Architecture In Limbo
The Bijlmermeer never stops a strategy for a sustainable living environment for living and working in a dutch new town standing
falling
eating
fleeing
drinking
kneeling
dancing
sleeping
using the toilet
shouting
sitting
cycling
cooking
coming home
fighting
laying down
PT traveling
making love
conversing
sporting
jumping
car driving
playing
cleaning
speaking
walking
boating
petting
singing
praying
running
flying
hanging around
making music
staying over
Content
Content Introduction Past Middle Clash What is it Why How Recipe Assembly
Regional urban strategy Built environment, landscape and public space Extending a shopping mall and housing Facilities for appropriation in the future.
Conclusion
such a large scale had, of course, huge implicati of the public life in the neighbourhood. The urb ‘city street’ was eliminated Fig.01. in the Bijlmer and m Bijlmermeer and it had to fulfil were placed within the communit its middleclass in the late sixties concept of the dry walk, which was a key eleme (source; Kees infrastructural scheme, wasRijnbout) therefore essential t individual flats. This link between ‘house’ and ‘ on the ground floor, though it soon was moved t pedestrians and cyclists could pass unhindered a ground floor consisted furthermore of double he Initially two dry walks were designed per flat: o gallery on the sunny side and one as an indoor c side of the block. Between the walkways there w staircases and more importantly the collective s later more. In the initial plans the apartments were accessed elevator and a small vestibule or portico for a m houses (see fig.7 on page 24). In the few cases w possible short, separated galleries would have to This access system was very important because the horizontal movement in the corridors, which experience of a real street (see images 11 and 12
The most important elements of the internal stre collective spaces. Between the two dry walks th of the whole flat should take place. The architec envisioned bars, child care and sports facilities, meeting points and conference rooms. Just as th place in ‘regular’ neighbourhoods there was roo for the bridge club, the elderly committee, stam the occasional block party. Not only inside the b room for collective activities, at some points litt designed to house extra neighbourhood facilitie were accessible from both the internal corridor a
Introduction Past Middle clash
Introduction As an architect I assemble physical environments and infrastructures for human activity. I would like to believe that my assemblies could facilitate these human activities. A built surrounding that facilitates or helps people to live, dwell and work in good or bad times. To be able to assist with a building in bad times it is essential to understand the relation between social activities and infrastructures, specifically in crisis environments. Jouke Sieswerda and I did an elaborative research on the history of the Bijlmermeer. A late modern housing area that started out as one of the most popular living areas but ended up as the first ghetto in the Netherlands. The research is about politics, the realisation of the built environment (and its infrastructure), the big cutbacks,the effect it had on human usage and their control over privacy. The title of the book is; Architecture in Limbo, A short history of public, private and collec-
tive spaces in the Bijlmermeer. It describes how physical infrastructures and environments influenced the initiatives of inhabitants to live, dwell or work in a distorted crisis environment. (http://www. lulu.com/content/paperback-book/ architecture-in-limbo/1045052 ) After this research it was only natural for me to react on our findings and generate a strategy for a sustainable environment for living and working. This strategy enhances the infrastructure and privacy control in order to better life and business possibilities for inhabitants, in both good and bad economical conditions. This way it would be possible to facilitate the emergence of talents that encourages entrepreneurial tendencies even when when vicious socioeconomic disasters tend to eliminate the middle class from parts of our society.
Past Middle clash Quote; ’The position starting businessmen who emerge out of social security is of great importance to the Dutch economy, their conflicting situation is illustrating how little thought their struggle really gets.’(Frank Kalshove; De Volkskrant, zaterdag 13 juni, Economie )1 The article explains how the institute ‘UWV’, for social security, is demoralising people to emerge out of unemployment with their own business. Kalshoven concludes that entrepreneurs, who are emerging out of the precarious situation of social security, are not as free as others. In my opinion he describes the obstruction of emerging businessmen and talent. They are trying to arise out of crisis but do not have the same chances, to initiate a business, like others do. This seems a peculiar situation in relation to the current perspectives that we live in. If we like it or not, we do live in a world that faces a luring financial catastrophe. This crisis is one where middle class will be struck by huge
losses of employment, making the middle class more and more dependant on their own entrepreneurial initiatives and talent. Therefore the aforementioned situation seems peculiar and even threatening when policies start to obstruct and even financially punishes2 small-scale businesses that are emerging in spite of their crisis. This discourages entrepreneurial tendencies instead of a fundamental enhancement of economic activities and trust. But lets not start off with a doom scenario. Lets have a look at the statement and lesson that could be learned from the article and relate it to a future where governance cannot guarantee your social wellbeing due to a global economical shift or crisis. A future in which more and more people will start their own business out of necessity and not just for fun. It is a future where we’re all businessmen or freelancers in a neoliberalized ‘welfare state’ in which we need to sustain our own residential and economical wellbeing.
