DREAM CONCEPTS OF LANGÃ… TRANSFORMATION Critical Written Reflection Fall Semester 2018 Line Leth Kristensen Studio 1A
FRONTPAGE The frontpage of this assignment is a collage from one of the CWR-workshops. The words and sentences are from the text “Fluxus” by James Corner. The college is addressing the question of the future of “landscape urbanism”. On one hand poetic imagination and on the other hand political power and control. And where do I position myself..?
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
MANIFESTO
3
PREFACE
4
INTRODUCTION
5
CHAPTER ONE : CHANGE + TIME
9
CHAPTER TWO: ACTORS + ACCIDENTAL VS. INTENTIONAL CHAPTER THREE: VALUE + PALIMPSEST REFERENCES
11 14
DREAM MANIFESTO
I WILL REMAIN SENSITIVE
I WILL INSIST ON WORKING IN MY OWN PACE I WILL INSIST ON USING ANALOG METHODS IF THEY ALLOW ME TO EXPRESS MORE SENSITIVITY I WILL INSIST ON TRYING EVEN WHEN IN DOUBT AND DESPAIR
I WILL ALWAYS TAKE RISKS I WILL ALWYS PUSH LIMITS
(INNER VOICE): I will not obey the rules if the answer lies outside the frame.
1
Don’t stay
Stay focued Stay distacted
Be intuitive Be awake Be sleepy Be curious
I WILL ALWAYS SEARCH FOR NEW WAYS OF OPERATING AS AN ARCHITECT
DONT BE FUCKING AFRAID ( ALLTHE TIME)
I WILL REMAIN CALM
MEGA-MIND-MAPPING This is a screenshot of my own work from prezi.com which I use as a mapping tool and it shows a network of connections between different material from different phases and also a mixture of both CWR material and semester assignment material. I Hence the CWR lecture with Niels Ole Lund about Bruno Latour and his Actor Network Theory (ANT). My mapping is public and this paper will be uploaded there aswell. Link: http://prezi.com/4vv6yucwi4gw/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
2
PREFACE
Our semester assignment is encouraging us to produce local dream scenarios for the future of Langå, and from the beginning I was intrigued by the word “dream”. But the idea of dreaming on behalf on others is also a difficult task, and It began to conflict me. Realising this, I had to look closer to find out what this conflict was all about. I started to question how to be an architect, how we use the earth and how we create things. It became clear that I wanted to use the semester to investigate these questions. Because what is a dream scenario, for who, and why?
tional ways for instance by combining architecture and philosophy. It does not seem very unconventional, but as as practitioners they are very different in the way they operate, where architecture traditionally has to do with producing artefacts, objects or at least some sort of material in contrast to the practise of the philosopher who traditionally is working with the idea of things. I am inspired by female architects Barbara Holub and Hélène Frichot, who, in very different ways, have opened my horizon and made me believe that there is space for me in the field of architecture and planning. I see myself in What inspires me are prac- the periphery of the archititioners in the periphery tecture discipline which is of the field of architecture, maybe an interesting pounderstood as practitioners sition for this assignment, who approach architecture working with the periphery and planning in unconven- of the city.
3
INTRODUCTION
The “Dream Manifesto” which initiates this paper is an operational tool regarding my semester project. I am experimenting with this genre, because I think it can be a very strong tool, and I have been using it to get a sense of direction and also encouraging me not to give up on the task of doing my semester project. This assignment is divided into three chapters entitled with selected concepts from the book “Concepts of Transformation”, (Boris et al. 2018) Each chapter will use the concepts as themes, but are not used as references to the book, and the way it interprets the subjects. Instead the concepts are used as themes or terms in which I inscribe my project, so it is a way of making a structure.
The selected concepts will set my semester project into different perspectives in which I also introduce other references from literature read in this semester. Even though the three chapters deal with different subjects, they are addressing the questions stated in the preface, starting with the earth under the title “Change + Time”, moving to the living creatures called “Actors + Accidental vs. Intentional” ending up with the things we place on the earth with the title “Value + Palimpsest”. In this way I literally construct a hierarchy. The chapters are finished with their own conclusions, which can also be a wonder or question. The main purpose for this assignment was to make a tool that would inform and inspire me in my semester project. At the same time, it can be read by others as an introduction to my project, my thinking and my way of operating.
