ViaVIA November 2017

V IAV IA # 55 Y E A R 2 3

DIGITAL MOVEMENT

Lustrum viaVIA Augumented Reality and Urban Planning Driving on Data Interview: Centre of BOLD Cities Wired Cities VIA Abroad Sydney Double Disciplin Master Projects Tweets and Streets The Undeniable Role of Digital Devices in the Public Domain Let’s Build for Change VIA End of the Year Show Greetings from Riga Graduation Project: Inclusive Global Cities viaVIA is published by the study-association VIA Urbanism, at Eindhoven University of Technology

EXCEED

your

LIMITS

Who I am

What I do

Where I go

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NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER

UP SIGNW! NO

1-on-1 Interviews

Preparations

Workshops

Improve your skills

Work on practical examples

Talk about your future

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Career Event Meet the companies

Find more information, REGISTER and discover the companies at:

www.bouwkundebedrijvendagen.nl

Is looking for a new board!

Approach one of the board members or send an email to via@bwk.tue.nl if you are interested!

Events and excursions are in Dutch

EDITORIAL Dear reader, In front of you you are holding the 11th lustrum edition of the viaVIA magazine. I have the honor to publish this special edition as the editor-in-chief and to make it a lustrum-worthy one. This edition will dwell upon the lustrum by looking back at all the themes and topics of the previous issues. This results in an overview of how the viaVIA evolved into a professional magazine (in full color!).

But that won’t be the only thing we will discuss and elaborate on in this edition. The academic . year 20162017 has fallen upon us and so has my year in the board of VIA Urbanism as commissioner of Public Relations and as commissioner of the viaVIA. Our board has organized many fun, interesting and informative activities in cooperation with our committees with, as finishing touch, the Study Trip to Helsinki, Tallinn and Riga. We visited many buildings from Alvar Aalto - in which you could get lost in all the detailing -, saw how not to construct buildings - since they were not finished in the prettiest way -, visited an old hangar which is now a museum, saw multiple old cute inner cities, and we even went off-road into the pristine nature of Finland.

Of course there was also room for relaxation; every evening we could wander around the city, enjoy some nice cocktails in the sun (yes the sun was shining while it was raining in the Netherlands), go to the sauna since that is the Finns’ favorite hobby of the Finish, and eat some really nice local dishes. This trip was a good closing of my very educational board year and the time has come for the 25th board to take over. In order to do this in a proper way they will introduce themselves in this issue. Furthermore some actualities on regional, national and international level will be stated.

Naturally, this edition again has a theme attached to it.

This time it is the influence of digital technology on the urban space. Hereby you can think of the effects of social media on the urban space and what which movements it can cause and/or invigorate, how data can affect the mobility in the city when technology will be used for evolving car driving, how Augmented Reality can help in reducing time and money spent on urban projects and in the future can even help in cases of emergencies, how we are becoming lazier and are making less use of the Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

urban environment due to technology while it can also improve the experience of public space, and last but not least an interview was conducted on how we have to cope with big data and how to preserve privacy while using data to simplify life.

Since the last issue, there have of course been more activities than just the Study Trip. We also organized a VIA End of the Year event, in cooperation with the UUA chair, which was a small symposium together with some presentations from students, an award ceremony for the best urbanism project and as closure a BBQ was held. One of the presented projects was the first Master project which was conducted by all students interested in graduating in a double major.

Another project from last year was from the urbanism graduation studio; they transformed a former railway into an appealing and strengthening factor for Kassel (Germany). And last but not least, you can also read the column which discusses the flexibility of architecture and urbanism.

Hopefully you enjoy this magazine as much as the committee enjoyed writing and editing it. I am going to pass on the honor of being the editor-in-chief to my successor, and I fully believe that everything will be done to make the next viaVIA magazines a success.

Have fun reading it!

Anna van Rij Commissioner Public Relations Editor-in-chief viaVIA 2017

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CONTENTS Colofon ViaVIA, published by study association VIA Urbanism, TU/e

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Lustrum

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Urban Trends

year 24 number 55 Eindhoven, November 2017 ViaVIA is published by:

Bicycle cultures

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News

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New Board

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Study trip

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VIA End of the Year Show

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Greetings from

PR-committee VIA Urbanism Den Dolech 2 (Vertigo 07) E-mail: via@bwk.tue.nl www.viastedebouw.nl facebook.com/viaurbanism

Helsinki, Tallinn and Riga Editors Anna van Rij (editor-in-chief)

Zandwater

Stefan Dermaux Bethel Lemma Anouk van Otterlo Catalien Peerdeman Veerle Roijackers

