USE SPACE Temporariness, urban development & open innovation
Content
Introduction
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Open innovation – what & why? 5 Open innovation in construction – unrealised potential By Lennie Clausen & Marie Louise Hansen 6 Become a part of Innosite
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The competition 12 The jury 13
1. prize: Mesh 14 2. prize: KA11 18 3. prize: TUBE 20 Umbrella Frame 24 Blank Canvas 25 use_space – use_things 26 Tubes v. II 27 Xubo 28 Super Office 29 Office in your bag 30 Nodes of attraction 31 Folable walls and descending shelves 32 Easy & Mobile 33 Urban development and innovation By Jesper Koefoed-Melson
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Simply meaningful By Kristian Ravn-Ellestad
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The necessity of temporariness By Bettina Lamm
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In search of essential differences and similarities in temporary architecture By Tina Vestermann
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Captions & photo credits 46 Imprint
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USE SPACE Flexible solutions for temporary use of empty buildings created through the process of open innovation
You see them in every town and city: the worn down, empty buildings, which get left behind, as industry moves out of the cities, leaving behind all manner of sites and buildings, now deprived of any function. But do you also see the potential of these empty buildings? This publication casts light on the temporary use of empty buildings. With just few resources and a minimum amount of time, how can we prepare an empty building for use and new activities? How can empty buildings form a basis for the development of our towns and cities? The focal point is the open innovation competition USE SPACE, which took place in spring 2013 on the web-based innovation platform Innosite.dk in collaboration with the organisation Givrum.nu and the association Byens Rum (“City Space”). The competition invited Danish and international entrants to submit ideas for innovative, flexible and affordable solutions for the conversion of an 800-m² attic in an empty warehouse in Aalborg Harbour to a temporary working community of stakeholders, all of whom work in the field of urban development. Innosite is a web-based innovation platform, on which companies and organisations can involve external operators in their development process, thereby obtaining solutions and input, which expand their usual way of looking at things. The platform is the very first in Denmark to target the construction industry and hopefully this publication will inspire many more of the industry’s development-oriented operators to have a go at open innovation. Maybe your company or organisation is in the process of development and needs some help from outside. Maybe you want to
deploy innovative solutions to construction challenges and thus join forces with others in the development process. On the following pages you can read more about open innovation in construction and the Innosite innovation platform. In addition, we present the three winning pro posals and a selection of 10 ideas from the USE SPACE competition. Finally a number of experts put the concept of “temporariness” under the microscope, focusing on the potential of temporary architecture, on temporariness as a method of innovation, and on why it is important for both society and citizens to occupy empty buildings to create invaluable urban development. We hope you enjoy reading the publication.
Innosite – open innovation in the construction industry. An initiative by Realdania and the Danish
Energy Agency with the Danish Architecture Centre as operator. Innosite.dk is an open innovation platform, which uses an open innovation method to match the need for development with excellent ideas. Companies and organisations involve outside knowledge and operators in their development process. Development assignments are presented in the form of competitions on the website. So the users of the website come up with ideas and solutions to the challenge.
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Open innovation What & why?
Open innovation is a concept used in business development, which encourages companies and organisations to involve external operators and knowledge in their development processes, and to look at problems and opportunities from new angles by means of cooperation and knowledge sharing. An open innovation process can be valuable for any companies and organisations, who want to make a break through with new solutions, either in terms of new products, processes and new sales methods or of new ways, in which to organise themselves. New methods of innovation
Currently there is a significant change in the way that innovation takes place, and in what makes it happen. Development and innovation in most industries have become a complex affair, with increasing demands for reduced development time, depleted economic resources and a need to get everything right first time round. Therefore, to remain/become innovative and compe足 titive in their markets, more and more companies are reaching out to external operators. Combined with
the opportunities presented by social networks on the internet, this has resulted in a series of open innovation platforms. These make it easier to involve, for example, users and experts in a development process and to share, gather and select ideas and solutions, which are both cheaper and faster, than those generated by tradi足tional approaches to innovation. Break the barrier
The construction industry is not known to be one of the most innovative industries and, until now, their use of open methods of innovation has been very limited. One reason could be that the construction industry comprises many small businesses, while working with open innovation requires skills and resources, which a particular company does not possess. So engaging in innovation, let alone open innovation, can present a major barrier. That is why the potential of industry does not get fully exploited. But opening up to input from outside does not have to be expensive or resourceintensive. The knack is to spot opportunities in terms of where, and how cooperation and knowledge sharing can occur.
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Open innovation in construction Unrealised potential By Lennie Clausen, Project Manager at Realdania & Marie Louise Hansen, Head of Department at the Danish Energy Agency
Why settle for your own ideas, when the whole world is available? The Innosite innovation platform has provided stakeholders in the construction industry with the opportunity to use an open innovation method to generate development and create solutions. The aim is to encourage many more to follow suit. Analysis shows that innovative companies generally have higher productivity than those companies, which do not work innovatively. It also shows that open innovation makes a significantly positive impact on the company’s ability to create value by means of its innovative activities. However, while these figures speak loudly and clearly, the latest figures also reveal that fewer than 40 % of companies in the building and construction industry work with innovation. Meanwhile, a mere 17 % of these companies work with open innovation (i.e. cooperation for innovation). In other words, open innovation in the construction industry represents vast, unrealised potential. Innosite – open innovation in construction
One way to make the construction industry more innovative is to increase cooperation, both across
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construction’s value chain and between construction companies and research institutions. The Innosite innovation platform was launched in late 2011. It is the very first open innovation platform in Denmark to target the construction industry. Behind the initiative are Realdania and the Danish Energy Agency, while the platform was designed, and is operated by the Danish Architecture Centre. The reason we support Innosite is because we believe that innovation is the way forward. That includes the construction industry. The purpose of Innosite is to enhance innovation in the construction sector by means of knowledge sharing and collaboration across professional competencies, nationalities and industries. This will ensure the development of new solutions, which do not arise from in-house development. Innosite gives private and public companies and orga nisations the opportunity to support an open innovation competition and get input and solutions from outside. It enables them to make active use, in the innovation process, of knowledge from external partners: custo mers, users, suppliers, educational and research institutions etc.
60% of construction companies do not work with innovation, while 83% of innovative companies do not work with open innovation
Though Innosite was created with the construction industry in mind, it is open to all operators, sectors, professional competencies and nationalities. Currently the site has more than 1,700 users from around the world, all with very different professional backgrounds and expertise. Since the launch, there have been 10 competitions on the innovation platform. Users of the site have been involved in developing innovative and creative solutions for all sorts of projects, ranging from improved housing to new bus stops and temporary public spaces. Unrealised potential
60 % of construction companies do not work with innovation, while 83 % of innovative companies have not yet realised the benefits of deploying open innovation to enhance their innovative performance. So our hope is that Innosite can encourage many more innovation- and development-oriented companies and organisations to have a go at an open innovation competition. This will help strengthen innovation in the Danish construction industry and help reconcile the need for development with the infinite number of excellent, innovative and creative ideas, which are out there.
