The Frame, Flexible Architecture for 2030

Gilberto Golla

Flexible architecture for Gantopia 2030

Master Dissertation BLACK the process | The Frame Academic year 2016 - 2017 Publication May - June 2017 Student Gilberto Golla International Master of Architecture and Sustainability Academic promotors Luc Eeckhout, Sandy De Bruycker All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or specific copyright owners.

KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture Campus Sint-Lucas Ghent www.kuleuven.be www.arch.kuleuven.be www.internationalmasterofarchitecture.be

Table of contents

1 2 3 4 5 6

BLACK the process Introduction Gantopia Flows

6 10 16

Dampoort Mapping Issues and key topics

20 24 38

Definition Techniques Composition

44 46 52

Timeline Regeneration Progressive development

56 68 77

Then_now_then Program Flows

84 90 96

Analysis

Flexibility

Temporality

Slow Mobility

Architecture of the frame

Bibliography

Spontaneous commerce Flexible industry Dynamic housing Complete picture

100 110 122 128 138

RESEARCH QUESTION: How can architecture respond to the variables of time?

5

1 _ BLACK the process

1

INTRODUCTION Towards the development of Gantopia, a new sustainable neighbourhood in the area of Dampoort, Gent, we have collectively researched, developed and questioned those elements that could make projects more fitting within the natural, urban and economical environments of a city.

Gantopia comes from the Latin name of the city, Gand, and the concept of Utopia, the lattest though has to be interpreted as the aim to achieve a sustainable masterplan based on research and plausible techinques, not as a purely utopistic proposal.

Within this framework we have investigated what functions should this neighbourhood have, how they can relate one to the other and what advantages they bring (economically, socially and environmentally) with the objective of making as many closed circles as possible.

Once that a program roster had been made we’ve split into researching every single function into a building to be included in the general masterplan, investigating once more the flows and the connections that can be made.

We have researched the potential of each of these programs to be connected to housing functions and to generate workplaces for the city of Gent.

A great example for such aim (even though on a smaller scale) is De Ceuvel project, in Amsterdam, which not only managed to make a good use of an abandoned and polluted area but also provides solutions for the current situation’s issues and functions that take advantage one from the other.

It is a rare example of well calibrated closed circles and simple innovations, it therefore recalls in many ways the assumptions from which we start Gantopia and the goals that we want to achieve.

These tests we have been doing aimed to expand our conception of cities and neighbourhoods as vectors of flows.

Every element in a city (public/private buildings, factories, public spaces and services) generate flows both ingoing and outgoing, wether they are material, energetic or human flows.

Trying to close circles with these flows, by making the wastes of one building the resource of another, has been one of the biggest challenges in our tests.

7

In a city that claims to be sustainable “clean” transportation plays a major role and when it comes to people’s (as individuals)movements in the city the bike is the first mean of transport that comes to mind, particularly in a student city such as Gent.

We chose then to have bikes being represented by a building in our plot because bikes are not just objects, they are a network, an opportunity for business , often a requirement, a collective utility and an individual’s identity statement.

It was then my objective to investigate bikes as an opportunity for business, community, urbanism, nature and of course transportation, looking once again at flows and connections that would strenghten the necessity of such project to be included in the new neighbourhood and the possibility to implement housing in this project.

It turns out that bikes have a wide range of applications but also issues that need to be faced, such as the bike parking, which often takes out large portions of land especially in front of train stations.

It is my target to develop a project that is yes a functional landmark but also a permeable entity that creates positive public spaces in the plot and along the networks of Gent.

Although, with the start of the design process, some questions and issues have raised awareness in me that what is needed is more than a program placed in the neighbourhood in accordance to what happens (and what will happen) around it.

We are designing for 2030 and further, a relatively long time in proportion to the speed of technological and social development of our times, in this timespan virtually anything could happen.

We could foresee, with a certain degree of precision, what will be the trends in the next years, but variables are so many that certainty is far from achievable.

These thoughts brought me to the awareness that what is needed is flexibility, the chance for a rather solid element like architecture to be adapted to any (or most) situation that time could bring.

Economical, spatial, social and environmental flexibility is needed in architecture to bring in act changes that would otherwise require precious time and resources.

Figure 1, flows map, result of the “Black the process” workshop

9

GANTOPIA The application of the previous researches made on flows and programs resulted in the creation of Gantopia, a new neighbourhood, planned for the year 2030, that would work as a prototype for smart cities.

The location found and chosen for its characteristics is in the city of Gent, the neighbourhood of Dampoort.

Specifically the plot is formed by the fallow lands adjacent to the railway and train station of Dampoort.

Being in a former industrial area the challenges of Gantopia include the relation with such traffic-oriented infrastructure, the non-optimal environmental conditions and a social/physical division conditioned by the presence of the railway, acting as boundary, which separates the multicultural neighbourhood of Dampoort from the inner city of Gent.

In few and distant points this boundary is penetrated by infrastructural crossings, which are: the main road connecting Sint-Amandsberg and all of the villages in the East of Gent to the centre; and a two-way road that leads to the outskirts of the city, with barely enough space to allow pedestrians crossing.

Mobility changes needed to be made in this context, so we took the responsibility of reorganizing some of the existing infrastructure to allow for a more slow-mobility centered city.

With the fast pace of innovation in the energetical, automation and informatics industries it is expected that mobility will evolve in a sustainable direction.

Electric vehicles, solarpowered or even self-driving cars will likely become the norm in modern cities within the next 10 or 15 years.

Factors like the drops in photovoltaic panels costs, the constant improvement (and soon to be massively produced) batteries, the investments made on new driving technologies and safety measures, they all point to a small revolution in the market of mobility.

A so called “disruption” already took place in the beginning of the 20th century, when cars completely replaced horses as the main mean of private transportation.

It took only 13 years for a city like New York to become a urban environment full of cars absorbing 2/3rds of the public space, instead of having free-flows of people within its streets together with a good number of horses and charriots at a relatively slow pace.

With the ever-increasing efficiency of technologies in the last and present centuries it is likely that a “clean disruption” will take place in an even shorter timespan.

It is therefore crucial to provide the space and the framework for these technologies to take place with the smallest possibe effort.

Figure 2, source: http://www.caraaugustenborg.com/latest-news/environment-ireland-2016-a-vision-and-reality-of-a-fossil-free-ireland-by-2050

11

Masterplan Knowing a roster of possible programs for Gantopia and getting accostumed to the characteristics and issues of our plot in Dampoort, we started putting the bases for a masterplan.

A few guidelines have been established in regards to the shape and dimensions of our individual plots.

