> THESIS TOPIC MARKET < 23.11.2010
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MASTER of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS FALL SEMESTER
INTRODUCTORY
CORE COURSES
SPRING SEMESTER
> RELEVANT PRACTICE & RESEARCH METHODS
> RELEVANT PRACTICE & STUDY TRIP
> HUMAN SETTLEMENTS IN DEVELOPMENT
> CRITICAL REVIEW OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICIES & PLANNING
> MODERNITY & THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CITY
> STRATEGIC SPATIAL PLANNING
> THEORY & PRACTICE OF URBANISM SINCE 1945 > URBAN STUDIES I > ECONOMIC & SUSTAINABILITY ASPECTS OF ARCHITECTURAL & URBAN DESIGN
OPTIONAL COURSES
>…
DESIGN STUDIO
> CONCEPTS & ANALYSIS > URBANISM > STRATEGIC SPATIAL PLANNING
MASTER THESIS
>…
> URBAN DESIGN & PLANNING : LANDSCAPE/ INFRASTRUCTURE URBANISM [12] > DESIGN THESIS + PAPER [15] > RESEARCH THESIS [18]
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MASTER of URBANISM & STRATEGIC PLANNING FALL SEMESTER
CORE COURSES
SPRING SEMESTER
> RELEVANT PRACTICE & RESEARCH METHODS > THEORY & PRACTICE OF URBANISM SINCE 1945
> STRATEGIC SPATIAL PLANNING
> PROJECT DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT
> CRITICAL REVIEW OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICIES & PLANNING
> LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
> RELEVANT PRACTICE & STUDY TRIP
> URBAN DESIGN STRATEGIES
DESIGN STUDIO
OPTIONAL COURSES MASTER THESIS
> URBANISM > STRATEGIC SPATIAL PLANNING
>… >…
> URBAN DESIGN & PLANNING: LANDSCAPE/ INFRASTRUCTURE URBANISM
>… >… > RESEARCH PAPER [24] > FINAL PROJECT [24]
> THESIS TOPIC MARKET < > Planning + Development > Frank Moulaert > Jan Schreurs > Loris Servillo > Barbara van Dyck
Urbanism + Architecture < Hilde Heynen < André Loeckx < Bruno De Meulder < Kelly Shannon < Lieven De Cauter < Marcel Smets < Michael Ryckwaert < Alexander D’Hooge <
> THESIS TOPIC MARKET < > Planning + Development > Frank Moulaert > Jan Schreurs > Loris Servillo > Barbara van Dyck > Pieter van den Broeck > Annette Kuhk
> Planning + Development
Multi-level governance in public action Frank Moulaert
Nature-culture nexus in sustainable development Frank Moulaert
Criticising relational geography from a scalar point of view Frank Moulaert
Operationalising integrated sustainable development in SSP Frank Moulaert
> Planning + Development
The power of quality – The quality of power Jan Schreurs Spatial quality is of central concern for planning and design disciplines. Quality is a very powerful ‘tool’ in strategic development projects. Defining, producing and managing spatial quality is however beyond planner’s and designer’s control. Powerful interest groups are at the heart of these matters. A primary research question therefore is: which actors define spatial quality? how (in which terms, within which processes)? and why so (with which aims or groups in mind)? A second research question is: how then can these terms be shared to such an extent that a common understanding is created? Research will be done by exploring several case-studies into: relevant actors, the ‘language’ they use, the discourses created within the process of argumentation, the resulting project definition.
> Planning + Development
Networks and nodes for resilience Jan Schreurs Resilient cities is â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for the time being â&#x20AC;&#x201C; more buz than business. As a remedy against uncertainty and risk, it is a strong concept, but an underdeveloped tool. In times of unseen social and economic transformations and of threatening climate change, resilience should be explored in its operational dimensions. From literature on complex systems, there is evidence that networks and nodes play a crucial role. A major research question is: which roles do (multiple) networks and (diversified) nodes play in making a region/city/city quarter/neighbourhood resilient? Research will be done in a comparative historical study of two cases: one which proved to be resilient to, and one that did not withstand some dramatic social, economic and/or environmental transformations.
> Planning + Development
Attractiveness of place and mobilization of assests: reconfiguration strategies for territories investing in quality and cohesion Loris Servillo The thesis focuses on the capacity of some regions to mobilize their own resources to enhance their quality and their attractiveness, which is a concept that refers to the capacity to attract new residents (or migrants), visitors, footloose entrepreneurial activity and investment and to retain (and potentially develop) these mobile communities and assets. The attractiveness of places (measured as flows and net changes in population) is related to an aggregate concept of ‘territorial capital’. Different theories of attraction and mobility suggest that the mobile populations (visitors and migrants as a simplest distinction) do not constitute a single constituency and thus trade off and prioritise differently the various factors (social factors, accessibility to services, natural resources, etc). Although it is possible to identify stocks of territorial capital there is no necessary relationship between the presence of territorial capital and positive outcomes. This requires ‘mobilisation strategies’ based on multilevel planning governance processes to realise the potential of existing assets. Several research questions can be addressed: what are the key territorial endowments that are associated with attracting different mobility audiences? What are the key policy instruments that impact on regional attractiveness? What is the role of sectors and trends and the role of mobilisation strategies and specific policies in these outcomes? Are such outcomes ‘sustainable’? The topic is part of an ongoing European project and the choice of part of these specific questions could contribute to both enrich the theoretical debate as well as deep investigate the topic through a case study.
