Marc Cheal - MArch Thesis - Speculations 1

STUDIO PLASTIC MArch_Architectural_Speculations_1 Marc_Cheal_Part_Time_3_07388101

CONTENTS A R C H I T E C T U R A L S P E C U L AT I O N S 1 Introduction 3 Commons 4 Urban Commons 5

Type - A Social Agreement - TEXT 6 The Three Orders - TEXT 7 Otto Neurath 8 Isotypes 9 Stowlawn 10 V I E N N A Introduction 13 Map 14 Red Vienna 16 Social Housing 18

BILSTON COMMONS Infrastructure Fiction 117 Typology & Density testing 118 Mobility 120

Site Influences

122 Bilston Commons Matrix 123 Group Concepts 124 The Commons 126 The Concept Plan 127 Design Code Document 128

THESIS Introduction 147 Abstract 148 System 149 Reyner Banham 150 KARL MARX HOF Smout Allen 152 Introduction 21 Remediation 154 Overview 22 Anaerobic digestion 155 Figure Ground Map 23 Financial Model 158 Site Visit 24 Commons 159 Karl Ehn 26 Permaculture 160

Main Facade Image Precedents 162 Ground Floor Plan 28 Precedents 164 Upper Floor Plans 30 Time line 165 Elevations 32 Axonometric 34 BIBLIOGRAPHY Sections 35 Book List 168 Site Analysis 36 Building Analysis 39 Apartment Typology 40 Habraken 42 Thresholds 44 Stairwells 47 Scheme Comparisons 50 Model 54 Waschsalon - Museum visit 56 Margaretengurtel 58 Werkbundsiedlung 60 Joseph Frank 61 V I E N N A T O D AY Introduction 63 The Vienna Model -TEXT 64 In the End 66

Karl Marx Hof - Present 68 Living Complex - TEXT 69 Step 2025 70 Wohnprojekt Wien 72 Wohen Mit Scharf 76 Key Considerations 80 BILSTON Introduction 83 Site 84 Time Travellers - TEXT 86 Glossary of Terms 88 Current Housing Statistics 90 Regional Wages 93 Property Values 94 Urban Development Plan 95 Existing Infrastructure 96 Site History 98 Traces 99 Flood Levels 110 Mining 111 Site Characteristics 112 Contaminated Land 113

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INTRODUCTION This document is a compilation of contextual studies to date that have been undertaken for the Architectural Speculations 1 module within Studio Plastic.

In 1944 and in an attempt to reinvent itself as a thriving community, Bilston (Wolverhampton) invited the Austrian Otto Neurath to be its `happiness`consultant. Neurath was of the Red Vienna era and believed that architecture and mass housing could: “perform important political as well as material functions; the design and construction of new forms of collective dwelling spaces that not only provided shelter but also fostered new forms of socialised urban living could be an important factor in the gradual socialisation of the economy as a whole” (Blau p256).

The hope was that he would bring a visionary approach to housing in Bilston as he had done in Vienna.

Our site marked for development in Bilston has been scarred for years by the coal mining industry and polluted from blast furnaces and factories and is currently subject to a generic planning processes filled with standard proposals. By exploring low rise, high density housing, with the aim of developing an attitude towards domestic space at a personal level and collective spaces at an urban level (both internal and external), and applying our Infrastructure Fiction to the site, `Bilston Commons ©©` aims to provide an alternate development strategy, still including housing, but applies concepts and strategies found within the research and ideas developed as a response.

Within the body of work the underlying statements set out in the Studio Plastic manifesto should all be apparent but most notably re-examining the relationship between design and the society it is for, considering different scales from the operational, the tactical and the strategic. By investigating sites in both Bilston and Vienna, Austria and using historical and contemporary models, comparisons can be made and by using these success stories (or unsuccessful) we can try to understand the power structures and relations that might be needed to deliver a revised conception of a civic society set against a backdrop of rising wealth inequality, mass migration and an ageing population.

Several chosen studio readers have been discussed and summarised to help analyse the schemes within this document.

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COMMONS W H AT I S C O M M O N S ?

A simple definition of the commons is “that which we mutually depend on for our survival and well being”.

Commons are not considered as an `organic fabric of social structures and processes` and so its difficult to pick out these objects of the commons. It becomes so through enacting it with others.

The term “commons” derives from the traditional English legal term for common land, which are also known as “commons”, and was popularised in the modern sense as a shared resource term by the ecologist Garrett Hardin in an influential 1968 article called `The Tragedy of the Commons`.

Potential practices of enacting commons between commoners and the urban environments they seek to transform can be facilitated via an Urban co-governance which could bring what we could consider a “common good” into being through “the consciousness of thinking, learning and acting as a commoner”

There is however, much more to or commons than just our atmosphere, access to educational opportunities, public safety, society cohesion, knowledge resources and endless other items that we need for our survival.

Urban commons allows us to think of our whole city as a relational process of commoning, where citizens recognise and enact commons through consciousness and action. Many of us who live in cities see a reflection of ourselves in the state of that city, we may see the health of our city as our own health or social relations as our relations. This should bring out new social practices that care for these and many other aspects of our relationship with the places in which we live.

The idea and approaches to commons has become more profound in recent times and aim to break the assumptions that a shared resources must be managed by the state, by private enterprise or that it was simply unmanageable. People outside of the state-market can effectively manage their common resources as communities.

Other definitions of the commons describe the subject as being a social system for the long-term stewardship of resources that preserves shared values and community identity. It is a self-organised system by which communities manage these resources, resources that are both depleatable and replenishable, but with no or minimal reliance upon the market-state.

The wealth that is inherited or created through these common means should be then passed on, undiminished or enhanced, to our children

URBAN COMMONS The is movement is only in its infancy but Urban commoning is an emerging body of ideas and practices that have the potential to transform the ways in which we experience and shape our urban environments, and indeed world. Urban commoning has the potential to make the transition from embryonic social practices in to mature and powerful approaches that can reshape our cities.

There is no written rulebook and urban commoning is in a place which new innovations and formulations can be proposed. We all have the potential to play a fundamental role as contributors to the policies as policy makers, advocates, social entrepreneur, community development worker, writers/scholar and citizens.

Entry #45 from designingtheurbancommons.org; Re-public spaces by Jorge Gerini

Proposals for Urban Commoning policies need to be seen as embodying new legal and social perspectives that legitimate them. David Super proclaims that property law has an important role in addressing widespread economic inequality by protecting those goods most essential to the well-being of a broad swath of society, rather than just protecting goods that are disproportionately held by the wealthy.

Current legal theory does not have the conceptual resources needed to understand the dynamics and potentials of enacted commons and commoning and assumes that commons are simply unregulated open access resources.

In the view of Sheila Foster and Christian Iaione “the city is a commons in the sense that it is a shared resource that belongs to all of its inhabitants”. The commons claim is importantly aligned with the idea behind the “right to the city” - the right to be part of the creation of the city, the right to be part of the decision-making processes shaping lives of the city inhabitants, and the power of inhabitants to shape decisions about the collective resource in which we all have a stake.

GovLab are a leader in the development of urban commons theory and practice who consider the following to be key to learnings on Urban commons: • We must embrace the diversity of the commons but we also need to be careful about what we call the commons. This is recognition that contemporary commons is still not fully understood.

• In additions to many resources, the city itself must be considered a commons in respect to urban space and also as a governing entity.

This is so that the commons framework can update political and bureaucratic decision-making processes at city level • The commons is an emerging framework for inclusiveness. As cities become more diverse with different cultures and classes it should help facilitate how we work and live together.

Dimensions of the commons - Michel Bauwens and future generations. This wealth is not considered to be of monetary value but a collective wealth that includes gifts of nature, civic infrastructure, cultural works, traditions and knowledge. It is the generation of its value that in we often take for granted.

Michel Bauwens breaks down the commons in to four categories:A combination of these values have supported and evolved the human race to what it has become today with more modern day aspects such as the open source design revolution which shapes how we live our lives today. These values are all combined through their characteristics of being critical to our mutual well-being and survival and so a collective effort and ethos should be to protect and extend them by collectively governed members of society that depend on them for well-being and survival.

Unfortunately historically the state does not always have the well being of the community in mind and private interests via processes of capitalism are also not equipped to protect the commons. Capitalism produces vast social and ecological problems as a by product of the concern with immediate profit.

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• The role of technology is key to the commons. Technology can support the urban commons and help bring people together and allow them to collaborate.

• Urban commons need an “industrial plan” and new economic and/or social institutions to helps transition come cities away from an old economic model. This is to leverage the power of the commoning and collaboration to support sustainable more inclusive democratic communities.

• Urban commons governance principle is not self-governance nor decentralisation. It is to include the distribution of powers among public, social, economic, knowledge and civil actors.

• Design principles for the urban commons should be adapted to the challenges and characteristics of the more political, confrontational and over-regulated space which cities represent. More attention should be put on experimentation, institutional diversity and spreading of social norms within urban contexts.

• There needs to be safeguards against exploitation as well as escapist flights with utopian or ideological visions. A bottom up as well as circular approach is crucial where there can be an interplay of non egalitarian and mobile relations.

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TYPE AS A SOCIAL AGREEMENT

Type as a Social Agreement can be compared along side the text of Charles Moore `The Three Orders` , previously discussed, where he also described breaking down a building in to a series of spaces and the functional role they place in both the physical and the aspirational. He points out that house types always have been shared knowledge between inhabitants and those who built, allowing inhabitants to judge the work of professionals and express their preferences within the typological system he discusses.

As architects we believe we understand the spaces within a building. Habraken discusses spaces or typologies with a different approach, by not describing them as a reflection of the generic activities that take place within. He explores how these spaces fit within a system or a network, the form they take and how they may offer an architectural quality.

He argues the efficiency of this shared knowledge within this typological system and points out that, through generations of elaboration and cultivations type could lead to a very high level of environmental quality.

Computer and production technology are very flexible tools and allows the culture to define the system (shape and size of parts and their relations) whereas technology offers ways to produce it. There is freedom to vary of keep constant one system or the other depending on what we judge to be the most meaningful in the traditional type.

T H E S PAT I A L S Y S T E M ( R O O M S ) The layouts and how the spaces relate to each other. Spatial organisation is the one most intimately related to our behaviour and he specifically mentions that a social role certain space has within a building is very much dependant on its position as to the transition from public to private. It is a constant in the formation of a building where as materials and technologies may change over time, the general spatial arrangement does not. The house type could still be recognised through a more modern palette of materials.

THE PHYSICAL SYSTEM (MACHINES) This system describes the machinic properties of a building and the arrangement that actually forms the building such as ceiling heights and wall thickness’s. What binds the building together and makes it function. A staircase has a functional quality that allows the spatial system to work as a whole as does the arrangement of columns. Tradition has its effect on this system and can be buried in even the most modern forms of construction, maybe facilitated slightly for more economical production e.g.. CNC milling.

THE PLACE OF HOUSES THE THREE ORDERS

`The Three Orders` is a chapter written by Charles Moore within the book ‘The Place of Houses’, also written by Donlyn Lyndon and Gerald Allen. The Three Orders discussed are the order of rooms, machines and dreams with each order being open to slight variations of interpretation: THE ORDER OF ROOMS This order is considers the way rooms are designed and planned, rooms are generally united by four areas which are boundaries which includes the limits and proportions of a room and how this affects the perception of the space; light which animates a space and this could be natural or artificial and affected by material choices; focus which is defined as the single focus of attention in a room which gives repose [a single focus means repose whereas multiple focuses mean a space of movement of eye or body]; outlook which is the views out of a space but also the views in generally through windows giving the passer-by a small amount of information about the user of the space.

THE ORDER OF MACHINES The order is defined by machines but according to Moore. Machines here used is not necessarily mechanical or machinic in the traditional sense. Instead, a machine is something in a house which requires operating or self operating, this means staircases, beds and kitchen appliances. Using this definition shows how many items within a house come under the term machine. Moore then relates how in this modern age many rooms have become machine domains and give over their dominance to the machine rather than the human user.

THE ORDER OF DREAMS The final order is related to the concept that dreams which accompany human action should be nurtured by the spaces we live in, the houses we live in embody our aspirations whether that be humble, grand, flamboyant or economical. Moore suggests that we should imagine our house in the way our daydreams suggest and this will bring forth a structure of intent to guide as we make practical decisions about the rooms and machines needed. The places we live in should allow for the everyday to become exceptional. In concluding this concept the writers suggest it is impossible to recreate the dream and only the essence will remain and almost always the designers dream and the users is different. An example being Le Corbusier’s Housing at Pessac which was imagined as a cold, hard, modernist block of terraced units which in reality was inhabited by the user and covered with greenery which removed some of the hardness of the concrete, the users had projected their dream onto the housing and Le Corbusiers was taken away.

THE STYLISTIC SYSTEM (DREAMS) Discusses the aesthetic properties of a space and can be likened to the `Order of Dreams` discussed by Moore. It is important that when faced with new systems we see the systemic behind the stylistic preferences of clients and collaborators. We look far decoration and how items are placed within a facade for example, the type of item used and the surfaces inside and out.

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O T T O N E U R AT H

ISOTYPE

Typical examples of pre war housing in Bilston.

Typical examples of housing on the Stowlawn estate.

The state of the housing pre world war two in Bilston was of a very poor standard. Overcrowding and poor health was rife as a direct result. Many surveys at the time documented to the poor air quality and the squalid standards. To counter act the poor quality, Otto Neurath was invited to be Bilstons `Happiness Consultant` due to his work during the Red Vienna period. He proposed a lower density of housing and championed large spaces of common land. The Stowlawn estate was to be come his only housing scheme within Bilston and unfortunately before it was built he passed away unexpectedly aged 63 in his Oxford home in 1945.

Overcrowding in Bilston at the time was surveyed at 13.7% the national average 3.8%

During the red Vienna period many visionaries appeared, revolutionizing housing and amenity space.

Otto Nuerath an Austrian philosopher of science, sociologist, and political economist was a protagonist of change at this time.

Otto Neurath is most notably known for the creation of the international picture language. Between 1925 and 1934 Nuerath and a team of graphic designers developed the iso-type. The purpose of the system is to convey information through graphics.

Its purpose to make information readily available to everyone. This graphic language is intended to share information to people of any nationality whether you were illiterate or not. At a time when ISOTYPES the standard of Neurath, education was not what it is today whereby much Otto an Austrian philosopher of science, sociologist, and of the population could not read.

Coupled with the fact the city the political economist was a protagonist of change at this time during of Vienna was attracting nationality with different native Red Vienna period.many He is most notably known for the creation of the tongue. Theinternational system ( originally termed the “Vienna Method”) was picture language, the ISOTYPE. a vital tool for the social democratic government to convey their ideas to theBetween public.1925 and 1934 Neurath and a team of graphic designers

developed the Isotype. The purpose of the system is to convey information through graphics and make information readily available to everyone. This graphic language is intended to share understandable information to people of any nationality whether you were illiterate or not. This came about at a time when the standard of education was not what it is today whereby much of the population could not read or write.

