D E S T R U C T I B L E C I T I E S . A
Ma n if e sto
The University of Melbourne Melbourne School of Design Masters of Architecture
D ES TR UCTA BLE
C I TI E S.
b y Le o n a rd o Vin ce n t
Tu t o r D r. H a m i d K h a l i l i A B P L 9 0 11 7 : Tw e n t y - f i r s t c e n t u r y a r c h i t e c t u r e
foreword
Urbanism of the twentieth century is running in an ill-fated race against time. The surging trajectory of impending global dilemmas when faced with the current state of metropolitan development puts us in a state of predicament. The advancement of contemporary universal Issues are becoming extensively complex in a proliferating rate, and because cities accommodate a majority of the global population, it presents itself as the context of this very conflation. However, current urbanism’ is still stubbornly and rigorously persistent in declaring an influx of repetitive capitalistic structures as its only response. To create stable and predictable economic value, architecture of the contemporary urban fabric are densely and repetitively constructed for longevity towards a problematic state of permanence. A numerous variety of radical technologies and adaptive methods have previously been proposed to create adaptive cities that can evolve concurrently with time. Unfortunately, due to governmental and economical constraints, many of these remarkable avant-garde ideas never came into light.
foreword
For decades, urbanism has largely been developing under the orders of authority and capitalism, irrespective of any attempts to shift it. To be able to truly change urbanism, the best course of action is to think of ways to manipulate capitalism itself as an agent of transformation. to truly create a solution is to advocate a bureaucratic systemic change. This manifesto is a regulatory case against urban permanency and repetitiveness. This manifesto is not a proposal for a specific structural typology for the urban fabric, but rather a scheme to enforce innovative typologies to be realized. This manifesto will present itself as a document that proposes a new suggestive framework for city development. One that will enforce relevancy to urbanity in the pursuit of empowering risk-taking radical approaches to be realized as iterative problem solvers.
contents
I. the dilemma of urban permanency
a modern tragedy
...and an impending calamity
II. the potentials of urban dynamism
testimonies of urban dynamism
obstructions for urban dynamism
precedent of urban dynamism
III. the regulations introduction speculation
a vicious cycle
a collective jurisdiction
I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, Wye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias, 1818 Shelley, Percy. “Ozymandias.“ in Shelley’s Poetry and Prose. Norton New York 1977
C H A P T E R I the
d ile mma
o f
urb a n
p e r m a n e n c y
I the dilemma of urban permanency
a modern tragedy
In “Architecture of the City”, Aldo Rossi defined architectural permanence as the form of how the past is experienced within a subsequent period. He believed that within the urban context, the main role of monuments is to possess and preserve certain myths for the transmission of ideas. Rossi emphasized on the importance of carefully dichotomizing what is examined as an urban historical relic of the past, and what were the ever-changing parts of a city. 1 Unfortunately, this difference is becoming obscured. Immense structures made of tenacious materials like concrete and steel are overwhelming the urban horizons and are surging within close-knitted territories. Architecture of the urban fabric is becoming harder and harder to demolish, leading us towards a problematic state of permanency. Repetitive office buildings and apartment have become long-term expression of our societies, existing large-scale problems that were caused urban planning are now becoming crystalized. The urban fabric has become contemporary monuments of our greed and our mistakes. Are these exactly things we want to be remembered by?
Aldo Rossi, The Architecture of the City, translated by Diane Ghirardo and Joan Okman, MIT Press (Cambridge, Mass), 1982.© 1982 by The Institute of Architecture and Urban Studies and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Originally published as L’architettura deila citta, Marsilio Editori, Padua,
1
I the dilemma of urban permanency
a modern tragedy
In Brasilia, the current urban planning was designed in arial view to represent a bird spreading its wings. two million people currently live in the spread horizontal area, but only three hundred thousand people are living in the occupational vertical area. This causes its central transit hub to have a daily transportation flow of eight hundred thousand people, creating an imbalance of demand and provision of transport. It has since been labeled as a cautionary tale for urban planners.