> Planning + Development
Modernization in spatial planning systems: institutional changes, path dependencies and driving forces Loris Servillo Every spatial planning system is characterized by a set of rules, explicit and implicit aims, formal and informal procedures, with different degrees of competences along the administrative levels, the sum of which defines the institutional framework in which specific multilevel governance processes take place. These configurations are partially fixed, with long-tradition characteristics and path dependencies inscribed in national/regional contexts, and partially flexible, subjected to process of modernisation along the time. The changes in planning systems are driven by a wide combination of factors, actorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; role, and different internal and external driving forces: new political configurations, territorial challenges, international discourses, new reform of the state, etc. The candidate is expected to choose a specific planning system and to analyses specific forms of change and evolutions, framing them in a wider institutional perspective. A combination of a theoretical framework and deep investigation of governance processes and institutional aspects will lead the student to a rounded analysis of changes in a specific planning system. A case study can be used as a way to implement a detailed assessment of the changes and their factors. For European students, this topic could be focused, among other opportunities, on the specific role of the European Union in leading the processes of changes and the effects on national/regional institutional aspects and related multilevel governance processes. At the same time, non-EU students could focus, among other aspects, on the role of international agencies (UN-Habitat, IMF, etc.) in influencing national and regional settings.
> Planning + Development
Urban/ Regional strategies: framing large-scale interventions from a spatial planning perspective Loris Servillo
Large-scale interventions and development strategies can be intended either as large urban projects or as a combination of different projects coordinated by a specific long-term and largescale territorial strategy. The candidate is aspected to develop an in-deep analysis of the intervention(s), focusing on the interrelations between territorial strategies and institutional aspect of the spatial aspects: on the one hand, the territorial strategies, the aims and the way of implementing them; on the other hand, the planning instruments, the role of public and private actors, the financial aspects. The research will explore thus the multi-level dimension of the decisional processes, highlighting the different actors involved, their competences, and how they have pursued their own agenda. Moreover, the research will adopt a specific investigative framework according to the specific theoretical interests of the candidate, which will lead to a wide analysis of the case study. Among the various aspects, special attentions could be paid to the evaluation of the limits and the added values of the processes, the learning capacity in terms of multilevel governance, the pathdependencies and the innovations in planning techniques, and/or the attention to local needs and social-innovation strategies.
> Planning + Development
Forms and practices of community-based land ownership Barbara van Dyck Land ownership in and around cities is both a means to repress or exclude people as well that it may become a tool to foster empowerment of previously excluded actors in property market-led urban development. Community-based land ownership and management, such as community land trusts, have, therefore, garnered attention in both activist and academic milieux as way to generate accessible jobs, affordable forms of housing, public green space, etc. Such forms of nonprivate land ownership shape contexts through which residents, community organisations, and public actors may develop collective forms of planning and design practices. These practices generate interesting questions and dilemmas on possible study topics such as: The study of interactions between citizens, community organisations, public and private agents in city building; - Social innovation and community empowerment in and through spatial planning and development; - Alternative ways in addressing social needs (e.g. community land trusts and affordable housing); - Protection of urban land from speculation and gentrification; - â&#x20AC;Ś
> Planning + Development
Alternative urbanisms: Everyday urbanism, Do-it-yourself urbanism, Making the city.... Barbara van Dyck Whether strategically planned or master planned, De Certeau (1988) argued that cities are continuously reinvented and shaped by everyday practices and that each individual or group of people are designers of the city. Building on insights of the importance of â&#x20AC;&#x153;the practice of everyday lifeâ&#x20AC;? in the city, many believe that the input of city dwellers is crucial for urbanists, architect or planners. Yet in practice, it seems hard to embrace the complexity of the present and multilayered city. The student may be interested in case study work or critical literature reviews that focus on questions such as: - design that serves as advocate for the disadvantaged and which involve negotiation between the various social, economic, and political forces of the city - engagement with simultaneity, overlay of plural histories, and multiplicity in the spatial planning and urban design literature; - how to incorporate the city of daily life (and the multiple voices it comprises) into the built environment? - how to overcome the gap between planning and design goals and the reality of social, economic and political constraints? - how to foster planning/ design approaches that foster the constitution of spaces of empowerment? - case studies of do-it-yourself urbanists and focus on how individual and collective actions reorganizes the city; â&#x20AC;Ś
> Planning + Development
Origins of the formal planning tools in Belgium/ Flanders Frank Moulaert, Jan Schreurs, Pieter Van den Broeck + Michael Ryckwaert Dit eindwerk gaat op zoek naar de wortels van het formeel planningsinstrumentarium dat momenteel wordt gehanteerd in Vlaanderen. Het gaat om het systeem van bestemmingsplannen op verschillende niveaus en het hele vergunningensysteem. Deze wortels liggen in de de wet op de stedebouw van 1962. Deze heeft echter een ruime voorgeschiedenis. Gedeelten daarvan werden reeds vroeger gedocumenteerd. Minder duidelijk is wie welke rol heeft gespeeld in de goedkeuring van deze wet. Wie was verantwoordelijk voor de basisideeĂŤn? Hoe werden deze in de loop van de geschiedenis gewijzigd? Wie zorgde voor de uiteindelijke goedkeuring na de vele voorgaande vergeefse pogingen? Wat was de rol van de verschillende politieke partijen daarin? Welke belangengroepen hadden invloed en via welke netwerken (de erfgenamen van de CIAM gedachte, de boerenbond, politieke partijen enz.)? Waarom mislukten vroegere pogingen tot goedkeuring en waarom lukte het ditmaal wel? Hypothese daarbij is dat de ontwikkeling van het formeel instrumentarium onlosmakelijk is verbonden met de uitbouw van de welvaartstaat en met een Keynesiaanse visie op (economische) ontwikkeling. Volgens deze visie had de overheid een belangrijke rol in het reguleren van de markt. Het ingrijpen in het eigendomsrecht dat met de stedenbouwwet mogelijk werd, was daarin een instrument.