The average plots would be of little less than an hectar, 70-80% of which could be constructed, the rest would act as connection areas and public spaces.

We tried to organize the buildings in clusters, placing similar functions (or those that take the most advantage one from the other) adjacent.

In most cases we opted for courtyard or semicourtyard footprints, in respect to the existing urban tissue and to grant a degree of private/ semi-private spaces.

Considering the average density of the city of Gent, the plot sizes and growth predictions, we also estimated the need of approximately 50 housing units to be included in each new project (whether the program of the project allows for a convenient placement of housing units).

13

U

D-HuB

DAMP Circular Brewery

Keto Bakery

The Frame

Open Campus of Crafts

Urban Productive Block

Markethouse WasteLab

DAMCO(ffice) E-Lab

The Blue-Green Machine Ghent Tool Library

15

FLOWS It is crucial for sustainable architecture to investigate flows within itself and the surroundings.

The flows include the movements of people, vehicles and materials both on the scale of the building and the one of the neighbourhood.

Resources flows then take into consideration rainwater, energy, greenery, sunlight and the connection to servant elements from the city.

Making architecture and innovation is also about creating connections and cooperations, not only with people of the sector, but also with interdisciplinary actors

Considering that we are creating a brand new neighbourhood it is important to define the relation of each building with the adjacent ones and provide a fluent and sensible network for all the forementioned flows.

In the case of my project to focus goes to the flows of people and slow mobility beneath the open ground floor and to the functional layers of the building itself thanks to the cores and the secondary accesses which include a bike ramp inside the courtyard.

In the courtyard is located a system of irrigation and water collection, excess rainwater is then sent through a small system of canals to the “Blue-Green Machine� project located at the south end of the plot.

The flat rooftops can be used to place photovoltaic panels as well.

To Sint-Amandsberg

To Gantopia To city centre

17

BIKE LANES & CROSSINGS

HOUSING REPAIR STATIONS

RESEARCH CENTRE

RENTAL & DELIVERIES

VELODROME & EVENTS MARKET ON WHEELS

GYM & HEALTH-CARE

PARKING & STORAGE

19 Figure 3, flows and programs scheme for a biking centre, result of the mid-term research

2

DAMPOORT The neighbouhood of Dampoort had historically a certain relevance: it hosted the citadel of Gent in the 19th century, it used to be the eastern gate of the city and later gained importance as commercial pole due to the railway station that also offered a close connection to the Dok area, the former industrial harbour of the city.

2 _ Analysis

The train station used to occupy the whole plot of our intervention, that is now considered a fallow land.

Now the station (renewed in the 1970s) takes a much smaller portion of terrain adjacent to the railway and large spaces have been paved to create parking lots (both for cars and bikes) in front of it.

The whole area has a clear industrial imprint, given by the large infrastructures, the powerplant which still acts as a strong landmark thanks to its outstanding chimney, a textile factory (which is now abandoned) on the other side of the railway, and several other industries north of the plot (some of which are being re-used with new functions).

The presence of these industrial buildings and the railway have surely left their mark on the soil’s and water’s conditions, which is an issue for new urban developments.

Figure 4, Dampoort station before the renovation

21

Figures 5 to 10, historic pictures of Dampoort, source: http://nieuwsblad.typepad.com/gent/2008/11/dampoortstati-1.html

Figure 11, the overpass of Dampoort 1998, source: https://beeldbank.stad.gent/index.php/

23

MAPPING The urban analysis of Dampoort and our plot focuses on the issues of mobility and program.

The two strong boundaries that border with our area (the railway and the ringroad) constitute a major issue to be dealt with.

These elements bring in of course the topics of public and private mobility together with the zoning of the area.

The following mapping has been produced with a conspicuous contribution from the mobility research group of the course ZIB (Zero Impact Building) of the first year of the Master Programme, who have been assigned the same area for their research by the tutor Luc Eeckhout.

25

project perimeter borderland

Base map

SITE

Mobility

CIRCULATION

27

  

PUBLIC TRANSPORTS Mobility

road connections madonna water connections railway connections

Mobility

CONNECTIONS

29

Mobility

KU Leuven | Maig.22 Climate Design & Sustainability | Claudia Diana, Giulia Azaria, Quinten Van Severen, Randa El Hallak, Valentina Marcello

Figure 12, analysis of Dampoort’s roundabout, source: https://wegenenverkeer.be/persberichten

CROSSINGS

Mobility

PARKING

31

crossing strong baundary

light boundary borderland

BOUNDARIES

Boundaries

KU Leuven | Maig.22 Climate Design & Sustainability | Claudia Diana, Giulia Azaria, Quinten Van Severen, Randa El Hallak, Valentina Marcello

BOUNDARIES

33

>5 storey >3 storey <3 storey

Density

DENSITY

Residential and commercial Residential not analysed

Mixed use

HOUSING

35

WATER LINES

Ringroad

Railway

Noise map trains - day scale 1/750

Noise map cars - day scale 1/750

    







NOISE POLLUTION

37

ISSUES AND KEY TOPICS Dampoort has a series of urgencies but also potentials, in fact thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a number of development plans that have been designed (and some slowly implemented) in the last decade.

One of these topics is the infamous roundabout over the canal.

It is currently a traffic-oriented infrastructure that hosts 3 lanes for mixed-traffic and a bike lane revolving around it, with several crossings of the two.

What we propose (similarly to what has been proposed by AWV, De Lijn and NMBS and planned for 2019) is to reduce the roundabout into an intersection, prioritizing public transportation and putting slow mobility on a lowered layer to reduce dangerous crossings and promote obstacle-free paths for bikers.

By turning the roundabout into an intersection, half of it is freed to act as public space and provide a potential waterfront for the neighbourhood.

The ringroad, which has gained a major role with the new mobility plan, will still flow without obstacles, nonetheless we are trying to reduce the importance of private cars in favour of slow mobility.

Figures 13-14, proposal for Dampoort, source: http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20151211_02016376

2017

2023

2030

39

Developments in the area The so called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oude Dokkenâ&#x20AC;? masterplan, by OMA is a large-scale development, started in 2004 and slowly proceeding to our days and the next decade, that aims to recover the former industrial harbour north of our plot in favour of a dense residential area.

This project would bring new life to a large abandoned area and incentivate the housing program in the inner circles of the city of Gent, together with a public school and commercial activities.

The ringroad will change too, with a new bridge crossing the canal that connects directly to the ringroad and makes it turn into the northern borders of the city.

Whenever this masterplan will be completed it is expected to lead to several economical and social changes in this part of the city.

It adds to the variables of time that Dampoort is subject to and therefore it constitutes another element to be faced with flexibility.

