Welsh Shool of Architecture. Cardiff University MArch 2 Euromed Unit Brief Unit Leader: Federico Wulff PhD Arch.
Marseille has been a port city for centuries. Since its foundation by Greeks, the cité phocéenne has benefited from its privileged location between Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa, basing its economic activities on the maritime traffic. In the nineteenth century, Marseille became one of the most important industrial ports in the world, specialized in the production and marketing of hydrocarbons (Bertrand 2012, 223). After the Second World War, the city began a slow decline caused by economic and urban damages brought by the conflict, the independence of the colonies and increased international competitiveness. From the sixties, a strong imbalance was produced between the industrial expansion of the metropolitan area and the abandonment of the city, which lost productive activities, employment and population (Urbain 2012, 82-85). The industrial architecture, the most important cultural heritage of the city, fell into ruins. The Project Euroméditerranée (1995-2015), led by public administrations and funded by the EU, emerged as a new economic and urban strategy to overcome this degradation process. The plan did not foresee further expansion of the territory of Marseille and has focused on the regeneration of the existing urban fabric from a compact city model. The economic crisis led to a paradigmatic shift in the regeneration model from iconic, expensive and unsustainable architectures of Euromed I to the strategies of social equity, respect for the environment and economic development of Euromed II (2008-2030), from easy-tech and low- cost criteria (Euroméditerranée, Dossier de presse 2011, 5). The aim of Euromed II plan is the urban and social regeneration of the northern district, which had become a deprived and marginal area after the decline of industry in the 60s. One of the most innovative aspects of Euroméditérranée II is the use of tangible and intangible heritage of the city as a catalyst for urban regeneration. While in Euromed I most of the industrial
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buildings were demolished, in Euromed II the most interesting industrial structures have been recovered and integrated in the project, not only from an historic preservation perspective, but also as a tool for economic, social and cultural development. Special attention was paid to the deprived neighbourhoods of Les Crottes and Vintimille, where social participation strategies were developed in order to integrate their urban fabric and inhabitants into the project, respecting their multicultural identity. One of the main strategies envisaged by the plan for the development of the economy and employment of the area is the recovery of the flea market, a strategic space for the cultural heritage and the identity of the city. The Flea Market of Marseille (Le Marche aux Puces) In 1988, the municipality acquired the abandoned industrial site of Alsthom factory in the north area of Marseille and created a new shopping center for the north district. The aim was the reorganisation and legalization of the informal flea market which had been extended over the surrounding streets without any health and safety regulations. Today, the place attracts 30,000 people every week and is a haven for the whole district, completing a remarkable social function with the creation of 1,000 jobs. A mosque has been installed into the site, various associations are based there, different traders and customers from different national and religious backgrounds interact together in a relaxed and respectful environment. The flea market is currently a real economic and social driver for the northern districts. It needs to be reorganized to improve its health, safety and accessibility conditions, to provide a better service and to reinforce its integration within the neighbourhood. Within the Euromed II framework, the flea market is located in a strategic location between the new park of the Aygalades towards the east, the new waterfront over the highway on its west side and linked to the existing neighbourhood of Les Crottes to the south. The Euromed II Urban regeneration project of the architect Francois Leclerc has foreseen the articulation of the flea market along Capitaine Geize avenue, a new important east-west axis for new city services. The flea market also will be upgraded and integrated into the new XXL block, which will host an arena, a large public square and hotels.
The Unit The aim of the unit will be to understand from a critical perspective the current mutation processes of the north area of Marseille, through the development of recycling intervention strategies and the design of an innovative and economically feasible programme for the flea market. This building, which is now the 2
main centre of informal economy of the area, could be transformed into one of the most important economic, social and symbolic catalysts for the recovery of the existing urban and social fabric, in coordination with the Euromed II strategies. Students will be asked to develop a design thesis based on their research that could be translated into a coherent urban, spatial and tectonic strategy, as an innovative post-industrial proposal from social and environmental perspectives. We will explore concepts such as informality, flexibility, resilience, economic feasibility, temporality, mutability over time, identity, community participation, and the interaction between contemporary culture and industrial heritage. In the first term, we will develop research into the existing urban and social context of the north district, the strategic lines of Euromediterranee II for the area and we will understand the complexity of the intervention site, including a morphological, structural and construction reading of the existing building. This analytical phase will form the basis for the development of an intervention strategy that will be set up before Christmas. During the second term, you will develop the project in coherence with this urban scale analysis, the morphological and structural design strategy and the construction details, which should be the outcomes of the same global, homogeneous and coherent strategy of your project. Your analysis for and through design will be informed by reading, and below are a set of suggestions. To start you off. I. Key Bibliography Rapport d’activités. Marseille: Euroméditerranée (Marseille: Euromediterranee, 2012). (English transl. Ed.). Ecocité Marseille-Euroméditerranée. Dossier De Presse. Signature du protocole financier. (Marseille: Euroméditerranée, 2011). (English transl. Ed.). Laurent Andres, ‘Alternative initiatives, cultural intermediaries and urban regeneration: the case of La Friche (Marseille)’, European Planning Studies, 5, (2011). 