Effects, Initiation of revival and Co-existence between the Site and Context
An inquiry of the inter-relationship between the site and context in Caixaforum (Madrid, Spain), Watertower (Jaegersborg, Denmark) and URBION (Urban Revitalization of the Vienna Gurtel) Shail Sheth UI3515 History as an Active element of Design: Adaptive reuse and Revivalism Faculty of Design, CEPT University Professor: Supriya Gautam Pal Abstract: A community and it’s people sometimes develop an emotional connection with an old building. Strategic revival of a site can have great added societal benefits for the people around. A sociological function added can add life not only to the building but also the land, functions and people around. It can affect intangible aspects of tourism and economy and have macro level impacts on the local community. As important as the revival of the site is to the context, so is the context for the revival of the site. A successful function in adaptive reuse can largely depend on the context the function is placed in. In Caixaforum, Madrid, Spain and the Watertower, Jaegersborg, Denmark the built has great impact on the surrounding because of location and heritage point of view and in that case the built becomes the nucleus while in the case of URBION - Urban Revitalization of the Vienna Guertel the community and surrounding affects the built and in that case the surrounding becomes the nucleus. The paper analyses the relationship between the two and inquires into their co-existence through case studies as mentioned on the parameters: reason for change, connection of the community to the site, location of the existing site and context, sociological impact and economical impact. The case studies have been selected on the basis of the varied scale of the built and urban scale and importance, function the built form had and the new function which was introduced and the approach towards the adaptive reuse (macro to micro and micro to macro). Keywords: Site, Context, Co-existence, Adaptive reuse, Sociological, Revivalism, Economy, Built environment, Unbuilt environment
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Effects, Initiation of revival and Co-existence between the Site and Context | Shail UI3515
Introduction: We, humans have an inclination towards the materialistic things and one of the biggest materialistic thing we posses are the built form around us. The built form around us plays an important role in our daily life and the built form makes an impact on the immediate surrounding and on the community. This mentality of humans can be compared with the historic times when in the village, the head of the village holds the meeting under the biggest tree available and people start relating the tree with an important activity and slowly the tree becomes an important part of the community. This is an example for, community (surrounding) affecting the built form. If we compare the above example to the well of the village it plays an important role in every villager’s life. Villagers try to shorten the distance between their house and the well and thus activities start happening around the well. This is an example for, the built affecting the surrounding. This paper discusses and inquires about the factors and tangible and intangible aspects which plays an important role in the co-existence between the context and built. • Caixaforum, Madrid, Spain • Watertower, Jaegersborg, Denmark • URBION - Urban Revitalization of the Vienna Guertel Case Studies Case study 1: Caixaforum is an cultural centre of nearly 10000 sq.m. in area built between 2003 to 2008. Reason for the change: The idea of a community centre was successful in the county and the previous two branches of Caixaforum were working successfully and this was the third of its kind. The Caixaforum helps community to get strengthen by their cultural common ground and this are constructed in the locations where they could be the most impactful for the community. Connection of the community to the site: The power-station facade and the pitched roof was a character the people in the surrounding relate to the power-station and Herzog de Muron (architectural firm) chose to retain that characteristic of the built. Location of the site and the context:
Power station
Paseo del Prado
Caixaforum
Gas station
Paseo del Prado
Plaza
Fig2.1 Before: Context and surrounding of the built
Fig2.2 After: Gas station getting converted into plaza
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Effects, Initiation of revival and Co-existence between the Site and Context | Shail UI3515
As shown in the diagram the old power-station which was providing power to the immediate surrounding went defunct and it was replaced with the Caixaforum. Sociological impact of the adaptive reuse:
Fig3.1: The Power-station
Fig3.2: The red marked is the old facade which was made again on the new built giving an impression that the existing was never broken down and retained.
Old facade
New facade
Elevating the building helped to make a covered plaza for the people and plaza is an important part of the community centre because of the possibilities and opportunities it provides to the community for gathering and other related activities.
