Tools for design Mark Adam
2013-2014
concept
37%
28%
of this group is turkish
of the rotterdam population is of non-western origin
this makes it the second largest ethnic group in rotterdam
24.300
is the mean income of a native dutch household
16.100
is the mean income of a turkish household
that’s 1300 euro a month for four people
The city centre doesn’t reflect this multi-cultural identity. it is mostly filled with the same brandstores that can e seen in any other dutch city. one of the little places where this is different is the weekly market. this market is stacked with different identities, cultural groups and goods from all over the world, and all this can be offered really cheaply due to it’s typology WHILE THE IDEA’S OF A NEW MARKET HALL by mvrdv ARE UNDOUBTLY HONEST, THERE’S ALSO ANOTHER SIDE TO THE COIN: IT WILL ALSO MAKE IT MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE FOR MARKET RETAILERS TO RENT A SPACE. THE RISK BEING THAT IN THE END ONLY THE EXPENSIVE RETAILERS WILL STAY: IT IS WHAT IS CALLED GENTRIFICATION and when the income of non-western groups are regarded, it becomes clear that this can make a big difference in livelyhoods.
C and while turkish people are such a big part of the city, and have been so since the 1950’s. still, it is hardly recognizable in the built environment. in fact, only a few mosques remind us of this presence, and therefore become the subject of heated debate. why isn’t there an architectural response to this matter?
it is time to design a little istanbul in rotterdam.
vision & parti I want to react on the facts stated before. This design should offer an alternative to the big market hall by creating different small shops that could be offered for a low rent and squares that could function as small daily market spaces, trying to sustain livelyhoods. Just as important though, is it’s skin: While the outside of the meent is meant to be a mix between western and turkish influences, and create a vibrant, chaotic city feeling, the inside square will show a very different oriental side of the building. It is the turkish structure of the building that becomes visible here. Through this very opposite gestures, the building is starting not only a dialogue but also a debate with everyone who encounters it, and tries to make metaphorical the important questions that are so ambiguous about having both a dutch and a foreign identity: what is exactly structural? what is inside and what is outside? can both exist together? Politics become spatial, and explains once again that space has always been political.
the picture next to the text is of Istiklal Cadesi. It is one of the biggest shopping streets in Istanbul. A lot of things could spring to mind when one watches the picture: How crowded it is, why there is a tram driving through a shopping street, and whythis tram is so small in such a big city. But what I find fascinating about this picture in the context of this project, is that this street is so familiar with a typical Western shopping street. If the turkish flag in the background wouldn’t be there, it could have been Berlin, Vienna, or Paris. What it is definitely not is Rotterdam. Rotterdam lost this dense urban qualities with the bombing, and I absolutely think it was a big loss. This street feels alive through all it’s Venturian complexity and contradiction., whereas Rotterdam and the Meent area feels empty and planned. Therefore, I have used this image of the chaotic city as a source of inspiration for the outer skin of my buildings. the facades that are colored kaki in the part will be like this.
The chaotic city
This is another picture of Istanbul, and it depicts a totally different scene. Suddenly we see arches, trees, a smaller scale. We see detoriation, but it only makes it more beautifull. And what we don’t see, but what makes it even more compelling. this is a courtyard which is seperated by just one gate from Istiklak Cadesi. It is an old Han, which could be translated as a guesthouse or a tavern. Nomadic travellers of the silk-route would put their horses under the ground floor arches, while sleeping on the first floor. The courtyard in the middle often has a fountain and a few trees. Istanbul has many of them, and depleted of their old functions, nowadays the fuction very well as restaurant and neighbourhood squares in the crowded city. The shape of the han is the perfect typology for the courtyard of my building. It is archetypical with it’s arches, which offer a direct association with the orient. It is also offers a gradial difference between public and private.
The Han typology
elaboration
current situation
The placement of the urban volumes has been decided on many different factors. I want to create an intense piece of city centre that reminded of Istanbul. Therefore I’ve placed volumes so that instead of one big square there will be 3-4 small squares. The squares overlap eachother and so create strong centers. I took into account the current situation, the commercial functions that were already there and the different zones that already implicitly existed. Then it became apparent that the placement of volumes would make explicit a gradient of city life: from the crowded binnenrotte to the residential area at the other side of the water different atmospheres are created. Next to that I created small streets that almost remind of alleys, so that an idea of an old city- centre is evoked. Short sightlines make it possible to see what is around the corner but not what is around the next one. From the beginning a strong intention has been to adapt the barely used supply streets within the old blocks in my project. Because my volumes are places on the axis of these streets, there are strong sightlines within these streets when people walk on my squares. This increased visibility makes it much more feasible to start a small shop in one of these streets. The sun has played an important role: At different moments of the day different squares receive sunlight, so that some will be active in the morning, and others in the evening. Also the building height of the surrounding area is taken into account: the huge market square of the meent is closed off with an iconic 35m high gate building; the volumes between the Meent and the Stokviswater are 17 meters high, like the surrounding one’s, and the bathhouse at the other side of the water is only 12 meters high.
