градската историја. Тие се сведоци на минати настани. Тие ги портретираат сеќавањата на луѓето. Архитектонската меморија на еден град е конструирана од човековата перцепција за неговата архитектура. За еден објект да стане урбан артефакт на градот, тој треба да буди сеќавања од важни минати настани. Тоа е возможно само доколку тој е физички присутен за време на тие настани. Како што е покажано низ ова истражување, проектот “Скопје 2014”, со својата идеолошка позадина, промовира


aims to make everyone forget the real course of past events. By erasing its historical city fabric, the project constructs memories of events that have never happened. One of the used mediums is architecture, because remembering requires physical reminders. The flaw of the project and the reason for its unsuccessfulness is the fact that these newly constructed reminders have not been able to physically witness the past events they are promoting. These events have never happened. The project is more successful in deconstructing and erasing existing memories, than in constructing new ones. The construction of new memories is simply a tool, used for the deconstruction of the existing ones. The old memories have been erased, since they no longer have physical representations and the invention of new ones has failed. Consequently, these buildings that are not reminders of any past events, are only physical objects and not urban artefacts. They are only materiality and materiality is temporary. Its change is inevitable. With the project “Skopje 2014,” as with other ‘projects’ before, Skopje is going through one more self-distractive episode. Once again, it is back to age one and has to learn how to keep balance. So how does it proceed?

невистинити минати настани. Тој се обидува да презентира историски настани, кои никогаш не се случиле и да ја фалсификува историјата. Методите на проектот се разнебитување, бришење и заборавање на вистинскиот тек на минатото и конструирање сеќавања за настани, кои никогаш не биле. Еден од употребените медиуми е архитектурата, заради тоа што за сеќавање потребни се материјални потсетници. Недостатокот на проектот и причината за неговиот неуспех е фактот дека овие новосоздадени потсетници не се сведоци на настаните, кои ги промовираат, затоа што тие настани никогаш не се случиле. Проектот е поуспешен во деконструирањето и бришењето постоечки спомени, а измислувањето на нови е неуспешно. Како резултат на тоа, овие згради, кои не се потсетници за минати настани, се само физички објекти, а не и урбани артефакти. Тие се само материјалност, а материјалноста е привремена. Нејзината промена е неизбежна. Преку проектот “Скопје 2014”, (што било случај и со други проекти во минатото) Скопје минува низ уште една епизода на себе уништување. Тој се враќа наназад низ времето. Повторно е дете, кое треба да научи да одржува рамнотежа. Како сега градот да продолжи понатаму?

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Re·facade Verb to replace the skin / face / facade of a building with a new one (to hide the current appearance of an object) in order to erase and forget the history it is associated with Synonyms wrap, cover, camouflage, deny, conceal, censor, shroud, forget Antonyms approve, acknowledge, present, allow, show, expose, display, uncover, remember Ре·фа·са·ди·рај Глагол да се замени изгледот / лицето / фасадата на еден објект со нова (да се сокрие тековниот изглед на еден објект) за да се избрише и заборави минатото зад него Синонуми обвиткај, покриј, камуфлирај, порекни, цензорирај, заборави Антоними одобри, афирмирај, прифати, дозволи, презентирај, изложи, откриј, запомни

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1989 Electric transmission system operatior of Macedonia “mepso“ Former: republic TC dispatch centre Zoran Shtaklev

Ongoing facade reconstruction (‘refacing‘) Unannounced author

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Refacading

Рефасадирање

This first example of ‘refacading‘ speaks of the project‘s modification of already existing architecture.

Овој прв пример на ‚Рефасадирање‘ зборува за модифицирањето на веќепостоечкиот архитектонски слој.

‘Refacade’ is the method of deconstructing architectural memory, by directly modifying existing architecture, concealing and covering it and wrapping it with a brand new skin. This new skin constructs a new architectural appearance, and therefore, an image that suggests the presence of different memories behind that building.

‘Рефасадирање’ е метод на манипулација со архитектонската меморија преку промена на нејзиниот надворешен изглед. Тоа е тактика на деконструирање на архитектонски сеќавања преку директно модифицирање на постојната архитектура, нејзино сокривање и обвиткување со нов надворешен слој. Новиот надворешен слој има за цел конструирање нов архитектонтски имиџ, а со тоa и слика која предлага присуство на поинакви сеќавања зад конкретната архитектура.

‘Refacading’ architectural memory implies not just changing an existing one, but also inventing a new one as a substitute. There is an exchange of stories being made. In Stewart Brand‘s “How Buildings Learn,“ he introduces the layers of change of a building as the six S‘s: Site, Structure, Skin, Services, Space plan and Stuff. Stuff being the layer that changes the fastest. The six S‘s are a system to help one understand a building’s aging and capability of adapting through time. The skin, by its rate of change, is somewhere in the middle. Brand says that the skin changes every 15-20 years. In this case of ‘refacading,’ there is an additional layer, a second newer skin. As the structure of the original facade remains, one can conclude that maintenance is not the reason behind this refacading, but appearance. Even though Stewart Brand was going in a different direction when speaking about the layers of change within a building, this is an interesting example of a seventh layer addition. This second skin layer, 26 years older than the first layer, which is still underneath, opens new perspectives when talking about a building‘s behaviour.

‘Рефасадирање’ архитектонска меморија не подразбира само промена на постоечката, туку и измислување на нова како замена. Се работи за размена на приказни. Стјуард Бранд, во книгата „How Buildings Learn“, зборува за слоевите на еден објект и нивната променливост = шестте ‚С‘: Локација, Конструкција, Обвивка, Сервиси, Просторен план и Нешта; Нештата го претставуваат најбрзиот слој. Во оваа книга, шестте ‚С‘ претставуваат еден систем, кој треба да помогне при разбирање на процесот на стареење на една зграда и нејзината способност да се адаптира низ времето. Обвивката, според брзината на нејзината променливост, се наоѓа во средината на наведените слоеви. Бранд вели дека една фасада се менува некои 15-20 години. Во овој пример на ‚РЕФАСАДИРАЊЕ‘ се појавува нов дополнителен слој, секундарна обвивка. Бидејќи конструкцијата на примарната обвивка е задржана, може да се заклучи дека причината за додавањето на овој нов слој не е одржување, туку изглед. Иако Стјуард Бранд, зборувајќи за слоевите на зградите и нивната променливост, оди во поинаква насока, ова е интересен пример на појава на седми слој. Оваа втора обвивка, 26 години помлада од примарната, која е исто така се уште присутна, отвора нови перспективи кога разгораваме за променливоста на објектите.

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Bor·row Verb to adopt a landmark, building or an architectural element from an entirely different spatial and historical context Synonyms copy, appropriate, adopt, clone, import, imitate, take, steal Antonyms discover, design, create, initiate, conceive Прев·зе·ми Глaгол да се присвои споменик, објект или архитектонски елемент од сосема поинаков просторен и историски контекст Синоними копирај, присвои, клонирај, импортирај, имитирај, земи, укради Антоними создади, зачни, иницирај, откриј

2012 Triumph Arc “Porta Makedonija“ Valentina Stefanovska

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Time vs. Mass

Време наспроти маса

The second example - ‘borrowing‘ architecture - shows the common language of today’s architectural production in Skopje.

Овој втор пример-‚превземање‘ архи-

This is the method of cloning and adopting landmarks, buildings or even architectural elements from an entirely different spatial and historical context, and adjusting them to any free area in the city tissue or attaching them to any building. It is a procedure of easily appropriating objects from another city, regardless of its meaning, origin, purpose and physical context. The selection is made simply by aesthetics and style. Free from the burdens of context or content, they produce their own new copy. Going through these selected examples of ‘borrowing,’ in the centre of Skopje, one gains a clearer image of the alternatives to this method. Comparing the places and dates of construction of the ‘originals’ with the ‘copies,’ it is obvious that they belong to entirely different socio-cultural, political, and economic contexts. An original and a clone landmark/building, even if they look very much alike, could not possibly represent the same notions. The Arc de Triumph, cloned in a different place and time, cannot possibly be a victorious representation of the same triumph, and moreover it cannot have the same historical values if there is no triumph to be represented. What these examples are trying to show is that in order to ‘borrow’ architectural memory, one needs to ‘borrow’ its physical representations. The centre of Skopje in the year 2015 is offering this recipe, the recipe for remembering past events that never actually happened. If you ‘borrow’ a triumph arc, are you actually ‘borrowing’ the triumph itself? If one goes after quantity and overpopulates a city with a certain type of a building in a very short time, will he create as strong an identity as a city that actually aged over time?

тектура-го демонстрира архитектонскиот јазик на најновата продукција во Скопје. Ова е метод на клонирање и присвојување споменици, објекти или архитектонски елементи од друг сосема поинаков просторен и историски контекст и нивно прилагодување на слободна парцела во градското ткиво или додавање на постоечки објект. Се работи за процес на едноставно присвојување на споменик, објект или елемент од друг град, без разлика на неговото значење, потекло, намена или физички контекст. Изборот се прави исклучиво според изгледот и архитектонскиот стил и при тоа, контекстот и содржината воопшто не се земаат во предвид. Следните примери на ‘превземање’, од центарот на Скопје, дел од кои веќе беа посочени во претходното подглавје, даваат појасна слика за алтернативите на овој метод. Ако ги споредиме местата и годините на изведба на ‘оригиналите’ и ’копиите’, очигледно е дека тие припаѓаат на сосема различни социо-културни, политички, економски итн., контексти. ‘Споменикоригинал’ и неговата ‘копија’, колку и да се слични, невозможно е да претставуваат истите идеали. Триумфална порта, клонирана на поинакво место и во друго време, не може да биде победнички репрезент за истиот триумф, и всушност, невозможно е да има историска вредност доколку не постои одреден триумф, кој таа би го претсавувала. Она што овие примери се обидуваат да покажат е дека за да се ‘превземе’ архитектонска меморија, потребно е да се ‘превземат’ нејзините физички репрезенти. Центарот на Скопје во 2015год. го нуди рецептот за сеќавање на нешто што никогаш не било. Но доколку се ‘превземе’ триумфална порта, дали всушност го ‘превземаме’ и триумфот или само еден постер од него? Доколу се избере квантитет како алатка и за многу кратко време се пренасели градскиот центар со одреден тип на објект, дали ќе се создаде градски идентитет еднакво силен како оној на град, кој навистина стареел низ времето? 127


Nonlinear history Being old vs. Looking old Нелинеарна историја Да се биде стар наспроти да се изгледа старо

Borrowing buildings/landmarks

Original

Copy



Dis·con·nect Verb to detach an existing object from an extensively used public area, in order to deny /ignore its presence and erase it from the public perception Synonyms separate, isolate, detach, cut, disjoin, Remove, divorce,ignore, neglect, forget Antonyms connect, attach, join, unite, assosiate, marry, Remember Од·вој Глагол да се оддели постоечки објект од фреквентно употребуван јавен простор, за да се одрече / игнорира неговото присуство и а да се избрише од прецепцијата на јавноста Синоними сепарирај, изолирај, оддели, отстрани, разведи, игнорирај, запостави, заборави Антоними поврзај, здружи, соедини, венчај, запомни

1979 Macedonian opera and ballet Former: Macedonian national theater (cultural centre) Stefan Kacin, Jurij Princes, Bogdan Spindler, Marjan Ursic

2013 Financial police office / public prosecution Digpg “Polar“ Dooel

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photo: Macedonian Opera and Ballet, 2000

photo: Financial Police Office / Public Prosecution in front of Macedonian Opera and Ballet, 2015

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Disconnecting architectural memory from the city existing + newly-added architectural layer of Skopje Двоење на архитектонска меморија од градот постоечки+новоконструиран архитектонски слој на скопје



Chukwuemeka Vincent Onitsha, Nigeria DIA Graduate 2014



Reading Self-organized Wealth and Emerging Markets Chukwuemeka Vincent keywords: the bandwidth of planning, long-term thinking, sharing economies Onitsha city covers an area of approximately 38 square kilometres. It is situated in the south-eastern political zone of Nigeria. It has a history of trading, which traces back to the 18th century with the Portuguese merchants before the arrival of the British missionaries.¹ The city has a strategic geographical location along the river Niger and is inhabited traditionally, by mostly the entrepreneurial Igbo people of Nigeria. Following the settlement of the British colonials, Onitsha could boast of the biggest market in the whole of west Africa in 1960s as trade further expanded.² Unfortunately, the market and the city suffered from the Nigerian civil war (1967 1970) and was politically abandoned by the military dictatorships and political instability that ensued for the next twenty-nine years. (1970 - 1999). Today, there are more than twenty specialized markets, a population increase from seventy-seven thousand residents in the 1960s to a population of two million residents within the current metropolis; and over four million people in the city during the day.³ Trading has spread everywhere blurring the boundaries between residential, commercial, industrial and administrative districts. On the one hand, the city is plagued with; lack of pipe borne water supply, epileptic electricity supply from the national grid, poor waste management, traffic congestion, uncoordinated and poor internal circulation, security challenges, and illegal settlements.

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and still growing. Onitsha presents an opportunity to explore this phenomenon. Urban theorists and practitioners around the world are presented with the task of thinking through some form of an agenda for urban development of the technically challenged growing vibrant regions of the global south. Rem Koolhaas acknowledged in his response to Bregtje van der Haak interview on the Lagos project that his initial image of cities in Africa was - an image of a continent in perpetual crises; with health gloom, economic gloom, food gloom, political gloom, but he was completely unprepared for the immediacy of the intelligence he encountered when he arrived in Lagos.⁵ This statement also holds true for Onitsha. The difference between Onitsha and Lagos in this case is that Onitsha is sustained by a homogeneous activity of trading. A microcosm of a trading centre with the utmost degree of intensity more than what Rem Koolhaas witnessed in Lagos.

Market in Igbo culture is the core function of the society and has metamorphosed to what is Onitsha today. Before the arrival of the British, the market served as the calendar system for the society which was based on four market days (Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo). The market also served as a social, economic, and spiritual public place. This practice is still ongoing till this day and currently, two calendar system are adopted. The English calendar system is for the daily/formal activities and the traditional calendar system serves for cultural and However, there appears to be a very traditional obligations. Most exceptions organized networks that run the markets, are the traditional spiritual function which transportation systems and security of goods; was fractured with the introduction of and the city is growing at an astronomical Christianity; now the religion of faith of more rate. This growth is not in accordance to the than 97% of the Igbo tribe today. institutional framework prepared for the city and is dominated by the emerging markets The markets in Onitsha are well organized in almost every corner of the city. The aim according to social institutions with of this research is to understand and better respect to what Manuel Delanda called describe the market phenomenon and the ‘city distribution systems’.⁶ These social dynamics that are driving it. institutions determine how energy flows through a city. In this sense they actually Most African cities as Edgar Pieterse plan or map strategies (of both time and writes; are in permanent state of crisis, space) that enabled the formation of wider unfathomable levels of deprivation, cruelty networks. In other words, market space and routine dispossession.⁴ These cities have enabled extensive urban complexes to defiled the conventional laws of planning emerge, but these complexes generally and with little studies of what constitutes vanished after each use.⁷ the seemingly similar characteristics


An aerial photograph of Upper Iweka Clover-Leaf, showing the transport hubs, markets and the residential districts.

Ọnịsha bụ obodo pụrụ iche nwere ngụpụta mmadụ nde abụọ bi na ime ya. Ọbụ obodo nwere nkeji ahịa dị aga iche iche, nọ na mpaghara ọdịda anyawụ nke ala naijiriya. Ahịa ndịa, na eme nke ọma na agbanyeghị ọnọdu ọjọọ obodo a. Ọnọdụ dị ka ebe tipiara etipia ma dị kwa ka obodo na enweghị njikọ ọbụla ma ọbụ ndokwa. Ọnụ ọgụgụ mmadụ bi na ọnịsha na eru cha nde anọ na ehihe ụbọchị ahịa obụla.

na enweghị isi na ọdu. Ndokwa-ọnwe na ọnịsha ka na etoputa, na amụba kwa na agbanyeghi etu ịhe siri dịrị. Ahịa dị ga iche-iche ka na amụba. Ọbụ ịhe mere ọnịsha jiri pụọ iche. Ịghọta ọnọdụ a dị ezIgbote mkpa na ịmụta etu aga esi were dozie obodo ndị ọzọ na emepe emepe.

Ka ana ekwu, obodo a egosi la atụmatụ na ọnọdụ adụọ-akwụrụ na ihi ezIgbote ahịa dị ga iche-iche ana azụ na ime ọnisha. Ebum na uche nnyocha nke a bụ ka enwee ike ghọta, ma kọwaa nke ọma, ọnọdụ “akụ na ụba ahaziri-ahazi ha na ịpụta ahịa ndịa dị ga iche-iche na ime obodo”. Na mgbakwunye, ịhe enwere ike ịmụta site na nghọta ọnọdụ a, bụ etu enwere ike ijiri ya were jikwaa obodo di ga etu a. Ntụle, na njikọ ike dị iche-iche, ngwọ ahịa, ọnọdụ obodo na ọmụmụ nke ịghọta ndị bi na ime obodo a ka akwadoro na nnyocha a. Ọmụmụ a na-akọwa eriri ngugurude jikotara obodo na ahịa, ha na usoro ka osiri dịrị na ọnịsha. O doro anya na ọnọdụ ọgbaaghara obodo nke ọnịsha ma ọbụ ndọrọ-ndọrọ usoro obodo, na usoro ọchịchị ala naijiriya ndị oyibo kwadoro ọge ọchịchị-ike bụ ịhe mere ọnịsha jiri di ka ebe

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This is one of the scenarios that was difficult for Rem Koolhaas, in his Harvard Project on the City (Lagos).⁸ There are complex layers of forces acting on each market that comprise of communication, ethnic, economic, security, administrative, political layers, and most of all, the historical dimensions of each of these layers. Laurent Fourchard⁹ and Joseph Godlewski;¹⁰ two major critics of Rem Koolhaas’ Lagos project, actually explained in detail the major issues that he failed to examine while studying Lagos and rightly described his project as an individual architect’s experience with the city, rather than a historically situated documentary about a particular African city.

I used combined research method to carry out this study as there is no specifically single approach adequate enough that could tackle the complexity of the problem. I set up a team of 5 architects on site and was communicating differently with each of them to help me compare findings. The ethnographic and onsite studies were conducted this way. Google map helped justify the locations of facilities they plotted on the maps and sent to me. Most importantly, my personal experience with Onitsha after having lived twenty-four years of my life 100km within the radius of Onitsha and several visits helped me interpret to the most part, all the data I have collected.

Cities in Africa need ‘transformative interventions’ as was described by Edgar Pieterse¹¹. However, there is no single ‘recipe‘ for these interventions as there are a myriad of different cultures which in most cases has penetrated seemingly contemporary city dwelling. I have adopted the phrase ‘cities in Africa’ instead of ‘African cities’ just like Garth Myers rightly pointed out that it may be preposterous to speak about African cities - it is certainly wrong to do so as if there is one type or one theme.¹² In Nigeria alone, there are more than 250 ethnic groups with different languages¹³, and in most cases, each of the cities in Africa were founded by a particular ethnic group.

In the first chapter of my thesis I explored the forces that shaped the flows of materials, that also shaped the physical conditions of Onitsha. These traced the forces back in history under three different epochs which are political, demographic and commercial epochs. This enabled me to have an overview of the ‘pace layers of change’¹⁵ but in an urban and historical perspective.