The figures in this article are derived from an analysis of the potential of open innovation in the construction industry, conducted by the Smith Innovation consul tancy company for Innosite in June 2013. The analysis is based on available data from Statistics Denmark and the analyses: –– Open Innovation in Europe: effects, determinants and policy (prepared by INNO-Grips for the European Commission in 2011). –– The effects on productivity of industrial research, development and innovation (prepared by the Danish Council for Research and Innovation in 2010). –– Analysis of the Danish construction sector. General Report (prepared by Deloitte for the Danish Energy Agency in 2013).
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Become a part of Innosite
Innosite matches the need for innovation with excellent ideas. As part of Innosite you can help strengthen innovation in the construction industry, whether you are looking for innovative solutions or actually have some good ideas. The Innosite innovation platform makes it easy to share, qualify and select ideas, benefiting both those in need of development and those, who provide solutions. More and more companies and organisations have shared their challenges on the innovation platform, and the site’s community of users has grown to over 1,700, comprising a vast range of professional competencies from all over the world. If you want to be a part of Innosite and contribute to the solution of a given challenge, all you need to do is register as a user on the site. You can then submit your specific proposals for the various competitions on the platform, or you can comment on other users’ ideas, thus participating in the development process together with others. Any private or public company or organisation, who wishes to promote an open innovation competition on Innosite, should contact the Danish Architecture Centre to learn more about the possibilities. The activities on the online platform are supplemented by a number of physical offline events, such as seminars, conferences, idea salons and exhibitions, which focus on the potential of the open innovation method and the results of the individual competitions. Read more on www.innosite.dk
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The competition How can you convert an old warehouse at Østre Havn in Aalborg into a flexible and temporary working community? Whenever empty buildings are put to temporary use, it often takes a lot of hard work, substantial time and consi derable resources. Such an investment does not always tie in with the uncertainty associated with the risk that the building at some point will have to be vacated, often at short notice. Empty industrial buildings usually consist of large, rough factory spaces, which are difficult to convert to smaller rooms. That also makes design and layout a challenge. So how can one make it easier and cheaper to open up these empty buildings to accommodate new activities? From factory space to temporary working community
The USE SPACE competition was aimed at an empty, old, characterful warehouse at Østre Havn (the East Harbour) in Aalborg, where, in autumn 2013, the association Byens Rum (City Space) will open for business as a temporary laboratory for user-driven urban development. The idea of Byens Rum is to create a temporary and informal environ ment, in which both existing and future groups, who are interested in the development of the city, can meet, debate and shape the city’s future by the implementation of concrete projects. In specific terms, the competition invited innovative design solutions for the conversion of the warehouse’s 2nd floor (a 800-m² attic with wooden floor and ceilings) into a flexible, temporary working community, where the building’s users could work side by side in offices, meeting rooms, studios and other kinds of work space. The contracting company, A. Enggaard A/S have completely renovated the warehouse and made it temporarily available, free of charge, for a period of five years. There were a total of 55 submissions to the competition from people all over the world. On the following pages you can see the three winning proposals, along with 12 others. You can see all the proposals on www.innosite.dk
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Criteria for judging
To qualify for the competition the solution had to: –– be able to divide the large space into smaller work spaces –– be innovative and functional –– be flexible, relocatable and capable of use in different contexts –– be cheap and easy to produce and install –– preferably be constructed sustainably The proposals were also assessed in terms of: –– innovation –– realisability –– aesthetics –– durability –– multi-functionality Prizes
The winning project is being realised at an overall cost of DKK 20,000. We also awarded 2nd and 3rd prizes in the competition. The competition took place between 13 March and 29 April 2013.
The jury
Annette RosenbĂŚk
Urban planner in Aalborg Municipality and project manager for the remodelling of Ă˜stre Havn in Aalborg Asger Enggaard
CEO of A. Enggaard A/S, one of the biggest contractors, developers and property investors in North Jutland Benny Jepsen
Architect, co-founder of Bureau Detours and partner in his own practice, Tejlgaard & Jepsen Jesper Koefoed-Melson
Partner in Givrum.nu, which has made its mark as a major player in user-driven urban development and occupancy of empty buildings Kristian Ravn-Ellestad
Chairman of the association Byens Rum, creative entrepreneur, artist and a passionate exponent of culture, based in Aalborg Nicolai Carlberg
Ethnologist and founding partner in the consultancy bureau, Carlberg/Christensen, who work in the fields of urban development, planning and architecture
Read more about the jury on www.innosite.dk
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Mesh Mads Windfeldt & Mads Lützen / LAWA Architects Denmark
Rustic steel reinforcing mesh is the USE SPACE competition's proposal for the best possible frame work for a temporary communal workspace. The mesh is cheap, easy to install and use in new settings. At the same time, the simple design gives users of the office the option of developing the idea further. This winning project, Mesh should be regarded as a template rather than a project as such. That is how its two designers, Mads Windfeldt and Mads Lützen describe it. Quite simply, the idea consists of using the steel reinforcing mesh, traditio nally used in the construction industry, to create partitions in the construction of a temporary communal workspace. It is a flexible, easy-to-use solution, because the mesh sections can easily be fixed to the ceiling with steel wires, and just as easily removed. Therefore, the users can quickly move the mesh sections around, if they want to configure the space differently. The raw expression of the steel reinforcing mesh suits the old warehouse in Østre Havn and fits in well with the site's industrial surroundings. The user as co-creator
If the users wish to create more enclosed spaces out of mesh (given that it is full of holes), the project's designers imagine
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that they can cover the mesh with other materials, such as fabric, paper, cardboard or wood. In addition to serving as partitions, the mesh sections can be used as bulletin boards, shelves, wardrobes, or something completely different enco uraging the members of the working community to become co-creators of the spaces they are going to be sitting in.
By selecting a cheap material like steel reinforcing mesh in the design of Mesh, Mads Windfeldt and Mads Lützen have taken into account the spartan budget, which creative and impulsive working communities often have. This makes Mesh totally realisable with the USE SPACE first prize of DKK 20,000 for the construction of the winning proposal.
High degree of flexibility, functionality and a low-cost solution
A young design practice with a sustainable profile
Since the mesh sections are easy to hang up and take down again, Mesh is a flexible concept for a temporary office land scape. Whenever this working community on Østre Havn is wound up or moves somewhere else, the mesh sections can easily be taken down and re-used in a new setting.
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Mads Windfeldt and Mads Lützen are founders of the LAWA architecture practice. The practice's objective is to create public spaces, buildings and designs, which are relevant, and of a high standard in terms of construction, sustainability and aesthetics.
