Cultivating Heijplaat

Nicoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s House and the Extra School SSoA MArch Architecture 2011/12

ARC583 Design Report 100235416 Sam Brown

Preface: The Story This Design Report is associated with a Masters level architectural thesis project. Such projects exist ultimately as fiction, all-be-it with roots in observations of reality. Yet fiction has a capacity to effect change and we must therefore be careful with our fictions and the stories they tell. Regeneration is inevitably flavoured by an attitude to stories both unfolding and spent. Those stories are sometimes a reason to do one thing and not another and thus are the seeds of future stories. To regenerate sustainably and responsibly, we can neither ignore stories themselves nor our role within them. In visiting Heijplaat and engaging with actors and agents that hold a stake there-in, I have already entangled myself in its story. Nico Prins - the Verhalenman - took occupation of a condemned building in Heijplaat six years ago with the intention of collecting the stories of a place deeply connected with the evolution of Rotterdam as both city and port. Born in nearby Pernis, Nico spends his working days on ‘native ground’ in Heijplaat listening to its stories. In re-telling them, he hopes to ensure that Heijplaat’s stories are given due regard as its future unfolds. This report is a creative and strategic document that relates my encounters with Heijplaat with Nico as my guide - and serves as a manual with which to frame the development of my project. As it develops, it is hoped that the research might be applied in support of Nico’s work in Heijplaat.

RDM Campus

Port Facilities

Port Facilities Tuindorp Heijplaat Garden Suburb

SHISSite

Stichting Hervormde Internaten voor Schippersjeugd

NICOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HOUSE HEIJPLAAT

A.N. Architect Local Worker

Resident Trustee Nico Prins Artist

Community Land Trust

Resident Trustee

Port Facilities

Fig. A /// Heijplaat and surrounding area

iii

Contents i

Preface: The Story

iii

Contents

Introduction

Procurement Objectives

MArch Studio 7 - Cultivate

Studio Brief

Personal Methodology

Early Themes - Permacultural Production

A Methodology For Selecting Site - Using Edges To Understand Place

9 9 12

Heijplaat Heijplaat As An (Un)Expected Encounter Working Remotely - Complimenting Observation With Desk-Based Research

Stadshavens Rotterdam - Regional Development Agency

Evolving Methodology - Soundings And Return

Community Schools - Education As A Value Stream

Nico Prins - The Verhalenman

Hostelling in Heijplaat

Inland Shipping - A New Community

Developing A Brief

Cultivating Heijplaat - Nicoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s House and the Extra School

Visual Brief and Indicative Proposals

Existing Buildings

Site Strategy - What Next?

Bibliography

Fig. B /// Reflections in Heijplaat.

Introduction Cultivating Heijplaat is an investigation into inclusive, sustainable regeneration that is sensitive to place, partially investigated through the design of a building. As such, it aims to consider the challenges associated with a general ‘skilling up’ of built environment professionals to meet the future challenges of carbon-neutral new-build and - particularly - retrofitting of existing dwellings to meet new performance standards. It also aims to consider how a more inclusive approach to design and construction might enable learning to form part of a wider agenda for sustainable development in Heijplaat. As a project Cultivating Heijplaat can be seen as the design of an architectural process as well as the design of a building. It should therefore be read closely with the associated Management Report submitted as part of module ARC585. The Design Report is prepared at a stage when brief and site have been established in outline after thorough research and preparation. The next step is to develop design proposals based on the brief and site established. Project Objectives Cultivating Heijplaat has a number of objectives: Firstly; it is an exercise in working in another professional culture and at a remove from site. This necessitates the use of tactical working methods, such as taking ‘soundings’; interviews and other active enquiry used to gather information indirectly in preparation for short, intense site visits. Secondly; and as a consequence of the first objective, the project is intended as an exercise in applied research. After seeking out a site, I have found it to be full of activity and initiatives of both a ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ nature. As a researcher, I can choose to take a subjective position relative to the subject of my research, and cannot ignore the fact that my work will change that subject to some extent. In working with local actors such as Nico Prins, I have an opportunity to support their initiative - which I accept as worthwhile - with my own skills. Thirdly; Cultivating Heijplaat is an opportunity to pursue a wider interest in the ways in which community groups can engage with the pressures of development that affect them. In doing so, the project explores the multiple and alternate roles the architect can assume in supporting active community groups: from within, as a citizen with particular skills initiating projects; and from without, as a professional practitioner negotiating the complex terrain of visions, plans, technology and global environmental change.

WATER PROTEIN

INPUTS - Every material need of the industrial chicken farming process is met by the use of a great deal of energy and the creation of much pollution. The chickens’ welfare needs are not met at all.5

OUTPUTS - Only eggs are really thought of as output. After a productive timespan, around 72 weeks during which average the average annual egg yield of one hen in the UK is 338 per year. They are slaughtered for low grade meat products such as pet food, or even pies for human consumption.

GRAIN ENERGY HORMONES / ANTIBIOTICS

LOW-GRADE MEAT

EGGS

Even the manure, a potentially useful nutrient source, is considered a nuisance to be got rid of, and the idea that chickens may have other things to offer us is not even considered.5

LOSS OF AUTONOMY - Farmers feel as if they do not own their own business. As a ‘grower’ they are supplied with chickens by the meat producing corporations, who own the chickens from when they are born to when they are slaughtered, merely spending time in the grower’s sheds along the way. In order to win contracts with the corporations, growers must comply with their demands for certain equipment, often at great cost. Inorder to pay for the equipment upgrades, the grower must maintain his contract, and so is ‘hooked’ on the corporation. Even if a grower wants to change the way they produce chickens, they cannot becuase they depend hevilly upon the contract from the corporation for financial stability.11

BUILDING FABRIC & PERFORMANCE- The battery house takes a lot of energy both the build and to run, including the energy needed for forced ventilation to get rid of the stale air and accumulated body heat of all the birds.

Fig.C /// Industrial farming process using battery cages, characterised by high input of energy and resources to produce a limited number of outputs. Only eggs are seen as the product, with meat only being low grade and ‘waste’ elements such as heat and CO2 ignored and disposed of by releasing into the environment in a concentrated and harmful way.

500mm

HIGH-INPUT FOOD - The battery chickens’ food is mainly grain, grown with the use of tractors and other machinery, artificial fertilisers and pesticides. All of these take a lot of energy both to produce and to use, plus a great deal of raw materials. A protein supplement is added to the grain which is often fishmeal or soya imported from poor countries where people go short of protein. The soya beans may well be grown on land cleared from virgin forest. The feed is processed in a large centralised mill, requiring transport both from the grain farm and to the chicken farm. Water is pumped to the chicken house via the mains. Antibiotics and other drugs are routinely added to the feed of conventionally raised farm animals to promote growth and prevent infections that spread rapidly under unnaturally stressful and crowded conditions.

BARN SYSTEM2 - One industrial process of farming chickens is termed the ‘barn system’, in which EU law permits 25 chickens per m2.

BATTERY CAGES - Some industrial chicken houses use the battery cage system, in which chickens are kep in cramped cages. Minimum space standard in the UK is just under three quarters the size of an A4 sheet of paper per bird, but frequently 5 chickens are kept in a cage the size of a microwave (approx. 500mm x 500mm). Cages usually extending from one end of the shed to the other, up to six stacks high. Chicken beaks are cut to stop them causing too much damage to each other. There are 30,000,000 chickens in this country - 85% of these are 'living' in Battery Farms, with artificial 'sunrise and sunset' plus fortified foods. Over 2,000,000 chickens die in their cages each year from disease caused by improper control of faeces clearing.2

GROWTH HORMONE - Growth hormone added to the chickens’ feed accelerates the growth of their muscles (the meat) at a pace with which their internal organs and bone structure cannot cope. Many animals have heart-attacks or other health problems, but commonly are slaughtered anyway.

