FEEDING A CITY A MODULE GUIDE
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FEEDING A CITY A MODULE GUIDE
COLOPHON PARTICIPANTS
ZIJ Margot Hols Laura Thomas ORGANIZED BY
RICS Cities for our Future
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CONTENTS MOTIVE 4 MANNER 6 STEP BY STEP GUIDE 10 THE MODULES 12 THE STAIRCASE 18 A CASE STUDY: AMSTERDAM 20 ABOUT ZIJ 52
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MOTIVE In the city of today, tourists are to be avoided rather than met with. Complications that tourists bring with them, such as noise disturbance, street polution and rising living prices, seem more substantial than the benefit. Could there be profit? Tourism generates money for the city - as much is clear. But can tourism bring more? How can tourism contribute to a lively, liveable city? For this, an integrative approach is needed. While problems around tourism are increasing, national urbanization pressures the city simultaneously. We propose to consider tourism as one of many processes that together shape the dynamic city. Whether to balance out pressure caused by tourism or to accommodate
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permanent residents: densification of the city centre and its surrounding neighbourhoods is needed. Next to this, a shift in use of urban transport is taking place. While cars have shaped the city for decades, now the time has come for people to be at the heart of the city again. Car-use in the city centre will become less and less popular and space that was once designed for cars will become free for new interpretation[1]. This project integrates the need for densification with the urgency to resolve tourism, using the shift in urban transport as a tool to arrive at the solution. Our main goal is to design a project that • integrates local and tourist daily life • sustains existing communities and improves their living standards • stimulates resident diversity within neighbourhoods
[1] Buro Lubbers, „De Straat van de Toekomst,” 2013. [Online]. Available: www. burolubbers.nl. [Geopend May 2018].
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MANNER
By adding small scale apartments to vacant city spaces, mixed with a balanced amount of tourist accommodations, we aim to densify, merging the local and short-stay networks, hereby making tourism part of the city - instead of a superimposed burden. The tourist accommodations are changeable into normal housing units, depending on fluctuating needs. The design includes a variation of compact apartments, from tiny studios to compact family homes, to offer affordable housing for everyone in need. In order to guarantee a vibrant living area, the amount of public space and green space should increase proportionally to the amount of increased housing[2].
For each appartment block we add to a neighbourhood, we add a freely accessible public space - not just for
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[2] must, „Nieuw Amsterdam: Een succesvolle strategie naar verdichting,� Kamer van Koophandel, Amsterdam, 2009.
residents of the block, but for everyone. The ground floor of each housing block is reserved for public functions, such as a small neighbourhood library, a coffee bar, flexible working spaces or a work place and exhibition space for creative talent. Next to that, for every apartment block we build, we in return improve the quality of outdoor public space. Densification asks for green space to be efficiently used. We cannot add m2 of green, but what we can do is make the green space that is already there more accessible to the public. The interpretation of each outdoor public space will be decided on in consultation with residents of neighbouring apartments to increase neighbourhood affinity. Small businesses can benefit from tourist money while the neighbourhood enjoys new liveliness. Tourists experience local daily life on a much closer level while residents can feel pride showing their city.
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This manual: To make the design workable, ZIJ created, next to their strategy, a manual that offers typological floor plans and ideas for shared space that can be easily combined into the desirable housing block. The modules are flexible in orientation and size so that they can be altered to local needs. The conditions: • To each apartment block, a public facilty on ground floor should be added depending on local demand. • Apartment blocks can only be implemented providing that the outdoor public space will be re-designed for more intensive use. We believe that this approach can nourish any city. Instead of wiping away areas with a low density to start rebuilding from scratch, this project feeds the city where needed. We want to improve what is already there, hereby sustaining neighbourhoods while responding to upcoming trends.
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Tourists nowadays make use of a different city than locals. LET’S ADVANCE TO SHARING THE SAME, VIBRANT CITY.
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STEP BY STEP GUIDE
STEP 1
Analyse the city: find possible locations to densify.
STEP 2
Investigate the city to figure out local needs: which types of accomodations are needed? How many tourists can the chosen location accommodate?
STEP 3
Depending on the needs investigated at step 2, create a configuration of the different modules offered in this manual and add a public facility at ground level.
STEP 4
Redesign freely accessible outdoor public space around the apartment block in consultation with residents of the neighbourhood.
STEP 5
Feeding time!
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THE MODULES To create compact and affordable housing, we created four modules that can be used in different configurations. These modules share the same measurements, making them easy to combine. Using the bathroom and toilet unit as a room divider, the amount of m2 hallway is minimized, leaving more room to live. In addition to this, we make use of sliding doors. Also, other doors are placed in a manner in which it is easy to arrange furniture. As an example, regular sized closets fit behind most doors. Due to the simplistic floor plans, each module is suitable as a tourist accomodation. Modules can be combined into endless configurations.
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Modules share the same measurements, making them easy to combine.