From the very beginning of a project, LAWA take into account the sustainable parameters and give them exactly the same consideration as the other components. By bearing in mind the climatic, social and economic conditions from the beginning, the practice arrives at a sustainable holistic concept, which benefits the project, the environment, and of course the client. www.l-a-w-a.dk
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KA11 Elina Presniakova Architect Ukraine
The runner-up of USE SPACE is KA11. Movable modules of cardboard can be assembled in a variety of ways to provide fun, creative office furniture and space. It is an idiosyncratic, flexible and mobile project proposal rewarded with a second place in the competition. A system of cardboard modules, which can be assembled in every conceivable way to create furniture groupings or scaled up to form actual partitions: that is the essence of KA11. In this concept the Ukrainian architect, Elina Presniakova, uses cardboard as her material. But the modules can also be cut out of plywood, OSB sheets or plastic. What all these materials have in common is lightness. The modules must be easy to carry, assemble and take apart, so it is easy to transport them to the next temporary office. The selection of a material such as cardboard makes the modules both cheap (almost free of charge) and sustainable. Irregular shapes make for creativity
It is not the first time that Elina Presniakova has been involved in projects related to the development of work足 spaces. She has previously dealt with this issue and finds it exciting to devise solutions, which can inspire the development of ideas and positive collaboration in a work place. Her designs tend to use non-traditional materials and oblique shapes and surfaces that helps create life and inspiration in the work place.
Having watched her children, Elina Presniakova also began to design furniture groupings in cardboard. When she works on designing workspaces, she likes to juxtapose cardboard In KA11 it is also possible to play with the visual expression furniture with traditional furniture. In the architect's opinion, of the modules. This can be done by colouring the cardboard this creates an open and welcoming working environment. elements in different shades or just highlighting a few of them For example, you can combine a cardboard table with a with a selection of colours, depending on the people who will classic office chair. be using the spaces. KA11 offers a flexible, functional and creative solution to Inspired by the way children play with cardboard a temporary communal workspace. The project deserves As an architect Elina Presniakova draws her inspiration from credit for its quirky angles and flexibility, which really suit a mankind and nature. The main inspiration for KA11 came creative environment. One of the reasons that KA11 did not from her children, who play with bits of cardboard, which win first prize in USE SPACE, is that the competition jury they use to construct tables, chairs and beds for their dolls. were concerned about the stability of the system.
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TUBE The egoistic human essence Ieva Butkute & Povilas Konkulevicius Architects Lithuania
The third prize goes to TUBE in which a single tug of a cord can transform a large room into smaller work spheres. Long, cylindrical fabric tubes in va rious sizes are pulled down from the ceiling. The tubes' screening effect can create intimate spaces for peace to work and contemplation. But they can also provide the setting for group meetings or events. TUBE’s subtitle "the egoistic human essence" emphasises a human characteristic, which is perhaps less politically correct these days, but which, according to the project, is essential to consider in the context of a work environment. That is, a person's need to shield him/herself off from the outside world and create his/her own small, private space for contemplation and reflection. In TUBE long fabric tubes are suspended on the ceiling with steel cables. Users create workspaces by pulling the tubes down around them like a dome. The circular tubes, which are made of a light transparent fabric, create a screen against the other activities in the room, thus creating a workspace in that room. At the same time, the transparency of the fabric means that the user is not completely shielded from the rest of the working community. Accordingly, people are always visible and accessible to the rest of the community. Flexible in relation to the users' working needs
A crucial keyword in the design of TUBE is flexibility. The steel cables in the ceiling make the tubes easy to install and remove. The project is therefore a good solution for spontaneous working communities and can easily be ad apted to the changing working requirements of the users. The project proposal contains three sizes of tube with a diameter of: 150, 300 and 600 cm. But what all the sizes have in common is that they take up very little space, when rolled up. The different tube sizes accommodate the requirement for different workspaces, which the project is all about: small, individual, private spaces; a slightly larger
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space for two or three people; and a very big space for larger group meetings or events. High degree of recyclability
When the community is wound up, the tubes can be re-used in a new setting to provide other temporary workspaces. The tubes are made of a special double-layered fabric, which is frost-resistant and normally used in horticulture. If thetubes are not recycled for other temporary workspaces, the mate rial can be reused in its original context. TUBE – the egoistic human essence deserves credit for living up to the competition's criteria for a highly flexible project, which fits in well with the warehouse's original space, and responds to the building's atmosphere. One of the reasons that the project did not win first prize is that it is difficult to do without permanent structures in an office landscape. That is something, which TUBE does not provide. www.ongreenhill.com www.konkulevicius.lt
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Umbrella Frame Marina Pacifico & Sara Palmieri Architects Italy
Umbrella Frame was inspired by the way, in which an umbrella closes. Using screens, which are easy to open and close, Umbrella Frame provides an easy and flexible solution for setting up temporary workspaces. While reminiscent of dressing screens, the project was inspired by an umbrella and its closure mechanism. The project consists of wooden frames, which can be opened out and folded, and which are covered with a light, transparent piece of fabric. When closed, the wooden fra mes do not take up much room: 2.60 x 2.00 x 0.10 metres, to be precise. But, once the frames are folded out, they become 5.51 metres wide and 2 metres high.
By using metal hinges and metal arms with a folding effect the two designers of Umbrella Frame created an open-and-close mechanism similar to that of an umbrella. It is, therefore, easy to open Umbrella Frame, when an extra workspace is required. The wooden frames are designed to be stacked on top of each other, when they are folded up. This makes it easy to move them around or store them in a corner of the room. Old pallets as recycled material
Their choice of material was based on the fact that the solution was supposed to be cheap, easily accessible and sustainable. So the frames are made out of wood from old pallets. The fabric is semi-transparent, making it easy for natural light to pass through. The wooden frames can open from a width of 0 – 180 degrees and, if several modules are joined together, they can create a workspace measuring between 7.79 m² and 209.20 m². That means that the users can create the exact workspace they require.