Fig.C + Fig. D /// Comparative exploration of industrial and permacultural farming techniques focussing on the production of eggs for easier comparison

POLLUTED RUN-OFF - Run-off from the battery house is contaminated with both high levels of nitrogen from the wasted chicken manure and the residue of antibiotics that it contains. Concentrated chemicals used to clean the chicken house between ‘growings’ also permeates groundwater through run-off. Concentrated nitrogen levels in water, as a result of so many birds being kept in the same place, can cause eutrophication in streams and lakes, whilst the widespread agricultural use of antibiotics significantly enhances the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Humans can become infected with resistant bacteria through undercooked meat or contaminated soil and groundwater, and we depend on the same antibiotics given to farm animals. Antibiotic resistance threatens our ability to fight these infections10.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH / JOB QUALITY - Workers in battery houses can become alergic to antibiotics that are used to supplement chicken feed (also see below). Dust and stale air is also hazardous to health.11 Additionally, the type of work required is largely unskilled and typically low pay. This creates a situation with very low job satisfaction and makes breaches of conduct, regulation and best practice more likely.

THE CHICKEN-GREENHOUSE - As far as possible, made out of locally produced materials. Orientated facing south to catch passive solar gain. The need for continuous input of energy is designed out of the permaculture system by making useful connections between its different parts. For example, the heat, CO2 and manure produced by the chickens are considered useful outputs of the system, rtaher than as pollutants.

RAINWATER COLLECTION - There is a waterbutt to collect rainwater from the roof, which will supply a large portion of the chickens’ drinking water with little expenditure of energy. Collecting it at height requires no pumping in distribution. Where mans water is metered, the system (wtarebutt, guttering, etc.) will soon pay for itself in cash terms.

PASSIVE SOLAR GAIN - Although strictly speaking, it is impossible to ‘produce’ energy, to all practical extents and purposes the Sun’s energy is unlimited and converting soem of it to a useable form is a gain in real terms, whereas burning fossil fuels is a loss.

ALDER TREE - Certain trees, such as the Alder tree, planted near the pond can provide additional food sources for chickens and fish in the form of caterpillars that rain down from its boughs at certain times of year.

EDGE - The most productive ecosystems on earth are those on the edges of water. Plants here have the advantages of both mediums: the water means that they never suffer from drought stress and the soil gives them a place to root and grow that is close to the air. In order to maximise the edge effect, ponds should have wavy shorelines of bays and promontories, and a shelving shore rather than a quick drop from dry land to deep water. BULRUSHES - and similar plants, such as reeds, reedmace and water lillies all have edible parts (usually strachy roots or tubers that can complement the protein from fish) and can outyield land-based plants. Reedbeds, in the UK climate produce more biomass than any other ecosystem. PIGS - Pigs can also make use of edible water plants and love ‘edges’ to wallow in.

SUPPLEMENTARY FEEDING - may be needed at some times of the year, but a well-designed system will keep this to a minimum. USEFUL CONNECTION (WHEATFIELD) - If let into the field after harvest, chickens will eat up the ears of grain missed during harvesting. The chickens are making use of a resource that would otherwise go to waste.

USEFUL CONNECTION (ORCHARD) - In the orchard chickens will help to control pests such as the codling moth and sawflies by eating the insects during that part of their life cycle they spend on the ground.

THE CHICKEN FORAGE SYSTEM - makes use of perennial plants (which require little or no maintenance once established) such as trees and shrubs, to grow food for the chickens where they live. Chickens can eat things that humans cannot, thus converting a diverse number of things to useful food. No transport is involved and the food simply falls down to the chickens. No harvesting is necessary. The chickens do it for you. The chicken forage system exhibits the permaculture principal of good relative placement for useful connections.

FALSE ACACIA TREE - As well as being highly decorative, the false acacia tree yields seeds for chicken forage, flowers for bee forage, leaves for pig forage, timber that is durable without the need for preservatives and increased soil fertility through nitrogen fixing.

CO2 / O2 TRANSFER - Carbon dioxide exhaled by the chickens can be used in photosynthesis by the plants in the greenhouse. Oxygen produced during photosynthesis can be breathed by the chickens.

HEAT TRANSFER - During cold winter mornings, heat from the south-facing greenhouse helps to keep the chicken house warm. Conversely, during the night, body heat from the chickens helps to keep the greenhouse warm, supporting plant growth without avoiding the need for parafin or gas heaters.

MANURE TO FOOD - By positioning the chicken house above the pond, productivity of the pond can be increased. It’s really just the same as manuring a field, but there is less work involved and the potential return is greater than if it was spread on land.

USING WATER - A body of water can produce ten times the amount of protein, in the form of fish, as the same area of grazing land in thr form of sheep or cattle. A carefully chosen selection of different kinds of fish, each making use of a different kind of food, can make full use of the diverse natural food supplies available in the pond: plant and animal plankton, vegetation, small animals (such as snails) and even the rich detritus at the bottom of the pond.

Fig. D /// Permaculture considers the wellbeing of the productive system as a whole, including human operatives. It accepts multiple outputs as products including higher grade meat, and plants and fish produced using chickens to do some of the work associated with their cultivation, such as pest control and fertilisation. The system is more intelligently ‘designed’, using mutually beneficial adjacencies to enhance the overall productivity of the system.

MArch Studio 7 - Cultivate

PERMACULTURE WORLD MAP This and the following sheet take as a point of departure Patrick Whitefield’s ‘Permaculture in a Nutshell’ (2010), 6th Edition, London: Permanent Publications / Permaculture Association

SO WHAT IS PERMACULTURE?

cul·ture [kulh-cher]3

ag·ri·cul·ture

per·ma·cul·ture [pur-muh-kuhl-cher]3

mon·o·cul·ture [mon-oh-kulh-cher]3

hor·ti·cul·ture [haw-tee-kulh-cher]3

aq·ua·cul·ture [Ack-wah-kulh-cher]3

Or-ga-nic

noun ...

noun

adjective

The science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products.

A system of cultivation intended to maintain permanent agriculture or horticulture by relying on renewable resources and a self-sustaining ecosystem.

The cultivation of a single crop in a given area.

The art or practice of garden cultivation and management.

The rearing of aquatic animals or the cultivation of aquatic plants for food

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost, and biological pest control, to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm

7. The cultivation of plants: e.g. ‘this variety of lettuce is popular for its ease of culture’.

Permaculture is an approach to sustainable living that has spread around the world. It is not a new idea. It is first and foremost a design system, often described as ‘designing sustainable human habitats’, the defiition of which has expanded to include building, town planning, water supply and purification and even commercial and financial systems alongside food production. Permaculture is the ‘third choice’ of alternatives to industrial farming, between organic methods, which reduce the high the levels of input demanded by agricultural systems, and simple peasant agriculture, which increases the calorific yield tenfold but condemns us to drudgery and labour-intensive lifestyle. The aim is to use the power of the human brain, applied to design, to

[ag-ree-kuhl-cher]3

[Or-ga-nic]3

Studio Brief

CHINESE AGRICULTURE - Man vs Machine5

CUBA - Urban food production through economic necessity4

Comparing Chinese and US agriculture, Whitefield points out that whilst the US system is more productive economically (in terms of cash), the Chinese system feeds more people, producing approximately 9 times more calories per m2.

Agricultural reform resulting from both top-down central government directives and bottom-up citizen initiatives moved food production within the city limits, in reaction to economic crisis following the collapse of the socialist block in Europe (main trading partner accounting for 80% of imports and exports) and the strengthening of a US-imposed blockde, termed the ‘Special Period’ in Cuban economic history.

Whitefield attributes the productivity of the Chinese system to the ‘amount of human attention per m2, and acknowledges that it is labour intensive. Whilst US-style agriculture is highly industrialised, making extensive use of machinery and chemical fertilisers, the Chinese style system uses smaller plots of land and greater man-power. Whitefield argues that intelligent permaculture design can minimise the laborious aspects of such a system, whilst retaining those aspects which make it productive.

Now, organic produce, grown locally in Organoponoicos (city farms) is genuinely cheaper that crops grown outside of the city and transported in.

INCREDIBLE EDIBLE TODMORDEN

“ As a studio we will explore the relationship of food and the city. We will question the existing linear processes of production and develop strategies for cultivating ecological closed loop systems, which eliminate the notion of waste and move towards a low carbon future.

Voluntary community growing group with associated company limited by guarantee, active in the field of local food production and environmental policy.

JAPAN- FUKUOKA METHOD5 + 7 Named after Japanese farmer Masanobu Fukouka (1913-2008), who developed a revolutionary method of growing grain that did not require tilling of the soil, thereby minimising the associated soil degradation. Also commonly referred to as the Natural Farming method or ‘Do-Nothing Farming’, the Fukoaka method also avoids the use of herbicides, and has been used to re-vegetate desertified lands.

