THE QUALITY OF ARCHITECTURE BY NEGLECT HANNES HULSTAERT | THE AA AWARD | 02.12.2013
THE PUBLIC SPACE BY DEFINITION1: PUBLIC |ˈpʌblɪk| adjective 1. of or concerning the people as a whole: public concern | public affairs. ‣ open to or shared by all the people of an area or country: a public library. ‣ of or involved in the affairs of the community, especially in government or entertainment: he was forced to withdraw from public life | a public figure. 2. done, perceived, or existing in open view: he wanted a public apology in the Wall Street Journal | we should talk somewhere less public. 3. of or provided by the state rather than an independent, commercial company: public spending | public services. 4. Brit.of, for, or acting for a university: public examination results.
THE QUALITY OF ARCHITECTURE BY NEGLECT
SPACE |speɪs| noun [ mass noun ] 1. a continuous area or expanse which is free, available, or unoccupied: a table took up much of the space | [ count noun ] : we shall all be living together in a small space | he reversed out of the parking space. ‣ [ count noun ] an area of land which is not occupied by buildings: she had a love of open spaces. ‣ (also commercial space )an area rented or sold as business premises. ‣ [ count noun ] a blank between printed, typed, or written words, characters, numbers, etc. ‣ [ count noun ] Music each of the four gaps between the five lines of a stave. 2. the dimensions of height, depth, and width within which all things exist and move: the work gives the sense of a journey in space and time. ‣ (also outer space )the physical universe beyond the earth's atmosphere. ‣ the near-vacuum extending between the planets and stars, containing small amounts of gas and dust. ‣ Mathematics a mathematical concept generally regarded as a set of points having some specified structure. 3. an interval of time (often used to suggest that the time is short considering what has happened or been achieved in it): both their cars were stolen in the space of three days. 4. the amount of paper used or needed to write about a subject: there is no space to give further details. ‣ pages in a newspaper, or time between television or radio programmes, available for advertising. it is the media person's job to buy the press space or the TV or radio spots. 5. the freedom to live, think, and develop in a way that suits one: a teenager needing her own space. 6. Telecommunications one of two possible states of a signal in certain systems. The opposite of mark1.
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THE QUALITY OF ARCHITECTURE BY NEGLECT
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THE QUALITY OF ARCHITECTURE BY NEGLECT As we approach a new way of defining architecture and the problematic with shortage in construction space, it’s of great interest to reconsider some of the basic concepts. We will look closer into the meaning and idea of the public space and its expected qualities as seen from the point of view of the common people. The case study linked with this essay illustrates the reinterpretation of the public space. The tannery factory Schotte NV located in the suburbs of Aalst (Belgium) is just one example and can be replaced by any other abandoned site.
FORGOTTEN GROUND AS THE NEW PUBLIC SPACE The concept of the public space is well know to our society. A site, for example the plaza, where people can come together and meet others. The possibility to organize small or big events is of great benefit to the city itself and stimulates interaction between the inhabitants. As we continue to realize new parks and squares, city’s have had to take action to guarantee the safety of these public spaces. By organizing an shaping the plaza it becomes more controllable. Sadly this also affects our so called “freedom” which is in contradiction with the definition of the ‘public space’. It suggests that these site are unoccupied (free to fill in). But by controlling them for our own safety we actually transform the plaza into a new kind of space, the private open space. The new regulations prevent the
THE QUALITY OF ARCHITECTURE BY NEGLECT
common man to spontaneous organize events as long as they don’t mention there ambitions to the city council. This radical controlment, yet with the best intentions of the city, can lead to an estrangement of the public space. Just like Lieven De Couters states that architecture from the 21st century becomes to monitorized and therefor an ‘enforced attraction’2. It’s common knowledge that security-cameras are there to protect us, but as they do they slowly turn the public space into private property. Property of the city that may be “used” by the inhabitants. In extreme situations, when the ‘protection’ becomes dominant over the public space, these sites can quickly turn into a non-place.3 The plaza no longer has a direct connection with the local residents and will only be used for passing through. Therefore we can’t describe the plaza as a public space anymore. This makes it difficult to find a site which is free from these boundaries since every piece of land — if we look at Belgium — is as good as occupied and therefore private. If we start looking at these individual domains — whether or not they contain some sort of construction — in the way they are occupied, we can divide them into separate groups ranked by intensity of use. At the bottom of this list, terrains that aren’t in use emerge. These sites are the leftovers of architecture which were abandoned and slowly forgotten. Although this grounds are still private, because eventually also they have an owner, nobody is
using them. By neglect, these site quickly turn into ruins. It are these spaces that become interesting when we look more closely and can conclude they aren’t as abandoned as we first thought.