Riga

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Guest Editors Jeroen Bollen

VIA Abroad Sydney

Peyvand Taremi

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Theme:

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Wired Cities

Thom Cornelissen Jimmy Hendrickx Sjors Kaasjager Eliza Anete Kaužena Ward Kromhout

Article: Anna van Rij

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Driving on Data

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Augmented Reality

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Tweets and Streets

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The Data Behind Data

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Buro Lubbers

Bram Nuijten Nienke Oudshoorn Sophie Peters

Article: Stefan Dermaux

Article: Veerle Roijackers

Luuk Schokker (BOLD Cities) Niels Verdonk Marijke Voermans Printing

Article: Bethel Lemma

DrukwerkMAX (Zoetermeer) ISSN 1385-7045

Interview: Catalien Peerdeman

The undeniable role of digital devices in the public domain Picture on cover: Artwork of radio’s photographed from the Tate Modern museum in London.

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Masterproject

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Graduation Studio

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Let’s build for change

Antwerp the Oudaan

Picture by Anna van Rij.

From old rail to new trail Theme picture: Camera and alarm system on building. Picture

by Daniel von Appen. Retrieved from: https:// unsplash.com/photos/QQp9prhHNbQ

Column: Peyvand Taremi

VIAVIA THROUGH TIME

May 1994 - February 1996

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First lustrum - What is urbanism?

The first five editions of the ViaVIA, starting in May 1994, were focussed on the question “What is urbanism?”.

Theme-subjects were about the education itself, and about the role of urbanists. This can be seen in the theme-edition of 1996, which is a report about a lecture-cyclus about “the impossible task” of urbanists.

Besides that much attention was given to projects and activities of VIA. Second lustrum - Urban structures The following numbers of the magazine all payed attention to urban structures and changes within them.

The 6th and 7th magazines focus on mainly Dutch regions in Brabant and Limburg, while the 8th one focuses on

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March 1996 - November 1997

December 1997 -

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cities all over the world. City expansion becomes more important than city renewal, a trend which shows the spirit of that time. However in the 8th edition, also city renewal forms an important topic, as in some cities, some areas are constantly under construction in order to achieve correct city renewal.

Third lustrum - Roots of Urbanism In the next five editions, students and teachers are searching for the “roots of Urbanism”. The search is done by visiting several cities, and urban projects. The core of this research exists of love for the city, and discovering the urban history in a professional way. These series are particularly focused on the origin of the modern urbanism in England, including an excursion to the UK.

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Augustus 1999

January 2000 - March 2003

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Fourth lustrum - Flow through spaces Buildings and cities are not only around us, but we are all around them; architecture is more than a set of objects with which we come into occasional contact. It forms the spaces in which all aspects of our lives reside and flow. We cannot live without buildings and cities, for they are an integral, not separate, part of how we go about things.

Fifth lustrum – Study trips For this period, the focus was on the destinations of study trips. The viaVIA magazines gave a report of the travels and gave background information about the visited cities.

Important here was the comparison between urbanism in the Netherlands and abroad. During this lustrum, for Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

October 2003 - January 2006

May 2006

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the first time there was an edition with an overall theme; namely “industry and the city”. In this the first plans for Strijp-S were explained.

Sixth lustrum - International learning The sixth lustrum was divided between theme editions and reflections of study trips. In both types of viaVIA, learning from other countries was a core subject. New Orleans was flooded, and could learn from our Dutch water cities in rebuilding theirs. At the same time, the Netherlands is looking more and more like America, with the emergence of leisure in inner cities. Lastly, Dutch urbanism can learn from the organized chaos in Morocco and Asia, to not get frustrated but just go with the flow.

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55 EDITIONS AND COUNTING

July 2007

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January 2008 - May 2009

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Seventh lustrum - A city’s trademark What is a city, and what face does it have? The skyline is a good example of how a city can be recognized.

But what exactly does a skyline say about a city? What meaning does it have? In these editions it is tried to discover what the essentials and possibilities of skyline and public spaces are. “The sky’s the limit, but what is the limit of the skyline?”

Eighth lustrum - City & Landscape The TU/e does not have a specific part of the Built Environment major that contains landscape architecture.

Therefore, in these editions, VIA focused on this interesting branch of Urbanism. Interesting landscape related subjects in this time period were ‘The Green

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October 2009 - February 2011

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Heart’, ‘the Dutch polders’, and the new landscape vision of the TU/e science park.

Ninth lustrum - The financial crisis During this lustrum, the financial crisis hit the Netherlands.