Onitsha just like Lagos trades with all other parts of the country, and also with the bordering countries of Nigeria in both local languages, pidgin, English and French. The market is the culmination of what recent studies have described as ‘African informal urbanism’; a term that Angela Mingas addressed as ‘professionals and scholars not having the terminology to talk about these kinds of cities. She even demanded a need for a re-evaluation of culture and language to find words to describe what’s in front of us.¹⁴ My inquisitive journey into Onitsha city will hopefully present more insights and knowledge to urban design and architecture discourses. I therefore decided to explore the hidden forces, material flows, ingenuity, creativity, and the energy that is driving Onitsha, which I will discuss in the following chapters. So how do these networks function and what are the factors maintaining these networks? What is the logic of organization? What is the meaning of the location? What is the relationship between the market and the city? 138

In chapter three, I focused on the flows of materials; in, from and through Onitsha. Also in this case traced back in time from the early nineteenth century to the present time. In chapter four, I conducted an urban analysis and mapping of Onitsha, starting from 1937 when Onitsha was designated as a township ordinance by the colonials.¹⁶ These maps revealed the spatial negotiations between planned areas and self-organized areas of the city. Chapter five traces the organizational hierarchy and mesh of Onitsha, the social dynamics that has kept the whole system alive and active. The study identifies the different layers of the self-organized networks, and findings show that the unruly and chaotic behaviour of Onitsha is a physical manifestation of struggles between the institutional hierarchy and self-organized mesh all acting in opposing directions. The constantly emerging markets, however, are a physical phenomena of Onitsha in response to the forces that shape the flows of materials in Onitsha’s urban space. With the current situation still in place, the current orthodox urban design and architecture theories and practice are completely obsolete and hopelessly ineffective for a ‘rogue city’ ¹⁷ like Onitsha. A term used by Edgar Pieterse to describe the cities in Africa exhibiting such chaotic tendencies.


Notes 1. Madu, izueke edwin c; eme, okechukwu innocent ‘Urban Planning Problems in Nigeria: A Case of Onitsha Metropolis of Anambra State’, Singaporean Journal of Businesses Economics, and Management Studies VOL_1(No_12) 2013 Accessed 10th March, 2014 http://www.singaporeanjbem.com/pdfs/SG_VOL_1_(12)/4. pdf 2.Okeke, Chika; ’Onitsha: A commercial City and its middle Arts’, Glendora Review: African Quarterly on the Arts. VOL_2 (No_1). 1997, p.42-50

8. Koolhaas, Rem; ‘Harvard Project on the City, “Lagos,” in S. Boeri, S. Kwinter, N. Tazi, and H.U. Obrist, eds., Mutations (Barcelona: Actar, 2001) 9. GODLEWSKI, JOSEPH; ‘Alien and Distant: Rem Koolhaas on Film in Lagos, Nigeria’ Accessed 16th February, 2014 http://iaste.berkeley.edu/pdfs/21.2c-Spr10Godlewski.pdf 10. Fourchard, Laurent; ‘Lagos, Koolhaas and Partisan Politics in Nigeria’ Accessed 16th February, 2014 http://www.codesria.org/IMG/pdf/Capital_Cities_in_ Africa_-_Chapter_5__Lagos.pdf

3. For Population Maps of Onitsha 1957, please see; Accessed 18th December 2013

11. Pieterse, Edgar; ’Notes towards an Alternative Framework for Urban Development ‘, in African Perspectives [South] Africa; City, Society, Space, Literature and Architecture eds. Gerhard Bruyns, Arie Graafland, 010 Publishers, 2012, p.53

http://www.amightytree.org/oldsite/Waterside_Onitsha/ Waterside_Images.htm

12. Myers, Garth A; ’African Cities: Alternative Visions of Urban Theory and Practice’, Zed Books, 2011, p.191

For the current Population Projections, please see;

13.Roger, Blench; ‘Atlas of Nigerian Languages’, ed.III (revised and amended edition of Crozier and Blench), 1992

http://www.worldcat.org/title/Onitsha-a-commercial-cityand-its-middle-arts/oclc/38246810

National Population Commission (NPC) [Nigeria] and ICF Macro. 2009, ‘Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2008.’ Abuja, Nigeria, National Populaton Commission and ICF Macro. http://www.population.gov.ng 4. Pieterse, Edgar ; ’Notes towards an Alternative Framework for Urban Development ‘, African Perspectives [South] Africa; City, Society, Space, Literature and Architecture eds. Gerhard Bruyns, Arie Graafland, 010 Publishers, 2012, p.51 5. Koolhaas, Rem; ’Lagos Wide and Close; An Interactive Journey into an Exploding City’, DVD, 2005 http://www.submarinechannel.com/shop 6. De Landa, Manuel; ’A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History’, Swerve Editions, 2000, p.31

14. Angela Mingas ‘Interview with Andres Lepik’, Afriteqture Symposium, Accessed 13th December 2013, http://www.uncubemagazine.com/magazine-17-11665397. html#!/page26 15. Brand, Stewart; How buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built, Penguin Books, 1995, p.13 16. Madu, Izueke Edwin C, Eme, Okechukwu Innocent; ’Urban Planning Problems in Nigeria: A Case of Onitsha Metropolis of Anambra State’ Singaporean Journal of Businesses Economics, and Management Studies VOL_1(No_12) 2013 Accessed 10th March, 2014 http:// www.singaporeanjbem.com/pdfs/SG_VOL_1_(12)/4.pdf 17. Pieterse, ‘Edgar; Introducing Rogue Urbanism’, Rogue Urbanism eds. Edgar Pieterse, AbdouMaliq Simone, Jacana Media, African Center for Cities, (2013) p.12 - 15

7. Ibid,

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the Fegge Layout in 2014

Onitsha - Enugu Expressway with the 12-lane expansion as part of the efforts by the State Government to de-congest the traffic.

part of the residential district being taken over by trading activities.

a filling station situated within the residential district.

a residential district already being infiltrated by temporary markets.

a typical traffic situation of Onitsha.

the main market area. A blurring of Residential and Commercial Area.

4-liter Tiger generator independently operated by spontaneous shoe sellers to provide for light, music and electric fans in order to cope with the hot weather.

River Niger Bridge, the gateway to South-East Nigeria.

a broad street entrance to the Head bridge Market.


a separation of planned markets and the spontaneous markets.

plumbing section within there residential district.

market district formerly residential district.

advertisement gantry as telecommunication mast with the 24hr-standby generator set in place.

sand dredgers and their Boats

communally operated generator in a unit of a market.

commercial sand dredgers loading their trucks and ready to supply to buyers.

street inside the market showing a network of electricity cables, a telecommunication mast, and banks sharing the generator power source.

‘ephemeral traders’ mushroomed into the purpose built markets. It is very interesting to know that everywhere is deserted from 6pm.

electricity lines along the streets.


Forces

Marginal Savanna

The Short Grass Savanna

Onitsha Lagos

various forces on different contexts and layers and how they have shaped material Tall Grass Savanna flows of goods and people in and out of Rain Forest Onitsha and as well through Onitsha. The physical condition of Onitsha is as a result of Fresh Water Swamp fractured society on different levels and the Mangrove resort to self-survival against the waves of Montane forces acting on the city. We shall see in the next chapter, the details of material flows and how I have attempted to interpret it.

RELIGIOUS CONTEXT

1500m 1000m 500m 0 - 500m

ONITSHA _LINGUISTIC CONTEXT

Kano

HAUSA

Kano FULANI

ONITSHA

KANURI

NUPE

YORUBA

sha Lagos Muslim Sharia States

EDO 3

IGALA 4 Onitsha

Lagos IGBO 21

IJAW

Secular/Christian States

Osogbo

TIV

1

IBIBIO

2

ANNANG

3

URHOBO

4

IDOMA

TICAL CONTEXT FORMATION

3.1

AREAS OF GREAT DIVERSITY

Onitsha linguistic context

ONITSHA_ECONOMIC CONTEXT (1963) ONITSHA - SUN PATH DIAGRAM

ONITSHA - SUN

Kano

800km 400mi

Onitsha Lagos Y THAT IS A MARKET (Investigating North-East Zone the Phenomenon of Organized Wealth in a Disorganized Urbanity). North-West Zone

|

[DIA] MASTER THESIS SS 2014 Groundnuts

North-Central Zone

Cotton

South-West Zone

Beniseed

South-East Zone

Cocoa

South-South Zone 142

RAPHIC CONTEXT

Onitsha economic context (1963)

Palm Oil

ONITSHA_ECONOMIC CONTEXT (2014)

|

CHUKWUEMEKA, CHUKWUEMEKA


ain Forest

1500m

South-West Zone

esh Water Swamp

1000m

South-East Zone

angrove

500m

South-South Zone

ontane

0 - 500m

AN CONTEXTS Onitsha geophysical context

NTEXT

Onitsha demographic context

ONITSHA _LINGUISTIC ONITSHA_GEOPHYSICAL CONTEXT CONTEXT

ONITSHA_DEMOGRAPHIC CONTEXT ONITSHA_POLITICAL CONTEXT

ONITSHA_EC ONITSHA_ECONOMIC Sokoto

Kano

HAUSA

Kano FULANI

Kano

KANURI

Kano

NUPE

YORUBA Onitsha Lagos

Lagos uslim Sharia States

EDO 3

IGBO 21 1500m 1000m 500m

1

IBIBIO

2

ANNANG

3

URHOBO

4

IDOMA

Benin Onitsha

Onitsha North-West Zone POPULATION DENSITY Lagos North-East Zone 2000 + North-Central Zone 800 - 2000 South-West Zone 500 - 800 South-East Zone 300 - 500 South-South Zone Less than 300

Lagos

IJAW

ecular/Christian States

Osogbo

TIV

IGALA 4 Onitsha

Lagos

FORCES _ THE NIGERIAN CONTEXT 3.1 ONITSHA - SURFA ONITSHA_ECONOMIC C Onitsha political context ONITSHA_ FORCES _ THE NIGERIAN CONTEXTS ONITSHA_POLITICAL CONTEXT 3.1 0 - 500m

AREAS OF GREAT DIVERSITY

ONITSHA - SUN PATHCONTEXT DIAGRAM ONITSHA _LINGUISTIC

ONITSHA - SUNLIGHTCONTEXT TABLE ONITSHA_DEMOGRAPHIC Onitsha climatic context ONITSHA _CLIMATIC ONITSHA_ECONOMIC CONTEXT (1963) CONTEXT

Sokoto

Kano_CLIMATIC CONTEXT KANURI ONITSHA ONITSHA_POLITICAL CONTEXT HAUSA FULANI

ONTEXT

Kano ONITSHA_GEOPHYSICAL CONTEXT ONITSHA_ECONOMIC CONTEXT (1963)

Kano ONITSHA_POLITIC

Kano

Kano

NUPE

YORUBA

Kano Abuja

IGALA 4 Onitsha

Osogbo

TIV

Benin

Onitsha EDO Lagos Lagos nvestigating the Phenomenon of Organized Wealth in a Disorganized Urbanity). | [DIA] MASTER THESIS SS 2014 | CHUKWUEMEKA, CHUKWUEMEKA VINCENT [4057053] NIGERIA POPULATION DENSITY 3 Onitsha IGBO North-West Zone IBIBIO 2000 + Lagos 1 1 IJAW 2 es Groundnuts North-East Zone ANNANG 800 - 2000 2 Onitsha Onitsha Cotton North-Central Zone Marginal Savanna URHOBO 500 - 800 North-West Zone 3 Lagos Lagos Beniseed South-West Zone Short Grass Savanna IDOMA 300 - 500 North-East Zone 4 Cocoa Less than 300 Palm Oil 1500m

South-East Zone Tall Grass Savanna AREAS OF GREAT DIVERSITY North-Central Zone South-South Rain ForestZone South-West Zone

500m

ONITSHA - SUN PATH DIAGRAM

000m

00m

Fresh Water Swamp South-East Zone Mangrove

ONITSHA_DEMOGRAPHIC CONTEXT Montane

- 500m

LagosREDESIGN STUDIO THEME: Marginal Savanna

|

Onitsha

SUPERVISORS: PROF.

Lagos

Short Grass Savanna Tall Grass Savanna Rain Forest Groundnuts Fresh Water Swamp Cotton Mangrove Beniseed Montane Cocoa

ONITSHA - SUNLIGHT TABLE ONITSHA - SURFACE METEO 500m Palm Oil ONITSHA _RELIGIOUS ONITSHA ONITSHA_ECONOMIC CONTEXT (2014)CONTEXT

South-South Zone

0 - 500m

Onitsha religious context

ONITSHAONITSHA_DEMOGRAPHIC _RELIGIOUS CONTEXT CONTEXT

ONTEXT

1000m

|

Onitsha economic context (2014)

ONITSHA _LINGUISTIC CONTEXT ONITSHA_ECONOMIC CONTEXT (2014) Sokoto

Kano

Kano

Kano

ONITSHA_DEMOGRA

HAU

Maiduguri

Sokoto Kano

KANURI

Kano

HAUSA

Kano FULANI

Kano

KANURI

Kano

Maiduguri

NUPE Abuja NUPE

Osogbo

nomenon of Organized Wealth in a Disorganized Urbanity). Onitsha Lagos Osogbo

|

Onitsha Lagos

Lagos

BIBIO

NNANG ERSITY RHOBO

Less than 300

DOMA

ONITSHA - SUNLIGHT TABLE

REAS OF GREAT DIVERSITY

ONITSHA_BASIC ONITSHAINFORMATION - SUNLIGHT TABLE

|

YORUBA

Abuja

Benin VINCENT [4057053] NIGERIA | CHUKWUEMEKA, CHUKWUEMEKA STUDIO THEME: REDESIGN | SUPERVISORS: PROF. GÜNNAR HARTMAN Onitsha Onitsha EDO Lagos Lagos Lagos Osogbo POPULATION DENSITY YORUBA TIV 3 Muslim Sharia States Oil and Gas Fields IGALABenin IJAW 4 2000 + Onitsha Onitsha Secular/Christian States Onitsha Onitsha Routes EDO Lagos Lagos Lagos 800 - 2000 POPULATION DENSITY 3 IGBO Muslim Sharia States Oil and Gas Fields 500 - 800 IBIBIO 1 2000 + 1 IJAW 2 Routes Secular/Christian States 300 - 500 ANNANG 800 - 2000 2

[DIA] MASTER THESIS SS 2014

500 - 800

3

URHOBO

300 - 500

4

IDOMA

Less than 300

ONITSHA_BASIC INFORMATION AREAS OF GREAT DIVERSITY ONITSHA - SURFACE METEOROLOGY ONITSHA -ONITSHA SUN PATH DIAGRAM METEOROLOGY - SURFACE

ONITSHA - SUN P

143

ONITSHA - SUNLIGHT TABL


Flows Onitsha is a place of constant dynamics among the commuters, the buyers, the traders and the residents. These dynamics have churned out the apparent chaos, but as well, a great ingenuity from the people and CONTENT CONTENT SOURCES SOURCESThe material the several market--typologies. flows are the lifeblood of Onitsha.

FLOWS FLOWS __ INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL

NORTH NORTHAND AND SOUTH SOUTHAMERICA AMERICA

UNITED UNITEDKINGDOM KINGDOM

USA USA

AGRICULTURAL AGRICULTURALPRODUCTS PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

AGRICULTURAL AGRICULTURALPRODUCTS PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED MANUFACTUREDPRODUCTS PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS

AGRICULTURAL AGRICULTURALPRODUCTS PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

1927 1927

UNITED UNITEDKINGDOM KINGDOM AGRICULTURAL AGRICULTURALPRODUCTS PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED MANUFACTUREDPRODUCTS PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS

1963 1963

ROUTE ROUTE NORTH-WEST NORTH-WEST NORTH-WEST ZONE ZONE ZONE NORTH-EAST NORTH-EAST NORTH-EAST ZONE ZONE ZONE NORTH-WEST NORTH-WEST NORTH-WEST BORDER BORDER BORDER

NORTH-CENTRAL NORTH-CENTRAL NORTH-CENTRAL ZONE ZONE ZONE

SOUTH-WEST SOUTH-WEST SOUTH-WEST ZONE ZONE ZONE NORTH-EAST NORTH-EAST // / NORTH-EAST SOUTH-EAST SOUTH-EAST SOUTH-EAST BORDER BORDER BORDER

ABROAD ABROAD ABROAD

ONITSHA ONITSHA ONITSHA

LAGOS LAGOSWHARF WHARF LAGOS WHARF

SOUTH-EAST SOUTH-EAST SOUTH-EAST ZONE ZONE ZONE

WARRI WARRI WHARF WHARF WARRI WHARF

2014 2014 GSEducationalVersion GSEducationalVersion GSEducationalVersion

144

PORT-HARCOURT PORT-HARCOURT PORT-HARCOURT WHARF WHARF WHARF

THROUGH THROUGH INLAND INLAND ROADWAYS ROADWAYS THROUGH INLAND ROADWAYS SOUTH-SOUTH SOUTH-SOUTH SOUTH-SOUTH ZONE ZONE ZONE THROUGH THROUGH WATER WATER BODY BODY THROUGH WATER BODY

ONITSHA: ONITSHA:AAACITY CITYTHAT THATIS MARKET(Investigating (Investigatingthe thePhenomenon Phenomenonof OrganizedWealth Wealthin DisorganizedUrbanity). Urbanity). | | [DIA] [DIA]MASTER MASTERTHESIS THESISSS SS2014 2014 ONITSHA: CITY THAT ISISAAAMARKET MARKET (Investigating the Phenomenon ofofOrganized Organized Wealth ininaaaDisorganized Disorganized Urbanity). [DIA] MASTER THESIS SS 2014

||

CHU CH CHU


4.1 4.1 GERMANY GERMANY

AUTOMOBIL PRODUCTS AUTOMOBIL PRODUCTS MACHINERIES MACHINERIES

ASIA ASIA

UNITED KINGDOM UNITED KINGDOM PRODUCTS FOODFOOD PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS

USAUSA

MANUFACTURED MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS PRODUCTS

EU EU

REFINED REFINED OIL OIL AUTOMOBILE AND PARTS AUTOMOBILE AND PARTS MACHINE PARTS MACHINE PARTS MEDICINE/PROCESSED FOODS MEDICINE/PROCESSED FOODS COSMETICS COSMETICS

JAPAN JAPAN

ELECTRONICS CHINA/TAIWAN ELECTRONICS CHINA/TAIWAN

MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS AUTOMOBILES AUTOMOBILES ELECTRONICS ELECTRONICS MACHINERIES MACHINERIES TEXTILES TEXTILES

MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS AUTOMOBILES AUTOMOBILES ELECTRONICS ELECTRONICS MACHINERIES MACHINERIES TEXTILES TEXTILES CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS MEDICINE/PROCESSED FOODS MEDICINE/PROCESSED FOODS

USAUSA

REFINED REFINED OIL OIL

1991 1991

2014 2014

ENERGY - OIL ENERGY - OIL ABROAD ABROAD (REFINED) (REFINED)

A - TRUCK A - TRUCK B -BUS MINI BUS B - MINI C - PRIVATE C - PRIVATE CAR CAR D - TRI-CYCLE D - TRI-CYCLE E - MOTOR-CYCLE E - MOTOR-CYCLE LAGOSLAGOS WHARF WHARF

OIL WELLS OIL WELLS

WARRIWARRI WHARF WHARF

F - PEDESTRIAN F - PEDESTRIAN MOBILE MOBILE TELEPHONE TELEPHONE MASTSMASTS

PORT PORT HARCOURT HARCOURT WHARF WHARF

REFRIGERATION REFRIGERATION COOKERS COOKERS

HOMES HOMES

GENERATORS GENERATORS

ONITSHA ONITSHA FILLING FILLING STATION STATION

FARMSFARMS

OTHEROTHER PUBLIC PUBLIC PLACES PLACES

2014 2014

CHUKWUEMEKA, CHUKWUEMEKA VINCENT [4057053] NIGERIA UKWUEMEKA, CHUKWUEMEKA VINCENT [4057053] NIGERIA |

AIR LIGHTING AIR LIGHTING CONDITIONING CONDITIONING

MARKETS MARKETS COMMODITY COMMODITY

INDUSTRIES INDUSTRIES

|STUDIO STUDIO THEME: REDESIGN SUPERVISORS: GÜNNAR HARTMANN; AKBAR THEME: REDESIGN | |SUPERVISORS: PROF.PROF. GÜNNAR HARTMANN; PROF.PROF. OMAROMAR AKBAR