Experimenting with permaculture as a way to render different types of land effective for food production.

Whitefield 2010, p.47

replace human brawn or fossil fuel energy and the pollution that goes with it. In permaculture, productivity, reliability and resilience depend on diversity. Permaculture design is very much about ‘wholes’, and the connections between different parts, optimised so that they work harmoniously. The essence of permaculture is to work with what is already there: firstly to preserve what is best, secondly to enhance existing systems and lastly to introduce new elements. The principals of permacuture design are broad principals, not detailed prescriptions. They can only be used in combination with deep local knowledge, and the results will look very different from place to place. Permaculture operates on the basis that ‘Local Solutions’ are the most appropriate to ‘Global Problems’ and principals can be loosely summarised as follows: -

Creating and exploiting USEFUL CONNECTIONS between components in a system that are mutually beneficial to the components involved.

Accepting MULTIPLE YIELDS rather than an amplified, single yield.

Proposing solutions at SMALL SCALE that are then replicated in principal as localised systems rather than rolled out on an industrial scale.

We will explore alternatives to current models of living, producing and consuming in cities and reconsider their relationship to the hinterlands that feed them. In doing this we will look to cultivate habitats, economies, ecologies, communities and social capital.

KERALA, INDIA- Forest Gardens

Establishing PERPETUAL SYSTEMS that require little or no input of work in order to continue to produce outputs.

Multiple planting in the same space, utilising terraces and the ‘vacant space’ at varying altitudes for the canopies and leafing zones of different crops.

Permaculture also has three underlying concepts that provide for

AUSTRIA - JOSEF ‘SEPP’ HOLZER6

its ethical basis:

Farmer Sepp Holzer is using permaculture design principals to grow food on land considered to be unproductive, such as steep alpine slopes.

Earth Care / People Care / Fair Shares 1/ Earth Care - recognizing Earth as the source of all life and recognising that mankind is part of Earth, not apart from it.

CRYSTAL WATERS, AUSTRALIA - Permaculture Design used to plan Eco-Village5

Holzer arguable demonstrated the first recorded modern practice of permaculture as a systematic method in the 1960s8.

2/ People Care - supporting and helping each other live in ways that harm neither ourselves nor the planet and develop

Self-build village with agricultural land, woodland and wilderness integrated with residential development.

Traditional home gardens for food production that mimic the forest eco-system, exploiting the varying layers of the canopy to the benefit of different species of plants

1 HARVEY, F. (2011) ‘Battery hen rules may undercut UK egg producers, MPs warn’ [WWW] Available from: www.guardian.co.uk, Friday 2 September 2011 07.00 BST. 2 DOWNTHELANE.NET (2011) ‘The Battery Hen - A farming method which is changing - slowly. What can we do?’ [WWW] Available from: http://www.downthelane.net/ battery.php 3 GOOGLE DICTIONARY (2011) [WWW] Available from www.google.co.uk

PERMACULTURE ASSOCIATION www.permaculture.org

The developers are a small group working primarilly as permaculture designers. To obtain land, they made an arrangement with a local farmer to swap his whole farm in return for a few developed plots upon completion, tactically avoiding having to go to a bank for a loan. Designers and Planners were also paid in ‘plots’.

CHAGGA, TANZANIA - Home Gardens

healthy societies. 3/ Fair Shares - using Earth’s limited natural resources in ways that are equitable and wise.

Much of what makes it a ‘permaculture’ design is not immediately obvious, although buildings are positioned to exploit passive solar gain and summer cooling, planting is planned to encourage soil fertility, and there are many ponds which protect against erosion by working with existing water flows across the site.

4 VILJOEN, A. (ed.) (2005) ‘CPULs – Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes. Designing Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Cities’ London: Architectural Press. 5 WHITEFIELD, P. (2010) ‘Permaculture in a Nutshell’ (6th Ed.) London: Permanent Publications / Permaculture Association. 6 GREEN, N. (2011) Conversation with Nick Green of Incredible Edible Todmorden.

WIKIPEDIA (2011) ‘Masanobu Fukuoka’ [WWW] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masanobu_Fukuoka WIKIPEDIA (2011) ‘Permaculture’ [WWW] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture FERNANDES, E.M.C, OKTINGATI, A. MAGHEMBE, J (eds.) (1995) ‘The Chagga home gardens: A multi-storeyed agro-forestry cropping system on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Northern Tanzania’ [WWW] Available from: www.greenstone.org

7 8 9

1/ 17_11_2011 DATE:

SAMPSON, J. (2011) Studio 7 Cultivate: Brief. Sheffield: Sheffield School of Architecture, p.1. 1

LAND USE

Three examples of farms illustrating their comparitive spatial scale in Figure/Ground at 1:2500 scale. Three examples are: (left to right) Incredible Edible’s Walsden Polytunnel Site, Todmorden, UK; Joel Salatin’s Polyface Permacultire Farm, Shenandoha Valley, West Virginian, USA; Conniston Battery Farm, Scotland, UK.

We will base ourselves at the heart of the existing supply network, at the gateway to Europe - Rotterdam. As the largest port in Europe Rotterdam is connected into a massive rail, road, air and inland waterway distribution system, which extends throughout mainland Europe.” 1

Personal Methodology COLLINS (2003) “Cultivation” Collins English Dictionary Complete and Unabridged [WWW edition]. Glasgow: Collins. 2

cultivation n 1. 2. 3.

B: Joel Salatin / Polyface Farm - Shenandohah Valley, West Virginia, USA.

n also be applied at a larger scale. Here, Salatin and Polyface use animals such as chickens and cows as part of the regenerative process that imcreases the fertility of the soil for crop growing. Food Inc. / Michael Pollan on TED.com

1:2500

C: Conniston Battery Farm - Scotland, UK. Conniston could be said to represent a typical UK battery farm on which chickens are reared intensively for egg production. It is fairly small, in that it has relatively few sheds in total, although each shed is approximately 100m in length. Crops grown on the farm are also monocultures with no crop rotation between years. Fertilizer is relied upon to maintain soil fertility. Google / Google Earth.

1:2500

LAND USE

4/ 23_11_2011 DATE:

B: Joel Salatin / Polyface Farm - Shenandohah Valley, West Virginia, USA.

Permaculture can also be applied at a larger scale. Here, Salatin and Polyface use animals such as chickens and cows as part of the regenerative process that imcreases the fertility of the soil for crop growing. Food Inc. / Michael Pollan on TED.com

1:2500

A: Incredible Edible’s Walsden Polytunnel Site - Todmorden , UK

Conniston could be said to represent a typical UK battery farm on which chickens are reared intensively for egg production. It is fairly small, in that it has relatively few sheds in total, although each shed is approximately 100m in length. Crops grown on the farm are also monocultures with no crop rotation between years. Fertilizer is relied upon to maintain soil fertility.

Visited.

1:2500

100

200

LAND USE

Google / Google Earth.

1:2500

500m

DATE:

23_11_2011

B: Joel Salatin / Polyface Farm - Shenandohah Valley, West Virginia, USA.

1:2500

A: Incredible Edible’s Walsden Polytunnel Site - Todmorden , UK

Google / Google Earth.

Visited.

0 10

1:2500

100

200

C: Conniston Battery Farm - Scotland, UK.

Permaculture can be applied at a small scale, such as in this example, where a site of approximately 250m2 is used to experiment with and demonstrate permaculture principals to visiting groups, local educational organisations and other interested parties. The site supports the activities of the activist community growing group Incredible Edible Todmorden by providing them with a home at which to host visitors, and as a place to bring on plants for planting in propaganda beds throughout the town of Todmorden and its surroudniungs. These propaganda beds raise awareness about the relationship between production of food and the town, be demonstrating that food can be grown in the public realm.

500m

(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Agriculture) Agriculture: a. the planting, tending, improving, or harvesting of crops or plants. b. the preparation of ground to promote their growth. development, esp through education, training, etc. culture or sophistication, esp social refinement.

Cultivation can mean many things as both word and act. The most base of interpretations is perhaps ‘the preparation of ground to promote growth’, preceding even the obvious and usual connotations of agricultural food production. Considering cultivation as the ‘planting, tending, improving and harvesting’ of ‘ideas and relationships’ - rather than crops - can develop this concept and provide a useful metaphor for the values of sustainable regeneration.

