SUBURBAN CONDENSER A spatial, social and ecological framework for the concentrated growth of an expanding city
Ivars Kalvans 2017
CONTENT
CONTENT
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ABSTRACT
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URBAN AND SOCIAL CONTEXT
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INNER CITY / OUTER SUBURBIA
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GREEN BELTS
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CASE STUDY: LONDON
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THE CONCEPT. A LINEAR DEVELOPMENT
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THE CONCEPT. SUBURBAN CONDENSER
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COMPONENTS
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INFRASTRUCTURE
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ENCLAVE
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HETEROTOPIC VOID
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TYPOLOGY
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REFERENCES
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Today’s suburbia is the city of tomorrow.
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ABSTRACT
Unwillingness to build high and densely, inability to accommodate empty homes and the complexities of brownfield redevelopment will inevitably lead to further expanding of the Greater London. The project imagines how, in the face of the fragmentation and decentralisation of the city, increasing influx of population and scarcity of land, Metropolis would grow in the nearer future.
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UK London
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URBAN AND SOCIAL CONTEXT
• UK LAND USE. 7 % of UK area is urban (including infrastructure), 70 % is farmland.(1) • WHAT THE URBAN AREAS ARE MADE OF? Only 2 % of urban areas are buildings. 54 % is green space (gardens, parks, etc.).(2) • UK POPULATION. 64 million. 83 % of the UK population live in cities.(3) • SUBURBAN LIFESTYLE. 15 % of London’ s population live in an inner city, while 85 % live in outer suburbs. • THE AGE OF LONELINESS. 29 % of the UK population live alone. 1 million older people live alone.(4) • LOVE OF GARDENING. 90 % have a garden (including communal).(5) • WORK AT HOME. From 30 million workers 4 million work from home.(6) • AUTOMOBILE DEPENDENCY. 36% of the UK population commute to work by car. The average UK commute is 54 minutes.(7) • UK’S HOUSING CRISIS. UK housing shortage is almost 1 million homes.(8)
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INNER CITY/OUTER SUBURBIA
The project draws a framework to the set of spatial, social and environmental challenges and relationships between the inner city, outer suburbia and satellite towns. High concentration of capital and jobs, continuous immigration, skyrocketing property prices and housing shortage in the inner city has led to ever increasing commuting and consequently, traffic congestion.
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Designated areas of green belt in England and Scotland. (9)
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GREEN BELTS
Green belts designated to limit urban sprawl are now the challenge for both the politicians and developers. Green Belts around the British cities are designated for: • making a distinction between rural and urban, • preventing from urban sprawl and conurbation, • providing access to open green space. (10).
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CASE STUDY: LONDON
London’s Metropolitan Green Belt policy has several significant drawbacks. Firstly, an inefficient use of land. For instance, intensive, monocultural farming (more than a third of the land (11)) on the edge of the metropolis has no significant economic or environmental benefits. Secondly, this comes at the expense of more valuable development and leads to its ‘leapfrogging’ and displacement beyond the Green Belt. (12) Finally, all these factors contribute to longer commuting between London and its satellites. Created with positive intentions in the 50s, Green Belt today aggravates prolonged problems of suburbia such as reduced connectivity, accessibility to services and traffic congestion. The arcadian vision of suburbia must be reviewed.
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The project proposes infrastructure integrated development within preserved yet transformed Green Belt.
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THE CONCEPT. A LINEAR DEVELOPMENT ‘The continuous monument’ by Superstudio is a ‘moderate utopia’ for the near future when architecture will be the absolute and autonomous creation entirely distinct from nature. (13) It would be a ’total urbanisation’ - a singular formation which occupies minimal footprint leaving the rest of the environment free. (14)
The Continuous Monument.
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In the competition entry for the socialist settlement at Magnitogorsk by Ivan Leonidov an armature (infrastructure) is the main urban element of the city. It is a backbone which supports and links monofunctional enclaves.
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The project rethinks the old ideas of Metro-land in a contemporary context. A linear suburbanization - a concentrated, medium-density but high-intensity mix-use development incorporates a new, low-speed infrastructure parallel to existing highspeed infrastructure.
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Suburban Condenser is a coupling between the traditional suburban ideal of privacy and proximity to nature and the spatial concept of communal living and functional interaction.