This caused a change in the world of urbanism. On the one hand, there was more utopian thinking, but on the other hand, projects could not be financed like they used to. Crowdfunding, impermanence and flexibility were becoming important for urbanists, to keep their jobs and profession alive. These things were already practiced abroad. For instance city branding, as practiced in Singapore, could be a solution for city centers, which were in danger with the emergence of webshops.

May

2011 - October 2012

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April 2013 - September 2015

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Tenth lustrum - Complex Cities A good functioning city is complex. The magazine’s focus in these editions of the tenth lustrum is on several components that contribute to this complexity; a city needs to be healthy, a city is becoming more digital, a city has to satisfy its population which concerns different lifestyles and cities need to be interconnected to the countryside.

Eleventh lustrum - An endurable city The ability to endure and be livable is an important requirement for a city. Sustainability is not just about green energy and less emission; it’s about a city’s flexibility, organisational qualities of (contemporary) public space, global water issues, and the management

December 2015 - November 2017

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of the long life span of buildings (heritage). All these elements are important for the sustainable management of the built environment.

And this is where we are right now. Fifty-five editions, eight diferent looks, many various themes, twenty-three years and eleven lustrums later. On to the twelfth lustrum!

The viaVIA committee

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URBAN TRENDS: BICYCLE CULTURES When you live in the Netherlands, there is nothing special about taking your bike and cycle to your next destination. Bikes are part of the Dutch culture and almost everyone in the Netherlands owns a bike.

This is something which many foreign people are amazed by, especially when they are confronted with the enormous bicycle sheds at big train stations in the Netherlands. So, what are the reasons that the Dutch are such bike loving people? The history of the bike can partly explain this, combined with the role and embeddedness of the bike in the Netherlands.

In 1817 the first offspring of the bike was invented, and only 70 years later the first bike, as we know it, was brought on the market. However with the arise of the automobile, the bicycles were squeezed off the streets to make place for these more powerful vehicles. This occurred all over Europe, North America and China with one of the exceptions; the Netherlands. Due to the many traffic accidents that involved cars, Dutch people protested against the automobile trend which resulted in more and better bicycle infrastructure (Goodyear, 2013). On top of this the Netherlands is a small country and inner-city routes are not that far. This causes travel times to be less when using the bike instead of a car in the dense cities.

Currently, some changes can be seen all over the world regarding the use of

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bicycles. Because of the climate change cities are struggling with pollution, demands for carbon reduction, rising obesity rates, and squeezed municipal budgets. Many of these cities are turning to the bicycle as an solution (Gardner, 2010). Besides reducing the carbon reduction by using bikes instead of the car, bike infrastructure is far cheaper than new urban highways. As Gardner said, bikes are claiming a large niche of transportation mix in some cities already. In many European cities with vigorous bikecentered initiatives, cycling accounts for more than 20 percent of all trips, compared to fewer than 1 percent in the United States, Australia, and other countries with less-developed cycling cultures.

As is said, countries with a less-developed cycling culture will adopt cycling at a slower rate. For example, much opposition was experienced in the United States against the bicycle by drivers. As was observed in the Netherlands, biking is part of our culture. Here, everybody can ride a bike well. People know the rules and cycle close together (Dinther, 2017). It is something that comes naturally for the Dutch, which is difficult to teach to other countries. The bicycle culture is not something that can be exported to another city. For this, the best way for foreigners to learn is to experience it themselves the Dutch way.

Anouk van Otterlo

Sources: - Goodyear, S. (2013). 100 Urban Trends: Bike Politics. Retrieved from: https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/ lablog/100-urban-trends-bike-politics.

- Gardner, G. (2010). Bikes’ Niche in Urban Transport Expanding. Retrieved from: http://blogs.worldwatch.org/ sustainableprosperity/bikes-niche-inurban-transport-expanding/ - Dinther, M. (2017). Amerikaanse planoloog: ‘Nederlands fietsgedrag laat zich met geen land ter wereld vergelijken’. Retrieved from: https://www.volkskrant.nl/ binnenland/amerikaanse-planoloognederlands-fietsgedrag-laatzich-met-geen-land-ter-wereldvergelijken~a4500671/?utm_ source=facebook&utm_ medium=social&utm_ campaign=shared%20

NEWS Eindhoven – District E A tower of 158 meter high is the eye catcher in the plan District E for Stationsplein Eindhoven. This plan will be developed by Amvest and Powerhouse Company for the south side of Stationsplein in Eindhoven. The plan includes 450 dwellings, an exposition space, a debateand meeting center, a hotel, shops and catering industry.

