NURTURING LEITH HENRI LACOSTE, RACHEL BRAUDE + JACK CRIPPS
“Lost spaces are the undesirable urban areas that are in need of redesign - antispaces, making no positive contribution to the surroundings or users. They are ill-defined, without measurable boundaries, and fail to connect elements in a coherent way...they offer tremendous opportunities... for urban redevelopment and creative infill and for rediscovering the many hidden resources in our cities.�
Extract from ‘What is Lost Space? in Trancik, R. (1986), Finding Lost Space: Theories of Urban Design.
UNIT BRIEF
This unit investigates the tectonic question through a design-based reflection about the potential of lost spaces, in the process of decay in their lifecycle. An intervention in a lost space will be proposed that will provide living accommodation and associated common facilities for a particular protagonist. Through a given basic schedule of accommodation and based upon the chosen protagonist, the brief and narrative will be refined. This will constitute the starting point of an architectural tectonic proposal, in which different scales of enquiry, from the level of the city to the detailing of the protagonist’s individual room. The immediate territory situated between Leith Walk and Easter Road will be the area of intervention in Edinburgh. The heavy industrialisation of the nineteenth-century and and its subsequent decay during the twentieth-century post- industrialisation inflicted major scars on the area, contributing to the proliferation of lost spaces, with consequences that are still in evidence. It is a passing place, connecting the city centre and the docks, Edinburgh and Leith; a place to pass through and not to stop. This characteristic contributes to the neglected atmosphere of some areas, where several remnants of Leith’s industrial heritage appear as abandoned edifices in the middle of the residential urban fabric. A complex area like this requires a careful mediation between the needs of the individual and the needs of the society, between the desire for particular internal spaces and the demands of external constraints. The existing mixed uses and demographics of the population require a response driven by social and urban needs rather than market interests, in which defining new typologies of live/work and optimised outdoor space need to be considered. In recent decades there has been a gradual erosion of architects’ expertise and competence in the fields that are the main definers of tectonics (such as construction, structures and environment), resulting in a lack of integration of them within the design/building process. This unit will stress the need for the inclusion of these definers as an inherent part of the architectural design process and engage with these as key factors that materialise ideas into built realities.
Food has the ability to: “Transform not just landscapes, but political structures, public spaces, social relationships, [and] cities� Carolyn Steel, Hungry City.
1:7500 map of Edinburgh - highlighting public green spaces
GROUP STATEMENT
The district of Leith lying to the north of Edinburgh was once the industrial focus of the city. Now however, it finds itself victim to the postindustrial era and without its past purpose is no longer considered a place of significance but merely one that exists between places; a transitory space without direction.
In response to the site, the requirements of the protagonist, and the urban issues discussed, we propose to develop an urban farming scheme. This is intended to act as a mediator for the rehabilitation of the defined protagonist, while providing a platform for the reintegration of these people into society.
The devolution of Leith has led to the fragmentation of its urban fabric, which has consequently left its communities in a state of economic vulnerability and adversity. With the migration of industry a series of spaces without cohesion have surfaced; contaminate sites devoid of purpose or attraction – lost spaces.
There have been a number of historical events in which agriculture has been employed (beyond the realms of hinterlands and rural settings) to alleviate the stresses of food production in times of crisis. Events such as WWII spurred the ‘Dig For Victory’ campaign resulting in half of Britain’s fruit and vegetables being grown nationwide. The notion of independence and self-reliance was displayed by wartime Britons. We hope that through the protagonists’ respective individual crisis our proposal will ascertain an ambition to distill similar aspirations of autonomy and self-sufficiency.
These spaces, however, are not without potential. Through a conscientious and thorough effort they may be redesigned, repurposed, unified in their ambition to establish a valuable contribution to society; transcending the worth of their previous iterations. One such lost space can be ‘found’ on Albert Street, running perpendicular to, and between, the main circulation arteries of Leith Walk and Easter Road. The site once occupied by an iron foundry has to some degree retained its industrial relevance through its present undertaking as a Plumbing Trade Supply depot. The site sits in front of the disused North British Railway Line, in close proximity to Leith’s past central station at Easter Road. The site and this once key infrastructure present the opportunity to connect the aforementioned neglected sites, offering a platform by which a regenerative scheme may be implemented across Leith. Using Albert Street as the location of a hypothetical intervention, we will present a potential avenue of regeneration, ranging in scale from that of the city to that of the individual. The pivotal component of the proposal is a specified protagonist; someone in need of physical and/or social rehabilitation. Living accommodation and associated common facilities will be designed around their specific needs. The design will implement a strategy of social integration and architectural sustainability within the wider community. In the last century, global urban populations expanded from 15 to 50% and with this figure expected to rise to 66% by 2050 the conversation of how we might feed the cities of the future is one that must be confronted. The nature of the relationship between our cities and its food production systems negates an understanding of the processes by which the city is sustained. An interest in urban agriculture is consequently gaining momentum, affording the cities’ inhabitants a pervasive interaction with nature and the origins of their food.
Thematically linked to this proposal is the concept of Biophilic design, which is defined as ‘the urge to affiliate with other forms of life’. Our proposals are therefore intended to encourage our protagonists to further their relationship with nature, harvesting its therapeutic attributes and in turn continuing and catalyzing their rehabilitation. Biophilic architecture has proven its worth in helping to build confidence, aiding recovery from illness, developing skills, whilst simultaneously offering an insight into the value of sustainable and healthy living. Considering Edinburgh specifically, in 2010 the waiting list for allotments stood at 2,367 for just 1,233 council owned plots, demonstrating a clear public demand for urban agriculture in the city. As a result, we propose to reclaim the disused sites and public parks along the railway and in the surrounding area, reassigning them for use as allotments and growing plots. Should this strategy prove successful, it is intended that it could be replicated throughout Edinburgh and beyond. By working collaboratively within this concept, we aim to demonstrate the versatility and societal strength of the programme; achieved by each team member applying his or her own protagonist to the scheme. These scenarios hold great potential to be replicated in similarly lost spaces throughout the city.