Budds, D., 2020. Inside Brazil’S ‘Cautionary Tale’ For Utopian Urbanists. [online] Curbed. Available at: <https:// www.curbed.com/2019/6/7/18657121/brasilia-brazil-urban-planning-architecture-design> [Accessed 11 September 2020].
I the dilemma of urban permanency
...and an impending calamity
In this era of globalization, society is constantly shifting towards uncertain courses in an expeditious pace. Multi-faceted issues we have never faced before are becoming dangerously relevant. There is an increasing trajectory of the global population residing within cities, an excess of heat-trapping carbon dioxides is surging in a proliferating rate, a transpiring unprecedented global pandemic, and etcetera. 2, 3 The rise of anomalous issues like these are not likely to vanish shortly and will continue to ensue. Cities will be and already are in a desperate need to adapt to the continual instabilities of societal change. If we do not do so when these problems become heavily unavoidable, it might already be too late. our societies might crumble and not withstand the test of time.
“Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?” NASA, October 06, 2020, |PAGE|, accessed October 09, 2020, https://climate. nasa.gov/evidence/)
2
Michael Green, “Transcript of “Why We Should Build Wooden Skyscrapers”,” TED, |PAGE|, accessed October 14, 2020,
3
entropy: “a condition of ongoing uncertainty and with it the potential decline into disorder, something beyond the jurisdiction of any professional body”
Jeremy Till, Architecture Depends, 2009 Till, Jeremy. Architecture Depends. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2009.
C H A P T E R I I the
p o te n tia ls
o f
u rb a n
e v o l u t i o n
II the potentials of urban evolution
testimonies of urban dynamism
In relation to anticipating an antithesis towards urban predicaments, it would be appropriate to note how prominent architects have described their testimonial visions of the city, and there is an extent of collective belief that transformation is an integral part of urban dynamics. To comprehensively understand urbanity, Aldo Rossi implores envisioning the city as a collective “construction over time” instead of separate collections of architecture. He states, “destruction and demolition… as a result of speculation and obsolescence are the most recognizable signs of urban dynamics” 4
Aldo Rossi, The Architecture of the City, translated by Diane Ghirardo and Joan Okman, MIT Press (Cambridge, Mass), 1982.© 1982 by The Institute of Architecture and Urban Studies and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Originally published as L’architettura deila citta, Marsilio Editori, Padua,
4
II the potentials of urban evolution
testimonies of urban dynamism
Correspondingly, John Frazer envisions evolutionary architecture as “a dynamic picture of becoming and unfolding” 5, which is aligned with Rem Koolhaas’ view that believes new urbanism will exist in the form of “the staging of uncertainty”. Rem states that new urbanism is a field that will “accommodate (indefinite) processes”, where “the certainty of failure has to be our laugh gas/oxygen” 6. Furthermore, Richard Roger stated that we are in search of a systemic balance of urban control that has “a dynamic relationship… between transformation and permanence” 7 We can see there is a collective advocation of constant renewal to be part of future urbanism, but how do we materialize this in a constricting urban fabric?
John Frazer, “An Evolutionary Architecture,” Theme VIII (1995), 103.
5
OMA, Rem Koolhaas, Bruce Mau, S, M, L, XL, Monacelli Press Inc (New York), 1995. © Rem Koolhaas and the Monacelli Press Inc.