145


Market The history of Onitsha dates back to the 17th century with the relocation of some factions of the old Benin empire in disagreement with the family.¹ The geographic conditions were very favourable and even attracted more settlers from the neighbouring communities. The British colonials‘ settlement even made it a very important location and established it’s reputation as having the largest market in the whole of West Africa in the 1960s.²

146

However, today, Onitsha is a city, a market, a warehouse, a transport hub, a gateway city, and, metaphorically, a super organism eating up other villages and towns nearby. The chaotic image of the Onitsha is as a result of the dynamic nature of the trading activities. The shanty image of Onitsha is as a result of techniques and materials of constructions often done by the citizens in the struggle to survive. This is a reality of life for most people. The utilitarian typology for the residential blocks of flats seen almost everywhere were adopted by the residents in order to maximize the use of scarce plots of land. Hence, more profit. This is even extended to the design of the shops, where you have basically a cube of 3 meters in length, width and height. Although there are variations.³

It is a place where everything is centred on “profit and mostly trading.” Housing, transport, market, industries, and even city services. Everything works so far as there is profit to be made. Even the duplication of products and rebranding them is also found in the city.⁴ The bridge and the railway construction across the country that serviced the supply chain of the colonials brought tech skills to Onitsha. A sort of bridge to Coney Island scenario as it was in New York.⁵ The Niger bridge was designed and shipped from France. There, the locals to assemble the whole units. The construction was done by the locals, who were trained on the job. The markets exist everywhere and have no categorization. However, some of them are segregated according to the goods that are sold.⁶ The traders exists as traveling trader, resident whole-seller, resident retailer, street trader with kiosk, street hawker, exporters and importers with a sort of communal collaboration among themselves. Collaborative consumption is not new at Onitsha even though Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers have rightly identified it as the new wave in western cities.⁷ The source of data for the information I have shown here was from an onsite


documentation by the architects I employed as observers. The information is based on observation, documentation, and also data from past fieldworks conducted by unhabitat.⁸ Due to the enormous amount of information, I have decide to limit it to the physical conditions of Onitsha and translate the rest to infographics in a readable manner. The classification is arranged from urban growth from1900, the limitations of this growth, accesses, segregation, distribution, metabolism, by-products, and adapted typologies with a summary. This gives a holistic overview of the physical situation of Onitsha. The reactions and implications of some were traced back to history in a timeline, whereas some were shown as it is in the present time. Based on the availability of data and the data‘s relevancy to the discussion, the urban growth maps were synthesis of historical maps, topographic maps, satellite images, ethnographic survey and google maps. I understand that it is not by any means 100% accurate, but it gives an overview of the situation on ground. A sensitization rightly pointed out by Lefebvre in his writing on cities. Especially when I have to consider the non-physical layer of the city in the negative sense. An excerpt reads; “the analysis of urban phenomena requires the use of all the methodological tools: form, function, structure, levels, dimensions, texts, context, field and whole, writing and reading, systems signified and signifier, language and metalanguage, institutions. One also knows that none of these terms can attain a rigorous purity, be defined without ambiguity, or escape multiple meaning” ⁹

Notes 1. Uchendu, Victor C; ‘The Igbo of Southeast Nigeria’, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc 1965, Page 44 2. Madu, Izueke Edwin C; Eme, Okechukwu Innocent‘Urban Planning Problems in Nigeria: A Case of Onitsha Metropolis of Anambra State’ Singaporean Journal of Businesses Economics, and Management Studies VOL_1(No_12) 2013 Accessed 10th March, 2014 http://www.singaporeanjbem.com/pdfs/SG_VOL_1_(12)/4. pdf 3. Economist Magazine, Accessed 9th March, 2014, http:// www.economist.com/node/21541015, Dec 3rd 2011 | From the print edition 4. BBC, Accessed 9th March, 2014. http://news.bbc. co.uk/2/hi/Africa/3130297.stm Friday, 8 August, 2003 5. Rem Koolhaas, ‘Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan’, 010 Publishers, 1994, p. 33 6. Tell Magazine Accessed 10th March, 2014. http://www. tellng.com/business/decline-Onitsha-market 7. Rachel Botsman, Roger Roo, ‘What is Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, HaperCollins Publishers 2010 8. UN-HABITAT; Onitsha Urban Profile, http://www. unhabitat.org/categories.asp?catid=671&q=Onitsha 9. Lefebre Henri, ‘Writing on Cities’, Blackwell 1996, p. 111

147


REGION URBAN EASTERN GROWTH _1957

MID-WEST REGION

AMAGU

MID-WEST REGION

ASABA

EASTERN REGION IFITE-NKWELE AMAGU

ASABA

IFITE-NKWELE

OZE

NKISI RIVER

OZE

OGBUNIKE NKISI RIVER

NKPOR OGIDI

RIVER NIGER

NKPOR

OTUMOYE POND

OGIDI

RIVER NIGER

IKENGA OTUMOYE POND

IKENGA

ONITSHA

ONITSHA NKPAWHAW (NKPOR)

NKPAWHAW (NKPOR)

URUOWULU

URUOWULU

UMUAWTA

UMUAWTA

UMU-OJI

IDEMMILI RIVER

OBOSI

IDEMMILI RIVER

OBOSI

Expanded Otu Nkwo Market Fegge Layout

Expanded Otu Nkwo Market

2km 1mi

Fegge Layout

2km 1mi

Settlements

New additions from 1936

Villages

NOTES: BASE MAP FROM TOPOGRAPHIC MAP OF ONITSHA 1957 EASTERN REGION

Settlements

New additions from 1936

Villages

NOTES: BASE MAP FROM TOPOGRAPHIC MAP OF ONITSHA 1957 EASTERN REGION

Urban Growth 1957 The map shows the location of the upgrade and expansion of the main market, the settlement of the colonials and the traditional settlement of the natives. Two cultures, worlds apart.

GSEducationalVersion

SEducationalVersion

148

The main market was upgraded by the colonials to accommodate the volumes of trade and also to put regulations in place as Onitsha started witnessing an increase in population from neighbouring towns and villages.

GSEd


BENDEL STATE

ANAMBRA STATE

URBAN GROWTH _1978

AMAGU

ASABA

BENDEL STATE

IFITE-NKWELE

ANAMBRA STATE

AMAGU

ASABA

IFITE-NKWELE

OZE

OZE NKISI RIVER

OGBUNIK NKISI RIVER

OGBUNIKE

NKPOR RIVER NIGER

OGIDI

NKPOR

OGIDI

RIVER NIGER

OTUMOYE POND

IKENGA OTUMOYE POND

IKENGA

NKPAWHAW (NKPOR)

NKPAWHAW (NKPOR)

URUOWULU URUOWULU

UMUAWTA

UMUAWTA

UMU-OJI

UMU-OJI

IDEMMILI RIVER

OBOSI

IDEMMILI RIVER

OBOSI

Industrial Layout Bridge Head Market

Industrial Layout Bridge Head Market 2km

1mi

Bridge Head Estate Mgbuka Spare Parts Ochanja Market

Marina BridgeMarket Head Estate

Odakpu Layout Mgbuka Spare Parts

Ochanja Market

Marina Market

Nkpor Junction

Military Barracks

Nkpor Junction

Military Barracks

Odakpu Layout

Settlements

New additions

Old additions

Villages

NOTES: BASE MAP FROM ONITSHA MASTER PLAN - ANAMBRA STATE GOVERNMENT 1978

2km 1mi

Settlements

New additions

Old additions

Villages

Urban Growth 1978

NOTES: BASE MAP FROM ONITSHA MASTER PLAN - ANAMBRA STATE GOVERNMENT 1978

ducationalVersion

This map shows the construction of bridge across the river Niger and also an expressway with the additions of new markets, new layouts, more access streets and a military barracks by the Nigerian military government.

GSEducationalVersion

The bridge was completed 1965 after the independence to link the Western region with Eastern region and for the intensification of trade. 149


Adapted Typologies In the case of the Onitsha market,two levels of organization running parallel to each other, and, in some cases, opposite each other. The first is the institutional organization that encompasses the current system of governance in Nigeria from the presidential level to the state level and to the municipal level. It is mostly on this level of organization that almost all interventions in Onitsha have been the focus. On the other hand, there is the second level of organization, and it is the self organized wealth of Onitsha. It is self organized in the sense that the result of the collective actions are based on individual aspirations and interests that has given rise to the massive super-organism the actual dynamics that run Onitsha. It is interesting to find out that the marketers have control of the city of Onitsha. From the markets, to the residents, to the transportation systems, and each of these units act without the knowledge of what can come out when there is a unity of actions. It is at the point of this unity of actions that any strategic interventions can be meaningful and effective.

ephemerals which I have consistently used from the beginning. I would propose a study of this group as a possible entrance to crack the mystery of this self-organization, since they represent almost half of what makes Onitsha seem chaotic. Even the ephemerals that are supposed to be haphazard are even part of this organized system with membership of associations at another different level. On this note, any development of a possible apparent need for Onitsha, has to run through the network, a merge of this complex social network with the actual physical network of the city and learn from them, and perhaps, develop the simulations and conditions necessary for their emergence. In that way, we can have a better understanding of what actually is going on.

The Onitsha markets traders association is the de facto organization that controls all forms of commercial activity in Onitsha. The association is made up of different members based on type of trade, commodity, place of trade and volume of trade. In fact, it has multiple layers of social connections based on the smallest similarities. Due to the complexity of the inter-relationships of connections, I have attempted to sketch out the basic connections that exists as of today. There are the residents, transporters, and marketers memberships. The transporters and residents further splits into groups with similarities.

10% 40%

The only point where the institutional organization and this self organization meets is the tax outlet of the government. The tax office uses the hierarchical structure within each of these mesh to impose authority and collect tax. One may ask the relevance of all these observations to the architectural and urban design discourse. Since architecture is for humans and societies; there cannot be any meaningful intervention without the thorough understanding of the people that are being designed for. 150

In the last chapter, I singled out a type of market typology and termed it market

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-

GROUP 2 GROUP 1 ./0)*+

- EPHEMERALS (KIOSKS)

- OPEN AIR STALLS


5%

15%

5% 25%

GROUP 6

GROUP 5

GROUP 4

GROUP 3

- SPECIALIST SHOPS

- RESIDENT SHOPS AND WARE HOUSES

- WORKSHOPS AND OPEN AIR SHOPS

- LOCK UP SHOPS

TIME

151



Outlook To conclude is not an easy task, because what I did, is actually a scratch of the surface on the overall situation. Onitsha is run by self-organized wealth systems interconnected to each other in a network (a mesh). The apparent chaos, emergence of markets, abnormal growths are a result of constant struggles with the institutional hierarchy. A perpetual fight between ingenuity and survival, against the ‘well intentioned fix‘ that unfortunately always becomes an interference on the system. I started by exploring the existence of several layers of background forces which the people have to negotiate with in everyday life. I explored the material flows as shaped by these forces. I also presented the market the way it exists and how it grew from the beginning of the mid 20th century, and inextricably interwove itself with the urban fabric.

of this socio-economic system through the physical phenomenon of the market. The understanding of its logic of socio-economic physical infrastructure, how it plays out in space, is crucial in this regard. This can be done by further studies of the adapted typologies and tracing them through the several units of the larger system, in relation to their behaviours. In this case, I would like to further this research by taking up the study of the Onitsha market ephemerals and running them through this hierarchy and mesh. Perhaps, this can lead to the development of a master tool instead of an orthodox master plan for Onitsha; a city of it‘s own image and authentic existence.

I traced out the structure of the self-organized wealth that is alive and responds naturally with an ingenious level of resilience that has kept it’s growth surging at an astronomical scale. A sort of worrying possible overshoot¹. Susan Parnell rightly puts it in perspective, "the existing vulnerability of cities in Africa, with their rapidly growing population and weak management, means that any environmental change is likely to have significant consequences for these cities."² I have found a situation that is beyond the common architectural practice capabilities. At this point, it is like a rhizome³ and it is impossible to approach such a problem without the inclusion of this self-organized network of people that have kept Onitsha alive. In the light of these, it is pertinent to note that the current architecture and urban disciplines do not have the capability to intervene meaningfully in Onitsha to improve the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of the overall urban systems without a thorough understanding of how it works. It is a place without the common architectural elements of the city, or in this case, a market.⁴ Any form of strategic intervention in Onitsha requires a multi-disciplinary approach, with various members of a self-organized system as part of the study team or even design team. For architects, urban designers and planners to be relevant in this situation, there is need for a thorough understanding

Notes 1. Dennis Meadows, Et al, ‘Limits of Growth: The 30 - Year Update’, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004, p.1 2. Susan Parnell, Edgar Pieterse; ‘Africa’s Urban Revolution: Policy Pressures’, Zed Books, 2014, p.35 3. Felix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze; ‘A Thousand Plateaus’, University of Minnesota Press, 1987. p.6 4. Kevin Lynch, ‘Image of the city’, MIT Press, 1960 p,. 46

153


Catalina Polini San Jose, Costa Rica DIA Graduate 2014



Transforming Minimum Standard Housing Catalina Polini keywords: buildings over time, the capital costs of buildings For the past 50 years, mass production of social housing has been implemented in Costa Rica, offering limited adaptability to the inhabitant’s needs, climate or social context. By end of the 1980s, a particular typology was introduced as a solution for social housing subsidies. Many political and social decisions led to this response, generating urban segregation and low dense growth across the great metropolitan area (Gam). Up until 2002, the government had prohibited the construction of more than 200 units per project, in an effort to secure social integration and manage a more controlled urban expansion. In reality however, this was not applied since local governments have different regulation plans and give different permissions from one district to another. Costa Rica is known worldwide for having strong social-care oriented policies. Housing subsidies called ‘bono’ were created to provide families living in extreme poverty a home. This aid consists of four different types that help families acquire either a plot of land, a house or both. Political changes occurred during the 1980s, where the government migrated from building and taking care of the projects (top to bottom) towards a privatization of social housing where the government outsourced their projects. Developers have since then been in charge of the housing and urban planning under the government‘s norms and regulations. The scarce availability and high cost of the land at the city centre, displaced the housing projects towards the periphery of the Gam. There, the lack of infrastructure and long distances from the centre, represent some of the major urban and social problems inhabitants face. The absence of local regulation plans in some cantons provided the platform for a disorganized urban sprawl that reached the ‘urban ring’ by 1986, affecting natural protected areas. The Gam is made up of four cities: Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia and San José. It is located at the central valley and its population consists of 2.1 Million people (52,7% of the total country’s population). 156

Durante los últimos 50 años, en Costa Rica se ha venido implementando la producción masiva de vivienda social; ofreciendo poca adaptabilidad a las necesidades del habitante, al clima o su contexto social. Para fines de los 80, una tipología en particular fue introducida al mercado como solución para los subsidios de vivienda. Diferentes razones políticas y sociales dieron forma a este proceso, resultando en una fuerte segregación urbana y crecimiento de baja densidad a lo largo de toda la gran área metropolitana. En el 2002 el gobierno prohibió la construcción de soluciones de vivienda con más de 200 unidades por proyecto, en un esfuerzo por controlar la expansión urbana. En la realidad esto no sucedió debido a los diferentes planes reguladores de cada cantón. Costa Rica es conocida mundialmente por sus políticas sociales. Los subsidios en vivienda no son la excepción. El ‘bono‘ fue creado para brindar a las familias en condición de extRema pobreza una vivienda digna. Este subsidio, que ofrece cuatro diferentes tipos, permite a los habitantes adquirir una vivienda, un lote o ambos. Durante los ochenta, ocurrieron cambios políticos que privatizaron la construcción de vivienda social. Las desarrolladoras privadas, con aval del gobierno, se encargaron de desarrollar el sector vivienda. El alto costo y poca disponibilidad de la tierra para la construcción de dichos proyectos, fue lentamente desplazándolos hacia la periferia del Gam. La falta de insfraestructura y larga distancia de los centros urbanos representan aún unos de los mayores problemas que enfrentan los habitantes. La ausencia de planes reguladores en algunos cantones contribuyen con la desorganización urbana que ya alcanzó el anillo periférico del Gam desde 1986, afectando áreas protegidas. El Gam está conformado por cuatro ciudades: alajuela, cartago, heredia y san josé. Se encuentra ubicado en el valle central con una población de 2.1 Millones de personas.


SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT

- Alajuel - Heredi - San Jo - Cartag

COSTA RICA Population: 4,301,712

72% Urban 28% Rural

ʻGAMʼ (Great Metropolitan Area)

3,80% of Costa Rica’s Territory 52,7% of the Population

Sources: 1. INEC. Census 2011, http://www.inec.go.cr/Web/Home/pagPrincipal.aspx 2. MIVAH, Política Nacional de Vivienda y Asentamientos Humanos 2013 - 2030, August 2013. 3. UCR. http://ouGam.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/la-Gam


158

Under a controlled system such as the housing subsidies in Costa Rica, very little adaptability is given to families. The housing projects consist of equal units with the same characteristics. The projects cannot be altered throughout time, therefore, families cannot alter the built environment. One of the multiple problems the government has faced, is that the condition of low density is replicated as in their previous settlements. This proves the unit to be unable to solve or improve the family‘s quality of life.

Dentro de un sistema de subsidios como el de Costa Rica, existe poca flexibilidad para las familias. Los proyectos de vivienda consisten de unidades iguales con las mismas características. Donde el desarrollo de un proyecto no puede ser alterado a través del tiempo. Por otro lado, uno de los múltiples problemas que el gobierno ha enfrentado, es que la condición de hacinamiento se repite; comprobando así, que la unidad es incapaz de resolver o mejorar la calidad de vida de las familias.

All families are different, unique and change at different rates themselves. They grow or lose members with time and this pace is not something urban planners or developers can assist through the current model of social housing.

Todas las familias son diferentes, únicas y su ritmo de cambio es igualmente distinto. Crecen y decrecen a través del tiempo a un paso que los urbanistas o desarrolladores no pueden proyectar bajo el actual esquema de vivienda social.

This thesis aims to explore the condition of the dweller as a developer and to be able to control the changes within its own nucleus of growth. It is important to remember that this, as with any other system, has its limits. This is an opportunity to engage in an open-end system that deals directly with the dweller and could change the way social housing is projected in the country.

Esta tesis se enfoca en explorar la condición del habitante como su propio desarrollador, permitiendo así controlar sus propios cambios y crecimiento. Es importante recalcar que este, al igual que otro sistema, tiene sus limites. Se plantea únicamente como una oportunidad para trabajar un modelo abierto que confronta al sistema empleado hoy en día en el país.


ists of two rooms, one bathroom, d dining room. Laundry is located

The minimum plot size allowed for social housing is of 120m2 (6mx20m). In areas with local sewage system, the house is allowed to grow with one more room. If there is no local system the house is fixed due to the septic tank (the soil cannot be sealed).

The minimum plot size allowed for social housing is 120m² (6mx20m). In areas with a local sewage system, the house is allowed to grow with one more room. If there is no local system, the house is fixed due to the septic tank (the soil cannot be sealed).

El área de lote mínimo permitido para vivienda social es de 120m² (6mx20m). En zonas con serivicio de aguas negras se permite crecer dentro del lote. Si no hay un sistema local, la casa permanece fija sin capacidad de crecimiento ya que el tanque séptico necesita de este espacio.

The housing unit consists of two bedrooms, oneUnit bathroom, de dos dormitorios, un The Housing consists of La twounidad rooms,consiste one bathroom, Theservicio minimum plot size allowed for social housing is of 120m kitchen, living room, and dining room. A laundry is located sanitario, cocina, y comedor. El área de servicio sethe house is allowed to grow with one more kitchen, living room and dining room. Laundry is sala located sewage system, outside the house. the house is fixed due to the septic tank (the soil cannot be s outside the house. encuentra fuera de la casa.

