PIET BLOM——creating a society by architecture

P I E T B L O M Creating a society by architecture

Bastian Schleier Liping Wei Jiaxin Chen Shi Zeng Tom Stuiver

P I E T B L O M

Creating a society by architecture

Table of Contents:

p. 6_Introduction

p. 8_Methodology

p. 11_Blom and Society: a Derivation

Bastian Schleier

TU Delft

MSc Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences

p. 17_The Importance of Context

p. 23_The Public Sphere

p. 30_Designing a future Dream

p. 37_Envisioning possible Kasbahs

Jiaxin Chen

Shi Zeng

Tom Stuiver

Liping Wei

AR1A061

Architectural Design and Research Methods

Positions TEM-1

Tutor: Yagiz Söylev

Bastian Schleier | 5624274

Liping Wei | 5336481

Jiaxin Chen | 5480361

Shi Zeng | 5534739

Tom Stuiver | 4479580 Delft, 2021

p. 44_Conclusion

p. 49 _Bibliogrpahy

Piet Blom (1934-1999), full name Pieter, was a Dutch architect famous and infamous for his architecture and architectural views. Blom was originally trained as a carpenter and architectural draftsman, but soon after completing this education he decided to study Architecture at the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam. Here he is taught by among others, Aldo van Eyck, whose configurative style of architecture he adopts and further develops over the years. Van Eyck was famous, among architects, for his structuralist views on society and the role architecture should play within that. An important objective of structuralism was to ‚give space‘ for social structures; a building must be more than just a sum of functions. In this movement, with a humanistic foundation, the human being played a central role and especially his social contacts. To provoke this, the architects of structuralism advocated a multifunctional use of space that would invite many different people to meet.1 This was a direct response to functionalism, which at the time was the most dominant form of architecture in the Netherlands during the reconstruction after the Second World War. The strict separation of functions and overview from functionalism made way for multifunctionality and a lack of clarity.

This structuralist way of thinking also became a dominant factor in the designs and views of Piet Blom. The Kasbah in Hengelo, which was constructed in 1973, was one of the first designs of Blom that was eventually realised. As a case study it gives a great opportunity to get an insight into Blom’s architectural thinking, especially about his views on the connection between the public and private space. Designed as a city roof the project was regarded as an experiment of a new way, of not only housing, but also living together as a community. For Blom it was clear that “Architecture is more than creating a place, as it is more about creating a society.”2

1 Van Gastel, Het stedelijk dak; de geordende kasbah als instrument van herbergzaamheid., https://docplayer. nl/13098860-Hetstedelijk-dak-degeordende-kasbahals-instrument-vanherbergzaamheid. html (June, 2006)

For the course Architectural Design and Research Methods, during the MSc Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences programme at the TU Delft, a group research was initiated to link the assigned case study to the temporal context. The main question within this research is the following:

How did the acceptance of Bloms envisioned society at the Kasbah develop over time and did Piet Bloms participatory concept succeed or is it yet to be revealed in a possible future?

2

I Am An Architect, Piet Blom: Creating a Society, https:// www.penccil. com/gallery.

In the next following essays we will elaborate on five different aspects of the Kasbah and Piet Blom, linking them to this topic of temporalities. From the start we concentrated on individual research on each topic to gain a broad understanding of the case study and its relation to time. In the first chapter some connections between Blom and other architects are made, clarifying Blom’s stance in the architectural debate at the time. By starting at Bloms youth, a deeper understanding of his views on architecture and society will be made possible. The second chapter focuses on the Kasbah within its urban context; what differs the Kasbah from its surroundings and what makes this special when compared to a later design of Blom in the Cube houses. The third chapter describes the social aspects which have been implemented in the context design of the Kasbah; how do these aspects impact space and time? The fourth chapter elaborates the dwelling- and floorplans types which are currently present within the Kasbah, focussing on what aspects Blom implied to make them more time resistant and user friendly. To conclude and create the ability to look ahead, the fifth chapter will guide us to the possible futures of the case study. Using a conceptual toolbox as a methodology, imaginary reassemblies of the project can be thought of, linking a broad research to uncertainty as a factor of temporalities at the Kasbah.

Methodology

Our research of this case study is mainly based on qualitative methods. Throughout the research process we investigated multiple sources from different time periods to create a wide view of its context, this varies from: basic information about the Kasbah and its original design, the current situation of the people involved in the Kasbah and various types of information related to the future development of the Kasbah. To ensure a certain depth within the research, we made use of a split-point method of analysis to gain insight into the various elements of the building. These were based around the following elements: the social context and background, the architectural design, the public space, the urban context and the structure.

To ensure that all information was synchronised and efficient, it was important to create a central working space where all information could be archived and combined. Miro board and Google Drive gave us the option to create this central working space, which served as a basis throughout the entire research. Miro board‘s support for various flow charts also allowed us to organise the articles more quickly and link them to multiple elements within the research. By implying this intervening way of researching, it should ensure that all parts can be connected to create a wide and deeper conclusive view of this case study. To present our research in a comprehensive manner and also visually implement the temporality subject, we have chosen a video approach as a way of comparison and analysis. In that way we can visually represent the past situation and compare it to the current situation, also enabling the possibility to envision the Kasbah and its possible future development. By

using an old interview with Blom and past footage of the Kasbah we were able to create an image of his original views and intentions. During the site visit we were able to recreate some of the same standpoint from that original footage, in that way a direct comparison between the two time periods was clearly visible.

