johan_haggqvist@hotmail.com
Matter Space Structure Semester 02 2011
INDEX 02
Introduction: PUBLIC SPACES - A restoration of a public square
03-04
Final Project: The two conclusive boards used at the final presentation
05
TEXTILE WORKSHOPS
06-07
CONCEPT PROJECT: Description and comparison between Woven Cavities
08
SKETCH PROJECT: Description and intentions. Comparison between Woven Cavities
09-10
DESIGN PROJECT: Thorough description regarding the final phase; Structure, relation to surroundings, impact on site etc.
11-12
SOUND WORKSHOP: Under the bridge - An interactive wind harp
13
REFLECTION: Personal evaluation of the second semester
Matter Space Structure Semester 02 2011
PUBLIC SPACES A restoration of a public square During the past semester our focus has been on public spaces and the definition of such a place. We have been working with courtyards as possible spaces for develop and the function of the open square. My question formulation has been primarely around the later one. Through history the usage and the whole conception of the Gustav adolfs torg has changed and the function of being a center for encountering has been replaced by shopping - a consequence of our attitude of consumption. Two larger areas have been thoroughly investigated before concentrating on one of them. My choice is grounded on the negative development of the square. In my project I have tried to set some new bounderies to it. Rearranging the square and create different zones is my way of approaching the problem. Initially development of strategies was in focus and led to formulation of a spatial concept and a functional program of the site. We experienced the sites by walking around and documented this in two shorter movies. In the sketch phase I developed my project more and more towards changes in the urban context since I saw a great potential in the area on and around Gustav Adolfs square. My intention was to repopulate the square as it once was and this was carried out by adding some new programs for the square itself including a new slim building. I put a lot of emphasis on the ground floor of the building, making it a part of both the square and the tramstation. This thesis has been following me throughout the whole project.
Gustav Adolfs Torg Johan Häggqvist
A
The square Gustav Adolfs torg is located in the inner core of the city and has over time had an important important role. But over time it´s function as a place for meeting and gathering has decreased and today it´s not seldom to find the square completely empty. The reasons for the impoverishment are many but a great deal could be connected to the development of public spaces in general. Today The public spaces has to provide, or at least be located close to, som kind of commerce. Consumption has become a huge part of the modern society and leaves a place like Gustav Adolfs torg with nothing. Another issue with the site is interconnected with the pressence of people. Providing the surroundings with residences would enhance a continous flow of people which in turn will need public places for meetings and recreation. Gothenburg is also increasing as a destination for tourism. Therefore the needs of different accomodations should be considered when planning important parts of the city. My proposal presents a new distribution to the square with focus on the public spaces. To achieve a greater flow of people in the area I propose residences in the whole part of the municipal building. The law court building will transform into a swedish version of the Italian concept ”Corso Como 10” which implies a combination of functions strongly influenced by the design theme. Among the functions there will be a bookshop, a design store, a restaurant and café and a gallery that could host exhibitions in the law court extension building. The upperfloors of building includes a minor hotel which gives tourists an accomodation in the absolute center. As a part of my proposal a suggest a new building that houses different functions. the design of the new structure determined by the conditions of the site. I one way it is reframing the square but on the other hand it is also expanding it by having the ground floor completely transparent. New building
3-d Section C-C
Residences
”corso como 10”
N
D
B
B
A
C
C
D
Situation plan Scale 1:1000
planview - Entrance floor Scale 1:100
Facade Diagram
Outer layer
Mirror layer
Inner layer
Construction for attatchment
Existing square
1750.0
1460.0
New destribution of areas on the square
1170.0
880.0
New spatiality on the square
610.0
0.0 Extensions of the square
Interior perspective
3-d section D-D
Vertical Connections The northern section of the structure contains the vertical connections in the building. This leaves the southern facade completely transparent with an optimal relationship to the surroundings outside. An elevator and a staircase navigates you through the different levels. On the ground floor the elevator shaft is built in glass to achieve as much transparancy as possible. On each floor, apart from the entrance level, the different office spaces and conference rooms are accessed through balconies that runs along the west facade. To obtain a facade with a solid appearence and to minimize the interferens on the allready narrow space the entire wall is covered with boxes or lockers. This is also the case for the two upper floors where the boxes on the fifth floor is used by the daycare and the boxes on the sixth floor by the customers of the sky bar.