Fig3.3: The relationship between the covered and open plaza and the roles they play
Newer Inside
Covered plaza
Fig3.4: Section of the Caixaforum
The covered plaza resonates with the open plaza just next to the built and that as an entity works in favor of the people because the open plaza connects the Caixaforum with the vertical garden next to it which forms a good gathering spot for the people and as well as spill out space for the community centre. The cultural centre gives power to the people and gives a sense of belonging and of ownership which they can call their own. The different activities inside the centre brings people closer as a community and unites them. The old power-station had a peculiar roof line which was retained but the new facade which was introduced on top of it and its roof silhouette was inspired from the surrounding building. Economical impact: The community centre helps the community to get unite and becomes the collective magnet and initiator of the small businesses and generates money in form of tickets and from the exhibition and theatre spaces. 3
Effects, Initiation of revival and Co-existence between the Site and Context | Shail UI3515
Case study 2: Water tower, Jaegersborg, Denmark Adaptive reusing a water-tower to provide a good affordable housing for student. Reason for the change: Student housing was in bad state and an active water tower with a empty space with in the structure of it. The project is an initiation of an idea of using a urban scale built form for an human scale intervention as water towers are located in the country after certain distance which could be useful for the students. Connection of the community to the site: The water tower was active before the adaptive reuse and the location of it is on a major spot and the near by community have the sense and relatability to the water tower in their daily lives. Location of existing site and context: The location of the water-tower falls on to the major road junction and next to the built there are two railway station. Sociological impact:
Fig4.1: Existing water-tower
Fig4.2: Possibility one
Fig4.3: Possibility two
Fig4.4: Possibility three
Fig4.5: Visual of the context and site before the insertion Active water tank (urban scale)
Student housing (human scale)
Youth centre (human scale)
Fig4.6: Visual of the context and site after the insertion
The placement of the insertion inside the water-tower to express the characteristic of the historic water-tower. Adding the function of student housing inside the water-tower, youth 4
Effects, Initiation of revival and Co-existence between the Site and Context | Shail UI3515
centre was also incorporated on the ground to fourth floor and that decision of it was taken with a back of the mind understanding of the immediate surrounding. The project impacted the surrounding and the immediate surrounding as well. So the youth centre became the hotspot and the context was uplifted and activities were encouraged. The youth were brought together and the sense of unity was born in them. The outside worked as a spill out space for the youth centre and youth centre had a community kitchen were people cook and eat together. The Immediate surrounding was transformed into a park like scenario and the tree and vegetation prospered on minute level as they were monitored now because of the activity which was incorporated inside the water-tower. Economical impact: The student housing, youth centre and active water tower all three are economy generating sources and the youth centre is business and jobs initiator as well. The entire thing has an economical impact on the personal level and on the upbringing and uplifting of the immediate surrounding.
Case study 3: The Gurtel Boulevard, Vienna, Austria The inner and the outer city walls of the Vienna was replaced by the two concentric boulevards. Ringstrasse: The inner circle of the old city dominated by the court, the aristocracy, church and haute bourgeoisie. Gurtel: The outer around the middle class, business, proletarian world of suburbia. The roles of the both were different and specific: The Ringstrasse was a primarily a stage for showing power and status on other hand the Gurtel was catering to housing and traffic activities. 1893, Otto Wagner proposed the structure for an urban expansion concept for the city of Vienna. His proposal consist of Vienna Stadbahn railway line along the Gurtel which played a lead role in the high volume traffic. Built from 1893 to 1898, the majority part was elevated railway for the Imperial and Royal State railways. The Imperial and Royal state railways proposed for masonry viaduct for the Gurtel and for the concept for Stadtbahn, Otto Wagner was commissioned.