Some research methods are more suitable for a certain time period than others, by that fact our ways of researching can be divided into these different time zones. More precisely described below: Basic information about the Kasbah (past)

For the past time period we made use of Piet Blom’s design drawings and vision drawings, interviews with the Piet Blom at that time and obtained information from the museum volunteers about Blom and his visions on different subjects. This has enabled us to understand, as precisely as possible, the various elements of the buildings and the reasons why the architect designed it the way he did. At the same time, in order to gain a better understanding of the context of the design, we compared the architecture and design concepts of Piet Blom during different time zones. For a wider view to the general context, we looked at the development of structuralism and other related theories of architectural projects.

experienced the Kasbah on a daily basis and in what ways it changed over time, what would they improve to the buildings and its general context, in what ways did Blom succeed and what went wrong, and so forth. This gave us a wide view of how the neighbourhood was experienced by its residents, quite important from an insider point of view rather than general information that was available on the internet.

Future development Elements of the Kasbah(future)

While envisioning the future of the Kasbah, after the point analysis, we extracted some key elements and grouped them into five categories: City position, Expectation, Personal ideas, Architectural layers and Site. We hope to explore the future possibilities of the Kasbah by using them as a tool box and then changing the elements, allowing us to investigate possible future reassemblies.

Current status of the Kasbah (present)

In order to understand the current state of the Kasbah, we went to the site to take photographs and videos of the buildings and the way people live. For a deeper understanding of its context we interviewed different people such as one of the residents and the volunteers, who worked in the Piet Blom museum, about their views on the Kasbah. Mainly focussing on how they

Blom and Society: a Derivation

Blom and the Architectural Debate

Who is Piet Blom?

The Dutch Architect, Piet Blom is nowadays known for his unusual housing complexes, with very unique formal expression and a strong focus on the connection between the public and private sphere. His architectural approach is deeply rooted in his views on society and its role within the built environment. To get a better understanding of how this architect came to his very unique views, it is necessary to look at where he came from.

Born on the 8th of February 1934, Blom grew up in the district Jordaan in Amsterdam. The district was considered problematic or even a slum in Amsterdam at that time. When describing his childhood, he draws a very vivid image of the streets of his youth. Almost all residents held animals that time. The people in the district were very dependent on each other. Small businesses and the close relationships of the people shaped the character Jordaan.

Neglecting the functioning public space because it was seen as poor peoples district with many issues, the city Amsterdam consecutively began with the gentrification of Jordaan. Especially the destruction of old buildings for new housing projects or the renovation of houses, led to a complete change of atmosphere in the district. For Blom the gentrification of Jordaan was the crucial point for his critique towards the politics of urban planning. To clean up the slums, is nothing else than to clean up the community within them or to subjugate them to aesthetics. By cleaning up district of its characteristics and separating housing and living, society was led to create living environments with the only purpose of senseless isolated existence.

Temporalities as crucial factor of architecture was always a concern of Blom regarding his work. The image of his neighbourhood changing dramatically over time had a big impact on Bloms view on how living surroundings should be designed, which becomes very clear in the following quote:

„What ages gain humanity, so do houses and environments. But to grow older and more human in process, houses, their surroundings and their occupants must have core of vitality within them.“3

For Blom spatial planning was clearly a fourth dimensional task, with time as the fourth factor or dimension. Considering time as a basis for the public sphere, Blom intended to create spaces for the uncertain within an adaptable framework allowing change to happen over time. With this position Blom was close to his colleagues of Dutch structuralism, who all saw the collective space as a crucial starting point for each architectural design. Just as the public sphere was very much connected for Blom it was also for his Dutch colleague Hertzberger. For him it was necessary to “keep striving with architectural and urbanistic means to uphold the openness of the private bastions and the continuity of the street so that the collective doesn’t get reduced in consolidating the private”.4 It is this very continuity of the public and the private that was typical for the structuralist way of organizing space. Whether it was a city or a building complex, the image of the continuous flow in a streetscape was always a direct reference for most structuralist architects.

text. With this position Blom was a strong counterpart to some other architectural thinkers during that period. Especially in comparison to architects like Oswald Mathias Ungers, with his focus on the historic role of buildings within city, interesting comparisons can be made and a lot of differences and similarities can be found.

Blom and him once took part in the same competition for student housing complex in Enschede. As Ungers states about his competition entry: “The plan reassembles quasi miniaturized city with components and elements recollected from actual city plans.”

Within this quote some interesting connections between these both architects can be made. Whilst both take city as reference for the design of the space in the complex, the conclusions made are very different. Places and streets are one inspirational factor for the architects, yet Blom stays within this field of the public space itself. For Ungers in comparison the city consists of another important factor, which is the historic component of the architectural surroundings. He reassembles “prototypical parts and set pieces” always using the archetypal character to create references to known public spheres. By using historic references Ungers shows a way back in history to places, projecting them into the future and herein “relating the present to continuum of collective memories” In comparison Blom does not use historical elements in the way of using them as archetypical references towards certain collective past. It was a new society he envisioned and therefore new architectural language had to be found.

