MI CRO CIT IES
ARCHITECTURE CITYSCAPE LANDSCAPE
MICROCITIES ARCHITECTS
Through research and projects, collaborations and exchanges, Microcities develops urban studies, architecture, landscape and graphic design. Microcities projects are the precise and harmonic line written by a complex function, the synthesis of a matrix formed by heterogeneous parameters. Social behaviour, territorial conditions, economical and statistical, environmental and historical contexts, all concur to form a landscape of visible and invisible relationships - evolving processes interacting in space and time. Through subtle and countless variations, this data translates into the clarity of one design, evolving into projects which are specific and clear, while still keeping within the richness and the metaphor of all the explored fields. This process involves a continuous overlapping of all the scales: any urban project gets relevance at a local level and in any building, even if MICROCITIES ARCHITECTURE CITYSCAPE LANDSCAPE Mariabruna Fabrizi and Fosco Lucarelli 8, rue du Château Landon 75010 - Paris, France +33 6 77 34 87 04 www.microcities.net info@microcities.net
small, lies the complexity of a micro-city. The distance between city and nature is faded, leaving place to new models of coexistence and mutual dialogue: landscape becomes infrastructure while the city evolves into an organism, influenced and fed by its natural parts. Outside and inside are not separated by a boundary but more often by a blurred territory, an interstitial space which questions the notions of public and private, home and community, mineral and natural. The line between exterior and interior becomes an “ambiguous” moment of in-between: it defines a limit, but also an open environment for human unusual occupations, both private and collective. At the heart of our practice is the idea of calling into question the context we live in, turning it into a true design tool, in order to rethink conventional typologies and ways of living.
ALICE IN WONDERWALL 32 DWELLINGS TAMPERE, FINLAND
The project consists of semi-detached houses with various surfaces, ranging from 50sqm to 120sqm, including different types: from 1 to 4 bedrooms or multipurpose and undetermined spaces. The site lies in a relatively steep stripe of land, slanting from the Vuoreksen Puistokatu avenue (on the west) to the south-east natural environment; providing the future entrance to the Virolainen new urban development. The plan configuration allows nature to flow through the houses: no clear boundaries are established between the block and the surrounding natural fields; pedestrian and bike paths are in permeable materials, the soil allowing the flows of rain water through it (percolation).
ALICE IN WONDERWALL - 32 EXPERIMENTAL DWELLINGS + NEIGHBORHOOD FACILITIES, TAMPERE FINLAND COMPETITION 2010 - 2nd PRIZE CLIENT: EUROPAN PROJECT AREA: HOUSING: 2622sqm, FACILITIES: 323sqm, BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : DIDIER NUMANOVIC
The whole neighborhood is thus conceived in continuity with the environmental area, the houses lying among the same conifers of the near forest. The conceptual process starts from subdividing the programmatic surface into square units of 7,5m of length, thus defining a regular grid. Three larger blocks (10m), which host peculiar neighborhood activities, are then inserted: they act as polarizing elements which produce a new equilibrium, determining the various arrangements of the single units. Small groups of two, three or four units get associated to become different types of dwellings. The peripheral walls of every house become conceptual and physical double skins, integrating two different levels of insulation: an inner skin (the house structural core), constituted by opaque Poroton速 hollow bricks, providing a first level of thermal insulation through Perlite速 infills; and an outer skin of translucent Polycarbon-
ate containing Nanogel速, in order to get a complete insulation. The definition of a peripheral livable double skin produces variations of temperatures and humidity within the domestic spaces: here the research for efficiency is taken as a tool for designing the interiors and the exterior spaces at the same time and for reshaping their logics and structures, improving their livability. All the buildings are of high energetic efficiency while no special technology is added. The typologies themselves are rethought to reach a minimal thermal dispersion (passive houses) and optimizing the temperature in relation to the needs of the single spaces. The distance between the inner and outer surfaces is large enough to host inhabitable areas. This space acts as a buffer zone: it thermally insulates the rooms inside from the cold and at the same time it creates unusual domestic ambiances within the house.
In-between the double skin one can find the elements of the house which require a lower level of warmth, like storage rooms and closets, staircases, corridors, or even a winter garden, an atelier, a mini gym or a space with no specific function (or whose function has to be invented by the inhabitants). Here the double skin loses its original technical purpose to become a real tool for defining, adapting or generating space. Staying outside, while in the house The double skin is often enlarged to host winter gardens; those spaces give the possibility to enjoy ÂŤstaying outsideÂť even when the weather is cold, it rains or snows. The outside layer of the skin, made of translucent polycarbonate with high thermal performance, allows a great light diffusion while the soil inside lets plants grow. Big windows can be opened to let air flow through and direct light come in when wanted. The winter gardens can be used as ateliers for artists / exhibitions places and can be opened to the public in different
moments of the year, letting the sequence of the public open spaces change all the time. The fragmentation of the plan and its multi directionality gives place to a continuous slightly hierarchized collective space which adapt its shape flowing through the neighborhood; it opens in small squares through pedestrian, bike paths and community gardens, always allowing to choose different directions from each point. There is a constant interaction between the domestic space, the urban space and nature, terms that interfere one with the other through the whole project. Nature infiltrates the inner space through the winter gardens, while the outdoor squares get a domestic scale and the wall of the houses give urban values to the network of collective spaces.