Vienna was also attracting many nationalities with and array of different languages.

The system ( originally termed the “Vienna Method”) was a vital tool for the social democratic government to convey their ideas to the public.

During the red Vienna period Otto Neurath had become secretary of the Austrian Association for Settlements and Small Gardens (Verband für Siedlungs-und Kleingartenwesen), a collection of self-help groups that set out to provide housing and garden plots to its members.

Vienna. In contrast to the other forms of construction at the time i.e.

KMH this solution although providing ground level private amenity space yielded a low dwelling per hectare. In a city with fixed extents and limited land available one could argue against this model.

Neurath, along with Joseph Frank where passionate about the settlement housing movement an the time. They firmly believed that the most appropriate form of housing for Vienna consisted of small rows of housing with long narrow productive garden were socially, politically and economically the most appropriate urban housing typology for Red

Their thinking in contrast to the bourgeois structures and pre-war garden city models were co-operatively owned and run. There are comparisons here with modern day Co-housing schemes. Otto Neurath is our link to the site in the UK.

Isotype indicating the effect Neurath had on the realisation of the stowlawn estate

Otto Nuer During the red Vienna period many visionaries appeared, revolutionizing housing and amenity space.

Otto Nuerath an Austrian philosopher of science, sociologist, and political economist was a protagonist of change at this time.

Otto Neurath is most notably known for the creation of the international picture language. Between 1925 and 1934 Nuerath and a team of graphic designers developed the iso-type. The purpose of the system is to convey information through graphics.

Its purpose to make information readily available to everyone. This graphic language is intended to share information to people of any nationality whether you were illiterate or not. At a time when the standard of education was not what it is today whereby much of the population could not read. Coupled with the fact the city of Vienna was attracting many nationality with different native tongue. The system ( originally termed the “Vienna Method”) was a vital tool for the social democratic government to convey their ideas to the public.

During the red Vienna period he became secretary of the Austrian Association for Settlements and Small Gardens (Verband für Siedlungs-und Kleingartenwesen), a collection of self-help groups that set out to provide housing and garden plots to its members.

Nuerath and Joseph Frank where passionate about the settlement housing movement an the time. They firmly believed that the most appropriate form of housing for Vienna consisted of small row of housing with long narrow productive garden were socially , politically and economically the most appropriate urban housing typology for Red Vienna. In contrast to the other forms of construction at the time i.e KMH this solution although providing ground level private amenity space yielded a low dwelling per hectare. In a city with fixed extents and limited land available one could argue against this model.

Their thinking in contrast to the bourgeois structures and prewar garden city models were co-operatively owned and run. There are comparisons here with modern day Co-housing scheme.

Otto Nuerath is the link to the site in the UK. Otto Nuerath was approached by the local council responsible for Bilston. Ultimately he was employed as a Happiness consultant for the Stowlawn estate development.

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Theory

Otto Nuerath - Iso types

During the red Vienna period he became secretary of the Austrian Association for Settlements and Small Gardens (Verband für Siedlungs-und Kleingartenwesen), a collection of self-help groups that set out to provide housing and garden plots to its members.

Nuerath and Joseph Frank where passionate about the settlement housing movement an the time. They firmly believed that the most appropriate form of housing for Vienna consisted of small row of housing with long narrow productive garden were socially , politically and economically the most appropriate urban housing typology for Red Vienna. In contrast to the other forms of construction at the time i.e KMH this solution although providing ground level private amenity space yielded a low dwelling per hectare. In a city with fixed extents and limited land available one could argue against this model.

Their thinking in contrast to the bourgeois structures and prewar garden city models were co-operatively owned and run. There are comparisons here with modern day Co-housing scheme.

Otto Nuerath is the link to the site in the UK. Otto Nuerath was approached by the local council responsible for Bilston. Ultimately he was employed as a Happiness consultant for the Stowlawn

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STOWLAWN - BILSTON

STOWLAWN - HISTORY

Project: Stowlawn Estate

Date of mapping: Circa 1887

Designer: Sir Charles Reily & Otto Neurath

Site area: 43.5 Hectares

Built: Circa 1949

Units: 0

Site area: 43.5 Hectares

Dwellings / hectare: 0

Present day units: approx 830

Common land: 100%

Dwelling / hectare: 18

The earliest mapping available of Stowlawn dates back to 1887.

At time there were no dwellings or built structure within the site boundary.

Stowlawn estate was built circa 1949 in contrast to the typical property at the time. It was light and airy and had the luxury of direct access on to many oval green areas, the common land, on the site. The common land was a direct influence from Otto Neurath, inspired from his earlier work in red Vienna. The intention for the greens was to build a sense of community and promote well being. This was achieved by integrating people of all ages in to the neighbourhood.

The density of the Stowlawn estate is relatively low. This is primarily down to the typology chosen. Individual housing plots with individual garden, each having access to the common green.

Unfortunately the density of the estate has increased over the years where only one of the many greens now exist. The capital free market has developed over Otto Neuraths vision for Bilston.

Common green space, the identifying feature of Stowlawn, now occupied by standard housing, bungalows and blocks of flats. Could mechanisms been put in place to prevent this from happening? Reducing the size of the greens is one option. this may be why the last one still exists, its width does not lend itself to being developed.

The meaning of the name Stown lawn, stown simply means “a place” lawn is derived from the Middle English word “launde meaning clearing in woodland.

The shaded area denotes the common land at the time.

Date of mapping: Circa 1961 Present day plan of Stowlawn estate in Bilston. Th area highlighted in red denotes the last remaining piece of common land.

Site area: 43.5 Hectares Units: 670 Dwellings / hectare: 15 Common land: 22% Mapping available shortly after the completion of the Stowlawn estate indicates approximately 22% of the land is devoted to common green space. The final plan that came to fruition is does not include the full extent of common land envisaged by Otto Neurath. After his death. Involvement from the local council reduced the amount available. The amount of green space however was unprecedented at the time.

Present day area photo of Stowlawn estate. The area highlighted in red denotes the extent of the estate.

Date of mapping: Circa 1972 Site area: 43.5 Hectares Units: 815 Dwellings / hectare: 18 Common land: 6% By 1972 all but two of the original commons have been developed on. 2016 only one remains. The vision of Stowlawn, aptly name clearing in the woodland no longer deserves its title.

Isotype indicating the changes time and capital pressure have made to Stowlawn estate.

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The last remaining green at Bilston. Ironically designed to promote community and integration has no ball games allowed signs. The only reason this space possibly remains intact is due to the fact its width is not large enough to be developed for housing?

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VIENNA INTRODUCTION Vienna has long provided a successful model for social housing. Beginning in 1920s it began to build housing for the influx of countless workers who lived in awful conditions. The Social Democratic government of the First Republic (1918-1934) wanted to improve workers’ quality of life with the plan to erect large housing complexes that were affordable and offered their residents good living conditions.

Otto Neurath provides us with one obvious link to Bilston and was amongst many of the architects involved in Viennese architecture at this very important time in its history. Others included students of Art Nouveau icon Otto Wagner at the Academy of Fine Arts and included Karl Ehn, who planned the Karl-Marx-Hof in the 19th district of Vienna. Together with the Sandleitenhof with 1,531 apartments in the 16th district, he is the face of “red housing” in the period between the wars.

VIENNA

At the beginning of the 1930s, the so-called Werkbund estates were built. The underlying idea was that of a new estate movement. The aim was to achieve economy in the smallest space and functional solutions. The model houses were supposed to be affordable, able to be built in series, and with flat roofs. The Vienna Werkbund Estate in the 13th district had a total of 76 buildings and was built between 1929 and 1932 under the direction of Josef Frank. Prominent architects included Josef Hoffmann, Clemens Holzmeister and Adolf Loos. However, the Werkbund Estate did not succeed although today it is one of the most significant examples of modern architecture in Austria. Starting in 1933, Austrian fascism left little space for socio-political experiments, which ended completely with the annexation of Austria to Hitler’s Germany in 1938.

Interrupted by the Second World War, the city of Vienna took up its social construction projects again in 1947, and has continued these - adapted architecturally to the era in question - until the present.

AUSTRIA

Map of Austria

Statues on the main facade of the Karl Marx Hof that represent; Physicalculture - Liberation Education - Child Welfare - Josef Franz Riedl

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VIENNA

VIENNA

KARL MARX HOF

NORDBAHNHOF

VIENNA

MARGARETENGURTEL

WERKBUNDSIEDLUNG

Map of Vienna & key locations discussed within this document

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RED VIENNA

RED VIENNA

Who lends me books? The Wiener Arbeiterbuchereien poster from 1929 SLUM HOUSING There was no regulation on housing back in the early 19th century, housing which the city were so desperate get people out of. They were highly occupied with 6-10 tenants sharing 30m² apartments and these tight conditions offered very little in terms of ventilation or light in buildings that were between 5-6 stories high. The buildings had no running water with toilets located in corridors, usually 1 per floor.

The buildings occupied an average of 85% of the plots which they sat within giving very little or no opportunity for external amenity space.

SOCIAL HOUSING The development of social housing (Gemeindebauten) in Vienna began in the early 1920s when the city became governed by the Social Democrats, who, drawing on Marxist theories, decided that housing should not be entirely left to the private market. They wanted to implement these socialist perspectives within the framework of a democratic society. This caused worldwide interest among planners and architects with similar housing estates appearing in various European cities.

The provision of social housing was facilitated by new tax systems which relied heavily on the rich and luxury goods, typically cars, champagne and horses. These taxations managed the cost of the Gemeindenbauten and also sent a message to the public that the rich aren’t untouchable and stressed the importance of providing for the workers of Vienna.

The city were rightly proud of these housing estates and displayed clear messages on the housing of how they were financed.

What has perhaps helped removed segregation between different classes of people is that the social housing schemes we constructed amongst upper class areas. People weren’t stigmatised due to their address but also there became a good spread of supporters for the Social Democrats across Vienna which helped to ensure their continued presence of governance.

Slum housing Social-democratic propaganda efforts, the Breitner Taxes

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P O P U L AT I O N In 1850 the population of Vienna was approximately 500 000 and was considered one of the largest cities in Europe. In the 1900s the population blew up to over 2m which made housing conditions even tighter

SOCIAL CARE There was an appreciation of the well-being of all individuals with one aspect of this movement including investment into the future generations of Vienna via starter packages for new born babies with social workers making visits to teach couples how to use the package and demonstrate how to care for their new arrivals. This was shut down by the fascist movement but was re-opened after WW2. This was one of the first systems of social healthcare which is still apparent today in most countries.

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SOCIAL HOUSING

HOUSING SCHEMES

The intention behind the building of municipal housing was not only to provide living space, but also to generally furnish people with a better basis for a “normal” healthy life. The aims were ambitious: the dismal, grimy holes in which many resided were to be replaced by bright flats flooded with daylight and equipped with a living room, kitchen, hall and even their own toilet and running water; instead of peering into filthy air wells people would look out over gardens and landscaped areas; communal facilities like bath-houses and nurseries were provided to make everyday life easier and help raise living standards.

A key factor in the programme‘ s success was the housing tax initiated specifically for this purpose. As a result, in the inter-war period over 61,000 flats were built in 348 municipal housing complexes and over 5,000 dwellings erected on 42 estates of terraced houses. Among them were the City of Vienna‘s first large-scale housing estate on the area known as the Schmelz (1919–24), comprising 150 houses and allotment gardens where people could grow their own food; the MetzleinstalerHof (1916–25), the first “proper” municipal housing complex, equipped with a bathhouse, lending library, laundry and nursery; the Sandleiten complex (1924–28), the largest of its time with over 1,500 flats; and the Karl-Marx-Hof (1927–30), an outstanding example of the accomplished architecture and urban planning of the period that still enjoys international renown today.

Like many of the city‘s other large municipal housing complexes, the Karl Marx Hof became a battleground in February 1934, when Social Democrat resistance fighters entrenched themselves inside it against the attacking forces of the Corporative State.

Map indicating other Municipal Housing in Red Vienna

Snapshots of social housing schemes across Vienna

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Main Facade of Karl Marx Hof - Own Image

KARL MARX HOF INTRODUCTION 61,175 apartments in 348 housing blocks and 5,227 apartments in 42 terraced house developments were built between 1923 and 1934. The Karl Marx Hof provided 1,382 of these apartments and was seen as a huge success and a symbol for the working class. It offered social housing conditions like no other before it and was used as a social housing model for many other countries. The provision of open space combined with terraces for the apartments and services required of everyday life seemed worked and created a `City within a City`. The KMH was built as perimeter block development and acted as a gateway to that part of the city via a landscaped courtyard. Other more intimate courtyards form the access from which the individual stairways and apartments were accessed. Amenities such as supermarkets, laundromats, and kindergartens were situated in the common buildings.

Vent beneath the arches - Own Image

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THE KARL MARX HOF

THE KARL MARX HOF

Modern day aerial view of the Karl Marx Hof A modern day aerial photo of the Karl Marx Hof illustrates how the iconic main facade acts as a gateway to the city from the adjacent transport links. This was symbolic of the Red Vienna era and the architectural style represented the stance of the working class for which the scheme was built for. It also shows the enormity of the scheme and the wide North to South orientation which spans up to 1km.

The expanse of open space is clearly evident that was such a success and contrast to the provisions of the slum housing which it was to replace. The long thin mass of the building allowed for much more surface area of the building, bringing in plenty of light to each apartment with the inclusion of terraces / balconies throughout.

Figure Ground Map

A provision that was unheard of at the time was that 80% of the site was left open and predominately green space for residents to enjoy, especially youngsters

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SITE VISIT

SITE VISIT Inner courtyard with balconies and terraces

Main Facade

SITE VISIT IMAGES These photographs were taken on the site visit made in October 2016. There are many more but this selection hopefully captures every aspect of the Karl Marx, from the main imposing facade to the more stereotypical housing courts of the inter-war social housing era to the shops on the outer perimeter that served residents both from the KMH and nearby.

What was most noticeable was how much open space there was and then how quiet it seemed considering the location.

This would have been such an amazing place to come to live if you were used to the squaller of the slum housing with such little access to day light and open space.

Inner courtyard with balconies and terraces

Commercial units and residential apartments on the outer perimeter Commercial units on the outside

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KARL EHN

KARL EHN Morgue 3, Central Cemetery 1926

Morgue 3, Central Cemetery 1926

Karl Ehn (1884-1957) ARCHITECT Karl Ehn was the Architect behind the Karl Marx Hof and was born in 1884, dying in 1959 aged 74.