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Build-up

Build-out

Possible adaptations allowed over time:

160

Posibilidades de adaptaci贸n a trav茅s del tiempo:


Minimum Standard - Single Mother with children

- Single Father with children

- Mother, father and children

- Husband and Wife (no children) - Consensual union couples (> 3 years together)

- > 65 years old (Senior Citizen)

- Son or daughter living with their mother or father.

- Relatives living together (aunts, uncles, grandmothers, etc)

- Brothers and sisters over 18 living together

Transforming The Minimum Standard Constituted families (types of families eligible for the housing subsidy):

Familias constituidas (tipos de familias con posibilidad de optar por el bono de vivienda):

The current housing typology cannot meet the demands for all the family ranges. The purpose of this thesis is to rethink the housing typology and to be able to transform it and expand it to all families.

El modelo actual no es capaz de abarcar las necesidades de familias constituidas. El prop贸sito de este trabajo es re pensar la tipolog铆a con el fin de transformalo y extenderlo a todos los tipos.

161


The purpose of analysing the building‘s components was not to challenge the existing industry behind it (by proposing an entirely new system) but rather, to rethink its use and behaviour over time, to help develop a design proposal that allows for change.

El propósito de analizar los componentes de la construcción no fue aquel de confrontar la industria existente, sino el de re-pensar su comportamiento a través del tiempo para así crear un diseño más flexible que permitiese su propio cambio.

In order to do this, it was important to recognize the material‘s characteristics as well as the laws and regulations that apply to the minimum plot of land (6m x 20m) where it would be built.

Para lograr esto, fue importante reconocer las características de los materiales, al igual que las leyes y regulaciones aplicadas a las dimensiones del lote mínimas donde se vería proyectado.

Shearing layers of change. “Because of the different rates of change of its components, a building is always tearing itself apart.“ - Stewart Brand,

(YEARS)

STUFF

>1

SPACE PLAN

1 - 15

SERVICES

20

SKIN

4 - 30

STRUCTURE

35

SITE 162

>


YEARS

STUFF

1

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

Furniture

SPACE PLAN

SERVICES

Electrical and Mecanical Instalations run inside the columns

Septical Tank / leaching field

Roof Metal Sheets HG 28

SKIN Ceiling

Ceramics * (The house is given with concrete floor)

Plaster (Interior)

Paint (Exterior only)

Windows (Wooden)

Doors (Wooden)

STRUCTURE

Concrete Columns and Panels

Metal Roof Structure

(+) SITE

163


6m

5m

Open Phased Housing

Para dicha propuesta, se mantiene la tecnología constructiva existente, se toma For this proposal, the existing technology is kept as well as the zoning, but the use of land también la zonificación del lote mínimo con sus retiros y se permite el cambio de uso de can change. la tierra. The design is based on transforming the El diseño se basa en transformar la tipología typology by introducing two modules within al introducir dos modulos dentro del mismo the same plot. Its aim is to establish greater lote. Permitiendo así, mayor flexibilidad flexibility which can allow for different types para que las diferentes familias adapten of families to fulfil their needs at their own su espacio a su propio paso. Permitiendo rate or two different families to live on the también a dos familias vivir en el mismo lote. same plot of land.

164

Access to Secondary Module

WC

Dining/Living Room

Kitchen

Access to Second Floor/Living Room

Dormitories


Module 2 Module 1

Services

Dormitories

Depending on the family‘s needs, the house’s initial module would contain services on the first floor. The rooms could either be placed vertically or detached from the main volume towards the back.

Dependiendo de las necesidades de las familias, el módulo inicial puede contener los servicios en la primera planta. Los dormitorios podrían colocarse en la segunda planta o en el siguiente módulo al fondo.

This secondary volume would then have the potential of becoming a secondary house within the same plot allowing it to densify or to become a different type of space.

El segundo volumen tendría entonces la capacidad de convertirse en una segunda vivienda permitiendo su densificación o bien, destinando el bloque para un uso diferente.

165


independent access Module 1 - First Floor 1:75

166

private access


Module 1 - Second Floor 1:75

167


Build-Up, Build-Out, Build-In (Multiplicity of Transformations) Family A - 65 year old (Senior Citizen)

DESIGN

REDESIGN Redesign 1 1

Design DESIGN

REDESIGN 1

Module 2 (4 Dormitories)

Module 1 (Services) Module 2 (2 Dormitories)

Module 1 (Services)

Design

168

A subsidy is granted to a senior citizen. She lives with her daughter who works and takes care of her.


REDESIGN Redesign 2 2

REUSE [Day Care Center]

Module 2 (Dormitories + Services)

Module 1 (Prosumer intervention)

Redesign 2 After some time, when both older women are gone, the family changes. They have two small children.

Redesign 1

There are many single parents in the neighborhood who need to work, therefore, the family decides to open a day care center to help the community.

As time passes by, the grandson moves in with his wife. Both women are getting older and additional help is needed.

169


New Shared Ownership Scenario among family or strangers. Family B - Husband and Wife

DESIGN

REDESIGN 1 Redesign 1

Design DESIGN

REDESIGN 1

Module 2 (Dormitories)

Module 1 (Dormitories + Services)

Module 1 (Dormitories + Services)

Design

170

A recently married couple receives the subsidy. After some time, they have a daughter. The module remains unchanged.


REDESIGN 2 Redesign 2 +

Module 2 (Dormitories + Services)

Module 1 (Dormitories + Services)

Redesign 2 The daughter, with her own family now, owns the property. She and her husband decide to rent the secondary module to another family to gain extra income.

Redesign 1 The wive‘s mother needs somewhere to live. She decides to bring her home. A secondary module is built at the back.

171


New Shared Ownership Scenario (Multiplicity of Transformations) Family C - Single Mother

DESIGN

REDESIGN Redesign 1 1

Design DESIGN

REDESIGN 1

Module 2 (Dormitories + Services)

Module 1 (4 Dormitories) Module 2 (Dormitories + Services)

Design The subsidy is granted to a single mother. She has three children. 172


REDESIGN Redesign 2 2 REUSE [Dancing Center]

+

Module 2 (Dormitories + Center)

Module 1 (Dormitories + Services)

Redesign 2 When the mother is gone, the family of brothers open a dance academy for the neighborhood.

Redesign 1 As her children become adults, they begin to work and with their income they change the housing unit.

173


Family A

+

Family B


Family C


Yananan Thongbai Bangkok, Thailand DIA graduate 2014



Transformation of the Shop house Yananan Thongbai keywords: sharing economies ‘Shop house’ is a typical type of building which can be found throughout Bangkok. It is a mixed use building, typically with a retail space on the ground floor and a residence above. Over the past century, the shop house has established itself as a local commercial necessity and helped frame the border of the urban block. As time continues, the “living and working” style of people change also. People whom had previously lived in the shop house, move from the district and as a result, the shop houses are left empty. There is an opportunity to take advantage of the now abandoned shop houses, by orientating them towards community focused spaces and centres. As the urban population continues to rise, and more and more people from rural areas move to live and work in Bangkok, there is an urgent need to combat the current issues regarding public space, facilities and standards of living. New communities demand new spaces for living. How might designers accommodate for the new demand for co-working spaces and businesses or public services like boutique cinemas for example?

ตึกแถวเป็นประเภทของอาคารซึ่งสามารถพบได้ทั่วไปใน กรุงเทพมหานคร เป็นอาคารอเนกประสงค์ซึ่งมีร้านค้าปลีกชั้นล่าง และที่อยู่อาศัยอยู่ชั้นบน ในศตวรรษที่ผ่านมามันถูกสร้างขึ้นเพื่อเป็น ร้านค้าล้อมรอบกรอบถนน ในปัจจุบันสังคมมีการเปลี่ยนแปลงรูป แบบการใช้ชีวิต มีการแยกส่วนระหว่างที่พักอาศัยและที่ทำ�งาน เมื่อ ตึกแถวที่เคยเป็นทั้งบ้าน และที่ทำ�งาน ไม่สามารถตอบสนองความ ต้องการในปัจจุบัน ทำ�ให้ร้านค้าปลีกในตึกแถวเก่าจำ�นวนมากปิด ตัวลง ชุมชนในพื้นที่ร้านค้าตามตึกแถวเริ่มถดถอย จากสถานการณ์ข้างต้นสรุปได้ว่า “ตีกแถวเก่าถูกลดบทบาทการใช้ งาน ทำ�ให้มีพื้นที่ว่างในตึกแถวเก่าเหล่านั้นเพิ่มขึ้น“ ประชากรในกรุงเทพมหานครโดยรวมเพิ่มขึ้น นอกจากนี้ยังมีคน ยากจนจากชนบทย้ายไปอาศัยอยู่และทำ�งานในกรุงเทพฯ พวก เขาสร้างที่อยู่อาศัยหนาแน่นด้วยตัวเองเพื่ออาศัยอยู่ภายในที่ว่าง ของเมือง (ซึ่งส่วนใหญ่เป็นพื้นที่ว่างเปล่าล้อมรอบด้วยอาคาร พาณิชย์) ประเภทของที่อยู่อาศัยนี้ไม่มีสิ่งอำ�นวยความสะดวกเพียง พอและไม่มีพื้นที่สาธารณะที่เหมาะสมที่จะทำ�ให้มีคุณภาพชีวิตที่ ได้มาตรฐาน ในขณะเดียวกัน ประชากรกรุงเทพฯในปัจจุบันมีการเปลี่ยนแปลง วิธีชีวิต ได้เกิดความต้องการใช้พื้นที่ใหม่ๆชนิดต่างๆ ซึ่งไม่ได้มีการ จัดไว้รองรับภายในตัวเมืองกรุงเทพฯ (เช่นการเติบโตของการทำ�งาน โดยใช้สำ�นักงานร่วมกัน (Co-working space) / โรงภาพยนตร์ทาง เลือกขนาดเล็กที่จะถูกปิดเพราะสัญญาเช่าอาคารสิ้นสุด) กรณีเหล่า นี้สะท้อนให้เห็นสถานการณ์ความเป็นไปของการใช้พื้นที่เมือง “เนื่องจากวิถีชีวิตที่เปลี่ยนแปลงไปทำ�ให้คนกรุงเทพฯต้องการพื้นที่ กิจกรรมที่แตกต่างจากพื้นที่ๆถูกจัดสรรไว้เดิม“ นี่อาจจะเป็นจุดเริ่มต้นของการแก้ปัญหา สถานการณ์เหล่านี้มี

The shop houses might be adapted to ศักยภาพที่จะนำ�มารวมกัน ชุมชนตึกแถวที่ถดถอยสามารถยั่งยืนได้ accommodate the new wave of people โดยการปรับตัวและดำ�เนินการเข้าหาความต้องการพื้นที่ใหม่ๆทาง making their way to Bangkok. They have the สังคมสำ�หรับคนกรุงเทพมหานคร potential to be remodelled in such a way that they provide the various social spaces needed as the community continues to grow.

178


1932

2014 Physical transformation of Nang Loeng district

179


3

2

4

1

4 (Related project by Rangwan Sanitther)

Community upgrading

District map

This design project will pose challenges by informal settlements which involve low-income residents and urban communities. Creating better ways of living for informal settlements, making use of limited resources to respond to people request in terms of fully utilizing the material efficiency.

Collective residential building อาคารพักอาศัยที่ศึกษา Informal residential area พื้นที่อยู่อาศัยหนาแน่น Public open space พื้นที่เปิดโล่งสาธารณะ Collective shophouse building ตึกแถวที่ศึกษา Old theater โรงหนังเก่า Main accessible route เส้นทางหลัก Sub accessible route เส้นทางรอง Connecting opportunity การเชื่อมต่อที่ว่างที่เป็นไปได้

180

โครงการออกแบบนี้จะก่อให้เกิดความท้าทายจากพื้นที่อยู่อาศัยหนาแน่นที่ เกี่ยวข้องกับผู้อยู่อาศัยมีรายได้ต่ำ�และชุมชนเมือง เสนอวิธีที่ดีกว่าในการสร้าง ที่อยู่อาศัยแบบใช้ทรัพยากรจำ�กัด เพื่อตอบสนองต่อผู้คนที่ขอในแง่ของการใช้ ประโยชน์อย่างเต็มประสิทธิภาพวัสดุ


User People in district Community space demanding 1 1st scenario: workshop station

Due to poor living conditions and overcrowding, there is little public space for the greater community to engage with. Providing community space is one possible opportunity, by making use of the abandoned space in the shop house.

function: workshop + hostel area: workshop 100 m2 hostel 85-100 m2

ผู้ใช้อาคาร คนในชุมชน-ความต้องการพื้นที่สาธารณะในชุมชน ขณะที่สภาพความเป็นอยู่ของคนในชุมชนไมได้มาตรฐาน เช่นเดียวกับความหนาแน่นของที่อยู่ อาศัยทำ�ให้ไม่สามารถมีพื้นที่สาธารณะที่เหมาะสมในชุมชน เป็นหนึ่งในความเป็นไปได้ที่จะใช้ พื้นที่ที่ถูกทิ้งร้างในอาคารพาณิชย์รอบสถานที่ชุมชน

2nd scenario: community centre

Client People in the district

2

function: - Meeting hall - Library - Multipurpose area - Kindergarten area: Meeting hall - 60 m2 Library Multipurpse area - 65 m2 Kindergarten - 65 m2

- Shophouse owner sublet their space to the entrepreneur - User of the community‘s facilities which in shop house

ลูกค้า คนในชุมชน - เจ้าของตึกแถวให้เช่าพื้นที่แกนักลงทุน - ใช้เป็นพื้นที่พบปะของชุมชน

User People in Bangkok Social space demanding Bangkok‘s people have changed their way of life due to modernization and urbanization. The empty shop houses could provide a setting for the new urban space as required.

3

ผู้ใช้อาคาร 3rd scenario: rent the empty space out function: area:

co-working space art house co-working space - 300 m2 Art house - exhibition space - 75 m2 - Small cinema - 40 m2

คนในกรุงเทพฯ-ความต้องการพื้นที่รูปแบบใหม่ทางสังคม การเปลี่ยนแปลงวิถีชีวิตในกรุงเทพ เกิดความต้องการพื้นที่ใหม่ๆที่แตกต่างจากเดิม ซึ่งอาจนำ�มา ปรับใช้กับพื้นที่ตึกแถวรกร้างได้ Client The entrepreneur Rent the space of shophouse to do their business - rent the whole or partial unit - rent the some part of shop house

ลูกค้า นักลงทุน-เช่าพื้นที่ประกอบธุรกิจ - เช่าพื้นที่ทั้งตึก - เช่าพื้นที่บางส่วนของตึก


1st Scenario - workshop station

5 1

2

4

3

Ground floor plan

Upper floor plan 1. Workshop 2. Courtyard 3. Temporary residence 4. Bridge 5. Tools storage

182


Due to overpopulation, many residences in the community are in a poor condition and need to be rebuilt. The workshop could be repurposed as new residences where required. At the same time, if their houses are demolished, the shop houses could provide temporary residence. The hostel will be provided in this scenario. This hostel can be used by visitors to the district as well.

เนื่องจากมีที่อยู่อาศัยเป็นจำ�นวนมากในชุมชนอยู่ในสภาพทรุดโทรม ควรจะ ต้องรื้อถอนและสร้างขึ้นใหม่ ห้องปฏิบัติการจะเป็นสถานที่จำ�เป็นสำ�หรับสร้าง ส่วนประกอบของที่พักอาศัยใหม่ ในขณะที่บ้านของคนในชุมชนได้รับการรื้อ ถอน พวกเขาต้องการสถานที่สำ�หรับพักชั่วคราว พื้นที่บางส่วนจึงทำ�เป็นโฮสเทล เพื่อรองรับคนเหล่านี้ อย่างไรก็ตามโฮสเทลนี้สามารถนำ�มาใช้ต้อนรับผู้มาเยือน เพื่อนสร้างรายได้เพื่อชุมชนได้อีกทางหนึ่ง

1920

2014

Proposal

Transformation of section

Axonometric diagram

183


2nd Scenario - community centre

4

3 2

1

1. Kindergarten 2. Multi-purpose area 3. Meeting steps 4. Reading area

Ground floor plan

184

Upper floor plan


Due to a lack of proper public space in the community, this scenario proposes a community centre. The connection to the old theatre creates outdoor recreation space for the community.

เนื่องจากขาดพื้นที่สาธารณะที่เหมาะสมในชุมชนในกรณีนี้จะใช้ตึกแถวสร้างเป็น ศูนย์ชุมชนที่ประกอบด้วยฟังก์ชั่นการใช้งานที่จำ�เป็นของคนที่นี่ มีการเชื่อมต่อพื้นที่ ไปยังโรงละครเก่าเพื่อสร้างพื้นที่นันทนาการกลางแจ้งสำ�หรับชุมชน

1920

2014

Proposal

Transformation of section

Axonometric diagram

185


3rd Scenario - rent the empty space out

3

5

2

4 1

Ground floor plan

Upper floor plan 1. Gallery 2. Courtyard 3. Hot-desk cafe

186

4. Mini theatre 5. Co-working space


In this scenario, the market, that is, the main entrance to the community, is implemented. It provides more public and business space to the district. It serves as the gate of Nang Loeng and aims to attract visitors.

ขณะที่สถานการณ์นี้ตั้งอยู่ติดกับทางเข้าหลักของตลาดซึ่งเป็นทางเข้าหลักของชุมชนอีก ด้วย, ฟังก์ชั่นการใช้งานที่นี่จึงจัดให้เป็นที่สาธารณะและเกี่ยวข้องกับธุรกิจมากขึ้นซึ่งจะ ช่วยดึงดูดผู้คนจากภายนอกชุมชน และยังทำ�หน้าที่เปรียบเป็น “ประตูสู่ชุมชนนางเลิ้ง“ ได้ อีกด้วย

1920

2014

Proposal

Transformation section

Axonometric diagram

187


Rangwan Sanitther Bangkok, Thailand DIA graduate 2014



Self-built Housing in Poor Communities Rangwan Sanitther keywords: sharing economies, the bandwidth of planning Shelters around the world are constructed in various geographical contexts, to protect humans from sun, rain, wind, cold, heat, storms, etc. They have been an essential part that contributes to our human civilization. Today however, almost one billion people, that is, one sixth of the world’s total population, live in informal settlements. The majority of these informal settlements are in developing countries, including Thailand. The migration of labour from rural to urban areas significantly increases the overall proportion of urban residents. New informal settlements are created rapidly, and at the same time, there is constant pressure to reduce the cost of construction. In my perspective as an architect, this design project will pose challenges unique to informal settlements, involving lowincome residents and urban communities. The challenge lies in creating better ways of living for informal settlements, making use of limited resources, responding to people’s requests in terms of fully utilizing the material and construction efficiency. When dwellers can control major decisions and are free to make their own contributions to the design, individual and social well-being would be stimulated through the means of ‘self-help,’ with all unpaid work done directly by people for themselves, their families, or their communities. This project has two major focuses. The first part will deal with the gradual transformation of existing dwellings instead of demolition and rebuilding the whole area. Nang Loeng community, one of the oldest and poorest communities in Bangkok, will be chosen as the location for this project. The ownership of the properties in the area belongs to property owners and dwellers are also tenants. They live in poor communities with substandard infrastructure, requiring redesigning and reconstruction for a better quality of life. The second part will focus on housing design. The concept of half-built house will be used. This concept describes a situation where the property owners build the basics with public subsidy, the tenants build the rest over time according to their budget and needs.

190

Self-build housing in poor communities will be designed for incremental housing to allow householders to build or expand their own

houses. People can use their own creativity to create space, apply low-cost material and basic structure, and utilize local construction skills in order to build houses that respond to their basic needs. Moreover, the construction system can also be used to build common spaces in the community, such as a playgrounds or public meeting areas.