Section A-A Scale 1:100
4-5.
The fourth and the fifth floor is divided by a skybar and a day care center. The bar is located in the southern end of the building and is separated from the daycare with it´s own entrance on the top floor. The day care uses the fifth floor as an elevated courtyard with a vertical garden covering a major part of the court yard facade
3.
The third floor will house office facilities and conference rooms.
2.
The second floor will house ofice facilities and conference rooms.
1.
The first floor will house office facilities and conference rooms.
0.
The ground floor is entirely dedicated to the public. The staircase landscape creates a terrace where the people can watch over the square, work on a lap top in the WiFi zone or just wait for the tram.
Section B-B Scale 1:100
CONCEPT PROJECT The main purpose with the concept project was to reach a spatial understanding of a two different sites and to realize possible solutions for further conceptual development. The two sites were; 1: the district across the “Long Streets” (between Första Långgatan and Fjällgatan) including the open square by Haga Bio and all the courtyards in the area. 2: the district around Gustav Adolf Square including the ground floors in the Law Courts, the City Hall, the Stock Exchange, the shops across Östra Hamngatan, the Lion Steps and the quay along the Harbor Canal. The areas provided us with very different experiences. The long streets were more vibrant in general compared to the gustav adolfs torg which was completely empty at the moment. We investigated the sites by walking around the neighbourhoods and documented it all in a five minute long movie for each site. During the investigation we tried to identify the hot spots of activity and human encounter, which influenced our strategies. The strategies varied between the different sites. In haga we came up with three different ones; Strategy 1 Activating the crossing streets, Strategy 2 - create a new hot spot and Strategy 3 - Develop existing court yard. In the area around Gustav Adolfs square Compared to our previous MSS course, Woven cavities, I think the concept phase about the public spaces were not as succesful. I really liked the way of experimenting with the paraffine, a “new material” for me to work with. In the end we did reach a pretty good understanding of the sites but never the amazing concept material as we did with the wax. Please go ahead and check out a short movie of our walkthrough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Agu5ku5zc0
Public spaces - Långgatorna
A
Järntorget The area around Järntorget has through the recent years become one of Gothenburgs most dense areas in regards of cultural establishments in a varitey of forms, ie; theaters, galleries, news papers offices, publishers, cultural and music stages, etc, etc.
B
Hot spots
C
Masthuggstorget Masthuggstorget is the major square in the district called Masthugget. Its situated in the western edge of 2nd Långgatan and only 500m south of the Göta Älv river. "Masthugget" refers to the manufacturing of ship masts in past times. The square was named as early as 1769. The square has also been called "Sänkverkstorget" wich refers to a military device in the Göta Älv river that was raiseand lowerable to prevent enemy ships reaching the inner harbor of Gothenburg. There is a street nearby still called Sänkverksgatan.
Saluhallen Briggen
D
Briggen, a market hall, is situated in an old fire station. Here you can find cheese, fish, meat of high quality as well as a large variety of continental specialities and delicacy. You can even bring your own meat and have staff at Briggen smoke it for you.
Oskar Fredriks kyrka The church is situated on top of the Dahlin Hill and is named after the Swedish King, Oscar 2nd. King Oscacr 2nd even visited the church in 1898 and vrote his name in the visitors book. Up until 1908 the church was part of the Masthugget parish but as the parish was split the church ended up in the new parish. It was thus called the Oscar Fredriks parish.
E
Public spaces - Gustav Adolfs torg
F
Hagabion The Haga cinema is situated in a former school building and contains 3 salons. At Hagabion you may watch films from all over the world, most of them non Holywood productions. Within the building there is also a vegetarian café, closely linked to the cinema.