1 Het spel en de knickers, Ondernemende WW’ers verdienen meer vrijheid, minder regels; Frank Kalshove, De Volkskrant, zaterdag 13 juni, Economie 2 Recently penalties up to thousands of euros are being given to starting entrepreneurs who are trying to get out of social security. The Uwv (social security) treats non profit hours that one puts into a new business as if these hours directly cause capital accumulation by lets say charging the costumer for it. So don’t think of your company when you are surfing the web, because you will get fined.
What is it
This project is a reaction to the redevelopments in the Bijlmermeer. The Bijlmermeer is a late modern housing area, built in the 1960’s and situated in Amsterdam South East (ASE). The design of the Bijlmermeer is not unique. It is part of a huge amount of dwelling areas developed with a strong social or socialistic ideal. These ideals reached from France to Russia1 and are nowadays often referred to as New Towns2 . Most of these areas are facing demolition because they are percieved as complete social, architectural and technical failures. The areas look endless, are subordinated to socioeconomic disasters and start to just fall apart. In this sense it seems reasonable to get rid of these social housing slabs and areas as soon as possible and build a complete new and nicer housing area from scratch! However, there is another side to this story. With this demolition we face a new problem in the Netherlands. This problem is the termination of:
1 Read; Idealen in beton; verkenning in midden- en oost europa 2 Read; Wimby; welcom in my backyard .by Crimson.
Social cultural infrastructures;
think of families, friends, neighbours or business relationships that will not live amongst each other anymore. They are being separated.
Cultural Heritage and Physical national history;
The Bijlmer is the condensed result of Dutch architectural and political history. It is telling the story of Dutch socialism, colonialism, immigrant policies and housing on the background of the most contemporary Dutch architecture, Urbnism and Real Estheat business of the 60’s
Socioeconomic infrastructure;
We’re losing a ‘school’. The Bijlmer is almost a school from which we could learn about the rise and fall of business initiatives. It tells the story of the do’s and don’ts in relation to emerging businesses, both formal and informal
Fig.02. Air picture of Amsterdam Southeast, showing the Bijlmermeer (source; google earth)
Fig.03. Arial masterplan of Amsterdam Southeats (source; Kees Rijnbout)
Fig.04. infrastructural plan of The Bijlmermeer (source; Kees Rijnbout)
Fig.05. Arial masterplan of The Bijlmermeer (source; Kees Rijnbout)
Fig.06. Function construction plan of The Bijlmermeer (source; Kees Rijnbout)
Fig.07. demolition of flatslabs
Fig.08. flatslabs in their green surrounding
Why
Fig.09. origional Bijlmermeer fabric (source; municipality)
The demolition of the Bijlmermeer is typical for the way housing corporations redevelop their realestate stock, only this time it concerns a national monument that represents a historical heritage of failures that the Netherlands rather seems to ignore. One would expect that the people who are governing these areas would learn from such mistakes. Nevertheless the redevelopment completely fails to see local; potentials, characteristics and even talents.3
Fig.10. new Bijlmermeer fabric (source; municipality)
3 Documentary ; VPRO Tegenlicht (Backlight); Sloop-Sloop , Het nieuwe Bouwen. (Demolish- Demolish, ThĂŠ contemporary way of building) (http://www. vpro.nl/programma/tegenlicht/afleveringen/22966523/) Documentry; VPRO Tegenlicht (Backlight); Erop of eronder in Noord (http://www.vpro.nl/programma/ tegenlicht/afleveringen/27401046/)
Fig.11. Richard Yeboart & Jouke Sieswerda
These demolitions and redevelopments position the established middle class and destabilise lower-class talents that could have emerged, both in business and social activities. In the case of the Bijlmer we can mention the many soccer talents, the businesses that where started in living rooms and parking lots. A nice example is Richard Yeboart, a young engineer who started his own consultancy office in one of the parking garages on the Daalwijkdreef. We spoke to him in his office and walked with him through the Bijlmer where he grew up. It seems that the recent redevelopments or ‘vinex’ revitalisations do not enrich the environment with possibilities or tools for the inhabitants and their diverse range of activities, which are characteristic for the Bijlmer. Nor are these redevelopments capable of facilitating several ways of space appropriation by its inhabitants in the future. In other words: if these interventions of standardised housing with gardens are not working in the Bijlmer, they can start to demolish it again.