Figures 14-15, Oude Dokken masterplan, source: http://www.g-2.be/3d-beelden/wonen-aan-de-schipperskaai

41

Key topics It is clear at this point what are the main issues to be faced in such area and with such premises.

FLEXIBILITY

Urban transformation asks for more flexibility.

The variables of time are already in great number for this area and may increase in the near future.

TEMPORALITY

Mobility is currently the topic that needs more adjustments to achieve a livable urban environment.

These topics arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t independent but strictly related one to the other or rather they can all be traced back to the larger context of flexibility.

SLOW MOBILITY

Why flexibility

cores

structure

Flexibility and changeability are key words in the approach of design for the unpredictable.

free ground

frame accessibility

Houses have an average life span of about a hundred years, whereas households and habitats can change radically and repeatedly during that time.

Consequently architects are faced with the task of giving form to a shelter for a period during which the compositions and the associated spatial rituals will go through major changes.

When architects of the modern movement at the beginning of the 20th century were facing the problems of mass housing the flexible floorplan became a topic.

Beside of the day and night floorplan some architects at that time developed the concepts for the free plan like the so called plan-libre of Le Corbusier and later the support concept of Habraken.

Taking not the changeable but the permanent as a departure-point opens up new perspectives.

The permanent, or durable component of the building constitutes the frame within which change can take place.

The notion of â&#x20AC;&#x153;frameâ&#x20AC;? is informed by the book Earth Moves by the French architect and philosopher Bernard Chace, one of his assertions is that architecture is the art of the frame.

support

polyvalence FLEXIBILITY

economy

modularity

life-cycle

progressive development

management

TEMPORALITY

prefabrication

soil

building process

regeneration

asphalt/concrete public space

SLOW MOBILITY

biking infrastructure

parking

production peak demand maintenance/repair

43

3

DEFINITION Flexibility is a term and topic that in architecture arose strongly during the 20th century, especially in the late 1960s, when serious research was done into techniques that would allow buildings to adapt to meet the demands made by time.

3 _ Flexibility

Although, in many cases, the desire for flexibility led to programmatically neutral and characterless buildings, therefore flexibility became synonymous with blandness and the word subsequently slipped from the architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vocabulary.

Instead of giving immediate answers to actual and future problems, the idea is to provide a flexible framework that adapts to the circumstances

It was getting clear at that time, and it is even more now, that â&#x20AC;&#x153;architecture is by no means a timeless mediumâ&#x20AC;? and yet it is rare to find architectural projects that dig deeply into the dimension of time, instead of strictly binding themselves with our present expectations and needs.

Why then should we attain to principles of flexibility?

Designing and planning for the year 2030 involves a number of variables in society, economy and urbanism that are hard, if not impossible, to predict; it is sometimes like designing for the unknown.

Society is changing at such speed that buildings are faced with new demands which they should be in a position to meet, there are times when buildings change function during construction or even during the design process.

For example the currently weak office market has caused many property developers to alter ongoing projects for office buildings into housing.

Such changes usually mean a complete redevelopment of plans with subsequent inconveniences and adaptations that sometimes lead to the delivery of not well-thought or inadequate projects.

These problems can be avoided when the design procedure involves not only the 3 spatial dimensions but also the 4th dimension of time, which means designing buildings that are able to cope with changes.

The project developed here is therefore an attempt to implement the concepts of flexibility and a number of sub-categories that are directly dependent on flexibility (such as polyvalence, changeability, disassembly, semi-permanence and temporality) to a building that aims to 2030 and further.

45

The polyvalence concept A polyvalent building is quite simply a structure that can be used in different ways without adjustments to the way it’s built.

For public functions we could name the french “salle polyvalente” (or multi-purpose hall), which is typically a central building in each village where weddings, parties, musical and theatrical performances can take place.

Although in a “salle polyvalente” the different uses take place consecutively, in housing, instead, the building must be able to provide space for all the different activities which it is capable of accomodating to take place at the same time, therefore polyvalence in housing relates mostly to the interchangeability of activities between the different rooms.

For commercial and industrial uses the key elements are the proper dimensions and ratios and the provision of special services.

A mixed-use building is per-se a polyvalent building, but also here dimensioning is crucial for it to function properly and to be able to change program over time.

The support concept This concept, developed in the 1950s by the Dutch architect N.J. Habraken, asserts that the Governments should be responsible for providing major structures, “supports”, that allow customers to construct their homes on it or in it, depending on the type of support.

The support would consist of a concrete construction of superimposed floors winding its way through the town.

A strip on one side is left free to serve as a gallery connecting regularly spaced free-standing staircases and lift-shafts.

Between two of such floors there would be an open space that can over time be occupied or “demolished”, this space is bounded vertically by load-bearing floors and horizontally by blind dwelling walls.

This approach also involves the reconfiguration of the usual decision-making levels, expressed in 3 points

by Habraken himself: 1_ Restructuring the entire building market (in particular in public housing and commercial and industrial buildings) with the aim of opening up the interaction between supply and demand.

2_ Bringing about a new arrangement and reorientation of decision-making, who decides what on what level.

3_ Introducing modular coordination

47

The carcass concept The carcass, a term brought into architecture in the 1960s, unites the principles of security and enclosure with the modern wish for adjustability and flexibility.

The idea of carcass, or base building, usually refers to a basic dwelling, an empty space with no divisions or fittings.

The essence is a support structure containing separate compartments providing the insulation required between different dwellings.

Many times the placement of the servant elements is a crucial topic, an interesting example is the “Domus Demain” project by Yves Lion where all these elements are integrated in the facade which the architect describes as an “active layer” and all the service rooms (kitchen, bathroom) revolve around it.

Having this vertical band as a light and services supplier allows for a more inert and passive interior of the building.

The semi-permanence concept This concept can be divided in two parts: the buildings whose finish or partition elements are industrially fabricated and demountable; and those that are completely demountable, structure included.

This concept mostly applies to office buildings because on average they last no longer than 20 years before requiring large-scale rebuilding or even demolition.

By then the interior will often have been frequently subjected to complete renovation, necessitated by internal removals and changes in user requirements.

One example is the XX building by Jouke Post which has been designed to be completely dismantled after 20 years and its materials reused, recycled or dumped without damage to the environment.

The use of demountable connections ensures that this can be done quickly and easily.

The same principle can be applied to industrial buildings without consistent changes in the strategy.

49

The frame concept This one is, in my opinion, the most complete principle, therefore the one I applied more deeply into my project.

The columns liberate walls because a wall that is not load-bearing can be placed anywhere.