Law Courts building The former Gothenburg Law Court is known for its extension called ”Asplundska Tillbyggnaden” is characteristic for its interior bright hall with its glass wall towards the courtyard.
G
Hot- or coldspots
H
City Hall The Gothenburg City Hall, also known as the Stock Exchange is a building in Gothenburg, at the north side of the Gustaf Adolf Square. The building was designed by architect Pehr Johan Ekman and opened on December 1, 1849. Following the consolidation of stock trading to the Stockholm Stock Exchange, the building housed the municipal offices of the City of Gothenburg, and the City Council has, since January 5, 1863, conducted its meetings there.
I
Brunnsparken square Brunnsparken got its name in 1863 from a well which was situated here between 1834 and 1858. It has always been a place for trade and today it is also one of the major nodes for public transport.
Nordstan Nordstan is an indoor shopping mall for people from all corners and stands out as the first choice meeting-place and the most active, modern, diverse and experience-rich shopping centre in Sweden.
J
Stora Hamnkanalen Stora Hamnkanalen was built in 1622 to enable for boats to reach the city centre. The canal is not easily accessible, apart from Lejontrappan where stairs have been built to the water - a popular place to have ice cream in the summer.
A
B
I
C
G
F
H
Main paths Linnégatan
D
J
Linnégatan is one of the most vibrant streets of Gothenburg, filled with bars, restaurants and small shops. In the summer time people come here to enjoy a beer or piece of food in the open air. Andra långgatan Andra Långgatan has not always been as polpular as it is today. Over time small shops, porn shops and pubs have established here and contributed to the creative atmosphere the area has today.
E
Strategy 1 - Activating the crossing streets
Strategy 2 - create a new hot spot
Strategy 3 - Develop existing court yard
By intensifying the streets Nordhemsgatan and Värmlandsgatan we would like to achieve an effect similar to the one Linnégatan has to its closest surroundings - where the activities and flows bleeds out to joining streets. By doing this we would also create a contrast to långgatorna where the rents are still cheap. The refurbished streets also connects to the developing areas by the harbour.
By proposing a plaza a new meeting spot for interaction is created. This should be a car free zone and Andra Långgatan and Tredje Långgatan gets a more intimate relationship. By having the openings to the plaza in each and every corner of the block the existing intersections gets revitalized. Turning the court yard into a new comercial center will have a positive effect on the whole area.
By enhancing the already existing market hall and closely related activities in the backyard 3rd and 4th Långgatan comes closer together. The existing hotspot is developed further and could become a major part in revitalizing the whole area. By doing this we want 3rd and 4th Långgatan to become as active and exiting as 1st and 2nd Långgatan
Karl-mangus, Julia, Emil, Ida, Henrik, Johan
Strategy 1 - Activating the ground floors
Strategy 2 - Activating the square
Strategy 3 - Connecting the hotspots
The activities in the buildings adjacent to the square are mainly such that do not concern or invite the general public. The law courts building is empty and could be put to other uses that allows for public access in the courtyard and within the building.
Today the square is almost only used for demonstrations, a monthly market or as a shortcut. One way to activate the square could be to make the square into a destination, from a place which people only use when there is an event or to cross, into a place where people want to stay. This could be done through different paving or lighting, more places to sit or to make it easier for different kinds of events to use the square.
The south west Nordstan corner could be activated to support a higher level of interaction with the communications hub in front and subsequently with the square beyond.
The City Hall is a closed facility where the politicians running the city are “hiding out”. Allowing the public access to parts of the building could boost the activities of the square and create opportunities for the citizens to interact with the politicians.
Connection to the water is today cut of by the road and a large veritcal distance to the water from the quay edge. If accessibility is increased, by stairs to the waters edge and an increased activity level, it could revitalize the square.