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Blank Canvas Sophia Lithell Designer Sweden
In Blank Canvas large pieces of fabric, hanging from the ceiling, divide up the space into smaller sections. The fabric allows natural light to penetrate the room, simultaneously creating silhouettes of the individuals behind the fabric. Sophia Lithell's vision in Blank Canvas is to create work足 space, which keeps the large room of the warehouse as open as possible, and which lets the natural daylight flow through the room. She also wants the project to have a minimal impact on the building, which is so worthy of preservation. The solution is to use stretched fabric to create partitions. The designer imagines the fabric fixed to the ceiling and the floor. Natural daylight can enter through the stretched material, and the people in the space will create silhouettes in the fabric.
from traditional crafts, everyday details and artwork. The fabric is bright and its degree of transparency varies, depending on where you hang it in the space. Fabric as portable projector screen
In Blank Canvas private spaces are located along the walls, while in the middle section, there are meeting zones for the room's users. The fabric can be moved, if an event is being organised, or can be used as a projector screen as part of the event. The furniture, which is sketched in the project drawings, consists of simple pine wood constructions. The idea is for these benches and tables to serve as modules, which can be arranged and put together as required. For example, the benches can be transformed into shelves, simply by placing them on top of each other. www.sophialithell.com
The keywords in Blank Canvas are: flexible, cost-effective and reusable. In her work Sophia Lithell draws inspiration
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use_space – use_things Igor Machata & Filip Marcák Architecture students Slovenia
Use everything you can find and build an office. That is the concept behind use_space – use_things. With an old sheet of OSB, a lorry tarpaulin, tape, rubber bands and the right attitude, you can quickly create a new office. Use_space – use_things zooms in on the new options and features of existing material and objects. The project is a wakeup call for recycling and innovation. The concept of the project is to explore the immediate vicinity and find various items, which, with a touch of good will and some creative thinking, can be used to establish a workplace. In their sketches the two architecture students, Igor Machata and Filip Marcák, illustrate how it is possible to build an office space from such simple objects as an old sheet of OSB, a used tarpaulin from a lorry, some wooden boxes, tapes and a couple of rubber bands. Tarpaulin is a very good, practical choice, because it makes a solid room-divider and has insulating properties. It is also easy to set up, using tape and rubber bands, and to pull down again, if the space needs to be reorganised. A low budget and a sustainable profile
According to the two designers, recycling old materials can create a dynamic and versatile space. These used, worthless objects can easily be replaced or supplemen ted by new objects, which a member of the working community might find on their way to work. Use_space –
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use_things reveals the possibility of building an efficient, flexible workspace for very little money and with a sustain able profile. All it requires is open-mindedness.
Tubes v. II Shabana Yasmin &  Maja Hansen Architect Denmark
Cardboard tubes, tied together with ropes in a variety of ways, are the basic element of Tubes v. II. The tubes provide a creative and environmentally friendly solution to the building of a user-oriented workspace. With Tubes v. II Shabana Yasmin and Maja Hansen want to take advantage of the abandoned warehouse's industrial surroundings and the raw materials on the site. The concept consists of three focus points: sustainable materials, user-defined spaces and flexibility. The basic elements of Tubes v. II are cardboard tubes of recycled materials and rope. The tubes have a thickness of 5 mm and a diameter of 100 mm. They are assembled in the same way as a raft, and the method provides a myriad different module options. This makes Tubes v. II a flexible solution, which can provide space and furniture to suit the users' requirements. User-defined spaces
One of the reasons Shabana Yasmin and Maja Hansen chose cardboard tubes, is that tubes are great for pinning things up on, whenever you want to share creative ideas. Also cardboard tubes are cheap, environmentally friendly, easy to carry and very strong.
Cardboard tubes are available in either white or natural, but they can also be spray-painted in different colours and create identifying points in the room or outside on the harbour. By placing objects made of cardboard tubes outside the building, one could create an icon for the working community. They would catch the attention of passers by, inviting them into the building and into the community. According to the two architects, the furniture they have designed is very flexible. The furniture items are reversible and can be turned round according to need. They contain several functions in one. According to the designers, they represent just a tiny example of what possible users can create out of these incredibly tough tubes. www.shabanayasmin.com www.majahansen.com
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Xubo Gianpaolo Mastronardi Architect Italy
XUBO – bring your office with you gives you the option of building your own office with boxes. The boxes can serve as tables or stools. Or they can be used to build a bookshelf, which at the same time can serve as a partition.
and are easy to transport to the next temporary workspace. The Italian architect, Giampaolo Bettamio Mastronardi, designed the project, bearing in mind that because of the growing population, we must learn, for the future, to use the same amount of space in different ways
The base modules of XUBO – bring your office with you are folding boxes made from 100%-recycled paper. When the boxes are folded flat, the idea is that they should incorporate a handle. So you can carry the folded boxes with you like a bag. Therefore XUBO makes it easy and convenient to take your office with you and create exactly the workspace you want.
www.mastronardiarchitetti.it
The boxes can be used as tables or chairs. Meanwhile, by stacking boxes on top of each other like Lego bricks, you can build a shelf. Like a kind of shelf-wall, the boxes can be used to build up partitions, thus dividing up the room into smaller workspaces. Velcro and recycling
Small pieces of Velcro help transform a box into a comfor table stool with cushions attached, or decorate the back of the boxes. This you can do by attaching coloured fabric, patterned wallpaper or other material, depending on the needs of the particular user. XUBO – bring your office with you allows you to create a space in any building whatsoever. The elements are flexible, functional, cheap to produce and recyclable. They can be used by many different people with many different needs,
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Super Office Alexis Zambrano, Maria G. Barroeta & Edgar Calderas Architecture students Venezuela
link one module to another in a myriad different ways. So the modules can be used for different functions, such as a chair, a table, a ping-pong table or in the creation of outdoor activities. The modules can also create a closed workspace.
In Super Office trapezoid wooden modules create a dynamic, versatile space. For example, you could quickly assemble a ping-pong table to offer users an active break. The point that Super Office makes is that the workplace should be flexible and fun. In the spirit of our age, Alexis Zambrano, Maria G. Barroeta and Edgar Calderas set out to design an open, dynamic workplace, which also provides its users with recreational areas so they feel that it is fun to be part of a working community. The spaces should be a source of inspiration in terms of creativity and wellbeing. The advantage of using a trapezium as the primary module in Super Office is that the trapezium makes it possible to
A simple system
The actual assembly system is quite simple. On the sides of each module there is a hexagonal slot. With the use of an enlarged dowel, the trapezia can be fixed together. The flexibility of Super Office can accommodate the different needs for space and display, which can crop up at any time in a workplace. But the project also wants to accommodate any unpredictable needs, which might arise in the future, in terms of new tasks, business partners or a new setting. According to Alexis Zambrano, Maria G. Barroeta and Edgar Calderas, the use of diverse materials, such as wood, concrete, plastic or recycled material, makes it easy to integrate Super Office in different contexts. The proposed materials are also cheap.
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Office in your bag Enrique Fernรกndez de Nograro Architect Spain
Inflatable office spaces, which you can carry in your pocket and blow up, anywhere and at any time, represent an innovative and unique answer to temporary office solutions. The idea was inspired by pilates balls and provides ergonomic seating. As the title suggests, Office in your bag is a mobile project, which makes it easy to change both office and community from one day to another, if that is what is required. The idea of the architect responsible for the project, Enrique Fernรกndez de Nograro, is that you take your inflatable officein-a-bag, when you have to meet with colleagues, who have their own inflatable offices, in any empty building, thus creating a temporary communal workspace. The project, therefore, offers a flexible solution to the creation of a common work environment. The inflatable offices can create small individual workspaces, or you can assemble and attach several of the inflatables together to construct a large, communal workspace. An ergonomic solution
The project was inspired by ergonomic pilates balls and
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requires no furniture, since it is possible to sit ergonomically correctly inside the inflatable offices. Anyone at all can blow the module up. It does not require any special skills. You can blow the modules up with a manual pump to save on electricity, or with an electric pump to save time. The inflatable offices are made of polythene film. This material was chosen, because it is cheap, 100%-recyclable and fire-resistant. In addition, polythene film is available in a variety of colours or you can even paint it, if you want a particular colour scheme in your office space.