6
Frank Russell (ed), Architectural Monographs: Richard Rogers + Architects, Academy Editions (London), 1985.© Richard Rogers + Partners Limited
7
II the potentials of urban evolution
obstructions for urban dynamism
One of the most significant constraints that is choking the urban fabric in its state of permanency is the practical difficulties of demolition. Due to its very own distinctive density, dismantling a building is either highly hazardous, costly, or time-consuming. There currently are two prominent methods of building removal, demolition, and deconstruction. The demolition of a building is a high-risk time efficient process. Errors within the process are likely to be highly detrimental to its surrounding through many factors such as flying debris, implosion failure, and air overpressures, making it a less viable option to conduct in the city. 8 On the other hand, the deconstruction process is an incremental method of removing a building by individual components. it is a lower-risk method of building removal but is considered to have a disadvantage of demanding labor costs and time inefficiency. These hindrances presented by both methods seems to be the reason governments and developers pursuing to conduct them minimally by creating long-term buildings. 9
8
Curtice Cultis, “Blastin a path to world markets,”.(1997)
Neil Seldman, and Kivi Leroux. “Deconstruction: Salvaging Yesterday’s Buildings for Tomorrow’s Sustainable Communities,” (2000)
9
II the potentials of urban evolution
precedent of urban dynamism
“In a tradition that dates back to the year 690, the Ise Jingu shrine in Japan is completely dismantled and rebuilt every 20 years as part of the Shinto belief of death and renewal of nature… Before the shrine is dismantled, it is rebuilt in an adjacent area near the previous shrine. The process represents rebirth and renewal, and the spirits of the imperial family’s ancestors and Amaterasu O-makami”
Daniel Ganninger, “The Japanese Shrine That Is Rebuilt Every 20 Years,” Medium, July 02, 2020, |PAGE|, accessed October 10, 2020, https://medium.com/knowledge-stew/the-japaneseshrine-that-is-rebuilt-every-20-years-4882ce9a1b0f#:~:text=In a tradition that dates,hinto religion in Japan)
II the potentials of urban evolution
precedent of urban dynamism
Japan is known for their influx of avant-garde architecture that is constantly shifting their urban fabric. Their cultural acceptance of destruction has a significant impact to this frequent change. Commonplace destructive earthquakes followed with constant updates of tough building regulations lead the Japanese to keep updating and renewing their architecture. This is followed with their extremely high economic value of land, causing the country to have trouble keeping ownership of their plots due to taxes that lead to them selling subdivided unconventional lands. The architect’s role are as contextual problem solvers, weaving between an extent of restrictive regulations, odd plot forms, and the freedom of extensive permanency that transpires their creativity. 10 “the value of the average Japanese house depreciates to zero in 22 years”. Sales of new homes far exceed used ones which were expected to be demolished within their exchange of lands. “in a vicious cycle, houses are expected to depreciate”. 11 Due their constant transformations of the urban fabric, japan is an important precedent that we should reference upon.
10
Naomi Pollock, “Jutaku : Japanese Houses,” .(2015)
“Why Japanese Houses Have Such Limited Lifespans.” The Economist. Accessed October 08, 2020. https://www.economist. com/finance-and-economics/2018/03/15/why-japanese-houses-have-such-limited-lifespans.
11
“destruction and demolition, expropriation and rapid changes in use and [sic] as a result of speculation and obsolescence, are the most recognizable signs of urban dynamics.”
Aldo Rossi, The Architecture of the City, translated by Diane Ghirardo and Joan Okman, MIT Press (Cambridge, Mass), 1982.© 1982 by The Institute of Architecture and Urban Studies and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Originally published as L’architettura deila citta, Marsilio Editori, Padua, 1966
C H A P T E R I I I the
re g u la tio ns
III the regulations
introduction
The objective of this document is to envision a regulatory framework that enforces cities to become more iterative, allowing it to be more experimental, bolder, and risk-taking in a desperate attempt to uphold relevance for the urban fabric in a time of exponential global paradigm shift. Regulations has the capability of incredibly affecting the landscape of cities today and is the only act above positions of power. 12 The following is a suggestive set of regulations coupled with arguments and evidences that will hopefully spark inspired interpretations. Written in the avoidance of specificity, the text aims to be imaginatively restrictive without imposing details down to specific forms to mitigate creativity. We are already “lost in a maze of regulations”, with laws that give “unevenness of opportunity”, the furthest objective is to massacre ideas. 13
Extracts. Source: Architectural Design, vol 39; no 5, May 1969. © Architectural Design.