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THE CONCEPT. SUBURBAN CONDENSER By exploiting the most basic urban elements and typologies such as street, perimeter block and courtyard, and placing them in a dialogue with a natural setting, a new type of suburbia emerges.
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Aerial view. London Orbital Motorway (M25)and A3 junction. Suburban Condenser defines a clear distinction between natural and built environment.
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Social Condenser offers a coherent framework which is in stark contrast to dispersed, homogeneous and uncontrolled sprawl. By using uniformity and repetition, equality is ensured yet it is diversified by its context and the needs of its inhabitants – egalitarian and heterogeneous society.
Birds eye view
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Axonometric view.
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COMPONENTS
The framework components. The infrastructure is a grid defining armature. It supports chain-link enclaves. The entire formation is perforated with heterotopic voids.(15)
Suburban Condenser exploits an urban narrative where a continuous flow of streets is interrupted by an unexpected encounter in the shape of a town square or a landmark. Basic module exploits the traditional, normative 600ft pedestrian armature between centres.(16)
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INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure has a clear functional, scale and speed hierarchy. As such it does not have a segregating effect on communities. Infrastructure is an integral part of the formation and its footprint ratio to entire development is minimised.
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Enclave cross-section. Life above, along and on the street.
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ENCLAVE
The enclave is a self-organising system which accommodates the private sphere housing, business and retail activities; incorporates the communal life and services and embraces the public realm. By using uniformity and repetition, equality is ensured yet it is diversified by its context and inhabitants – heterogenous and egalitarian society.
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Street view. The public sphere for everyone for knowledge, recreation and social exchange.
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The upper street. A place where social bonds of community are strengthened.
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A workshop on ground level. Co-working and work from home are supported by providing facilities in proximity to yet strictly divided from the living area.
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Studio flat on 1st level. Different housing typologies offer accommodation for a diverse spectrum of households.
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Heterotopic voids provide a space of uncertainty, endless possibilities and transformations for the future development.
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HETEROTOPIC VOID
Heterotopic voids at the ends of enclaves (small) are raptures in the linearity of the continuous framework. They are spaces of spatial relief and vistas, cavities for landmarks and nodes which would be distributed accordingly to the needs of communities.
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Edge condition. The porosity of the linear development allows both transport and nature flow through. Here, on the edge of the Suburban Condenser, biodiversity is allowed to thrive.
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The town square. The space for multiple community events.
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TYPOLOGY
Typology of units. Spaces within a framework are adaptable and extendable by using flexible modules, layouts and structure.
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REFERENCES
1. Mark Easton, The great myth of urban Britain <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18623096> 2. Ibid. 3. United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects Urban population <http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS> 4. Kim Walker, Loneliness in the UK <http://www.eauk.org/culture/statistics/how-lonely-are-we.cfm> 5. Christopher Hope More than two million British homes without a garden The Telegraph <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5811433/More-than-two-million-Britishhomes-without-a-garden.html> 6. Characteristics of Home Workers, (The Office for National Statistics, 2014) <http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ ons/rel/lmac/characteristics-of-home-workers/2014/rpt-home-workers.html> 7. 36% of the UK population still drive to work, only 3% cycle <https://www.totaljobs.com/insidejob/36-of-the-uk-population-still-drive-to-work-only-3cycle/> 8. David Kingman Britain’s housing crisis in 3 numbers <http://www.if.org.uk/archives/7195/britains-housing-crisis-in-3-numbers> 9. Green belt (United Kingdom) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_belt_(United_Kingdom)> 10. Ibid. 11. Tom Papworth. The green noose. An analysis of Green Belts and proposals for reform (Adam Smith Research Trust, 2015) 12. Ibid. 13. Adolfo Natalini ‘Inventory, Catalogue, Systems of Flux... a Statement’, Superstudio: Life Without Objects by Peter Lang and William Menking (Skira Editore, 2003), p.166. 14. Peter Lang and William Menking, Superstudio: Life Without Objects (Skira Editore, 2003), p.122. 15. Three primary urban elements - armature, enclave and heterotopia are the terminology used by David G. Shane in Recombinant urbanism : conceptual modelling in architecture, urban design, and city theory (John Wiley & Sons, 2005) 16. Ibid.
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