4
This chapter will introduce my focus for the semester assignment. I will explain and discuss my approach in relation to the terms “Change” and “Time”, as I find it a relevant starting point for the objective of the assignment, working with the Transformation of Langå. The two terms are strongly connected, since I cannot understand the idea of change without including the concept of time and vice versa. In this chapter I will also refer to the Article “Designing Landscape as Evolutionary Systems” written by Martin Prominski, as this text operates with ”Integration of time in design and systemic openness for changes in the design environment”.(Prominski, 2005 p.25)
5
The brief for our semester assignment “Railway Town Transformations” Is describing the situation in Langå, as a town that in many ways has a lot of challenges in terms of losing importance over time, and the closing of small scale shops. (Studio Brief, 2018) Through site visits in Langå, these issues clearly appear, for instance in the main street, where there are empty shops and a lot of buildings are in decay. In terms of infrastructure, the main street is dominated by car traffic and parking place take up a lot of space which leaves little space for pedestrians. The railway station is big, but most people pass through, as Langå is still a railroad junction, but not a a busy station as when the railroad was the dominating infrastructure since it was established in 1862. (Nielsen, Tom and Thomas Juel Clemmensen, 2013) Even though I find these issues important, I am not focusing directly on the town centre but on a site in the periphery or the “edge” of the town and how this place is connected to the centre. My starting point is the Gudenå
River Delta, in the south-eastern part of the town. The site is marked with a white circle on the map on the right. I have chosen to work with this exact site as this is already a recreational place with the historic oak forest owned by the Danish Nature Fund, the meadow and the Gudenå River, and this area attracts for instance sport fishers, bird watchers, canoe sailors etc. I find it interesting though, how and if Nature can create bigger recreational value for the town, both in for the local community and also for visitors, and how this place could be connected to the town centre in a different and perhaps more dynamic way in accordance to climate change. My core interest is the change of the water level in the delta, as this has been one of the most important definitions of the town over time. The town was founded as a viking settlement, as the nature provided the vikings good living conditions along the river, and in fact Langå is the place in Jutland where there has been found most Rune-stones dated to around 900950. (Clemmensen et al. 2015) The water level in the river will change because the Gudenå river is affected by sea level rise as well as increased rain masses. (Gudenåkomiteen, 2008) The water level in the Gudenå River has always been changing as well as the landscape, but the pace is changing even faster these years due to climate change.The water level rise in will inevitably affect the inhabitants of the town in the future. As the map on the right shows, the housing area in the Southeastern part of the town will be affected. I have chosen to focus on the area in Langå where the water meets the housing area first.
CHANGE + TIME
It appears to me as this area holds a lot of tension; tension of energies from the water, the soil, the the animals and humans. It is an area where forces are working with and against each other, and that is intuitively a strong catalyst for a project. Working with a matter that is not stable is challenging on different levels, for instance as it can be hard to predict, when and how the changes occur, as in the case with changing water levels. When going in to these predictions and statistics it becomes very complex, because on a short time perspective, meaning within one year, the water level can fall more drastically than usual due to drought conditions in the summertime, and therefore the scenario one tries to imagine is more imprecise when looking at a longer time perspective. Due to time limitations and my lacking skills in natural science it is not possible for me to go further into clarification of the right relationship between time and waterlevel, but the three meter scenario which is marked on my map will probably not happen within the next 100 years, but a three meter scenario is interesting, because this is when the water meets the town as the red line on the map indicates. I am planning to manipulate areas of the river bed in order to actually lead the water into the town to highlight the meeting of the town, the river and the forest.
Målforhold Dato © Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Effektivisering Ortofoto fra COWI
COWI har den fulde ophavsret til Sommer ortofotos (DDO®land). Det er kun tilladt at tage kopier eller udprinte ortofotos (DDO®land) til dit eget private brug indenfor husstanden, eller hvis din instutuion har købt brugsrettigheder hos COWI. Øvrig kommerciel anvendelse er ikke tilladt og vil kunne retsforfølges.
2018 Ortofoto sommer
Målforhold Dato © Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Effektivisering Ortofoto fra COWI
COWI har den fulde ophavsret til Sommer ortofotos (DDO®land). Det er kun tilladt at tage kopier eller udprinte ortofotos (DDO®land) til dit eget private brug indenfor husstanden, eller hvis din instutuion har købt brugsrettigheder hos COWI. Øvrig kommerciel anvendelse er ikke tilladt og vil kunne retsforfølges.