12
Extracts. Source: HRH The Prince of Wales. A Vision of Britain: A Personal View of Architecture, Doubleday (London). 1989. Copyright 1989 AG Carrick Ltd. Permission granted by Sheil Land Associates.
13
III the regulations
speculation
A diagramatic segment of an empirical existing city.
III the regulations
speculation
Application of the new regulatory framework in the urban fabric.
III the regulations
speculation
Rapid developments ensue as the empirical city slowly is replaced
III the regulations
speculation
The speculative city is established, and continues to evolve and innovate
III the regulations
a vicious cycle
Within a short set specific time span, a building must be destroyed, and its land ownership should transfer Analogous with the naturally and economically constrained periodic lifespan of Japanese buildings, applying cyclical terms towards proprietary ownership of the urban landscape will create a vicious yet productive cycle. For urban development to be properly managed, a buildings life should be categorized with considerations of time, and it needs a limitation. By creating set time-limit, urban developers will be looking into innovative and economically efficient ways of building that can sustain their investments. For instance, technologies will be forced to innovate towards new sustainable ways of construction. Today, the feasibility of deconstructing cities is hindered by the durability of wasteful materials like steel and concrete, having “high energy and greenhouse gas emissions” that contribute to “eight percent” of greenhouse gases today. 14 By applying this law, perhaps avant-garde technologies like biodegradable materials, modular constructions, or wood-based technologies can increase in their investment to speed up their progress for application. 15 Applying time-limits will enforce the innovation of not only more reusable and less wasteful materials, but possibly other forms of innovation. 16 Within a time, limit, innovative and risk-taking gestures can perhaps be increasingly explored in the urban fabric.
III the regulations
a vicious cycle
A similar time-limit not only should be applied to buildings, but also its ground. land ownership needs to belong to the people of the city, people in power having continuous single ownership of lands that are used daily by millions of others is egoistically hypocritical. There should be a dispute against it. By enforcing a change of land ownership over time periods, the state of urban contraptions will be continuously shifting, deconstructing not only a singular architecture, but the whole urban fabric. Urban relationships between buildings will then be investigated quicker, allowing for the possibility of unforeseeable innovations.
Michael Green, “Transcript of “Why We Should Build Wooden Skyscrapers”,” TED, |PAGE|, accessed October 14, 2020, https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_green_why_we_should_ build_wooden_skyscrapers/transcript#t-131692)
14
Neil Seldman, and Kivi Leroux. “Deconstruction: Salvaging Yesterday’s Buildings for Tomorrow’s Sustainable Communities,” (2000)
15
Bradley Guy, “Design for Deconstruction and Material Reuse,”(2006)
16
III the regulations
a collective jurisdiction
“… 1995, in Kobe, Japan, we had a big earthquake…theres Vietnamese refugees suffering and gathering at a catholic church – all the building was destroyed…”why don’t we rebuild the church out of papertubes”… So we spent five weeks rebuilding the church. It was meant to stay there for three years, but actually it stayed for 10 years because people loved it.” A similar thing happened in Taiwan “Then I wonder, what is permanent and what is a temporary building? Even a building made in paper can be permanent as long as people love it. Even a concrete building can be very temporary if that is made to make money.”
Shigeru Ban, “Transcript of “Emergency Shelters Made from Paper”,” TED, |PAGE|, accessed October 08, 2020, https://www. ted.com/talks/shigeru_ban_emergency_shelters_made_from_paper/transcript#t-333129)
III the regulations
a collective jurisdiction
A buildings relevancy and responsivity must be judged by a communal evaluation for it to stay. In a hypothetical vicious cycle of urban evolution, unforeseeable marks of innovations still needs to be celebrated and embraced. Therefore, it would become critical to distinguish which urban structure offers itself to be remarkably essential to the fabric. An analytical framework of contemplation needs to be established for this and it should not continue to come from those in power but has to be decided from the bottom-up. Till today, most of regulatory decisions are still overrun by the government and stakeholders. 17 By establishing a direct obligation to the citizens, buildings would be pushed to be more responsively relevant. For instance, the use of parametric technology are often used as a branded aesthetic nowadays, but it was able to be pushed to be a socially responsible in the shed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, where it was used to create internal mechanisms that can suit different activities of each users. 18
Meijer, Frits & Visscher, Henk. (2008).” Building regulations from an European perspective”(2008)
17
“the shed, “ diller scofidio+renfro. accessed on . https://dsrny. com/project/the-shed.