PHILADELPHIA VOIDS CITY STRATEGY PHILADELPHIA, USA
Philadelphia is nowadays the metropolis of the United States with the largest number of empty areas, derived from the demolition of abandoned buildings. The phenomenon originated and expanded in parallel with the industrial crisis of the 50’s and the city today has to deal with vast abandoned areas, in deep decay, laying close to the city center. To reinsert these derelict spaces in a living-cycle, a strategy has been developed on multiple scales: the gaps, currently scattered chaotically in the rigid grid of the blocks, are converted into an interconnected system related with the existing city. From lost spaces, the urban voids become areas of strategical (ecological) rethinking of the urban infrastructure system, they give shape to a green network connected to the existing city parks. URBAN VOIDS - CITY STRATEGY, PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) COMPETITION 2006 CLIENT: VAN ALEN INSTITUTE PROJECT AREA: -, BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : LUCA GALOFARO (iAN+ ARCHITECTS)
STRATEGY / STRATEGIES
3 - INTRODUCING AN ALTERNATIVE TO VEHICULAR MOBILITY
1 - TURN THE GREEN INTO A SYSTEM
Today: a rigid grid road through empty areas of North Philadelphia
Today: lack of open spaces, inaccessible urban parks, abandoned railways Strategy: network of green corridors (on former railways) and greenways on vacant lots, connecting open public spaces and urban parks 2 - CONNECT Today: urban poles introverted and isolated (Fairmount Park, Temple University, Delaware riverfront, downtown) Strategy: foster the relationship between some urban centers, currently isolated, through the area of North Philadelphia.
Strategy: new network of livable streets + vacant lots = public open space system Some roads, including those that cross the areas most affected by the phenomenon of vacant lots, become “livable streets� (roads with limited vehicular traffic associated with walking and cycling). Pedestrian walkways and bicycle trails are introduced within the new grid, passing through the empty lots. Part of the vacant lots becomes a system of open public spaces connected to the new ecological mobility.
4 - LOCAL SYSTEM At the local level, single voids, together with the new paths that intercept them, are translated into a continuous system of collective open spaces. In order to provide sufficient intensity of public use to the new hierarchy of streets, parks, yards, etc, the strategy involves their hybridization with elements derived from the world of sport, art and urban agriculture.
today
a
b
c
Today: a rigid grid of vehicular traffic streets dotted by vacant lots through the areas of Philadelphia; Strategy: a - conversion of some roads in driveways livable streets; b - introduction of pedestrian and cycle paths through the vacant lots; c - the livable streets, the paths within the lots and the vacant lots are intercepted in a continuous system of public spaces.
The goal of restoring an identity to stretches of degraded row-houses “filled” with voids, can be reached through a new urban structure based upon public space. The purpose is to reinterpret the build/void relationship, using the abandoned areas and promoting a different use of the city. The ‘introduction’ of public space can not, however, be limited to more or less archetypal patterns of squares, boulevards, arcades, streets, unrelated to the urban American culture and therefore destined to fall abandoned. It rather requires a collective participation from the inhabitants, being the above models insufficient to ensure an intensity of public use. This intensity can be achieved by promoting active interaction, sharing, play, work together and participation in events at the basis of a real “public life”. The ‘activation’ of public space is therefore the overlap between traditional materials and other, related to the world of sport, arts and urban agriculture, as these activities are substantial.
FOLDING GROUND SPORT CENTER PHILADELPHIA, USA
The building takes part in the new interconnected system of open spaces designed for Philadelphia. It becomes itself a continuous public space made up of different areas that host multiple functions inside and the out. Its presence acts as a mechanism to enhance urban life in this area of the city. The roof is a public square and a basketball court at the same time, the bar on two floors and dressing rooms open on it, while below it you cross the areas that lead to the pools and gym. The surface that covers the sports center takes different geometrical characteristics: it bends, rises, becomes tilted from flat, it turns into steps, it becomes an accessible or inaccessible roof, generating a sequence of ever changing spaces.
FOLDING GROUND - SPORT CENTER AND NEIGHBORHOOD FACILITY, PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) COMPETITION 2006 CLIENT: VAN ALEN INSTITUTE Swimming PROJECT AREA: 1900sqm of indoor sport facilitiespools + 1400sqm outdoor, BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : LUCA GALOFARO (iAN+ ARCHITECTS) Cafe
Basketball field
In a continuum with the adjacent soil of the block, the architecture becomes a hybrid between a building, a square and a sport facility, and develops its formal language from those three worlds.