COWI har den fulde ophavsret til Sommer ortofotos (DDO®land). Det er kun tilladt at tage kopier eller udprinte ortofotos (DDO®land) til dit eget private brug indenfor husstanden, eller hvis din instutuion har købt brugsrettigheder hos COWI. Øvrig kommerciel anvendelse er ikke tilladt og vil kunne retsforfølges.
2018 Ortofoto sommer
2018 Ortofoto sommer
2018 Ortofoto sommer
Målforhold Dato © Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Effektivisering Ortofoto fra COWI
COWI har den fulde ophavsret til Sommer ortofotos (DDO®land). Det er kun tilladt at tage kopier eller udprinte ortofotos (DDO®land) til dit eget private brug indenfor husstanden, eller hvis din instutuion har købt brugsrettigheder hos COWI. Øvrig kommerciel anvendelse er ikke tilladt og vil kunne retsforfølges.
COWI har den fulde ophavsret til Sommer ortofotos (DDO®land). Det er kun tilladt at tage kopier eller udprinte ortofotos (DDO®land) til dit eget private brug indenfor husstanden, eller hvis din instutuion har købt brugsrettigheder hos COWI. Øvrig kommerciel anvendelse er ikke tilladt og vil kunne retsforfølges.
1:5000 09-11-2018
Signaturforklaring Ortofoto, 2018 Sommer
2018 Ortofoto sommer
2018 Ortofoto sommer
1:5000 09-11-2018
Signaturforklaring Ortofoto, 2018 Sommer
2018 Ortofoto sommer
1:5000 09-11-2018
Signaturforklaring Ortofoto, 2018 Sommer
2018 Ortofoto sommer
Målforhold Dato © Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Effektivisering Ortofoto fra COWI
COWI har den fulde ophavsret til Sommer ortofotos (DDO®land). Det er kun tilladt at tage kopier eller udprinte ortofotos (DDO®land) til dit eget private brug indenfor husstanden, eller hvis din instutuion har købt brugsrettigheder hos COWI. Øvrig kommerciel anvendelse er ikke tilladt og vil kunne retsforfølges.
1:5000 09-11-2018
Signaturforklaring Ortofoto, 2018 Sommer
Målforhold Dato © Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Effektivisering Ortofoto fra COWI
COWI har den fulde ophavsret til Sommer ortofotos (DDO®land). Det er kun tilladt at tage kopier eller udprinte ortofotos (DDO®land) til dit eget private brug indenfor husstanden, eller hvis din instutuion har købt brugsrettigheder hos COWI. Øvrig kommerciel anvendelse er ikke tilladt og vil kunne retsforfølges.
1:5000 09-11-2018
Signaturforklaring Ortofoto, 2018 Sommer
2018 Ortofoto sommer
Målforhold Dato © Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Effektivisering Ortofoto fra COWI
1:5000 09-11-2018
Signaturforklaring Ortofoto, 2018 Sommer
Målforhold Dato © Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Effektivisering Ortofoto fra COWI
COWI har den fulde ophavsret til Sommer ortofotos (DDO®land). Det er kun tilladt at tage kopier eller udprinte ortofotos (DDO®land) til dit eget private brug indenfor husstanden, eller hvis din instutuion har købt brugsrettigheder hos COWI. Øvrig kommerciel anvendelse er ikke tilladt og vil kunne retsforfølges.
1:5000 09-11-2018
Signaturforklaring Ortofoto, 2018 Sommer
Målforhold Dato © Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Effektivisering Ortofoto fra COWI
COWI har den fulde ophavsret til Sommer ortofotos (DDO®land). Det er kun tilladt at tage kopier eller udprinte ortofotos (DDO®land) til dit eget private brug indenfor husstanden, eller hvis din instutuion har købt brugsrettigheder hos COWI. Øvrig kommerciel anvendelse er ikke tilladt og vil kunne retsforfølges.
Målforhold Dato © Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Effektivisering Ortofoto fra COWI
COWI har den fulde ophavsret til Sommer ortofotos (DDO®land). Det er kun tilladt at tage kopier eller udprinte ortofotos (DDO®land) til dit eget private brug indenfor husstanden, eller hvis din instutuion har købt brugsrettigheder hos COWI. Øvrig kommerciel anvendelse er ikke tilladt og vil kunne retsforfølges.