18
III the regulations
a collective jurisdiction
Furthermore, this framework needs to evaluate urban developments through a collective lens, investigating a building’s contribution to the whole network of the city, and not as singular pieces of architecture. Cities are an interconnected network of multiple variables, and it should be understood and treated as an organized complexity. As Jane Jacobs states, we need “to think about processes, to work”. Buildings will need define its role in the collective urban fabric, or they will cease to exist. 19
Extracts. Source: Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jonathan Cape (London), 1962.© 1961 by Jane Jacobs. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc.
19
end bibliography
Ban, Shigeru. "Transcript of "Emergency Shelters Made from Paper"." TED. Accessed October 08, 2020. https://www.ted.com/talks/shigeru_ban_emergency_shelters_made_from_paper/transcript#t-333129. Budds, D., 2020. Inside Brazil’S ‘Cautionary Tale’ For Utopian Urbanists. [online] Curbed. Available at: <https://www.curbed.com/2019/6/7/18657121/ brasilia-brazil-urban-planning-architecture-design> [Accessed 11 September 2020]. Cultice, Curtice. 1997. "Blasting a path to world markets". BNET Business Network. Retrieved 19 May 2008. "Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?" NASA. October 06, 2020. Accessed October 09, 2020. https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/. "Failed Complex Demolition in Guangxi." Failed Complex Demolition in Guangxi - China.org.cn. Accessed October 12, 2020. http://www.china.org.cn/ photos/2009-12/31/content_19164755_3.htm. Ganninger, Daniel. "The Japanese Shrine That Is Rebuilt Every 20 Years." Medium. July 02, 2020. Accessed October 10, 2020. https://medium.com/knowledge-stew/the-japanese-shrine-that-is-rebuilt-every20-years-4882ce9a1b0f#:~:text=In a tradition that dates,hinto religion in Japan. Green, Michael. "Transcript of "Why We Should Build Wooden Skyscrapers"." TED. Accessed October 14, 2020. https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_ green_why_we_should_build_wooden_skyscrapers/ transcript#t-131692. Guy, Bradley (2006). "Design for Deconstruction and Material Reuse". CiteSeerX 10.1.1.624.9494
end bibliography
Jacobs, Jane. 1992. “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”. Vintage; Reissue Edition. Koolhaas, Rem. “Elegy For the Vacant Lot.” In S, M, L, XL, edited by OMA, Rem Koolhaas and Bruce Mau, 937. USA: The Monacelli Press, 1995. Meijer, Frits & Visscher, Henk. (2008). Building regulations from an European perspective. COBRA 2008. RICS Construction and Building Research Conference, 1-11. (2008) Pollock, Naomi. 2015. “Jutaku : Japanese Houses”. Phaidon Rossi, Aldo. 1984. “Architecture of the City” edited by Peter Eisenmann. MIT Press Academic. Shelley, Percy Bysshe. "Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley." Poetry Foundation. Accessed October 6, 2020. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias. Seldman, Neil, and Kivi Leroux. 2000. “Deconstruction: Salvaging Yesterday's Buildings for Tomorrow's Sustainable Communities”..Washington, DC: Institute for Local Self-Reliance/ "The Shed." DS R. Accessed October 15, 2020. https:// dsrny.com/project/the-shed. Till, Jeremy. Architecture Depends. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2009 "Why Japanese Houses Have Such Limited Lifespans." The Economist. Accessed October 08, 2020. https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/03/15/why-japanese-houses-have-such-limited-lifespans.