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400 cm
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4000
400 cm
Module 1 is the smallest configuration, made to be occupied by a single person. A small kitchen, a bathroom with a shower, toilet and sink and some built-in storage space are combined in 16 m2. Three big windows that extend from floor to ceiling create a light and therefore spacious looking home. Because of the small size, we recommend module 1 as the perfect space for a student.
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Module 2 is twice as big as module 1, making it a 24 m2 apartment. This apartment is most suitable for two persons. The bathroom divides the home into two spaces, creating a kitchen with room for a dining table and/or sofa and a bedroom with room for a double bed. Both kitchen and bedroom have two or three big windows which extend from floor to ceiling to create a light and spacious place. Because of the size, we recommend module 2 as the perfect space for a student, young proffesional or a couple.
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400
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Module 3 is a combination of module 1 and 2, creating a home of 40 m2. The cornered shape creates two bedrooms, suitable for three or four persons. Each bedroom has built-in storage space and two windows which extend from ceiling to floor. The open kitchen means there is space for both a dining table and lounge. Three big windows, extending from floor to ceiling, ensure enough daylight. Because of the size, we recommend module 3 as the perfect space for a small family.
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Module 4 is the biggest module, designed for four to six people. Three bedrooms, a bathroom and open kitchen/livingroom are combined in 56 m2. The master bedroom has built-in storage space. All bedrooms are provided with two windows which extend from ceiling to floor. The open kitchen has room for both a dining table and lounge and has three big windows which extend from floor to ceiling. Because of the size, we recommend module 4 as the perfect space for a family of up to 6 people.
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THE STAIRCASE Staircases take residents from the public into the private realm. Not only do they serve as circulation blocks - the staircase is the first step inside a home. The staircase is, in this sense, a personal element; a familiar part of one’s home. By giving the staircases a distinct character, both inside and out, we aim to show this character to the outside world. To create a sense of community, each neighbourhood will have the same recognizable type of staircase. The next neighbourhood will have a different, distinct staircase. In this way, added housing blocks will belong to eachother and add to the recognizable character of the neighbourhood.
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A CASE STUDY: AMSTERDAM
While some European cities struggle for visitors to contribute to the liveliness of their habitat, Amsterdam accounts for the opposite. With its 17 million visitors a year[3] tourists take over the city centre. Locals -including students- are dismissed to the outskirts of town to find a place that is relatively affordable, away from all the fuss. Meantime, Amsterdam’s city centre is adapting to the needs of its new short-stay inhabitants, causing the city to turn into a life-size museum tailored to the average 3.8 night-stay[3]. Hotspots and routes are refined or even newly created to tell a simplified version of Amsterdam’s complex history.
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On top of the pre-existing urban network a new infrastructure is superimposed - one exclusively made for tourists. Consequently the hotel, among other tourist sites, has become an objeto autónomo, as say Montaner and Muxí [4], estranged from the city’s social and urban fabric.
Tourist-movement in Amsterdam, mapped by Sander van der Drift
[3] Gemeente Amsterdam, „Toerisme in MRA 2015-2016,” Amsterdam, 2016. [4] J. M. Montaner en Z. Muxí, „Metrópolis: El turismo y la tematzación de las ciudades,” in Arquitectura y Política, Barcelona, Gustavo Gili, 2011.
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STEP 1: FIND A PLACE TO DENSIFY We believe that a sustainable city is a city where neighbourhoods and communities are, quite obviously, sustained. This project concerns residential areas that have potential to densify. Instead of wiping away entire neighbourhoods, we found a different way to densify these relatively empty areas. Our research focuses on streets in Amsterdam with a broad street profile. These broader streets contain space that is inefficienty used. The residue space in these streets is the location for our project. The image to the right shows an inventory of streets where facade-to-facade distance is relatively big.
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Streets in Amsterdam with a big facade to facade distance, excluding streets with water running through.
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current situation
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We picked the Minervalaan as our case study project because of its abundance of free space. Dominant elements in the street’s image are the empty fields of grass and cars parking in front of the houses.
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While cars have shaped cities for decades, now is the time for a a shift in use of transport to take place.With more and more people moving to the city, space in the inner cities is valuable and cars are taking up too much of it. This project backs the ideal of people at the heart of the city. Whether we are brought home by public transport, connected to a car park in a multimodal transferium or dropped off by selfdriving share-cars inner city appartments will no longer need a parking spot on the street. Space for cars will become free for new interpretation [3].
proposal
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In case of the Minervalaan this means a lot of space will be left empty after cars have left the street’s image. Houses will still be reachable by bigger vehicles (in case of emergency, for moving furniture, etc.), but in general the street will be redesigned for cycling and walking.