1:5000 09-11-2018
Signaturforklaring Ortofoto, 2018 Sommer
Målforhold Dato © Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Effektivisering Ortofoto fra COWI
1:5000 09-11-2018
Signaturforklaring Ortofoto, 2018 Sommer
1:5000 09-11-2018
Signaturforklaring Ortofoto, 2018 Sommer
2018 Ortofoto sommer
HOUSING AREA
LEFT TOP: Rain water statitics for 1 month, November.(Vandstanden de sidste 30 dage: LangĂĽ, 2018) LEFT BOTTOM: Water level rise LangĂĽ, respectively 2 - 6 meters, read from above. (Klimatilpasningsplaner Havstigning 2016, 2018) BACKGROUND: Map I have made from Qgis with curves.showing topography and my site marked with a white circel.
6
“The question is this: can the concept of Arcadian scenes, composed of meadows, hedges, trees and water, be useful in the design of our contemporary landscapes which have to address contemporary elements like infrastructural lines, derelict industrial sites or wind power masts?” (Prominski 2005, p. 25) This question I find thought provoking because it addresses the question how a landscape can be “useful” . And one can ask if a landscape should serve a certain purpose to be regarded as contemporary? In the case of Langå it is also a relevant question, and one can argue that recreation is also a kind of use. Going further into the text, I examine the distinction between the different landscape categories that is said to have evolved over time. The first Landscape the text is dealing with is “Landscape Two” which is orientated towards ideal, scenic goals. (Prominski, 2005) In opposition Prominsky mentions J. B. Jackson, one of the first theoreticians to define “Landscape three” (Prominski, 2005). Which is described as an environment that: “Is always artificial, always synthetic, always subject to sudden or unpredictable change. We create them and need them because every Landscape is the place where we establish our own human organization of space and time.” (Prominski, 2005, p. 27)
7
And lastly Sieferles “Total Landscape” is defined as a homogeneous landscape type, where it becomes impossible to distinguish between the city and countryside. (Prominski, 2005)
“Landscape Two” seems similar to my project site in Langå, in the way it appears Arcadian, according to his description, but in relation to the more rapid changes in the climate as mentioned earlier, or simply observing the changes of the seasons, it is clear that no landscape is in reality static. It is always dynamic - changing - transformative. And in that sense the categories become a little redundant, but they might be reflective of the time in which they are written because the discourse was different especially concerning climate change. I acknowledge that humans take up a lot more space than previously and the concept of the Anthropocene, (Frichot, 2018, p. 21) without going further into that. But the “Total Landscape” (Prominski, 2005) is not very accurate in the case of Langå, because one can actually distinguish between city and contryside - yet. I find the actual challenge is how we as architects, planners and designers work with changing environments, and this is where the text introduces an evolutionary approach (Prominski, 2005, p. 29) The three examples all takes a systemic approach where the the design is programmed to undergo changes. In different ways they deal with concepts of openness without proposing a final state, but being frameworks for change (Prominski, 2005, p. 31) In the case of the Gudenå River Delta in Langå there are many restrictions as the most of the site is protected because it is either natural or cultural heritage. This aspect is limiting how the site can be transformed, though these regulations are being revised and customed over time. But
as a theoretical project, which mine is - so far - I am working with the idea of manipulating the water level as in the project “Drawn from the Clay” by Vista (Prominski, 2005) In my project, I will not add or control water, but instead work with the edges of the river bed both the sides and the floor, and by that experimenting with the water flow. In relation to the examples I am not necessarily convinced that an open-ended system is the way I wish to programme the site. Actually I plan on doing something that is not adaptive, but extremely rigid. And I wonder what it means to be skipping pictorial, conservative approaches, as the text claims that the evolutionary designs do.(Prominski, 2005) Maybe the designs that are most static will have the largest effect on how we as humans understand and experience Nature, as the change and elusiveness of the landscape will appear clearly.
TIME Holocene Anthropocene Deep time Icetime We try to fix problems as they would have occured in our (life)time and then also could be solved in our time. We tend to think that time is something we can use, but we cannot have it.We cannot mould it. We cannot use time as a material. Time Is not a resource.