URBAN EXPLORING The exploration of these forgotten sites is better know as urban exploring, or urbex for short. These abandoned grounds are quite different from the architecture that we know. Not in the sense of style, form or material, but rather in the way we see and experience them. We create a new way of looking at architecture by the absents of other people. Architecture for the people, without the people. At first glance, it may seem that we, the ‘urbexer’, tempt to separate ourselves from the common public. Not necessarily to no longer take part of this group, but rather to get out of this system where public domains became private. By squeezing ourselves into these sites we stand on our own ground, even if it’s just for a short period of time. A ground we can occupy for a little while until we leave the site. There are as good as no rules you have to comply with. It’s a peaceful anarchy. Because it isn’t suitable for staying, there never is a great impact or lockup by the visitor. This concept of temporary ownership gets passed on every time as a new visitor arrives. This places actually can be defined as spaces which is free by definition. Free to fill in by
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THE QUALITY OF ARCHITECTURE BY NEGLECT
FORMER FACTORY SITE TANNERY SCHOTTE NV
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the visitor. These sites, mostly buildings, become flexible and therefore maybe a better version of the public space as a concept.
On the one hand you have build something very solidly out of stone, which isn't the most adaptable material. On the other hand
RELATIVITY OF THE PROGRAM Because of this ability of free interpretation, there isn’t necessarily a connection between the architecture and the activities on the site. There is no given program (as in the location of the dinner-room, kitchen or bedroom) that has to be followed. Every visitor fills the space in as needed with no direct consequences. The program that originally was once connected to the building is no longer there. It disappeared with the owner when he closed the building and abandoned the structure. The architecture that was once intended for one function, in this case the factory, becomes multifunctional. One moment it’s a shelter for a homeless man, another time it’s the location for a festival for graffiti artists. The connection between the structure and the program becomes relative to what the visitors intentions are.
TRANSFORMATIVE PUBLIC SPACE By the lack of this stable program, it’s more likely that these places will change in form, texture and atmosphere. There is no plan on ‘how it should be’. By revisiting these sites you can see how the buildings change over time.
THE QUALITY OF ARCHITECTURE BY NEGLECT
everything thats been build is adapted continuously. Everything living, living in and on is continuously under transformation. It depends on what time brings, to see the transformation. There’s the immediate observable transformation but if we look at this beautiful cathedral, it to undergoes transformation and we do all we can to resist this. This is now, but maybe in 300 years we will think differently about it. We don't know. City's are always undergoing transformation. These stone structures are moving, dancing even. They are dancing. But for us it's a very slow dans. And for a hummingbird it's even slower.4
The traces visitors leave behind can tell many stories. This turns the abandoned building into a kind of timecapsule where most things get preserved. Unlike the common public space, the plaza, where every detail get’s removed if it doesn’t match with the original plan
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THE QUALITY OF ARCHITECTURE BY NEGLECT
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designed by the architect. This captivation of detail contributes to the quality of the new public space, a personal connection is present.
TANNERY SCHOTTE NV The factory got demolished in late 2013 to make place for a new sporting-complex. Photo’s in this essay were taken by HIN-urbex.
ABANDONED QUALITY The quality is not only to be found in the psychological approach in this kind of public space, but also in the raw from of the architecture itself. Next to the freedom of will, the bigness of most rooms are very impressive where, to my opinion, we should dwell upon more often. It brings us back down to a very intimate level where we can reflect upon ourselves. From this bigness to the smallest detail of the textures in materials we can find many characteristics. The authentic look and atmosphere make these spaces almost timeless. Also nature has its part in this story. The fragility of the overall concrete architecture, as symbol for mankind, can be seen as trees slowly tear the walls and floors apart. We continuously try to resist this transformation or destruction by nature but when we let it go its own way, we can come across some amazing sites. These qualities only can be achieved by the absence of the big masses, the people, the tourist. The word ‘public‘ — if this refers to a large group of people — should actually be removed from the ‘public space’ if we want to achieve a truly ‘free space’. Where we slowly reshape the space over time without a predefined plan.
THE QUALITY OF ARCHITECTURE BY NEGLECT
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‣ SOURCE NOTES: 1. APPLE INC., Dictionary, English, Version 2.2.1 (156), © 2005-2011 2. DE CAUTER, L., De Capsulaire Beschaving Over de Stad in het Tijdperk van de Angst, nai010 uitgevers, 2004, p33-35 3. AUGÉ, M., Non-Places: an introduction to supermodernety, Verso Londen, 2009 4. ARTESIS, ARCH-talk | John Lonsdale, http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=cyyDrMzqMac, 07:12 - 09:13, 18.02.2012
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