Site plan
SITE ANALYSIS The area around the site of interest (highlighted in pink) was explored, with particular attention being paid to the amount of accessible green space available within the site’s proximity. Similarly, interest surrounded the potential appropriation of the disused railway that runs behind the site and the subsequent spaces that this possible network could connect.
Map highlighting public green areas within the vicinity of the site
Map highlighting private green areas
HISTORICAL CONTEXT The historical context of the site is one in keeping with the industrial heritage of Leith. An old iron foundry was situated on Albert street within the site in question. Where now the site back’s onto a disused railway, in its past it was a commercial hub for industrial activity within the area.
West Elevation of South Sloan Street
South Elevation of Albert Street
Albert Street North Elevation
Site Model at 1:200
Vew up Soatth Sloan Street towards site, drawing attention to the axial green strip running along the street
PRECEDENT STUDY
royal college of physicians, denys lasdun The Royal College of Physicians (RCP), by Denys Lasdun was looked at as a precedent due to its tectonic interest. The building’s strucutral systems were investigated and its most striking architectural moments explored. This investigation predominantly took place through the use of models, eventually leading to the formation of a language which translated to drawing. Subsequently, these visual tools both informed our design process and tectonic ambitions. The following series of models demonstrate our exploration into RCP’s tectonic attributes.
Initial studies exploring the tectonic qualities of RCP identified the main entrance and the juxtaposition between the slender and delicate concrete columns that support the monolithic massings above. The composition of these columns can also be seen to frame the main entrance to the college, which together with the steps leading up encourage a feeling of a procession and importance as your enter the building.
Model studying the massing of RCP
The staircase at RCP forms one of the focal points of the building.The processional route through the atrium hinges on the ease of circulation of the staircase. Circulation as a facilitator for social interaction is a notion that was explored in this study. The literal translation of this componoment in our model study allowed us to begin to interrogate structure within Lasdun’s design.
Model studying the central staircase
This model study demostrates the ambition of the censor room at RCP. The room appears to float under the main building and penetrates a glass wall on the East facade of the atrium. This extrusion from the main footprint pronounces this space and gives it a special character within the site. The purpose of this model was to investigate the facade treatment and the space’s relationship with the rest of the building.
Model studying the extrusion of the censor room.
The penultimate study of RCP explored the juxtaposition between the organic form of the lecture theatre and the rythmic and orthogonal column grid of the main building. The contrast in materiality and the double skin of the theatre were of particularly interest within the model study.
Study of the sectional relationship between the lecture theatre and orthogonal order of the main bulding.
The sectional quality of the RCP was realised and consequently explored through the final model. Sections were taken at regular intervals along the length of the building, allowing all previously explored elements of the bulding to be understood both indivdually and collectively. The blue foam massings begin to appropriate the sectional voids .
Through the sectional modelling of RCP and the flexible nature of its assembly, a language of changing densities and orthogonal frames emerged. By implementing this tectonic expression, all three proposals of the masterplan share the same architectural motif and are therefore coherent in their intervention within the site.
Clarification drawing of frames changing in density across the site.
Clarification drawing highlighting the relationship between the varying spaces within the section. Rooms slipping over and beneath one another create a variety of individual spaces.
Clarification drawing demonstrating the extrusion of zones within the section .
NUTURING LEITH Paul Klee’s ‘Uncomposed Objects in Space’ (Left) was a source of inspiration for Lasdun’s RCP by the way in which these forms sit uncomposed in relationship to their surrounding. Interestingly, Klee’s other work depicting allotments and agricultural plots was also fitting given our earlier interests in the green space surrounding the site in question. Given the need for the rehabilitation of both the area and the community, an overarching proposal for the greater area of Leith is put forward. This proposal incorporates schemes in areas including educational, temporary occupancy of disused sites and greater allotment facilities, for which Edinburgh has a great demand for.
The sites highlighted within this map have been chosen as examples of what could be applied to the city at a greater scale. These were of particular interest because of their connection to the railway, which has been apprpropriated as a pedestrian and cycle route. The sites in orange are most suitable for being occupied by vast allotment facilities. The pink highlights the railway which similarly offers opportunity for growing and increased access to green space. The blue site highlights a currently dis-used site that is in the process of being developed. Consequently, the site lends itself to temporary agricultural growing use in the lead up to the site’s full development.
Educational Pavilion
The educational prototype is designed for the temporary site and thus is raised off the ground employing a delicate tectonic grounding within the sites in anticipated for their future removal. The form is influenced by the language harnessed from the Lasdun study. It implements a series of frames to provide shelter and seating, enclosing a space suitable for agricultural educational purposes.
Platform Pavilion
The platform prototype is designed to sit along the repurposed railway, offering views down upon existing and proposed green spaces. Similarly, the form was influenced by the initial studies at RCP where a regular primary structural grid provides the base for the elevated decking. Smallar frames create areas of shelter and seating.
Summerhouse Pavilion
The summerhouse prototype is designed to offer a base within the wider allotment sites. It provides storage for gardening tools, as well as a space for community gathering for eating and recreation. Once again the language of frames is used, in this circumstance as more of a structural system as opposed to an aesthetic tool.
Image of public green areas reappropriated for urban agriculture. Previous railway line becomes a green corridor through Leith connecting these sites.
By working collaboratively within this concept, we aim to demonstrate the versatility and societal strength of the programme; achieved by each team member applying his or her own protagonist to the scheme. These scenarios hold great potential to be replicated in similarly lost spaces throughout the city.