> Planning + Development
The evolution of Belgian/ Flemish planning tools after 1945 Pieter Van den Broeck Op de rol van planningsinstrumenten in de evolutie van de maatschappij, zijn verschillende visies mogelijk. Volgens structuralisten creĂŤert de maatschappij de instrumenten die het nodig heeft en zijn instrumenten bijgevolg bepaald door de achterliggende ideologieĂŤn. Instrumenten hangen dan samen met achterliggende groepen. Volgens instrumentalisten zijn instrumenten neutraal en louter techniek. Zij creĂŤren op zich maatschappelijke vooruitgang en innovatie. Een tussenliggende positie is contextueel en evolutionair. Dat houdt in dat tussen maatschappelijke evolutie en de evolutie van het instrumentarium een wisselwerking bestaat. De bedoeling van dit eindwerk is voorgaand algemeen perspectief toe te passen op de ontwikkeling van beleidsinstrumenten in Vlaanderen. Dit eindwerk gaat dieper in op een evolutie van het planningsinstrumentarium na 1945, die werd aangezet door Pieter Van den Broeck in diens doctoraatsonderzoek. Het gaat om het aanvullen van het sectoraal instrumentarium (invullen van de opdrachten sectorwetgeving en grondbeleid), het instrumentarium van de samenlevingsopbouw, het formele planningsinstrumentarium, het projectmanagement enz. Hypothese is dat de ontwikkeling van deze instrumentgroepen nauw samenhangt met de achterliggende maatschappelijke evolutie, sociaal-economisch, politiek-bestuurlijk, ideologisch.
> Planning + Development
Learning from the Rupel (A) Pieter Van den Broeck Het planningsproces in de Rupelstreek is vroeger reeds in een aantal publicaties beschreven. Dit proces heeft ook in belangrijke mate bijgedragen tot het ontstaan van de driesporenplanning, als eigen Vlaamse variant op de strategische planning. Vroegere analyses hebben zich echter vooral gericht op de proces-aspecten van het proces. Dit eindwerk maakt een hernieuwde analyse van het planningsproces in de Rupelstreek die zich meer focust op de institutionele context (sociale netwerken, beslissingsmechanismen, culturele aspecten, leerprocessen) en de gehanteerde waarden. De vraag is hoe het planningsproces samenhangt met de achterliggende maatschappelijke context en de gehanteerde waarden. Hypothese daarbij is dat dit proces een ruimtelijk en sociaal innovatief project is geweest, gericht op sociale rechtvaardigheid en ecologische stabiliteit. Het heeft immers in belangrijke mate bijgedragen tot een emancipatie van de bevolking van de Rupelstreek, tot een verbetering van hun elementaire levensomstandigheden en tot een ecologisch bewustzijn. Ook de milieuwetgeving (sluiten van de storten) heeft hier een belangrijke input gekregen.
> Planning + Development
Learning from the Rupel (B) Pieter Van den Broeck Zelfde onderwerp maar dan aangevuld met een vergelijking met een sterk vergelijkbare gevalstudie in MontrĂŠal. Het gaat om een gebied waar een voormalig stort wordt omgevormd tot een park van 150 maar waar men ook tracht een naastliggende arme buurt op te waarderen zonder dat sociale verdringing optreedt. De parallellen met de Rupelstreek zijn groot.
> Planning + Development
Comparative research on new zoning concepts Pieter Van den Broeck Piet Lombaerde heeft vroeger aangetoond hoe de zonering in Vlaanderen als instrument steeds verder is ontwikkeld, gaande van militaire zonering over verkavelingsinstrument tot ‘hoogtechnologisch’ ordeningsinstrument. De ontwikkeling van het R.U.P. is daarin voorlopig de laatste stap. Vandaag poogt men nog verder te gaan met dit instrument, door er bijvoorbeeld belastingen of subsidies aan te koppelen. Dit wordt echter niet altijd toegestaan door de Europese Unie, bijvoorbeeld in Wallonië. Het eindwerk onderzoekt nieuwe buitenlandse vormen van zonering (bijvoorbeeld in Frankrijk: ZFU’s: Zonesfranchurbaines) en bevraagt de meerwaarde ervan voor de ruimtelijke ordening.
> Planning + Development
On the relations between planning and policy Pieter Van den Broeck Dit eindwerk onderzoekt hoe ruimtelijk planners in het verleden hebben getracht om hun doelstellingen te introduceren in het beleid. Daarvoor is het onder andere nodig terug te gaan naar de wortels van de huidige VRP, die gelegen zijn in de Belgische federatie (v贸贸r 1940, met illustere voorgangers als Hoste, Van der Swalmen, Soetewey en anderen) en de Vlaamse regionale voor de stedebouw (na 1945). Hypothese is dat het succes van de ruimtelijke planning samengaat met de wisselwerking tussen dergelijke organisaties en het beleid. Dat betekent met andere woorden dat - al dan niet avondlijk - overleg met het beleid 茅茅n van de belangrijke planningsinstrumenten is. Dit heeft ook te maken met onderwerp 2 over de maatschappelijke positie van het instrumentarium.