It is based on the changeability of programs through permanent elements, these elements being the frame.

According to this principle, the permanent part of a building can be thought of as the frame which creates freedom and enables various adjustements to be made without requiring such interventions to be precisely determined in advance.

In contrast with the semi-permanence concept which assumes a 20-years lifespan, the frame concept considers an average life of 100 years.

During this period the way the building is used will change radically and repeatedly.

Such concept uses flexible structures that can easily be changed but the emphasis on the development of the frame is not on what can be changed but what can be permanent and lasting.

By determining what can be permanent now we create opportunities to deal with futureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unpredictability.

A building can be divided into a number of layers, and in principle each layer or combination of layers can be seen as the frame, as a permanent part of the building.

In this view each layer or combination can generate freedom for other layers and so for other parts of the building, for example providing load-bearing columns, therefore making loadbearing walls unnecessary, we generate a liberating effect.

One approach within this concept is to acquire a plot of land which would be divided from its neighbours by a boundary wall.

A zone running parallel to this boundary would contain stairs leading to an upper floor and a number of service areas, adjoining an empty â&#x20AC;&#x153;freeâ&#x20AC;? zone whic the ocupiers could fill to suit their individual needs.

Another approach, more similar to mine, would be to create a large-scale structure or roof that can shelter several buildings within itself, as independent constructions.

Creating a uniform interior and high ceilings make it possible to erect interventions of various sizes by relatively simple means.

The simplicity of the smaller buildings makes them easily adjustable to suit changing cirumstances.

The frame is not just the permanent part of the building: it also embodies the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most important architectural and cultural values, which means that the building can react to changes in the requirements imposed on it over time without damaging its essential character

51

COMPOSITION With the principles of our Gantopia strategy as first guidelines to shape the new building (courtyard or semi-courtyard shape, plot size, location, program and about 50 dwelling units) I started developing the project experimenting and testing different flexible approaches.

The result is in great part relatable to the frame concept, hence the title of the project, and starts with the intention of having the productive floor elevated from the ground level.

The 2 slabs generated by this gesture become the main elements of the frame, with almost monumental proportions, based partly on the typical productive building, partly on duplex offices and mezzanines and partly on containersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; dimensions multiplied by 2.

The columns are another fixed element of the frame, which create freedom for the plans.

Then the 2 cores, placed in the north part of the building, similarly to the support concept, are placed near the sides of the building and they extend for a few extra floors above the main slabs to provide a starting point for the dwelling development on top.

The container has been chosen not as actual fundamental object for this project, (although there are a few opportunites for the use of containers due to the proximity of Gentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Harbour) but as epitome of the typical small and temporary commercial intervention.

Such are the kind of internventions that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m trying to promote on this open ground floor (which could by some extent be considered a polyvalent space), the area on this level would be in fact lent to commercial initiatives that would pay a rent for the space and the connection to utilities (water and electricity) provided by the building itself.

These activities could be independent or work in a strict relation with the productive floor above (which is a bike production centre and exhibition) such as bike rentals, repair services, blue bikes (which already exists in front of the train station and is, coincidentally located in a container).

The first floor, the productive layer, has the same exact dimensions but here the frame would not be filled by boxes like on the ground floor, it would be instead based on a modular grid, articulated by the structure itself, where all the enclosing elements are assembled in dry construction (exterior walls, interior walls, windows, floor panels, ceiling panels) and therefore easy to dismount, maintain, re-configure and replace according to the needs imposed by time.

The roof of the building becomes the new ground, the starting point for the housing development.

The construction of this layer will start from the 12 by 12 meters grid of the main frame and be divided in 6 by 12 housing modules (standard size of a 2-3 persons apartment) supported by dry-constructed CLT walls that connect vertically to the slab below and horizontally to the cores, allowing for a progressive development of the housing units.

These units are polyvalent in the sense that no internal disposition is provided, they can be assembled in different ways and adapted to host larger, smaller, duplex or even working units (offices).

Similarly to what happens on the ground floor, here the “airspace” around the cores and on the roof would be sold or leased to privates or developing companies who would then complete the housing modules with appropriate infill and finishing according to their choices and resources.

The modules can be customized internally and externally (openings, cladding, finishing) by the clients.

The cores will provide vertical distribution to all boxes and the spaces left “unbuilt” will stand as ciruclation and common spaces.

On both the productive and the housing layers a buffer of 2,5 meters is provided on all sides of the building, following the support concept, to ensure circulation in any stage of the building, no matter how dense it could become in the future, or to act as simple terraces.

At maximum capacity the housing layer could host about 70 apartments but a more suitable layout would not exceed the 54 units.

Certainly a set of rules, a sort of small-scale city planning, needs to be provided for all of the three layers, to ensure the harmony of all the different parts, the management of technical elements and sun orientation.

53

Life-cycle economy

3 layers that react differently to the same topic (flexibility) due to their relation to the public environment, therefore different architectural answers on a common framework

With the creation of a flexible building goes some economic planning.

Since spaces do not have (or at least not permanently) a function assigned to them, there occurs the need to define a strategy to deal with the planned-occupation of space and economy.

PROGRAM

DIMENSIONS

HEIGHT

LIFE-SPAN

PROGRESSIVE SUMMIT

housing

6 x 6 grid

1 to 4 floors

FLEXIBLE MID-FLOOR

production research

2 x 2 grid

1 floor (double height + mezzanines)

average life (20y) small adaptations

OPEN GROUND FLOOR

commercial

free

max 2 floors

temporary (1-2y) total replacement

long life (50y) few adaptations

Whereas the industrial activities would be stable in time (within a certain degree) and offices as well grant a 20 years life-span, housing and commercial activities instead are much more ductile over time and hard to foresee.

For such reasons these elements of the project need to be progressively developed, with grids and planning to adapt and follow the needs.

BUSINESS

MODULES GIVEN

CUSTOMIZE

EXPENSE/INCOME

PROGRESSIVE SUMMIT

lease to privates

frame & basic infill

openings & internal layout

$ / $$$

FLEXIBLE MID-FLOOR

long-term rent/sell surface temp. events

outlines, grid & facade + mezzanines floors modules & windowing

OPEN GROUND FLOOR

short-term technical installations rent surface & installations

completely customizable

$$ / $$

$/$

55

4 _ Temporality

4

TIMELINE

It is important, in order to achieve flexibility, that we do not only assume that a new building will come into existence and then adapt over time; nonetheless we need to consider the process of its construction and what contribution it can give to the building itself, the neighbourhood, the city and the environment.

It is clear that buildings lacking in flexibility will not be granted a long life, but will quickly be demolished, a process which is itself no more than another kind of adjustment to changed circumstances.