Karl Ehn was a Viennese architect and city planner who apprenticed under and was heavily influenced by Otto Wagner at the Academy of fine Arts in Vienna. Wagners beliefs ensure a design begins with purpose, focussing on its material use and construction which should ultimately lead to discover a logical form.

Wagner believed that all modern creations must correspond to the new materials and demands of the present if they are to suit modern man.

The room that we inhabit should be as simple as our clothing, sufficiently light, a pleasant temperature with clean air in rooms. These are the very demands of man. If architecture is not rooted in life, in the needs of contemporary man, it felt it will just cease to be an art.

Wagner taught his students that art and architecture should be of its own time and not a revival or imitation of historic forms.

In the earlier stages of his career, Ehn was involved in the early planning for cemeteries and chapels which were believed to incorporate Cubism. The Cubist movement of the early twentieth century began as a revolt against the artistic ideals of previous years.

Karl Ehn began working for Vienna City administration in 1908 and as the city architect he was responsible for the Germeindebau (public housing projects) of the 1920’s & 30’s. It was during this period that the Karl Marx Hof was built. He helped significantly to shape the architecture of Red Vienna and is understood to have designed an estimated 2716 flats in his career.

The Karl Marx Hof is a form of expressionism due to its hugely symbolic stature, iconic of the Red Vienna era of providing housing for the works, reinforcing the power of Social Democrats. Its fortress like features demonstrate a tough, heard wearing stance, signifying that these hard grafting people have a voice in the face the bourgeois, of which there was a high presence of in the area.

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Morgue 3, Central Cemetery 1926

The “monumentalisation, axiality and symmetry”, which were regarded as Wagnerian features and the minimal detailing to features such as window openings were not functional and therefore served no purpose.

Karl Ehn continued to serve through the Anschluss (Austria & Germany) in 1938 and afterwards until 1950.

Balderich Gasse, 1924

Lindenhof, 1925

KARL EHN - WORKS RESIDENTIAL / COMMERCIAL: 1922-1924 WHA d. Gem. Wien, Vienna 17, Balderich Gasse 23-29 1923-1925 Staff-houses on the Wr. Central Cemetery, Vienna 11 1923-1924 Siedlg. Hermes Wiese, Vienna 13, Lynkeusgasse 2-84, 3-75 1924-1925 WHA d. Gem. Vienna “Lindenhof”, Vienna 18, Paulinengasse 9 1925-1926 WHA d. Gem. Vienna “Bebel-Hof”, Vienna 12, Steinbauergasse 36 1925-1926 WHA d. Gem. Vienna “Szydzina yard”, Vienna 20, Leystraße 83-85 1926-1933 WHA d. Gem. Vienna “Karl Marx Hof”, Vienna 19, Heiligenstädterstraße 82-92 1932 WHA d. Gem. Vienna “Adelheid-Popp-Hof”, Vienna 16, Autumn road 99 1937 Family asylum St.Elisabeth, Vienna 16, Wiesberggasse 6b 1937 WHA d. Gem. Wien, Wien 9, Reznicekgasse18-22 1938-1939 House, Wien 5, Hauslabgasse 24-24a u. 25 1938 House, Wien 5, Wiedner Hauptstraße 103-105 1938 House, Wien 5, Kliebergasse / Gassergasse 22 1950-1952 WHA d. Gem. Vienna “Karl-Schönherr-Hof”, Wien 9, Wiesengasse 2-12

Szydzina Hof - Leystrasse, 1926

PUBLIC WORKS: 1924-1926 Mortuary III d. Wr. Central Cemetery, Vienna 11, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 1936 Mortuary Lainzer cemetery, Vienna 13, Würzburggasse 28 1937 Elementary and secondary school Leopoldau, Vienna 21, Aderklaastraße 2 INDUSTRIAL: 1944 Gas station Wien 20, Traisengasse 19

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MAIN FACADE

GROUND FLOOR PLAN Heilingenstadter Strasse

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Joseph Hindels - Gasse

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FLOOR PLANS Due to the enormity of the Karl Marx Hof our studies focused mainly around the main facade which can be considered the most imposing and iconic element of the scheme. It served as a reminder to all of the importance of the working class and that their welfare is of utmost importance.

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MAIN FACADE

E L E V AT I O N S

E L E V AT I O N S The elevations are the iconic image of Red Vienna and its important to study the role it played in giving the working class a voice.

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AXONOMETRIC

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SECTION B SECTION / AXO The core machinic elements that play a huge part in knitting this community together are visible through these sections and axonometric drawings

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S I T E A N A LY S I S S I T E LO C AT I O N

P U B L I C / P R I V AT E S PA C E

Karl Marx Hof is located in Vienna.

The site is approximately 105ha in size.

The transparent façades allow movement the scheme. This movement is possible by resident and the public. The dark areas denote the private space and in contrast the lighter shade denotes the public space.

BUILDING FORM

ACCESS TO APARTMENTS

Karl Marx Hof is development is a perimeter block which covers 18% of the site. In contrast to the typical housing in Vienna at the time which covered the 85% of their site.

This decision was tactical to enable many benefits such as light, ventilation and transparency.

The large open spaces on the ground floor are occupied by gardens which can be accessed by residents and the public. This is one of the main features of the scheme. It encourages human interaction and even through the façades can be described as transparent it also provides security and shelter to the central spine. No doubt these factors influence the position of the entrances to the apartments. All the apartments are access via the central spine.

Typically the development is 5-6 stories high.

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S I T E A N A LY S I S

BUILDING POSITION

MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT

The project is strategically placed in between a major railway station and football ground. Some sources refer to the position as a political one forming a barricade between the railway station and the city centre.

The ground floor encourages social interaction through a variety of spaces available. These included:-

TRANSPARENT FACADE

COMMUNITIES

The perimeter block arrangement at ground floor level allows to access through the site between the railway and football ground. This movement of people encourages human interaction on the ground floor.

The development is near 1100meters in length. The project is sub divided in to three communities focused around each of the three main gardens.

Laundrys Library Bathing facilities Kindergartens Pharmacy Refuse stores Guest houses Business offices Dental clinics Youth homes Cafés Post Office Parking under central garden

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S I T E A N A LY S I S

B U I L D I N G A N A LY S I S

CLUSTER ARRANGEMENTS

T Y P I C A L F L AT L AYO U T

Each community is separated in to clusters

Each apartment is single aspect. 50% of apartments view on to the central gardens.

Standard apartments at the time averaged 30m.sq. and housed 6-10 tenants. In contrast Karl Marx Hoff apartments ranged from 30 -60m.sq.

The UK minimum standard for a studio apartment for 1 person is 39m.sq.

Karl Marx Hoff improved the standards at the time dramatically, but the were still well below the minimum standards accepted today.

VERTICAL CORES

APARTMENT LUXURIES

The clusters are further sub divided around vertical cores which provide access to the upper floors. Typically these provide access to 20 units.

The apartments provided more space and luxuries over the standard living accommodation of the time. Apartments had access to their own private terraces. Together with private toilet facilities.

Kitchen Bedroom

Living

Bedroom

Living

Bedroom

WC

Typically the vertical cores provided access to 20 units.

The apartments offered luxuries and more floor space than the alternatives available at the time. To maximise usable space in the apartments to dedicated circulation space was kept to a minimum through shrewd space planning.

TYPICAL APARTMENT CLUSTER

C I R C U L AT I O N

Each stair provides access to 4 apartments at each floor.

A downfall of the limited space planning means the to access some room required access through another, modern day building regs term this use as inner rooms and is not acceptable in under part B.

Living

Bedroom

Living

Bedroom

Kitchen WC

WC

Terrace

Terrace

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Terrace

C I R C U L AT I O N

WC

Kitchen

WC

VERTICAL CORES

Kitchen

WC

WC Terrace

The kitchen in some of the apartments is used as a thoroughfare for the toilet which is not ideal. One must bear in mind the living conditions at the time. Compared to the alternative of the day the layout provides far superior living accommodation.

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A Typology P A RTypology TME _Karl _Karl Marx Hof Marx_Apartment Hof _Apartment

NT TYPOLOGY

APARTMENT TYPOLOGY 0.72 %0.72 % 0.43 %0.43 1.15 % % 1.15 % 6.36 %6.36 % 6.72 %6.72 %

9.00 %9.00 % Kitchen Kitchen + Room ++ Room Chamber + Chamber

48 sq m 48 sq m

Kitchen Kitchen + Room ++ Room 2xChamber + 2xChamber

56 sq m 56 sq m

Kitchen Kitchen + Room ++ Room Chamber + Chamber

54.12 % 54.12 %

One bedroom One bedroom flat flat

9.84 %9.84 %

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Kitchen Kitchen + Room + Room

56 sq m 56 sq m

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48 sq m 48 sq m

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Kitchen Kitchen + Room ++ Room Chamber + Chamber

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68 sq m 68 sq m

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Kitchen Kitchen + Room ++ Room Chamber + Chamber

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10 x 140 = 1,400

10 x 140 = 1,400

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58 sq m 58 sq m

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886.36% 6.36% 125 9.04% 9.04% 38-45 sq38-45 m sq m 748 54.12% 54.12% 45-58 sq45-58 m sq m 159 11.50% 11.50% 136 9.84% 9.84% 56-68 sq56-68 m sq m 936.72% 6.72% 161.15% 1.15% 60.43% 0.43% 100.72% 0.72% 10.07% 0.07% 6

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Single Room Single Room 88 Kitchen +Kitchen Room + Room 125 Kitchen +Kitchen Room ++ Chamber Room + Chamber 748 Kitchen +Kitchen 2xRoom+ 2xRoom 159 Kitchen +Kitchen Room ++ 2xChamber Room + 2xChamber 136 Kitchen +Kitchen 2xRoom+ +2xRoom 2xChamber + 2xChamber 93 Kitchen +Kitchen 3xRoom+ 3xRoom 16 Kitchen +Kitchen 2xRoom+ +2xRoom 2xChamber + 2xChamber 6 Kitchen +Kitchen 3xRoom+ +3xRoom 2xChamber + 2xChamber 10 Kitchen +Kitchen 3xRoom+ +3xRoom 3xChamber + 3xChamber 1

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10 x 140 = 1,400

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10 x 140 = 1,400

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10 x 140 = 1,400

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11.50 %11.50 %

45 sq m 45 sq m

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H A B R A K E N - L AYO U T

HABRAKEN - GENERAL

When designing the apartments Karl Ehn looked at the privacy barriers for the residents. Locked entrances to the stair cores is the first barrier passed only the residents. The second privacy barrier is the corridor, where a passing neighbour could look in, but not further. The third barrier is the living room, where guests can interact in social activities, but not to pass to the last, private space – the bedroom, where seclusion for any social convention and rest takes place. Though the apartments are single aspect natural light is provided for each room, except the corridor and in the original layout – the bathroom.

E X T E R N A L & L AYO U T Terraces – people have moulded their environments to suit what they aspire for in such circumstances and applied their of stylistic touches of what was a very utilitarian form of architecture The physical – rooms are laid out to provide the most functional arrangement and obtain plenty of natural daylight and exposure to fresh air. The outlook provided to residents is much more open than of the housing the developments of red Vienna replaced.

Green grass – not like city. Perimeter buildings acted as barrier (including sound barrier)

S PAT I A L

MACHINE The machine is common through out the development. With so many apartments good circulation throughout is crucial. Communities have been formed around these staircases, delivering people to the threshold of their private space.

The machines within the dwellings are the toilets and kitchens which upon its construction were revolutionary for the working class. They would have provided many moments of relief and gratitude.

The physical system is expressed through shaping the rooms. As typical more space is provided for living room for any family or social activities to take place. The walls are made of brick and plaster. It is hard to tell the initial colour or decoration, but as most apartments are now renovated by the inhabitants the last layer of finishes differ from wall papers, paint or even timber planks.

STYLISTIC The aesthetic qualities of the KMH are a symbol for the collective not just an individual.

PHYSICAL

The arches represent the people’s dream of living somewhere of purpose, not just the designer’s vision. There are several stylistic elements to the scheme, the main bulky façade is symbolic of the working class, it almost gave them a voice and a vehicle to remind the bourgeois they are just as, if not more, important to the City as they are. The symbol of power and strength summed up the tough working class citizens.

Although Karl Ehn was highly influenced by his teacher Otto Wagner, who encouraged function over decoration, he still expressed his decoration on the elevations through carefully positioned windows of different sizes and shapes, expressing the monumental arrangement of balconies exceeding the roof level in height. The circulation cores were celebrated through semi-circular staircases and monumental column support that has since changed to more lightweight decorative handrails lifts to support the modern living requirements. Inside the apartments instead of doors to celebrate the transition Karl Ehn used the arched voids in the wall.

The red highlights key elements of the Karl Marx Hof that could be read in-line with The Three Orders & Type as a social agreement

STYLISTIC

Public Threshold

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The main arches could be described as a physical system as well as stylistic, even machinic. They are very apparent but their function may not be as obvious to all. They give great penetration to the site in a key location, opposite the train station.

And allow the flow through to other part of the city. Apart from the size of the building, there is a day to day recognition of the KMH

Private - Seclusion Zone

Social - Family Zone

Nowadays the dream is possibly living at such a landmark within the city, a landmark generated because of its stylistic properties and what it has represented for many years.

Transition Zone

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SITE AXO

THRESHOLDS

SITE AXO / THRESHOLDS This drawings gives an overview of the site with a little more clarity. Key thresholds are highlighted as to the varying access points in to the building that play key parts of how the residents interact with the building and each other on a daily basis.

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S TA I R W E L L 3 - I N T E R N A L The stairwells (or machines) of the Karl Marx Hof are interesting as its clear to see with many of the thresholds leading off the stairwell where there is a obvious switch between communal and private space. These thresholds are decorated and are personalised to the occupants behind the divide. Before you enter the apartments you build a preconception of how the individual may be before meeting them.

GSEducationalVersion

S TA I R W E L L 3 W A L KT H R O U G H https://youtu.be/HwqUkrqbfHQ

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S TA I R W E L L 8 5 - I N T E R N A L This personalisation can be described as the stylistic system of the apartment, displaying the dreams of the occupant, albeit on a small scale. People are making the space their own and are trying to express their personalities via the entrances. Very few didn’t have a form of decoration. Interestingly, further to this decoration, there is evidence of how some apartments have been altered and thresholds have been blocked up or doorways moved.