> Planning + Development
Instruments for socially innovative strategic projects Pieter Van den Broeck Uit onderzoek blijkt de maatschappelijke betekenis van planningsinstrumenten. Dit betekent onder andere dat de instrumenten die worden ingezet bij de implementatie van strategische projecten een politieke betekenis hebben. Hieruit volgt dat men instrumenten kan analyseren maar ook ontwerpen die minder of meer emancipatorisch, minder of meer democratisch, minder of meer ecologisch zijn. Het eindwerk gaat uit van een aantal principes voor het realiseren van zogenaamd ruimtelijke en sociaal innovatieve projecten die worden ge誰dentificeerd in het doctoraatsonderzoek van P. Van den Broeck. Het tracht deze verder in te vullen door het analyseren van de gehanteerde instrumenten in een aantal voorbeeldprojecten waarvan verwacht wordt dat zij een ruimtelijke innovatie combineren met een sociale innovatie in een gebied. Het gaat bijvoorbeeld om de omgeving van het De Coninckplein in Antwerpen, het Buda eiland in Kortrijk, de Brugse Poort in Gent, enz.
> Planning + Development
Added value of scenario analysis for spatial policies Annette Kuhk > Added value of scenario analysis for spatial policies > Reflection about qualitative and quantitative approaches in future research
> From analytical tool to policy instruments: discussing added value of different approaches for spatial policies (e.g. comparing different policy-oriented research projects)
> THESIS TOPIC MARKET < > Design Studios (big) > Cochabamba, Bolivia > Hanoi, Vietnam > Flemish Diamond, Belgium
Design Studios (small) < Inclusive Urbanisms < Fringe Urbanisms < Dam[ned] Urbanisms < Platform for a Permanent Modernity <
> THESIS TOPIC MARKET < > Design Studios > Cochabamba, Bolivia > Hanoi, Vietnam > Flemish Diamond, Belgium
(Design) Studios (advanced) < Inclusive Urbanisms < Fringe Urbanisms < Dam[ned] Urbanisms < Platform for a Permanent Modernity <
Spring Semester 2011 Design Studio
Cochabamba, Bolivia Laura Vescina
Urbanism + Architecture <
Design Studio Cochabamba, Bolivia Laura Vescina Located within a fertile valley at 2.570 m in the middle of the Andes mountain range, the city of Cochabamba is the 3rd in importance in Bolivia. With a growing population, pressure over limited resources grows. Rapid expansion invades agricultural land and threatens fragile ecosystems. Informal settlements grow hand in hand with private housing enclaves, worsening social and spatial fractures. Concrete actions are required to guide the future sustainable development of the city, reinforce its existing structures and improve the quality of urban spaces. Confronted with the limitations of traditional normative planning, the city is looking for a more comprehensive and prospective mode to the co-production of the city. The design studio proposes to investigate potentials of intervention from a “project driven” approach. It will be structured in three different yet interconnected themes: Fringe-city will study the transforming urban frontiers, and the ongoing merging process between neighbor municipalities. It will investigate the urban/rural interfaces and look for strategies to control the consumption of land at the borders vis a vis the conversion and densification in the centers. Network-city will focus on different modes of mobility and the possibilities of construction of urbanity, while Green-city will study the system of open spaces and their capacity to work as green armatures. The implications of the city´s slogan promoting Cochabamba as ecological city “heart of mother earth” will be tested.
Opportunities: PMTO (Plan Municipal Ordenamiento Territorial) From normative to a â&#x20AC;&#x153;project drivenâ&#x20AC;? planning approach
Fringe-city Quillacollo-Cercado-Sacaba merging /colliding grids. Urban/Rural interfaces. Informal land consumption and gated communities at the borders versus central re-conversion/densification
Network-city Mobility systems and the construction of urbanity
Green-city River Rocha and the system of open spaces as green armatures. Explorations of the visions of Cochabamba as ecological city â&#x20AC;&#x153;heart of mother earthâ&#x20AC;?
Renovation of historic centres: inherited city /
Public space and citizenship: city of democracy /
Distribution of social infrastructures: city of
equity / Urban voids: post-industrial city /
Mobility: city of fluxes / Slum upgrading: non-city
The urban Project in Latin-American: re-appropriations and innovations. Cochabamba within the urban â&#x20AC;&#x153;momentumâ&#x20AC;? in the region. Learning from the South
Spring Semester 2011 Design Studio
Red River Delta, Hanoi, Vietnam Oana Bogdan, Yuri Gerrits
Urbanism + Architecture <
Red River Delta, Hanoi, Vietnam Oana Bogdan, Yuri Gerrits The 2011 Hanoi Water Urbanism Fieldwork/ Workshop will focus on a 600 km2 study area (75km long by 8km high) spanning from the Van Giang district, Hung Yen Province on the right bank of the Red River to the Ba Vi mountain range to the West. The area encompasses a broad range of water problemmatics in Hanoi â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from lowest elevation of Hanoi on the Red River, to an area with ample lakes, to a number of secondary and tertiary (and irrigation) waterways in the hydraulic network of the larger territory of Hanoi, to the mountains and the challenges that topography brings. The fieldwork/ workshop is meant to be an INTENSIVE period of SITE SPECIFIC discovery in order to understand the existing logics of the territory and how the interplay of landscape, infrastructure and urbanism has evolved. The city of Hanoi is presently embroiled in a period of accelerated urban growth and urban mutation. At the same time, the predicted consequences of climate change are heightening concerns regarding how to construct new interplays between landscape, infrastructure and urbanism. Through lens of the linear strip, the fieldwork/ workshop will focus on READING the city and formulating intelligent questions concerning future development possibilities. The reading, via interpretative mapping, is considered a first step in the design process. It greatly informs the urban design concepts to structure future urban growth. The fieldwork/ workshop is to be a collaborative work, between post-graduate students from the University of Leuven in Belgium and a number of participants, students and young professionals alike, from various institutes (to be confirmed).