It is designed by the architectural firm Powerhouse Company in collaboration with ZUS (Zones Urbaines Sensibles).

The most remarkable part of the Amvest-plan are the three towers of 76, 100 and 158 meter high. Currently Eindhoven has, due to the 105 meter high Admirant, the 30th place on the list with highest residential towers of the Netherlands. However, with this plan it will shift from 30th to a shared 2nd place, just behind Rotterdam’s Maastoren (164.5 meter). Amvest already began with making agreements for the sale of the needed ground and for safeguarding all the trust and expectations for the plan District E. The Netherlands – National Environmental Vision From 2019 on, the new environmental law will be applied. This law includes one governmental vision on the environment: The National Environment vision. In the start note, 4 strategic steps are described where a coherent approach is essential: 1. Towards a sustainable competitive economy.

2. Towards a climate resistant and climate neutral and adaptive society.

3. Towards a future resistant and accessible living- and work environment.

4. Towards a valuable, livable environment.

Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

Our country needs to offer a healthy and attractive living environment and be able to grow economically, not only now but also in the future. Therefore, it is essential to have an insight in the objectives the Netherlands has. The pressure on the limited spaces left in our living environment result in constant demands for considerations between different interests. International developments, the influence of technology, and the growing differences between regions crucially need faster, creative, and integrational considerations. On top of that, due to climate change the Netherlands want to be provident with natural resources.

Caribbean – Hurricanes Irma and José After a destroying travel through the Caribbean area, Irma moved to the North through Florida. At a distance of approximately 50 km from Key West, she arrived on land as a “major hurricane” (Category 4 on the 5-part hurricane scale). After her visit to the land, she moved further in northward direction, along the west coast of Florida. Above land, Irma’s power had drastically decreased, because the warm seawater functions as fuel for the hurricane. However, Irma still brought a lot of rain fall.

The west coast of Florida is not often hit by hurricanes due to the overruling eastern trade winds wherein hurricanes are traveling. Therefore, the current track of Irma is very exceptional, and one of the strongest hurricane in the open Atlantic ocean.

Hurricane José also caused a devastation; the strong winds and extreme rainfall caused many nuisance on the islands. Saint Maarten got most of the wind approximately wind power 6 to 7. After hitting the Caribbean islands José moved onwards to the north with decreasing power and did not hit any more land.

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NEW BOARD VIA URBANISM Sophie Peters - Chairwoman & Commissioner Education This year, I will be Chairwoman and Commissioner of Education of VIA Urbanism. As many other students, I started my bachelor with the thought of becoming an architect. However, after discovering the discipline of urbanism and all the possibilities within this field, I became more interested in the urban scale. Therefore, after finishing my bachelor in February 2017, I decided to do my Master’s program in Urbanism. During my master, I got introduced to VIA and quite immediately rolled into a (candidate) board membership, without any experience with VIA in advance. Although everything is new to me, I am sure it will be an interesting and fun journey.

While I really enjoy the direction I’m going with my study, looking back, I probably would have made some different choices if I had had the information I have now. Therefore, one of my goals as Chairwoman and Commissioner of Education is to help other students with informing them about the options in study. I am really looking forward to upcoming year and I hope to learn a lot from all the new experiences as a board member of VIA.

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Niels Verdonk - Treasurer & Commissioner Study Trip Last year I became an active member of VIA Urbanism by entering the Activity Committee, because I wanted to participate in extracurricular activities next to my Master’s program. Together we organized a large number of awesome events, ranging from lunch lectures to a multiple days activity in Belgium. During last year I gotto know many other urbanism students participating in the same master courses and also during activities by VIA. This resulted in me becoming one of the board members of this lustrum year, namely as treasurer and as commissioner of the Study Trip that will be organized together with AnArchi. One of my responsibilities within VIA is to ensure the financial health of this wonderful study association. Before my official installation as treasurer I made a budget for VIA, which maps all the incoming cash flows and also where we are going to spend this money on. My other major responsibility is to organize – together with a whole committee - the best study trip ever for VIA and AnArchi. We are looking forward to bring together urbanism and architecture, by organizing many fun and interesting activities during this holiday!

outside of my studies, and wanted a taste of the practical world. At the same time, I still desired to be working on something that relates to the education I receive. I am quite sure that VIA will satisfy my need for challenges and wanting to see more of urbanism in the real world.

I’m eager to learn all the things this function has to offer to me. As VIA’s new PR I will work hard to establish a blooming year for the association, where the other board members and I can guide students who are interested in Urbanism, the way I have been guided myself.