GSEducationalVersion

S TA I R W E L L 8 5 W A L KT H R O U G H https://youtu.be/sp6hzki02dU

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COMPARISON How do other large scale housing complexes from a similar era compare? The Karl Marx Hof was used as a model for other countries and 2 additional developments of a similar scale include the Quarry Hills Flats in Leeds and the Cite de la Muette in Paris. All 3 have different success stories with Quarry hills being demolished in 1978 and the evolution of Cite de la Muette being disrupted during the war and part demolished in 1976. These below are the footprints of the initial developments to a comparable scale

_Karl Marx Hof

_Cite de la Muette

_Quarry Hills Flats

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Q U A R RY H I L L S F L AT S , L E E D S

Q U A R RY H I L L S F L AT S , L E E D S

Designer: Jenkinson & Livett Built: 1938 (completed 1941) Site Area: 145,685 No. of Apartments: 938 No. of Occupants: 3,000 Total Length: 450m Density: 65 units per Ha / 207 people per Ha Demolished: 1978 Quarry Hills was designed after a delegation visit to Karl Marx Hof which offered scale, economy and community and class consciousness dignifying working class lives The flats contained living rooms, scullery, bathrooms and 1-5 bedrooms. A balcony and a window box. 88 lifts, the first municipal scheme to do so It embraced pre-fab construction, notably the Mopin method. Light steel frame with pre-cast concrete elements forming the floors and walls The initial intentions were to provide indoor and outdoor pools, 20 shops, community hall, courtyards, gardens, play areas, nursery, laundry, even a mortuary. Included waste disposal system called the Garchery More money was spent on the pre fab than expected as unskilled labour. poor construction led to ongoing repairs and monies were used that assumedly were to be spent on the above amenities. Many failed to materialise e.g.. only 4 shops were built It was described as a pale shadow of the original dream but there was a mixture of emotions relating to Quarry Hills, some looked back fondly and a great community spirit, some look back and hated the vandalism and groups of young

Designer: Marcel Lods & Eugene Beaudouin Built: 1936 Site Area: 110,000 Site Coverage: ??TBC??

No. of Apartments: 1250 Total Length: 200x400m Density: 113 units per Ha Part Demolished: 1976s, loss of 650 units Pre-fabrication system designed and incorporated by engineer Eugene Mopin La CitĂŠ de la Muette comprised five sixteen-story towers connecting three and four-story slabs called peignes, or combs, creating long narrow courtyards extending southward from the towers.

At the western end of the complex was a large U-shaped courtyard block opening towards the south. This block was a five-story version of the peignes containing apartments, shops and community spaces along the ground floor with access points around the courtyard. The courtyard was designated for use as playing fields and two schools to the west were part of the overall plan Not long after it was opened its use changed dramatically and tragically, the U shaped block was requisitioned and turned in to an internment camp for Jews during the war. Liberated August 1944 Remained empty after the war until sold to the Army in 1973 and used as barracks. Much damage occurred and the decision was made to demolish in 1976 except U shape block It has since been renovated and is now used as housing

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MODEL

MODEL

Overview image above of the model with close-ups below, showing the machinic elements of the stairwell and access to individual apartments.

The structure and physical system is also clearly modelled to display the solid structural integrity of the building

Smaller scale models were produced in the outset to gain an initial understanding of not only the intricacies of the building but the enormity of it. From forming these small scale models it encouraged us to study the building and familiarise ourselves with it and form a firm base to push on with our studies of the building.

The larger scale plaster model helps break down the communal elements and displays the vertical movement within and the horizontal movement externally. The materials used give the model a quality, representative of the render used on the building itself, and a weight to it that is also significant in terms of what the Karl Marx Hof represents and its iconic appearance.

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WASCHSALON

KARL MARX HOF MUSEUM

All images are from the museum

The museum situated in the old washroom at The Karl Marx Hof was an extremely informative place to visit on our trip to Vienna. There was a lot of discussion about the history of `Red Vienna` and the history of social housing between the Wars, the politics endured in Vienna and the history and development of the Karl Marx Hof itself.

Even though there were no set rules for the design of the social housing schemes, there was one important rule – before schemes used to have 20% green space but the government demanded over 50%-60% free space for all gemeindenbauten and for Karl Marx Hof it’s 80% which is one the largest of its time.

In terms of the usage of green space for Karl Max Hof today it isn’t used as much as because of the residents using their balconies and there aren’t that many children as before and there aren’t that many families with children living in the scheme, more the older generation and young people.

At the moment there are 1250 apartments which have seen the original number reduced through modifications to each flat. Rental for flats is based on floor areas. The apartments are very flexible so you can take down walls – extend the kitchen or bathroom and there is a 1-2 years waiting list.

2/3 of the complex have balconies - 19sqm – generous space KMH Rent - 5% - 20% on average on working class income goes towards rent – the city has never made any profit for the schemes and each municipal housing need to self-sufficient and finance itself as the government don’t want to upkeep it but the rent costs have never risen since being built.

Price per square metre: 9/9.50e per sqm in the Gemeindebauten and in the Open Market its 15e per sqm – but it’s changing rents are twice the inflation rate and the gemeindebauten can’t go above inflation - hence the need for more social housing due to population increase

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MARGARETENGURTEL

LEOPOLDINE-GLOCKEL HOF External view of Leopoldine-Glockel-Hof (top & middle)

GEMEINDEN IN MARGARETENGüRTEL Between 1919 and 1933, ‘Red Vienna’ built a total of 382 communal residential buildings with almost 65,000 flats to provide Vienna’s working population with affordable housing. The highest concentration of these council buildings can be found along Margaretengürtel, on what is known as the ‘Ringstrasse of the proletariat’. During the First Republic, more than 20 buildings rose around Reumannhof, some of them monumental architectural statements reflecting Vienna’s new balance of power.

Franz-Domes-Hof

Eduard-Leisching-Hof

Panoramic view of internal court of Leopoldine-Glockel-Hof

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WERKBUNDSIEDLUNG

JOSEPH FRANK

JOSEPH FRANK Eve Blau ‘Isotype in red Vienna: The Modern Projects of Otto Neurath and Josef Frank’ Eve Blau in the article ‘Isotype in red Vienna: The Modern Projects of Otto Neurath and Josef Frank’ describe the connection “…between the contemporary modernizing projects of Otto Neurath and Josef Frank, Between Neurath’s didactic International Pictures Language and Franks critic-architectural practice…”. They have concerned themselves with interactions between modern architecture, the philosophy of science, and social and design theory during the inter-war decades. Their task was to express the facts of modern life representing the historical moment.

Josef Frank was an Austrian-born architect, artist, and designer. He is now called “the great humanist in modern architecture and design,” according to Christoph Thun-Hohenstein the director of Austrian Museum of Applied Arts.

Werkbundseiglng was a model estate for ‘the Modern way of Living”. and was built between 1930 and 1932. Werkbundsiedlung became the most important architectural statement of modernism in Vienna.

flats that the country was building at the time.

Initiated and artistically directed by Josef Frank it included 70 single family homes with 33 Architects being involved in the project such as Hugo Haring, Richard Bauer, Josef Hoffman, Jacques Groag and Max Fellerer. It was built only after a second attempt due to site and funding changes. After two years the original plan has shifted around locating

This collection of model houses were positioned to suit visitors rather than to meet site constraints and included detached, duplexes and rows of houses. Even with the ideas of ‘growing home’ where residents could built extra stories on top – a model unheard of before. Unfortunately this collection of dwellings was deemed too expensive for the targeted market and so although great houses with character in their own right and are now listed, they were not replicated.

The site was to become a catalogue of housing, which could be built on the proposed design elsewhere and was intended to demonstrate new solutions in the field of compact housing design opposed to the typical

Although intended as a model estate, it was completed at a time when the political and economic crisis in Austria precluded it having any influence on future developments in architecture.

Josef Frank had a different understanding of architecture; he claimed that “The house is not a work of art, simply a place where one lives”.

He was also against standardisation. He carefully studied light inside rooms and created spaces unifying the purpose so that the home owners could occupy themselves.

He became part of the settler’s movement and after World War I in Vienna he was campaign for good quality affordable housing for the working class. One of such housing models is analysed later in the booklet by other architect.

Having been the only Austrian to contribute a house to the Stuttgart Werkbund Estate in 1927, Frank became the initiator and artistic director of the Vienna Werkbund Estate. He has designed and carefully furnished a detached house number 12.

“Frank was interested in liveability, and the idea of a humanistic architecture that grew with its inhabitants,” said Ilse Crawford, a British interior designer.

Josef Franks ideas fall very closely to the studio agenda to provide good quality affordable homes.

“We know that a vital aim of a modern civilisation should be to provide everybody with a decent apartment. That is why we want to integrate simplicity and practicality into beauty. We want to contribute to establish through the way of housing a common art of thinking and a common culture from which alone a higher development of mankind will be possible.” (Josef Frank, Katalog zur Werkbundausstellung, Vienna 1932) “ P e o p le s ay t hat p r e v i o u s er as w er e p a thetic. But there cannot be a more pat h eti c er a t ha n o u r s . E v er y u n s u r p ass a b l e s i m p l i c it y i s p a t h e t i c , t o w a n t t o make everything the same, to want to orga n is e e v er y t hi n g , to c r a m pe o p le i n to o n e b i g ho m o ge n e o u s m ass . ” - J o s e p h F r a n k 1 9 3 0

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V I E N N A T O D AY INTRODUCTION Once the War was over, the reconstruction effort began, and in 1947 the City of Vienna resumed its housing programme with the building of the Per-Albin-Hansson Estate (the concrete for which was made from recycled brick rubble). It was swiftly followed by a multitude of smaller complexes, and subsequently in the 1960s by the pre-fabricated high-rise developments typical of this period like the Großfeld Estate, the aim being to construct as much affordable housing as possible in as short a time as possible. 1969 witnessed the completion of the 100,000th flat since the end of World War Two. In the 1970s and 1980s, the immediate housing shortage having been alleviated, the City of Vienna primarily devoted itself to urban renewal and housing refurbishment schemes. Then, in the 1990s, the demand for housing began to rise again, driven by the growth in single-person households, a new wave of immigration and ever-increasing expectations in terms of living standards; in response, a new housing offensive was launched. The last municipal housing complex for which Vienna City Council acted as building contractor, at Rößlergasse no. 15, was completed in 2004. That year, the city‘s entire subsidised housing construction programme was outsourced to non-profit housing associations and cooperatives. Today, one in four Viennese citizens lives in one of the city‘s 1,800 or more municipal housing com-Hasenleitenhof, 11th district plexes.

Vienna’s tradition and continuity with regard to social housing policies are unique. Since the 1920s the Austrian capital has implemented one of the worlds largest housing public housing programs. Today 62% of all households live in subsidized housing, and the city itself owns 220,000 rental units - about 25% of the total housing stock. A further 200,000 affordable rental housing units are owned by limitedprofit housing associations.

Housing has strongly contributed to making Vienna the city with the highest quality of life, according to global rankings.

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THE VIENNA MODEL

THE VIENNA MODEL The book is broken down in to 10 main chapters which break down key principles that are sought within new and existing social housing schemes.

C O N T I N U I T Y A N D I N N O V AT I O N In order to overcome the terrible housing conditions during the 1920s , more than 65,000 low cost apartments were built in large housing estates. This social housing program came to an end after the civil war and fascist coup d’etat in 1934. The city immediately restarted it in 1945, albeit seldom achieving similar high architectural qualities of the 1920s, with up to 10,000 units built annually. The critique of these monotonous prefab blocks led to more adventurous architectural creations during the 1970s, all adapting to new societal challenges.

The city introduced developer competitions, after a wave of immigration in 1989, which adopted the innovative four pillar system and meant that each subsidised housing scheme was judged against four sets of criteria; social sustainability, planning, ecology and costs.

Residents participation is a huge part of new social housing schemes for both planning and management and the types of housing vary from 1 to 5 bedroom units, co-housing or assisted housing that reflect demographic changes and lifestyle choices.

SOCIAL MIXING The city of Vienna has always sought to contribute to social integration and quality of urban life within its housing policies. New housing projects are undertaken with particular focus on mixing subsidy models intended for a variety of target groups. High architectural standards that draw minimal attention to material differences prevent the visible stigmatisation of residents. The result is a social cohesion and high quality housing that benefits everyone.

Vienna is at the forefront of the implementation of forward thinking urban developments and ways of living. Building on urbanistic and social aspects, Vienna has not only constructed new projects with distinctive qualities throughout the city but also founded and revitalised entire quarters.

The their historical roots in “Red Vienna”, these concepts signal dynamic opportunities to enhance the quality of life in a contemporary metropolis by creating model living environments. This book presents the city’s achievements including numerous projects which have been built over the last 100 years with a focus on public art which has complimented the cities housing since the first republic.

Housing standards and the quality of construction have continually improved due top an innovative system of developer competitions, which are based on an innovative “four pillar model” combining architectural. Ecological, and social qualities while remaining affordable for everybody and guaranteeing a functioning and social mix in all housing areas.

Social sustainability is currently a prominent pillar and includes such goals as social mix, `living together` i.e. indoor and outdoor spaces for communication and community-building processes, the flexibility to cope with an increasingly diverse society with varying types of households, adaptability and special needs, multi-generational living, and the integration of immigrants. These considerations are outside the expected architectural, ecological and financial aspects commonly associated with social housing schemes. In recent years, the Vienna model has had to face up to new challenges including the rapid growth of the city, financial crisis, aging population, requirements of climate protection, increased immigration and refugees.

Further to these more modern approaches, Vienna has resisted any temptation to privatise its public housing stock which has the tendency to create housing shortages and social segregation.

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DEVELOPING NEW URBAN AREAS The citywide development plan is reviewed and adopted every ten years. The plan forms a basis for competitions of new subsidised estates, all judged on the four pillar system, designed to avoid the compromises of market orientated approaches.

D I V E R S I T Y A N D I N N O V AT I O N Vienna is experiencing many profound demographic changes whose manifestations include immigration-driven growth, and aging population and new lifestyles. More than a 3rd of today’s populations is foreign born. This has caused new construction to target the integration of “different” and new lifestyles in subsidised housing projects. This requires new forms of multi-generational housing and provision of social services in the immediate vicinity. In addition to this new housing must accommodate the needs of people with special needs, social disadvantage new poverty and homelessness. Architecturally flexible projects are supported to facilitate these rapid changes C I T I Z E N PA R T I C I PAT I O N Local Area Renewal Offices are commissioned to integrate the local population into processes of are development. They serve as easily accessible information centres, foster new participatory approaches, organise residents workshops and cooperate with schools and cultural initiatives. In municipal housing estates the goal of Wohnpartner is to work together with the residents to strengthen and improve their sense of neighbourhood community, their satisfaction with the housing they live in and their overall quality of life.

C L I M AT E A N D E N V I R O N M E N TA L P R O T E C T I O N Building codes and housing subsidies influence both the buildings themselves and their construction process. These compulsory requirements are laid down in the competition process for projects providing better than mandatory thermal qualities. Additional ecological measures include rainwater and gray-water re-cycling as well as the inclusion of solar and wind energy.