Another important topic to take into consideration though is the construction process, how such buildings are built and occupied over time.

It is my intention here to investigate the characteristics and issues of the specific plot of my project and foresee a strategy that is as much sustainable as possible in regards to the city and the environment.

The construction process is an active part of a flexible project

This process is purely theoretical and the project could subsist also without such strategy, nevertheless I am convinced of the responsibility that architecture and architects have towards the environment (social, urban, natural) in which they intervene.

The preceding chapter has outlined a series of concepts and possible ways of allowing buildings to react to changes brought about by the passage of time.

When it comes to building in a plot that has some issues, that could be major or minor, the tendency is to try containing the damage or rather forgetting about it, in terms that I like to use it can be defined as “sweeping it under the carpet”, or concrete in our case.

A building is no longer a single object, a single whole or entity.

“In the future buildings will have to be seen as a combination of systems, each system with its own design process, production process and life-time.”

The plot we are working on does not pose immediate threats and new buildings could be developed without additional processes, although the pollution present in the soil is well known and documented, therefore I believe that it is important to actively try to improve the situation and get advantages from it as well, rather then forgetting the issue.

57

First draft of the regenerative urbanism strategy.







   

   



 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 



  



  





 



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 

   

 

 















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



 

 







 



    





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Final regenerative urbanism strategy This strategy has been developed together with HervĂŠ Beel who is designing the D-HuB in place of the actual train station of Dampoort.

The aim is to take advantage from our surroundings and improve their quality and livability with a gradual process, providing at the same time soil and materials to be used all over the new constructions of Gantopia.

2017-2018

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2018-2028

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2028-2030

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REGENERATION

Medicines are “artificial”, man-made solutions for sick organisms.

The same principle can be applied to environments that instead of being sick are polluted and such medicines are provided by men but are always made of elements found in nature itself.

Nature has a self-healing characteristic, but when the extent of damage/danger is high it needs some punctual interventions (that we could call urban-medicines), aimed to enhance the healing process

In fact, due to the industrial history of Dampoort and its railway station that once occupied the entire plot, the soil contains a level of heavy metals that is above the average.

The canals as well have a rather thick layer of dirt sitting on their bottom, which by itself isn’t too dangerous for the environment, but when some switch in temperatures happens and waters get mixed-up it constitutes a danger for the water’s ecosystem.

Purification of the soil is needed in Flanders in order to achieve the minimum requirements for human safety, and Flanders itself hosts some of the biggest soil treatment plants.

But can we push this a little further?

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The value of soil Soils play a major role in ecosystems and as such are an essential cornerstone of human life and prosperity; increasing population pressure and severe erosion, pollution and desertification issues are threatening this commodity.

The ductile characteristics of soils and the actual public attention paid to environmental quality, reinforce the demand for field, map, and laboratory data harvesting in order to fully distinguish the different issues that can be faced.

Interpretation of these analyses within the frame of engineering purposes and environmental quality issues, requires in-depth knowledge of the analysis and dynamics of clays, as well as of soil development, evolution and soil processes under natural conditions or after human interference.

Thanks to the help of Nele Delbecque, researcher at the Research Group of Soil Contamination in UGent (University of Gent), I was able to collect some generic but rather indicative data about the soil in Gent and Dampoort specifically.

During the Industrial Revolution, Gent became an important center of textile production, at the end of the 19th Century, large textile factories and metal construction plants were raised outside the former city walls.

From the 1950s onwards, the center of industrial activities shifted towards the port area north of the city center, with a variety of industrial

activities, including the steel industry, the car industry, trans-shipment of bulk commodities, power plants, and the chemical industry.

Ghent was mainly built on (niveo-)eolic and fluviatile sandy deposits, but alluvial deposits with sandy to clayey textures are found along the rivers.

Several plots in Gent have been proven to be contaminated and many more have been estimated to be in similar situations.

Our plot belongs to the second group and the analysis in surrounding lands have shown levels of Pb, Zn, and Cu (lead, zinc and copper) much over the limits.

Where the tolerated level is 1.0 these elements reach 3.0 and above.

Figures 16-20, research on Gentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soil pollution, source: Spatial Patterns of Heavy Metal Contamination by Urbanization, by Nele Delbecque and Ann Verdoodt

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Phytoremediation In most cases polluted soil would be excavated and sent to soil treatment facilities and Gent has some on its own.

But there are more natural and also cheaper methods to clean the soil (the forementioned medicines), one of them is phytoremediation, which consists in the use of specific plants and trees that absorb particular kinds of heavy metals from the soil they are planted in.

There are several plants that can cleanse the earth of toxins and traditional remediation of land is expensive and difficult therefore research is performed on plants’ ability to purify the soil.

This system is relatively cheap, but takes a long time to be completely effective (several years).

Six researchers from the Danish Hydraulic Institute have tested several different plants ability to absorb metals from soil, their research shows that plants can easily incorporate cadmium and zinc, but only few of them absorb lead.

In order to accelerate the process mechanical and natural treatments can be alternated in a sort of modern-day fallow land principle: dividing the terrain in areas adhibited to one or the other system, rather than leaving part of it to rest and then rotate these functions.

Phytoremediation is still a sperimental system, seen also in De Ceuvel, that has proven a good efficiency but still has a range of issues on which research is being made.

What to do with these plants and trees once that they have absorbed the metals from the soil?

On a purely theoretical base I propose to take advantage of these trees to produce in loco building materials, the metals present in the wood shouldn’t constitute a threat to people due to their static position in wood’s fibers and its physical characteristics wouldn’t be altered.

A different matter is the one concerning small plants and the question is still open wheter they could be turned into biogas or just disposed without the risk of these metals going back in the terrain.

The researchers tested plants such as the pennycress, mustard, and amaranth and found that the most suitable trees for remediation of soils from heavy metals are poplar and willow.

My proposals will need time to be properly tested and put to work but it’s important to look for innovative techniques and try to improve such unstable situations that would otherwise be forgotten under a layer of concrete and asphalt.

Plants can only record limited amounts of metal per year and therefore a complete remediation of zinc and copper can take approximately 10-15 years.

But what to do then with the clean soil obtained in the process?

 

 

 

Figure 21, soil remediation methods, source: https://www.anl.gov/articles/five-ways-scientists-can-make-soil-less-dirty











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Uses of soil Excavated soil is usually disposed, generating superfluous expenses and emissions, then it is wise to try using such excavated soil to our advantage.

The applications of soil vary in urbanism and architecture.

From simple landscaping to urban farming the request for clean soil is quite high, as an alternative soil with a certain degree of clay composition can be compressed and treated to assemble rammed-earth walls, bricks and floor tiles.