Blom in Framerates

new dimension became visible in Bloms understanding of the relation between the public realm and the dimension of time. Kids playing on the street and people working in front of their stores on the streets; it was the artificial character of the original footage in comparison to the empty space in our video that uncovered big gap of his vision to today‘s reality. For me personally the parallels to footage of the Jordaan became just as obvious as the thought of Bloms misconception of future society regarding the empty public space at the Kasbah nowadays. Instead of a vivid neighbourhood, all we found were cars parked underneath the structure. It was this very image that brought back this quote back to me that is from Blom himself:

„Living was separated from life, from struggles and from everything why and for what one lives. [...] Just to live for the sake of being, in senseless isolation?“

Conclusion

public space at the Kasbah today. Where Blom imagined children playing and small gardens to be worked on, nowadays most space is used for parking. The collective character of the Kasbah seemingly has changed a lot or was it staged from the beginning?

Regarding the current status of the Kasbah today, it becomes more and more obvious that Bloms vision of future society was a rather utopian one. Todays society can therefore only be seen as distorted version of what Blom imagined. The development of our way of living towards a very private and individual housing was something Blom clearly wanted to prevent. A functioning society for him was based upon collectivity and the vividness of using space together as a community. If it was mostly Bloms fault in envisioning a different future is to be questioned. The following essays will investigate various aspects of this paticular case study leading from descriptive passages to possible futures of the Kasbah and can be seen as a search for the layers of possibility underneath the Kasbahs reality nowadays.

The collective for Blom was the active part in architecture moving through time and space and therefore creating history. His buildings were always meant to play the part of a changeable surrounding instead of becoming a historic con-

But did this new society take form as Blom imagined it? An investigation had to made. By using the methodology of comparative screens as a presentational technique for the case study of the Kasbah [Fig. 1],

Through the site visit, the comparative movie frames and the research on the opposing position of Oswald Mathias Ungers and his historical understanding of architecture, Bloms thinking regarding architecture, society and time can be understood more precisely. His vision of society within architecture for me seems fueled by nostalgia to his childhood neighborhood. Blom visioned a future that was more collective and therefore this aspect should also be seen within the public spaces. The buildings and their urban surroundings should be able to change in time, to be adaptable. For Blom it was never just a surrounding that was historic, it was always society itself that played the role of creator of history. The only purpose of the built environment is to leave enough space for society to evolve with all its uncertain encounters and happenings. This was the true purpose of architecture for Blom.

That Bloms image of a future society was rather an utopian one can be easily seen in the frames in the film [Fig.1] of the

1220

The Importance of Context

Introduction of the Kasbah‘s context

The Kasbah is located at the border area of Hengelo, a part of the city which is poorly served by cars and bike paths and with little public transportation. The surrounding buildings are all residential houses of the same time period, with a mix of social and commercial houses. At the same time, the buildings are surrounded by a natural environment with large amount of grass and small rivers.

What is visible from the surrounding texture of the Kasbah and the personal data of the architect, is the fact that the Kasbah didn’t correspond to the current surrounding texture in graphic sense and in the traditional design sense; which refers to those echoes such as the orientation of the building, the surrounding landmarks and so on.

not the response of the building to the site during/before the design period, but the adaptability of the building to the development of its surroundings, which is also an expression of temporality. Therefore, I hope to select two structuralist buildings of similar scale, such as Cube House and the Kasbah for comparison, and discuss the impact of different contexts on whether the building can be used well over time. of the building to the site during/before the design period, but the adaptability of the building to the development of its surroundings, which is also an expression of temporality.

Comparison about the Context of the Kasbah and the Cube Houses

Fig. 2.2

Table by the Author, Surrounding Context Comparison, Maps retrieved from: https://www. google.de/maps

Comparison of the outside Context

u d n a o - u e H u u d n a o -D s h

u H u D s h

architectural space of the Cube House and the Kasbah in this way. This should help to understand the order of the site and the relationship between the site and the people.

Site-level:

Outside...Connecting to the outside

y e o

o n B d -C e Ho e o n B d -D a a

Courtyard...Piazza

b o e n n y e mp e e n b d w n mp n

n g h u d n m e

d h p e u n

c e h m e n e e o

v a e a e y e w o h u h e c n g h m

The Connection of Context & Time

The freedom which is provided by the design of the neighbourhood, makes sure that its residents have multiple ways to interact with each other when they participate. For example, during the field research, the residents told us that they organise a market at the ground floor public space on the first Saturday of every month. The concept of „Living as Urban Roof„ gives them the potential to increase public activity in the future, but because of the site, it is not possible to be as dynamic at Hengelo as the Cube House at Rotterdam. So the context is perhaps

After comparing the urban context from both locations, transportation and surrounding buildings, it becomes clear that there are major differences. Although the Cube House and the Kasbah are buildings of the same scale and concept and are designed by the same architect, the difference in location makes it possible for the people who have a relationship with the building and to have activities that can be generated in the building have all changed. If we are going to envision the future of the Kasbah, then the location of the building in the urban context should play a part in the consideration.