USE AND DESIGN OF PUBLIC SPACES Access to urban space is a key consideration on the design and layout of new city-subsidised housing projects. User friendly indoor and outdoor spaces are encouraged which encourage communication, tolerance and a diversity of interactions. Public art is actively encouraged which are intended as more than just decoration.

DEVELOPING EXISTING HOUSING STOCK Vienna’s UDP is based on the concept of sustainability and encourages the creation of a walk-able, compact city. This `city of short distances` provides immediate access to public infrastructure for all citizens, reduces traffic, supports the use of public space, an secures valuable green areas. The remaining open space in or ear the city are largely brownfield sites that are prepared for high density housing. Further to this, the local authority subsidises renovation of old buildings and conversion of attic space all over the city and increase the efficiency of land use.

BUILDING ON THE OUTSKIRTS On the outskirts of the city - where space transitions into unbuilt space - subsidised construction projects are confronted with very specific challenges; here, deep-rooted structures, some of them still quite village like, encounter areas where the city is undergoing massive expansion; such transitions require special attention and care. With the help of architecturally creative solutions, vertically orientated development approaches can generate the housing density necessary for a good public transport network without losing sight of affordability.

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IN THE END

The exhibition “In the End: Architecture Journeys through Time 1959 – 2019”

In the End - sixty years of international architectural history. Starting with the dissolution of CIAM, which proclaimed the “failure” of the modern movement in 1959 and plunged architecture into a profound crisis, the exhibition meanders through history, making stops where Dietmar Steiner underwent his own personal architectural socialisation process: via stations dedicated to critiquing Functionalism, soft urban renewal, New Urbanism and the revision of the modern project, signature architecture, the bottom-up movement and big business.

We journey through time to the year 2019, where the cult film Blade Runner has a magnificently bleak backdrop of Los Angeles in the future. a_show - Austrian Architecture in the 20th and 21st Centuries -a permanent showcase for the cultural identity of the nation, and presenting 150 years of domestic architecture history

A_show - Austrian Architecture in the 20th and 21st Centuries -a permanent showcase for the cultural identity of the nation, and presenting 150 years of domestic architecture history

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KARL MARX HOF - PRESENT

Density of the Karl Marx Hof

Rental prices dependant on floor area The Karl Marx Hof has evolved over time to suit the needs of its population.

The ability to adapt the living spaces within this social housing structure perhaps explain why it has been such a successful building.

The density is now lower due to the number of apartments decreasing through expansion of others.

As a sign of the times, an underground car park was constructed to allow for increased reliance for the motor vehicle. This was located underneath the main landscaped area in front of the main facade. The provisions for parking would still be less than a normal private development. The underground parking maintained the high proportions of open space provided by the KMH $31 million was spent in the 1990’s to upgrade the building and bring it up to a more modern standard.

The KMH may or may not have been designed with adaptability in mind but has proven to maintain its success through its ability to do so. What was then considered modern forms of construction may have helped to provide this framework in which there is opportunities to re-configure.

Rental prices dependant on floor area

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STEP 2025 G E N E R A L S TAT I S T I C S 25% of the housing in Vienna are Gemeindenbauten, housing approximately 1/3rd of the population.

City of Vienna is using the same amount of money for social housing scheme as the whole of Germany.

Overall red Vienna is viewed positively, the Social Democratic party are still winning elections and this topic is a strong vote winner.

In contrast to England, it would extremely contentious if the city of Vienna started to privatise municipal housing.

There is a lot of migration in Vienna because there is a better social net due to it’s a social housing scheme but also the city is international – Vienna is the social, economical and political heart of Austria - 8 million habitants and 2 million in Austria W H AT I S S T E P 2 0 2 5 ?

The future is a matter of planning. A large city will always face many challenges. Vienna claims to distinguish itself from other cities, especially insofar as the challenges of the future are identified, analysed as well as deemed to be tackled appropriately in the present. The instrument used to perform this task is the Urban Development Plan (Stadtentwicklungsplan, abbreviated as “STEP”).

Vienna has clear strategies in place for future development and quite rightly consider forward-looking planning as being vital, especially with regard to mobility and the real estate sector - two only seemingly conflicting areas. Vienna is one of Europe’s fastest growing cities and based on current data, Vienna will grow by 250,000 to 300,000 inhabitants by 2025. This plan is reviewed periodically with the previous being Step 2005.

The task for the future which Vienna is facing an acting upon now is to create adequate living space, jobs as well as infrastructure to ensure local supplies, education and recreation. “Adequate” does not only mean appropriate in quantitative terms but also adjusted to the needs of a city which has emerged as the most liveable city - or, in the “worst case” as one of the most liveable cities - in the world in all international rankings for many years. Hence, Vienna is also challenged in qualitative terms. 3.3 billion are invested to ensure that Vienna’s status as the most liveable city in the world can be taken for granted by the citizens in their everyday lives also in 2025. And from this perspective, an excellent foundation has been laid for Vienna’s future development.

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WOHNPROJEKT WIEN Designer: einszueins Architektur Built: 2013 Housing Group: Wohnprojekt Wien - Verin fur nachhaltiges Process: Developer competition 2010 Units: 39 Gross Floor Area: 5300m² Site Area:

4783m² (both projects including Wohnen mit scharf)

Figure ground map

Aerial photo of Nordbahnhof Under the working title “live with us!” Arose directly on Bednar Park, with good public access, a dormitory with 40 residential units.

Central to the project: a self-governing community and the idea of ​​ sustainability continues to think and live. The project brings together different generations, languages, cultures and professions under one roof. The housing project Wien is a pilot project for a new way of living in Vienna: warm, beyond dogmas, open to new ideas.

The architecture supports the community as well as the individuality. The structural system allows an individual planning units. The central circulation area with airspaces ensures spontaneous communication. The heart of the project are the many common areas, such as kitchen, multi-purpose hall, workshops or music room. The attic belongs to all and is equipped with a sauna, library, roof garden and guest apartments the quiet zone of the Community. The commercial space on the ground floor apartment allow working close and revitalize the environment.

Participatory apartment planning and extensive common areas; Resource-efficient building materials and low Heiwärmebedarf and living and working under one roof. Vehicle-sharing with electric vehicles, time exchange systems, a weekly market in the forecourt, vegetable gardens and communal property, are further contributions to sustainability. This concept has also convinced other - the residential project Wien was awarded the Environmental Award 2012 of the City of Vienna.

Floorplans

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WOHNPROJEKT WIEN

WOHNPROJEKT WIEN H A R B R A K E N & M O O R E AT A G L A N C E

balconies overlooking the adjacent open space extremely desirable

the machine within the core of the building

Interior - highlighting the interaction between spaces INTERNAL The spaces within the residential units have the ability to be sub-divide using temporary methods such as the curtain shown to alter and re-arrange the physical system to suit.

Glazed divisions and voids between rooms provide an airy volume and gives visual links between the communal spaces encouraging interaction between dwellers. This is in contrast to standard practice and could be considered as part of the physical system

An array of images displaying the aesthetic qualities, the adaptability of the internal spaces, the communal kitchens and both physical and visual points of interaction across the development

good quality design and functional faรงades

EXTERNAL The sustainable aesthetic of the external appearance is one of possibly dreams. The building represents a clean living and that thought can make people happy and proud of their surroundings. This is important as it contributes to the success and longevity of the developments. The slight irregularity of the balconies and cladding treatment disguise the functional nature of the building SECTION The communal corridor distributes residents throughout the building and encourages communication between residents.

Light wells and recesses provide light to this machinic element and creates a pleasant environment that facilitates opportunities to stop, converse and interact.

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WOHEN MIT SCHARF

WOHEN MIT SCHARF

Designer: Superblock + Built: 2014 Developer: Schwarzatal - Gemeinnutzige Wohnungs Process: Developer competition Units: 51 Gross Floor Area: 5292m² Site Area:

4783m² (both projects)

Figure ground map

Aerial photo of Nordbahnhof The positioning along the roads causes a clear spatial definition of the building block. The interiors remains completely undeveloped and offers a lot of freedom for the design of a shared Hofgarten. The oriented to the adjacent Bednarpark space acts as a link between the two residential buildings and provides space for meetings and exchanges.

The 51 units of the component with sizes of 50-120 square meters and various plan designs are designed for residents with different needs. In particular, young people, or New Vienna to be favoured by the low capital costs of collection.

An array of images displaying the functional and adaptable internal spaces and the corridors that aid interaction across floors floorplans

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WOHEN MIT SCHARF H A R B R A K E N & M O O R E AT A G L A N C E

INTERNAL The opportunities for individuals to dress up and create their own space is provided to most apartments. This building hasn’t let the physical system dictate the spatial system of what you would traditionally expect in this scenario. There are spaces that share the same volume that allow occupants to live communally and interact regularly but also areas of retreat that allow quieter times. The apartments seem to be set up to allow occupants to decorate as they see fit , to enhance and tailor the stylistic system to their taste.

Interior - highlighting the shared volumes of rooms

The volume of light obtained in to apartments is considerable and can contribute to the moods of individuals and offer a healthier living environment.

EXTERNAL The modern external appearance of the building and clean forms of the interior space can contribute to the stylistic system which make people happy and proud to dwell there.

Without being derogatory to the aspirations of the occupants, the situation they find themselves and opportunities available to them that you would expect of someone dependant upon social housing, the character of this building offers the dream and stylistic element.

SECTION The communal corridor is central to the development and delivers people to their personal thresholds. There are stairways within dwellings to provide a more open feel of living. This machine process creates many opportunities for people to interact, on multiple levels. Higher up, the corridor recedes and provides balcony arrangements that give people glimpses of what is happening elsewhere and across multiple levels.

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Section through the building showing the stairwell and its arrangement across levels

K E Y C O N S I D E R AT I O N S C I T I Z E N PA R T I C I PAT I O N It is something that has evidently changed throughout time in Vienna as during the inter-war social housing boom the working class wouldn’t have had the voice that they would have today.

Many social housing schemes in Vienna have undergone community processes to ensure they are involved throughout the design and development of new housing schemes. This is one key to the success of such schemes as it makes people feel more linked with the developments they live in and feel more of a connection and community spirit. If facilities are provided that the people feel are required, then they will be used rather than following outdated guidance .

MOBILITY The motor vehicle is important but to create a healthy sustainable development we need to remove the peoples dependence on it. If great links are provided to facilities and public transport people should be more encouraged to walk. This not only contributes to peoples health and well being but reduces carbon emissions and enhances their surroundings.

Less hard landscaping would be more desirable and also help the ecology of the site.

OPEN SPACE A key factor of the success of the Karl Marx Hof has witnessed can be due to the 80% open space to development ratio. Giving people the space to enjoy helps enhance their lifestyle and provides one of many zones for communal interaction. If people have nice space to relate to then the will help reinforce the community spirit of the locale.

COMMONS People need to feel a connection and responsibility for the places they live in, Having communal systems, common space and infrastructure in place will create a forward thinking sustainable community where people will benefit in many ways whether it be financially, socially, intellectually or environmentally.

FRAMEWORK The Karl Marx Hof has displayed a significant degree of resilience over time and has provided the ability to adapt to more modern methods of living. If a framework is provided for which new housing can be built in to, future demands can be accommodated.

With the influx of different nationalities and varied lifestyles it is important to consider that the space provided meets the requirements of those who are destined to live within it.

FINANCIAL MODEL This needs to adequately support the housing. Vienna’s social housing isn’t funded by the municipality but other financial models are in place such as housing associations with developers who work for minimal profit.

Considerations need to be made for how a commons led approach to housing can be funded. This could be through community land trusts or through the use of government subsidies, perhaps creating other infrastructure to pay help contribute to pay for a housing element.

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W O LV E R H A M P T O N

BILSTON INTRODUCTION Bilston is situated near Wolverhampton in the Midlands and has been subjected to huge industrial processes over time including mining of its natural resources. The landscape is a scarred one, littered with traces of its history.

The site subject to the Studio Plastic treatment is to the south of the main high street with many planning proposals being put forward in recent years, only few coming to fruition. The nature of the terrain is such that due to its history, it need remediation that doesn’t seem to suit a typical housing developer in terms of both the financial investment required and the processes involved.

Wolverhampton City Council however suggest that the site to represents a real opportunity to create 21st century development which can bring about transformational change, even in challenging economic times.

This section will look at the site and its key influences on potential development that will help inform our Design Code that could suggest this transformational change, although perhaps not how WCC envisage it.

BILSTON

SITE

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SITE

SITE BROOK

COLLEGE

LEISURE CENTRE

TOWN CENTRE

B A

KEY PLAN

A - view North from the centre of the site

MORRISONS

H O U S I N G - S TAT I O N R D

TRAM LINK

TRACES OF INDUSTRIAL PAST

NEW HOUSING

B - view adjacent to eastern boundary

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TIME TRAVELLERS to the north-south being impeded by trees, whilst old railway tracks also ran east-west. The proposed field within the scheme reflect these traces and flow in an east-west pattern across the site. A `menu` of housing fields were proposed in the competition, each with their own building type within, giving an almost patchwork quality quite like a `agrarian landscape`.

T R E A D I N G G E N T LY Beigel + ARU were very aware that there were also existing qualities that they didn’t want to lose or design out of the landscape. `There is a certain enigma of place, a sense of mystery. It is fragile and threatened – a place where one should tread gently`. Sites such as Lichterfelde Sud can be so resonant (continuing to reinforce or prolong).

The focus for this text is a disused site, formerly a US military base during the Cold War, in Lichterfelde Sud on the southern fringes of Berlin, Germany. Florian Beigel & Architecture Research Unit of London Metropolitan University won first prize in 1998 in an international landscape and urban design competition with a brief for 3200 houses and apartments. They discuss about creating `landscape infrastructures` a `framework for diverse urban development to happen over time` in an environment that has signs of previous purpose and order to which the site is no longer subject.

There is an awareness from a generation of post war German people of `objects` and architecture being used to present institutions . An alternative is cause an object to disappear to become the topography with another to create a void instead of an object. There is an insistence that space is the essence of architecture, not object. Voids, inbetweeness or openness. The design intent of the competition entry is that even if developed as fully intended, there will be no dominant object (or objects), What is built is always threaded between open space.

TIME TRAVELLERS W AT E R S E D G E One particular housing field features `stitch` buildings. These run northsouth opposed to the prevailing east-west, reinforcing the connective idea of tapestry and seen as a solid block of building mass that is cut out into positive shapes for the voids.

The site is profoundly post-industrial in character, in a region dominated by open pit coal mining. Excavation had taken place over 80 years or more, greatly changing the former flat, riverine, agricultural landscape.

The result of the scheme is a powerful combination of natural and artificial land forms.