The square could also be a part of a link of different places instead of being, as it is today, alone. To achieve this it is important to see Nordstan as an asset and find a way to attract the people in Nordstan. Brunnsparken is also an important hot spot that could be connected in order to extend the usage of the square. Carl-Magnus, Julia, Emil, Ida, Henrik & Johan
SKETCH PROJECT The aim with the sketch project was to rearticulate the conceptual project - a spatial and functional complexity - into a architectural whole. In other words; to develop an architectural proposal as a sketch of either Gustav Adolfs Torg or LĂĽnggatorna. The sketches aimed at reaching a basic outline for our strategy which in turn were to be developed into an increased accessability of our public space. After the concept phase I decided to go for the square and investigated this further by sketches and models. For the spatial screening we approached the task in three different ways; one as a surgeon, one as a plumber and one as a poet. Each with different ways of problem solving. In my case it turned out to be a combination. It resultet in a few different ideas but the one I chosed in the end was more of the plumbers approach. My biggest interest was concerning the square itself. By working with Nollie maps I came to the conclusion that the square needed to be reorganized. Another idea I had was that of turning the court house into a combined cultural center and a smaller hotel, very much inspired by a concept I got to know when living in Milan. The concept is called Corso Como 11 and is a mixed used space housing a design shop, a gallery, a book shop, a restaurant and cafĂŠ and finally also a smaller hotel which I thought might be suited perfectly in the inner core of Gothenburg.
Pretty early in the sketch phase I started elaborating with a volume that could be fitted on to the square re-defining the composition of it. Off course this created a lot of complications in this fragile historic core. My solution was very much inspired by a museum extension I saw in Lille. The building, one of the wings of the museum, is a slim structure with mirror facade blending in with the surrounding. My final sketch resulted in a 7m wide building aligning the tram tracks with a mirror facade towards the square and the law court building. The ground floor was meant to be kept as public as possible, making it accessible from both the square and the tram side. Compared to the Woven cavities studio I was lacking the large amount of conceptual ideas to develop further. On the other hand my building was derived only from the conditions of the site making it perhaps more suitable.
DESIGN PROJECT The final stage, the design project, took over from where the sketch phase ended. This meaning that in my case a few things needed to be further elaborated or changed before taking it further. In general I had to decide the different programs for the different areas. My final proposal presents a new distribution to the square with focus on the public spaces. To achieve a greater flow of people in the area I propose residences in the whole part of the municipal building. The law court building will transform into a swedish version of the Italian concept ”Corso Como 10” which implies a combination of functions strongly influenced by the design theme. Among the functions there will be a bookshop, a design store, a restaurant and café and a gallery that could host exhibitions in the law court extension building. The upper floors of building includes a minor hotel which gives tourists an accomodation in the absolute center. As a part of my proposal a suggest a new building that houses different functions. the design of the new structure determined by the conditions of the site. I one way it is reframing the square but on the other hand it is also expanding it by having the ground floor completely transparent.
Existing square
New distribution of areas
New spatiality
Extensions
The square today has lost its former function of being a place for human interaction. The function is transformed into a vast area seldomly used and populated by the people.
The square gets devided into several different areas serving diverse functions.
The zones gets assigned with new spatialities. One serving as an open space, another one where public seating accompanies the statue, another one as a water mirror which could also be used for ice skating during the winter and finally the last zone which is turned into a building.
The square extends in two directions. One towards the tram stop and another towards the canal creating an intimate relation to the water.
UNDER THE BRIDGE During two weeks we worked with sound, where we didn´t know what the final result would turn out to be. During the first week the whole class got devided into different groups and assigned different sites to be investigated. The second week was focused only on a specifik site, along the walk we did during the first week, and included some experiments in school as well. Finally we presented our work, both through an oral presentation and through a film. My group consisted of me, Carl-Mangus, Henrik, Ida, Julia and Emil and we were assigned the “walk” Säveån - Röda Sten. When we did the walk we were equipped with sound measurment instruments to find out how the soundscape looked out along the stretch. We were also filming a lot which came in handy when choosing the site. The weather was exellent the day for our walk about yet very windy which also showed on our sound instruments. This observation, the monotone soundscape, came to shape our concept. We choosed the site under the Göta älv bridge. It was as windy as anywhere else but it was a completely different resonanse. We had an idea of letting the wind be the force for changing the soundscape and went out there one day with a lot of bottles. Unfortunately the experiment failed and we had to re-think our approach. This time instead we had the idea of a wind harp. We rigged a fake scenario in the atelier and created a framework where we could attach strings, fabrics etc which were affected by a strong fan blower.