ที่อยู่อาศัยเป็นสิ่งที่ถูกปลูกสร้างขึ้นตามสภาพภูมิประเทศของโลก เพื่อปกป้องมนุษย์จากสภาพดินฟ้าอากาศและภัยธรรมชาติ ทุกวันนี้ มนุษย์หนึ่งในหกของประชากรโลกอาศัยอยู่ในชุมชนแออัด ส่วนมาก อยู่ในกลุ่มประเทศกำ�ลังพัฒนาซึ่งรวมไปถึงประเทศไทยด้วย การ อพยพย้ายถิ่นฐานของผู้คนจากต่างจังหวัดเข้าสู่เมืองหลวง ส่งผลให้ เกิดการเพิ่มจำ�นวนของชุมชนแออัดอย่างรวดเร็ว ต้นทุนค่าก่อสร้าง ที่ต่ำ�ถือเป็นปัจจัยสำ�คัญที่ตอบสนองต่อความต้องการของผู้ที่อยู่ อาศัยในชุมชนแออัดอย่างมาก ในมุมมองของสถาปนิก การออกแบบถือเป็นความท้าทายที่จะเข้า มาช่วยพัฒนาสภาพความเป็นอยู่ของผู้คนในชุมชน ใช้ความคิด สร้างสรรในการส่งเสริมให้เกิดคุณภาพชีวิตที่ดีขึ้นโดยตอบรับกับข้อ จำ�กัดทางทรัพยากรเพื่อให้เกิดความคุ้มค่าที่สุด ผู้อยู่อาศัยสามารถ ที่จะใช้ความคิดสร้างสรรในการออกแบบและก่อสร้างที่อยู่อาศัย ด้วยตนเอง ซึ่งหมายถึงการลดค่าใช้จ่ายในการจ้างแรงงานเพื่อการ ก่อสร้างโดยสามารถจะดำ�เนินการได้ด้วยตนเองและอาศัยความร่วม มือกันของชุมชน การออกแบบมุ่งเน้นไปในสองส่วนสำ�คัญ ส่วนแรกคือการออกแบบ เพื่อการปรับเปลี่ยนอย่างค่อยเป็นค่อยไปของที่อยู่อาศัยเดิม แทน การทำ�ลายและสร้างทั้งชุมชนขึ้นมาใหม่ ชุมชนนางเลิ้งเป็นชุมชน เก่าแก่ในกรุงเทพมหานครซึ่งถูกเลือกเป็นพื้นที่โครงการในการ ออกแบบครั้งนี้ พื้นที่ชุมชนถือเป็นกรรมสิทธิ์ของเจ้าของที่ดินโดยผู้ อยู่อาศัยจริงเป็นเพียงผู้เช่าเท่านั้น พวกเขาอาศัยอยู่ในชุมชนแออัดที่ ทรุดโทรมซึ่งต้องการการแก้ไขปรับปรุงใหม่ ส่วนที่สอง จะมุ่งเน้นใน เรื่องการออกแบบอาคารบ้านพัก โดยใช้แนวความคิดของการสร้าง บ้านเพียงครึ่งเดียว ซึ่งหมายถึงเจ้าของที่ดินและผู้อยู่อาศัยจะมีส่วน ช่วยในการก่อสร้างบ้านคนละครึ่ง เจ้าของที่ดินลงทุนในส่วนพื้นฐาน โดยอาศัยเงินสนับสนุนจากสังคม และอีกครึ่งที่เหลือจะค่อยๆถูก สร้างขึ้นตามกำ�ลังและความต้องการของผู้อยู่อาศัยเอง งานออกแบบบ้านสร้างเองเพื่อชุมชนยากไร้นี้จะส่งเสริมให้เกิดการ ใช้ความคิดสร้างสรรในการออกแบบและต่อเติมบ้านด้วยตนเอง ตอบสนองได้โดยตรงต่อพื้นที่ใช้สอยที่ต้องการและทรัพยากรที่หา ได้ง่ายของผู้อยู่อาศัย รวมทั้งสามารถต่อยอดโดยใช้แนวความคิด เดียวกันนี้เพื่อสร้างพื้นที่ส่วนกลางของชุมชนได้อีกด้วย


Problem situation Bangkok is the capital and the most populous city in Thailand. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres in the Chao Phraya river delta in central Thailand. It has a population of over eight million, 12.6 Percent of the country‘s population. Over population in Bangkok is mostly caused by uncontrolled migration from rural areas. Due to a strong urban pull and rural push people continue to move to Bangkok. There, migrants have more work opportunities and better facilities than in rural areas. Migrants work normally with production, sales and service.

began to deteriorate, turning the area into slum like conditions.

ชุมชนนางเลิ้ง เป็นชุมชนที่ตั้งอยู่ในเขตพื้นที่ทางประวัติศาสตร์ของ กรุงเทพมหานคร จำ�นวนประชากรในชุมชนค่อยๆเพิ่มจำ�นวนขึ้น เรื่อยๆ พื้นที่ว่างจึงถูกเติมเต็มด้วยที่อยู่อาศัยจนกลายเป็นชุมชนดัง เช่นปัจจุบัน ผู้คนต่างพึ่งพาอาศัยและเกื้อกูลกัน แต่ด้วยการเพิ่ม จำ�นวนขึ้นอย่างต่อเนื่อง ส่งผลให้เกิดความหนาแน่นแออัดในชุมชน เป็นอย่างมาก อาคารที่เรียงรายรอบถนนถูกสร้างขึ้นเป็นอาคารพาณิชย์เพื่อ วัตถุประสงค์ในการค้าขาย ในขณะที่บ้านเรื่อนเก่าๆตามแนวคลองก็ เสื่อมโทรมลงจนกลายสภาพเป็นชุมชนแออัดที่ทรุดโทรมในที่สุด

การอพยพย้ายถิ่นฐาน กรุงเทพมหานครคือเมืองหลวงของประเทศไทย ครอบคลุมพื้นที่ 1,568.7 ตารางกิโลเมตร ตั้งอยู่บนลุ่มแม่น้ำ�เจ้าพระยา มีประชากร กว่าแปดล้านคน ซึ่งนับเป็น 12.6 เปอร์เซ็นต์ของประชากรทั้ง ประเทศ กรุงเทพมหานครได้รับผลกระทบอย่างมากจากการ ย้ายถิ่นฐานของผู้คนจากต่างจังหวัดเข้าสู่เมืองหลวง เนื่องจาก กรุงเทพมหานครนั้นเป็นแหล่งงานแห่งใหญ่ และเป็นเมืองที่มีความ ทันสมัยสะดวกสบาย ส่วนใหญ่ผู้คนที่อพยพเข้ามาจะเข้ามาทำ�งาน ในกลุ่มของการผลิต การขายสินค้า และงานบริการ Informal settlement

ชุมชนแออัด ผู้อพยพจำ�นวนมากเข้ามาอาศัยอยู่ในชุมชนแออัดซึ่งเกิดขึ้น มากมายตามพื้นที่ว่างไม่มีเจ้าชองริมลำ�คลองและแม่น้ำ� โดยสร้าง ที่อยู่อาศัยแบบชั่วคราวในชุมชนแออัดที่ครอบคลุมพื้นที่ขยายเป็น วงกว้าง ในปี 1997 ขณะที่กรุงเทพยังเป็นเมืองที่มีขนาดเล็กกว่าใน ปัจจุบัน มีการประมาณการว่ามีชุมชนแออัดเกิดขึ้นกว่า 300 ชุมชน และมีจำ�นวนผู้อยู่อาศัยมากกว่า 1.25 ล้านคน Nang Loeng is a small community situated in one of Bangkok’s historic districts. As the population increases gradually, space began to be filled with residential buildings and became a community. Each household supports the other in a sustainable way, but when households numbers increased significantly, crowding and congestion in the community occurred. Buildings along the street became a shop house for commercial usage while the old buildings along the canal

Cha

o ph

raya

rive

r

Many of these migrants are forced into large informal settlements along the now mostly forgotten riversides and canals, living in often makeshift housing in extensive slums. In 1997, when the Bangkok metropolitan area was smaller than it is today, an estimated 300 informal settlements existed, housing more than one and a quarter million people.

Old city Royal palace

Downtown

500

1000

2000

Klong Toey slum Chao

Nang Loeng Community Area: 8,800 Sq.M. Population: 1658 Inhabitants, 550 Families, 478 Houses - high population density - large numbers of informal settlements - uneducated people in poor community - low quality of life for poor people - self-built shelters - lack of public space

phra

ya ri

ver

191


2015

2025

2020

2030

Gradual transformation to existing dwellings in Nang Loeng community, instead of demolition and rebuilding the whole area. (grey - formal and red - informal settelments)

การปรับปรุงเปลี่ยนแปลงรูปแบบอย่างค่อยเป็นค่อยไปของที่อยู่อาศัยเดิมในชุมชนนางเลิ้ง แทนการทุบทำ�ลายเพื่อสร้างใหม่

192


stuff 5-15yrs space plan 5-20yrs services 5-30yrs skin 30-60yrs structure 60-200yrs site eternal

BRAND‘S SHEARING LAYERS

stuff space plan services skin structure site

PROPOSED SHEARING LAYERS

community support self-build

Brand‘s shearing layers

Proposed shearing layers

Half-built house

Brand‘s shearing layers, can be applied to the Half-Built House concept. The diagram above shows 6 different building layers in two colours. Black lines indicate building elements which will be built from community support (public subsidy, workers or the help from other residents); and red lines show participation in the housing process by the dwellers themselves. They end up customizing their homes which allow them to fill in the building continually as their families grow. Moreover, according to the building fabric lifespan, self-build parts should be able to be replaced separately from the main structure.

In his book, “How Buildings Learn,“ Stewart Brand offers a helpful conceptual framework for dividing the parts of a building into different lifespan layers. Each layer performs a different function and can be expected to last a certain time before replacement is necessary. Those with faster replacement cycles are closer to the surface, more easily accessed and able to be removed from more permanent components beneath, without undue disruption or damage.

จากหนังสือของ Stewart Brand ชื่อ How Buildings learn ได้นำ� เสนอแนวความคิดเกี่ยวกับการแบ่งส่วนประกอบของอาคารตาม อายุของวัสดุ ในแต่ละชั้นของวัสดุทำ�หน้าที่แตกต่างกันและมีระยะ เวลาในการปรับเปลี่ยนวัสดุใหม่ที่แตกต่างกันด้วย ชั้นที่มีอายุสั้นมัก จะเข้าถึงได้ง่ายจากผิวสัมผัส ส่วนชั้นที่อยู่ลึกลงไปจะคงทนถาวร กว่า source: Design for Deconstruction - SEDA Design Guide for Scotland

จาก Shearing layers ของ Brand สามารถนำ�มาใช้กับแนวความ คิดเรื่องบ้านที่สร้างเพียงครึ่งเดียว โดยรูปภาพนี้แสดงชั้นทั้ง 6 ที่ แตกต่างกันเป็นสองสี คือ ดำ� และ แดง โดยสีดำ�จะสื่อถึงส่วนของ อาคารที่จะถูกสร้างโดยการสนับสนุนจากชุมชน และสีแดงคือส่วนที่ สร้างขึ้นเองโดยผู้อยู่อาศัย นอกจากนี้แล้วอายุของวัสดุที่ใช้กับส่วน ก่อสร้างด้วยตนเองควรจะสามารถง่ายต่อการเปลี่ยนแปลงและแยก จากโครงสร้างหลักได้

Formal structure - concrete structure [footing, foundation, column,...] - sanitary system

Public Subsidy

Worker

Self construction

Self Budget

Self-built

- self-build - using modular system - adaptable and expandable - reused and cheap materials - low construction cost - suitable for tropical weather 193


Incremental construction system According to the concept of Half-Built Housing for self-construction, the incremental construction system is designed to allow people to engage with the construction process, which enables them to customize each house by using construction manuals as a tool. Structural elements (foundation, column, beam and concrete floor) will be constructed by community support leaving residents responsible for the rest of the structure. The owners can build and expand their houses according to their needs, possibilities and preferences, by using light weight construction and modular design techniques. Dwellers can start building modules off-site. Meanwhile, the community workshop can be used to prepare modular walls from reused materials, light weight structures such as wooden columns, beams and roofing can be pre-cut and assembled quickly on site.

Reused materials wall panel

Wood wall stud

Concrete foundation floor on ground structure ground floor column

194


roofing Wooden structure and recycled roofing

wall panel Reused materials

floor finishing floor structure Wood Community support

การสนับสนุนจากชุมชน Self built

ก่อสร้างด้วยตนเอง ระบบนี้เป็นระบบการก่อสร้างแบบสามารถเพิ่มเติมส่วนต่างๆได้ทีละน้อยอย่างอิสระ ทำ�ให้ผู้อยู่อาศัยสามารถที่จะสร้างหรือแก้ไขบ้านของ ตนเองได้ตามต้องการ โดยอาศัยวิธีการก่อสร้างที่นำ�เสนอเป็นเครื่องมือ ส่วนของโครงสร้าง เช่น ฐานราก เสา คาน พื้นคอนกรีต จะเป็นส่วน โครงสร้างหลักซึ่งได้รับการช่วยเหลือทั้งในด้านแรงงานและค่าก่อสร้างจากชุมชน จากนั้นผู้อยู่อาศัยจะรับผิดชอบในส่วนที่เหลือ เจ้าของบ้าน สามารถที่จะสร้างและต่อเติมบ้านของตนเองได้ตามความต้องการ ความชอบและความเป็นไปได้ โดยอาศัยโครงสร้างน้ำ�หนักเบา เช่น เสา ไม้ คานไม้ โครงหลังคาไม้ ซึ้งสามารถที่จะตัดไว้ก่อนล่วงหน้าตามขนาดและนำ�ไปประกอบได้อย่างรวดเร็วบนสถานที่จริง 195


Wall panel

Tin sheet Reclaimed wood panel Reused tin can Bamboo

Roofing

Column joint

Materials used in incremental construction system

196


Reused materials “They’re probably the most inventive people in the world because they often have limited access to resources.” Cynthia Smith (The curator of socially responsible design at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum)

Roofing materials Aluminium can

Green roof

Transform old cans into useful roofing tiles for a small structure.

Turn used beverage cartons into recycled products to be donated to those in need. Supported by princess pa foundation

Wall materials

197


Distric map Collective residential building อาคารพักอาศัยที่ศึกษา Informal residential area พื้นที่อยู่อาศัยหนาแน่น Public open space พื้นที่เปิดโล่งสาธารณะ Collective shophouse building ตึกแถวที่ศึกษา

Old theater โรงหนังเก่า Main accessible route เส้นทางหลัก Sub accessible route เส้นทางรอง Connecting opportunity การเชื่อมต่อที่ว่างที่เป็นไปได้


Community workshop Give them tools Workshop : machines, tools, storage and work space for people in the community, to support and encourage them to build their own house.

ห้องปฎิบัติการ เป็นพื้นที่ที่สนับสนุนเครื่องจักรและเครื่องมือในการ ก่อสร้าง รวมถึงเป็นพื้นที่ทำ�งานให้คนในชุมชน เพื่อส่งเสริมให้ชาว ชุมชนสร้างบ้านด้วยตนเอง Hostel: the community also provides a short stay for them when their old houses are torn down. They will have a place to stay during building new houses.

ห้องพักค้างคืน เป็นส่วนที่ชุมชนสนับสนุนให้ เพื่อให้ชาวชุมชนที่ กำ�ลังอยู่ระหว่างรื้อถอนและก่อสร้างบ้านสามารถใช้พักชั่วคราวได้

Community upgrading This area will be the area of study for the whole community.

พื้นที่ศึกษาเพื่อเป็นตัวอย่างในการพัฒนาทั้งชุมชนต่อไป

199


New construction

Case study I

Tiny unit

Family members : Construction cost : Construction time :

Family I “Live alone“ Needs kitchen selling cart storage stay with people

1 10 baht = 25 cents 1 day

Materials & Structure: wood columns & wood beams plywood sheet floor recycled aluminium foil source : Tovivich,S.(2002) Occupied spaces and material used in urban poor houses. Architecture. Bangkok: Silpakorn University.

70 year-old grandma dessert seller in the market

Tiny unit Area : min 6.40 sq.m. max 10.80 sq.m. The smallest unit for 1-2 dwellers. It is tiny as a shelter but allows enough functions. The original unit is for a single dweller, complete with a bed, storage, and small work space. The expanded unit will allow dwellers to add a mezzanine, which will be enough space for a couple.

ขนาดห้องเล็กสุดเพื่อผู้อยู่อาศัย 1-2 คน ขนาดเล็กแต่มีพื้นที่ใช้สอย เพียงพอกับความต้องการ ห้องต้นแบบเหมาะสำ�หรับผู้อยู่อาศัยคน เดียว มีพื้นที่สำ�หรับเตียงนอน เก็บของและพื้นที่ทำ�งานขนาดเล็ก หากต้องการเพิ่มพื้นที่ใช้สอยสามารถขยายพื้นที่ให้มากขึ้นได้ด้วย การเติมชั้นลอย ซึงจะเพียงพอต่อผู้อยู่อาศัย 2 คนได้

200


1.50 storage area 2.20 sleeping area bench

Mezzanine

A

B

Original unit A original unit for 1 dweller B expanded unit for 2 dwellers

Expanded unit 1F + mezzanine


New construction

Case study II

Small family unit

Family members : Construction cost : Construction time :

Family II “Small family“

Materials & Structure: wood columns & wood beams (from old house) plywood sheet floor zinc plate, plywood and gypsum board walls old zinc roof tiles and wood structure

Needs kitchen selling cart storage motorcycle parking study room stay with people

45 year old Food seller in the market

5 250 Euros 4 days

source : Tovivich,S.(2002) Occupied spaces and material used in urban poor houses. Architecture. Bangkok: Silpakorn University.

48 year old Motorcycle taxi driver A

A bedroom I B bedroom II C mezzanine D living room E wc F storage 15 year old Student

F

B

E

Original unit

80 Year old

Small family unit for up to 6 family members. The original unit is two bedrooms with a small storage area. The expanded unit will allow dwellers to add a mezzanine on the top and a private small living room. Another way of expanding is for a new family. A whole new floor can be added over the lower unit. Wood columns will be connected to concrete columns on the 2nd floor.

ห้องสำ�หรับครอบครัวขนาดเล็ก ที่มีสมาชิกในครอบครัวได้ถึง 6 คน ห้องต้นแบบประกอบด้วย 2 ห้องนอน และพื้นที่เก็บของขนาดเล็ก และสามารถต่อขยายชั้นลอยเพื่อเพิ่มห้องนั่งเล่นได้ นอกจากนี้ยังสามารถต่อเติมโครงสร้างไม้เพื่อเพิ่มพื้นที่ใช้งานให้ มากขึ้นอีกชั้นได้บนโครงสร้างคอนกรีตเดิมที่ชั้น 2

Small family unit 202

Area: min max

20.00 sq.m. up to 40.00 sq.m.


3.00

living area

bedroom 1

6.00 bedroom 2 wc

kitchen

LOWER FLOOR

UPPER FLOOR

D

C

B

E

Expanded unit: option i

Original unit

1F + mezzanine

Expanded unit 1F + mezzanine

A A F F

B B

Expanded unit: option ii New floor for new family

E

Original unit

Expanded unit New floor for new family


New construction

Case study III

Large family unit

Family members : Construction cost : Construction time :

Family III

9 30,000 Baht = 750 Euros 7 days

“Large family“ Materials & Structure: concrete columns & wood beams wood & concrete floors zinc plate, plywood and gypsum board walls old zinc roof tiles and wood structure

Needs Kitchen selling cart storage motorcycle parking play area work area

source : Tovivich,S.(2002) Occupied spaces and material used in urban poor houses. Architecture. Bangkok: Silpakorn University.