C: Conniston Battery Farm - Scotland, UK.

0 10

Fig.E /// Comparative study of land use in industrial and permacultural farming showing irrelevance of technique to scale: A. Permaculture is applied throughout the world and at varying scales. / B. Industrial production of chickens in the UK. / C. Large scale, multi-functional permaculture at Joel 4/ Salatin’s Polyface Farm in the USA using different fields in cycles of crop and animal production to enhance yields of both. / D. Small-scale permaculture at Walsden, nr. Todmorden, UK by activist organisation Incredible Edible Todmorden aimed at supplying local shops and restaurants and providing training.

1:2500

4/ 23_11_2011 DATE:

Continuing from my MArch dissertation, my main interest in this project lies with the issue of community groups and the processes by which they engage with pressures of change that affect them. In Cultivating Heijplaat I hope to explore the mechanisms by which architecture could be produced in a particular place. In doing so I am interested in the alternate role of the architect: both in supporting community groups from within as initiator or facilitator of projects; and in appropriately negotiating and harnessing the wider pressures of development in professional practice as a consultant.

THE CHICKEN-GREENHOUS Orientated facing south to catch designed out of the permacultu parts. For example, the heat, CO

In a world where ‘local’ has an ever-wider connotation, how can the architect cultivate good relationships within a geographically-local community; and between it and a wider group of regional and global stakeholders? What opportunities lie in ‘joined-up thinking’ about topics such as the knowledge economy and education, global politics of environmental change and economic development that usually fall outside the architect’s professional remit?

BULRUSHES - and similar plants, such as reeds, reedmace and water lillies all have edible parts (usually strachy roots or tubers that can complement the protein from fish) and can outyield land-based plants. Reedbeds, in the UK climate produce more biomass than any other ecosystem.

PIGS - Pigs can also make use of edible water plants and love ‘edges’ to wallow in.

In beginning to address these questions I have prioritised an exploration of site over in-depth investigations of the practices of cultivation such as permaculture, returning to such studies for guidance and methodology rather than literal programme. SUPPLEMENTARY FEEDING - may be needed at some times of the year, but a well-designed system will keep this to a minimum.

USEFUL CONNECTION (WHEATFIELD) - If let into the field after harvest, chickens will eat up the ears of grain missed during harvesting. The chickens are making use of a resource that would otherwise go to waste.

Early Themes - Permacultural Production

FALSE ACACIA TREE - As well as being highly decorative, the false acacia tree yields seeds for chicken forage, flowers for bee

CO2 / O2 TRANSFER - Carbon dioxide exhaled by the chickens can be used in photosynthesis by the plants in the greenhouse. Oxygen produced during photosynthesis can be breathed by the chickens.

3 “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideologyforage, of the cell.” leaves cancer for pig forage, timber that is durable without the need for preservatives and increased soil fertility through Edward Abbey nitrogen fixing.

Fig.F /// Mutually beneficial edges in a permacultural system.

The industrial-scale farming of chickens for their eggs -as demanded by our contemporary lifestyle and patterns of consumption - is an example of a system that requires many different inputs to produce one or two outputs. By comparison, a permaculture garden accepts many different outputs as value from the system. Waste products from one part are fed back into the system and consumed by other parts as nutrients, such as the way in which fish benefit from the deposition of chicken manure into their pond.

ABBEY, E. (1968) Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness. Tuscon: University of Arizona Press, p.114.

Mutually beneficial relationships are encouraged by design through locating symbiotic organisms next to each other so that they benefit from each other fully. The edges where Fig.G /// Mutually beneficial edges organic systems meet are often the most productive parts of a permaculture system, and in a permacultural system. the most productive ecosystems on earth are those on the edges of water. Plants here are USEFUL CONNECTION (WHEATFIELD) - If let into the field after harvest, chickens will eat up the ears of grain missed during harvesting. The chickens are making use of a resource that would otherwise go to waste.

SUPPLEMENTARY FEEDING - may be needed at some times of the year, but a well-designed system will keep this to a minimum.

<1600

A. 1600 / 1800

B. 1860

C. 1970

Fig.H (left) /// Spatial development of Rotterdam over time as growth of city follows that of the Port. A. / ‘Natural state’ before c.1600. B. / The ‘golden age’ of trade and Dutch imperialism between 1600 and 1800. C. / Engineering of the Nieuwe Maas (New Maas) waterway c.1860. D. / ‘Modern day’ Rotterdam c.1970. Fig.I (below) /// Scale and extent of the engineered landscape lining the banks of the Nieuwe Maas, including the reclamation of land during construction of the Maasvlakte II port facilities at the waterway’s north sea mouth.

supported through periods of drought and frost by their proximity to water, whilst the soil gives them a place to root and grow that is close to the air. Additionally, animals such as pigs exploit the environmental benefits of edges, wallowing in the mud to stay cool in summer.

WHITEFIELD, P. (2010) ‘Permaculture in a Nutshell’ (6th Ed.) London: Permanent Publications / Permaculture Association, p.19. 4

Above all, a permaculture system values the health and well-being of each component in the system - including human beings - rather than growth for the sake of growth4. As such, it represents an attitude towards design that is immediately transferable to the idea of regeneration and development.

A Methodology For Selecting Site - Using Edges to Understand a Place Rotterdam is a vast place. With a diameter roughly equivalent to Greater London and a population approximately equal to that of Sheffield, it is easy to lose people in the expanse of port facilities to which the city is enthral. The growth of the city has always followed that of the port., developing linearly along the heavily engineered banks of the Maas river. Rotterdam’s harbours punctuate the shoreline along its entire length, from the traditional agricultural polder landscape of the east to the new Maasvlakte II currently under construction in the far west, where the Dutch area reclaiming more land from the sea in stereotypically bombastic style. Whilst the infrastructure and logistical powerhouse of the Port has always led economic growth and spatial development, it has always needed people to operate it; to consume its throughput and demand its expansion. The City represents and services those people, and is embassy for the Port in the global market. The two are intertwined, fused by mutual dependency on the harbour’s vicarious edge. Following the edge is one way to deal with the scale of investigation at hand. A simple rule: by bike, head for the confluence of City and Port, keeping to the boundary of land and water as close as feasibly possible. In doing so, it may be possible to discover places where the two systems meet in surprising ways: land and water; city and port; instances of economic permaculture in an industrial landscape.

The Netherlands.

Europe.

Rotterdam.

Sheffield.

London.

Fig.J (above) /// Location of Rotterdam within Europe and comparative size with London and Sheffield. Fig.K (right) /// Greater Rotterdam comprising the municipal â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (in red) and the Port of Rotterdam (in blue) as defined by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and Gemeente Rotterdam (municipality) websites. Note the overlap of territory each considers to be under its own jurisdiction.

50km 50km

11::50 50000 000@ @A0 A0

6000m 3000 0

200

600

1500

OUDERKERK /// Typical historic Dutch polder landscape of land reclaimed from the sea and put to agricultural use. Polders are the result of the empolderment - or enclosure of large tracts of low-lying land by a system of dikes. They form an independent hydrological entity meaning they have no connection to outside bodies of water other than those controlled manually, such as pumps, sleuses and windmills21.

No Scale / A1

THE WESTLAND MUSEUM OF REGIONAL AND HORTICULTURAL HISTORY /// Westland is actually one of the largest greenhouse areas in the world, producing fruits, vegetables, plants, and flowers for Europe and beyond. The endless miles of glass greenhouses give the area something of a glass city effect. While residential and agricultural areas are often located far from each other in other countries, Holland's lack of land means that residential houses and commercial businesses are located right next to greenhouses19.

KINDERDIJK /// Largest collection of Dutch windmills / constructed in 1740 to drain the polders at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers / UNESCO World Heritage Site18. HEIJPLAAT /// The twin settlements of Tuindorp Heijplaat and De Heij sit amidst modern port facilities and adjacent to the former shipbuilders Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschaapij (RDM) site currently under development as part of the Stadshavens Rotterdam initiative.

Rotterdam is big - big enough for us to need a framework to aid our exploration. We used walking as a loose methodology for exploring a vast place, applying simple rules such as ‘a walk along’ or ‘a walk towards’ to frame each excursion.