Red River Delta The second largest Delta in Vietnam
HANOI CENTRE
RED RIVER DELTA - AREA:16 654 SQ KM - POPULATION: 20.5 MILLION - DENSITY: 1225 PERSONS PER SQ KM - CLIMATIC CONTEXT: TROPICAL MONSOON - VULNERABILITY : HIGH SUMMER RIVER FLOODS (JUNE-OCTOBER) FLASH FLOODS MONSOON TYPHOONS DROUGHTS - A RANGE OF 0.1-1.5 KM/ KM2 F NATURALLY FLOWIN RIVERS AND 0.67-1.6 KM/ KM2 OF IRRIATED LAND - WATER CONTROL WORKS IN OPERATION ABOUT 1000 YEARS - PRODUCTIVITY: 22% PADDY PRODUCTION OF VIETNAM
Hanoi as a Red River City towards a City of Bridges
Hanoi as a Red River City towards a City of Bridges
WATER & CULTURE: Hanoi as a city of rivers and dykes
WATER & DYKES: Hanoi as a city of rivers and dykes
WATER & CLIMATE CHANGE: SLR, increased rainfall, increased urbanization â&#x20AC;Ś.
WATER & ENVIRONMENT: Yen So area in Hanoi = pumping station + pollution
forever expanding frontiers ?
From Red River to Ba Vi Mountains (8 km x 75km = site area)
HANOI WATER URBANISM FIELDWORK/ WORKSHOP 24 KUL Participants + 12 participants from the National University of Civila Engineering in Hanoi + 6 participants from VIAP (Vietnamese Institute of Architecture & Planning) + 6 participants from HUPI (Hanoi Urban Planning Institute) Workshop guidance: Oana Bogdan, studio teacher KUL, partner Bogdan & Van Broeck Architects Yuri Gerrits, studio teacher KUL, employee WIT Architecten Pham Thi Hue Linh, Director, Urban Planning Center, VIAP Prof. Loan Pham Thuy, Civil Engineering University Pho Duc Tung, independent architect Pham Anh Tuan, KUL PhD student Hanoiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s water urbanism (hybrid dykes) Additional inputs to workshop also to be provided from: Ngo Trung Hai, Director of VIAP Ngan La Kim, Director, HUPI Luu Duc Cuong, Director, Centre for Research & Planning on Environment, VIAP
HANOI WATER URBANISM FIELDWORK/ WORKSHOP preliminary itinerary: Saturday 19 February Sunday 20 February FIELDWORK week Monday 21 February
Depart Brussels arrive Hanoi – rest, recover & informally discover city by foot
meeting of Vietnamese participants Boat ride on the Red River + intro lectures
Tuesday – Friday 22- 25 February
Saturday 26 Sunday 27
fieldwork in groups
day trip to Ba Vi area (boat) day trip to Day River area (boat)
CHARETTE week Monday 28 February – Thursday 3 March
Friday 4 March
making of the panels
FINAL EXHIBITION/ PRESENTATION
Saturday 5 March
day trip to Perfume Pagoda (‘Halong Bay on earth’)
Sunday 6 March Monday 7 March
Depart Hanoi (evening) arrive Brussels (morning)
Spring Semester 2011 Design Studio
Flemish Diamond, Belgium Marcel Smets, Matthias Blondia, Erik De Deyn
Urbanism + Architecture <
Flemish Diamond, Belgium Marcel Smets, Matthias Blondia, Erik De Deyn The studio on infrastructure urbanism focuses on the relationship between urbanization patterns and public transport. The central topic of the studio is that classic modes of public transport are not adapted to the diffused transportation pattern, which is inherent to the spatial structure of Flanders. Because of its vast desurbanization, the Flemish region has basically outgrown the highly performant rail network that connects its urban centers. There is a need to interlink the generalized settlement pattern by means of a new kind of transport network. There are new concepts in public transport, like light-rail and bus rapid transit, that seem to be more adapted to these contemporary mobility needs. In the studio a hypothesis of such a new regional transport network will be taken on, not only to solve the mobility issue, but mainly to translate it into projects that show how such a network may act as a spatial planning and urbanism device. Light-rail then becomes a means to adjust patterns of settlement and improve the accessibility of travel oriented activities, which can perhaps result in a more sustainable spatial landscape. The design work focuses on different scales, from the size of the region as a whole to the much smaller scale of specific nodes of development and public space. This corresponds to the logic that a light-rail network on the scale of a region gives way to a nodal development around its stops, creating new forms of urbanisation, activities and public space on station locations.