Swimming pools
This building is not simply destined to host sport facilities, but to act as a catalyst device for urban renewal. Cafe
While the meaning of public space still evolves and changes , (above all in the context of the American metropolis), from the traditional space of the European piazza, here one can find a rich and vital gathering space at the scale of its immediate neighborhood. Architecture can transcends its immediate destination to become a more complex and subtle urban condenser, just using its own tools.
Basketball field
Changing rooms
Gym
Groundfloor entry
SYMBIOSIS
INNOVATIVE TOWN FOR 20000 PEOPLE HENNA, FINLAND The competition asked a plan for a self sufficient town, at first producing an abstract scheme and then applying it to the Henna area in Finland.
TOWN TOWN
System in dynamic equilibrium
In thermodynamics is a system where the rate of every internal forward reaction is equal to the rate of its backward reaction: for a town it means a system where inputs and outputs are balanced, waste is recycled, energy and materials are produced, emissions are absorbed.
TOWN TOWN
A town is a dissipative system that needs to exchange with the outside natural world to get to a level of dynamic balance. To become a self sufficient entity, where the waste is absorbed and the energy and materials are constantly produced and renewed, a continuous exchange with the system of nature must be included in the planning.
Symbiosis
In order for the town to become a system in dynamic equilibrium, - a self-sufficient entity -, town must reach a symbiosis with nature, a relationships from which both benefits.
From these premises, the starting point for the project is to consider the future town as an environment which does not oppose itself to the natural context. The challenge is to get a dense and vibrant urban space, without interrupting the existing natural conditions, but including them in a continuous exchange with the built environment.
SYMBIOSIS - INNOVATIVE TOWN PLANNING FOR 20000 INHABITANTS, HENNA, FINLAND COMPETITION 2010, PROJECT AWARDED WITH A PURCHASE (AMONG THE TOP 5 OUT OF 76 PARTICIPANTS) CLIENT: SRV GROUP PROJECT AREA: 420 HEC, BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : -
To get to this goal, nature and town have to grow together in a strong relationship as two interconnected ecosystem
landscape and infrastructures, easily adapting to an enormous amount of possibly pre-existing situations.
A town as a network
Each node can host up to 2000 people, this reduced scale allowing to deal with the need for a self-sufficient urban unit on different scales.
Instead of thinking on a town of 20000 inhabitants made up of a centre that slowly flows until the margins and superposes itself to the existing areas, we considered more nodes closely interconnected among them.
The basic shape and the nature of a single node is given by taking into account several parameters: the radius of each node measures about 250 m, which makes the maximal distance inside a pole of 500 m, 5 minutes on foot. This distance deter This first step allows to avoid a situation where we mines the diffuse presence of the basic services (day-care, retail, have only one intense city centre and the rest of the town works kindergartens, meeting points, small sport structures, local as an orbit, turning around in a relationship city/suburban banks, entertainment ... ), letting each node work as a city centre areas. ENERGY MATERIALS in the city and allowing each inhabitant to easily take advantage TOWN TOWN TOWN by this situation. Here, each node is part of a network that constitutes the whole town and the way the single nodes are connected one WASTE The public transportation stops are located so that their another lets nature flow throw the system, making a balanced EMISSIONS distance from each point of the town is maximum 500m. The void/full system at this scale. The flexibility of the network needs for heating can be satisfied, at the scale of a node, by a small allows to include in the system the ever-changing conditions of
TOWN
ENERGY
TOWN
TOWN
WASTE
SIONS
ENERGY ENERGY
TOWN TOWN
MATERIALS MATERIALS
TOWN TOWN
TOWN TOWN URBAN CENTER
WASTE WASTE
EMISSIONS EMISSIONS
SPRAWLING SUBURBAN AREA RURAL AREAS 50
0m
ENERGY ENERGY
TOWN TOWN
CENTER
RURAL AREAS
TOWN TOWN
5500 00mm
500m
WASTE URBAN URBAN WASTE CENTER CENTER
m 000m 550
SPRAWLING EMISSIONS EMISSIONS SUBURBAN AREA
TOWN TOWN
0m 50
URBAN MATERIALS MATERIALS
500m 500m
SPRAWLING SPRAWLING SUBURBAN SUBURBAN AREA AREA RURAL RURALAREAS AREAS
The old model
CENTER
An innovative town
More nodes (districts) act each one as a city centre with intensity, social and functional mixity and spacial variety. Landscape flows uninterrupted through the town and participate to its life.
SPRAWLING SPRAWLING SUBURBAN SUBURBAN AREA AREA
Nodes and network
While made up of different districts, 50 5 the town is a continuous organism 0m 00 m where each node is closely related to the others. 0m 50 m 0 50
A single city centre concentrates urban intensity while the other districts are mono-functional and sub-urban. Landscape is relegated to the exterior margins of the town URBAN URBAN and doesn’t interact with it. CENTER
A working gear
The interconnection among the nodes is made by the shape of their margins. The nodes are embedded one another while still leaving room for nature to flow through them.