The built surroundings of the redevelopment are, in that sense, not capable of adapting to several socioeconomic scenarios different from the middle class scenario, where people are supposed to have a general, or even high income, a 9 to 5 job, a car and a dog. This mono-modal environment is being positioned because ‘everyday life’ activities in the Bijlmermeers’ buildings and surroundings are not being taken sufficiently into account. These ‘everyday life activities’ can be both legal and illegal, are often depending on the socioeconomic conditions of the area and often reveal very exclusive, unexpected and typical potentials for the area. In case of the Bijlmermeer you might think of the spontaneous emergence of churches, businesses, restaurants, shops, bars or even brothels that are situated in parking lots, boxes and living rooms. They emerge out of spaces that are cheap, easily modifiable or big enough to be changed into a program that is required by the inhabitants of the Bijlmermeer. For example, priests used to
start night intakes for junkies in places that where actually meant for traffic or storage purposes. Municipality came and shut these down as it was prohibited to house people in those spaces. On top of that it was impossible to get the required permits for these practices, leaving the junkies on the street again. This story was an example given by Jan Willem Sluiskens, the Bijlmermeer coordinator of the municipality who had to go and shut the aforementioned activities of the priest down. An act he was definitely not proud off. He showed us the inefficencies of certain policies in reality; people are opposed right at the beginning of their attempt to participate in the Bijlmer society. These people felt sabotaged by rules and regulations as certain valuable initiatives never got a chance. In this situation policies simulate disbelief, distrust and disobedience, instead of order and trust. The example of Jan Willem Sluiskens shows how people’s initiatives where often being torn apart by rules and regulations, just because these actions did not fit a
Fig.12. new housing put out for sale by its owners
typical Dutch way of doing things. The point is that the Bijlmer inhabitants had a far more intensive or intelligent way of dealing with space than the rest of the Netherlands could imagine. Therefore it often seemed strange, false or illegal. This means that activities and talents that emerge out the Bijlmermeer are less available to potential metropolitan, regional or global visitors. The inhabitant’s chance on a profitable or liveable environment is being reduced. On top of that it seems that built surroundings do not provide a clear physical accessibility for visitors. This makes it even harder to have access to the environments of local talents or activities. And it explains why this area is an unknown ‘void’ to most people in the Netherlands and why the population in Ghana could possibly know more about the Bijlmermeer than the population in the Netherlands. In this sense the Bijlmermeer has a mission to become more accessible to the Dutch inhabitants of Amsterdam and the region of Amsterdam Southeast it-
self. This would make the characteristic socioeconomic potentials, cultural initiatives and ‘everdaylife’ activities of the Bijlmer more available. Nevertheless it was the revitalisation of the recent years that erased the existing built surroundings. The existing buildings had to make way for a large amount of generic housing. This replaces the Bijlmer history, identity, characteristics and part of its inhabitants with a generic middle class that initiates a gentrifying effect, making it easier to forget what happened in the Bijlmermeer. The risk in this is that we forget to learn from the mistakes we made in architecture, urbanism, immigration and politics, both national and International. All topics are very contemporary topics in our Dutch society, making the Bijlmer a typical example of modern planning and Dutch politics, which is now being demolished. It would have been interesting to see how this original ‘new town’ of the Bijlmermeer could have evolved into a real Amsterdam city-borough and international centrality, be-
fore it was being reduced to a typical Dutch ‘vinex’ village. Probably we would have learned more from our mistakes.
Fig.13. Gliphoeve flatslabs
How
Jouke Sieswerde and I went to the Bijlmermeer, spoke to people on the street, analysed its history, compared it to late modern areas in Rotterdam, discussed the qualities of the Bijlmermeer with its inhabitants and stayed overnight several days to feel what it is like to live there. We took the condition of the Bijlmermeer in 2005 as a starting point and speculated on what it might be in 2015. This way we found valuable ingredients we could reassemble for a new housing project. I made a spatial recipe that consists out of:
1. A regional urban strategy;
for the initiation of socioeconomic activities in several neighbourhoods (in the Bijlmer)
Fig.14. new program and infrastructural layout for the Northern Bijlmermeer Daalwijkdreef area. for legenda see fig.29
2. A built environment that is integrated with the green landscape and public space;
realised by phasing several experiences of entering or leaving territories. this effect is assembled by emphasising the readability between several topological scale transitions, both in- and outside the buildings.