G E N E R O U S N AT U R E How much change can Beigel + ARUs scheme support before its compromised? It seems this scheme may only be realised in `fits and starts` and they made it clear from the start this may be the case. When something is only part built with an apparent uncertain future, its associations can quickly become negative. The approach of this scheme is that field will be developed in turn and so a neighbourhood is created, there will be an entity. Make a field and you have a social unit, a spatial unit and a landscape unit.

SENSE OF TIME Beigal + ARU identified 5 distinct landscapes within the site; the geological; the agricultural (particularly the field patterns of the 18th century); the industrial; the military; ecological diversity. All of which have a powerful sense of time, and it’s this temporal dimension which Beigel declares is central to their project. They wanted to expose and develop the traces of history effectively intensify them. It’s these traces that generate their landscape infrastructures.

Rather than responding to the actual topography, Beigel + ARU introduce an abstract, idealised place from which they then take their cues, comparing themselves to how a farmer would appropriate the land meaning how a farmer works with the topography rather than shift a complete hillside. They seek to provide something that is less prescriptive and definitive, providing a framework flexible enough to accommodate change with the element of time being a key factor where strategies are open to new conditions and unknown future needs.

Their main concept for the scheme is for a series of landscape fields, subdividing a large proportion of the site eventually designated for housing of different types, pattern and density. How and when these field are built within depends on the demand and the state of the economy.

Beigel discusses the east-west transparency and picks up on the views

Likened to textiles, local intensities provide moments and a focus in a design, but the pattern and rhythm of the whole holds sway, or `the landscape can be seen as a tapestry – at the small scale intimate, at the larger scale communicative`.

“ Y o u c o u l d s ay w e des i g n the rug , not the picnic” – Florian Beigel

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GLOSSARY OF TERMS COMMONS The cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society; general term for shared resources where each stakeholder has an equal interest (e.g.: open-source software’s and co-housing systems) TRANSITION ZONE Areas around (but not limited to) interior boundary of the site. The purpose of the area is to encourage pedestrian or cyclist experience, draw them into the site, by proposing activities dependent on the zone.

Transition zones differ from different entrances to the site, due to the nature of surroundings. Example: the zone leading to the high street invites pedestrians with small cafés and sweet shops. The zone linking the residential areas provide a transition with soft landscaped band to provide a sense of arrival.

cohesive whole despite the variations in grade.

TRANSIT INTERFACE the point a which varied transport mediums merge/intersect/cross – Bus stops, road crossings [Habitable] WALLS dwellings that form barriers, an extension of the engineered edge wall in form and function, penetrations are purposeful and small in relation to the whole

ENGINEERED EDGE Hard landscape separating different zones. Machine infrastructure of the site. Services or certain types of delivery infrastructure happen towards the center of the site to bring in goods, people or systems.

SOFT EDGE soft landscape separating different zones. Citizen movement edges LANDSCAPE INFRASTRUCTURES framework for diverse urban development TRACES a barely discernible indication of something (history) LANDSCAPE FIELDS subdivision of larger site and are eventually designated for housing of different types - (aka character areas) VOID (evolving city typology) inbetweeness, openess; there is not dominant object, but what is built is always threaded among open space; RESONANT underlying or historical conditions that can be brought forward or prolonged THREAD strands i.e. what is built is threaded through open space LOCAL INTENSITIES providing moments of focus URBAN STITCHES connecting the existing with the new TERRIAN VAGUE historical condition to the site such as the where the furnaces used to be a reminder of industrial heritage TA P E S T RY The landscape can be seen as a tapestry - at the small scale intimate, at the larger scale communative’ HUB CITY [Village] a strategic arrangement that gives importance to place based on which transport, supply, or information networks come together or intersect.

C U LT U R A L I N T E R V E N T I O N strategic points on our site where art can be deployed to enhance the public realm.

UNSTRUCTUREDNESS the neglect on the site that has allowed nature to thrive.

NORTH SOUTH TRANSPARENCY the ability to travel through the site from top to bottom G R E E N M AT R I X the collection of open space which acts to bind the development as a

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AGE GROUPS

HOUSING STOCK

H O U S I N G A P P L I C AT I O N S BY A G E G R O U P

BILSTON COUNCIL HOUSING STOCK BY TYPE

41.24%

3 Bedroom Houses

51.48%

Council Housing Data (FOI-2013) _ Bilston Council Housing Stock by Type

18-34

Council Housing Data (FOI-2013) _ Wolverhampton CC Housing Applications by Age Group

51.48% 18-34

41.24%

pton CC Housing Applications by Age Group

3 Bedroom Houses

Council Housing Data (FOI-2013) _ Bilston Council Housing Stock by Type

Council Housing Data (FOI-2013) _ Wolverhampton CC Housing Applications by Age Group

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Council Housing Data (FOI-2013) _ Bilston Council Housing Stock by Type

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HOUSING STOCK CHARTS

REGIONAL WAGES

BILSTON COUNCIL HOUSING STOCK BY TYPE

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PROPERTY VALUES

URBAN DEVELOPMENT PLAN

The Bilston Urban Village SPD set out the vision the City Council and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) have for the site over a 10 year period that aims to build on the significant investment that has already been made through the adjacent Leisure centre and Academy.

In brief, the objectives of this SPD are as follows: • To set out in an unambiguous way the vision for the site • To provide an over arching context in which future planning applications for development will be determined • To identify the principal opportunities and constraints which exist • To provide information on land ownership and rights affecting the site • To describe the range and scope of background information on the site which has been used to inform the preferred option for development • To demonstrate that there are no substantive planning impediments to development and to demonstrate that the proposals will contribute to the promotion or improvement of the economic, social or environmental well-being of the area.

Bilston Urban Village has been a long standing development proposal for the City Council and remains a key component of its regeneration activity in the south east of the city with a potential impact that arguably extends over much of the Black Country.

There is a clear recognition that the site is not without its challenges, but the potential is considered to be enormous.

This Supplementary Planning Document includes, where appropriate, ideas and solutions from previous discussions and consultations with a range of organisations, agencies and community groups. It forms part of the Local Plan and is governed by a wide range of Core Strategy Policies. The Urban Village site falls within the Bilston Neighbourhood Plan, which forms part of the wider Bilston Corridor Area Action Plan.

The Black Country Core Strategy forms part of the Local Plan for Wolverhampton, together with saved policies from the Wolverhampton Unitary Development Plan (UDP) and sets out how the Black Country should look in 2026. It establishes clear directions in order to achieve transformational change and economic growth - a clear contrast to the Step 2025 plan from Vienna.

http://visual.ons.gov.uk/house-prices-in-your-area/

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E X I S T I N G I N F R A S T R U C T U R Bilston_Density E Clusters

EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE

Train / Metro Station

Bilston_Uses Map

Train / Metro Station

Bus Station

Bus Station

C_3

C_3 Metro Station

Bilston Retail area

Metro Station

C_2

C_2

Education and Leisure Water surface Green spaces / Landscape

Social institutions - nurseries, pharmacies, clinics Education and Leisure Banks and other institutions Water surface

C_1

C_1 Cluster area: No. houses: 2 bedroom houses: 3 bedroom houses: 4 bedroom houses: Density: Type of house:

C_1

Green spaces / Landscape

4.0 ha 100 54 (80 sq m GIFA) 16 (120 sq m GIFA) 30 (150 sq m GIFA) 25 houses / ha 2 - 4 bedroom houses; semi-detached and terraced

C_2

C_3

Cluster area: No. houses: GIFA / house: Density: Type of house: Capacity / house: No. garages:

Cluster area: No. houses: No. flats: GIFA / house: Density: Type of house: Capacity / house: Type of flat:

2.8 ha 75 150 sq m 28 houses / ha (150 inhabitants / ha) 3 - 4 bedroom houses; detached with garage 5 dwellers 75 + 40

Housing 2.5 ha 64 24 80 - 100 sq m 30 houses / ha (160 inhabitants / ha) 3 bedroom houses; semi-detached and terraced 2 - 4 dwellers 2 bedroom flat

Industrial estates Retail Bars and restaurants

Public realm 2.8 ha

Street 4.0 ha 8.5%

Dwelling footprint

14%

Social institutions - nurseries, pharmacies, clinics

11.5%

Dwellings Dwellings footprint

13.5%

37.2%

21%

57.5%

Public Realm + parking space

41%

+ front gardens

44.5%

+ driveways

20.5%

Education and Leisure

Public Realm + parking space + front gardens + driveways

27.8% Courtyards - soft landscape

2.5 ha

3%

courtyards - soft landscape

Street

Banks and other institutions

+ sidewalk and other paths

+ 30 parking spaces + driveways

courtyards - soft landscape

Water surface Green spaces / Landscape

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SITE HISTORY Bilston appears in the written record as early as Wolverhampton does in Anglo-Saxon times around 994 developed as an agricultural, and then as industrial centre. The two hides of land in Bilston were worked by 8 villeins (term used in the feudal era).

Now the site is surrounded by residential and leisure uses with a shopping centre north to the site. Though part of the site is cut off by the Black Country road the pedestrian path links the site to the city centre and the high street. A potential for more retail or leisure developments.

The last quarter of the eighteenth century saw rapid industrialization of the area. Canals were cut and increasing numbers of mines and foundries were started. More than 300,000 tons of coal were mined in 1827 and by 1860 there were 61 collieries in Bilston, employing 2000 miners.

The Florian Beigel + Architecture Research Unit text “Time Travellers” previously discussed offers a different approach to master planning for sites of significant size. They offer to work with dimensions of time, acknowledging what the site has been before. From the historic maps and research it is evident that the site has gone through stages starting from the first known: Agricultural period of few families working the land, Industrial (post Railway) with old shafts dotted around the site, Neglect period – when the site became dumping grounds and the current- Ecological time of grasses and trees calming the land. The text encourages looking for site transparency which is possible only North and South-West, as the growth of trees disable the views. Barriers that have become natural to the site as the brook create another screen that disables the site transparency. The text encourages to unveil the layers of history though proposed alternative master plans.

The Railway arrived in Bilston in 1849, this brought about a rapid increase in the population, from 3000 to 24000 by 1851. Today the population in Bilston reaches around 27,000.

Back in 1880 he site was used for Iron, Steel and Tin works, it had furnaces on top to smelt minerals. Though the heavy industry started to recede from the site. By 1900’s the site was cleared, brook terraces remained to stand on the northern side of the site. And coal shafts were used less. In 1930’s part of the site became sports grounds and the canal basins and wharfs were filled in. In 1960 part of the site became a scrap yard with industrial crane on rails moving from Laxdale street to the centre of the site.

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TRACES

The image opposite displays several traces that can be seen throughout time and would have had a significant influence on the landscape at a given time. The subsequent layers of trace help show the development of land over time.

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TRACES - 1880

TRACE

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TRACES - 1900

TRACE

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TRACES - 1930

TRACE

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TRACES - 1960

TRACE

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P R E S E N T D AY

TRACE

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FLOOD LEVELS Identifying the lower levels of land, highlighting the topology of the landscape, taken from the electronic 3D group model

MINING HISTORY The site is underlain by shallow coal and ironstone seams and has a history of shallow underground mining. The older shallow mine workings are generally considered to be less than 50m deep.

There is evidence that mining in the Bilston area dates back to the 14th century. However, it was during the 18th and 19th century, and particularly during the industrial revolution, that extensive mining of the coal and ironstone seams beneath the site was undertaken. It did not become a statutory requirement to maintain and preserve plans of abandoned mines until 1872, by which time much of the mining at the Site had been completed. Therefore, there are limited detailed records of the actual number and location of mine shafts present at the Site and of the extent of mining beneath the site. However, given the historical context of the area and the presence of named, workable seams, at shallow depth (less than 50m), it is likely that there are extensive mine workings beneath the Site.

TYPICAL THICKNESS’S AND DEPTHS Information from the British Geological Survey and previous ground investigations indicates that the shallow strata below the Site (less than 50m depth) are likely to have been subject to mining activities in the past. It is understood that in this area nine coal seams and three ironstone bands were worked at varying depths between about 10m and over 100m.

Mine Shafts Found and Treated: Approximately 108 No. potential mine shafts have previously been identified on the Bilston Urban Village Site.

Some easily available mine shafts have undergone an initial phase of locating, infilling and ‘grout-capping’ back in 2004. The current strategy is to try to locate, drill, grout and cap as many of the remaining known mine shafts as possible.

METHODS OF WORKING To exploit the reserves of coal and ironstone below the site shafts were sunk from the surface. Originally there would have been one shaft per colliery. However, later, for safety reasons, a two shaft system was introduced. At the time the seams were worked all extraction was undertaken by hand tools and the shafts were only large enough to allow man access i.e. about 2m diameter. These shafts would probably have been brick lined through the superficial deposits. As mining progressed colliery spoil would have been deposited at the surface and the brick lining extended upwards as the Site was filled, thus the shaft may extend some distance through the fill.

On cessation of mining the shaft would have been abandoned either as an open shaft or loosely backfilled. Subsequent filling of the Site may have resulted in further backfilling, but this would most likely also have been in a loose state.

R E C L A M AT I O N • Shafts to be located by rotary probe drilling.

• Drill holes and grout. If deep form grout plug near rock head • If shallow can use concrete mine shaft cap

3D model of mine shafts across the site and adjacent land - Bilston Urban Village SPD

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SITE CHARACTERISTICS

C O N TA M I N AT E D L A N D During the study however it was only our site that was seen as feasible for extraction. An estimated reserve of 74,000 tonnes of coal is potentially present which could generate a revenue in the order of £3.7m. Workings costs are likely in the range of £3.2m to £3.8m, thus giving a gross profit of £0.5m to a loss of £0.1m. With a contingency in place this potential loss could be increased further.

I M P L I C AT I O N S F O R P L A N N I N G Because of these known ground issues across the site, particularly those connected with past mining and industrial activity, any application for planning consent will need to be accompanied by a full, up to date site investigation.

Unfortunately general testing has been carried out across the site with all developments to have more specific ground surveys carried out. This doesn’t give

Constraint Zones, early indication - Bilston Urban Village SPD C O N TA M I N AT E D L A N D I S S U E S The majority of the made ground material on the site is colliery spoil and iron works waste. It contains metals that narrowly exceed triggers for a residential land use, but is not a significant source of contamination. The site of the former scrap yard is contaminated by oils and metals and domestic refuse has been placed across part of the site.

R E M E D I AT I O N A recent planning application for a development adjacent to the site has had more in depth analysis carried out with the recommendation of 600mm of clean imported soils to act as a capping layer

Parts of the site may be affected by ground gases, which can be dealt with via standard engineering practices.

Any part of the site may contain a hotspot of contamination that would need to be treated or removed to enable construction.

In ISOTYPE fashion, this is a simple diagram highlighting key influences on the site, including sun path prevailing winds.