500m 500m
RURAL AREAS RURAL AREAS
Equipments Equipments Services Services Offices Offices In-city Housing In-cityplants plants Housing
Margins
How to make all of the neighborhoods open to the natural environments? If the perimeter of each node is a line where built and natural environment touch, modifying this line we obtain a longer perimeter, without augmenting the total surface.
This way nature can flow around and into the single nodes through continuous “linear parks”, associated to bike and pedestrian paths. Higher buildings usually face these strips of land in the districts. Equipments
Servic
biomasses
wood pellet
8 Wind turbines of 3,5 Mw each water basin
fertilizer
surplus heat from industries
at
solar cells recycling room
organic waste
biomass Biogas plant 10Mw P
high schoolelectricity
forest agriculture
theatre shopping centre
Node
A CHP (combined heat and power) of 3MW provides heat for bigger buildings in each node. The short transmission radius (250 m max) allows a minimal thermal dispersion. The plant is powered by wood pellet and chips from the local forests, a carbon neutral source.
sport centre
thermal baths hospital
P P
cinema
train station
fertilizer
library
biofuel P
CHP
he
museum
wood structural timber and finishing
organic waste
wood from sorces in the immediate vicinity of the town (max 15 km) passive solar design
double skin
green roof
micro greenhouse integrated
recycling
under floor heating
geothermal power pump
waste
Town
Electricity is provided by 8 wind turbines and through the biogas produced in a biogas plant (10 MW). Biogas is obtained by: organic waste produced in the town and in the agriculture plots nearby; by biomass from forest and agriculture. The surplus heat from industries is also used. The biogas plant generates biofuel to power public and private vehicles. The digester liquor is a fertilizer that can be used in agriculture and forest areas.
south facing triple glazing windows capture heat from the sun
high performance insulation
Buildings
Passive strategies are applied in design: double skin, extra insulation, smart orientation. Heat in smaller units is provided through a geothermal power pump.
biomasses
water basin
a
he
solar cells recycling room
greenhouses information workplaces point
pharmacy
playground local kindergarten market daycare services workplaces
sport facilities
local bank
retail
€
CHP plant (combined heating and power) of 2 MW, The energy provided by the CHP, (heating and electricity,) is then distributed in the buildings included in a radius of 250 m, this short distance allowing a very small dispersion. (CHP is most efficient when the heat can be used on site or very close to it ).
heating needs
daily needs
workplaces
2000 people
CHP 2mw year
work places entertainment
25
0m
local market
walking distance
short distribution radius
25
0m ing
5
CHP plant
It is a plant that provides heating and electricity at the same time, exploiting all the amount of heat which is usually lost in the electricity production. The heat transmission is here optimized to get a minimal loss.
organic waste
m k 500 s wal ute min
Each district
A node in the town system hosts up to 2000 people, allowing for easy walking access to basic services.
Like in the old towns, where the “shape” of the districts depended on the need for water and on the access to the market, in this project the dimensions of the nodes are similarly determined by the needs, in terms of energy, of “urban life” and easy pedestrian access to services . The single nodes are crossed by a large boulevard which is the backbone of the transportation system, works as the main path for the public transport (electric bus), and is associated to cars and bike lanes.
Energy The issue of ecological efficiency is taken as a key point for the process of designing the town and it influences the orientations at each level. A holistic approach helps conceiving a strategy that takes into account a whole range of multiple processes, parameters and actors influencing one another. The efficiency is always considered as a design tool, taken as a basic parameter and never as a slogan added in the end of the conception. Neither is it a mechanical calculation that doesn’t take into account the economical, social and spacial impact of each choice.
The two systems (urban/landscape) are in a continuous interdependency: - Agriculture areas produce biomass which generates energy for heating. The agricultural production of the areas nearby can be partially sold in the urban markets and consumed by the town population, obtaining direct connection between production and consume without wasting energy in the transportation (30 m2 of agricultural land feeds the vegetable needs for one person in a year).
Two ecosystems, a multiplicity of lifestyles
- Forests are O2 producers. Regenerative forests closed to the town provide building materials, cutting the costs of transportation, while wood waste is used as fuel (pellet) to get energy through the CHPs.
The shape of the urban nodes guarantees the continuity of the existing ecosystems, adapts itself progressively to the specific features of the territory and absorbs the impact of infrastructures.
- Landscape is seen as an infrastructure, hosting bike paths and footpaths and connecting the different districts. - Citizen can be employed in the management and cultivation of the territories.