green\residential
ater
isw stokv
water shops
e centr
t meen et mark
bars high building
bars
sightline
current situation
respect current situation
gradient of city life
strong centers that overlap
short sightlines
connect back street
sun - may 1st - 9:00
sun - may 1st - 13:00
sun - may 1st - 17:00
The urban placement
new park new bathhouse
new water square
former supply street is activated
new square with small delicatesse and convenient stores new square with mainly bars Meent shopping street
new iconic gate building created covered public space. could be used for market stands Binnenrotte market square
urban plan
building height
A city is a place to live together. Not a monofunctional machine, but a place of contrast, difference and complexity. Instead of creating the same dwelling types in the buildings that are elaborated, I chose to plan a diverse array of dwelling types. Studio’s, maisonette’s and more conventional type’s of dwellings are all integrated into one plan. Also the size differ vastly: from 54m2 for the smalles appartment to 140m2 for the family homes. With this contrast, I want to make the building available for every generation: the elderly and young adults without children in the studio’s, families in the maisonettes or bigger appartments.
diverse city
organization
5 different dwelling types
54 m2 type A
108 m2 type B
72 m2 type C
120 m2 type D
140 m2 type E
commercial space on ground floor + partly on first floor
type A - studio 54 m2 two dwellings are further elaborated in isometrics, to give an idea how they could function. The theme within both dwellings is a gradial intensity of privacy. the service core -- containing toilet, bathroom, central heating, laundry facilities and storage -- is placed in the middle of the dwelling. effectively splitting up the dwelling in a front, middle and backhouse. in type A, the middle narrow space contains the kitchen and door to the service core. the other two rooms are both equal in size, making possible at least 3 different organizations, depending on personal preference but also allowing different cultural notions of privacy
type B - maisonette 108 m2 Type B is likewise equipped with the service core in the middle. but instead of the kitchen, stairs are leading to the floor above. Here the bedrooms are located. while the kitchen is located at the back of the house. Both houses are connected either with a roofgarden, or with a large walkway that also functions as a balcony. A bench is integrated in the facade and comes in handy to take off shoes before entering the house, a gesture that is appreciated in most cultures. at some of the dwellings a bay window is added to the facade at the back side. It has such a size that either a sofa or a desk can be placed inside.
type A
type A
type A
meent
type C
0
1 : 100
5m
quiet square in middle of the city at ground floor
collective roofgarden at first floor walkway / private outside space with bench least private space in dwelling
toilets \ kitchen
most private space in dwelling
shopping street Meent.
The plan of the third floor shows clearly the intentions to create a diverse place in the city. Although three of the four dwellings that are shown are exactly the same, it becomes clear that the use of interior spaces and placement of furniture can differ very much depending on personal or cultural preference. The gradient in the diagram shows the increasing amount of privacy from outside to inside. instead of creating contrasting spaces, I’ve aimed for a very gradual change from public to private.
plan of third floor
The facade at the perimeter of the block is designed by adapting the idea of earlier mentioned chaotic city. The windows seem to be placed randomly, although there is a strict 600mm grid involved. The apparent random placement of bay windows with corten steel cladding further increases the complexity and dynamic rythm of the facade. The same goes for the definition of the corners of both buildings: either a corner door and balconies or the curtain wall facade of the grand cafe with cantilever make these places recognizable in the urban fabric. Two different materials are used for the seperate buildings. Bricks at the building closest to the Meent, and a tile cladding at the other one. To give a small oriental hint to the facade, the balcony fences are made of welded steel in a checkerd pattern usually found in Turkey.
facade meent
The inner facade of the block is shaped by the arches derived from the Han typology. But instead of the usual heavy stone material that arches are made of, I’ve chosen to use Corten-steel instead, which is perforated to make it even more thin and permeable. Also the columns are laser-cutted with an oriental pattern. Through this counter-intuitive gesture, Although the arches are structural, I hope to indirectly evoke the question with people wether the obvious “oriental” element is in fact load-bearing or pure decorum. A methaporical question that can be easily adapted to people instead of buildings. The actual facade of the dwellings are made of wood, just like the walkways, the stairs and the paths of the communal garden. The ground floor of the inner side is cladded with the same material as the perimeter of the block: either tiles or stones. In the columns of this wall are made alcoves, which create seating spaces for two people: this way the wall becomes something to use. Another seating area is created around the tree in the middle of the square. This object at once splits the square in different centres, provides shadow and creates a space to relax.
facade iinner square
grand cafe
18400+ 17600+
14400+
11200+
8000+
4800+
3200+ 2000+
0000
section cut perspective
preparation
ANALYSIS VENETIA
tools for design 2013 -2014 Mark Adam week 2 - mass & space
FIRST DRAFTS
tools for design 2013 -2014 Mark Adam week 2 -mass & space
autumn\spring
9 a.m.
noon
5 p.m
noon
5 p.m
summer
9 a.m.
SUN STUDY
PLACEMENT VOLUMES CIRCULATION
ANALYSIS GROTE MARKT DEN HAAG
URBAN PROPOSAL
1st plan DWELLINGS
SECTION CUT PERSPECTIVE WEEK 5
FACADES WEEK 5
ANALYSIS DUDOK DEN HAAG
KITCHEN RESTAURANT
TOILET M
BAR
CAFE DARK
TOILET F
CAFE LIGHT
URBAN ELEMENTS: THE ARCH
GROUND FLOOR & GRAND CAFE
ALTERNATIVES DWELLINGS
+4800 +3200
P=0
+1900
-1900
ground floor
1ST ALTERNATIVE GRAND CAFE
STORYBOARD OF DESIGN
POSTER WEEK 10