Sjors Kaasjager - Secretary (Vice Chairman) & Commissioner Lustrum This year I’m finishing my Bachelor. I really look forward to this year in the VIA board. In my year at VIA I hope to expand my horizon in the Urban Design and Planning discipline. I will be the Secretary and Vice Chairman of VIA Urbanism and also take place in the Lustrum Committee. VIA will turn 25 this year so this is well worth celebrating! Besides Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences I also studied Social Geography and Urban Planning at Utrecht University. This was a very interesting study, but at the end I preferred the practical approach at architecture in Eindhoven. Within the department of Built Environment I’m in the Real Estate track, but I’m planning to do my master in Urbanism.

With my contribution, I hope to add some more insights and perspectives from these other disciplines to VIA. I wish you all a productive year and hope to see you in the Lustrum week!

Bethel Lemma - Commissioner Public Relations & Commissioner viaVIA I have been a proud member of VIA Urbanism for a year now. Within my membership of VIA Urbanism, I actively participated in the production of the ViaVIA. This edition will be the second magazine I have worked on, and together with the committee I am proud to release it.

The last year within VIA Urbanism has been an eye opener for me, it has fascinated me how VIA is succeeding in introducing students, including myself, to Urbanism. This association has been a tool for me to increase my knowledge about Urban Design and Planning, and boost my enthusiasm for it. And now I’m privileged to be a part of boarding this association that has guided me in my own personal story. I will be functioning as the commissioner of Public Relations (PR), which includes the viaVIA. Next to being a member on the board I will be studying in my third year at TU/e. My first plan was to finish my bachelor this year. However, I will graduate half a year later, so that I can focus on organizing VIA. I specifically chose to be a board member of VIA Urbanism, because I was seeking some challenges Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

Ward Kromhout - Commissioner Activities Some may know me already, since I was part of the activities committee and the Study Trip committee last year. This year I will lead the activities committee myself and I look forward to it very much. Let me first introduce myself to those who don’t know me.

I was born in a small village on the countryside, near Boxmeer. The year after finishing secondary school I took a year off for working and traveling. I went to Tallinn (Estonia) by bike. This trip has given me a complete different look at the world. After this year I started to study Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences. First I studied in Ghent, Belgium, but sadly the culture there was too different and the language as well, so I went to Eindhoven where I felt more at home.

Last year I was quite active with VIA since I was completing the last courses of my Bachelor’s program and therefore I had a lot of time on my hands. I probably learned more from VIA than from my courses, so I chose to take over the task of Commissioner Activities from Marijke Voermans. I will do my best to match her spirit and enthusiasm, so this year will be a great year again. In this year I would like to learn how to better manage activities, and how to build an active and living association. I hope my experience and adaptive ability will help creating a good lustrum year for VIA.

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STUDY TRIP HEL This summer, VIA Urbanism and AnArchi went on a Study Trip to the beautiful and interesting capitals of Finland, Estonia and Latvia. In 11 days and 10 nights, using the airplane, boat and bus, we traveled through these cities to learn from their designers.

In Helsinki we visited a lot of buildings of the famous architect Alvar Aalto. In his modernistic designs his humanistic approach is still easily recognizable. Every detail and every room is designed to be comfortable for the users. Aalto pays particular attention to light: everywhere you looked, the light was softened by diffuse reflection. After seeing many buildings of Alvar Aalto, we went to Suomenlinna - a group of islands near Helsinki - which are entirely preserved by UNESCO. On this island we learned more about the history of Helsinki and the defensive character of the island, which has had an important role in the relationship between Sweden and Russia. Sweden used Suomenlinna as a defensive island against Peter the Great in the 18th century. Now, there are still people living on this island.

After the tour on Suomenlinna, we visited two contemporary churches, the Kamppi Chapel and the Rock Church - the last one is, as its name suggests, carved out of a rock. The day was concluded with a visit to the Finlandia Hall, a big congress and event venue, also designed by Alvar Aalto. The building was completed in 1971. The last day in Helsinki we visited some highlights in the centre, for example the 19th century National Library of Finland and the Dome of Helsinki on the Senaatintori (the Senate square). The National Library was quite imposing, but the Dome was even more of a highlight. The Greek cross gave away that this church was built by the Russians. It was a tribute to Nicholas I of Russia.

As we arrived in Tallinn, we enjoyed a nice walk over the cobblestones of this historic city. The city almost looks like a theme park, and the mostly intact wall surrounding the city supports this thought. It’s not difficult to confuse the gates of the historic centre with gates of a theme park. Once in the

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Pictures taken by Dennis Morshuis

LSINKI, TALLINN & RIGA center, where cars are banned, the historical picture was complete. The hostel we slept in was one of the hisftoric buildings of the city, and the rooms were all different and somewhat cozy.