Fig.L (above) /// ‘Walks’ (some by bike) conducted on three different days on a visit to Rotterdam , exploring the ‘edges’ of City and Port, DAY 2 / NORTH of City and Water and of City and Hinterland.

2400

0000

STADSHAVENS ROTTERDAM / RDM TERREIN /// As global and European container cargo shifts towards the use of deeper-keeled super containers the Port of Rotterdam is responding by constructing the new Maasvlakte II port facility at the mouth of Nieuwe Maas. This leaves a huge area of inner port facing an uncertain future. Straddling the administrative boundaries of both Port and City, the area is subject to a joint initiative covering some 1600Ha and referred to as Stadshavens Rotterdam20.

NAALDWIJK

Travelling Sleeping Tutorial Appointment Relaxing Excursion

OUDERKERK

Exploring Rotterdam /// Bicycle

DAY 1 / EAST

P&O Ferries /// ‘Pride of Rotterdam’

Train: Sheffield-Hull / Ferry: Hull-Europoort / Bus: Europoort-Rotterdam Bus: Rotterdam-Europoort / Ferry: Europoort-Hull / Train: Hull-Sheffield

Fig. (from left to right) /// Getting to grips with Dutch bikes! / Ibid. / Greenhouse landscape at Naaldwijk in the Randstad’s ‘Westland’ DAY 3 / WEST hinterland / The strange domestication of vessels employed in inland shipping / Surviving landscape of traditional ‘polders’ and windmills at Kinderdijk, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tue 13 Dec

1100

1600 1700

1000

Mon 12 Dec

0600

1600 1700

Sun 11 Dec

0700

1300

Sat 10 Dec

0700

1600

Fri 09 Dec

0700

1800

1500

1300

Thu 08 Dec

1000

1400

HEIJPLAAT

KINDERDIJK

In developing an interest in ‘edges’ I used a simple rule to frame two ‘walks’ - in reality conducted by bicycle. The walks were conducted over three days as walks ‘along the banks of the Nieuwe Mass’ - a rule followed loosely and ignored where prohibitively difficult. A third ‘walk’ was conducted in the area of Naaldwijk which represents the principal town of the Westland, an area famous for its manufactured landscape of glasshouses employed in the business of industrial horticulture. After a brief journey to Naaldwijk by train and bus , this walk was conducted as a walk ‘towards the Westland Museum of Regional and Horticultural History’ located a short distance from the town centre amidst the rows of glasshouses. With a colleague, I had access to a GPS tracking device that could record our exact route. Those routes and the discoveries made along the way - are shown on this drawing.

Heijplaat

NAALDWIJK

OUDERKERK

DAY 2 / NORTH

Heijplaat as an (un)expected encounter DAY 1 / EAST

Passing through a landscape of cranes and containers awaiting transhipment, we stumbled upon the village of Heijplaat; an emerald of greenery that said ‘I am something special’. The planned accident had occurred.

HEIJPLAAT

DAY 3 / WEST KINDERDIJK

Fig.N (below - key above) /// Route taken through Heijplaat, nestled between the Eemhaven and Waalhavenan hour west of central Rotterdam by bike.

HP01

HEIJPLAAT

Immediately Heijplaat stood out as an unusual place. Rigidly planned residential streets terminated in walls of dully coloured containers whilst nearby, cranes rose above centuryold garden-suburb villas. In places, blocks of post-war terraced housing had been surgically removed, whilst in others new, brick-faced apartment blocks looked recently raised. Considered graffiti adorned the walls of some blocks that appeared recently vacated. The whole peninsula terminated at a monumental, institutional-looking wall of brick-built offices concealing the gigantic sheds of a former shipyard beyond, apparently now undergoing partial re-occupation by a University-led ‘Research, Development and Manufacturing Facility’, complete with glossy commercial branding and oh-so-trendy café culture atmosphere. This was clearly an area undergoing widespread change. Before long it was time to leave in order to make it back to our hostel before dark. I left with an intrigued mind and the hooks I needed in order to continue my exploration of Heijplaat at a remove once back in the UK.

HP01

100

200

750

1500

3000m

No Scale / A2

LOGISTICS

POST-WAR HOUSING HERITAGE + INDUSTRY

Working Remotely - Complimenting Observation With Desk Based Research

KEY

Upon returning to the UK, a web search illuminated Heijplaat in more detail; Google Translate enabled the comprehension of a website run by artist Nico Prins, whilst sites for the local municipality and regional development authority also returned hits. Each revealed striking characteristics of the area, particularly with regard to community action and - in the case of the regional authority - massive planning initiatives that responded to the effects of global change on the neighbourhood.

AQUALINER WATER TAXI SEA SHIPPING INLAND SHIPPING

100 N

AVE

WAALH

In summary, Heijplaat consists of both ‘old’ (Tuindorp Heijplaat) and ‘new’ (De Heij) residential areas, bounded to the north by the former RDM shipyard and to either side by the artificial harbours of Waalhaven and Eemshaven. The area is the focus of the Stadshavens Rotterdam regeneration programme, which identifies each of the aforementioned territories as strategic zones with its own Gebeidsplan (strategic masterplan). Whilst in general the Stadshavens Rotterdam initiative envisions the area as regenerating into a new part of the city of Rotterdam that fuses innovation, knowledge, industry and logistics with high quality and sustainable residential provision, a specific Gebeidsplan sees RDM as an institutional hub for advanced manufacturing and research that acknowledges its rich shipbuilding heritage; whilst harbour functions in Waalhaven and Eemshaven are re-imagined as ‘short-sea’ and ‘inland’ shipping zones, as deep-sea container cargo moves west towards the new Maasvlakte II development at the mouth of of the Nieuwe Maas. De Heij - the area I had become intrigued by - faces obsolescence and demolition to make way for progress, whilst Tuindorp Heijplaat is conserved through enlistment as a national monument; recognition as one of the Netherlands’ first garden city neighbourhoods.

200

HA VEN

HEIJPLAAT & THE SURROUNDING AREA SHOWING MUNICIPAL AND LOGISTICAL CONTEXT

2000m 1000 500

EEMS

1:10000 / A1

ROWING CLUB

Heijplaat is situated to the west to the City of Rotterdam and lies within the jurisdiction of the Port of Rotterdam Authority. It is bounded to the west by Pernis - a residential area heavily dependent upon the activities of the Shell oil company and considered part of the City of Rotterdam, although it maintains its own district council. To the east lies the municipal district of Charlois to which Heijplaat belongs.

Heijplaat consists of both ‘old’ (Tuindorp Heijplaat) and ‘new’ (De Heij) residential areas, bounded to the north by the former RDM shipyard and to either side by the artificial harbours of Waalhaven and Eemshaven. The area is the focus of the Stadshavens Rotterdam regeneration programme, which identifies each of the afore-mentioned territories as strategic zones with their own Gebeidsplan (strategic masterplan). Whilst in general the Stadshavens Rotterdam initiative envisions the area as regenerating into a new part of the city of Rotterdam that fuses innovation, knowledge, industry and logistics with high quality and sustainable residential provision, specific Gebeidsplans see RDM as an institutional hub for advanced manufacturing and research that acknowledges its rich shipbuilding heritage, whilst harbour functions in Waalhaven and Eemshaven are re-imagined as ‘short-sea’ and ‘inland’ shipping as deep-sea container cargo moves west towards the new Maasvlakte II development at the mouth of of the Nieuwe Maas. De Heij faces obsolesence and demolition to make way for progress, whilst Tuindorp Heijplaat is conserved through enlistment as a national monument.

This drawing illustrates the major uses of the waterways that comprise and border the Nieuwe Maas and locates Heijplaat in proximity to the twin municipal horizons of Port and City. Note that the waters surrounding the former RDM site have long since ceased being kept clear for the passage of the deeper-keeled vessels that used to be made here.

Fig.O /// Figure/Ground study of Heijplaat and its surrounding waterways paying particular attention to channel depths of harbours, signifying those still in use and those disused. Area show relative to municipal boundaries and public transport connections by waterways.

Fig.P /// Survey of web-based information about Heijplaat: A. Volunteer site www.heijplaat.com / B. municipalitysponsored www.heijplaat.eu / C. Regional Development Authority information portal www.stadshavensrotterdam.nl.