I knew by intuition that the river delta in Langå would be my site for my projet. The meadow is my childhood landscape. Even though I knew where I wanted to work, I had no idea what to do. But I felt attached to the place as it was my home, my birthplace. In a way it is. Through my childhood meadow runs a creek connected to the Gudenå delta. My sister and I used to bathe and catch small fish with our bare hands and later we would feed them to the cats though without much success. I ate the grass in the meadow - surrounded by the cattle. I had to try it. To me it is a landscape of Nostalgia, Longing and Melancholia. “FOLLOW THE MATERIAL!” Hélène Frichot, CWR-lecture
8
6
In this chapter I will discuss the concept of actors understood in a broad sense, and I will discuss it in relation to the concept of accidental vs. intentional, as I find it interesting how the accidental or rather unintentional actors also have a lot of power. I will discuss the role of the architect and the way we act in our “environment-worlds” (Frichot, 2018, p. 8)
9
On a revisit to my site in Langå, I started out by walking on a path that was mapped at the entrance to the area of The Danish Nature Fond, who owns most of the area. After walking for some time it occured to me, that there were other paths crossing and I left the official path and began to follow one of these other paths. I soon realised that the path was made by cattle as they leave other traces than from their hooves. Moving further on the cattle path I arrived on a meadow, where I found a pole with a salt crystal. I know it from my childhood, because we used to have a couple of cows. The crystals are for the cattle to lick on to get their sufficient amount of minerals. I started thinking about my programme for the site, because my initial idea was to inhabit the forest and meadow with huts and shelters for the sport fishes, bird watchers and canoe sailors. But the discovery of the cattle made me realise that the area was already inhabited. That of course was not an obstruction for the initial idea, yet it had me reconsider and eventually decide that I would not programme the area for habitation, but instead work with pedestrian circulation and accessibility for those who already are using the site. The next thought was to actually use the cattle as a tool for managing and transforming the forest. This would be possible by using the salt mineral-poles as a an attractor and for instance distribute them in a way that would create new paths. And this is also where I find there is a potential for introducing the idea of accidental vs. intentional. One could imagine a landscape laboratory where cattle among other species maybe birds can interfere and interrupt the paths of human, because where they are fed the environment
will change. I haven’t thought the concept through Because it was not welcomed by my supervisors, so I had to move further, but I kept the interest in the question about who the actors are. Whenever I am thinking of a concept or design I try to incorporate others either in the way it is thought or made, as I find the idea of participation intriguing. But i am conflicted because on one hand I would like to design, but I don’t think I have enough knowledge to make a proposal, on the other hand I am just as interested in finding out what the citizens - the local community of Langå could dream about or imagine for their town. It is not because I don’t take the profession of the architect seriously, I do think we have a lot of competence, but it is actually because I think that we also have competence that lies beyond the design task, and I would like to investigate that aspect further. We, architects, understand connections, or we try to understand them. We make connections. We are mediators. And to quote Eduardo Kohn “We” are not the only kind of we” (Frichot, 2018 p. 20) and Foucault and Deleuze: “Who speaks and acts? It is always a multiplicity, even within the person who speaks and acts. All of us are groupuscules.” (Frichot, 2018, p. 20)
This focus on the “we” is also a subject that the Austrian transdisciplinary practise “Transparadiso” consisting of Barbara Holub and Paul Rajakovics. They work with participatory processes and has made a strategy called Direct Urbanism and which is also the theme in the book with the same title. I am very inspired by how they work with local communities as well as environments in a very playful way but still with a political agenda. Paul Rajakovics: “This is what I meant by “bringing the situation to another level” Play and fiction are important elements in our work. The second visit allowed us to work with a local expert, the architect Pas Undur-
raga, and we made a second intervention with her, which we called Deseo Urbano. It employed a strategy of using fiction to explore the potential in a larger area of the city. The core of this intervention was to ask people about their wishes for specific sites in the city of valparaiso. For this process we developed a game, which we played with different groups in multiple locations in order to generate information on what Valparaiso could be and what levels of fiction people could invent for themselves. Barbara Holub: This was also relevant for our future work, because it was the first time we developed a game as a tool and incorporated the aspect of wish production as a strategy.” (Rendell, 2013, p. 12) I am very inspired of making strategies and methods and combining them with a more poetic mindset as the idea of “wish production.”(Rendell, 2013, p. 12) I think that especially in smaller communities, bottom-up planning can be a very good strategy because it is my experience that people get a big sense of affiliation to the environment they are a part of. If the semester project was running over a longer period of time, one could imagine inviting the people from the housing area that lies on the edge of my site, to find out how they experience the threat of the rising water levels and find out how they imagine the future for the area. But actors can also refer to things and elements, and in this time thinkers begin to talk about the earth as an actor, also in a political sense. The geology that earlier was seen as the frame for our actions is now seen as a actor within the frame (Latour, 2018) Acknowledging that the earth or Nature is a big actor, also in Langå is important and personally I think that Nature is the biggest asset for the town, and maybe not a threat right now, but there has to be made a strategy for how the changes of the Gudenå River can be advantage for those who live there.