After a night with little sleep we met with Andres Kurg, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Art History, Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn. Kurg studied in Soviet Architecture, and he took us to a great example of a Soviet neighborhood: Vaike Osmae. This neighborhood is designed as a belt around a spherical park. The neighborhood showed how the Soviet architects payed a lot of attention to the creation of neighborhoods. The park in the centre and the shops and schools results in many possibilities for the residents in the neighborhood to be active. It was also nice to see how easily the buildings were built. The concrete slabs were just stacked upon each other. This made easy construction possible.

Andres Kurg also took us to another Soviet highlight in Tallinn, the Linnahall. This monstrous building was built for the Summer Olympic games of 1980 and includes a concert hall, an ice hall, a small port for catamarans and a heliport. The building is monstrous because of the size; it goes over a railway, has a massive concrete surface on top where you can walk over the hall, and is just not at human scale. Moreover, the building has been built so fast and with such cheap materials, that after 30 years the building already lost its function.

After the lunch a tour was given through the historic centre along the different highlights. We walked through it and noticed a lot of churches, squares, gates and shopping streets. The city is comprised of two different parts, an upper part where the government of Estonia is situated, and a lower part where the traders of the city in the Hanseatic time built their shops and traded all kind of wares on the squares. We visited both parts, and later visited the Parliament of Estonia in the higher part to see the heart of this country. The second day in Tallinn, the CEO of KOKO Architects showed two projects of his bureau to us. One of which was the Balti Station Market. This marvelous building has created a diverse market hall where all kinds of merchandise is available.

After visiting the market hall, we also visited Rotermann Quarter, based on a masterplan of KOKO Architects.

This industrial quarter of the 19th century now has been turned into a trendy district with a high density. The historic industrial buildings have mainly been preserved and with the small streets it has a unique atmosphere.

enormous building is a renovation of a hangar designed by the Danish engineering and construction company Christiani & Nielsen in 1916-1917. The main piece of the exhibition is the submarine Lembit of 1936. This submarine was open to visit which was a nice experience as well.

Next stop, Riga. While arriving we could immediately confirm that this could be the capital of Jugendstil. After the first night there, Wouter Hillhorst led a tour along all the beautiful buildings and told us about the growth of the city in the turn of the century. Around 1900 Riga burst out of its joints, and the walls around the city were demolished. Outside the boundaries of the old city a new city arose in Jugendstill style, and the fortifications were changed in a beautiful park. The old moat was changed in a winding channel through the park. On the tour through the city we stopped two times to visit a museum. The first stop was the KGB museum, where we got a taste of what a KGB prison looked like and how poorly the people were treated in the Soviet times.

The second stop was at the Jugendstil museum where people reenacted the times of the Jugendstil. All the furniture was in style as well.

The second day we visited two architectural offices. We got a tour through one of the projects of Kkuba, and it was remarkable that although they are a quite small and young firm, they could do a lot for Riga. The other firm was Zaiga Gaile, run by a snappy, strict woman. It was situated in The Bergs Bazaar, a district renovated by the office in 1993. The bazaar was a shopping center of the end of the 19th century and Zaiga Gaile had renovated it to the original vision of Kristaps Bergs. The last day in Riga we visited the National Library of Latvia. This building should be inspired by a glass mountain, and some Latvian mythologies were linked with the design as well.

Back in Amsterdam we said each other farewell, and I think we can look back on an exhausting but very interesting Study Trip. All three cities were completely new for almost all of us, and without this Study Trip most of us would never have been there. So this Study Trip was a perfect opportunity to visit these undiscovered cities and we saw lots of interesting urbanism and architecture.

Ward Kromhout

The day we left Tallinn we first visited some more buildings, among which the Seaplane Harbour, the Estonian Maritime Museum, by KOKO Architects. This Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

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VIA END OF THE YEAR EVENT On the 7th of July, the VIA Urbanism End of the Year Event took place. The program of this event consisted of a lecture, an exhibition of the best urbanism master projects, a jury awarding the best project, and a concluding barbecue. This event was initiated in order to take a moment to both reflect on the past academic year and to celebrate the start of the summer holidays.

VIA organized this activity in a close and successful collaboration with the chair of Urbanism and Urban Architecture (UUA).

TITEL

The event was kicked off by Fransje Hooijmeijer who gave an interesting lecture on the topic of her book ‘The Making of Polder Cities’. She teaches at Delft University of Technology, in the urbanism department. She received her PhD degree in Urbanism in 2011 with a dissertation explaining the relation between water management and urban design, which led to the aforementioned book.