Fig5.1: Otto Wagner proposal
Otto Wagner designed the facades of the arch apertures of close nature which resulted into usable spaces for the small businesses of the city. 5
Effects, Initiation of revival and Co-existence between the Site and Context | Shail UI3515
Reason for the change: After the World War 2, small businesses went into despair and from 1950 until 1995 arches became vacant. The effects of the World War 2 on to the Gurtel was that the facades were destroyed and were redone by the masonry construction which resulted into the closed fronts of the arches from the transparent. The closed arches disconnected the inner and the outer districts. The popularity of automobile sector during 1950 and 1960 led to increase of cars drastically on the streets of Vienna which caused major traffic jams and to solve that the roads were widened which caused the green scape parallel to Gurtel Boulevard to vanish. Increase in traffic made the area more decay and the redlight area prospered because of the opaque isolated arches next to clear long roads. The negativity of the whole Gurtel neighborhood led to further erosion and devaluation of the area and the immediate surrounding. The press caught the attention and criticized the traffic chaos, pollution and social degradation from the red light area. The criticism from the press and the situation demanded change of the Gurtel and the starting point was during the 1980s.
Fig6.1: The after effects on the Gurtel
Connection of the community to the site: Gurtel catered to housing and traffic activities which are the most major activities and spaces of the community and the slowly the Gurtel became the part of their life and the everyday route from one place to another. Sociological and Economical impacts: There were many proposals and planning projects which were expensive and infrastructure investments. For example: Tunnels and road reconstruction projects. The city planning decided against this proposals and searched for a more sensitive approach which has a different focus. Silja Tillner’s study in 1994 which consisted of a strategic layout and approach towards image transportation and visual improvement of the Gurtel through the means of small scale urban activity and functions in the field of culture and entertainment which she referred as “soft� factors. The URBION Gurtel concept: The city planning presented an improvement concept which consisted of principles of sustainability and private-public partnership which consisted of 60 projects and initiatives to improve the state of the built fabric and to attract new small businesses, promote cultural initiatives, social advice centres. Silja Tilner was responsible for the URBION concept. 6
Effects, Initiation of revival and Co-existence between the Site and Context | Shail UI3515
URBAN-Wien was the main project which dealt with 4 priorities: 1. Improving the professional qualifications and job training. 2. Measures for the cultural, social and work integration of migrant milieus 3. URBION focused on the redesign of the WestGurtel by means of urban interventions 4. Accompanying monitoring function, which organized exchanges with other European cities and establishes necessary public image for the project. URBION concept by the architect Silja Tillner was dealing with architectural heritage of Otto Wagner and forced co-existence between public space and high traffic loads. Opening up the Gurtel median strip through the transparent design and connective architecture resulted into once again links the outer and inner Gurtel. The strip was transformed from a barrier to a meeting place. Planning strategies and Implementation of those strategies into practicality: 1. Certain sections of the Gurtel was designed as public space to create open spaces for the residents of the immediate surroundings. 2. Suitable frame conditions for the commercial area of the private businesses inside the arches. As stated in the paper by Silja Tilner: “ Traffic- The improvement of pedestrian and bicycle traffic was achieved by providing continuous paths on the median strip along the Stadtbahn arches as well as more possibilities to cross the Gurtel. Landscape- The improvement of the tree stock by planting new trees and introducing a new automatic irrigation system; enlargement and rehabilitation of green spaces accompanied by a reduction of hard, non-permeable surfaces. Design- An attenuation of the barrier effect of the Gurtel was a major goal. All newly leased Stadtbahn arches were to be opened up and provided with uniformly glazed facades. All Gurtel bridges formerly closed with storage space were to be opened up. Coherent and unifying “look” of the Gurtel median strip was to be achieved by means of a continuous lighting system, newly glazed Stadtbahn arch facades, the installation and design of kiosks as well as urban furniture (benches, railings, billboards, trellis for climbing plants, waste container screen). Activities- Temporary markets, neighborhood parties, concerts, movie and theatre performances were recommended as temporary measures. Permanent activities were triggered by attracting restaurants, bars, cultural and recreational facilities to the Stadtbahn, individual installations and artworks in public spaces. ” 1 In this project the driving force for the re-development and renovation of the Gurtel arches were the external factors like activities inside the arches, traffic and the effects of those lead to transformation of the arches from being as connector to a dividing mass.