Nodes of attraction Jaime Garcia Architect Spain
The vision of Nodes of attraction is for "tree"shaped constructions to act as energy centres, which create different workspaces in the warehouse. By offering heating, electricity and Wi-Fi, the centres can attract the site's users and thus affect their use of the space.
Jaime Garcia imagines that the users, who need peace for working, will place themselves close to the trees, while the users who want to get together to field ideas and share knowledge, will utilise the space between the trees. So this will automatically create different types of space in the warehouse.
The architect of Nodes of attraction, Jaime Garcia, was inspired by a Spanish proverb, "Quien a buen årbol de arrima, buena sombra le cobija,� which can be translated as, "Anyone approaching a good tree, also acquires a good shadow." According to Jaime Garcia, this proverb refers to the experience or knowledge you can achieve by being in the company of an experienced and knowledgeable person.
An open and dynamic space
The idea is to build tree-like structures to serve as centres, in which people with specialised knowledge can come together to share knowledge and learn from each other.
With Nodes of attraction Jaime Garcia intends to create an open, flexible and dynamic workspace, which is defined by the needs of the users, not by the building's immovable walls.
In order to attract the users of the communal workplace, the trees operate like energy centres, which offer users heating, electricity, lighting and Wi-Fi. The centres are built of acoustic material, in order to reduce the noise level surrounding the energy centres.
The trees are constructed of acoustic sheets made of wood wool and cement. These materials were chosen, because they absorb both sound and heat. The sheets are all modular, so that users are able to build the space they want, and adapt designs to the setting, depending on where they are located.
www.dinamo-arquitectos.com
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Foldable walls & descending shelves Jakob Harry Hybel & Asbjørn Kristensen Høgsbro Architect & MSc in Politics Denmark
Thus the folding partitions can create an enclosed space from beam to beam, which can be opened and closed as desired. Space for contemplation or group work
Using the old warehouse's load-bearing wooden beams as a starting point, folding partitions and hanging shelves can be integrated, providing the framework for an office landscape. The system is simple, functional, and adjustable.
The simple system involved in Foldable walls and descending shelves provides users with the freedom to establish different spaces, depending on their changing needs. Users can find peace and quiet for contemplation in small, enclosed spaces, or exchange ideas in larger group spaces.
Foldable walls and descending shelves focuses on the existing architecture of the old warehouse: in particular the dominant wooden beams. The distance between the beams is used to install folding partitions and hanging shelves. At points in the room, where there is a short distance between the wooden beams, shelves will be suspended, using wire or strong rope. To create flexibility, the intention is that the shelves can be raised or lowered, when required.
If needed, some of the walls and shelves can be made more permanent than others. But nothing will be taken for granted, before the users move into the building. If a large-scale event is being organised, you can quickly create space for lots of participants by folding the walls together and raising the shelves.
Meanwhile, folding partitions will be installed at the points, where there is greater distance between the beams.
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The two designers calculated that a test set-up of the project in new materials in the building's centre section could be realised on USE SPACE's DKK 20,000 budget. However, it is possible to reduce costs by using recycled material.
Easy & Mobile Slava Kharisov Architect Russia
In Easy & Mobile a chair with integrated desk, with a screen as a backrest, is a way for individuals to sit and work undisturbed in an open office landscape. The workstations are easy to move around, and users can quickly move together to form interest groups. In Easy & Mobile, which was designed by Slava Kharisov, each user has their own mobile workspace, which can be placed wherever they want it.
to combine the chairs for groups of two, three, ten or more people. Each workstation is fitted with an LED bulb. Power comes from the user's laptop or a battery. The Easy & Mobile chair's built-in light increases flexibility, because users are less dependent on heavy duty ceiling light, so can locate themselves wherever they wish to sit in the space. Easy to construct
The individual workstations are designed in the form of a chair with an integrated desk. The backrest is fitted with a screen. This can be folded out to create a small space, enabling the user to isolate him/herself from the other people and activities in the room. But the screen cannot isolate the user completely from the community, because the project's designer believes that members of the communal workspace should be available for discussion.
Easy & Mobile is constructed out of cheap and sustainable materials, which do not require large professional machines. A simple manual cutting machine can be used to cut shapes in plywood, and the user does not need to be a professional craftsperson to put the elements of Easy & Mobile together. The screen's materials are elastic, so easy to work with. www.ego-archi.ru
The project's workstations are easy to move around. Users must be able to gather in groups quickly, and it is possible
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Urban development and innovation By Jesper Koefoed-Melson, partner in Givrum.nu and Chairman of the USE SPACE jury
Temporariness is an effective method of innovation, because it can trigger urban transformation and shape the future use of a building. But the important thing is that people get the opportunity to participate actively in their city’s life and the development of our cities in general. There is vast, unrealised potential in all the empty buildings, which are scattered throughout Denmark. In fact, it would be really difficult to find a single Danish town without an empty house, an empty factory, a shut-down school or a warehouse with nothing in it.
Temporariness is a highly effective method of innovation, because it can generate urban transformation, which shapes the future use of a building and the identity of a particular area. Looked at from a short-term perspective, one can investigate what knowledge emerges and what networks are created, thus regarding temporariness as a platform for development. Looked at from a long-term perspective, we must make sure that temporary activities are incorporated as a lasting asset for the area. Developers and other decisionmakers owe it to everyone involved to take their commitment seriously. Citizens should be actively involved
The mission of Givrum.nu is to put empty buildings to good use. We consider empty buildings as a resource and a logical context for positive and creative urban development. Our ambition is to make empty buildings widely available and help them develop into open and inspiring environments in the form of workshops, offices, studios etc., while they await either renovation or demolition. In Aalborg, the contractor company, A. Enggaard A/S have made a building available, free of charge, for a period of five years. They have renovated it from top to toe and even made a significant economic contribution to the user-driven urban development centre, Byens Rum (City Space). Byens Rum has the potential to invest user-driven urban development with innovation, to a degree, which is unprecedented in a Danish context. Innovation, therefore, played a vital role in the USE SPACE competition. But what makes the temporary use of empty buildings synonymous with innovation? Temporariness as a method of innovation
Temporariness in itself is not innovation. But in Givrum.nu we regard temporariness as a way of generating urban development. If we approach it in the right way, it can become a platform for innovation. Temporariness can serve as a resource in the democratisation of our towns and cities. If we allow ordinary people to develop freely, we engender creativity. That creativity then triggers “products”, which no planning could have foreseen.