Fig.15. sketch model of a part in the new layout for the Bijlmermeer. It shows a sloping landscape that is intergrated with a housing block, water surfaces and entrees for appartments, shops and neighbourhoods
3.The extension of a shopping area with housing;
a platform where local business ambitions could meet agenda’s and agents of the housing corporations or municipality.
Fig.16. Full sketch model of the new layout at te Daalwijk flat area. It it setup out of triangular slopes, Shops, parks watersurfaces, roof tarreces and circulation for ; -Region amsterdam -Amsterdam Southeast -The Bijlmermeer -The neighbourhoods -local housing blocks
4. Built facilities for several forms of appropriation in the future;
implemented by designing flexibility in the ‘building plinth’, the housing typology and the technical detailing.
The goal of this thesis was to deal with the monstrous scale of the original Bijlmermeer project and make ‘Nessy’ surface from the ‘void’ so people passing the lake could enjoy its positive value.
Or in other words; to break down the huge scale of the Bijlmermeer in several territories for socioeconomic appropriations and everyday life activities in the housing slabs.
Fig.17. Triangular slopes that run from groundfloor into the buildings, allowing for shops to be positioned on groundlevel and a big amount of public space near the appartments
Fig.18. topview a triangle with a view on the appartments,the public slope, a local street and shops underneath the appartments allong the Bijlmermeer circulation at the bottum.
Fig.19. shops underneath the appartments allong the Bijlmermeer circulation at the bottum.
Fig.20. front view of the appartments with galleries, The roof terraces, the local street with entrees and shops allong the Bijlmermeer circulation.
Fig.21. view of the public slab entering the housing block. Showing apartments, both on the left and the right, and generating shoppingspace underneath. The construction literally frames the public space making it possible for the apartments to expand. In this way the apartments generate a natural territorial controle over the public space.
Recipe Assembly
Fig.22. A poster, explaining municipality’s policy and funding for sterting entreperneurs in Amsterdam Southea.
IJselmeer recreation area Schiphol area Bijlmermeer area Almere city area
Utrecht city area
Amsterdam city centre area New regional connection Creative indutry Concentrations of non-western immigrants Transitions area·s Renewall area·s Profide 3%-5% of jobmarket Profide 5%-10% of jobmarket Profide over 10% of jobmarket
Fig.23. creative ind. on the regional and global network. Pointing out the Amsterdam and Hilversum concentration overlapping with transition and renewall area.
IJselmeer recreation area Schiphol area Bijlmermeer area IJselmeer recreation area Almere city area Schiphol area
IJselmeer Bijlmermeer area recreation Utrecht cityarea area Schiphol area Almere city area Bijlmermeer area Amsterdam city centre area Utrecht city area Almere city area New regional connection Amsterdam city Creative indutry Utrecht city area centre area Concentrations of New regional non-western connection immigrants Amsterdam city Creative indutry centre area Transitions area·s Concentrations New regional Renewall area·s of non-western connection immigrants Profide 3%-5% of Creative indutry jobmarket Transitions area·s
5 km
900 1500 2400 3000
Concentrations Profide 5%-10% of of Renewall area·s non-western jobmarket immigrants Profide 3%-5% of Profide over 10% of jobmarket Transitions jobmarket area·s Profide 5%-10% of Renewall Jobs jobmarketarea·s
Profide 3%-5% ofof Art Profide over 10% jobmarket jobmarket
1. A regional urban strategy A good urban strategy for a ‘living & working’ area has ingredients just like a recipe. These ingredients need to be in equilibrium with each other to for them to coexist and strengthen each other. In order to make a ‘living & working’ one needs to live there, work there (business possibilities), visitors need to be able to get there, by-passer outside of the area should be directed thought it (clientele), inhabitants need their territories for privacy (sense of locality) and the green and blue (water) should create public territories for movement and meeting. In other words we need infrastructure to get to new functions that help inhabitants to work, life, survive and seduce clientele, in a landscape of territories that is clearly readable and regulates accessibility between domains from the big region to the local households in the new built fabric. By making atlases about the job generators, business initiatives, living environments, industries and the political territories