ACTORS + ACCIDENTAL VS. INTENTIONAL
STATION MARINA HUMAN PATH PRAMDRAGERSTIEN
OLD OAK
MEADOW
HOUSING
NEW OAK
OLD OAK MEADOW
BRIDGE
CATTLE PATH
“ALONG THE EDGES”
CATTLE PATHS ON THE EDGE OF THE FOREST
ANTI - WALK MAPPING FROM MY SITE IN LANGÅ
10
In this chapter I will discuss the values of Langå. I will start by going further into the formulation of the semester assignment which is loaded with a certain set of values, that might be considered as common. This chapter will also discuss more specifically what matter I wish to work with in my project, as I dive deeper into the site. “Despite these challenges, the town holds obvious qualities. Langå is situated in a highly attractive landscape in Gudenådalen (the Gudenå Valley) comprising forested hillsides and the Gudenå River. Furthermore, Langå is benefiting from being a small but important railway town linking the main north-south railway through Jutland to the east-west railway towards Viborg and Struer. This means that Langå is well-connected just 22 min from Aarhus, 9 min from Randers and 31 min from Viborg.” (Studio Brief, 2018) The first sentence states that there are obvious qualities. And then the qualities are mentioned which can be extracted as the landscape and the railroad. In other words, the biggest values for Langå is Nature and the way the Town is connected to other cities. In my assignment, I am focusing on both aspects, but In relation to connection I think it is interesting to enhance the value of the river - The Gudenå River, which once was an important infrastructural vein as it runs through the middle of jutland from Tørring in South to Randers in North. Around the first industrial revolution in Denmark, the river was used for transportation of goods.(Pramdragerstien ved Gudenåen, 2018)
11
The goods was loaded on barges, in Danish “pramme”, and when the gods had to be transported down streams, it was pulled from the banks of the river by men or even horses. This made a clear walking path along the river all the way from Silkeborg to Randers.
heritage. Because it simply cannot! Not in the physical manifestation it appears in now. This tells be, that I in my dream project can “touch” the path. But it will not be an easier task for that reason, since the exact part of the path that I redesign will be the center of attention.
This path is called “Pramdragerstien” or “Trækstien” and has existed since the beginning of 1800 and it is still existing and it is even listed. The fact that it is listed is an indication of the value of the path, at least from an official stand. It has been valued as cultural heritage. This puts me in a dilemma regarding my project since I have to decide whether this path is so important, that I cannot touch it. And it also leaves me with the question if it is the actual ground or the idea of the connection that is the most important.
In terms of value and preservation, one can see the path as a monument in relation to the text by Alois Riegl : “The modern cult of monuments, its essence and its development.”
But then an interesting thought arises, in relation to the rising water levels; as the river delta gets broader, the path will get flooded and disappear anyway. This means, that If I transform or redesign a part of the path into a more solid object that takes the rising water levels into consideration, - in time it will be the only thing left from the “Pramdragersti”, it will not be an original physical trace, but it will encapsulate or at least be a testimony of what once was an important infrastructural line through Jutland. The recognition of the changes in the landscape - whether they are truly natural or not, tells me that the narrative, or the idea of the path suddenly becomes more important, if it is a common interest that the path should remain as cultural
I find it interesting to discuss the path as a monument, not for the sake of deciding whether it has a fixed value or not, but rather to discuss the idea of value as something more dynamic that we need to reconsider when the conditions and the context, in which it is inscribed, is changing. Riegl starts out describing the the traditional definition of a monument this way: “In its oldest and most original sense a monument is a work of man erected for the specific purpose of keeping particular human deeds or destinies (or a complex accumulation thereof) alive and present in the consciousness of future generations.” (Riegl, 1928, p. 69) In this way we cannot understand “Pramdragerstien” as a monument, as the original purpose was practical, and to speak of the materiality - the way it the path manifest itself, was rather a result of a constant stress on the earth as the working men and horses were walking in the same place making a trace.