Fig7.1: After the renovation project of the URBION the transparent facade of the stores inside the arches. 1
- Tilner, Silja, “URBION (Urban Revitalization of the Vienna Guertel)” pg:7, 47th ISOCARP Congress 2011
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Effects, Initiation of revival and Co-existence between the Site and Context | Shail UI3515
Comparative study and Finding parallels from the Case studies: Reason for change: In case study one, the urban scale level project of the caixaforum (community centre) have been successful for the previous two cases and this is the third caixaforum of the project in the country. Whereas in the case study two, the problem of the state of student housing in the country and the location are the reason for the change. For this two case studies, whole to part is the effect which can been seen from the factors and reason for the change. In case study three, the reasons for the Gurtel arches to go defunct and in dilapidated state are the effects of world war 2 on economy and then blooming of the automobile sector are the main reason which comes under whole to part. But the factors which forced and are reason for the change are the activities which had started inside the arches after they went defunct and the effect of it transforming from a transparent connector to a mass thick barrier. That is part to whole effect. Sociological and Economical impacts: In case study one, the effects of adaptive reuse project on the context in terms of sociological and economical point are inter related. The sense of unity which is through the Caixaforum (community centre) in the peoples mind of the immediate surrounding and that brought the community closer and united them which resulted into the economy increased through small businesses and money generating activities. All this made the site and the context to be uplifted and maintained and prospered. Case study two, the students housing and the youth centre made the context active and those functions attracted other activities and programs in the vicinity. The successful program lead to transform the immediate surrounding to a park like zone for the people. Case study three, the Gurtel arches URBION project transformed the opaque barrier into a transparent community and retail spaces which changed the perception of the people towards it. The community and retail spaces works together as community spaces gathers people and unites them which is fruitful for the retail spaces and retail spaces works in the economical point of view for the entire space because it provides the fund to maintain the space.
Conclusion of the study: The study and the example points towards the direction that the site (built form) and the context are co-related and they work simultaneously and the effects are interlinked and they are connected with each other. Context can force the site for the change and built can have effects on the context. Site and context are in co-existence as the case studies and they are affecting each other in the given time and sometimes the context overpowers or guides the site and sometimes the site overpowers and guides the context for the change. Site and Context cannot be seen in isolation at any given time and they cannot sustain without the inter-relationship between the two. SITE
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Effects, Initiation of revival and Co-existence between the Site and Context | Shail UI3515
Bibliography: Website: 1. “Caixa Forum.” Arcspace.com, arcspace.com/feature/caixa-forum/. 2. Etherington, Rose. “CaixaForum Madrid by Herzog & De Meuron.” Dezeen, Dezeen, 13 Nov. 2013, www.dezeen.com/2008/05/22/caixaforum-madrid-by-herzog-de-meuron/. 3. “201 CAIXAFORUM MADRID.” HERZOG & DE MEURON, www.herzogdemeuron. com/index/projects/complete-works/201-225/201-caixaforum-madrid.html. 4. Saieh, Nico. “Jaegersborg Water Tower / Dorte Mandrup.” ArchDaily, ArchDaily, 6 Oct. 2008, www.archdaily.com/6748/jaegersborg-water-tower-dorte-mandrup-arkitekter. 5. “Jægersborg Water Tower: Youth Centre and Residences.” UrbanNext RSS 092, urbannext. net/jaegersborg-water-tower/. 6. “Jægersborg Water Tower.” Dorte Mandrup, www.dortemandrup.dk/work/jaegersborgwater-tower. 7. “Jægersborg Water Tower.” ArchiTravel, 26 July 2018, www.architravel.com/architravel/ building/jaegersborg-water-tower/. Research Papers: 1. Museums: A Beacon for Change for Heritage Buildings. Dianna Jennifer Wallis, December 2012 Submitted towards the fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Architecture Degree. School of Architecture, University of Hawai 2. Silja Tillner URBION–URBan RevitalizatION of the Vienna Gürtel 47th ISOCARP Congress 2011 Image credits: Figure 5.1, 6.1, 7.1: Tilner, Silja, “URBION (Urban Revitalization of the Vienna Guertel)” pg:7, 47th ISOCARP Congress 2011 Illustrations: Shail Sheth
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