Stadshavens Rotterdam - Regional Development Authority Stadshavens Rotterdam is the name used to refer to 1600 hectares of land located very near to central Rotterdam. It is the largest inner-city development in the Netherlands, being larger than major Dutch towns such as Gouda, and almost equal to the size of Rotterdam’s city centre. The initiative has a mandate until 2040 and is jointly commissioned by Rotterdam City Council and the Port of Rotterdam Authority, laying at the confluence of their respective jurisdictions. It is administered by the Stadshavens Projectbureau, which has its offices at the RDM Campus in Heijplaat. In the simplest terms, it values sustainability and quality of life as integral to development and has the double objective of ‘reinforcing the economic structure of City and Port and providing a high quality, sustainable living and working environment, which is climate proof and has a future-orientated energy supply’. The role of the Projectbureau is to ‘facilitate the communication and development of plans and decisions to stimulate the transformation’. It is anticipated that the initiative will cost around eight billion euros, secured in part from the State but mostly from private investors. Industry is a major focus of the Stadshavens initiative. As container-based shipping industry moves towards the mouth of the Nieuwe Maas due to the use of deeper-keeled vessels to transport ever larger quotas of cargo, the Stadshavens area is potentially left vacant. Instead, the Stadshavens initiative proposes that the area be used as a ‘short-sea’ hub, bringing smaller vessels with different kinds of cargo; typically travelling to coastal destinations within Europe, or on inland waterways.

Fig.Q (above) /// The Stadshavens Gebeidsplans. RDM Campus is shown in red, whilst blue signifies Eemhaven and Waalhaven as the focus of future inland shipping activity. Fig.R (right and below) /// Deep sea cargo vessel transhipment will move west to Maasvlakte II at the mouth of the Nieuwe Maas

A major challenge for the initiative will be in the development of innovative solutions for residential and commercial development, outside of the city’s protective ring of dykes, and to meet targets for zero-net energy usage. To ensure the best chance of success, the Stadshavens initiative aims to work with ‘knowledge institutions’ and ‘innovative high tech industry’ and has developed the former RDM shipyard in Heijplaat into a ‘Research, Design and Manufacturing’ centre in order to attract their investment. Heijplaat, it would seem, is at the epicentre of a major investment programme within teh wider city of Rotterdam.

MAASVLAKTE II

STADSHAVENS

Evolution of Methodology - Soundings and Return

Fig.S /// Sounding profile of a visit to Nico’s House and interviews

Cultivating Heijplaat is an exercise in working remotely. A different culture - professionally and institutionally - is difficult to reconcile with my own experience of working in the UK. I have approached this challenge with various techniques, referred to collectively as ‘taking soundings’. Soundings can comprise any means of obtaining information indirectly, such as email exchanges, reports written (often in another language) and internet image searches and are taken in order to best prepare for site visits; which, ideally and in turn, corroborate indirect information with direct observation. This methodology is not without application in the context of architectural practice in the UK. Even with one’s home country it is not infrequent to work at a remove from site, the qualities of which are theoretically valued without measure by designers of buildings As my soundings began to return results, I resolved to return to Rotterdam to pursue some leads. So began preparation for another intense site visit. Informed by the soundings, I arranged to stay with Nico, who had revealed himself as an artist - an interesting character seeking to comprehend the change happening in the area and to collect and protect its social heritage. I needed to know more. I also contacted Arie Voorburg, a consultant to the Stadshavens Projectbureau on issues of social value in regeneration. I hoped he might be able to tell me more about the strategies for engagement deployed (or not) in Heijplaat. Lastly, I intended to observe the new industry intended for the area by the Stadshavens plan.

conducted there.

Nico Prins /// Artist Nico Prins is an artist working in Heijplaat. He has effectively assumed the role of unofficial community champion, using his practice to collect and tell the area’s stories in a hope to influence the regeneration of the area. Born in neighboruing Pernis, Nico considers Heijplaat as ‘native ground’; a place where he used to play as a child and where his father used to work as a bargeman. He has seen it change and will see it change again. Nico has a long term project to write a book about the area. His actvity in Heijplaat is with that aim partially in mind. I decided to return to Rotterdam to meet Nico after a long exchange of emails in which I learned a lot about the active community element of Heijplaat’s population. Nico mentioned that he had rooms to rent after I contacted him through his www.heijplaat.com website, and so we set some dates. On my visit, I was able to attend a meeting of the resident’s association as well as interview Nico and survey potential sites. Robin Hillier /// ArchitypeX As an architect at sustainable-building and Passivhaus-specialist Architype, Robin Hillier has over 15 years experience designing environmentally friendly buildings in a community self build context. As project architect for the Diggers self build scheme he became convinced that simplicity, both of the building form, and the construction process, were crucial for a truly low environmental impact. The project won a RIBA design award. Robin was project architect for several other group self build schemes, including the Hedgehog Housing Co-op - as featured on Grand Designs. I interviewed Robin - by telephone - to draw on his experience of community self-build with particular regard to procurement strategies.

Arie Voorburg /// ARCADIS Arie Voorburg is a consultant at ARCADIS, an international company based in Rotterdam - providing consultancy, design, engineering and management services in the fields of infrastructure, water, environment and buildings. ARCADIS are working with Stadshavens Rotterdam to develop ‘value streams’ in a system of ‘socio-ecological urbanism’ for the Stadhsavens area as a whole. Heijplaat is viewed as a test ground for creating value streams based on education that tie in closely with the development at RDM. I interviewed Arie to understand more about ‘value streams’ that connect to education, particularly the concept of ‘community schools’ and opportunities for lifelong learning applied to Heijplaat. Ensuring that an indigenous population has the skill and motivation to enter into Port-related industry and jobs - particularly low and mid-skilled logistics-related occupations - is a key element of Stadshavens economic sustainability agenda, aiming to reduce relience to short-term transient workforce of immigrants.whose migrant economic status weakens Rotterdam’s city economy.

Walks Research

SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER DESK

SITE

Interviews Soundings

JANUARY

DESK

Project Development

FEBRUARY MARCH SITE

DESK

Community Schools - Education as a Value Stream

Please refer to accompanying Management Report, p.22 5

On returning to Rotterdam, I was able to interview Arie Voorburg of ARCADIS. ARCADIS’s input into the Stadshavens initiative focuses on the consideration of social value in regeneration, utilising concepts and tools such as Social Return on Investment5 to encourage investment in facilities and amenities that have long term benefits in terms of quality of life and equality in terms of social and economic opportunities. Voorburg talked particularly about education, training and lifelong learning as a ‘value stream’ that catalyses wider reaching social benefit. This concept ties in closely with contemporary educational theory in the Netherlands and the concept of community schools. Community Schooling is simply about a school being more than just a school; having a wider civic role in its neighbourhood, extending its remit to include those above or below usual school age, and to use its buildings outside of usual school hours. Schools often require additional facilities in order to effectively become community schools. Heijplaat’s school, however, is severely restricted in terms of adaptation and expansion due to the limits imposed by enlistment of Heijplaat’s garden-village as a national monument, and - ironically by the sturdiness of its original construction. Simply put - and despite its location - it has been built too well and has too much ‘heritage value’ to easily become a ‘community school’. Additionally, it is actually under capacity in terms of students due to decline in population, in turn caused by the decreasing viability of community facilities such as supermarket, leisure facilities, and other amenities. What Heijplaat needs are ‘extra schools’. Additional spaces throughout the community that can be used for educational purposes. They should link strongly to the place they are in, exploiting the particular value of their location and the assets available to it. In the case of Heijplaat as a whole, this is the Port that surrounds it - observation of things moving that hint at a global system of which Heijplaat and the Netherlands are part; engineering on a triumphant scale; and the ecology of the waterways; for the De Heij area, it is more specifically the relatively large and complex ecologies for the former gardens of post-war housing developments, with good southern exposure, offering opportunities to cultivate food in a way that may be applicable to other areas with a similar demographic and ecological character.

Fig.T (from top) /// Soundings inc. interview with Arie Voorburg / Heijplaat’s existing school, ‘De Klaver’ (The Clover) / School Parasites at schools in nearby Hoogvliet.

‘Extra schools’ have been used effectively in nearby Hoogvliet, which also faced up to the challenges of a paradigm shift to ‘community schooling’. Here, ‘School Parasites’ successfully procured extra space for schools in challenging areas, being used for activities such as music lessons, language support and cooking.