Urbanism + Architecture <
Flemish Diamond, Belgium Marcel Smets, Matthias Blondia, Erik De Deyn For this studio Klein-Brabant, which is a typical car-oriented region, and its surroundings will be studied. Klein-Brabant lies in the middle of the triangle Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels, which makes it an area that is both central, and in the periphery at the same time. The urbanization pattern of Klein-Brabant however, imposes several constraints on transportation. Firstly, because Klein-Brabant is enclosed by these bigger cities whose transport networks intrude and influence the region, public transport in Klein Brabant lacks a logic of its own; it is merely an overlap of these different city-based systems. Secondly, public transport requires a critical mass to operate efficiently. As the region consists mainly of spread-out urbanization with a more or less homogeneous density, this critical mass exists in the wider region, but is not concentrated on the obvious public transport axes. Thirdly, the historically grown settlement pattern is closely linked to the network of secondary roads, which has resulted in a mesh that is too dispersed and small-scaled for a regional public transport network to operate in. The overall density of Klein Brabant is rather high. Also, there is a lot of infrastructure passing through, around which large industrial, service and retail sites developed, and yet it managed to maintain a very distinctive quality in its landscape, due to the Scheldt and Rupel rivers running through it. A new urbanization pattern could allow for a stronger focus on the landscape. Reorganizing the peri-urban landscape allows for hidden layers in the landscape to resurface and for new landscape structures to emerge. In doing so, the light-rail network in itself is a new linear structure in the landscape. In the same way as light-rail is potentially a backbone for development, it can be a framework for the future landscape.
> THESIS TOPIC MARKET < > Design Studios > Cochabamba, Bolivia > Hanoi, Vietnam > Flemish Diamond, Belgium
(Design) Studios (advanced) < Inclusive Urbanisms < Fringe Urbanisms < Dam[ned] Urbanisms < Platform for a Permanent Modernity <
Urbanism + Architecture <
Inclusive Urbanisms The studio runs in parallel with Atlantis (B. De Meulder & K. Shannon / E. Vervloesem)
The inclusive urbanisms studio Molenbeek will deal intensively with the intertwined, yet distinct problems of physical urban decay and social and cultural problems in 19th century belt quarters of our cities. In this case specifically Molenbeek, one of the once primar industrial neighborhoods of the Brussels region, will be dealth with. Today, Molenbeek is often stigmatised as a problem neighborhood with enduring questions of criminality, unemployment, ethnic conflict, social exclusion, etc.
Urbanism + Architecture <
Inclusive Urbanisms The studio runs in parallel with Atlantis (B. De Meulder & K. Shannon / E. Vervloesem
Policies of the last 20 years, although very articulated, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to have enduring results, at least not in the eyes of popular media. Inclusive urbanisms will start with an assesment of the richness and particularities of Molenbeek, as well in historical perspective as in contemporary terms of demographic dynamics. A closer look will be given to vacant and residual spaces and there potential in unlocking processes of development. Vervloesem)
MOLENBEEK, BRUSSELS
Simultaniously, inclusive urbanisms will look at potential agencies of development within the existing population dynamics
Urbanism + Architecture <
Inclusive Urbanisms The studio runs in parallel with Atlantis (B. De Meulder & K. Shannon / E. Vervloesem
BALTIMORE, U.S.A.
Urbanism + Architecture <
Inclusive Urbanisms The studio runs in parallel with Atlantis (B. De Meulder & K. Shannon / E. Vervloesem
Camp Waalhaven, Rotterdam: Exodus of the Spanish migrants to the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;old districtsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of Rotterdam
Urbanism + Architecture <
Inclusive Urbanisms The studio runs in parallel with Atlantis (B. De Meulder & K. Shannon / E. Vervloesem
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Boulevard Zuidâ&#x20AC;?, Rotterdam (1977-2008): Before and after the rise of ethnic entrepreneurship
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Fringe Urbanisms Bruno De Meulder + Elke Van Empten Brussels is in political terms a hot topic, not the least because of the distorted relationship it has with its immediate hinterland. Fringe Urbanisms considers that the natural open spaces surrounding the Brussels region have the potential to redefine the relationship of Brussels wit hits periphery, hence redefine â&#x20AC;&#x201C;by the addition made on its fringesBrussels itself. Fringe Urbanisms travels between the different scales of urban design, considering the whole periphery while simultaniously looking to detailed project sites.
The studio runs in parallel with PRB-research (B. De Meulder/E. Van Empten)
Urbanism + Architecture <
Fringe Urbanisms Bruno De Meulder + Elke Van Empten
NEVELSTAD BRUSSELS
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Dam[ned] Urbanisms Bruno De Meulder, Kelly Shannon, Viviana dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Auria + Pei Wen The postwar period saw a massive realisation of large scale infrastructures as dams. The River Volta Project in Ghana or the Inga Dams on the Congo in the Democratic Republic of Congo are but a few examples out of the endless list (partial) realisations that witheld the promise to flood the world with energy, industry, in short with development.
Today, most of this dams are requiring or undergoing a reinvestment program, be it by simply restauring installations, be it by considerable extensions. The studio runs in parallel with an OSA-program on these infrastructures (B. De Meulder & K.Shannon; V. Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Auria).