that relate to the aforementioned through policies and regulations, we could put all of those issues on the regional and city circulation of the Amsterdam. In this sense we got an insight on the accessibility of important potential positions in certain areas. This way it is possible to physically reconnect them with each other or with other emerging available initiatives. In the case of the Bijlmermeer (in Amsterdam South-East); one would look at the positions of, financial-, shopping- and emerging ICT-‘centralities’4 and reconnect them with places where people could start there own businesses, like the Daalwijkdreef. This is why we gave the Daalwijkdreef new connections towards Almere, making it part of a regional circulation between Almere, Utrecht, Hilversum,the IJselmeer, Amsterdam South-Axis (ASA) and Amsterdam City Centre (ACC). This way Amsterdan South-East (ASE) becomes a regional centrality of business and housing, for starting entrepreneurs. This centrality of-
4 Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Onderzoek en Satistiek ; Fact sheet ; nummer 1 | februari 2007 Creative industry and ICT in Helsinki and Amsterdam: a comparison 5 Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Onderzoek en Statistiek; 2007_staat_stad_h05; economie. Blz 81 and 6 Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Onderzoek en Satistiek; Marktanalyse Daalwijkdreefzone Eindrapportage 7 ‘soft’ locations have factors like tolerance, ethnic diversity, a lively (sub) cultural scene and attractive meeting places in the city. Read; Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Onderzoek en Statistiek; 2007 fact sheet; Creative industries in helsinky and amsterdam; a comparison
Fig.24. regional reconnections to enhances Amsterdam southeast and the Bijlmermeer
IJselmeer recreation area Schiphol area Bijlmermeer area Almere city area IJselmeer Utrecht cityarea area recreation Schiphol area Amsterdam Bijlmermeer city area centre area IJselmeer recreation area New regional Almere city area connection Schiphol area
Creative indutry Bijlmermeer area Utrecht city area Concentrations of non-western Almere city area immigrants Amsterdam city Transitions centre area area·s
900 1500 2400 3000
5 km
900 1500 2400 3000
Utrecht city area Renewall area·s New regional connection Profide 3%-5% of jobmarket Amsterdam city Creative indutry centre area Profide 5%-10% of of Concentrations jobmarket New regional non-western connection immigrants Profide over 10% of Creative indutry jobmarket Transitions area·s Concentrations Jobs Renewall area·s of non-western immigrants Art Profide 3%-5% of jobmarket Transitions Media and area·s entertainment Profide 5%-10% of Renewall area·s jobmarket Creative business Profide 3%-5% of services Profide over 10% of jobmarket jobmarket Profide 5%-10% of Jobs jobmarket
Art Profide over 10% of jobmarket
fers a good connection with important business partners or living environments with employees5. But most important of all…. it could be the most contemporary answer to the greatest shortage in business space in Amsterdam: the need for 13.000 m2 of space for ‘small scale business in a dwelling environment’6. (especially important for ICT, entertainment and media). It is the ideal ‘soft environment’ Amsterdam is looking for7. The trick to this strategy is to connect the right type of infrastructure, (lets say a regional road or a local street) to the right type of function or activity. This way we create a potential public a domain and therefore turn this into public space by adding a certain type of landscape (water, green etc). This is being done for every scale imaginable between country and household. In this sense urbanity, landscape and house are being reconnected.
To provide a regional business environment we have situated office buildings at the north side of the Daalwijkdreef. They are positioned as extensions of the existing flats slabs and overarch the Daalwijkdreef, which should bring regional by-passers and visitors as potentials clients for both small starters and bigger enterprises. The Daalwijkdreef is able to foresee ASE in the 70.000 square metre of office space that it needs8. These office buildings have to be flexible enough to be transformed into housing in the future and will be joined by a typical regional program9 and a regional water connection between the IJsselmeer and the Amstel10 The aforementioned 13.000 square metres of business space has to be dispersed throughout the apartments and neighbourhoods of he Bijlmermeer. This amount has to be dissolved in housing typologies and along urban axis.
8 Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Onderzoek en Satistiek; Marktanalyse Daalwijkdreefzone Eindrapportage 9 Taken from our ‘study case’ after the morphology off successful function exploitations in the late modern areas of Rotterdam. Base on circulation and public space qualities. Done in 2007. 10 Emphasizing a regional territory and a tourist attraction along the Daalwijkdreef in the Bijlmermeer.
Fig.25. A poster, explaining municipality’s policy and funding for sterting entreperneurs in Amsterdam Southea.
Apendix
Fig.26. ‘study case’ after the morphology off successful function exploitations in the late modern areas of Rotterdam. Base on circulation and public space qualities. Done in 2007.