Nico Prins - The Verhalenman Nico Prins - the Verhalenman - took occupation of a condemned building in Heijplaat six years ago with the intention of collecting the stories of a place deeply connected with the evolution of Rotterdam as both city and port. Born in nearby Pernis, Nico spends his working days on ‘native ground’ in Heijplaat listening to its stories. In re-telling them, he hopes to ensure that Heijplaat’s stories are given due regard as its future unfolds. My return encounter with Nico was incredibly fruitful; after a cold day spent surveying potential sites, over a bottle of tequila we talked about the stories of Heijplaat. Nico revealed stories of community action in the area and I was struck by the mutual acknowledgement that change is needed. Heijplaat’s active community members are not the usual not-in-my-back-yard conservative preservationists, but simply wish to be included in the discussion about the future of their neighbourhood. At Nico’s invitation I attended a neighbourhood meeting the following evening and was shown photographs of performances by string quartets and storytellers amidst the theatrical backdrop of half demolished buildings; an expression of acceptance for change and of commemoration for lost history. Nico also revealed his plans; if he had the capacity, he would extend the informal hostelling service he currently provides only to interested parties like me. The function of ‘community host’ gives Nico the opportunity to tell the areas stories - and received some in return; in short, to practice his art. Hostelling in Heijplaat Such hosting can also bring financial rewards. Many people tend to visit Heijplaat on a ‘project’ basis; that is, for a specific purpose. It is just too far from central Rotterdam to make commuting convenient for projects with compressed timescales, as is typical for those visiting the area. Currently, Stadshavens Projectbureau and RDM at the epicentre of the Stadshavens regeneration initiative, host many collaborators who need to get to know the area quickly. Additionally, many of the port-related industries that surround Heijplaat find themselves in need of ‘troubleshooters’, or short term intensive management consultants. A Port Authority-run training centre for divers and offshore safety workers completes the set of facilities that attracts intensively short-term visitors to Heijplaat. Nico is an ideal guide, and currently performs this function for a fee. At this point Nico became the client for my project. Cultivating Heijplaat would feature a community house and hostel dedicated as a forum for the hearing and telling of stories.

Fig.U (from top) /// Nico and his ageing Mercedes / Residents release balloons as construction cranes begin work on the first new build / Celebratory and commemorative event held in the half-demolished shells of condemned buildings

Fig.V (left from top) /// Nico’s ‘workshop’ at 28 Ampenanstraat. He has permission from land owner and housing association Woonbron to use three vacant and adjacent ground floor residential units, which he uses as a workshop and office, hostel and storage. / Nico hosts performances in his workshop, usually centring on a meal shared by performers and audience around his table, on which he collects signatures as artefacts of the stories told.

Fig.W (below) /// Explorations of the social function of Nico’s house undertaken before visiting, revealing 28 Ampenanstraat as a ‘Verhalenhuis’ - or house of stories - collecting anecdotes of life in Heijplaat and beyond through the events, discussions and performances it hosts.

Inland Shipping Industry - A New Community Another story I was keen to investigate was that of the inland shipping industry. WIih the Netherlands having one of the most extensive inlnd waterways in Europe and almost every major European industrial or population centre connected in some way by water. What is unusual about this industry is that it is stil largely dependent upon independent, family-owned vessels that ply trade routes on a contract-by-contract basis. Indeed, I had noticed the strange addition of a family-sized car on the aft-deck of many vessels sailing up and down the Nieuwe Maas on my first trip to Rotterdam and had wondered what this hint at domesticity might reveal. (REF BVB).

SHIS Training Partner

Proposed New Facility

SHIS

Stichting Hervormde Internaten voor Schippersjeugd

Robbenoord

Family life oboard what is essentially a commercial freight vessel has particular characteristics, especially with regard to schooling children. Typically, children attend school on land or in marina bearths as boarders - living on land during the week in dedicated hostels and rejoining their parents aboard ship for weekends and holidays.

SHIS Training Partner

Fig.X /// SHIS and partner activity locally.

NICOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HOUSE HEIJPLAAT

A.N. Architect Local Worker

Resident Trustee

The Stichting Hervormde Internaten voor Schippersjeugd (SHIS) - or Foundation for Reformed Boarding Schools for Shipping Youth - is an organisation that provides a less turbulent â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; environment for the children - aged between 6 and 19 years of age - of parents with a transient existence, such as boatmen, showmen and circusperformers. Traditionally, children are accomodated in catered accomodation whilst they attend regular school in a particular area. Young people between the ages of 16 and 18 have the option of living independently in shared flats, with the SHIS offering vocational training opportunities with partner organisations related to port-industries, such as logistics and navigation. The SHIS maintains an ageing facility at Robbenoord, close to Heijplaat. The industry is expanding. Whilst there are active recruitment campaigns by the representative bodies for inland shipping for new captains, especially of smaller boats to be privately owned by entrepreneurs, the main shift in the industry is towards crewed vessels with a larger cargo capacity. Not only does this mean that there are more opportunities for young people to enter the industry after training, but also that many partners of vessel captains are now choosing to stay onshore, if not permanently, then at least on the same boarding basis as their children. A community used to transient existence is becoming increasingly rooted, but requires a home with a strong relationship to the lifeblood of their family income. A new market has emerged that SHIS does not currently have the capacity to accomodate. Thus the SHIS became a key user in Cultivating Heijplaat. The organisation would rent specifically procured accomodation in Heijplaat with a string link to their existing facility at Robbenoord. The new faclity would provide for both families with young children and at least one transient partner; and for 16-18 year olds living independently and pursuing vocational training in port-related industries.

Resident Trustee Nico Prins Artist

Community Land Trust

Fig.Y /// Maps showing the extent of the inland waterway network in the Netherlands (top) and Europe (bottom).

Resident Trustee

Fig.ZA /// The daily cycle of activity for a family living on a barge is infinitely variable. Note the car carried on the aft-deck. Families tend to be solitary and isolated from each other, but interact at opportunities where delay in the schedule is unavoidable, such as loading or waiting for lock gates. Here, they might share a meal or watch a film together; keeping in touch with new friends by radio and internet.

Fig.Z /// The striking contrast of industry and domesticity that characterises the inland shipping community. Richard and Liselle are interviewed by the BVB, a promotional organisation for the industry. Their lifestyle is perhaps surprisingly modern; Liselle runs a graphic design consultancy business using the vessels high speed internet connection, but occasionally needs to spend long periods of time in one place on land. Childcare is a problem in this instance.

BUILDINGS

Fabric Why are we demolishing everything?

Some of it we have to (its too problematic)

Participation How can people participate in change?

PEOPLE

Some of it we dont have to (what about refurbishment?)

Numbers Whats changing? Capacity What about skills and economics?

Developing A Brief

Retrofit

New Build

Legitimate governance / access to resources and assets / physical embodiment of community Why are people leaving?

Lack of civic amenities: Shops, Schools, etc

Neighbourhood House

Community School

Associated Accomodation

Age: <16

Inland Shipping - new industry, new people...

Live-ashore families

Skill City - Education and associated value streams (future prospects and social / economic benefits

Age: 18<

Age: 16-18

Fig.ZB /// Derivation of brief and outline programme from themes of interest developed so far.

The Project /// Nico’s House and the Extra School

Cultivating Heijplaat - Nico’s House and the Extra School Following the exploration of the themes laid out in this report, Cultivating Heijplaat developed its subtitle; Nico’s House and the Extra School; - Cultivating Heijplaat is used in reference to the cultivation of community and social value in the regeneration of an area with a rich cultural heritage. A strategy of making the most of what is there and encouraging its desirable characteristics; of preparing the ground. - Nico’s House is used directly in reference to a set of actors and agents that form an organisation and play a key role in the above; and indirectly to refer to a building - the Verhalenhuis, or ‘story house’ - procured strategically in order to catalyse change and manifest a resilient community organisation. - The Extra School refers to facilities that exist in both the Verhalenhuis and elements of refurbished accommodation that support the concept of a ‘community school’. Extra teaching and learning opportunities are afforded with a stronger link to family and civic life. As a focal point for civic life, schools - and the Extra Schools - can offer opportunities for social interactions between groups of people. In Heijplaat, this might mean both amongst its existing and diverse demographic and between it and the community serving the expanding inland shipping industry. Extra Schools are transitory spaces; having a home in the civic realm of the Verhalenhuis and community gardens and in domestic realm of the residential accommodation. They might not always be used for schooling - indeed they will probably be most successful when they are primarily other spaces that just so happen to have been designed with excellent learning in mind.