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Dam[ned] Urbanisms Bruno De Meulder, Kelly Shannon, Viviana dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Auria + Pei Wen
KPONG SMELTER CITY Albert Mayer & Julian Whittlesey, 1956-57
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Dam[ned] Urbanisms Bruno De Meulder, Kelly Shannon, Viviana dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Auria + Pei Wen
> Increasing lakeshore migration for fishing
> Drawdown farming and livestock rearing
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Dam[ned] Urbanisms Bruno De Meulder, Kelly Shannon, Viviana dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Auria + Pei Wen The studio has a triple aim: documenting and assessing the original infrastructure works (including the new towns and resettlement programs that paralllelled the construction); 2. Evaluating the appropriation and effect of the infrastructures, 3 (desingerly) explorations of alternative development scenarioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.
PROJECTING THE VOLTA RIVER PROJECT Barbara Roosen
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Dam[ned] Urbanisms Bruno De Meulder, Kelly Shannon, Viviana dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Auria + Pei Wen
RESTRUCTURING THE RESETTLED LANDSCAPE Ilse Werver, Miranda Schut
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Platform for a Permanent Modernity Alexander Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hooge
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Urbanism + Architecture <
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Platform for a Permanent Modernity Alexander D’Hooge Naar Een Territoriale Architectuur: Hoe de markt zonder er zich bewust van te zijn, een avant-garde voorstel mogelijk heeft gemaakt middels het ‘big box/grand surface’ type. De laatste 50 jaar tonen een dramatische typologische evolutie. Toen de exodus uit de westerse stad volop op gang begon te komen, en niet alleen de woonfunctie, maar in toenemende mate ook werken, winkelen, en zelfs institutionele functies naar de buitenwijken begonnen te verhuizen, ontstond een rijk gevuld experiment in typologische transformatie. Deze sprong naar het suburbane groen was uiteraard niet vergezeld van een handboek met architecturale oplossingen. Het resultaat was dan ook een resem typologische transformaties, die tot allerlei vreemdsoortige nieuwe gebouwen leidde.
Vandaag is het echter duidelijk welk type als grote overwinnaar uit deze experimentele fase gekomen is. Het Darwiniaans gevecht tussen experimentele types heeft inderdaad een dominant type opgeleverd. De 'big box' beschrijft een radicale economisering van architectuur, gericht op de totale verwijdering van architecturaal auteurschap, op goedkope grondprijzen, op een hergebruik van voorgefabriceerde elementen, op grote doorlopende en continu berijdbare binnenoppervlaktes. Toch is dit type interessant om redenen die waarschijnlijk geen deel uitmaakten van de initiële doelstellingen van de markt. Het is ontzettend flexibel, de schaal van 1 gebouw kan overeenkomen met dat van een kleine stad, het heeft een stedenbouwkundig ordenend vermogen dat enkel geëvenaard wordt door grotere infrastructuren. Dit thesisonderzoek gaat met andere woorden uit van de big box als mogelijk ordenend, en zelfs als poëtisch element in de nevelstad.
> Planning + Development
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> THESIS TOPIC MARKET < Urbanism + Architecture < Hilde Heynen < AndrĂŠ Loeckx < Bruno De Meulder < Kelly Shannon < Lieven De Cauter < Marcel Smets <
> Planning + Development
Urbanism + Architecture <
Urbanism + Architecture < Modernity and the Architecture of the City < Urban Activism and Urban (Political Theory) < Descriptive Urbanisms: Analysis of issues, patterns < Contemporary Urbanisms: Practices < (Post) colonial Urbanisms <
> Planning + Development
Urbanism + Architecture <
Modernity and the Architecture of the City < Urban Activism and Urban (Political Theory) < Descriptive Urbanisms: Analysis of issues, patterns < Contemporary Urbanisms: Practices < (Post) colonial Urbanisms <
Urbanism + Architecture <
Modernity and Architecture of the City Hilde Heynen Theses could investigate the impact on architecture and urbanism of the following topics: > Migration ad displacement > Postcolonial theory > Gender studies > Comparisons between metropolitan and local discourses These topics are open for students who took the course on Modernity and Architecture of the City.
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A sustainable future for ageing surburban areas? Hilde Heynen, Wouter Bervoets + Marijn ven de Weijer Theses could involve; > Analysing the flexibility of suburban residential zones in dealing with demographic changes. > Mapping current spatial developments in detached residential areas. > Exploring the relationship between the inhabitant, the house and its surroundings. > Developing design strategies for densification, collectiveness and extended lifespan for the built environment. These topics could be linked to suburban conditions in the students home environment (open for all) or in Flanders (knowledge of Dutch preferred). The thesis could be linked to the ongoing research project â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Large, Underused Dwellings in Flandersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.
> Planning + Development
Urbanism + Architecture <
Modernity and the Architecture of the City <
Urban Activism and Urban (Political Theory) < Descriptive Urbanisms: Analysis of issues, patterns < Contemporary Urbanisms: Practices < (Post) colonial Urbanisms <
Urbanism + Architecture <
Urbanism as occupation Lieven De Cauter, Eyal Weizman + Sandi Hilal Theses could involve: > War as urbanism and urbanism as warfare. The Gaza war as (des)urbanist intervention.