In Givrum.nu we believe that good cities are characterised by citizens’ active participation in a city’s life. That is why we are working to get more people involved in the development of our towns and cities. In this context, we have a particular affection for empty buildings as a framework for user-driven activities. The challenge is to give more people an opportunity to participate in the city’s life and let their wishes and needs play a central role in development. That does not mean that ordinary people should be forced to work like professionals. That is what we have architects, planners and other good people for. On the contrary, citizens’ involvement should be entirely on their own terms. For those of us, who work professionally in the field of urban development, it is about providing a context for interaction between people and for specific platforms, where conver sations and relationships can be cultivated and developed. The experiences and stories involved in these situations create the feeling of belonging to a city, and we hope that the solutions presented in this publication can help inspire the creation of other new communities.
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Simply meaningful By Kristian Ravn-Ellestad, Chairman of the Byens Rum association and member of the USE SPACE jury
Cities throughout the world are in a state of transition in their quest for a meaningful society. Aalborg is about to witness the opening of a laboratory for urban development. Byens Rum (City Space) will be a collective forum and professional network, which will engender the exchange of knowledge, initiate shared projects, and create joint strength to face the transition. 1,100 cities and towns throughout the world are official members of the Transition Town movement. More than half of them are in Europe. The Transition Town phenomenon is founded on a set of really simple values, which enable both urban communities and the ordinary man and woman in the street to create a meaningful life for themselves, their children and grandchildren, here and now. More and more cities and towns are getting ready for transition. In April 2013 I attended the annual Transition Town conference in Spain, and took the opportunity to inquire about Spain's motives for getting involved in their local transition towns. The answer both surprised and inspired me. It had absolutely nothing to do with desperation in the face of unemployment or the financial crisis. It was simply about living in accordance with one's beliefs, a vision of living meaningfully. Laboratory for urban development
Urban development and transition are also on the agenda in Denmark, and are already under way. Projects involving sustainability, green areas, neighbourhood communities and artistic façades are popping up all over the country, while we constantly ask ourselves what a meaningful city is, and what the city of the future should contain. In autumn 2013, in Aalborg, we will open Denmark's very first centre for user-driven urban development. We have named the project “Byens Rum”. Our dream is to establish a new model for urban development, in which a powerful band of individuals, associations, institutions and companies can unite with the local municipality, landowners and
investors to create inspiring projects, solutions and products for the meaningful city of the future. Byens Rum has its headquarters in a 2,400-m² warehouse and an adjacent outdoor area in the former industrial harbour at Østre Havn (the East Harbour). The idea is to create a working forum, where ideas can be translated into reality. This idea is embodied directly in the warehouse's three storeys, each of which will have its own particular function. The attic is fitted out as a communal office and studio space, where the building's users can work, hold meetings etc. The middle floor and the outdoor area will be used to exhibit projects and products, and for lectures, conferences and events. The ground floor is a large workshop with room for experiments, the development of prototypes and the construction of physical installations. Byens Rum will be a laboratory, in which ordinary people can generate their own urban development, thus attracting life and people, creativity, events, and physical projects to this future urban area. So the project will also act as the narrative of a model for urban development, which will be a source of inspiration for anyone, who works in that field. Flexible solution provides a framework for transition
Just as the Transition Town model enables people to redirect their surroundings and relationships in a meaningful direction, Byens Rum will create a collective forum and a professional network, which will engender the exchange of knowledge, initiate shared projects, and create joint strength to face transition. The USE SPACE competition gave us a wonderful range of user-created design solutions, conceived by people from all over the world, and we chose the right solution as the winner. This solution embodies the central concept of Byens Rum: to create a setting for development, in which the warehouse's new users, in accordance with simple principles, can use the solution as a basis for the city's transition.
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The necessity of temporariness By Bettina Lamm, landscape architect and Associate Professor in the Division of Landscape Architecture and Planning at the University of Copenhagen
Is it possible to reinterpret urban structures via cultural, social and aesthetic intervention, thereby reformulating the identity, function and context of forgotten, abandoned sites? Everyone is familiar with those local, disused, industrial buil足 dings, occupied by creative stakeholders, who fill them with new meaning and content. It is not hard to see the special aesthetic and aura, which these old buildings from the turn of the century possess. But not so long ago these places, which we now perceive as unique and rich in character, were regarded as offensive and inappropriate surplus areas. Reformulation of forgotten and abandoned places
One method for the reformulation of old and forgotten places involves temporary cultural, social and aesthetic scenarios, which help us occupy the places with the application of new functions and re-read them as attractive and valuable. In both Denmark and the rest of Europe, buildings, which have been either forgotten or abandoned, present us with a growing challenge. Currently, industrial sites from the 1960s and 1970s are being emptied of both function and content. New forms of manufacturing have led to a significant loss of industry in our cities. Country areas are being depopulated
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as a result of migration, and shelved development projects have left regions with vast, empty, outworn areas. Strategy for the transformation of surplus areas
At Copenhagen University we are involved in the EU project, SEEDS. The overall objective of the project is to investigate how temporary use can be incorporated as a strategy in the transformation of surplus buildings and sites, so they contribute to the sustainable, architectural, social and economic development of local areas. The project is based on case studies, conducted in six different countries. The gathering of information will result in a number of recommendations at EU-level on the use of surplus areas, transformation strategies and, most importantly, legislation to support possible temporary use as a means of shifting a place from surplus zone status to re-activation. One prime example of a SEEDS case study is an area near Sheffield railway station, which is totally deserted and surrounded by a metal fence. One developer had intended to build a multi-storey car park, but a few years ago heavy rainfall flooded the whole Sheffield railway station area. The low-lying site is exposed and demanding in terms of construction. Financial stagnation also put the brakes on the realisation of many projects, which had been planned.
The establishment of a new department store on the same site was also cancelled in the wake of the financial crisis. So now, in Sheffield city centre, a building and a plot of land are well and truly empty. The long-term investments came to nothing and, despite the fact that both citizens and the city council had visions of establishing working cultural collectives and organic city gardens on the empty site, legislation has imposed a massive obstacle to any possible temporary solutions. Tax laws and zone legislation make it less attractive, or even impossible for an investor to do anything with the site, other than to let it remain unused.
that the use of those sites could make a very positive contribution to a local environment.
Barriers to conversion
The ambition of the SEEDS project is to identify those legal barriers, which block the temporary use of sites. It is essential to look at how we can pave the way in terms of legislation for the reuse of derelict sites in a more open context. Not only are surplus areas a waste of resources, they also lead to potential degeneration. Therefore, it makes excellent socio-economic sense to allow new methods of transformation and new forms of initiative to blossom.