Neighbourhood House

Community School

Associated Accomodation

Visual Brief and Indicative Proposals

Hostel for hosting visitors and collaborators and guests of the community

Fig.ZC /// Explorative visual brief hghlighting important design drivers and outlining program.

The Verhalenhuis

Community house as point of contact for area; a broker of local knowledge. Close links with RDM

As community house with extra facilities for the local school, particularly for food preparation and local culture.

Some new development is accepted as necessary

SHIS Heijplaat

Refurbished existing buildings as residential accommodation for families of transient workers on the inland waterways and young people (16-18) in training. Extra Schools as part of refurbishment.

A relationship with the water and harbour

Offering a methodology for regeneration that can be applied elsewhere. Keeping local community action involved in how Heijplaat looks

Close links with existing gardens as a learning resource

A close - but trusted relationship with local authorities

Existing Buildings Information about the existing buildings is hard to come by. What information there is is in Dutch, and has not been collated or publicised; the housing stock is simply not valued in the regeneration of Heijplaat. However, since visiting Nico I have been able to survey the area and will draw up my findings in the next phase of work. Typically, the housing is based on blocks of slightly different dwelling types arranged around a collection of private gardens that back onto each other. They date from around 1950 and correlate to a boom in business for the RDM shipyard.

Visibility is strong across the back gardens of the dwellings, but access is restricted to the front of the dwellings. Around 50% stand empty. Without exception, the structures sit on concrete raft foundations. Having been constructed on reconstituted ground shortly after the nearby Eemhaven was dug, they have suffered considerably in places from subsidence as the ground has dried out.

D A; B; E; G C; H F

Fig.ZD /// Phasing Strategy. A. Area as observed from Google Earth / B. Area as observed in reality / C. Target Block - most complete example with best location relative to Tuindorp and RDM. / D. Potential ‘roll-out’ strategy to wider area if community-led retrofit and selective new build is successful. / E. Structurally unsafe building (in red) and gardens as valuable asset (in green). / F. Demolition of unsafe building. / G. Construction of the Verhalenhuis with a relationship to gardens. / H. Sectional completion of retrofit allowing apprentices and students to move onto site in supported but independent living quarters. / I. Refurbishment continued to provide family dwellings. Design Briefs for Charette

Phase One (G) /// The Verhalenhuis: -

Demolition of existing buildings. New build construction on a cleared site. The procurement of general ‘community centre’ facilities, such as classroom teaching space, activity room relating to gardening secure storage, teaching kitchen, eatery, foyer exhibition space and offices for short-term working (studio-style) and administration. The procurement of complementary hostel-style accommodation. A relatively large proportion of external works.

Phase Two (I) /// Refurbished Residential Accommodation -

Procurement of two types of residential accommodation through refurbishment High specification with regard to performance and quality of finish. Contracting that assumes high use of apprentice labour.

Design Task 1 - Site Strategy. What is new build? What is kept? What will massing look like? What will be built / done and when? Design Task 2 - The Verhalenhuis. Nico is lead client. Money from Woonbron and Schools. What does it need to: host schools / host temporary ‘project’ people / theatre? Kitchen and common room. Importance of the table. Relation both to waters ‘edge’, and to garden. Design Task 3 - A house for Richard and Lisette - What does their house look like? What about Lisettes business? What happens when they join each other on the barge at holidays and weekends? Do elements carry from barge to house (i.e. cosiness and familiarity to ease transition). Does Lissette run a business from home when kids are at school? What’s her social life like? Is there a space that is added to top of retrofit that affords a view of the sea / harbour? Design Task 4 - A house for (16-18 year olds) - Retrofit. Do themselves / learn skills? Or just move in, simple conversion, more about social space…this is ‘flatmates’ rather than family. This is about kicking back, and independence and freedom.

Site Strategy - What Next? This report has documented the strategic development of brief and program for Cultivating Heijplaat, and the methodology developed for finding a site; a not inconsiderable challenge when faced with the scale of Rotterdam and its Port. The project is left at a point where it is beginning to consider the specific challenges of marrying the two; site and brief resolved in an architectural project. As such it has a few immediate tasks to do. On the horizon are a series of design charettes which can be used to explore specific conditions of the brief in more detail. Additionally, working drawings must be produced of the site and particularly the existing terraces illustrated on the previous page. A taxonomy of retrofitting techniques will be produced in order to survey the state of the art in terms of refurbishment of existing dwellings. Models will aid each of these tasks.

REFERENCES (Chronological)

SSoA MArch STUDIO 07 2011/12

Many things are relevant to the study of architecture. Here I have tried to keep track of my evolving bibliography: HARVEY, F. (2011) ‘Battery hen rules may undercut UK egg producers, MPs warn’ [WWW] Available from: www.guardian.co.uk, Friday 2 September 2011 07.00 BST. 2 DOWNTHELANE.NET (2011) ‘The Battery Hen - A farming method which is changing - slowly. What can we do?’ [WWW] Available from: http://www.downthelane.net/battery.php 3 GOOGLE DICTIONARY (2011) [WWW] Available from www.google.co.uk 4 VILJOEN, A. (ed.) (2005) ‘CPULs – Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes. Designing Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Cities’ London: Architectural Press. 5 WHITEFIELD, P. (2010) ‘Permaculture in a Nutshell’ (6th Ed.) London: Permanent Publications / Permaculture Association. 6 GREEN, N. (2011) Conversation with Nick Green of Incredible Edible Todmorden. 7 WIKIPEDIA (2011) ‘Masanobu Fukuoka’ [WWW] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masanobu_Fukuoka 8 WIKIPEDIA (2011) ‘Permaculture’ [WWW] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture 9 FERNANDES, E.M.C, OKTINGATI, A. MAGHEMBE, J (eds.) (1995) ‘The Chagga home gardens: A multi-storeyed agro-forestry cropping system on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Northern Tanzania’ [WWW] Available from: www.greenstone.org 10 GREENING PRINCETON (2011) ‘Organic? What’s the Big Deal?’ [WWW] Available from: http://www.princeton.edu/greening/ organic4.htm 11 KENNER, R. (2008) Food Inc. [Film] 12 SAMPSON, J. (2011) ‘Studio 7 Cultivate - Initial Brief’. Sheffield: Sheffield School of Architecture. 13 GEYRHALTER, N. (2005) Our Daily Bread. [Film] 14 VARDA, A. (2000) The Gleaners And I. [Film] 15 GEMEENTE ROTTERDAM (2011) ‘City of Rotterdam’ [WWW] Available from: www.rotterdam.nl 16 PORT OF ROTTERDAM (2011) ‘Port Maps’ [WWW] Available from: http://www.portofrotterdam.com/en/Port/port-maps/Pages/home.aspx 17 BING.COM (2011) ‘Maps’ [WWW] Available from: http://www.bing.com/maps/?FORM=Z9LH4 18 WIKIPEDIA (2011) ‘Kinderdijk’ [WWW] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinderdijk 19 SUITE101 (2011) ‘Westland: An Easy Day Trip from The Hague in the Netherlands’ [WWW] Available from: http://karenlac.suite101.com/westland-an-easy-day-trip-from-the-hague-in-thenetherlands-a311740 20 STADSHAVENS ROTTERDAM (2011) ‘Stadshavens Rotterdam - Vision and Objectives’ [WWW] Available from: http://www.stadshavensrotterdam.nl/doelstellingen 21 WIKIPEDIA (2011) ‘Polders’ [WWW] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polder 22 TUGSTER (2011) ‘Tugster: A Waterblog - Dutch Surprise II’ [WWW] Available from: https://tugster.wordpress.com/category/mississippi-watershed/ 23 PRINS, N. (2011) ‘Verhalenboot - Projecten - Heijplaat’ [WWW] Available from: http://www.verhalenboot.nl/Heijplaat.html 24 ATELIER DIFRANCI (2011) ‘Heijplaat - Fleurig Heijplaat’ [WWW] Available from: http://heijplaat.com/fleurig_heijplaat 1