VALUE + PALIMPSEST
Among Riegl’s different categorisations of value one can argue that by transforming the path into an object it goes from the concepts of “Age Value” to “Use Value” (Riegl, 1928) From being left for the forces of Nature to make it erode, to transforming it into a new construction suitable for further and future use. Designing a new construction can also be a way of seeing this path as a palimpsest, hence “Concepts of Transformation”: “A palimpsest approach to Transform urges us to pay attention to the layers that came before the present layer. It urges us to work with new layers that came before the present layer. As the palimpsest originally contains an element of chance, it also allows us to bring together materials that have nothing a priori to do with one another. (Boris et al. 2018, p. 21) I like the path as it is. Not as an object. But if time has to change and eventually make the path disappear then I would like to make a proposal for this new path. I will work with the materials that are present, the materials, that are now the path; soil, gravel and grass. Make these materials meet a new layer - a new matter and let all materials collide with the rising water. Even though I have been very hesitant about making any proposals, I think that for most people, locals and visitors a transformation of the path would add value to Langå, and that is a dream scenario for me.
BARGE ON THE GUDENÅ RIVER UNKNOW YEAR (PRAMDRAGERSTIEN VED GUDENÅEN, 2018)
12
13
PHOTO FROM PRAMDRAGERSTIEN, LANGÃ…
REFERENCES
Books:
Internet sources
• Boris, Stefan Darlan, Morten Daugaard, Andriette Ahrenkiel Jørgensen and Karen Olesen. 2018. Concepts of Transformation. Arkitektskolens Forlag.
• MEGA-MIND-MAPPING, 2018, 8 semester, accessed 13.12.18: http://prezi.com/4vv6yucwi4gw/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
• Frichot, Hélène. 2018. Creative Ecologies: Theorizing the Practice of Architecture, Bloomsbury.
• Gudenå Komiteen 2008 “Orbicon vurdering af vandstanden i Gudenåen sommer 2008”, accessed 13.12.2018: https://www.gudenaakomiteen.dk/media/18540/orbicon-vurdering-af-vandstanden--gudenaaen- sommer-2008.pdf
• Frichot, Hélène. 2016. How to make yourself a Feminist Design Power Tool, Spurbuchverlag. • Latour, Bruno. 2018. Ned på Jorden, Hvordan orienterer vi os politisk, Informations Forlag. • Rendell, Jane, Paul O'Neill and Mick Wilson, 2013, Direct Urbanism, Verlag fur moderne Kunst Nurnberg. • Riegl, Alois. 1928. The Modern Cult of Monuments: Its Essence and its Development, in Readings in Conservation: Historical and Philosophical Issues in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage from 1996, 69-83, The Getty Conservation Institute.
Articles in Academic Journals: • Clemmensen, Benita and Mette Westergaard Nielsen, 2015, Ingeniør Müllers runesten og andre runesten i Langå, Museum Østjylland Årbog 2015: 16-29. • Prominski, Martin, 2005, “Designing Landscapes as Evolutionary Systems.” The Design Journal Volume 8, Issue 3: 25-34.
• Hydrometri, 2018 “Vandstanden de sidste 30 dage: Langå” accessed 13.12.18: http://hydrometri.dk/kommune/randers/2108.xml • Miljø og fødevareministeriet , 2018, “Klimatilpasningsplaner - Havstigning 2016” accessed 13.12.18 http://miljoegis.mim.dk/spatialmap?&profile=miljoegis-klimatilpasningsplaner • Kulturarv : 1001 fortællinger om Danmark, “Pramdragerstien ved Gudenåen” accessed 13.12.18: http://www.kulturarv.dk/1001fortaellinger/da_DK/pramdragerstien-ved-gudenaaen/ mages/newest/1/foto-3
Other: • Studio Brief, 2018, Teaching Program 1 – Studio 1A – URBAN DESIGN | LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE Fall Semester 2018: Woods go Urban + Railway Town Transformations
Chapter in Report: • Nielsen, Tom and Thomas Juel Clemmensen, 2013. “Langå: Trafikknudepunkt.” In Stationsbyer i dag, edited by Niels Boje Groth and Christian Fertner, 80-81, Realdania, Center for Strategisk Byforskning v/ Københavns Universitet and Arkitektskolen Aarhus, contribution from Danmarks Tekniske Universitet and Trafikstyrelsen.
14