Costs for ground remediation: residential - Bilston Urban Village SPD FEASIBILITY FOR MINERAL EXTRACTION The Black Country’s mineral resources need to be managed carefully to provide the raw materials needed to support regeneration within the Growth network, and to conserve the area’s geological heritage. A study was undertaken to make an assessment of the feasibility of mineral extraction from the site in order not to needlessly sterilise deposits by redevelopment. Furthermore an assessment was undertaken of the feasibility of off-setting some of the costs for redeveloping the site from the revenue generated by extracting the remaining shallow coal, and any other economic minerals, with the added benefit of removing some of the constraints placed upon development of the site by the past history of surface and underground mining of coal.

It was deemed that there would be a number of key risks and disbenefits associated with the process of mineral extraction. These included the delay in bringing forward further phases of the development, the serious disruption and environmental nuisance which would be caused and the significant negative effects of the process on the recent investment made by the Council in bringing forward leisure and education facilities which would be adversely affected by the proposals.

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BILSTON COMMONS ©©

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INFRASTRUCTURE FICTION INTRODUCTION Studio Plastic use an Infrastructure fiction as a design methodology that uses near future speculation to not only produce objects – in this case materials, buildings, spaces, landscapes – but also ideas and tools – social and physical practices, new planning, production and environmental processes, alternative attitudes to site histories and conditions, formality and informality in private and public space.

The critical element of this approach is to understand, analyse and to critique assumptions and standard practice, in advancing an alternative attitude and approach to urban development in Bilston based on the idea of the commons. In this, we recall the visionary appointment of Otto Neurath to arguably affect systemic change in Bilston for the collective good of its citizens.

INFRASTRUCTURE FICTION Wolverhampton council have proposed a new subsidised housing strategy for The Bilston

Wolverhampton councilOur haveCommons proposed asuggests new subsidised housing strategy forof Therivalrous Bilston Commons.

Our Commons suggests two Commons. two different branches and non-rivalrous differentconditions. branches of The rivalrous and non-rivalrous conditions.The commons acting as a free resource one commons acting as a free resource one that the community has a that rightthe to community has a right to without without obtaining permission from anyone.

Rivalrous commons thatcommons can be consumed by be a number of people obtaining permission from anyone.

Rivalrous that can consumed by abut there is a finite resource non-rivalrous not beisdepleated, goods maynon-rivalrous be consumed bycould many at time atgoods no additional cost for number of peoplecould but there a finite resource notthe besame depleted, example,may knowledge of piece of want an urban framework for knowledge a site in Bilston be consumed byscientific many atknowledge. the sameWe time at to nopropose additional cost for example, of previously earmarked for the urban village.

This framework seeks to take advantage of the redistribution policy.

A programme piece of scientific knowledge. We want to propose an urban framework for a site in Bilston invested in a diverse range of housing schemes tofor addresss the social needsThis of the citizen. Developed a cooperative planning process involving previously earmarked the urban village. framework seeksfrom to take advantage of the residents,redistribution the urban framework to readdress invested the socio-economic balance. policy.sets A programme in a diverse range of housing schemes to address the social needs of the citizen. Developed from a cooperative planning process involving

We wantresidents, to implement landscaped fields at different scales to accommodate a social mixing ofbalance. various cultural and social the urban framework sets to readdress the socio-economic We want to backgrounds.

A varietyimplement of permeable edges that fields allows transitions between so that it encourages pedestrians or cyclists landscaped at different scalesfields to accommodate a social mixing of variousto be drawn to the proposed area but also to stitch Bilston village’s misplaced spine into an active field of patterns.

We want to create voids of cultural and social backgrounds. A variety of permeable edges that allows transitions between commonsfields and ansoinbetweeness of built forms to be thread amongst the open space..

The commons are realms of free movement of that it encourages pedestrians or cyclists to be drawn to the proposed area but also wilderness, commerce, enclosures and historical terrains.

Through our strategic interventions such as the commons we hope to tackle to stitch Bilston village’s misplaced spine into an active field of patterns. We want to create issues relating to social mixing,and citizen rolesofwhere exercise rights to space.

Developing and voids of commons an participatory inbetweeness builtcivilians forms can to be threadtheir amongst thepublic open space. integrating transport choices whereby there is a reduction of the motor vehicle.

Pedestrianised surfaces and cycle routes The commons are realms of free movement of wilderness, commerce, enclosures and historicalare given a hierarchy.

Developing on from Otto Neurathsinterventions ambitious plan such for creating in Bilston in 1940 throughissues the Stowlan estate terrains.

Through our strategic as thehappiness commons we hope to tackle with common green and contemporary design; Bilston Commons aims to promote social justice, sustainability and happy relating to social mixing, citizen participatory roles where civilians can exercise their rightslives and the conditionstonecessary for theDeveloping commons to thrive. public space. and integrating transport choices whereby there is a reduction of the motor vehicle. Pedestrianised surfaces and cycle routes are given a hierarchy. Developing on from Otto Neuraths ambitious plan for creating happiness in Bilston in 1940 through the Stowlawn estate with common green and contemporary design; Bilston Commons aims to promote social justice, sustainability and happy lives and the conditions necessary for the commons to thrive.

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TYPOLOGY & DENSITY TESTING

TYPOLOGY & DENSITY TESTING BILSTON & KARL MARX HOF Site Area: 16.9ha Total units: 1382 (based on original construction) Units per Ha: 81 This is based on a single Karl Marx Hof scheme being placed on the site. Much more open space could be provided in comparison. This would provide apartments approximately 5/6 stories high across the site.

B I L S T O N & K A B E LW E R K Site Area: 16.9ha Total units: 2068 Units per Ha: 122 This is the Kabelwerk development in Vienna and it has been placed on to the site twice. It is a high density scheme with building heights of 8-10 stories. This could be suitable for the areas with lower topology.

BILSTON & NORDBAHNHOF - PAN WOHN Site Area: 16.9ha Total units: 2790 Units per Ha: 165

BILSTON & WOHNPROJEKT WIEN

Pan Wohn development on the Nordbahnhof is a cluster of 3 units totalling 90 dwellings.

Site Area: 16.9ha 40 units per Wohnprojekt Wien block 7 stories high - Mixed uses on ground and terrace Total 920 Wohnprojekt Wien units shown

BILSTON & QUEERBAU

54 units per hectare

Site Area: 16.9ha

Total footprint for each block approx 880m² (2024)

Total units: 660

Total free space = 14.8 (85%)

Units per Ha: 39 The Queerbau is a lower density scheme with a total of 20 being placed across the Bilston site.

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MOBILITY

MOBILITY

Mobility is a key issue for any modern development as through careful consideration a well through out scheme can enhance the immediate environment and help contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions.

Although conceptual, the existing masterplan offers typical street layout and patterns which doesn’t necessarily reduce the dependence on the motor vehicle and requires a higher percentage of hard standing.

Minimum standards of parking are met though compliance with local guidance. If we can reduce the amount of infrastructure and road surfacing then a reduction in investment requirements or relocation of funds to basement parking etc. which would further reduce the visual impact of the motor vehicle.

Any development should be a commitment to the environment and encourage walking, cycling and public transport, especially with the excellent transport links adjacent to the site. If there is an acceptance of the nearby links on foot, cycles and public transport then there should be a reduction of the minimum requirements for parking as less dependence on the motor vehicle. Alternatively, less parking provision would discourage the use of motor vehicles to some extents.

By reducing roads we can increase the attractiveness of environment, provide safety and comfort and pedestrian links should be the main routes across the site to allow for fast direct connections between transport links and services i.e. nearby school or access to town centre.

If we limit passing through or across the site of motorised vehicles by removing any links or short cuts across the site. This will reduce traffic across the site but might also encourage people to walk or cycle if they have longer car journeys due to these absent links.

Slower pedestrian links should also be provided for engagement with landscape and more for leisure. Cycleways should be included within this too.

Old masterplan for the site

Basement parking should be encouraged across the site. Secure collective underground car parks to smaller developments and located in strategic positions to the outer perimeter. Can be reached on foot to create activity. Perhaps multi-storey for more vehicles to reduce number of entrances/exits. Personnel entrances to be placed within buildings where possible. There are opportunities to reinvest the monies saved from the reduced above ground infrastructure in to underground parking.

Vehicular links and hard standing for conceptual masterplan Some key concepts of how methods mobility could be provided on the site in contrast with the current masterplan

key access onto the site proposed vehicular route/shared surface restricted access / predestrian only routes pedestrian route small scale shared underground parking court large multi storey underground parking lower level building height higher level building heights How we should aim to reduce the dominance of the motor vehicle

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SITE INFLUENCES

B I L S T O N C O M M O N S M AT R I X

LANDSCAPE FIELDS To break down the site in to manageable portions, 6 fields were created, all of which will take on their own character to suit previous group density studies, site conditions and influences.

T H E M AT R I X The above matrix has been constructed to provide the design code and those using it with key aspirations of each zone. This will hopefully guide the designer and ensure they reflect the Studio Plastic vision.

THE ZONES The zones have been labelled:1. Wilderness 2. Waters Edge 3. The Enclosure 4. Urban Stitch 5. Engineered Edge 6. Mine Field

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GROUP CONCEPTS

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GROUP CONCEPTS

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THE COMMONS

The approach to this site has been to focus on areas of commons rather than place buildings and infill with green space to suit. The commons are positioned to form key networks and provide links across the site.

They are located so that they become integral to everyday living on this site and would ensure residents have maximum access to the commons and the activities within.

Some of the qualities that will be sought during the later design stage will be:-

THE CONCEPT PLAN

EQUITY Everyone must feel that has a fair and just share of social and natural resources within the community.

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y Everyone must care and contribute for common wealth so that it can be sustained.

INTERDEPENDENCE Cooperation and connection must be experienced within the community.

SHARED GOVERNANCE Everyone must have a say to the decisions taken within the community.

“The construction industry, the c o m m e r c i a l i z at i o n of h o u s i n g a n d a nu m b e r of o u t d ate d p ol i c i es have prevented us from rethinking h o w w e l i v e i n t h e c it y ”

- Niklas Maak ‘Living

DEEPENED RESPONSIBILITY Everyone must care for each other and be interested to repair inequity, restore common inheritance, and expand opportunities for all.

BELONGING Everyone must feel that he belong to his community.

CO-PRODUCING Everyone should participate for the production of goods or services for the benefit of all.

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This is the masterplan for the design code that shows the general layout of the site with conceptual massing of the different parcels. Its gives an overview of how the features of the site influence or dictate intended arrangement of the built form.

The Design Code will break down the site in to areas and provide focus at a higher resolution

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DESIGN CODE DOCUMENT Our vehicle for the infrastructure fiction is the assembly of an alternative design code for Bilston Commons ©©, using a variety of prompts. Using the local guidance from Wolverhampton City Council and the Bilston Urban Village SPD alongside both the precedent work to date and further contemporary projects this document has been formulated. The ‘found’ conditions of the site itself form the site analysis undertaken play a key part in laying the foundations for a set of ‘applied’ ideas associated with the housing question.

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T H E S I S S TAT E M E N T S U S TA I N A B L E R E M E D I AT I O N W I T H A C O M M O N G A I N The thesis sets out my proposition for the forth coming Speculations 2 module and is a brief insight in to the stance I wish to take on how to develop the site. It is aimed at creating an infrastructure with a common sustainable resource that would collectively benefit the future Bilston Commons community and its landscape.

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S U S TA I N A B L E R E M E D I AT I O N

SYSTEM SCALES An overview of the proposed system across the site on a macro scale and how the systems could support each other.

THESIS ABSTRACT The site at Bilston has been the subject for many years of extensive industrial processes, including underground mining and heavy industry iron works and furnaces. Further industrial works and scrap yards took over since the cessation of the mining activity. These processes have shaped and scarred the landscape to what it is today.

The site is the host which requires remediation.

The network of remediation measures is to be distributed across the landscape with key focal points being traces and scars of past industrial presence.

The landscape has played a huge part in the formation of Bilston, supporting its economy for many years for which there should be gratitude. Unfortunately, now that it’s served its purpose with only minimal resources still un-viably obtainable, the tapestry of the land has been left fragmented and tainted with the bi-products of this industrial era and the extraction of 300,000 tons of coal. Its depths remain twisted and fractured with minimal, unsympathetic efforts made to heal it.

Within the remediation infrastructure will be a framework that will allow for dwelling to be formed. Each dwelling then has the opportunity to adapt within this framework.

As it stands, the surface is not suitable for development with remediation measures consisting of covering over this spoilt landscape with earth from elsewhere, providing even more upheaval and displacement of the site. Such measures involved in this process have cost implications for developers and has so far resulted in limited demand and willingness to bring the site back in to use.

Site

Network/Infrastructure of Sustainable Energy Provision & land remediation

The proposition is to provide affordable housing however it is intended that it would be in conjunction with using an alternate model of land remediation that heals the landscape through more sympathetic means, tying to bring it back to (or somewhat closer) its original state, with a dual purpose of supporting future development within its infrastructure. The alternative technique should use sustainable processes that have the ability to form and support communities over a period of time and upon completion of the land remediation a legacy is left behind across the site that can service and provide a framework in which affordable housing can flourish.

Network of dwellings/units set out within energy infrastructure

Dwellings laid out within the units services

This framework of infrastructure created can allow for less definitive space, as championed by Cedric Price in his project, the Steelhouse, allowing for users to vary their spaces to suit their needs. With these principles, current and future technologies and by providing the necessary social and sustainable facilities, we have the ability to create a community built in to the post-industrial landscape that is self-sufficient and has given something back to the landscape.

Network of Infrastructure

Cedric Price - Steel House (1967)

“ A r c h it e c t u r e m u s t c o n c e r n it s e l f c o n t i n u a l l y w it h t h e s o c i a l l y b e n e f i c i a l d i s t o r t i o n of t h e environment.�

- C e d r i c P r i c e

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Cedric Price - Potteries Think Belt

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REYNER BANHAM

REYNER BANHAM Reyner compares this connection with nature and the camp fire as offering multiple spaces to achieve particular functions. Light an warmth vary due to weather conditions and therefore sleeping can take place in particular areas more easily than others. This discussion of nature could be considered a dream and that people want to be closer to nature?

“The Plumber is the q u a r te r m as te r of A m e r i c a n C u l t u r e � - A d ol f Loos

How could you transport such a mobile self sustaining unit?

Could you utilise its own resources such as a cushion of air?

Use nearby by motor vehicles?

In defence of this plastic bubble Reyner discusses, he compared the Johnson House at New Canaan, calling it a glass house, and argues that the outside perform part of the living space, visually if not physically, and operationally in the summer.

The house is a service core set in infinite space, or alternatively, a detached porch looking out in all directions.