The latest have good mechanical properties and are easy to keep clean.

Portions of soil that exceed the demands of this prime material can be kept in tree-scaled pots for further purification and later use, instead of being disposed after the excavation of the new basements.

The aim is to avoid useless transportations of large quantities of soil (and therefore CO2 emissions) and incentivate the use of local materials for new urban and architectural developments.

Recovering concrete and asphalt To make buildings embrace more recycled elements, some researchers have turned to recycling concrete and asphalt, which have been largely used in Dampoort for the ringroad and the excessively large parking are of the train station.

About half the volume of concrete is made up of gravel or limestone aggregate, which usually comes from a quarry or pit.

The chopped-up rocks are typically used as fill for a building’s foundation but researchers wanted to know if it could be used as a component of new concrete.

The recycled concrete, which is chopped-up pieces of old concrete up to an inch in size, usually has much higher quality than what is being used for.

Figure 22, standard paving methods, source: http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/3/7/965/htm

Researchers found that the materials were just as strong as concrete made without recycled components, though they created concrete that was stiffer than expected (a factor that builders need to take into consideration in deciding where to use it).

The results of their study were published September 1 in the American Concrete Institute Structural Journal: “We have an increasing demand for new structures, and we have to take down the old ones to replace them,” he said. “It could be a self-sustaining cycle to use recycled aggregate in new infrastructure.”

Recycling shouldn’t be confused with down-cycling though, where materials can’t be reused for their original purpose, but instead go to a lower-end use, like concrete becoming structural fill.

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In order to achieve environmental benefits passive buildings (producing own energy, natural ventilation etc.) are not a complete answer, smart buildings and urban projects need to be actively giving benefits to their environments with processes of improvement The attempt is not solely to imagine how the future will be and adapt to it, but rather to create a valuable process for the future to be the way we want it

PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT

Future needs can be calculated with approximation, such as the clean disruption that foresees electric vehicles completely replacing fuel-based mobility, but there can never be a complete certainty of which expectations will happen and in what time-spans.

The ultimate goal is a building whose only constant is that it is always in flux

In 2030 the building si planned to reach a status that we could define as “complete”, passing through different stages and programs aimed to minimize the impact of new constructions, but its evolution won’t be over.

The building will, as previously described, be flexible in order to adapt to as many circumstances as possible.

The commercial activities on the ground floor will come and go, the productive first floor will change its boundaries and internal organization, the roof of the building might be progressively filled with housing modules or even host different functions and the mobility of the area will change according to the innovations in transportation that the constant progress will bring us.

Each of these programmatic areas answer to different life-spans and neccessities in flexibility, therefore a good degree of planning is needed to guarantee a fluent evolution of the bulding and a proper coexistence for all these functions and possibilities mixed together.

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Permanent access This layer takes care of the accessibility of the spaces and/or the individual homes.

The cores are merged with the load bearing structure and host the main nucleus of the servant elements.

Permanent frame The frame itself has qualities that determine the architecture for a long period of time.

The space inside the frame is general, its use unspecified, it is a â&#x20AC;&#x153;genericâ&#x20AC;? space.

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Functional neutrality It consists in the creation of a spatial structure that enables multiple functions, either at the same time or sequentially.

Adaptable facade Once that the function is set the inner and outer layout can be customized accordingly.

All elements are dry constructions on a fine grid attached to the main structure, allowing for easy maintenance and replacement.

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Pop-up As shops are the most transitory elements the intervention provides space to satisfy a temporary (or peak) demand.

Co-creation Co-creation is a form of collaboration in which all participants have an equal say in the process and the result, making therefore use of the energy in the local community.

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5

THEN_NOW_THEN Mobility is a topic in constant evolution and Gent is a very active city in this sector.

Many changes in the mobility of Gent occured in the last century and are happening in these and the next years as well.

5 _ Slow Mobility

The industrial revolution gave importance to fueled vehicles but in the last dacades the city of Gent tried to push towards slow and public mobility, bike over all.

The industrial footprint of the city streets outside of the historic centre though still has its impact on mobility and bikers often struggle when crossing such roads, most importantly the ringroad.

On the other hand the new mobility plan of the city of Gent improves the conditions for bikers and pedestrians in the city centre but does not do much for the outskirts of Gent.

In order to reduce the number of parked bikes in public space but still promote slow mobility a hot topic in these years is bike-sharing.

Shared systems are being successfully implemented in the Netherlands and Belgium as well but it is hard to imagine that shared systems could completely replace privately owned bikes, for comfort and collective mindset reasons.

People often express their individuality through property and customization and bikes are one of those elements that can provide such individualities.

Thomas More here would comment with: “No living creature is naturally greedy, except from fear of want or in the case of human beings, from vanity, the notion that you’re better than people if you can display more superfluous property than they can.”

But the truth is that a compromise needs to be found, private property is a fundamental right in our society while sharing and managing properties in the community is a key tool for society’s development.

Economy thrives on property and it would need a drastic and unrealistic switch of people’s mindsets to allow for a “total community”, therefore what we are trying to achieve could be defined utopic but it is in our intentions to “stay down to earth” and make it real in its aims and processes.

The development of industries in the past century led to heavy infrastructure centered on rails, trucks and cargo boats.

Biking wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t crucial at that time and therefore had not been included in any mobility plan.

Figure 23, the overpass of Dampoort 1998, source: https://beeldbank.stad.gent/index.php/

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Nowadays most of the industries have failed or moved north, although the infrastructure hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t changed much and is still traffic-centered.

Biking lanes have been forcefully implemented but the infrastructure is still rather hostile to bikers who are forced to wriggle in the traffic.

What awaits in the future is of course an open question, however the pace of technological advance in mobility points towards electric vechicles to say the least, while self-driving cars and advanced traffic management systems are being tested and might become a reality in the next decade already.

Figure 24-28, ideas for future mobility, source: http://www.archdaily.com/780512/how-driverless-cars-could-should-and-shouldnt-reshape-our-cities

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Mobility in Gantopia By crafting policies ad hoc and designing state of the art environments for walking and cycling we can turn physical and cultural spaces into economic assets.

CROSSINGS AND UNDERPASSES

CAR-FREE AREAS

RAILWAY

RINGROAD

Parking and station Paradoxically, at the peak of its importance, the station of Dampoort had a rather small parking area (also because at that time cars were not as diffused).

The station has been reduced in size (and importance as well) in the 1970s and all the space occupied by the previous infrastructure has been adhibited to parking area: a very wide flat surface hosting hundreds of cars and bikes.