How can we make good use of all this extra free space? Can we use the spaces to densify, adding quality to the neighbourhood? A typical quality of the city of Amsterdam is the amount of green space available. Take the city expansion of the 50s and 60s Western Garden Cities (‘Algemeen Uitbreidingsplan’ proposed in 1935 by Van Eesteren). These neighbourhoods have a lot of green space. However, their green spaces generally lack quality and are unused. This inefficient use of space happens not only in the Western Garden Cities, but also in other places such as the Minervalaan. Thus, there are two types of spaces in the Minervalaan that could be used more efficiently: parking space and green space. We take out parking spaces and add apartment blocks in the middle of the Minervalaan. Hereby, we create a new, more dense street profile with apartment modules that are actively connected to the green space. These apartment blocks will not just profit from (“feed from”) qualities of the street but will instead feed the neighbourhood by adding public space that is freely accessible for everyone and creating outdoor public spaces that bring a park-like atmosphere. The apartments dehomogenize the street and bring diversity to the neighbourhood. We aim to densify the city, while also improving the use and value of its green space.
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STEP 2: FIND OUT WHAT THE NEIGHBOURHOOD NEEDS Type of accomodation: Minervalaan is part of the Apollo neighbourhood. On the right page we gathered some numbers on property prices, types of household, avarage age, and so on. Notworthy is the remarkably small amount of singlefamily houses in Apollobuurt. Also the very high amount of high incomes and very low amount of low incomes stand out.
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SOME FACTS ON APOLLOBUURT Source: Municipality of Amsterdam 2018
Avarage property price €1.283.920 (very high) Avarage property price per m2 €7.136 (high) Avarage amount of living space 168 m2 (high) Price increase in the past 6 months 0,2% (below avarage) Avarage income per inhabitant €50.400 (very high) AGE more
TYPE OF HOUSEHOLD
15-24
25-44
45-64
65+
avarage NL
single person
couple without children
family with children
less
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INCOME low incomes high incomes
very low
27% 51%
very high
avarage NL
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Type of public services: the Apollo neighbourhood has the following facilities: • • • • • • • •
HEMA: generic housewares Starbucks: expensive coffee All Kinds of Things: self explanatory Pauw: expensive clothing ICI Paris XL: perfume shop I. Do. I. Do B.V.: Bridal store Bruna: book store Jesse Jewelry: self explanatory
Accomodations for tourists: • 6 hotels • 86 Airbnb apartments All of these accomodations are NOT part of the same infrastructure as the one locals make use of.
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Based on this research we can say the Minervalaan is in need of: • Student apartments • Apartments for couples without children • Apartments for families with children All of which fitting for people with a lower income. Next to this the Apollobuurt could be complemented with • • • •
Affordable coffee places Study or flexible working spaces Sports facilities Exhibition space for creative souls
Apartments are changeable into tourist homes depending on municipality’s regulations. The advantage of having tourist homes within these complexes compared to existing accomodations is that facilities and entrances are shared with locals, hereby stimulating that tourists are aware of local values and social rules.
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STEP 3: DESIGN APARTMENT BLOCKS Based on our research in step 2, we discovered the Apollobuurt needs additional apartments for couples without children, student apartments and in general apartments for people with a low income. The public ground floors have also been designed, answering to the analysis in the previous step - step 2. The following pages show three apartment blocks that we designed as example projects, keeping in mind the local demand.
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M I N E R VA L A A N
current situation
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APARTMENT BLOCK 1
location
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facades
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21000
12600
Complex 1 has two public functions on the ground floor. Located on a grassplot, we chose to facilitate this building with a cafĂŠ and some flexible workspots. Because of the space arround the building, the cafĂŠ has the possibility to create a terrace.
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The first floor is assembled out of two module 1 and two module 4 houses.
The second floor is assembled out of two module 2 and one module 4 houses.
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The third floor is assembled out of two module 2 and one module 3 houses.
The fourth floor is assembled out of one module 1 and two module 2 houses.
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The fifth floor is assembled out of one module 4 house.
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APARTMENT BLOCK 2
location
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facades
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25000
12600
Complex 2 has a public gym on the ground floor.
The first floor is assembled out of three module 1 and four module 2 houses.
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The second floor is assembled out of three module 1 and two module 2 houses.
The third floor is assembled out of two module 2 houses.
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APARTMENT BLOCK 3
HALLO
location
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facades
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The ground floor provides flexible workplaces along with a gallery for young artists to show their work and organise workshops.
21000
Exhibition space
12600
The first floor is assembled out of two module 2 and one module 3 houses.
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The second floor is assembled out of one module 1 and two module 2 houses.
The third floor is assembled out of one module 4 house.
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STEP 4: DESIGN PUBLIC SPACE
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current situation
propossal
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STEP 5: ALL FED UP!
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A
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view A
view B
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ABOUT ZIJ ZIJ is a collaboration between Laura Thomas and Margot Hols. The studio is involved in designing urban, cultural and social projects. We approach our projects with the attitude that everything is possible, using creativity to bring fiction into real life. Laura Thomas (left) and Margot Hols (right) established ZIJ in Delft, the Netherlands, in 2018 after they both finished their bachelor’s degree in Architecture and the Built Environment. Combining their interests for Urbanism and Architecture they aim to create diverse solutions for diverse problems on different scales.
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