Definition of Urban Space

When thinking about how to study the internal texture of the building, referred to Van Eyck’s concept of „City is House and House is City„ and the attention given to in-between spaces in structuralist architecture (often setting up spaces similar to urban squares, streets, etc.). Therefore, hope to also divide the

v a e a e y b e w o p e b e o g

h o d u g o D a h a v s mp e n o d h e d b d n h me a e h ow m me om h u o n g n n n e h a o ow h a d m - o u p e v n

O e u d o a C u y

Transition Space...Street

Corridor...Small streets and squares

Interior...Units with strong links

Conclusion: After comparing the internal texture of the building, it can be found that there are still subtle changes in the spatial hierarchy of the Cube House and the Kasbah. For example:

1. Spatial homogenization: Although all buildings are composed from the same units, some large and small atriums are consciously set aside, but the atrium distribution of the cube house is more directional.

a p n- u H u a p n- e K b h

T p e n n

e a u u e H u s w v e h e a o p a d d e y p o h h u u H u n n e n g ow o o o d n o v m omm c o C b o e

h e a k o p n o a o u d D s h n e o n o wh h e e c o a n o n w h h d e

2. External boundary: The Cube House is more organized than the external boundary left by the Kasbah. The boundaries of small blocks combined to leave large square, which is more suitable for the Kasbah‘s small and regular boundary changes. Staying in the space, so that various activities occur to attract the flow of people. At the same time, in terms of function, most of the functions are placed on the boundary of the building complex (that is, the edge of the overpass).

o d C o

These subtle differences have brought me a lot of ideas. For example, when the managers of the Kasbah want to increase the commercial activities of the ground floor space, they can choose the border area of the building complex to set up commercial functions; or the residents may choose to have activities in the high-rise area of the Kasbah ground floor, and more functions that do not require high spatial experience (such as chicken breeding) are placed in the low-level area. At the same time, people can also choose the large lawn outside the building for many interesting activities. (In fact, now they will hold some parties on the lawn, which is as vibrant as the square outside the cube house.)

Perhaps with the change of time, the Kasbah will have various changes due to the people in it, and the spatial ambiguity gives it enough room for change. It may not be the roof of the city, but just to become the roof of this area, there is enough fun dancing with time.

e o n

3. Space publicity: Although both can have five levels of space, the transition space of the Cube House will be more public. (The Cube House unit enters from the first floor, and the corridor space is shrunk in one vertical tube so that the space of the transition space is kept connected to the greatest extent. The unit of the Kasbah enters from the ground floor and the corridor space is very narrow and long, which makes the transition space more depressive and often interrupted.

Fig. 2.3

Table by the Author, Spatial Layout Comparison, Retrieved from: https://collectie. hetnieuweinstituut. nl/en/search-collection

Fig. 2.4

Table by the

C e h u e o c o e k b u

towards

The Public Sphere

“Space“ and „time“, as the basic elements and the basic forms of existence of all things, space is the extensiveness of material existence, and time is the continuity and sequential order of material movement process. Space and time exist side by side, so to understand Piet Blom’s understanding of time, we need to first understand his definitions from life, to the functions, and then to the space.

Temporality of Life

Piet Blom abstracts the basic form and space from the traditional dwellings by shaping the familiarity and warmth of the buildings to form a real community. What’s more, he used natural materials and pursued the naturalization of the space environment. For instance, the color of the building envelope is close to the woods, creating vibrant atmosphere of the outdoor space thus the space transition is natural and coherent. Combined with the design of green spaces such as garden, atrium, and small theater, the whole building integrates and blends naturally with the design theme, which stands as a testament to his belief that “architecture serves the people, not the other way around.” Thus, aesthetic values and concepts have been introduced into daily life. It is no longer simply above life; aesthetics comes from life and should also return to life.

Besides the aesthetics of life, „the Kasbah“ also urges us to look for the essence of life. With the city‘s development, people‘s material wealth promotes the diversification of lifestyles. Still, working in the era of urbanization and the closed and indifferent artificial space environment makes people restless and depressed. „Till his death in 1999, Blom designed homes and urban schemes as if to reject the stern, coldness of

post-war Modernism in light of a warmer, more human architecture.“ His drawings, diagrams, and homes portray affectionate spaces that release the mind, allowing people to share public spaces, create opportunities for communication and release tension and stress [Fig. 3.1].

Fi

(this metaphors village). Piet Blom was against the monotony of the terraced houses and flats of the time because he realized that the design method usually focuses on the „individual existence“ of the buildings but ignores the various elements of „ownership,“ such as the relationship between public space and people.

the appearance of public space in Piet Blom‘s concept ultimately reflects the desire of people to communicate with nature and realize the communication in mind.

Diversification of functions

As people‘s activities are increasingly separated from natural space, artificial space naturally plays more roles. So only when people get rid of the constraints of architecture and different activities that can be supported by a corresponding space, can architectural space be regarded as a real success. In the Kasbah, the diversification of architectural function aims to design the corresponding functional space according to the activities so that architecture can adapt to the change of lifestyle.

Through research, we divide the public space in the kasbah into five sites: the outside, courtyard, transition space, corridor, and interior. And through observation, we summarized various behavior types and applied them to these five sites[Fig. 3.2]. The public space in this project is very compatible, which succeeds in providing functional space for different general behaviors and a possibility for a colorful personal life. Suppose these two types of diversity serve only the primary use and become the extra space. In that case, it is doomed to be invalid, as the overhead layer of many modern commercial buildings [Fig. 3.3].