P

The new transportation hub will then be designed within our masterplan and it will bring an increased relevance to the whole mobility system.

P

Therefore we provide a shared underground system that can be used as ordinary parking, until new technologies such as the self-driving cars will find their place in the city.

Perhaps the most tangible impact of the driverless car future will be a reduced need for parking infrastructure.

If cars can park themselves, parking infrastructure will no longer need to be located within walking distance of the final destinations, and could instead be concentrated in remote locations, or at the periphery of city centers.

Facilities for self-parking cars can also save space by eliminating the need for human infrastructure such as walkways, stairways, and elevators.

P -1

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PROGRAM

 

The challenge is to switch from an economy that  produces and disposes  (in reaction  to change) to one that  produces and adapts (through  repair and maintenance) 

 

 

 

 

  







 



 

  

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Hypothetical Organization

RESEARCH WING

TRANSITION/OPEN WING

EXHIBITION WING PRODUCTIVE WING

PRODUCTS TO RETAIL/SHARED SYSTEM

PRODUCTION AND RESEARCH SYMBIOSIS

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PUBLIC/BIKING ACCESS

SPECTACLE FACTORY PRINCIPLE

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Bike sharing More than 600 cities around the globe have bikesharing systems and new systems are starting every year.

The largest and most successful systems, in places such as China, Paris, London, and Washington D.C., have helped to promote cycling as a viable and valued transport option.

In Gent cycling is more than an option, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lifestyle for many, students and workers, although sharing systems are still poorly diffused.

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FLOWS Nowadays bicycles are not only used for sports or as a recreational activity, as more and more people are choosing bicycles as their main mean of transportation.

Architecture plays a fundamental role in promoting the use of bicycles, as a properly equipped city with safe bike lanes, plentiful bicycle parking spots, and open areas to ride freely will encourage people to use their cars much less.

Under this model, it seems urgent to encourage the use of bicycles within contemporary cities and consider them when designing and planning.

In any era architects share with planners stem from whatever mode of transportation is on everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s minds, and Gent is strongly aiming towards bikes.

Bicycles can play an important role in environmental sustainability and peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quality of life.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why it is fundamental for cities to position them prominently, as a key promoter of sustainable mobility.

D-HuB

The Frame

Figures 30-35, examples of temporary shops and bike shops, source: http://www.archdaily.com

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The ramp The ramp might not be the most prominent element of the project, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a gesture, a statement to claim that bikes are the future and architecture needs to cooperate and contribute to slow mobility, being the vehicle and the infrastructure that it needs.

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6

SPONTANEOUS COMMERCE

6 _ Architecture of the frame

the cores provide the main accesses and technical connections, as well as structural reinforcement.

the columns generate freedom inside A building can be divided in layers (structure, servant elements, facades, distribution, internal layout...) and each layer or combination of layers can be seen as the frame, which is permanent and generates freedom for the other layers.

prefab wafďŹ&#x201A;e slabs

12 x 12 m grid, industrial layout, concrete columns

The permanent Frame The load-bearing structure and cores compose the essence of the frame.

This frame can then be divided into three functional layers that react differently to the topic of flexibility according to their relation with the public environment.

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The grid

6m

12 m

12 m

4,5 m 11,5 m

36 m2

72 m2

144 m2

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Functional layers

Detachment from busy areas and better sunlight

Visibility and management of materials

Direct connection to public spaces and infrastructures

The ground floor is almost entirely open and accessible (with the exception of the cores), these surfaces will be leased yearly to companies or privates who wish to bring their business in the area.

These commercial activities will need to be easily assemblable and dismountable according to the planning situation.

The areas will be split in services and retails differently according to the conditions brought up by time, while a central passage needs to be left always free for the bike lane crossing the building.

The open ground floor is an economic flexible asset.

This wide space covered by the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s slabs represents an economic opportunity, not bound to physical/functional limits, it is open to any function, change and innovation that time could bring in.

Here the role of the project is simply to manage this wide surface to ensure a proper circulation and placement of activities and to provide such activities with the technical installations they require.

Water and electricity pipes will be running, starting from the cores, attached to the ceiling of the ground floor and bend down whenever it is needed.

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Transversal section

Having the ground floor completely open and accessible, with a large structural grid, enhances the feeling that this space is an extension of the public square in front

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The whole area on the ground level is available for development, except for few strategic access points that need to be left free for the flow of people and bikers.

Not only commercial activities but also events can take place beneath the frame, the double-height of the structure allows for a fluent passage of air and for the safety conditions required in these circumstances.

These spontaneous activities can be built in place or transported there and they will be connected to all the required servant elements through a system of pipes running inside the waffle slab.

Gent is a city rich of events, festivals and markets throughout the year and many of these take place, at least partly, in covered spaces, therefore it is legit to believe the The Frame could be a suitable location. servant elements connection

development area 4.500 m2

spontaneous commercial activities

shops life span 1-2 years

events once/twice a year

HUB

BREWERY

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FLEXIBLE INDUSTRY The first floor, in double-height as well, is dedicated to industrial, research and exhibition activties.

It is based not on a specific configuration but on a grid that revolves around the first slab of the frame.

This grid, of 2 meters by 2, that follows the ribs of the waffle slab, is the crucial element that allows this layer of the building to be flexible for its purpose.

INDUSTRIAL LAYER

exemplar program: bike factory

production wing research wing

exhibition wing

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References The first project that provides a good insight into flexible working spaces is the Substrate Factory Ayase, in the Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

Here the architects have designed guides inside the wooden beams to attach movable partition walls and allow the interiors to be easily customized.

The second project is the factory space for a steel manufacturing company in Vietnam, a large and tall space with a courtyard to bring more light inside the working space.

The third reference is the BC Passive House Factory, in Pemberton, Canada.

Also here a wide structural grid has been used and the large internal space can be partitioned with ease along the load-bearing structure.

Figures 36-38, source: http://www.archdaily.com/872046/substrate-factory-ayase-aki-hamada-architects

Figures 42-43, source: http://www.archdaily.com/789988/bc-passive-house-factory-hemsworth-architecture

Figures 39-41, source: http://www.designboom.com/architecture/nishizawaarchitects-steel-factory-katzden-factory-vietnam-10-14-2016/

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Internal grid All of the internal and facade elements of this layer are modular, customizable and easy to maintain/replace.