10000
years
population
completion of 8 wind turbines
first wind turbine
forest regeneration construction chp plant
completion of the Biogas plant
completion of 10 CHP plants biofuel production from Biogas plant
wind turbines maintenance Biogas plant maintenance
TOWN BECOMES CARBON NEUTRAL
�ENERGY+ TRANSPORTATION�
electric stations
energy private and public transport becomes oil�free
mobility
program
incentives for biofuel cars
mixity of functions and proximity work�living makes walking and cycling a real alternative to any transportation
incentives for electric cars
libraries bars exhibitions housing for auditorium ateliers students pubs retail store housing for housing for school bars libraries canteen families housing for families sport � gym swimming pool students exhibitions retail store retail store swimming pool shared working places day care galleries ateliers churches and religion centers supermarkets business open air and covered markets restaurants galleries day centres retail store sport � gym exhibitions remote working business nursery bank concert halls housing for vertical bike storage ateliers crèche shared working places canteen nursery public forum students retail store clinic exhibitions sport � fields school day centres bars canteen garage pubs residential coffee shop playground galleries housing for shared working places restaurants malls combine heat and power plants swimming pool grocery store ateliers families kinder�garden supermarkets lobbies exhibitions retail store retail store day care ateliers public info center crèche grocery store ateliers libraries housing for housing for bars canteen school sport � gym shared working places school cinema post�offices housing for playground elderly station kinder�garden pharmacies dance � music students retail store sport � gym exhibitions school grocery store bank supermarkets school galleries botanical gardens pharmacies bank housing for nursery school sport � fields families canteen restaurants bars exhibitions retail store housing for pharmacies auditorium housing for remote working bars day care young people open air and covered markets pharmacies galleries business crèche combine heat and power plants exhibitions day centres vacuum rooms water storage libraries school exhibitions couples shared working places students
first settlements
primary infrastructures completion
10 districts completed
redefinition of program through adaptation of the buildings, following demographic, social and economical evolution of the town.
5 1 4 8
3
6
10 2
9
7
18 19 14
15 11 12
13
16
17
1. bus stop 2. bike path 3. bike sharing point 4. main square 5. public building 6. commercial arcades 7. local square
- Playful activities, sport, learning can take place in those areas of the city/ecosystem allowing people to live at the same time in a dense and intense urban context while being in a close contact with nature: this double perception of the overall urban context helps improving the variety of the urban tissue and the diversity of lifestyles. This new model of town is seen as a synthesis between the needs of contemporary citizen to be in contact to a lively environment close to work and leisure opportunities, which is usually intended to be in a city, and a more relaxed and independent way of living, closed to nature and “related” to open spaces. Those last needs led worldwide to the constant presence of urban sprawl: large territory-consuming units, car dependent and anti-urban conditions. While not endorsing this kind of attitude more and more present nowadays, we must understand the basic will behind it and try to imagine urban conditions which can be attractive for larger segments of population.
8. chp 9. covered path 10. local market 11. shared greenhouse 12. shared sauna 13. playground 14. sport field
15. shared working place 16. basin 17. greenhouse 18. agricultural field 19. common laundry
Flexible, evolutive The density mixity (co-presence and distribution of multiple functions) is an important indicator taken into account: it is usually a characteristic of city centres and it disappears in mono-functional suburban areas. Here it informs each sector of the city and it is usually obtained as an hybridization of the residential types. This is made possible by choosing structures that can be used for residential, as well as for offices and retail, opened to possible changes of destinations through time. This flexibility helps to absorb future changing of uses and needs in the town. New forms of working (such as remote working) have been taken into account leading to a multiplicity of spaces. These range from small units directly connected to the residential unit to “open studio” in the block, big spaces that can be shared and rented for different periods, even time of the day or the week, allowing to optimize resources in common, to bigger spaces, in direct connection to public transportation.
The new Henna and its territory Our proposal for an innovative town is extremely adaptable to a large variety of possible existing conditions, so that the landscape has to be shaped only in minimal part, in order to fit the new implantation. We took the special existing features of the Henna site: infrastructure, topography, presence of forests and agriculture etc. and included them in the planning from the beginning. We then found the locations for the single nodes/districts and adapted the shape of the new infrastructures, to connect them with the existing network. The theoretical approach appears perfectly suitable for Henna since its territory is characterized nowadays by very strong ecosystems and a complexity of different productive environments. These last can be integrated in the planning; used as a contributors for the production of energy; be preserved by the town implantation and even be fed by the fertilizer the town itself will produce. The site specific features and identity will not be erased but will be enlighten by their new relationship.
2 years Construction of the first 3 nodes on the west side of the railway. Small train station, (first phase).
5 years Expansion of the five nodes on the west side. Connection of the west nodes by the west loop. Construction of the first node on the east side, along the road crossing the railway.
The margins of the single nodes follow the agricultural limits, the existing topographic features and, like platforms overlooking the sea, they become territories from where one can be confronted to the landscape’s beauty and complexity. The linear parks run through the districts like canals, but they are also infrastructures: going across them, one can reach different points of town, while always staying in an natural though urban ambience. Henna identity : ecology is not a label The idea is to promote a town which is self sufficient, ecological and energetically efficient, while not associating it to the cliché of the “eco-city” and its nowadays ubiquitous “aesthetics”. Here, a small ecological footprint is obtained by restoring a close contact and exchange with the surrounding territory, optimizing the town shape to the mobility issues, the energy production and saving and using up to date technologies to re-interpret the archetypical relationship town/nature. We have chosen not to expose the contemporary high tech tools as a
10 years Most of the west nodes and their mobility is completed. Construction of the second loop is started with two new bridges crossing the railway (south and north).