In this research she took a closer look at the relation between the Netherlands and how we build cities. The Netherlands has been fighting against water for decades and they are famous worldwide for their building strategies and their ability to live together with the water.

She presented a historical framework in which seven periods are distinguished according to their approach to hydrologic systems. Each period is characterised by a specific relation between urban design, natural circumstances, and technology. Pre-industrial times have been defined as having - in chronological order - natural, defensive, anticipative, and offensive approaches. After the industrial revolution a period of manipulation of the landscape followed in which three more approaches

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can be distinguished: the urban plan, the blueprint plan, and the integral plan. However, since we are technically able to build cities based mainly on their appearance and form, the connection with the landscape and natural circumstances is lost. Fransje Hooijmeijer argues that we, as designers of cities, should connect form with natural systems again. This should result in a new approach named adaptive manipulation, which is sustainable, resilient, and organic.

Next, the exhibition in the atrium of Vertigo was opened, which showed a selection of the best urbanism master project of the academic year 2016-2017. Every year, a large number of projects are developed by students in different studios, resulting in a wide variety in designs, ideas, and visualisations. Together, these student projects span the wide diversity in the field of urbanism. This exhibition aimed to expose this diversity and student’s ambitions in order to share the knowledge and expertise, and catalyse debate among the different studios. All too often, the hard work of students remains exclusive to students in the same studio, but this event tries to involve the entire urbanism community in our faculty.

In other built environment faculties similar expositions are organised, such as the Argos Expo in Delft and the Project Review in the AA School of Architecture in London. This last one was visited during the Study Trip of VIA in 2016 to the UK and was the direct incentive to organize something similar in Eindhoven.

The projects that were exhibited were selected from the master studios of semester A and B of academic year

2016-2017, to know: Breda Vacant City, Rotterdam Zuidplaspolder, Eindhoven a Public Space, Farming Land and Managing Water, and Antwerp De Oudaan.

For each project, the two best results were selected by the responsible teacher. During the event, each selected project was able to do a five minute presentation in order to communicate their ideas and design to the attendees and the jury. The jury consisted of Pieter van Wesemael (chairholder UUA), Timon van der Horst (BPD), and Herman Kerkdijk (Municipality of Eindhoven), who together chose this year’s very best urban master project and, spontaneously, a runner-up. Mary-Ann Schreurs, alderman at the Municipality of Eindhoven for innovation and design, sustainability and culture, awarded the prizes to the winning team of Farming Water, consisting of Evi van de Logt, Merle Savelsberg, Veerle Roijackers, Pim van Weelde and Yixin Pan. This project was for the largest part a group effort, which is why the studio was nominated as a group. The runner-up was the project of Evelien Abels and Jurre van Kuijk from the studio Eindhoven a Public Space on a critical re-evaluation of the plans for Strijp S. The winning project was called Farming Land and Managing Water and consisted of a collaboration between our students from Urbanlab TU/e, students from the HAS (Hogere Agrarische School), the ZLTO (Zuidelijke Land-en Tuinbouworganisatie), the waterschappen Aa & Maas and De Dommel, and the municipality ‘Rijk van Dommel en Aa’. This interesting mix of partners enabled the students to work on real life cases. The assignment they worked on was motivated Year 24, number 55 - November 2017

by the high number of floods in the summer of 2016.

This occurrence brought up the question how to react to increasingly extreme weather conditions; with dry periods becoming increasingly dry, while wet periods become increasingly wet. The students identified these trends and made a catalogue of tools to adapt to these extreme conditions. Examples of tools are dynamic water level management, water storage on rooftops, and soil-dependent cultivation. Next, scenarios were created in which locations - both urban and rural - were the starting point from which problems were identified.

With the application of a combination of tools a climate adaptive solution was designed for these specific cases.

The jury praised the thorough researched in combination with the useable site-specific solutions on a wide variety of locations.

The event was concluded with a barbecue at the KOEveld in front of Vertigo in the sun where we welcomed many of our members. From our perspective, the first edition of the VIA Urbanism End of the Year Event was rather successful. Hopefully this event will become an annually recurring activity for all people involved in urbanism at this faculty at the very end of the year, to celebrate the past academic year and the start of the summer holidays. We all hope to see you next year!

Marijke Voermans Jeroen Bollen

17

GREETINGS FROM RIGA

“Sometimes we even discussed some topics in local pubs!

How cool is that?”