Fig.27. sketch of the lifted regional circulation in connection with the Bijlmer infrastructure and program.
2. A built environment that is integrated with the green landscape and public space One thing that the original Bijlmer was lacking is an urban circulation on ‘ground level’. All the major circulation was lifted from this ground level and placed on dikes. This way there was enough space for an abundance of park life. The idea was to put luxurious flat slabs in this green luscious landscape and provide a collective garden strictly meant for leisure and cycling. This concept prohibited cars and the dispersal of shops throughout the area. As a result the area became less accessible, both physically and mentally. People had no practical reason to go inside the green landscape and the area was lacking the urban axis or city circulation that normally generate territorial clarity and everyday life activities. Although the inhabitants loved the green panorama and the amount of open space, it was the lack of city circulation on ground level that made it impossible for them to experience a local environment. Therefore, people often experienced the territory as very big and quite monotonous. The public space, green landscape and
buildings were not integrated into one another at all. They where just superposed on top of eachother and copied throughout the Bijlmer. If one wants to integrate the green landscape with the housing and its public space, one has to phase zones of territories by means of circulation, as followed - - -
Adding efficient circulation for the city, the neighbour hoods and the buildings, Defining clearly which territory one enters or leaves Considering the facilities that these territories could offer for inhabitants, visitors and by-passers of this environment.
Fig.28. origional green structure of the Bijlmermeer
So we; -
Added circulation for all scales, namely for; Amsterdam Southeast (regional connection), Bijlmermeer (connected to city centre), Neighbourhoods(linking neighbourhoods) and Local streets (activating the building skirts or plinth of the flat slabs with shorter streets that connects buildings directly).
-
Emphasized territories with several water bodies, like a regional water connection (that assists the regional territory) , water channels(that assists the Bijlmer territory), water streams(that assists the Neighborhood territory), water creaks (that assists the local territory) and water puddles (that can activate smaller places as water parks for children).
-
And collected successful facilities like; functions, street furniture, shops and urban typologies from other ‘late-modern’ areas and Bijlmer inhabitants. We compared their success, circular position and aesthetic qualities over the years, so we could speculate on their importance for an active and sustainable living environment.
Fig.29. lack of activity
Fig.30. These maps explaine the territorial composition of the proposed program and infrastructural layout allong the Daalwijk dreef
New water structure
OLD
NEW
OLD
NEW
Fig.31. - Newtown of the Bijlmermeer showing little territorial infrastructure - Newtown in Rotterdam showing the crossing between the neighbourhood and local circulation.
An amount of possibilities was gathered, through which it was possible to generate a patchwork of roads, water bodies and function related to territories in the Bijlmermeer. It was even possible to give the ‘ground-level’ back to its inhabitants by introducing local allotments or smaller unplanned plots. These places have the potential of initiating a wild growth of vegetation or activities that used to emerge out of the Bijlmer spots that where less maintained by the municipality. This flora emerged spontaneously and housed all sorts of fauna and had a natural landscape quality that is typical for the Bijlmer. If we implement a new dwelling environment we should have to respect, or deal with, this landscape as a vital ingredient. Our designs will be subordinated to this landscape and could be overgrown as well! New building designs should either be very transparent or take the landscape up as a public facility. This way we are able to maintain the green panoramic landscape of the Bijlmermeer.
Fig.32. Unmaintained green landscape overtaking the formal newtown design of the Bijlmermeer
Fig.33. sketch of the lifted regional circulation in relation with the Bijlmer infrastructure and program. It shows an exterior that suports the appropriation of the ‘empty’ courtyards or uncharged spaces ‘in-between’ territories.