15 years Completion of the west side with the expansion of the train station. (second phase). Main backbone connecting the two sides is completed. Five years to the completion of the entire town.
20 years The town is completed. Primary and secondary infrastructures balance the relationship between the two sides of the town.
The boulevards Rich and vibrant urban spaces develop along and around these paths. Squares, main buildings and commercial areas open on them.
flag that would only help to get a easy, (and easily obsolescent), “ecological image�, for a fast acknowledgement. While still encouraging inhabitants’ consciousness of their role in keeping a small footprint, we still think their role as citizens cannot only be limited to their awareness toward the town efficiency. Their will of belonging to this town cannot only be related to its ecological features or image.
While the town gets a territorial dimension, the territory assumes an urban character. The two subjects establish different layers of relationships through a strategic presence of mixed uses in both of them and the definition of new, lighter infrastructures.
Overcoming of the old town/landscape dichotomy
Henna will get the richness of a big city, where there are always new areas to explore and events to be surprised from, with the advantages of a smaller scale town, where work and opportunities are close and a sense of community characterizes the urban life. At the same time its special relationship with its territory will give birth to a completely new concept of town where the limit between the built and natural environment is faded. The feeling of inhabiting an urban unit will be completely reinvented. Everyday people can choose their way to go to work and live the town, the transportation they use, the landscape they cross.
The domestic ambiances, the everyday space that connote a town, here meets a territory that has become no longer familiar for contemporary urban inhabitants. The ambiguous geographies of a land to discover are merged with the urban fabric, creating stripes of lands through the buildings. These spaces, where the built environment is therefore suspended, are constitutive parts of the town: this territory becomes a strong part of the urban unit, not its opposition.
A new way of living in a town
CENTRAL SQUARE: STROMSO PUBLIC LIVING ROOM
NEW RAILWAY STATION AND COMMERCIAL PLAZA
LET’S RUN AT THE WATERFRONT
I’LL MEET YOU AT THE CEMETERY GATE
LINEAR PARK
ISLANDS AND HILLS PARK
CULTURAL HUB
COMMERCIAL HUB
URBAN BIODIVERSITY DISTRICT RENOVATION STROMSO (DRAMMEN), NORWAY
VIEW ON THE ISLAND AND HILLS PARK - (a)
The district of Stromso in Drammen lies on the south side of the Drammen river, close to the point where it flows into the sea. This stripe of land is surrounded by a rich and beautiful landscape, between high mountains and close to a fjord. Despite its exceptional location and potential the whole area is nowadays a gray industrial and, at a first look, anonymous suburb that lacks urban intensity, open spaces, gathering places and which appears completely detached from its close natural context. The project provides a new identity to the area while generating a continuous though highly differentiated urban scenario and letting the district interact with the surrounding landscape.
VIEW ON THE WATERFRONT - (b)
The strong east- west configuration of the Stromso territory is underlined by the insertion of a linear waterfront and by
URBAN BIODIVERSITY - DISTRICT RENOVATION AND PLANNING FOR THE CITY OF STROMSO, STROMSO, (DRAMMEN) NORWAY COMPETITION 2010 CLIENT: STROMSO’S MUNICIPALITY PROJECT AREA: 33 HEC, BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : DIDIER NUMANOVIC
the consolidation the court-like blocks which appear today to be uncompleted or unreadable. A sequence of shortcuts, north-south walkways and bike paths is introduced to improve the porosity of the site allowing to easily reach each point of the city.
as well as meeting point. Those interior public gateways can be inhabited through all the seasons. Connecting those three main buildings is a sequence of spaces characterized by many different natures: a central open square that can be used as an open air cinema in summer, the island and hills park, which extends into the sea, the linear park in front of the station, for pedestrians, cyclists and electric bus, the district main green infrastructure, the waterfront, with open air pools and sport fields integrated. Today the railways constitute a main obstacle between the district and the river bank; the project gets to overcome this barrier allowing a continuous circulation through the bridge-station and the access to the waterfront.
The central railway station plays a crucial role in the planning, it becomes, in fact, a bridge building working as a visual and physical connection on different levels: as a urban telescope it frames the mountains on both sides of the river, it serves as a gate for pedestrians and cyclist to reach the other bank, creates a direct access from the square in front, to the the rails, to the waterfront. At the same time it is a covered gateway for the city that works as a collective space, an infrastructure node and concentrates inside multiple activities: commercial premises, exposition areas, cafes, small equipment and so on.
The shape of the new buildings introduced in the district merge with the existing urban fabric while maximizing the access of lights inside and in the streets and courtyards.