In addition to compatibility, integrity is also feature of this project in terms of functionality. As an experimental project, the Kasbah illustrates Blom‘s idea of „living as an urban roof“; the homes are situated in closely-packed configuration on the first floor. The same concept is also reflected in Cube House [Fig. 3.4]. Blom‘s original idea is to put each individual building like a tree, and the whole building assembly is a forest

drawings the Cube Houses in Rotterdam. https://www.archdaily.com/423234/ the-people-sarchitect-dutch-resident-s-pay-tribute-by-crowdfunding-future-pietblom-museum

Next to that is the contradiction of space also manifested in this project: existence and absence, indoor and outdoor, nature and artificial, finite scale, and infinite conception. The architectural area, therefore, has a multi-layered, rich, and undefined meaning. Since people‘s behaviors and activities are diverse and uncertain, they are not only the bipolar movement of „yes“ and „no,“ but also the coexistence of contradictions with the meaning of „and.“ The paradox of space is manifested in: people want the air and sunshine both indoors and outdoors, hope to shelter, and hope for peace in public places. Piet Blom achieves this goal by placing public Spaces in high-density communities: the residents in the Kasbah can see each other frequently, such as through the neighbor‘s kitchen window, people can overlook other‘s roof terraces. And people can also adjust the space to fit their needs; some install their skylights or drag wood stoves and niches on the stairs are „split-open“ as storage space. But it‘s also what Piet Blom wants. Nowadays, the architectural area of the new era has the characteristics of multi-level and multifunctional, which often integrates people‘s communication, leisure, entertainment, shopping, catering, education, fitness, cultural and sports activities, etc. And that‘s exactly what makes Piet Blom‘s work unique, because he already had vision of how buildings should be connected more than 40 years ago.

Piet Blom enables users to experience the characteristics of different space types through a variety of specific architectural space processing techniques to make the space atmosphere more prominent. For example, the transition function is the most basic function of the overhead layer in the Kasbah, which shows the transition between space and psychology. The overhead layer at the bottom of the house can connect the public and private spaces that have no direct relationship [Fig. 3.5]. Blom used pitched roof as an architectural prototype, where space is layered and permeated. The closer to the house, the more sense of belonging people will have at home [Fig. 3.6]. Thus people can intuitively feel the psychological feeling of easing the transition.

Of course, if the overhead layer is not adequately handled, it will be abandoned, so we cannot ignore it during the design. Just as the existing condition of the Kasbah, the residential bottom overhead layer is relatively low, and this kind of space gives person a strong sense of oppression. Due to the limitation of the height of the overhead layer at the bottom, people will be reluctant to stay here because of the dim environment. Which will cause a decrease in space utilization rate and can only be used as place for parking and an aisle. Therefore, considering the temporality, the designer should combine the overhead with the facilities to promote communication between residents [Fig. 3.7], and the overhead space can be reasonably divided.

Vitality of Space

Nowadays, residential space design often only considers people‘s functional needs but neglects people‘s spiritual needs. But

Fig.

Designing a future Dream

divided in just three ‘standard’ types of floor plans which are present; Type-A ‘Atelier’, Type-B ‘house of three accommodation units’ and Type-C ‘house of five accommodation units’, also simply illustrated on the next page in figure 4.2.

The hits and misses considering architectural floor plan design in the temporal context

Within dwellings, floor plans play a big role in the way residents perceive architecture and the connection they feel with their homes. For an architect this adds certain pressure and aspiration to imagine and design something that is perceived well and where future residents will feel connected to. In essence quite difficult task considering the fact that everybody has different dream image of what they consider ‘home’. But what makes it even more difficult is the fact that we live in continuously evolving society where living standards and this dream image can change over time. What is considered a well designed and appreciated building now, might lose its power in 10 years when the emphasis is on, for now unknown, renewed living aspects. Piet Blom is an architect that really emphasises on this temporality aspect and the way his designs are received by its users/residents, in particular within the Kasbah. His design choices can give an useful insight in how nowadays- and future architects can deal with the aspect of time. The main question that arises: “How is Blom able to define the temporality aspect within the floor plans of the Kasbah?”

Variation by Repetition

The connection between the buildings, which define the Kasbah in its characteristic shape, can be defined and illustrated by its use of a certain repetition. This recurrence is also clearly visible in the floor plans, where Blom designed the dwellings within the Kasbah with certain type of standardization as basis; the dwelling types mainly follow the same principles and next to that is the use of repetitive measurements clearly visible. Because of that fact, the whole neighbourhood can be

What’s clearly visible is the fact that all three different types of dwellings have certain ‘basic unit’ which contains some of the main living functions, like; the entrance hall, bedroom, kitchen and living room which has maisonette for more living comfort. This ‘basic unit’ serves as basis and is extended in specific ways to create bigger types of dwellings; Type-A stays in the boundaries of this basic unit, Type-B only adds a terrace to this basic unit which can be transformed in a garden, while Type-C in essence has the same layout as type-B but has an added ‘sleeping shed’ (as described by Blom in his original sketch designs) to extend the sleeping floor. The original sketch design for the Kasbah of Blom, where he gives the different types of dwellings it’s definitions and purpose, can be seen in figure 4.1.

Maintaining User-Adaptibility through Time

Even though all these dwellings can be divided into certain basic types within a specific repetition, they all are shaped and reconfigured based on the current living standards and wishes of its residents. Blom wanted each house to be recognizable and unique, their residents had to be able to identify with it.

Because of that the sleeping floor is, apart from the fixed bathroom, designed as an open floor plan. All residents can decide how to use this space, and as matter of fact act like an architect by creating their own floorplans according to their own current living situation. Parents with kids could divide the room into multiple children bedrooms and use the same space as a big atelier room in a later part of life. Every resident gets lot of freedom and the chance to create a place to feel at home and provide for all their needs. What’s special about this is the fact that these were designed and remained as rented dwellings, in which these types of freedom are normally nogo. This adaptability also ensures that the dwellings have a longer lifespan by their ability to match the current life standards with some small adjustments.