45 year old messenger

40 year old drink seller

Large family unit Area: min max

34.75 sq.m. up to 50.75 sq.m.

Large family unit is for a family with more than 6 members. The original unit is 3 bedrooms. It is possible to add a mezzanine on top to create more space or provide more room for additional families. 62 year old vegetable seller

65 year old vegetable seller

38 year old Floristr

4 and 5 year olds

204

ห้องชุดเพื่อครอบครัวขนาดใหญ่ที่มีสมาชิกตั่งแต่ 6 คนขึ้นไป ห้อง ต้นแบบประกอบไปด้วย 3 ห้องนอน ซึ่งสามารถต่อขยายชั้นลอยเพื่อ เพิ่มพื้นที่ใช้สอย หรือเพิ่มห้องใหม่สำ�หรับครอบครัวอื่นได้


6.00

bedroom 2

bedroom 3 1.00

5.00

wc living area terrace

dn

1.00

clothes drying rack

UPPER FLOOR

5.00 storage

storage living area

bedroom 1

5.00

dining area

wash area

1.00

kitchen

LOWER FLOOR

A bedroom I B bedroom II C bedroom III D mezzanine E extra unit B

A

C

Original unit

D A

B

E

Expanded unit 1F + mezzanine

Original unit

Expanded unit 1F + mezzanine + New small unit


Ismail Elabd Alexandria, Egypt DIA Graduate 2015



Building in the Age of the Network Society Ismail Elabd keywords: sharing economies, prosumption A middle-class district was chosen among many neighbourhoods in Alexandria (the second most populated city in Egypt) where fast urban growth, both horizontal and vertical, causes problems to the energy systems, food networks, transport, and public health. Due to a lack of public space in the city, people have become limited to their living spaces, working spaces and their transition between the two. This causes a limited number of activities to be repeated over and over. Rooftops were chosen as a layer of abandoned spaces over the city, to be occupied and redesigned with a new approach to the building process, creating social and economic motives to improve people’s lives. Aiming to start the building process without the need for subsidies, a collaborative platform will be introduced for the residents to take part. Here, people share and collect things they do not need or things that they are able to give, as well as openly discussing what kind of contributions they can offer (materials, time, tools, food, man power, spaces, etc.) This platform will allow new ideas to emerge and will make clear what kind of new jobs are needed. In addition, architects will be proposing ideas for future spaces and activities. Such transparent flow of the building process will empower the people by involving them from A to Z, which will change the relation between the user and built environment.

208

The outcome is a result of transforming wasted, unused things, once kept in dark rooms, covered with dust and occupying space. Their value has completely changed as they have become part of an organized building process, aiming to introduce alternatives of social and economic activities in the spirit of sharing and collaboration. Two economies will co-exist for some time, the collaboratives will be smart, as the key players [prosumers + producers] will transform the value of wasted items, provide materials to create new spaces on the rooftops and products to use, share or sell whilst creating social and economic benefits and attracting more people to log in. The involved members of the platform will have a new set of values to get things done, the

more involved they are, the more benefits and access they receive. Aiming to attract people to the DIY (Do It Yourself) approach, transforming consumers to prosumers and helping people to move forward.

‫تم اختيار حى للطبقة املتوسطة من بني العديد من األحياء ىف‬ ,‫ صاحبة ثاىن أكرب عدد سكان ما بني املدن املرصية‬,‫اإلسكندرية‬ ‫ مشكالت‬-‫حيث يسبب النمو الحرضى الرسيع –األفقى والرأىس‬ .‫ املواصالت والصحة العامة‬,‫ الغذاء‬,‫خطرية ىف أنظمة الطاقة‬ ‫ أصبح الناس‬,‫بسبب ندرة الفراغات العامة ىف املدينة‬ ‫ فراغات العمل واإلنتقال‬,‫محصورين بني فراغات املعيشة‬ ‫ تم‬.‫ مام يؤدى إىل تكرار عدد محدود من األنشطة‬,‫فيام بينهم‬ ,‫إختيار األسطح لكونها طبقة من الفراغات املهملة فوق املدينة‬ ‫بهدف إستعاملها وإعادة تصميمها بطريقة بناء مختلفة تخلق‬ .‫دوافع إجتامعية وإقتصادية لتحسني حياة الناس‬ ‫ سوف‬,‫بهدف بدأ عملية بنائية ىف الحى بدون دعم خارجى‬ ‫ والسامح لهم مبشاركة‬,‫يتم اإلعالن عن منصة تشاركية للسكان‬ ‫ ومناقشة مفتوحة حول نوعية‬,‫وتجميع املواد واألشياء املهملة‬ ,‫ فراغات‬,‫ طاقة برشية‬,‫ غذاء‬,‫ أدوات‬,‫ وقت‬,‫املشاركات (مواد‬ ‫ مام يسمح لخلق أفكار جديدة لنوعية الوظائف‬,)‫الخ‬.. ‫الرضورية؟ باإلضافة ملشاركة املعامريني بطرح أفكار الفراغات‬ ‫ سوف متكن هذه العملية البنائية‬.‫والنشاطات املستقبلية‬ ,‫الشفافة السكان عن طريق إرشاكهم فيها من األلف إىل الياء‬ .‫مام سوف يغري نوعية العالقة بني املستخدم والبيئة املبنية‬ ‫ كانت‬,‫يتم تنفيذ املنتج من أشياء مل تكون مستعملة من قبل‬ ‫ تتغري‬.‫ تشغل الفراغات‬,‫ مغطاه بالرتاب‬,‫ملقاه ىف غرف مظلمة‬ ‫قيمة هذه األشياء عندما يتم دمجها ىف عملية بنائية منظمة‬ ‫تهدف لتقديم نشاطات إجتامعية وإقتصادية بديلة عن طريق‬ .‫روح املشاركة‬ ‫ سيكون‬,‫سيتواجد نظامان إقتصاديان مختلفان ىف نفس الوقت‬ ‫إقتصاد التعاون هو األذىك ألن الالعبني األساسيني (املنتجني‬ ,‫املستهلكني) يعطون لألشياء املهملة قيمة جديدة‬-‫واملنتجني‬ ‫مام يوفر مواد لخلق فراغات جديدة عىل األسطح ولخلق‬ ‫ مام يوفر منافع‬.‫ للمشاركة أوللبيع‬,‫منتجات جديدة لإلستخدام‬ .‫إجتامعية وإقتصادية ويجذب املزيد من الناس للمشاركة‬ ‫ميتلك األفراد املشاركني مجموعة من القيم الجديدة إلنجاز‬ ‫ يزداد حق اإلنتفاع بالفراغات واألشياء عندما تزداد‬,‫األمور‬ ‫ بهدف جذب الناس ألفكار‬.‫مشاركتك ىف العمليات الجديدة‬ -‫ مام يحول املستهلكني إىل منتجني‬, )DIY( ‫اإلنتاج الشخىص‬ .ً‫مستهلكني ويساعدهم عىل املىض قدما‬


Vacant rooftops: new Sidi Gaber, Alexandria

209


This diagram shows the building process and its main players, in relation with consumers. Starting with the platform, the flow of materials is directed from people to the collecting spaces, which are part of the building workshop. The works of the building workshop are in collaboration with the energy lab that produces all the energy needed. The building workshop is working on three main stages. First, through the platform, people will start to give away their unneeded possessions, it is more efficient if everyone brings the item to the collecting space, if not, users can simply leave their goods on the street and inform the workshop, through the platform. Next is the design process, as a collaboration between architects, artists, craftsmen and engineers. The output depends on which input of materials the workshop gets. Those collaborations will mainly happen in cases of complicated structures. Otherwise it will be open for any involved members to use any kind of materials or tools available in the workshop. Knowledge sharing is also a key component of the platform, encouraging those with skills and know-how to share with those without. The workshop will have its own collective “market," providing the possibility and the motive for any member to produce and sell his or her own products. Creating something from nothing, to use or to sell is a huge economic shift. Members will be able to build their own products and spaces instead of paying for them. On the other hand, selling those products to the consumers and making an income, changes the flow of money, empowering collaborators and creating new value.

210

items

“1ROOf� platform

materials collector

materials

architects craftsmen artists engineers

filtered + stored


$

CONSU MERS

SPACES

PRODUCTS

design

production +fabrication

ENERGY WORKSHOP

211


Urban Vision The platform connects a new layer of spaces, mostly owned by the people who live beneath. By gathering the owners together on many levels, a bond of trust is created, allowing more people to access newly built spaces, without any necessary change in ownership. High economic motives will cause new infrastructure to appear, such as public staircases from the street to the roof, stairs connecting rooftops on different levels, bridges connecting two spaces, 'hacking' a space in another building (roof vs floor) and service connections to accelerate the flow of materials and people. Security and privacy are the most radical points in the design approach of all the connections. Security will allow access only for identified residents or public members on the platform. The private spaces must be fully secured from any kind of illegal access, also visually protected for privacy.

f� “1ROBOER MEM N LOG I

ent resid lved envo c publi



01 Building Workshop A collaborative space where most of the networking is done via the platform related to the building and production process will take place. Collaboration between architects, artists, craftsmen, engineer and materials collectors will start first with a focus on infrastructure (water, waste, and energy). The digital networks will increase their efficiency. The rest will be in the hands of people depending on the availability of materials and ideas Architects: Provide new ideas of new spaces and new construction methods - recruit people to collaborate with in the building process (carpenters, metalsmiths, and materials collectors) - find ways to re-use the wasted materials and items collected (doors, windows, sofas, chairs, chandeliers, fabric, etc.) They will provide opensource design catalogues for people to download, adapt to or change, to fit their need. For construction, tools will be used that the workshop provides.

1

Materials collectors: Collect items and information from people, the market or the street level - transport items announced on the platform to the building workshop. Separate, store and update the amount and types of the collected items on the platform instantly. Carpenters: Practice a new set of needed connections and fabrication methods designed in collaboration with the architect. They receive cutting files from the architect and people to fabricate with the CNC machine or any available technology by the time. Carpenters will provide opensource tutorials on the platform for people who want to learn and participate in the process. Artists: Work on designs during or after the building process. Involved members: This collaborative space will be equipped with open source tools such as CNC machines and 3D printers, allowing people to use open source designs to build there own artefacts. Simply bring your file, fabricate it and assemble it yourself or with friends. This mode of work encourages the DIY spirit and giving a new set of values to deal with


02 Local Cafe A gathering space for people to sit, with an open view to the sky and the sea, complete with a small indoor area for services. Likely one of the first projects for the workshop, acting as a magnet, attracting more and more people to go up and pass by the workshop. This will introduce the new process in an indirect yet pragmatic way of advertising the new platform. Also, from an economic point of view, it will open an income for the workshop to upgrade

$

2

$

Public Staircase


03 Garden

05 Private Expansions

Local, healthy and cheap vegetables and fruits. Many people are already using rooftops for farming, though it is not particularly efficient. As the area of one roof is never enough for a good business plan. For such a project, some people use several rooftops, gather the crops and transport it to the local market, though it is still not enough. The new infrastructure will make a massive change on the current scene in urban farming over rooftops, as it will enable an efficient process of expansion with the possibility of creating a market on the same level. This will increase the green print of the city, cleaning the air and improving the level of public health 04 Playground Instead of playing on the street level, surrounded by cars, crowds and garbage, the new layer will provide spaces for children to play, in a much healthier environment.

4

3

Instead of moving out of the house after having more children, the rooftop can provide new spaces for the family. The use can be made private, by demolishing the original staircase accessing the roof and instead building a private one from the house. Also, rooftops can be used for a family business such as an office or shared as a space to join the new economy by being an involved member. In this case, it might be possible to access this extension from another roof. Conclusion The collaborative idea is not new. Yet taking this idea to the next level requires the amalgamation of a web of connections that work smarter, not harder. When people get involved in shaping their built environment, it will make radical changes on how we think about cities and urban development. Making a huge impact on the psychological and economic side of how people perceive and value things around them. Rooftops are only one example of how to apply an alternative building process. Alexandria’s rooftops are a unique, sitespecific layer of mostly unused spaces, asking to be redesigned. Rooftops will give a possibility for a new urban layer above the city, taking pressure off the streets and providing a new way of living and sharing.


This diagram maps the essential changes in the building process, in relation to nature, humans and economy.The range of possibilities are endless and wild. A set of essential activities are proposed as a startup (building - energy production - gathering - growing food - selling stuff - kids playgrounds - eat/drink/chill).

5


Kar Yee Lui Hong Kong, China DIA graduate 2014



Home of Access – Shared Urban Living Kar Yee Lui keywords: sharing economies, buildings as part of the Internet of Things Hong Kong is one of the most high-dense cities in the world. Its artificial surfaces are being maximized within the limited footprint. Space becomes increasingly more valuable and the most sought after asset in the city. Over the past decade, an informal market has formed in the property market in Hong Kong, the subdivided flat has emerged as a result of both the market and the government being unable to respond to housing demands. Proper apartments on the market are not affordable, while the supply of the public housing is unable to fulfil the demand from the public. The current housing situation means that 170,000 people are living in a space of 69 sq. feet on average, whilst more than 230,000 await public dwellings. As the population is increasing, the pressure on housing is getting higher. People are resilient to the urban life style - they either move far from the city centre or live in the subdivided space which could be as small as a closet. The public transportation network in Hong Kong has been continually developed over the last century. In terms of geography, it actually makes this city highly accessible. People are expecting shorter and shorter times on transportation, sometimes settling for no less than walking distance. They sacrifice their home space in exchange for higher accessibility to the city. Here is the opportunity to make use of the concept of a shared urban space. As suggested by Jeremy Rifkin, we are now in the age of access. Our lives are about a paid-for experience. People pay for short term access instead of possession - the emergence of sharing economies. The same idea could be applied to the utilization of space in the city. Some of our living spaces can be shared with others that we need access to only periodically. We not only share the living space but also the living experience.

220

The idea of sharing demands a social network as a certain level of trust is required. Similar to when Hong Kong was still a developing city, a village community was the major scale of social group. People tended to have closer relationship and were more willing to share their property with one another.

Today, the market economy is a giant magnet that keeps the idea of sharing away from our daily lives. The sense of community has faded. With the birth of home of access, the sharing culture is reintroduced and this time around, promoted by the market economy. 香港是全球人口密度最高的城市之一,空間是 這城市最稀有的資源。過去十年間,隨著人口 的不斷增加,對住屋的需求也越來越高。無論 是市場或政府都未能對住屋的需求作出有效的 回應,於是劏房 –這種非法的地產市場蓬勃地 發展起來。為了迎合這個城市的生活模式,人 們只能在時間和空間之中任擇其一。你可以選 擇遠離城市中心但享用較大的居住空間;或是 住在市中心裡的小房間。然而選擇遠離市中心 的人們,依然期待能夠短時間內進入市中心, 為了讓人們可以更容易地享受城市的生活,所 以我們正在推動城市空間共享的概念。讓人們 付出更少的金錢去享用城市的空間 根據傑里米•里夫金,我們現正處於一個共享 的年代,人們不再擁有,而是透過共享的網 絡,以降低所需付出的成本。同樣的概念可以 應用於城市空間的使用,我們一些非頻繁使用 的生活空間是可以與他人共享的。在這樣的概 念上,我們分享的不僅是生活空間,還包括生 活經驗。然而,在建立這個共享網絡的同時, 我們還需要建立相當的信任。 當香港仍然是一個發展中城市的時候,人們往 往有較密切的關係,也更願意與別人分享自己 擁有的。如今,香港已成為一個發展完全的城 市,人們相對地會渴望擁有更多的私密的空 間。這個共享的概念是容許人們在共享的時 候,仍然擁有相當高的私隱。 香港是一個資本主義的社會,在過去的幾十年 中分享的概念已於我們的日常生活中漸漸減 弱。社區的意識也逐步淡出。但隨著共享生活 空間概念的誕生,共享文化得以再次被提升。


It is a must to sacrifice either space or time for the sake of city life.

Typical apartment prototype at the city edge

New apartment prototype at the city centre

221


Step 1 - Cut along the dotted line

LIVING

Typical Apartment prototype at the city edge

Cooking COOKING

LIVING

Living

COOKING SLEEP + STUDY + BATH

SLEEP + STUDY + BATH

222

Sleep, study, bath


Step 2 - Compress the basic components of study + bedroom + bathroom

Sleep, study, bath

New apartment prototype at the city centre

223


Step 3 - Scatter the kitchen and the living room into the city and share the spaces with others. Get Access to it when you need it.

LIVING

COOKING

LIVING

Cooking

Sleep, SLEEP Study, + STUDY +Bath BATH

Living

Sleep, SLEEP Study, + STUDY +Bath BATH

Living

224

COOKING

LIVING

COOKING

Sleep, SLEEP Study, + STUDY +Bath BATH

Cooking


1. Go get registered online

2. Be a member of our network

3. Here you got the key for access

4. Book your time slot now!

5. Go enjoy the private living space

Website of social network Tom's Urban Home. http://tomsurbanhome.com

225


Due to the birth of Tom‘s Kitchen and Tom‘s Lounge in the city, Tom no longer needs a typical home. His home can be compressed into a minimal size, thus a tiny residential tower is created in the market.

226


Single room

Double room

227


Flat c, 17/f, Hon Way mansion, 11 Hoi Wwan street, Quarry Bay

228


From residential apartment to secret kitchen

Transform the existing apartment into a kitchen.

existing apartment layout

private kitchen cooking for your loved ones

proposed kitchen layout

reading corner get some cooking inspiration tv / movie no way to miss the football match!! dining area bon appetit! Enjoy the meal with the loved ones!

229


21/F, Dragon View house, 6-16 Hoi Tai street, Quarry Bay

230


From rooftop of residential building to rooftop kitchen

Four different sizes of kitchen box

231


Unit 05, 15/f, Pakpolee commercial centre, 1a - 1k Sai Yeung Choi street South, Mong Kok, Kowloon

232


From commercial office unit to play + work

Work In The Daytime

Movie Night

move the cabinet for more party space

Day a private workspace for you working with your colleague and meeting your clients Night dining and party all the night!