The station is one of the three «urban condensers», collective buildings working as energy capturers and producers
SOLAR COLLECTORS
RECYCLING PLANT
CITY LIGHTING
HOUSING HEATING
HOUSEHOLD ENERGY ELECTRIC BUS
HEAT PUMP
CITY HUBS: NEW BUILDINGS AS SOCIAL CONDENSER
CITY HUBS: NODES OF THE ENERGY NETWORK
NETWORK OF HIGHLY DIFFERENCIATED COLLECTIVE SPACES
RECONNECTING THE TWO SIDES: PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE
NEW RAILWAY STATION AND COMMERCIAL PLAZA
RAILWAY STATION ENTRANCE
BLOCK GREEN
OUTDOOR BASKET FIELDS
UNDERGROUND PARKING
THE WATERFRONT: A NEW LINEAR PARK
STROMSO MAIN PLAN: 1/1250
FILLING THE VOID: RETAIL, OFFICE AND WATERFRONT HOUSING
CULTURAL HUB
OPEN AIR SWIMMING POOLS
CENTRAL SQUARE: STROMSO PUBLIC LIVING ROOM PEDESTRIAN STREET: CARS NOT ALLOWED
WET SIDE
SOUTH PARK BLOCK GREEN SCHOOL AND HOUSING COMPLEX
ISLANDS AND HILLS PARK
CEMETERY GATE BLOCK GREEN
COMMERCIAL HUB
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ga
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THE PARALLEL EAST-WEST STRIPE CONFORMATION OF THE TERRITORY AROUND STRØMSØ
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INTEGRATION OF THE GREEN NETWORK
1- PROJECT: SHARPENING THE EXISTING PARALLEL EAST-WEST STRIPE STRUCTURE
Services, housing and offices are mixed through the whole area and underline the margins of the collective space contributing to their activation.
2- PROJECT: CREATING A NEW NORTH-SOUTH STRUCTURE THROUGH VERTICAL SHORTCUTS >> INCREASING THE POROSITY OF THE SITE
A new relationship with the river is created: a more “natural” part, with green islands that can be partially submerged during the winter meets some urban open air facilities taking place on a long wooden deck.
WATERFRONT - Section / Faรงade 1/500
LES AGRICULTURISTES THEMATIC GARDEN CHAUMOUNT, FRANCE
This project was conceived as part of the yearly “festival des jardins” which takes place nearby the the chateau de Chaumont, France. Each year a subject is chosen to give the basic inspiration for each garden. The 2010 theme was “Le jardin, corps et ame” (The garden : body and soul), referring to the way plants during centuries have been used to cure illness and calm people’s spirit. Here we played ironically on the theme of the garden as a “caring place”. Plants and vegetation become literally instruments to “take care” of the body. They take the shape of weight lifting, come out of boxing bags, become surfaces for relaxation and exercise. At the same time, the decomposition of the plot in rectangular sections combines the idea of gym mats with the archetypal shape of the countryside plots. LES AGRICULTURISTES - THEMATIC GARDEN, CHAUMONT, FRANCE COMPETITION 2009 CLIENT: FESTIVAL DES JARDINS PROJECT AREA: 180sqm, BUDGET: 10000€ PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : -
The structures supporting the growth of plants are transformed into tools for achieving physical activity, like those used in the gyms. The garden iself becomes an outdoor room where the public is invited to participate, train, show off, look at the others and eventually meet them. The language is a summary of the agricultural world where the physical effort associated with land and plants (to cultivate, harvest, etc.) was part of the work itself, while in today’s society jobs are more and more sedentary. Moreover people look for specific places (like gyms), to get the possibility of keeping the body fit and healthy.
A
TIRAGE
B
BARRE
C
BOXE
The tools are simple metaphors of this change: the effort made by the people here is not useful for plant growth, but it helps to achieve benefits for the body - physical activity as productive work vs physical activity as pure entertainment. The choice has led to resistant plants that require little care and allow the garden to mutate according to the seasons, while keeping an aesthetic interest during the whole time of the festival.(The Parthenocissus quinquefolia, eg. green in spring, in bloom during summer time and dark red during fall time).