Some of the dwelling types also can be combined to create even bigger dwellings by strategic breakthroughs in house-dividing walls. By combining Type-A and Type-B an additional type can be created, which goes by the name of Type-D (the big house). Blom tried to predict future situation in which these bigger dwellings might be needed and already took precautions within the design for an easy transition. A clear desire for the future which Blom also tried to explain in a more philosophical way: “Every resident lives between heaven and the city, between extremes where an individual desire to live can grow to the maximum. Within the given structural image, the houses could really grow towards the light like plants.”

Dream versus Reality

Blom made conscious effort to achieve a residential density that can bring people closer together, place that breaks with the isolation within the current dwelling buildings of that time. Also described by Blom: “I have an aversion to the word living, because it is directly associated with the idea of roof above your head. But housing also includes the neighbours, the street and the atmosphere in the neighbourhood”. Blom tried to enhance that idea into the floor plans by creating direct connections between dwellings themself and the public space. A couple examples: one of the windows on the ground floor from type B has direct sight into the garden of type C dwellings, some remarkably big windows have been placed on the facades next to the general circulation and a glass facade opens up a sightline to the gardens. A difficult task to achieve, also mentioned within an interview with Blom in the German architectural Bauwelt magazine: “The apartment itself is an important component in the overall living environment. It is therefore important to be aware of the requirements that need to be met: to build apartments for hundreds of people we simply do not know.”

Blom tried to create direct ways for social interactions between neighbours, which originally worked when the neighbourhood was completed. The main reason why this worked is the fact that future residents were interviewed beforehand to make sure they would fit with the current residents and the general way of living together. Nowadays these interviews are gone and the social interaction between new neighbours have taken U-turn. New residents try to block the sightlines to create more privacy for themself, and with that Blom’s original thoughts and intentions are blocked off by new reality. This raises some further questions and opens up a debate: Can model neighborhood like this work in the way Blom designed it? Is interviewing and carefully hand picking model-residents for a neighborhood realistic or rather fantasy of how a dream society and neighborhood should work?

Conclusion

The main question of this research was the following: “How is Blom able to define the temporality aspect within the floor plans of the Kasbah?” What is clear is the fact that Blom thought about implementing temporality in multiple ways when designing the floor plans within the Kasbah. The first thing that is special within this design is the fact that all dwellings maintain a certain adaptability by its residents. The sleeping floor is for the most part an open floor plan which gives the residents lot of freedom to shape it the way they like, an amount of freedom that usually is no-go within the design of rented dwellings. Blom wanted the residents to feel connected to their home. This also created the ability to be unique even though all dwellings within the Kasbah were designed by the same principles. This adaptability also ensures that these dwellings have a longer lifespan by their ability to match the current life standards with just some small adjustments. Another intriguing aspect is the fact that some of these dwelling types can be combined to create even bigger dwellings by strategic breakthroughs in house-dividing walls. Blom tried to predict future situation in which these bigger dwellings might be needed and already took precautions within the design for an easy transition.

These are all positive aspects within Blom’s design that have been received well by old- but also current residents, however Blom has not been completely successful in all his original thoughts and intentions. The social aspect within the neighbourhood played a big role within the design of the Kasbah, Blom tried to enhance that idea into the floor plans by creating direct connections between dwellings themself and the public space. He designed direct ways for social interactions between neighbours which originally worked when the neighbourhood was completed. The main reason why this worked is the fact that future residents were interviewed beforehand to make sure they would fit with the current residents and the general

way of living together. However nowadays new residents try to block the sightlines to create more privacy for themself, and with that Blom’s original thoughts and intentions are blocked off by new reality. This raises a lot of questions if this is realistic thought or rather dream of Blom on how a dream society and neighborhood should work. Mainly considering the fact that society and its values will constantly change overtime and will be perceived differently. These questions could serve as good starting point for further research on this topic. To get better view on how these dwellings, and its original design values, will change over time it‘s also important to look further than the past and present. The change that happened to them during this time period may also extend even further looking into the direct future. For the floor plans, but also the other aspects within this case study, it would be very interesting to investigate further on what the future awaits for the Kasbah. In what ways can it be improved and what design values need to be retained?

van Dooyewert, Wonen, TU Delta, 1997

Kuijpers, Een configuratieve reconstructie herbestemming van “de Kasbah” te Hengelo van architect Piet Blom, TU Eindhoven, 2008

Fig. 4.1 Piet Blom, Original Plan the Kasbah, Retrieved from: https://atfpa3y4. wordpress. com/2014/03/05/ the-kasbah-helgelo-holanda-pietblom-1974/)

Piet Blom, Die seltsamen Ansichten des Piet Blom (Berlin, Bauwelt Magazin No. 37, 1974), 1219

Envisioning possible Kasbahs

What future awaits the Kasbah?