Fig.34. Bijlmermeer networks, that generates portholes through the buildings,facilitates bigger program near the crossings with other network scales. The portholes are perfect spaces to mark these territorial transitions
Fig.35. Neighbourhood networks are perfect for small shops.This enhances the cohesion between several nearby neighbourhoods in the Bijlmermeer
Fig.36. The transition from neighbourhood networks to local territorry can be emphasized by local leisure program or shops in small pavilions
Fig.37. The transition from neighbourhood networks to local territorry can also be emphasized by a blockage. Think of small garden fences, platforms,porche,veranda or water ditches
Fig.38. small infrastructures along the gardens devine the local territories of the inhabitants
Fig.39. lokal and private porch gardens in the plinth of the flatslabs
3. The extension of a shopping area with housing Making an extension of the Amsterdamse-Poort that would reach out to the west corner of the Daalwijkdreef was a perfect chance to try and integrate seemingly contradictory principles; a The new area should ‘concentrate’ activities and housing, while it should respect the green landscape and even stimulate its growth and green appearance, at the same time. b The area should allure new visitors but protect the territory of inhabitants. c The area should address the municipality’s agenda of the shopping centre and possible local agendas from inhabitants. d But most importantly; it should prevent a ‘mono functional’ regional centre. It should take the transitions between territories in account and position
‘meeting places’ in-between these territories both in and outside of the buildings11 . This last aspect is being dealt with by difining generic phases from ground level towards and throughout the houses or apartments. These phases are the steps in the building circulation and understood as scale experiences that are related to a sense of community. This way one could imagine who would be involved with certain phases in the building circulation. In other words: phases for privacy control in the circulation system of the housing slab. Jouke Sieswerda and I defined several scales in a building;
-
The Block scale (additional circulation through several buildings or paths behind backyards, generating clusters of apart ment, offices or gardens)
-
The Entrance scale (entrée,elevators and staircases)
-
The Indoor scale (hallway,wardrobe area, guestrooms)
-
The Inner scale (living room,kitchen, dinner room)
-
The Screened scale (toilets, bathroom,
sleeping room)
Fig.40. The public entree of the block scale or network.This transition from the neighbourhood scale ( network ) to the Block network is simular to the the small paths behind the gardens of normal rowhousing
These scales help inhabitants to deal with visitors in their house and business. Spots in between these phases or scales are a very effective space to receive visitors or retreat from by-passers. These spaces in-between these scales are facilities for human interaction and formal introduction into the next phase. This aspect is very important for doing business at home or in a dwelling environment and helps households or companies to define their boundary. The apartments itself are divided into a ‘formal’ and ‘non-formal’ household and are combined with a cluster of intimate spaces that belong to the ‘screened scale’. These concepts were developed after a number of interviews with Bijlmer inhabitants. The inhabitants explained the necessity for a flexible concept for privacy control and the need for formal phases in the household. We concluded that the flexibility for appropriation is very important when households are multiculturaand or receive clients12at home13.
This multifunctional flexibility for appropriation has to be developed for positive and negative scenarios.
12 Different cultures have different demands for there house and these demands might be contradicting when one household takes over from another one. 13 When business is being done at home it should be possible to protect or introduce the household in a very controlled way.
Fig.41. The block network crosses the more private galeries on the first floor. This suports blockfacilities, collective program or small studio’s for business
Fig.42. The block scale crossing the galeries on the other side of the street is welcomed by a small cluster that suport blockfacilities, collective program or small studio’s for business.
Fig.43. This is the transition from the Bijlmer network to the entree network of the building. Or in oter words;The private entree for the appartmentbuilding, this entree is enriched with mailboxes and bench to facilitate meetings and a good view over the visiting public on the Bijlmer network scale.
Fig.44. The transition from the entree scale to the indoorscale.This area allows neighbours to‘hang out’.It is here that inhabitants negotiate their boundaries between their household and other apartments on the entree scale.
Fig.45. The transition from the entreescale to the indoor scale. This introduces the household
Fig.46. transition from the innerscale to the screened scale.
Fig.47. the screened scale.
Fig.48. Scenario sequence explaining the operating possibilities of the building during several circumstances
Fig.49. overview of the standard units that can be used as‘1 room studio’s’or combined into appartments. This could even be done later on as the construction is made out of flexible wooden elements. The gallery, the appartments entree and the formal side of the household is situated in the bottum of the picture.The backside and informal side at the top.
Fig.50. backside and terrace of the apartment.
Fig 51. Frontside of the apartments
Fig.52. backside of the block and view on the public slope
4. Built facilities for several forms of appropriation in the future The public space, on top of the supermarket, acts as an entrance buffer for the aforementioned ‘block scale’ circulation. The entrée could be closed of or controlled by appointing it to the inhabitants when business is bad due to a socioeconomic crisis. The design is made in such a way that its public space could be filled up with extensions of apartments or small office in the building. This means that its materials and detailing should provide an easy opportunity for transformations. Using ‘Lenotech’, a cheap wooden sandwich panel system, for the construction of walls would allow an inhabitant to easily adjust or cut out openings the way he or she prefers. This way apartments can be combined or altered. The technical construction details are put together in such a way that they can be easily reassembled or repositioned in case of an extension. The treatment of the public space and these technical details, during the lifespan of the building, will express the conditions through which the community went. Possible social and business
initiatives are facilitated and inscribed in the built material and fabric. The built environment could facilitate and even express various socioeconomic scenario’s. Time would literally tell if the building could adequately respond to what life will be like.