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Urban (political) theory Lieven De Cauter Theses could involve: > The return of the state of nature. Somalia and elsewhere. We thought that the state of Nature was a fiction of political philosophy, notable Hobbes. But now it proves that the absence of a state is returning in real life. Somalia is a case, but we believe it is a paradigm urbanists should reckon with. The State of nature is not the state of exception as a top down suspension of the law as the essence and excess of sovereignty, but a bottom up suspension of legality as absence and implosion of sovereignty. In that sense this idea of the return of the nature state would be as important as the Agambian state of exception paradigm to understand the contemporary world (dis)order. The challenge would be to translate this into a theoretical tool for urbanism and urban theory. (Only for philosophical minds)
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Urban (political) theory Lieven De Cauter, Lorenzo Romito + Teddy Cruz Theses could involve: > Urban activism as architecture and architecture as urban activism. From Stalker, the Italian activist architect group, to City mine(d) and beyond. Other cases: The political equator of Teddy Cruz, etc. A critical assessment of urban activism from Tafuri to the present. The thesis could concentrate on interventions in dilapidated areas, wastelands or, which would make a topic of its own, slums.
> Planning + Development
Urbanism + Architecture <
Modernity and the Architecture of the City < Urban Activism and Urban (Political Theory) <
Descriptive Urbanisms: Analysis of issues, patterns < Contemporary Urbanisms: Practices < (Post) colonial Urbanisms <
Urbanism + Architecture <
Cartographic explorations of the urbanized territory Bruno De Meulder + Bieke Cattoor Theses could involve: > Civil society and the structuring of the territory: churches, convents, etc.
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Cartographic explorations of the urbanized territory Bruno De Meulder + Bieke Cattoor Theses could involve: > The presence/ absence of the EU in Brussels: rhizomes and networks
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Secondary urban quarters Bruno De Meulder + Els Vervloesem Theses could involve: > Rotterdam Zuid, Antwerp North, Cureghem, Brussels
Camp Waalhaven, Rotterdam: Exodus of the Spanish migrants to the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;old districtsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of Rotterdam
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Secondary urban quarters Bruno De Meulder + Els Vervloesem Theses could involve: > Rotterdam Zuid, Antwerp North, Cureghem, Brussels
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Boulevard Zuidâ&#x20AC;?, Rotterdam (1977-2008): Before and after the rise of ethnic entrepreneurship
> Planning + Development
Urbanism + Architecture <
Modernity and the Architecture of the City < Urban Activism and Urban (Political Theory) < Descriptive Urbanisms: Analysis of issues, patterns <
Contemporary Urbanisms: Practices < (Post) colonial Urbanisms <
Urbanism + Architecture <
Contemporary challenges of urban design and project development Bruno De Meulder, AndrĂŠ Leockx, Michael Ryckwaert + Els Vervloesem Theses could involve: > The strategic urban project in a European perspective: case studies and paradigmatic questions
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Contemporary challenges of urban design and project development Bruno De Meulder, AndrĂŠ Leockx, Michael Ryckwaert + Els Vervloesem Theses could involve: > Collective housing, densified housing, serviced housing: finding and formulating practices of housing in Flanders and Europe
Urbanism + Architecture <
Urban design in hybrid urban territories Bruno De Meulder, Kelly Shannon, Isabelle Putseys + Christian Nolf Theses could involve: > Flanders: brownfields, a changing society and a changing climate
> Planning + Development
Urbanism + Architecture <
Modernity and the Architecture of the City < Urban Activism and Urban (Political Theory) < Descriptive Urbanisms: Analysis of issues, patterns < Contemporary Urbanisms: Practices <
(Post) colonial Urbanisms <
Urbanism + Architecture <
Colonial and postcolonial urbanisms Bruno De Meulder + Viviana dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Auria Theses could involve: > Critical review of modernist housing projects
GHANA, Tema SEGICO Flats, Community 4, Tema
CONGO, Kinshasa Office des CitĂŠs Africaines (OCA) in Kinshasa
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Colonial and postcolonial urbanisms Bruno De Meulder + Viviana dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Auria Theses could involve: > Archetypes in (post)colonial urbanism and their hereafter
- camp - capital city - canal system (Vietnam) - citĂŠ - civil lines (Commonwealth) - grid - irrigation (Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Pakistan) - kampung (Indonesia) - reductions (Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Peru) - strategic hamlets (Vietnam, Guatemala, Salvador) - zone neutre
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Colonial and postcolonial urbanisms Bruno De Meulder + Viviana dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Auria Theses could involve: > Archetypes in (post)colonial urbanism and their hereafter
Land evaluation and spatio-temporal planning support with GIS Jos van Orshoven
Land resources inventory and monitoring sDSS Data collected from the Real World
Geospatial Database
Tools for Query, Analysis, Input, Management
MCDM-Tools
Expertise/Function/Model
output Expertise Functions, Models
User Interface
Geographic Information System
Local / Remote End Users
Land evaluation Wijffels et al., 2010
Answers to simple and complex questions 1. Review; 2. Application to study area to be determined
Land evaluation and spatio-temporal planning support with GIS Jos Van Orshoven
> From Geographic Information System to Decision Support System for Regional Planning This thesis research project encompasses firstly a critical review of the concepts of Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Planning Support Systems (PSS) in the context of regional planning, and of their relationship with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Particular attention will be devoted to the spatial and temporal optimisation component of such DSS and PSS which are relevant in questions such as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Where are the optimal locations for a given intervention and how long can sustainability of that intervention be guaranteed ?â&#x20AC;?. Also the relevance of including the 3d geometric dimension in the DSS can be addressed. In a second phase an available GIS-based software will be applied to generate one or more DSS/PSS for a study area to be determined, in other to evaluate the applicability and validity of the concepts. Since the software is of the free and open source type, the student will be able to further fine-tune, use and disseminate it beyond the thesis research project.