Hangers keep your personal stuff on the wall; you can enjoy more space in this room

233


13/F, King Yip factory building, 59 King Yip street, Kwun Tong, Kowloon

234


From factory to play & work space

Weekdays

Hot desk

BE OUR MEMBER! ENJOY THE NEW WORKING EXPERIENCE! Classical member: HK$ 599 per year Premium member: HK$ 999 per year (with a cabinet and a mail box)

DAYTIME

NIGHTTIME

HK$29 per hour

HK$19 per hour

(08:00 - 22:00)

(22:00 - 08:00)

HK$199 per day

HK$129 per night

HK$ 1,999 per month

HK$ 1,299 per month

LOCKER SERVICE: HK$ 10 per day

Holidays

Showcase

Party

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Henry McKenzie Melbourne, Australia DIA graduate 2015



The Internet of Architectural Things Henry McKenzie keywords: buildings as part of the Internet of Things It is unclear whether the rise of big data will usher in a new digital age of extreme productivity, near-free goods and services and the shrinking of capitalism (Rifkin), or, the prelude to a situation in which better technology in the long run means more unemployment and an eventual socialist backlash. (Lanier) Either way, it is coming. Data collection increased 400% in 2012. A billion pieces of content are shared daily on Facebook , and 90% of the world’s existing data has been generated in just the past 2 years. Whether the ones and zeroes that make up big data become the new natural resource that will be freely available to all whom wish to embrace and take full advantage of its possibilities, or, another commodity hoarded and vied for by corporations remains to be seen. With the coming of this before unseen amount of data, the role of the architect in a world of big data (online and physical) must be addressed. Will architecture be just another profession that falls victim to automation and smart machines, or, will it redefine itself and harness the possibilities and potentials big data presents? If the latter, can this new tool be used to address the problems currently plaguing not just architecture, but the whole design discipline and built environment? The research explores the notion of a built environment that is shaped and informed by the data generated by individuals and their contact with the architectural elements. I specifically looked at the social and physical implications of such an environment, whether they can address the problems presented above and what the architect’s role, if any, might be in such a datainfluenced environment. The first part of this document is composed of research relating to the internet of things and its contribution to big data. I explored how both these subjects might inform a physical space and how an architect might embrace such disciplines to complement their own design and analytical skills. 238

The Internet of Things The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to physical objects that are connected to a network, containing embedded technology to communicate and sense or interact with their internal states or the external environment. So, these ‘things’ are contributing to the data pool. But just how much? Information technology research and advisory firm, Gartner predict that the ‘things,’ will soon outstrip smartphones, tablets and PCs: “The growth in IoT will far exceed that of other connected devices. By 2020, the number of smartphones tablets and PCs in use will reach about 7.3 billion units,“ said Peter Middleton, research director at Gartner. “In contrast, the IoT will have expanded at a much faster rate, resulting in a population of about 26 billion units at that time.“ The same report, identifies four main components that encompass the IoT: Hardware (the things themselves) Embedded software Communications services Information services associated with the things A thing, in the Internet of Things, can be a person with a heart monitor implant, a farm animal with a biochip transponder, an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tire pressure is low or any other natural or man-made object that can be assigned an IP address and provided with the ability to transfer data over a network. The small electronic device, a computation component that is attached to a physical thing, bridges the gap between the physical world and the information world.” The openness and accessibility of data is paramount to any system that might support the Internet of Things. Before the term Internet of Things was first coined by Kevin Ashton in the context of supply chain management, researcher, Mark Weisser was already exploring what he called 'ubiquitous computing,' the idea of embedding technology into the background of everyday life, a computing that “does not live on a personal device of any sort, but is in the woodwork everywhere." He described


"Desktop machines per se would largely disappear, as the tiny, cheap microprocessors that powered them faded into the built environment...Computation would flourish, becoming intimately intertwined with the stuff of everyday life... Ubiquitous meant not merely in ‘every place,‘ but also in every thing." - Adam Greenfield


in the 1980s an environment in which "the physical world is richly and invisibly interwoven with sensors, actuators, displays, and computational elements, embedded seamlessly in the everyday objects of our lives, and connected through a continuous network."

oak to be harvested and new trees planted? What if these trees had sensors of their own, reporting soil erosion and quality to the college’s groundskeepers. What if…?

In the ‘invisible computer,’ Norman argues that a truly human-centred design would explode the computer’s many functions into a quiet, invisible, unobtrusive “array of networked objects scattered throughout the home: simple, single-purpose information appliances in the forms of shoes, bookshelves, even teddy bears.” The global network will no longer be fed simply by keyboards, microphones and cameras.

The Internet of Architectural Things (IoAT)

A lot of ‘what ifs’ emerge when we consider the implications of a connected network, but perhaps the question is far more complex, Adam Greenfield examined Weisser’s writing, and we we should be asking is: “who is out of commenting that what Weiser was describing a job?” would be nothing less than computing I will leave the Internet of Things with a without computers. In his telling, desktop quote from Jeremy Rifkin. He believes that machines per se would largely disappear, the ‘third industrial revolution’ will reverse as the tiny, cheap microprocessors the process of market exchange and mark that powered them faded into the built the beginning of a new social and economic environment. But computation would model. flourish, becoming intimately intertwined with the stuff of everyday life. Ubiquitous “The Internet of Things will connect meant not merely in ‘every place,‘ but also in everything with everyone in an integrated every thing.’ global network, big data transformed into predictive algorithms, programmed Greenfield uses the term ‘everyware‘ to into automated systems to improve describe the phenomenon of computing thermodynamic efficiencies, dramatically leaving the desktop and embedding itself into increase productivity and reduce the everyday life. Everyware, he says will appear marginal cost of producing and delivering a in many different contexts and take a wide full range of goods and services to near zero variety of forms, but it will affect almost every across the entire economy.” one of us, whether we are aware of it or not.

In his series, ‘How Buildings Learn,’ Stewart Brand tells the charming story of new college, Oxford. In the great dining hall, the magnificent oak beams that had stood for years were found to be full of beetles. There was great dismay as these beams were 2 feet square and 40 feet long, it would be near impossible to find beams of the same calibre. Apparently, there was a college ‘forester,’ whom was able to explain, that naturally, the college had planted oaks when the school had been built, for just this occasion. The oak-notion had been passed from forester to forester for 500 years.

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The legitimacy of the story is unknown, but for argument’s sake, let us imagine that it is true, and while we are at it, let us imagine that IoT like technology had existed at the time. What if there were a sensor alerting the appropriate people of beetles in the oak? What if x amount of beetles triggered a chain reaction that caused the existing

Rem Koolhaas, at the 2014 architecture biennale exclaimed that “as a substitute for the French revolution’s l”iberteté, égalité, fraternité, it has adopted a new universal trinity: comfort, security, sustainability. Sustainability

Security

Comfort

This new trinity is about to impose an inescapable and irreversible dictat on every domain, and architecture has embraced it with masochistic enthusiasm. It is not hard to predict how radically this trinity will destroy our discipline in a wave of faux conscience, sweeping with it all anterior practices of architecture, and with it, the evidence that generations of smart rulers, artists, architects, clients, and individual craftsmen had understood these ‘new’ urgencies all along…


The digital is the enabler of the new trinity… and we are only beginning to see how it will reshape and redefine the elements of architecture.” Each element has data associated with it, directly observable or measurable, things like weight and dimensions. They also have data like their date of manufacture or construction, a history of their materials, their cost etc. But how will elements be shaped when they are not only collecting data (input) but using that data to inform how we use the built environment (output). Sensors The following section will introduce a number of identified sensors which may lend themselves to the built environment.

them trustworthy; now an increasing number of them collect information.” What happens when we apply new ‘attributes‘ to Koolhaas’ identified elements - an Internet of Architecture Things? How does the virtual identity of an element respond to its physical? What real life consequences does the virtual identity represent? The identified sensors can be broken into the following attribute groups: Acoustic - acoustic/audio changes within an environment both in and outside human hearing. Biological - biological changes are those that are measured directly from the people who use and are present in that built environment. Environmental - monitors for small changes in the air and atmosphere, these include particle, air quality and temperature sensors. Optical - measures and monitors visual changes in the built environment. Position - sensors that measure movement, distance, orientation and location of objects, elements and people and their physical relationship with one another in a greater network.

Acoustic

Position

Biological

Optical

Environmental What data the object chooses to record depends on the sensors that are embedded. Each sensor has the potential to add different attributes to an architecture element, its physical properties and fundamental purpose will remain largely the same, doors will still open, walls will still provide shelter from the weather, but the data that is collected will likely change the way we interact with our built environment. In 2014, the same year he directed the Architecture biennale, Koolhaas released his book ‘elements.’ "Where initially we wanted to reveal the history of each element’s evolution and speculate about their ‘future,’ we began to realise half way we were documenting an invisible transformation. Elements have been mute for thousands of years. That made

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Sound - vibrations that travel through the air or other medium and can be heard when they reach a person’s or animal’s ear. Sound sensors are used to measure noise levels across a range of frequencies. Sound sensors can be used to activate security measures, for example, if elements register a sound such as glass breaking, an alarm could be triggered.

EEG - a test that detects electrical activity in the brain using electrodes. EEGs are used to map the brain activity of an individual to gauge comfort, mood and responses to the environment. Impulse responses to changes in the surrounding can be recorded and used to improve the environmental conditions according to individual user preferences.

...HEY

...HO

LET’S GO

Speech - the sound produced by the vocal organs of a vertebrate, especially a human. Voice commands are used to instruct elements to perform a certain task or to initiate certain events. Voice recognition allows preferences to be recorded for multiple users.

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Heart rate - the number of heartbeats per unit of time, usually per minute. Heart rate monitors are used to measure the heart rate of individuals, to help identify comfort levels and also potential health risks. If an individual experiences heart problems, the emergency services can be alerted immediately.


Air quality - the degree to which air in a particular place is pollution-free. Air quality sensors sample the air regularly to analyse pollution content i.e., dust, pollen, gas. The sensors trigger the extraction of pollutants to improve air quality and user comfort. The sensors can alert the user or emergency services in a case where the level of pollutant is dangerous.

Particles - a minute portion of matter. Particle detectors are used to detect, track and/or identify high energy particles, such as those produced by nuclear decay or cosmic radiation. In unsafe conditions, sensors can alert people in the surrounding area to evacuate and alert the emergency services immediately.

Flame - a hot glowing body of ignited gas that is generated by something on fire. Flame sensors are used to detect and respond to the presence of a flame or fire. When a flame or fire is detected, the sensor can trigger various responses, in the form of an alarm, a sprinkler system or deactivation of a fuel line. A flame detector can often respond faster and more accurately than a smoke or heat detector, enabling immediate evacuation of an affected area.

Smoke - a visible suspension of carbon or other particles in air, typically one emitted from a burning substance. Smoke detectors analyse the air for smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. The sensors activate automatic opening vents to extract the smoke from the building. When smoke is detected, an audible or visual alarm is triggered and the emergency services are alerted.

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Temperature - a measure of the average kinetic energy of atoms or molecules in a system. Temperature sensors are used to monitor both the ambient temperature of a space and the temperature of individuals within that space. The sensors can trigger temperature adjustments for the whole space or local to the user, to improve user comfort levels.

Wind - the perceptible natural movement of the air, especially in the form of a current of air blowing from a particular direction. Wind meters are used to measure wind speed and direction over a certain area. If high levels of wind are detected, protection measures are triggered to improve the comfort of an environment. During extreme levels of wind, people may be instructed to evacuate or emergency services may be alerted.

Water - Moisture or water sensors are used to monitor the moisture content of both natural and built elements. The sensors can be used to trigger responses to improve user comfort or safety. In natural environments, high levels or water detection can trigger a flood warning. In the built environment, early water detection can prevent water damage to infrastructure.

Brightness - the effect or sensation by means of which an observer is able to distinguish differences in luminance. Light sensors are used to monitor and adjust the brightness of a space. An optimum level of illuminance can be achieved to improve user comfort or to enhance the experience of a space, for example, the lighting in a gallery adjusted to consider the level of natural daylighting.


Camera - a device for recording visual images in the form of photographs, film, or video signals. Cameras are incorporated into elements, enabling both still images and video recordings to be captured at all times. These images and recordings can be relayed instantly to other elements which are responsible for adjusting the environment, either to enhance user comfort or to improve security.

Bluetooth -a wireless technology for exchanging data over short distances. Most Internet of Things devices will have a sensor like bluetooth to provide the link between objects, people, elements and the data server (usually the cloud) . Bluetooth (or wifi/ cellular) provides the link between objects and is what connects the built environment to the internet.

Barcode - a machine-readable code in the form of numbers widths, printed on a commodity and used especially for stock control. Barcodes are used to scan items as they pass from one threshold to another i.e., doors, corridors, windows. The use of possessions is recorded and their locations tracked. A low stock item is replenished or redistributed accordingly.

Location - a particular place or position where something is or where something is occurring. Position sensors are used to record the location of people and objects. Sensors are able to track both individual’s movements and place-specific events, enabling the surrounding environment to alter or suit the preferences of each individual and of each event.

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Motion- the act or process of changing position or place. Motion sensors are used to detect and analyse either the type of movement a person makes within a space or the movement of a person through a space. Motion can be relayed onto other objects and inform how these objects operate, for example, a wall measuring the motion of someone when they awake triggering the lights to switch on.

Proximity - nearness in space, time, or relationship. Proximity sensors use infrared to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. Elements are able to detect the distance between themselves, other elements and individuals. When certain proximity is recorded between two elements or an element and an individual, the element is triggered to respond with an action.

Pressure -the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object. Pressure sensors can be embedded into the physical environment in the likes of doors or floors or any element that experiences force. It can be used to gauge the position of people on floors to aid in way finding or to monitor if someone were to fall to the floor in an accident. Sensors can be used to trigger responses to improve user comfort or safety. In natural environments, high levels or water detection can trigger a flood warning. In the built environment, early water detection can prevent water damage to infrastructure.

RFID - the wireless use of electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects. RFID tags are used in a similar manner to barcodes, to record and track the usage and locations of possessions. Unlike a barcode, the tag contains electronically stored information, which can be transmitted to the reader from remote sites, offering greater flexibility of use.


Time -the indefinite continued progress of existence and events, in the past, present and future. Time is a ‘broad’ sensor. All sensors will record time, as well as respond to time. Time sensors used to monitor the sequence in which elements are used allows elements to anticipate their use, creating a highly responsive built environment.

Touch - the physiological sense by which external objects or forces are perceived through contact with the body. Touch sensors are used to operate elements within the built environment. Different types of touch motion i.e, tap, swipe, push trigger different actions. Touch recognition allows preferences to be recorded for multiple users.

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Security & Comfort

Camera

Bluetooth

Touch

Dozens of companies and start ups are marketing their door locks as the new means of convenience and security. They generally have one or more of the following sensors embedded. A bluetooth or proximity sensor that sends alerts to your phone when someone enters or leaves your home. A camera sensor that can recognise yourself or your guests and perhaps a touch sensor if fingerprint technology is embedded. The Internet of Things and its connected elements pose some interesting questions for the built environment and how we interact and move through it:

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What happens when doors gain more sensors? What happens when every door in every workplace, classroom, bedroom and toilet acts as a ‘smart door?’

What about when other architectural elements have sensors embedded into them and are able to pass data to one another in the name of security, comfort and sustainability? Who owns the data that is being generated and stored in the cloud? Is it the users who generate the data, the companies that provide the product or infrastructure? Or perhaps a government organisation?


Security & Comfort

RFID tag

A California based start up, Incom implemented a program they call 'Inclass.' Its aim was to cut down the time it takes a teacher to take the class roll. It not only produced a tally of students entering a classroom, but also, by wearing RFID tags the identity of each student was recorded as they crossed the threshold, much like a digital passport. The program lasted less than a month when parents objected due to privacy concerns.

What’s more, if the rise in digital technology continues, doors will likely not rely on RFID tags, and may instead identify a person based on their biological identity.

There are clearly issues of data ownership and access when doors and thresholds are monitoring who cross them and although they might help to maximise security and comfort, are the privacy concerns too great? 249


Security

RFID tag

There is an ongoing debate about online security and privacy. Who has the right to access the websites you visited or the emails you have sent? Will the digital built environment be subject to the same debate. Who has the right to access your physically generated data? Let's say, years ago, a certain friend spent a large amount of time at your flat hanging out. He was always a little unique and impressionable. Five years later you learn that he has been deeply involved in a radical left wing organisation that has been involved in criminal activity. The police are looking for those he used to associate with in his university days. Your name pops up as he was a frequent visitor at your place. 250


Security and Comfort

Motion

Proximity

Let’s imagine the same door, but instead of RFID scanning people’s identity, we swap it for a simple motion or proximity scanner, i.e. A sensor that simply counts the number of people in a room, rather than their identity. There is valuable information to gained by simply knowing how many people enter a space. It could be used to ensure the a safe occupancy in a building or room, a gallery could use it to know which exhibits are most popular, retail spaces could track which stores a performing well or perhaps even where they are losing sales.

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Security

Motion

Proximity

Smoke

Perhaps its greatest potential is in the use of an emergency. Let's say an element has sensed that their is a fire in the building. Perhaps it can tell all exit door to immediately fly open whilst closing all windows to stop the spread of fire. But more importantly, it can alert rescue services where the fire is exactly, and how many people are in particular rooms, allowing them to be targeted first.

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Conclusion Comfort & Sustainability

Barcode

RFID tag

For added convenience, a door has a seamless barcode or RFID scanner embedded. Allowing you to not only track the people entering your home, but also the items you have purchased. Perhaps it can tell where the item was purchased from and for how much. It might help you to be able to track your spending habits and balance your budget, or inform you of products that are being wasted or take an inventory of the items you own. You could compare your spending with that of the city’s average or even someone living below the poverty line to help inform your own consumption habits.

But is a completely efficient, optimised environment one that we wish to design for and live in? Dan Hill might put it best: “We don‘t make cities to be efficient, we make cities for culture, commerce, community - all of which are very inefficient“ By continuously striving for absolute efficiency and tweaking and perfecting the building algorithm based on the continuously improving sensors and data that we collect, do we risk cookie cutter designs? Will our cities lose their sense of identity? The built environment output will depend on who holds the data. Will it go to the companies that provide the services and infrastructure? The Government in the name of security? Or will it be openly available to all those who wish to use it? Like any technology, or any data for that matter, it can be used to enrich our experiences or it can be used to suppress. Regardless, the internet has moving away from our desktops, into our phones and tablets and its next stop is into the built environment.

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Sun Ke Beijing, China DIA graduate 2010



Designing China – A Creative Leap Forward Sun Ke keywords: the Internet of Things ‘A Creative Leap Forward‘ is my thesis project from 2010. During these 5 years the Internet of Things (IoT) has greatly developed in all aspects of human life. For instance, from closed circuit television to wearable smart devices, from Google satellite maps to street view and interior maps, from smart office to smart home.

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artists like Ai Weiwei (艾未未) who provided some of his architectural work, Wu Yuren (吴玉仁) provided some his art work (also I made an interview with him). Artists Longping (龙平), also a graphic designer, provided access to his project and completed an interview. I have also completed an e-mail interview with Internet professionals Hu Yong (胡泳), professor of journalism The most astonished development is not in & communication at the Institute of public sphere, but private sphere. Massive Peking University, and some Beijing based media and web2.0 allows not only things to musicians such as Re-tros (重塑雕像的权利) connect with each other, but also people. Zhang Miao (music producer) Wu Hongfei ( While we used to imagine a smart city, we 吴虹飞)(musician, writer). I have interviewed finally began to create smart citizen. writer Miao Wei(苗炜), and cultural-space In my thesis, I start with analysing two forces organizer Ucca. I also made contact with in social life: the force to block/close and the professionals who focus on China related issues, such as Prof. Dr. Thomas Heberer, force to connect/internet. I have chosen the the director of politics and East Asia research great firewall as one force, and the cultural centre of Duisburg Essen University, and space/cyber space as another. Ding Xueliang (丁学良), professor of sociology 《創新躍進》是筆者自二〇一〇年之畢業論 and politics at the Hong Kong University of 題。然五年以來,物聯網在人類生活之各個方 Science and Technology. 面均有巨大發展。例:從閉路監控系統發展至 可穿戴智能設備、從谷歌地圖至街景內景、從 The list would be longer and cover more 智能辦公至智能家居。 people, not only professionals, but also producers and consumers of creative 而物聯網之最驚人發展,不在公共領域,而 在私人領域。大眾媒體和web2.0不僅使“物- products, organizers of creative events and those in the business of connecting creative 物”互聯,亦使“人-人”互聯。人們之設 想,本是智慧“城市”,最終所創造的,卻是 people. 智慧“公民”。 The great firewall (GFW) 在本論文中,我以分析社會生活中的兩種“ 力”為始:一種是“閉”、“鎖”的力量;一 The golden shield project, often referred 種是“開”、“聯”的力量。前者我選網絡長 to as the ‘great firewall of China’, is a 城為案、後者我取文化空間、賽博空間為例。 censorship and surveillance project operated by the ministry of public security (MPS) 在此書中,筆者分析,因漢族獨生子女政策、 division of the government of China. The 至二〇三五年,中國(PRC)將成為老齡化 project started in 1998 and began operations 國家。屆 in November 2003. 時國家中年、中產階層乃今日所稱之“八零、 九零”一代,此即筆者一代,即如歐美之“六 The existence of the GFW has never been noticed via national media and its purpose 八”一代。 remained unknown. Its sole focus is to 推想中國之未來,即推想本人之未來。寧卿 prevent Internet users in China’s mainland 言:藝術家社區展現了社會價值、建築學為我 accessing services from abroad. It operates 們從賽博空間和文化空間所取之知識提供了實 on a blacklist system. It has blocked 踐領域、房地產開發市場則提供了創新、創意 Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot, Youtube, 型城市經濟的應用領域。 Dropbox, Wordpress, Google, etc. It also has targeted Internet services such as BBC news, During the thesis semester, I have invited some people to participate, architects like Yo Wikipedia and Flickr. “Crossing“ the GFW is technically not illegal, as some professions Ho Chang (张永和), Francesco Gatti, Wang argue they need access to those services. It Yun (王昀), they provided essays on Chinese is, however, considered a grey area. city development and cultural space, as well as their projects from practice. An interview was conducted with Wang Yun. They were


ECTING

https://www.techinasia.com/smartphone-usage-in-China-2013-infographic/ Social & Communication Photos & Video Tools & Sharing

News & Information

Blocked/ inaccessible Partially blocked/ unstable Available/ accessible

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_blocked_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China

45

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Today, the physical world is uploading faster than our mind world: global smart phone sales have risen from 172 million in 2009 to 1245 million by 2014. The smart phone has become the ultimate device of people's daily life. The development speed of both soft- and hardware of smart phones is now faster than the speed we learn how to use them.