Fig.53. possible apartment extentions in case the public slab is being used properly and maintained by its inhabitants
Fig.54. possible apartment extentions in case the public slab is being used properly without maintanance by the inhabitants
Fig.55. possible apartment extentions in case the public slab abused and cause of complaines
Fig.56. plan first floor
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Fig 57. 1. formal front ( light pink), intimate middle (red) and informal back side( dark pink) of the apprtment
Fig 58. 2. basic order for expantion
Fig 59. 3. possible expantions
Fig.60. lightweight flexible wooden element thet form the main construction.
Fig.61. Finnforest product principles for flexible wooden light weight constructions
Fig.62. sketch of the building section with finnforest products and green roof terraces
Fig.63. principle details for the roof,floors front and back. The details are setup in such a way that they can be easily adjusted, dismantled and replaced.
Possible extentions
Possible extentions
Conclusion
The explained strategy shows how the built environment is no longer directing lifestyles and becomes an infrastructural programmaticplatform with cheap flexible spaces. These cheap spaces are important as they facilitate possible social and economic activities in everyday life. Time and technical details would tell if its cooperative, communal or collective spaces are flexible enough to facilitate its successes and survival! In this sense it is empowering inhabitants over time instead of directing lifestyles. In other words: this place is not directing a branded market image but is facilitating the emergence of territories for communities over the years. These territories will change and not always in such a clear way that it is immediately transparent to outsiders, but these changes will always be very essential for the residing quality of the inhabitants, just like a real city! To understand and experience the potential urban excitement of these places, one should give it time before one decides to demolish it. So what is important for the Bijlmermeer and all of its sibling
areas, is to give this place a chance and to believe in its people! For the good and the Bad. From my point of view; The Bijlmermeer has been refurnished according to the opinion of developers, municipality and corporation which is based on housing densities, its exploitation and the purchase of this commodity by a middleclass target group. This generate a vinex where people have a car and are able to buy and maintain their house. This housing environment is their goal and perfect hero! I am not saying that people, who are not part of our middle class, are immediately excluded, but it sure makes it harder for them to reside in a suitable house when these houses are not suiting their needs. Beside this the planners forget to learn from the past and that middleclass can stop to exist when when public facilities become poor, social economic conditions deteriorate or move out. The Bijlmer history is important and shows several residential scenarios and emphasizes which aspects and public facilities where important and used in alternative
ways of appropriation. It explaines how people could emerge out of the dark with initiatives, companies or the ‘good life’. Interesting is how this happened in, or out off, the ‘dark’ places behind the scenes of the Bijlmermeer. One thing about these ‘places’ behind the scene was clear. these places where free to appropriate in anyway possible. The inhabitants made it their place! People could define their territories and control them more easily than the facilities that where formally meant for these activities. It’s space and infrastructure was the opposite of the super-scenario and shows how mono-appropriative the super-scenario realy is. This phenomena of alternative appropriation behind the scenes of the Bijlmermeer could be called the anti super-scenario or anti-hero. The anti hero generates a far stronger aerial characteristic than the heroic vinex super-scenario and allows people to take control over their own territories and emerge out of crisis with initiatives. This is why the hero and the anti-hero should be in balance. The environment should be able to respond to several sce-
Fig.64. Night view with illuminated shopping plinth
nario’s between good and bad conditions and still allow the inhabitants to control and maintain the territories they need. This is real privacy from my point of view. To be able to control areas and space where you can decide if you want to be alone or with other and appropriate these territories according to your needs, for both commercial and non commercial purposes. If we can arrange these spaces as architects and planners we enable talent to emerge with their initiative in both good and bad times.
Fig.65. Night view of the building entree, its street and its wsurrounding on the Bijlmer network. At the frond there is a pavilion near the water channel this pavilion is a bar or restaurant with a water terrace and emphasizes the transition between the Bijlmer network and neighbourhood network.
cohabitating
doing business
joking
stressing
dreaming
relaxing
in need
gardening hahAHA
partying
shopping zzZZZ
meeting
working
listening
grieving
flirting
burying
thinking
enjoying
planting
having a conference
contemplating
learning
harvesting
marrying
reflecting
surviving
inviting
dwelling
planning
getting mad
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