Is the house the machine? Reyner seems to suggest it is the chimney and its surroundings

Over 50 years since this article was written, technology has advance tremendously and so has attitude to energy consumption. Some of the ideas described by Banham would understandably not pass the standards set of today.

Technology may allow much more economical compromises in the ideas he sought and could result in an almost self sustainable unit, if not completely.

The text offers a lot in setting up a basis for how we can approach the design of a dwelling by utilising the services of a building, or even better, the services of a district or community. It poses questions of how we can produce a low cost of housing for those who need it most and try to harness as much energy from this mechanical frame work provided to make living more affordable and sustainable.

These services from which we build within could become a commons that people can chose to plug in to or not but must ultimately offer a benefit to more than just the individual dweller.

Controlled environment vs Uniform environment.

Controlled is when you chose to sit close to the fire or decide to turn the air conditioning on

A HOME IS NOT A HOUSE, 1965

Reyner Banham was one of the most influential writers on architecture, design, and popular culture from the mid 1950s to the late 1980s. He was trained in mechanical engineering and art history and was convinced that technology was making society not only more exciting but more democratic.

Within this text Reyner Banham focuses on how the dwelling holds such an array of services that they could stand up by themselves if the assistance of the house was removed. Its is almost as if we don’t need a house to hold it up? This notion gives the machine even more importance and begins to blur Harbrakens systems The cost of the services would be substantial, possibly half the total outlay, why not incorporate them in to the structure? The house is only concealing these. Does this compromise the question of the stylistic? Do people aspire for this. Sometimes the dream is just having a home

Anatomy of a dwelling, Francois Dallegret House removed from drawing to display the mechanical services within. The services appear to offer a separate structure equally as capable to provide a space to dwell

The fairly modern mechanical introduction is seen as a bit of a threat to architects as it could compromise their position in the world

If nature can be kept under the proper degree of control, then is there a need for architecture and buildings altogether?

Groff Conklin wrote `A house is simply a shell in which we chose to live. A shell which is simple and extraordinary inefficient barrier to cold and heat` in his book the `Weather conditioned house`. How can we make this spatial system function better and make the most use of the services. How can re reinvest the energy lost through heat escape back in to the properties.

Mobile home structures, deliver better performances as shelter than ground anchored structures which cost 3 times as much and weighing ten times more.

Americans were likened to building a brick chimney with a flimsy shell and collection of shacks against it. As opposed to the polite European architecture of separate rooms and spaces, Americans live in informally planned interiors that were effectively large single spaces.

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Reyner discusses the potential to have these mobile homes as self sustaining units which can be transported to different sites. A standard of living package that might return man nearer to a natural state. For those who dream of a home, it could be come more affordable and almost instantaneous.

To have a living unit delivered would be extremely efficient. Pre fabricated would economise the production of the home and assist housing crisis. If static then the build times could be reduced ignoring fixing phases of services etc.

Standard of living package, Francois Dallegret One of Reyners concepts to produce this umbrella, possibly for emergencies which he considered could as well be a plastic dome inflated by air conditioned air generated by the package itself

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SMOUT ALLEN LANDSCAPE FUTURES Retreating Village This scheme is about a village falling in to the sea through the erosion of the coastline. The concept and idea is that the village would have to migrate with the coast and would need to respond to the environment.

It would also highlight other factors such as people’s paranoia would i.e. if people winch in the houses if a large storm is approaching.

The village is activated by sliding and shifting to safer land using a mechanical landscape of winches, pulleys (like in the types of sailing and docking equipment, rails and counterweights, mimicking hauling boats from the waves.

The undercarriage of the houses would claw at the land and leave traces and marks, illustrating the upheaval. The houses end up not having their own territory as the can be manoeuvred around. The garden or paths of the dwelling could can be moved around with the house like a geotextile.

Its inspired by flexible architecture and by the villages that come and go.

Smout compared it to “deserted medieval villages” which used to move once the pasture went or they were knee deep in rubbish. Simply taking their stone and wood with them somewhere else and rebuilding in a new environment. They wanted to reinvent the moving village in the context of the current climate using basic architectural technologies of today.

Climate change makes every landscape an active one, changing both chemically and atmospherically. Smout Allen look at a beneficial relationship between architecture and the landscape. They enjoy curious environments.

They like to look at how you push the boundaries of current designations and landscape regulations e.g. within green belt or permitted development.

Smout Allens Retreating Village scheme was to prevent a village from crumbling in to the sea through the erosion of the coastline

Active landscapes vs passive landscapes Is the landscape a natural environment or is it an object we have the right to exploit? Should we harvest it? Is it a romantic environment or an industrial resource? These are complex questions! What are the issues of the land? How can you use the land or traditional techniques, on all manner of scales, to help rectify these problems?

Explore what micro-climates are there could be on a site?

Part map, part plan, part section P U B L I C AT I O N - P R O V I N G G R O U N D 2 0 1 3 Post mining land uses - The retention of mining elements inherently ties the site to its mining past. Mining is a stereotypical illustration of resource depletion.

When mining companies withdraw from a site they should leave a sustainable and productive economic infrastructure as well as future identity for local communities in place. Celebrate mining and the heritage. Utilising mines as an infrastructural resources and tool to change existing topographies AUGMENTED LANDSCAPES This pamphlet is about augmenting landscaped and pursuing more of a symbiotic relationship with landscape, looking at how that might generate a more proactive or productive form of architecture.

The question is asked about how we can break up the horizon using architecture, add a disruptive pattern or a disruptive material on the façade a building to do so. They used the comparison of dazzle ships in WW2.

Systems exist everywhere in the landscape – from regional ecologies to spatial systems within architecture.

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R E M E D I AT I O N

ANAEROBIC DIGESTION Funding - Crowd-sourcing

Offer people stake in plant and/or subsidised energy bills - Fuel Poverty initiative

ÂŁ640m per year over 5 years - totalling ÂŁ3,200,000,000

Paid for by the tax & benefits system

Scheme could invest in digestion plant which would offer subsidised or free power to Bilston Commons and feed back into grid

Government - 15% renewable by 2020

The land requires remediation and the conventional measures suggested within the supporting documents for the development of the site are restricting its progression. We need to look for more sustainable measures of remediation, even if more time is required as a result.

E L E C T R O K I N E T I C R E M E D I AT I O N Electrokinetic remediation is a process in which a low voltage, direct current electric field is applied across a section of contaminated soil in order to move and extract contaminants. The resulting electrokinetic phenomena displace ions and water soluble pollutants, disturbing the equilibrium between the solid and liquid phase components of the formation.

The result is desorption of cations (positively charged ions) or anions (negatively charged ions) by ion exchange from the solid phase to the liquid phase, making the contaminant mobile.

The electrodes have to be carefully placed in order to operate effectively and are great method of removing containments over time in a less intrusive way. This could compliment a considerate approach to the land remediation of Bilston Commons where a time constrain is not relevant.

Using direct electric current this process removes organic, inorganic and heavy metal particles from the soil by electric potential. The previous uses on the site seem to suit this process typically the metals left from mining and hydrocarbons from manufacturing facilities.

Food Waste from local housing

Allotments

Council

Supermarket

concept

Where moisture is needed in the soils, the bi-product of the anaerobic digestion process could be used in conjunction.

This approach is feasible and can work well with a sustainable source of electricity.

A N A E R O B I C D I G E S T IO N

above ground arrangement

B I O R E M E D I AT I O N Bio-remediation means to use a biological remedy to abate or clean up contamination. This makes it different from remedies where contaminated soil or water is removed for chemical treatment or decontamination, incineration, or burial in a landfill. Microbes are often used to remedy environmental problems found in soil, water, and sediments. Plants have also been used to assist bio-remediation processes. This is called phytoremediation. Biological processes have been used for some inorganic materials, like metals, to lower radioactivity and to re-mediate organic contaminants. With metal contamination the usual challenge is to accumulate the metal into harvestable plant parts, which must then be disposed of in a hazardous waste landfill before or after incineration to reduce the plant to ash. Two exceptions are mercury and selenium, which can be released as volatile elements directly from plants to atmosphere. The concept and practice of using plants and microorganisms to remediate contaminated soil have developed over the past thirty years.

Biogas Fertiliser

Heating Savings Electricity Gas Waste

Fuel (through removal of waste)

Income (from fertiliser)

100% renewable energy

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Car fuel

E l e c t r i c it y District heating system

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ANAEROBIC DIGESTION

SITE VISIT Based in Measham alongside the A42, AB Produce process vegetables and are currently constructing an anaerobic digestion plant to process waster water and vegetable matter. The product can be spread across their fields for future crops and reduces odours to the satisfaction of nearby residents.

Cost of plant = £4 million Current expenditure on energy = £30,000 per month A proposed 2nd Tank will make the building self sufficient

Biogas engine to convert the product to electricity that will power the factory and allow for the conversion of on site diesel vehicles to electric

The anaerobic digester has a flexible membrane to handle build up of gas’s

Gas flare for safety. Excess gas is burnt off if storage becomes full

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FINANCIAL MODEL UNCONTA MINATED LAND e.g. £100 per m²

COMMONS HOW WOULD THE COMMONS MANIFEST IN THIS THESIS? The need to transition energy supply away from fossil sources due to climate change is now broadly accepted in the public sphere. These renewable, cleaner methods of energy production go a long way to ensuring our `mutual well-being and survival`.

Urban commons represents a new culture of citizenship, from a passive beneficiary to one who is actively shaping the city around them, taking care and responsibility for how they are developed.

The regular cost of uncontaminated land would have its value Government could invest with fuel poverty funding

CONTA MINATED LAND e.g. £50 per m²

However, contaminated land will be cheaper as the remedial works will be costly. Wolverhampton Council want to see this site developed and have already invested in its partial remediation

The Urban commons also represents new value exchange systems which is key to this thesis. These systems sit outside the traditional market place we are familiar with and outside of municipal service relationships. The sharing economy, local currencies, time-banking, circulation of waste and other reciprocity based systems are to be part of the equation in which value finds new ways of circulating and enriching peoples lives. To be truly commons based these value exchange systems must circulate the value they create back into the communities that produced them.

THIS IS SUBJECT TO EVOLVE OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT FEW WEEKS - WE NEED TO BE CLEAR ON THIS, WHAT IS THE LEGACY?

TREATMENT OF LAND U s i n g b i - p r o d u c t of A n a e r o b i c D i g es t i o n ( h e a t / e l e c t r i c it y / n u t r i e n t s )

Using sustainable in-situ techniques, restabalisation of land occurs, raising value of land

DECONTA MINATED LAND e.g. £90 per m² Who benefits?

Government expenditure of infrastructure would be returned in value of land and subsequently have a sustainable power source at nil cost

F E E D I N TA R I F F Since April 2010, Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) have provided a guaranteed price for a fixed period to small-scale electricity generators in England, Scotland and Wales. FITs are intended to encourage the provision of small-scale low carbon electricity. Only small scale AD facilities with less than 5MW capacity, completed after 15 July 2009, are eligible for FITs. The Government offers preliminary accreditation for AD, with a guarantee that the project will be eligible for the tariff payable at the time of accreditation. Each tariff runs for 20 years.

With this being a benefit to the community with further benefits than just renewable energy, perhaps there is scope for further funding.

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P E R M A C U LT U R E Permaculture is a system of agricultural and social design principles centered on simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems. Permaculture was developed, and the term coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1978 “Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labour”

Creatively use and respond to change: We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.

Observe and interact: By taking time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation. ?

Use edges and value the marginal: The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.

There will be an interface between the services (structure) of the scheme

Use and value diversity: Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.

Anaerobic digester’s are becoming more popular through the positives and limited negatives.

Catch and store energy: By developing systems that collect resources at peak abundance, we can use them in times of need.

Anaerobic digester will provide a system that has a primary function of providing a renewable source of energy

Obtain a yield: Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing.

The yield will become energy that will heat the housing of those who are less fortunate and are in need of reduced living costs.

Fertiliser is also another bi-product that can be used in nearby allotments, or sold to local businesses

Use small and slow solutions: Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes.

Apply self-regulation and accept feedback: We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well.

The process of the digester is a slow one and in theory looks after itself with minor mechanical requirements

?

Integrate rather than segregate: By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other.

Use and value renewable resources and services: Make the best use of nature’s abundance to reduce our consumptive behaviour and dependence on non-renewable resources.

This piece of infrastructure is in amongst the people it serves. It will be a very expressive structure that is representative of the industrial heritage that once existed on this site

Design from patterns to details: By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.

A comparison could be made of how the nucleus is the digester with feeders leading away with dwelling units plugged in to these tentacles

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The key theme to this is to provide renewable sources of energy. Within this infrastructure is housing that will become more affordable as it will use the structures formed as its own

Produce no waste: By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste.

Waste is broken down so that the gas can be used and so can the fertiliser. The gas can be used and potentially harnessed elsewhere within the system. The design is more economical as Reyner Banham discussed, there should be a much lower investment in to the housing unit as the services could provide the enclosure

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INITIAL IMAGE PRECEDENTS

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INITIAL IMAGE PRECEDENTS

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TIMELINE

TIMELINE

Y E A R S O F S C A R R I N G TA K E T I M E T O H E A L To determine the remediation programme and its duration, a timeline of the history of the site will be used to almost reverse the destructive process.

IN PROGRESS

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IN PROGRESS

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bose, S. Self, J. Williams, F. (2016) Home Economics, 15th Venice Architecture Biennale, Venice.

Maak, N. (2015) Living Complex: From Zombie City To The New Communal, Hirmer, Berlin.

Förster, W. and Menking, W. (2016). Das Wiener Modell. 1st ed. Jovis, Berlin.

Hill, D. (2015). Dark Matter and Trojan Horses: A Strategic Design Vocubulary 1st ed Strelka Press, Moscow.

Moore, C., Allen, G. and Lyndon, D. (2000). The place of houses. 1st ed. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.

Blau, E. (2006) Isotype and Architecture in Red Vienna: The Modern Projects of Otto Neurath and Josef Frank, in Culture and Politics in Red Vienna, ed. by Judith Beniston and Robert Vilain (Austrian Studies, 14 (2006)), 227–59, p. 21.

Habraken, J. (1988). Type As a Social Agreement, paper presented to the Third Asian Congress of Architects, Seoul.

Manaugh G. (2013). Landscape Futures: Instruments, Devices and Architectural Inventions. Actar Publishers, New York Banham R. (1965). A Home is Not a House. Art in America, Volume 2 Mead A. (2003). Time Travellers. The Architects Journal 03.04.03 p26-37, EMAP, London Price C. (1972). ‘Housing’, Architectural Design, 43, p24-43.

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T O B E C O N T I N U E D I N S P E C U L AT I O N S 2 . . . . . . .