In the initial investigation of the Kasbah, the main focus was on history and the present time zone. Varying from social background to historical background, from Piet Blom himself to structuralism and related theories, from context to floor plans and so on. Learning from history and the present is important to understand the foundations and mindset that were implemented within the Kasbah. But with that in mind, it is also important to use the current obtained knowledge on how the Kasbah might change in the future. The focus of this chapter will be on the possibilities of the Kasbah within the near future, this research process consists of the following four parts:

1. Clarify the purpose of the research; why we should study the Kasbah‘s future and his attributes in temporality

2. The theoretical basis of time and possibility; what form of time exists in the Kasbah and what is possible in the future

3. Determine the research method; what method shows the appearance of time in the Kasbah and what are the boundaries of the research framework

4. Results and conclusions

Analysing the Future

The origin and definition of structuralism includes time.

Structuralism, born in the early 20th century, originated from the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure’s research on linguistic signs and general linguistics. He creatively proposed that

the elements in the system are not isolated and static, but its meanings are in the relationship. The structure is also the principle of this relationship, which has the characteristics of synchronicity and diachronicity. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget in his book Structuralism also pointed out that structure has three elements: integrity, self-transformation law, and self-regulation. The law of self-transformation is that the structure is not static, but has the ability to be dynamic and transformable and is able to act on new external materials. So, structuralism itself is methodology that includes time, a way of thinking about the world. The study of the Kasbah, which belongs to structuralism, is indispensable as an integral part of time.

First, what the performance of time in architecture?

Time cannot be observed separately from objects and space, it is the reality under the appearance of objects and space. We abstract and freeze series of objects and space sections, and reconstruct regular model based on this. Then this law is the observable manifestation of time; so, the appearance of time changes (unchanging is also special state of change). As Stanford Kwinter said: “All change is change over time; no novelty appears without becoming, and no becoming without novelty.”

Second, what are the features of possibility? As Stanford Kwinter explained the examples of ice cubes and ice crystals used in „time- and difference-generated“ the Kasbah provides logical rule from a dynamic perspective, filling all possibilities with time. All possibilities are similar to reality and cannot exist in isolation; in addition, they also have limitations, and not all possibilities will be realized. Therefore, the resources that we look for must be relevant to reality when studying the possibilities of the future.

Research Process

Based on the theoretical basis of possibilities, we try to study the related resource that can affect the Kasbah’s future from four dimensions and summarize the characteristics of these ideas as basic elements: 1. Piet Blom‘s ideas, 2. Related theories, including Dutch Structuralism, Technological Utopia, Dystopia and Elemental, 3. Users of the Kasbah: Manager and Residents; 4. Other theories and Distant future.

Based on the theoretical basis of time, the appearance of time changes. But changes are endless and the future can’t be predicted precisely, so we need to analyze how and to what extent the Kasbah will change from the current stage and approach the real future in as many forms as possible. So, we try to approach the real future in as many forms as possible, and analyze the pros and cons of each possibility and its reliability.

In fact, studying the future of the Kasbah is not to study its real result, but more to study the rules and relationships. This

should be the manifestation of synchronicity and diachronicity in structuralism, and it is also the meaning of temporality in the Kasbah.

Thus, we try to make toolbox, which is “linguistics” dedicatedly designed to studying the possibilities of the Kasbah. We decompose the theories of the research framework into more basic elements. These elements are the vocabularies of the new “linguistics”, and the way these vocabularies are replaced and combined grammar. With this toolbox, everyone can create their countless futures of the Kasbah like organizing sentences.

First, we abstracted the elements based on the characteristics of the theories within the research frame, and organized them into tool box. This tool box contains five aspects: City position (location, surrounding environment, population,etc.), Expectation (social and historical significance,etc.), Personal ideas (concepts of investors, users, managers, and desig -

ners,etc.), Architectural layers (organization, plane, structure,etc.) and Site (spatial form and activities).

Result and Conclusion

As mentioned above, studying the future of the Kasbah is not to study its real result, but more to study the rules and relationships. The tool box is the projection of the space of time lines. When we recombine these projections, perhaps the real result is in it. Of course, these individual results, including the real result, are actually not important. Just as structuralism methodology, the toolbox for studying the future of the Kasbah is also dynamic methodology to analyze the temporality. Thus, what the future of the Kasbah, or what is your future of the Kasbah?

For instance, the Kasbah. Its city position is border, expectation social justice which comes from structuralism. The personal idea is the city roof, similar to cube houses, and so on [Fig. 5.2]. Second, with these cards we abstracted from other theories and designs, we can add or replace cards of the same category in the Kasbah with any element. These newly generated results are the possible future of the Kasbah [Fig. 5.3].

For example, if we replace the structure in the Kasbah with the mega-structure of the metabolic theory in the technological utopia, we can get future with multiple floors with houses and public space. Or we can add the expectation: unaided self-help which comes from the SAR system, we can get future that half of which is the main functional room, the other half can be constructed by residents with any shapes and activities. Or through the perspective of residents, removing and combining part of houses can effectively solve the contradiction between high density and suburban area life, and meet the needs of residents to improve the quality of space. Third, in this way, as long as the tool box sufficient, we can generate countless futures. Although these futures have limitations, they are related to reality.

Conclusion

The main question within this research was the following: How did the acceptance of Blom’s envisioned society at the Kasbah develop over time and did Piet Blom’s participatory concept succeed or is it yet to be revealed in a possible future? To conclude such a broad but well rounded question, we’ve tried to split it into certain distinct elements which are the foundations of Blom’s design within the Kasbah. These distinct elements served as a basis in which, the acceptance of Blom’s envisioned society at the Kasbah and the fact if Piet Blom’s participatory concept succeeded, played a central role. By looking at this subject from different angles and scales, a wide view can be created in the way Blom envisioned this neighborhood. It proved to be successful in some aspects but also quite unsuccessful in other parts, these points will be elaborated further.