Sadly there are a host of similar examples in Denmark, in which legislation and the law cannot keep up with new strategic planning resources, whereby temporary local and successive initiatives could make a positive contribution to both short- and long-term transformation. There are excel lent examples of the fact that the temporary occupation of abandoned buildings and sites and the creation of new content make sense from an urban, social and socioeconomic point of view. There is also often strong political support for locally developed projects. Nonetheless, such transformation projects frequently face obstacles in terms of regulations and planning bureaucracy. One of the major challenges lies in the fact that planning regulations do not distinguish between short-term and longterm projects. The requirements for detailing and security are frequently so out of proportion to the resources and scale that even quite small-scale projects can become very expensive. A second barrier is the market conditions, to which local authorities are subject. A reservation lease, even for unused sites, is very expensive, despite the fact
The indirect consequence is a challenge to take the law into one's own hands, because the authorities in charge of construction projects do not have the necessary legal tools (or vision) to handle small projects of a temporary nature. That is a great shame, because it prevents locally harvested, ad hoc projects from being included operationally in local council planning, and considered strategically as part of a long-term vision.
Need for an innovative procedural approach
A project, which puts initiatives to the test in the short term, can contribute to a more experimental approach to the definition of buildings and sites. The fact that these projects are scaled down in terms of time, volume and finances, can easily generate a much more innovative procedural approach than the usual planning procedures for public spaces allow. Because they tend to be ad hoc constructions, based on more flexible plans and restrictive budgets, and transforma tion goes hand in hand with the resources and production opportunities, which are available here and now. The approach in itself supports a different social and cultural
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structure in the transformation process. In addition, on a more fundamental level, such an approach contributes to the reformulation of methods in the design of physical, social and aesthetic structures. A project moves from the classic waterfall model to an iterative model, in which solutions are shaped and tested in learning loops. Projects of this nature are not built to last forever. On the other hand, though, there is also a great likelihood that the traces these small projects leave behind can affect the future activities of the sites and buildings, which they have occupied.
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Temporary initiatives can contribute to the reinterpretation of a site and generate new experiences of the industrial landscape, which is in a state of transition. The traces, which have been tried and tested in 1:1, can help determine future use. We should realise that areas, which hover in this intermediate state between previous activities and the development of something new, have enormous potential. They offer us a perfect opportunity to slow down and take small steps, while we test both the architectural and functional interpretations of places.
In search of essential differences and similarities in temporary architecture By Tina Vestermann, PhD student, Institute of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University
Taking a close and careful look at the individual projects, which fall into the category of temporary architecture, reveals a number of differences in terms of aesthetics, function, relation to time, stakeholders and intention. It is these differences, which help invest temporary architecture with value. Temporary architecture opens the door to a field of possi bilities: physical expression, new areas of cooperation, attention to overlooked potential and communication and dialogue in concrete physical form. These are new perspec tives which are of interest to anyone involved professionally in the design of our towns and landscapes. That is why it is also interesting to focus attention on the similarities and differences, which characterise the broad category of temporary architecture, and to initiate a debate about its use. Similarities – temporariness, exploration and new areas of cooperation
What all temporary architecture has in common is a special promise of something different, which does not abide by the prevailing rules governing cities, landscapes and buildings. Because temporary structures are here only for a short while, they tend to be found in unexpected places. This spotlights new potential and momentarily subverts a
town's balance of power, regrouping a town's stakeholders. Temporary architecture is also characterised by new part nerships between professional planners and a town's users, often resulting in a situation, in which the end user becomes a major contributor. In temporary architecture one can also detect evidence of a “DIY” aesthetic and a fleeting quality, which allows ideas to be tested and judged. However, despite these similarities, temporary architecture also possesses a number of differences, which are clearly revealed, when you take a closer look at the individual projects, which are based on the concept of temporariness. Essential differences: aesthetics, function, relation to time, stakeholders and intention
There is great diversity in the physical and aesthetic expression of temporary architecture. For example, it can consist of the construction of a temporary structure on an otherwise surplus plot of land in a city or town. Temporary architecture can also involve the installation of a structure in an empty building, where the new function and form revitalise the building, resulting in a successful synergy between old and new. A current example of the former approach is Godsbanen in Aarhus, where Institute of (X), a temporary commercial and cultural platform, are constructing temporary workshops. The aesthetic is expressed in
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widespread do-it-yourself construction and recycling, which is taking over the abandoned railway land and making it a welcoming environment (www.institutforx.dk). A good example of the latter trend is NDSM in Amsterdam, which involves transformation of a former shipyard with the insta llation of new structures in the old ship hall. The structures here were designed and created by architects, so the idiom is very different, and much stricter than the “do-it-yourself” aesthetic, which characterises Godsbanen. The function and lifespan of a temporary structure
It is also interesting to distinguish between the various functions, which temporary architecture offers a city or town. Some temporary architecture creates the setting for entrepreneurial environments, intended to serve as launchpads for urban development. Such is the case in Newcastle with the city's RenewNewcastle project, where temporary leases have injected new life into large sections of abandoned shopping streets, enabling enterprise and creating fertile soil for urban life and activity. So the tempo rary use of existing structures assumes a regeneration perspective, which can create permanent transformation of the urban environment. Other projects are much more instant and experiential, offering a programme of events and “fun”. Take, for example, Acoustic Pavilion, whose temporary architectural form created a setting for events on Aalborg's waterfront as part of the Aalborg in Red festival in 2011. The architecture was created according to a controlled, parametric design, aimed at creating an optimal acoustic environment for electronic music. It is also significant that projects have different lifespans and different relations to time. Temporariness can classify either projects, whose worldly existence spans several years, or projects, which exist for just a few days. What they all have in common is their intentional impermanence. The difference lies in the duration of their existence, hence the potential influence they can have on future use or on the
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user. Acoustic Pavilion was a totally short-term project. Its three-day presence in Aalborg Harbour created an instant and unique experience, before disappearing and leaving not a single trace behind. By contrast, NDSM has grown from a temporary to a permanent feature in north Amsterdam and is now a widely recognised and well-known textbook example of a userdriven community with a focus on culture and business development. NDSM has thus regenerated a whole urban area and paved the way, in no uncertain terms, for future development. By contrast, Godsbanen in Aarhus will be used temporarily, until a specified end date, which is referred to as “bulldozer” day. In this case they are making use of fixed period of time between a past and a future to create new content, which might make its mark on the future. The development in Aalborg
It is also interesting to focus on the forces, which help to create temporary architecture and what intentions individual projects may have. This is a major field of interest in Aalborg. Since 2008 the city has been a breeding ground for a num ber of temporary projects, created in a process, in which grass roots organisations have grown into professional entrepreneurs and planners into facilitators. The Østre Havn urban transformation district has been a particular hotbed for many of these projects. Since the launch of the area's transformation, Østre Havn has provided a setting for the award-winning artist and technology network, Platform4. For a four-year period they had the free use of a warehouse in the area (www.platform4.dk) . Now, instead, Østre Havn will be home to Byens Rum, a similar collective for young entrepreneurs, who will borrow another building owned by the contractor company, A. Enggaard A/S. Meanwhile, the old harbour basin has made room for the OM:FORM culture ferry, a reconstruction project, which has transformed an old ferry from a heritage
vessel into mobile architecture for culture (www.byensrum. org and http://om-form.dk ). A. Enggaard A/S have been a key player at Østre Havn. Their desire to create urban life and improve the overall value of the area has led to close cooperation with a variety of local entrepreneurs and the relevant departments of Aalborg Muncipality. The municipality are also working actively in the close vicinity of the harbour by supporting experimental, temporary architecture. When Platform4 moved out of the warehouse at Østre Havn, the network were allocated another building in Karolinelund, Aalborg's former amuse ment park. Until May 2015 Karolinelund will be available for “temporary and experimental use”. This has resulted in the signing of an agreement with the association “Friends of Karoline", who are now in charge of coordinating events in the park. This agreement transfers initiative from the muni cipality to a voluntary association of users, who in the coming years will assume ownership of the site and subsequently create its content according to whatever needs happen to emerge. Karolinelund has provided space for temporary gardens, a pump track and a pétanque court.