Along the provided grid anything is possible and layouts can be adapt over and over again whenever time requires it. buffer zone/balcony

development grid (2x2 m)

elevated patio

floor tiles servant modules flooring supports insulation facade modules

guidesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; connections steel guides

prefabricated fixture

steel guide

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Assemblage sequence

ASSEMBLAGE SEQUENCE

HANGING MEZZ

Hanging mezzanine

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Details

Constructable roof

Hanging mezzanine

Double-height industrial floor

Double-height open ground floor

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20

11

mm

100

500

mm 200

1000

100

121

500

mm 200

1000

DYNAMIC HOUSING Although it can be considered modular, it is maybe more appropriate to call this housing layout as “dynamic”.

On top of the second slab of the frame, housing can be developed with dry-construction techniques, using load-bearing CLT walls (cross laminated timber).

The outline of the constructable surface follows the one of the industrial layer.

The primary walls will start from the cores and follow the ribs of the waffle slab, startin from these axes secondary transversal walls will be added to form the housing modules of 12 by 6, half the size of the structural grid.

This structure though doesn’t put definitive boundaries for the development of the interiors, in fact the CLT walls can easily be perforated or replaced to enlarge spaces, slabs as well can be opened to create duplexes and circulation can happen both on the inside or outside of the defined outline.

123 Figures 44-46, CLT production and construction methods, source: https://www.laros.com.au/products-services/timber-solutions/cross-laminated-timber/

CLT structural walls

54 apartments layout

distribution

buffer zone

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Internal layout alternatives

linear simplex apartments

crossing simplex apartments

continuous working spaces/offices

duplex apartments

Dwelling plans example

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COMPLETE PICTURE

Flows

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Alternative scenarios

TERRACES

1

MODULES ASSEMBLAGE

2

CONTINUOUS FLOW

INDEPENDENT BOXES

SPONTANEOUS BOXES

FREE FLOW/EVENTS

TOWERS

3

ROOF VILLAGE

4

CLUSTERS

FULL DEVELOPMENT

FIXED TO STRUCTURE/SEMI-PERMANENT

HYBRID SYSTEM

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133

Maquette

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Conclusions The research and development of a project based on flexibility has risen my belief that this is a crucial topic for the construction of better buildings and cities.

Architecture is an element deeply bound to the dimension of time, we build for what we need today, tomorrow we need something else and we rebuild.

Per se it is normal that architecture â&#x20AC;&#x153;expiresâ&#x20AC;? over time, as everything transforms, but when the process is repeated every 20, 10 or even 5 years it is not sustainable, economically and environmentally.

Architecture needs to be simple in its forms, open and intuitive: characteristics that allow it to be adapted to whatever comes next.

When a building has been designed properly it can last 100 years, not only because of the durability of the materials, the structure and their maintenance but mostly for the quality and flexibility of the space that it generates.

It is every architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream that a building designed by them is still being used after 100 years, no matter for what purposes because it is part of our human instinct to perceive when a space is suitable for us and it is up to the architecture to allow the space within itself to be shaped along our perception and intuition.

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BOOKS AND ARTICLES Bernard Leupen, René Heijne and Jasper van Zwol. Time-based Architecture.Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2005.

Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.

Bernard Leupen. “The Frame And The Generic Space, A New Way Of Looking To Flexibility.” Publication. Delft University of Technology, 2006.

Robert Kronenburg. Flexible architecture that Responds to Change. London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd, 2007.

Bibliography

Bernard Leupen. Frame and Generic Space.

Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2006.

Workgroup OBOM, Delft University of Technology.

Open Bouwen buurtvernieuwing. Rotterdam: Delft Publicatieburo Bouwkunde, 1989.

Nele Delbecque and Ann Verdoodt. “Spatial Patterns of Heavy Metal Contamination by Urbanization.” Publication. Universiteit Gent, 2016.

Tom Bergevoet and Maarten van Tuijl. The Flexible City: Sustainable Solutions for a Europe in Transition. Rotterdam: nai010 Publishers, 2016.

Liesbet Van Nieuwenhuyse.

“Potentiële historische bodemverontreiniging als gevolg van industriële activiteiten in de 19de- en de 20ste -eeuwse stad: Een bronnenkritische studie over Gent, 1795-1926.” Thesis. Universiteit Gent, 2008.

BOZAR – Centre of Fine Arts. “A Good City Has Industry.”

Publication. Brussels, 2016.

Thomas More. Utopia: Libellus vere aureus, nec minus salutaris quam festivus, de optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia. Italian translation by Ugo Dotti. Milan: Feltrinelli Editore, 2016.

WEBSITES Thomas Piketty’s “Capital”, summarised: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economistexplains/2014/05/economist-explains GIS data: http://www.geopunt.be/ Multiple articles, most importantly: Substrate Factory ayase, Toward Cycle Cities, BC Passive House Factory, Driverless Cars, Electra BikeHub, Why Cycle Cities are the Future, Common Ground, Hamburg’s Plan to Eliminate Cars, 10 Points of a Bicycling Architecture: http://www. archdaily.com/ Multiple articles: http://www.arch2o.com/ wooden-bicycle-prototype-aero/ Precast modular structures: https://www. slideshare.net/nayakantianirudh/precastmodular-structures T-Tree: A Towering Community of Prefab Pixel Homes: http://inhabitat.com/t-tree-a-toweringcommunity-prefab-pixel-residences/ Dashboard Gent: https://gent.buurtmonitor.be/ dashboard Reuse, Recycle, Reclaim: http:// w w w. f o r c o n s t r u c t i o n p r o s . c o m / h o m e / article/12028936/how-to-reuse-recyclereclaim-asphalt Modular Housing: http://www.theqube.co.uk/ residential-home/

Fixed Soil Recycling Centres: http://www.deme-group. com/technology/fixed-soil-recycling-centres Laboratory of Soil Science: http://www.labsoilscience. ugent.be/ Sustainable Urban Development: https://www.itdp.org/ what-we-do/sustainable-urban-development/ On Site Masonry Production from Diverted Excavation: https://watershedmaterials.com/blog/2016/8/4/onsite-masonry-production-from-diverted-excavation Architecture as the Frame not the Picture: http://www. aiacc.org/2012/05/09/architecture-as-the-frame-notthe-picture-really/ Design of two-way slab: https://www.slideshare.net/ sarani_reza/design-of-two-way-slab Designing CLT Buildings: https://www.slideshare.net/ alaindesales/clt-mtb-seminarpresentationone Steel factory design: http://www.designboom.com/ architecture/nishizawaarchitects-steel-factorykatzden-factory-vietnam-10-14-2016/ Bike Shops: http://www.thecoolist.com/factory-fivebike-shop-shanghai-linehouse-architecture/ Construction Going Green With Asphalt And Concrete: https://www.insidescience.org/news/constructiongoing-green-asphalt-and-concrete

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Gilberto Golla

BLACK the process