To answer the first part of the main research it was necessary to investigate Bloms views on society and take a look back into his past. Coming from his childhood neighborhood, the collective character of the society that Blom envisioned seems like a nostalgic notion in his work and logical influence. Yet through the conducted research it became obvious that the community of residents at Kasbah seemingly is more of a distorted version of what Blom imagined it to be. Although the Kasbah isn’t often regarded as a successful example of a good functioning public space nowadays, Bloms architectural concept still opens up space for his image of a collective society within the Kasbah.

When looking at the urban context of the Kasbah, a direct comparison could be made with a later design of Piet Blom where the same design vision was implemented; The Cube Houses in Rotterdam. Although both designs show a lot of similarities in scale and concept, a big difference in its use of

the public space can be noticed. While the public space within the Cube Houses is well- functioning and used, the public space within the Kasbah lost its original power due to its urban location. Located near a city edge instead of a city centre plays a huge role in how well the public space is used and received. If we are going to envision the future of the Kasbah, then the location of the building in the urban context should play a part in the consideration of the vision. As this was originally designed to be placed in the city centre of Hengelo, it shows that Blom’s vision can work but is dependent on its urban context.

This also shows within the public space of the Kasbah itself, where Blom enables users to experience the characteristics of different space types through a variety of specific architectural space processing techniques to make the space atmosphere more prominent. The residential bottom overhead layer is relatively low, and this kind of space gives a person a strong sense of oppression. Due to the limitation of the height of the overhead layer at the bottom, people will be reluctant to stay here because of the dim environment. Which will cause a decrease in space utilization rate and can only be used as a place for parking and an aisle. Therefore, considering the temporality, the designer should combine the overhead with the facilities to promote communication between residents. Also because of the uprising car use and the need for parking spaces, where a big part of the public space is nowadays used for parking. The urban context had a direct impact in the way this public space was used, and thus the ‘city roof’ became an obstacle rather than a solution. People lost their connection with the public space and this made it lose its original power, the original shops disappeared because of the lack of patronage and this impacted the livelihood of the public space in a negative way.

Within the dwellings, Blom thought of multiple ways to make them unique and very user-adaptable. The first floor was mainly an open floor plan which ensured its residents could adjust it to the way they liked it most, Blom wanted them

to feel at home within this mainly repetitive floor plan design. This adaptability also ensures that these dwellings have a longer lifespan by their ability to match the current life standards with just some small adjustments. Another intriguing aspect is the fact that some of these dwelling types can be combined to create even bigger dwellings by strategic breakthroughs in house-dividing walls. Blom tried to predict a future situation in which these bigger dwellings might be needed and already took precautions within the design for an easy transition. Blom tried to enhance the social aspect idea into the floor plans by creating direct connections between dwellings themself and the public space. He designed direct ways for social interactions between neighbours which originally worked when the neighbourhood was completed. The main reason why this worked is the fact that future residents were interviewed beforehand to make sure they would fit with the current residents and the general way of living together. Nowadays this way of connecting residents together with direct design choices isn’t working anymore, was it a dream idea or rather only working under strict preset circumstances?

When we talk about the possible future and temporality of architecture, the relationship between time and space takes a central role. Time, as an abstract and dynamic concept, cannot be simply described by a static single architectural space. In fact, time does not exist in the past, present, and future nodes. Time is only understood in relation to a process or a phenomenon. The duration of architecture exists in one time and place is a relational notion. The time of one‘s being is provisional; it is a circumstance with an adopted aim for the time being.1 So we did not try to statically analyze the state of the Kasbah in one time and place, we use a dynamic – exceeds the provisional – interpretation of the temporality of architecture – the methodology of linguistics.

We demonstrate the Kasbah‘s temporality dynamically and linguistically. Linguistics (the origin of structuralism) is also

an abstract and dynamic concept. Generation, organization, communication, inheritance, and transformation cannot be performed in one time and place. Its meaning also exists in a relational notion. So we metaphysically extracted the basic elements of the Kasbah in social background, history, surrounding environment, architectural elements, related theories, users, etc., to show its synchronicity. Meanwhile, we showed its diachronic aspects, comparing its changes in the form of video, and reorganizing the elements in the form of a toolbox to perform its future. As a result, we performed the concept of time contained in its design theory, the performance of time on the levels of culture, history, social meaning, space, users, and activities, as well as the relationship between various elements in the time dimension, and so on. These are projections of the time dimension in other dimensions; the complete set of these projections is the Kasbah‘s temporality.

But it also has limitations due to this methodology of projecting presentation time. The more elements in the collection, the more accurate time can be obtained, but the collection can never be collected completely. It‘s like doing a physical experiment by enumerating. We can know the conclusion under a certain static situation, but we can‘t conclude a general law. Although we can calculate specific points and feel the law through numerous data. In addition, this research method is too limited to linguistics or structuralism. Although structuralism includes temporality, temporality is not the only element; conversely, temporality does not only exist in structuralism and linguistics. This research method can only see a certain level of time. Therefore, the research in this article only provides an idea for performing temporality.

Steven Holl, From: Parallax (New York City: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000)

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Architectural Design and Research Methods

Delft, 2021