E
D
POIDS A LEVER
ABDOMINAUX
E E D B
C
A
D A A
B
A
E
C
SELECTED PROJECTS 2001-2010
MULTI-FUNCTIONAL CENTER OSTIA - MEDIATHEQUE, RESTAURANT, OFFICES, SPORT OSTIA, ITALY COMPETITION 2005 CLIENT: OSTIA MUNICIPALITY PROJECT AREA: 10000sqm, BUDGET: 20M € PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : -
LES TULIPES - COMMERCIAL CENTRE GONESSE, FRANCE COMPETITION 2008 CLIENT: ZAC LES TULIPES GONESSE PROJECT AREA: 9200sqm, BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : M. FABRIZI PROJECT LEADER FOR TAKTYK + ECDM (COMBAREL ET MARREC ARCHITECTES)
PANTIN LES COURTILLIERES - URBAN PARK PARIS, FRANCE PROJECT 2008 CLIENT: MUNICIPALITY OF PANTIN PROJECT AREA: 70sqm, BUDGET: 15M € PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS: MARIABRUNA FABRIZI PROJECT LEADER FOR TAKTYK PAYSAGISME
EHPAD - HOUSES FOR ELDERLY PEOPLE PONT-SUR YONNE, FRANCE COMPETITION 2008 CLIENT: PROJECT AREA: 5096sqm, BUDGET: 8M € PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS: F. LUCARELLI PROJECT LEADER FOR A+ ARCHITECTES + PHD, IBAT, BETHAC, MUTABILIS PAYSAGISTES
VALENTON - 50 DWELLINGS AND GARDENS VALENTON, FRANCE COMPETITION 2007 - 2nd PRIZE CLIENT: 3F PROJECT AREA: 4000sqm, BUDGET: 7M € PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS: M.FABRIZI PROJECT LEADER FOR A+ ARCHITECTES + CHEMETOV ARCHITECTES
LE FOURQUEUX - 80 DWELLINGS + URBAN PARK LE FOURQUEUX, FRANCE PROJECT 2010 CLIENT: MUNICIPALITY OF FOURQUEUX PROJECT AREA: 150sqm, BUDGET: 70000e PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : M. FABRIZI PROJECT LEADER FOR A+ ARCHITECTES + DEGREE 0 PAYSAGISME
RICAMPIONARE ROMA - PARK OF ST.SEBASTIAN ROME, ITALY COMPETITION 2004 - HONOURABLE MENTION CLIENT: UNIVERSITY OF ROME, ROMA3 PROJECT AREA: 2HEC BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : -
TERRITORIAL VERNETZUNGEBENEN - RESEARCH + EXHIBITION IN ROME AND BERLIN LATIUM, ITALY PROJECT 2004 CLIENT: DEUTSCHE AKADEMIIE ROM - VILLA MASSIMO PROJECT AREA: -, BUDGET: -, PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : IRIS DUPPER LANDSHAFTARCHITEKTIN
EXTRALARGOS - RENOVATION OF PORTO WATERFRONT PORTO, PORTUGAL COMPETITION 2007 - CLASSIFIED AMONG THE FIRST 10 PARTICIPANTS CLIENT: MUNICIPALITY OF PORTO PROJECT AREA: 5HEC, BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS: M. FABRIZI PROJECT LEADER FOR TAKTYK PAYSAGE
ILOT E ARMAGNAC - PRIVATE HOUSE GARDENS BORDEAUX, FRANCE COMPETITION 2007 - FIRST PRIZE CLIENT: MUNICIPALITY OF BORDEAUX PROJECT AREA: 200sqm, BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS: M. FABRIZI PROJECT LEADER FOR TAKTYK PAYSAGE + ANMA, AGENCE NICHOLAS MICHELIN ARCHITECTES
HORTUS LUDI - COLLECTIVE SPACES AND URBAN GARDENS PROJECT 2007-08 LILLE, FRANCE CLIENT: MUNICIPALITY OF LILLE PROJECT AREA: 7000sqm, BUDGET: 550000 € PROJECT: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : MARIABRUNA FABRIZI PROJECT LEADER FOR TAKTYK PAYSAGISME
SCHOOL OF POPULAR MUSIC - TEACHING AREAS + LIBRARY AND CAFETERIA ROME, ITALY PROJECT 2003 CLIENT: SCHOOL OF POPULAR MUSIC OF ROME PROJECT AREA: 2000sqm BUDGET: 3,5M € PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : -
ART LAB - MOBILE LABORATORY FOR CONTEMPORARY ART POOLE, UK PROJECT 2004 CLIENT: POOLE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART PROJECT AREA: 20sqm BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : -
CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM - EXHIBITION + CAFETERIA + OUTDOOR SPACES ROME, ITALY PROJECT 2001 CLIENT: UNIVERSITY OF ROMA - ROMA3 PROJECT AREA: MUSEUM: 1200sqm, RECREATIONAL: 200sqm, OUTDOOR SPACES BUDGET: 4,2M € PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : -
PRESSED CARDBOARD SURFACE - TEMPORARY PAVILION ROME, ITALY PROJECT 2005 CLIENT: UNIVERSITY OF ROME, ROMA3 PROJECT AREA: 200sqm BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS: -
HOUSE AND STUDIO FOR A PHOTOGRAPHER - INTERIOR CONVERSION ROME, ITALY PROJET 2003 CLIENT: PRIVATE PROJECT AREA: 150sqm BUDGET: 70000 € PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : -
EXPERIMENTAL CITY POUR 1000 INHABITANTS - 300 DWELLINGS + FACILITIES FRONTIER NORTH SPAIN-PORTUGAL PROJECT 2004 CLIENT: PROJECT AREA: 40 HEC BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : -
PALESTRINE - HISTORIC CENTRE RENOVATION PALESTRINE, ITALY PROJECT 2005 CLIENT: PROJECT AREA: BUDGET: PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS : -
MICROCITIES ARCHITECTURE CITYSCAPE LANDSCAPE Mariabruna Fabrizi and Fosco Lucarelli 8, rue du Ch창teau Landon 75010 - Paris, France +33 6 77 34 87 04 www.microcities.net info@microcities.net