The projects, which have been mentioned here, are very much the result of voluntary forces, who devote time and thought to create projects, which can make a difference for many people in the city. The underlying intentions steeped in a desire to work experimentally to satisfy the city's specific requirements. Thanks to the convergence of these various interests, vacant square metres, municipal planners on the look out for opportunities, and landowners, who dare to take a gamble, find common ground. The result is temporary architecture. The scope and potential of temporary architecture
Put simply, the above-mentioned projects have shown that factors such as aesthetics, function, relation to time, stakeholders and intention vary from project to project. So implicit in the term temporary architecture are various essential differences, the clarification of which can help identify the scope and potential of temporary architecture. Several practitioners have attempted to describe these differences and to decode what is at stake for individual projects. This has led to a number of typologies, categories and stakeholder surveys. Taken as a whole, they provide a qualified, though sometimes confusing, image of the urban reality, which temporary architecture helps to create. However, any attempt to illustrate the potential and scope of temporary architecture must understand that the essential differences between temporary architecture projects are the very aspects, which invest such a broad-based definition with value. Some projects are inspired by a wish to work with small-scale aesthetic expression, while others explore the possibilities of teamwork in the transformation of urban areas. Only by focusing attention on the genesis of each individual project, its aesthetic means, its major stake holders, its temporal limitation and underlying intention, indeed its whole context, can we illustrate and comprehend the overall potential of temporary architecture.
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Captions & photo credits
Page 2 & 49 In autumn 2013 Byens Rum move into an empty warehouse on Østre Havn in the city of Aalborg. Photo: Kristian Ravn-Ellestad Page 11– 12 In collaboration with the winner of the USE SPACE competition, the warehouse’s wooden attic has been converted into an office landscape Photo: Kristian Ravn-Ellestad Page 23 – 24 In 2010 Platform4 organised the Sail In cinema at Østre Havn in Aalborg. Photo: Simon Andersen, BrknRib Photography Page 35 – 36 At Godsbanen in the city of Aarhus, Department of (X) is in the process of creating a public laboratory for experiments in urban planning and citizen involvement. Photo: Tina Vestermann Page 37 Image 1: One of Byens Rum’s start-up projects involves collaboration with n55 to construct multifunctional bicycles. This is the mobile kitchen in the evening sun under the Limfjordsbro Bridge. Photo: Gabija Bakutyte Image 2: In association with their colleagues on the OM:FORM culture ferry, Byens Rum are creating a temporary space in and around the basin of Østre Havn. Photo: Gabija Bakutyte Image 3: A poly-tunnel made from recycled materials will be built on top of a container. 10 m³ of topsoil get delivered to the organic harbour gardens in Aalborg. Photo: Gabija Bakutyte Page 42 Image 1: The urban farm Uit je Eigen Stad was established on a disused railway site in Rotterdam’s harbour district. The plot was borrowed from the city for an initial period of seven years. The farm’s cultivation plots, restaurant and outreach activities have added new features and fresh life to a harbour area, which otherwise would have been phased out. Photo: Bettina Lamm Image 2: Students of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Copenhagen have transformed a turning space at the disused LOD67 industrial facility into a public urban space, thereby contributing to the current reprogramming of the city from its former industrial identity to something new. Photo: Bettina Lamm
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Image 3: For a short period the University of the Neighbourhood have occupied a former public authority building in Wilhemsburg, Hamburg. While the University puts new collective models to the test, the building and grounds are being experimentally de-structured and re-structured. Photo: Bettina Lamm Page 43 Students of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Copenhagen have transformed a turning space at the disused LOD67 industrial facility into a public urban space, thereby contributing to the current reprogramming of the city from its former industrial identity to something new. Photo: Bettina Lamm Page 45 At Godsbanen in the city of Aarhus, Department of (X) is in the process of creating a public laboratory for experiments in urban planning and citizen involvement. Photo: Institut for (X) Page 46 Image 1: Acoustic Pavilion on Aalborg Harbour, created in collaboration between AREA and Electrotexture Lab. Photo: Esben Bala Skouboe, Electrotexture Lab Image 2: Karolinelund Park is open to the public until 2015, when its future will once again be on the drawing board. Until then its diverse use will include a city garden. Photo: Karin Højlund, Aalborg Kommune
USE SPACE
Temporariness, urban development and open innovation Published by Š Innosite, 2013 Danish Architecture Centre Strandgade 27B DK 1401 Copenhagen K www.innosite.dk
A special thanks to Lennie Clausen, Project Manager at Realdania Marie Louise Hansen, Head of Department at the Danish Energy Agency Kristian Ravn-Ellestad, Chairman of the Byens Rum association Jesper Koefoed-Melson, partner in Givrum.nu Bettina Lamm, landscape architect and Associate Professor in the Division of Landscape Architecture and Planning at the University of Copenhagen Tina Vestermann, PhD student, Institute of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University
Innosite – open innovation in the construction industry An initiative by Realdania and the Danish Energy Agency The site is operated by the Danish Architecture Centre
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Innosite.dk is an open innovation platform which connects companies and organisations with a need for innovation with people who have great ideas. The aim is to create and further develop an active innovation environment within the construction industry in Denmark and to promote dialogue and collaboration across professions, companies and industries. Innosite – open innovation in the construction industry. An initiative by Realdania and the Danish Energy Agency. The site is operated by the Danish Architecture Centre.