795-811. Nishat Awan, Tatjana Schneider , Jeremy Till, Spatial Agency: Other Ways of Doing Architecture, (London: Routledge, 2011). Keith Bassett, Ron Griffiths and Ian Smith, ‘Testing governance: partnerships, planning and conflict in waterfront regeneration’, Urban Studies 39 (2002), 1757–1775. Allan Berger, Drosscapes, Wasting Land in Urban America, (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007). Brigitte Bertoncello, Jerome Dubois, Marseille Euroméditerranéen, accélérateur de métropole. (Marseille: Parenthèse, 2010). Stalking Detroit, ed. by Georgia Daskalakis, Charles Waldheim, Jason Young (Barcelona: Actar, 2001). David Harvey, Spaces of Hope, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000). Irene Marotta, ‘Euroméditerranée II a new sustainable model’, in Proceedings of 2nd International Symposium “Systems thinking for a sustainable economy” January 23-24, 2014 – (Rome: Universitas Mercatorum University Press). Shrinking Cities Vol.1 International Research, ed. by Oswalt Phillip, (Berlin: Kulturstiftung des Bundes, Hatje Cantz, 2005). 3
Urban Ecology. Detroit and Beyond, ed. by Kyong Park (Hong Kong: Map Book Publishers, 2005). George Perec, Species of Spaces and other Pieces, (New York: Penguin Books, 1997). Resilience in Ecology and Urban Design: Linking Theory and Practice for Sustainable Cities, Future City Series, 3, ed. by S.T.A Pickett and others. (New York: Springer, 2013). Anne Power, Jörg Plöger, and Astrid Winkler, Phoenix Cities: The Fall and Rise of Great Industrial Cities (Bristol: Policy Press, 2010). Paul Urbain, ‘La possibilité d’une ville’, L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, 389, (2012), 82-88. (English transl. Ed.). Edward W. Soja, Postmodern Geographies, The reassertion of space in critical social theory. (New York: Verso, 1998). Ignasi Sola-Morales, ‘Terrain Vague’ in Territorios, (Barcelona: G.G., 1995), pp.181-193. Dylan Trigg, ‘The Uncanny Space of Decay’, Psy-Geo Provfl ux, 1, (1) (2004) <http://www.pipsworks.com./crosswalk/prov04/c1dylan_2.html> Anthony Vidler, The Architectural Uncanny, (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992). Anthony Vidler, Warped Space, (Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 2000). The Art of Survival. Recovering Landscape Architecture, ed. by Kongjian Yu and Mary Padua (Victoria: Images Publishing Group Pty. Ltd., 2006). II. Useful Links: Euromed Urban Regeneration Project Euromediterranee: http://www.euromediterranee.fr/?L=1 Francois Leclercq award-winning Project for Euromediterranee: http://www.francoisleclercq.fr/index.php/projets/view/villes-territoires/16 Flea Market of Marseille http://www.centrecommerciallespuces.com/ http://www.marseilleforum.com/251-marseille-marche-aux-puces.htm http://www.20minutes.fr/marseille/678399-20110301-marseille-l-avenir-incertain-puces http://www.info-economique.com/actualite/marseille-la-ville-lance-les-etudes-pour-une-arena-de15-000-places-sur-euromed-ii-83226 French database on urban planning Géoportail Website: http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/accueil Urban Resilience Resilient City Network: http://www.resilientcity.org/index.cfm?pagepath=About/Contributors&id=11844 The International Committee for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage (TICCIH): http://www.ticcih.es/ Resilience Alliance: http://www.resalliance.org
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III. Precedents: The following list is intended to help guide your initial investigations into precedents: LSE Student Strategies for Highstreet 2012 – ‘City Street’, London: http://www.lse.ac.uk/LSECities/citiesProgramme/citiesStudioPublications.aspx Making Space in Dalston, London: http://www.muf.co.uk/portfolio/making-space-in-dalston-2 OMA’s Post Industrial interventions at Mélon‐Sénart and Zollverein, Germany: http://www.oma.eu/projects/2006/zollverein-kohlenwaesche Peter Latz Postindustrial interventions in Emsher Park, Germany: http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2011/08/post-industrial-landscape-architecture/ The social activism of the Stalker group - Francesco Careri and Lorenzo Remito, Rome (Italy): http://www.osservatorionomade.net/; http://primaveraromana.wordpress.com/ UFA FabrikBerlin, Germany: www.ufafabrik.de/intro.php Urban Catalysts: http://www.urban-os.com/about-templace Tabacalera (Madrid, Spain):http://latabacalera.net/ Can Battló (Barcelona, Spain): http://canbatllo.wordpress.com Pop-Up Stores as Post-industrial interventions (Barcelona, Spain): http://elisavaretaildesign.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/proyecto-rec-05/ Meanwhile Project, London: http://www.meanwhile.org.uk Urban Prescriptions from Santiago Cirugeda. Sevilla, Spain (www.recetasurbanas.net) Documentary: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/rebelarchitecture/2014/06/spain-guerrillaarchitect-201462993348959830.html Patzner-architekten: Training-Bornack, Germany http://www.patzner-architekten.de/3482-Training-Bornack.html Raumlaborberlin: Eichbaumoper, Germany (http://raumlabor.net/eichbaumoper/) Quartiers Creatifs, Marseille, France http://www.mp2013.fr/quartiers-creatifs/ruedi-baur-institutcivic-city/ Temporary Uses for urban Voids in Marseille http://www.metropolitiques.eu/Les-usagestemporaires-des-friches.html Infrastructural Recycling : Aie Architectes Delaisses L2 http://www.aie-architectes.com/aiearchitectes/2013.html Harbour silo recycling: http://inhabitat.com/abandoned-grain-silo-converted-into-arenc-silo-opera-house-in-marseille/siloopera-house-ct-architectures-11b/?extend=1 5
Urban Trail through abandoned areas http://furtherfield.org/features/hybrid-cities-interviewing-roger-malina-mariateresa-sartori-andbryan-connell Urban Abandonment in Port Cities http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2012-07-13-bianchini-en.html Marseille Port post-industrial recycling http://www.marseilleport.fr/en/Page/Reporter%20n%C2%B09/13080
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