On the other hand, as an architect, learning from the invisible forces that create and change the society is a way to be creative and constructive. In the age of the third wave, the architecture profession is meeting enormous changes that 20 century's architectural doctrines will never tell. The thesis was a giant leap forward for myself.

The reason I chose cultural spaces as a starting point is, on one hand, as a Chinese, I am concerned about the demolition of many artist districts in 2009. Theoretically, an artist district is a new type of cultural space. It has the value and potential for creating an innovative area within the city. Android 6.8

Android 1,004.68

Ios 24.89

Ios 191.43

Rim 34.35

Rim 7.91

Symbian 80.88

Microsoft 35.13

Microsoft 15.03

Other 5.75

Other 10.43 172,380,000

Ă—7.22 In 5 years

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Global smartphone sales by operating system

1244,900,000


When a cyber-China exists beyond the old China... What will happen, when in 2012 half of China is online? What will happen, when in 2012 half nation’s population are connected with each other? As I said, it is not a matter of what the information is, it is a matter of what the media is...

CYBER-SPACES = CHINA-SPACES

China total population and internet population, in millions

WHEN A CYBER-CHINA EXISTS BEYOND THE OLD CHINA... What will happen, when in 2012 half Chinese are online? What will happen, when in 2012 half nation’s population are connected with each other? As I said, this is no matter what the information is, this is only the matter what the media is...

http://www.cnnic.net.cn/

102

103

CYBER-SPACES = CHINA-SPACES China total population and internet population in millions http://www.cnnic.net.cn/

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Let’s caculate how many of them. Method 1: There are estimate 2754 Chinese twitter users in April, 2008 The search index of term “twitter” in China mainland by Google Insights shows a 25× increasing demand till 2010,

Twitter population by countries

Let’s calculate how many of them.

Now, we estimate the amount of Method 1 China twitter users There are an estimated 2754 Chinese twitter Twitter population users as of April, 2008. The search index ofby countries is 68925. Now, we estimate Let’s caculate how many of them. Method 1:

There are estimate 2754 Chinese twitter users in April, 2008 The search index of term “twitter” in China mainland by Google Insights shows a 25× increasing demand till 2010,

75% of themainland wall-crossers are inby needgoogle to use platterm "twitter" in China form as twitter the amount insights shows aof25× increasing demand Total active walltwitter till China 2010, now, weusers estimate the amount of is 68925. China twitter userscrosser is 68,925.population 75% of the conservatively wall-crossers are is in need to use platforms Total active wallsuch as twitter. Total 92 active 000.wall-crosser crosser population population is conservatively 92,000. is conservatively 92 000. 75% of the wall-crossers are in need to use platform as twitter

Source: http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=2163 Redesigned by Sun Ke

Source: http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=2163 Redesigned by Sun Ke

Let’s caculate how many of them. Method 2:

Search index by Google Insights

In 11, April, Chinese twitter user found Aoi Sola is on titter and begin to follow her, in the follo hours, more than 15 000 users followed her. Since she is one of the most famous Japanese adult video star in China and adult realvent products are forbidden in China mainland, we assume that in her creased followers from 10 to 16 April, male users between age 15 and 45 will follow her. (cau the age that interest in sex)

Source: Google Insights Redesigned by Sun Ke

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184

185

Method 2 On April 11th, a Chinese twitter user began following Aoi Sola, a famous, Japnese adult entertainer on twitter. In the following hours, more than 15,000 users had also "followed" Sola. Adult videos are banned in China mainland (though copies still available to download online), as such, we assume that her increase in followers over the next few days are male users between the ages of 15 and 45.

Source: http://www.kenengba.com/(blocked by GFW) Redesigned by Sun Ke

Gender/ age rate of twitter users

to this amount and since 92% twitter users are male, we caculated that According to this amount (andAccording since 92% twitter users are male) we calculated that the the total amount of active Chinese er user found Aoi Sola is on titter and begin to follow her, in the following total amount of active Chinese twitter users users followed her. is 46 000 ost famous Japanese adult video star are about 46,000. Then we get twitter the amountuser of nt products are forbidden in China mainland, we assume that in her inThen we get the wall-crosser to 16 April, male users between age 15 and 45the will follow her. (cause this isis 61,500.

of them.

amount of the wall-crosser is 61 500

x)

Source: http://twittercounter.com/ Redesigned by Sun Ke

Amounts of twitter followers of aoi_sola 186

f twitter users

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er users

wers of aoi_sola

We need to be connected.

Why you guys are crossing the Great Firewall? 187

What do you do?

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Source: http://www.kenengba.com/(blocked by GFW) Redesigned by Sun Ke

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Search index of the term "cross the wall" in the most popular search engine http://baidu.com in China

Today, when we look back to the GFW, it has failed in an invisible way. It still exists, but its strategic goals have never been reached, i.e., blocking certain content. Its ambition to be a secret project has failed, the golden rule of information censorship is to never let the audience know that there is a censorship.

existence of the GFW is well known. People could bypass it by using some small Virtual Private Network (VPN) programs. 80% of people bypassing the GFW are in need of using Google’s services, and about 75% of them use twitter and Facebook.

The thesis mentioned web2.0 playing an During 2010, bypassing the great firewall in important role of connecting people, but mainland China was rare (but not hard). The I had not predicted that the smart device total number of Internet users who knowingly would play such a key role in this process. bypassed was only about 92,000. Today the

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Smart devices, urbanization, and nationalwide literacy makes China become an Internet of Things, or an Internet of Events (Internet of Citizens), which pushes the state to make changes. The IoT therefore promotes a continuous evolution. You can never build a wall in cyberspace because cyberspace is by nature a flow space. Cyberspace is a distributed system, which is based on its initial design goals: keep the information flow from being blocked, even if part of the system has been destroyed. The initial situation of cyberspace evolved to become a hybrid space, that is, a space that combines virtual information as well as physical things – the IoT. And the key of the system is that the terminal is not a PC, but people. The big future of IoT forces us to re-think the role of the architect. The thesis project tried to organize a book as a platform, named “Designed in China.” Creating such a platform is different from the tradition of the architectural profession. The classic role of the architect since the modern movement was one of a hero. In recent years the architect has become one that no longer controls large and standardized projects, but an organizer, like an editor or filmmaker, of a custom-made project.

Related Creative industries international trade as percentages of total World

Within the platform (as I conceived it), the architect plays the role of an editor. That is, he invites people to participate by providing their projects, essays, comments, research and dialogues on the topic of ‘Creative China’.

Actuall tioned

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3

3

2

In other words, architects are envisioned as creative producers, such as artists, engineers, writers, teachers, designers, sociologists, etc. By this collective work, the audience may find a scenario called “Creative China.”

2

2

1

1

Also, I tried to conceive and promote a future of China, beyond an economic development oriented state policies to citizen-oriented policies. Such project has been realised by the government-group, which started to promote from 'close the country' to 'connect the country.'

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China ma

Related Creative industries international trade as percentages of total World


CHINA IS GETTING BETTER 1978

2010

1991

1989

2002

1966

1981

2008 1998 1986

1995 1976

http://60.chinavisual.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/%E7%A9%BF%E5%86% 25 9B%E8%A3%85%E7%9A%84%E5%A5%B3%E7%BA%A2%E5%8D%AB%E5%8 5%B5.jpg http://www.chineseye.com/upload/upload_img/09-08/20090825060712587.jpg

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In the past 30 years, China was on its way from revolution to evolution, economically and psychologically. 40

CHINA IS GETTING WORSE

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CHINA IN 2040: 2040 年的中國: 計劃生育 人口紅利消失 化石能源枯竭 勞動密集型產業衰落 產業轉型迫切 礦業衰落 勞動人口減少 養老壓力升高 ...

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40YEARS

Source: United Nations Population Division (2004): World Population Prospects, 2004 27

I claimed, in the book, that China will be an aging country at 2035 (1 child policies). By that time, most of its middle-age and middleclass then will be those now called the citizens of 80s and 90s, it is my generation. Are we going to be the same generation as the '68 generation in the West? To speculate upon China’s future is to speculate upon my future. I claimed that the artists district presents a value of social capital. If this social capital will be destroyed in the physical world by the real estate market, it will find a new territory within cyberspace.

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About the Participants


About the Participants Omar Akl

Gunnar Hartmann

Omar Akl is an architect born in Cairo. He studied architectural engineering (BSc arch) at “Ainshams university”, he holds a master degree in architecture (MArch) from “Hochschule Anhalt”. In Cairo, he worked for several design firms; as well as, co-working at Megawra. His research fields are city growth and the housing market.

Gunnar Hartmann is a registered architect in Germany. He studied fine arts (BFA) at the University of Wisconsin, architecture (MArch) at Rice University, and cultural science (PHD) at the department of history and theory of culture at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Since 2001 he has taught in the United States, Switzerland, and Germany; among other things, as adjunct professor at the college of architecture at the University of Minnesota (2004), program director of the master’s course at the Chur Institute of Architecture in Switzerland (2005-2009) and guest professor at the Dessau Institute of Architecture in Germany (since 2007). His research fields are architecture, urban development, and urban health.

Cibi Coimbatore Balakrishnan Cibi Coimbatore Balakrishnan is a registered architect in India. He has done his undergraduate (BArch) from department of architecture, Anna university in the year 2004-2009. After working in S.P.A. Design, New Delhi for two years he pursued his master of architecture (MArch) in Dessau institute of architecture, Germany 2011 -2013. From 2013 – 2014 he practiced as an architect in invent architects, Chennai. Since 2014 he started teaching courses in bachelors and masters programme in various institutions, currently in department of architecture, Anna university, Chennai. His interest lies in the field of architecture, urban design and architectural studies.

Chukwuemeka Vincent Chukwuemeka studied architecture (BScArch) at imo state university in Nigeria, architecture (MA) at Anhalt university of applied sciences in Germany. He is currently enrolled in a dual international project management (MEng/MBA) program at university of applied sciences in Stuttgart, Germany and Liverpool John Moores University in United Kingdom. He has worked as an architectural entrepreneur in Nigeria (2008-2012). His interests are architecture, urban planning, and project development.

Ismail Elabd Ismail Elabd is a registered architect in Egypt. He studied architecture (BArch) in the Arab Academy for science & technology (2010) department of architecture & environmental design in Alexandria, Egypt. Served in the military (2011 - 2012) designing and building. Masters of arts in architecture (MA) from Dessau institute of architecture (DIA) in Germany (2015). Fields of interest : architecture, urban development, networks and digital fabrication. 266

Jovan Ivanovski Jovan Ivanovski is an architect from republic of Macedonia. He holds a diploma in architecture from the faculty of architecture in Skopje and a master of architecture from Anhalt university of applied sciences in Germany. He practiced architecture in offices in Switzerland and Germany. Since 2013 he holds a PHD in architecture from faculty of architecture - SS Cyril and Methodius university in Skopje, where he now works as an assistant professor of architectural design. In 2014 he curated the Macedonian pavilion at the 14th international architecture exhibition – la biennale di venezia. He is a co-founder of the informal architectural research group scars (studio for contemporary architecture Skopje).

Alfred Jacoby Alfred Jacoby is director of DIA at Anhalt University, Germany. He has a master's degree from Cambridge University in England, and an architecture degree from the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, the Federal Swiss Institute of Technology in Zurich. He maintains an architectural practice in Frankfurt am Main and is a member of Bund der Deutschen Architekten, the German association of architects. He has lectured in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, South America, Israel and China. He also was a 2007-2008 Ekdahl lecturer for Kansas State's College of Architecture, Planning and Design, where he has been named the Regnier Visiting Chair in 20082009.


Lars Lerup Lars Lerup, designer and writer, is a Professor of Architecture at Rice School of Architecture. He was Dean at RSA and William Ward Watkin Professor from 1993 to 2009. Previously, he taught for many years at the University of California at Berkeley. He has been a member of the DIA accreditation board. The Lars Lerup prize is annually given to the best first-year graduate student project at DIA. His books of note include “After the City” (2000, MIT Press), "Room" (1999, Menil Collection), “Planned Assaults” (1987, MIT Press), and “Building the Unfinished” (1977, SAGE). In 1995 he published the article "Stim and Dross: Rethinking the Metropolis" in Assemblage magazine, which delivered a radical way of thinking about the new American city. His most recent book “One Million Acres and No Zoning” was published in 2010. He is currently completing two book manuscripts, “The Life and Death of Objects” and “The Jungle & The City: and other stories.”

Kar Yee Lui Kar Yee Lui is a registered architect in Netherlands. She graduated from City University of Hong Kong with a bachelor degree of science in architectural studies. Before she studied master of arts in architecture at Hochschule Anhalt in Dessau, she used to working in Aedas Ltd and Benoy Ltd as an architectural graduate and architectural assistant.

José I. Loza José I. Loza is an architect from Quito, Ecuador. He studied economics in Ecuador, and architecture in Canada and Germany. José has worked in renowned architectural firms in Quito and Mexico city. He recently collaborated with the municipality of Quito in the elaboration of the city’s master plan 2015-2025. Currently he teaches design studio at Universidad de Las Americas, Quito, as an adjunt professor.

Henry McKenzie Henry McKenzie is an architect from Melbourne, Australia. He holds a Bachelor degree in architecture from Deakin University in Australia and a master of arts in architecture from Anhalt University of applied sciences in Germany. He has worked

as a teaching assistant at the faculty of architecture in Dessau and completed design internships in both Melbourne and Berlin. His interests lie in the Internet of Things and the obsolescence of architects.

Felicity Passmore Felicity Passmore studied architecture at Canterbury School of Architecture (BA) and Dessau Institute of Architecture (MA). She is working towards qualification as an architect in the U.K. Currently working at Hawkes Architecture, a progressive practice in southeast England integrating innovative technology and robust energy strategies in residential and public buildings.

Alison Pedder Alison Pedder is an Australian born architect and designer, and architect at Denton Corker Marshall in Melbourne, Australia. She holds a bachelor of interior architecture from Monash University (BA. Int Arch Hons.), Melbourne; a graduate diploma in design for the performing arts from the Victorian college of the arts - VCA (Grad. Dip. Design), Melbourne; and a masters of architecture from the Dessau Institute of Architecture - dia (MArch), Dessau, Germany. Alison has worked as an academic assistant to Prof. Peter Ruge (Peter Ruge Architekten), architect and interior architect in both Germany and Australia. In addition she has designed productions for several performing arts companies and Australian festivals.

Catalina Polini Catalina Polini is a registered architect in Costa Rica, currently working in Wolfsburg, Germany. She studied architecture (lic.) at the Veritas University in Costa Rica and architecture (MA) at the Dessau Institute of Architecture in Germany. Since 2009 she has worked in multidisciplinary architecture firms. Her research fields are architecture, social housing, urban development and theory.

Rangwan Sanitther Rangwan Sanitther is a registered architect living in Bangkok, Thailand. She completed her bachelors in architecture (BArch, 1st class honor) from Silpakorn University Bangkok and her masters of art in architecture from the Dessau Institute of Architecture Graduate School (DIA),

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Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany. She has been intently working on several residential and housing projects in Thailand since. Her versatility lies in her ability to build from brilliant ideas that are socially responsive and are relevant in the inequitable distribution of resources and design processes in the South Asian regions. She is in the process of setting up her own boutique design studio that aims at reaching out to people through strategic and sensitive design working on variable scales that follow a sensible and research based design flow.

Deepak Sankaranarayanan Deepak Sankaranarayanan is an architectural designer working in the Asia pacific region. He studied architecture at Anna University, India (BArch) and at DIA, Germany (MArch). A registered architect in India since 2010, he currently works with AECOM Singapore, and has previously secured pivotal design competition bids. He has also been involved in pioneering prototyping studies of prefabricated modular construction in Singapore. He has won architectural design competitions at academic and professional level which includes a Futurarc prize 2014 honourable citation. Extension of his master’s thesis in Germany was presented to Mayor of Chennai, India and is a part of City Corporation’s feasibility studies. He regularly contributes to architectural blogs, and forums. His core interests and competencies are architecture, cultural interpretation and urban design.

Aleksandra Shulevska Aleksandra Shulevska is an architect from Republic of Macedonia. She holds a bachelor degree in architecture from the faculty of architecture in Skopje, Macedonia and a master of arts in architecture from Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Germany. She has worked as a teaching assistant at the faculty of architecture in Skopje and as an intern in offices in Macedonia and China. In 2014 she was part of the Macedonian pavilion team at the 14th international architecture exhibition – la biennale di venezia. She is a member of the informal architectural research group scars (studio for contemporary architecture Skopje).

Kirk Sun

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Kirk Sun (孫寧卿) is a registered architect in P.R.China. He studied architecture (BFA) at the Qingdao technology university, architecture (MArch) at Dessau Institute of

Architecture. He works as an architect and writer in Beijing and Shenyang. Since 2009 became the organizer of architecture and urban organization the artifact. Since 2013 the columnist and guest researcher at Ifeng media urban channel. His current research fields are architecture, urbanism, and Chinese traditional culture.

Yananan Thongbai Yananan Thongbai is a registered architect in Bangkok. She studied architecture (BArch) at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. Since 2009, she started her profession as an architect in Bangkok before decided to continue her master degree (MArch) at Dessau Institute of Architecture in Germany. After her study, she works as a landscape architect in Berlin (since 2014). However, she also works as an architectural freelancer with a friend back home. Her field of work is from small scale architecture to urban master plans.



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Credits



Credits

Director DIA Prof. Alfred Jacoby, Dipl.Arch. ETH, MA Cantab

Studio Master Dr. phil. Gunnar Hartmann

Preface Prof. Dr. h.c. Lars Lerup

Students Omar Akl Cibi Coimbatore Balakrishnan Chukwuemeka Vincent Chukwuemeka Ismail Elabd Jovan Ivanovski Kar Yee Lui JosĂŠ I. Loza Henry McKenzie Felicity Passmore Alison Pedder Catalina Polini Rangwan Sanitther Deepak Sankaranarayanan Aleksandra Shulevska Kirk Sun Yananan Thongbai



Publisher DIA Architecture School Anhalt University Department 3 BauhausstraĂ&#x;e 5 06844 Dessau Fon +49(0)340 - 5197 1531 Fax +49(0)340 - 5197 1599 info@dia-architecture.de www.dia-architecture.de www.afg-hs-anhalt.de Editor Gunnar Hartmann Layout/Design Henry McKenzie Printing Solid Earth Print Production, Berlin Copyright The authors, photographers and designers ISBN 978-3-86011-098-0 Š 2015


DIA series Š 2015


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