After consultation by our “sound teacher” we could go on with the actual design. We devided the area under the bridge by a pararell attachment for some brass strings which in turn were attached onto the belly of the bridge. The resonans box was placed under the ground leading the sound towards the sea where it was re-directed back to the site. Two spatial rooms were created by the attatchment, which were mounted in a 35 degree angle. This also enhances the possibilities for the wind to play. In the end our two week workshop resulted in a spatial structure acheived by an interactive wind harp. Visually it´s hardly affecting the existing environment but hopefully its affecting the, to us, monotone soundscape. Please go ahead and check out a short movie about our project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evf237vjvNk
Amplifier
Concrete
Carl-Magnus Elander Henrik Fogelklou Johan Häggqvist Ida Högström Julia Kodeda Emil Lundin
Detail: section sound box
Ground
Turnbuckle Brass plate
Brass strings
The harp will produce a soothing, calming sound that rises and falls with the wind and the movements of the bridge. People passing by will also have the opportunity to partake in the “concert” by playing the strings.
Cantilever
Sound reflector
The design uses 61 brass strings with diameters around 5 mm to produce varying frequencies of harp sounds at around 200 Hz. The strings are attached directly to the bridge with turnbuckles, to allow the reverberations of the bridge to affect the strings along with the wind. At the bottom end, the strings connect to a brass plate attached to a sounding board under the ground, letting the sound escape through an opening towards the river. The sound is deflected back to the quay by a deflector by the water.
During our process, we researched and tested several ways of letting the wind and the reverberations of the bridge create a pleasant soundscape around the site and amplify it. We came upon the concept of a wind harp and decided to design it as a hyperbolic shape, suspended between the ground and the structure of the bridge. The hyperbolic shape allows the wind to be “caught” from different directions and creates a sense of space within the larger space, apart from being beautiful.
We wanted to focus our efforts to this particular place and use the amplifying qualities of the bridge and the space below. Our statement is that sound can be used to block out sound and we have tried to design an amplifier and a noise guard in one device.
The space below the Göta Älv bridge is a barren place. The soundscape is dominated by traffic and wind, enhanced by the structure above. When trams pass overhead, the bridge starts singing, producing a unique sound.
Under the Bridge
Parallell lines
1
2
35 o
3
REFLECTIONS Just like the previous studio work, Woven cavities, the Public space Studio meant a lot of work. And just like woven cavities the project dealt with some of the most interesting and current subjects. The sites between which we could choose felt really interesting aswell. In the end my choice fell on Gustav Adolfs Torg because of its absolute central location and its disability to take care of the citizens of Gothenburg. During the concept phase I appreciate the time we get to spend on the sites. It´s very valuable and especially when, as we did in the case of the surrounding buildings around Gustav Adolfs Torg, you get to enter some enclosed spaces. The search for hot spots of activity and human encounter was in some way useful, perhaps rather obvious. For the most part I think that both the concept phase and the sketch phase were useful in our way of developing our projects. Off course some things were better and some worse. To me the manifesto was never much of importance. Compared to the Woven cavities studio work the public space studio felt perhaps a bit less experimental. This is mainly concerning the concept phase were, within the woven cavities, we all came up with some amazing conceptual work. In the end I was very happy with my final result. I think i attained an interesting proposal which lead to some interesting discussions regarding public places. The limitation of time set the boundaries for the level of detail. Some parts of the project could be developed further than others. I decided to put emphasis and the parts considering the public spaces.