Today is a big day for me – exactly one year ago I went to the Netherlands for the first time to spend half a year of studying architecture in the Erasmus exchange programme. I remember the way I felt on the 30th of August, when I landed in Eindhoven Airport, as it was yesterday - a bit scared but extremely excited about the semester at the TU/e. Now I can say that this was the best choice I could make – this rainy, foggy, flat country has won a place in my heart forever.

From the beginning, I knew that I wanted to go to Netherlands - this country immediately brings me thoughts of internationalism, liberalism and friendliness – things I highly appreciate but are missing in my culture.

Also, its great location in the middle of Europe that makes travelling around so easy, was important when deciding where to spend this half year. But of course, the main reason I came to Netherlands was to study. So when I heard about the great study environment, quality of education, and the variety of courses provided, my decision was to go to the TU/e.

Many know Eindhoven as one of the smartest regions in the world. Despite its compact size and with a population of only 200 000, the city has all of the amenities that make a place vibrant and exciting. Eindhoven is just the right size that causes the frequent running into friends and acquaintances. Although I knew that the Netherlands is the land of bicycles, I never imagined that there are

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THAT many cycling people! Now when I’m back in Riga I really miss the well-functioning infrastructure and biking culture. My city could learn so much from the Netherlands.

There are thousands of Erasmus students as well as the Dutch who study at the TU/e. I was really happy about the quality of education at TU/e, and the smart, flexible way the programs are designed. At the TU/e I chose different courses then the ones at my own university.

The style of education was different from my home country, because the academic staff was more like our mentors instead of teachers. Sometimes we even discussed some topics in local pubs! How cool is that? I couldn’t imagine anything like that in my uni.

For me, Erasmus exchange was opportunity to learn new things about myself. Get to know new cultures, new people, new countries, new situations... This experience has enriched me and my life. It was a very transformative time in my life, and an overwhelmingly positive experience.

I would recommend the Erasmus experience as a whole, regardless of which city you go to, but Eindhoven definitely has a lot to offer, and there is always something to do. It is very much said already: Netherlands is the place to be.

Eliza Anete Kauzena

VIA ABROAD AUSTRALIA Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to go to Australia.

I watched a lot of Crocodile Hunter and dreamt of become a biologist. Now, many years later, I had the opportunity to go as an architecture student. Quite the career switch. Nevertheless, Australia is an amazing place to be. During my five months there I got hooked on living in an actual city. With a population of over five million people it houses way more people than the ten most populous cities in the Netherlands.

Once a settlement for prisoners, Sydney is now a metropolitan giant of the Australian continent. This has caused a very interesting perspective on how they handle their heritage listed buildings and surroundings.

The entire city is packed with old Victorian styled buildings paired with brand new skyscrapers. Some being a better match than others.

The most famous area of the city is probably the Circular Quay area, home to the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Unlike Circular Quay, few people know the area that is known as the Rocks.

This area, which once housed the original settlers, is packed with history and small streets - like you will find in most European historical city centers. It creates an atmosphere that strongly contrasts with the rest of the city due to its wide car-packed streets that were built for Sydney’s growth.

Even though Sydney houses many people, it still has plenty of space for public life. There is an extensive amount of public parks in the city. The parks provide shelter against the harsh summer sun and often contain

multiple public BBQ’s. You just got to love how the Ozzie’s reach out for the Barbie on a nice Sunday afternoon in the park, bringing all of their family with them. Yes, public life in Sydney is awesome.

But it is not just the public life that makes living in the capital of New South Wales so amazing. Getting around the city was convenient too. Public transit was well planned and relatively cheap, compared to the Netherlands. Even though it takes a bus 4 hours to get from the most northern beach (Palm Beach) to the most southern point (Bare Island), you can still make the trip for under $5,-. Even better, on Sundays the cost of public transport is capped off at $2,50. Taking the ferry to the best beach in the world has never been so easy. And no, it’s not the famous Bondi Beach we always went to.

Besides going to the beach, traveling around Australia and going out multiple nights a week, there was also some time for studying. Being a student at the University of Sydney (USYD) has showed me a great deal of how it is very different from the TU/e. The faculty was open 24/7 and it had amazing facilities like 3D printing and laser cutting for all students. But like you might already know, I did not use them a lot. My time in Sydney has been more like a 5 month vacation, but it showed me a different way of life. I loved living in a city that big and I will not settle for a city half as good as Sydney.

Cheers to Sydney and have a G’day!

Jimmy Hendrickx

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DIGITAL MOVEMENT Today technology is taking over the urban infrastructure.

It is everywhere, and most of the time we do not even realize that. How did technology get such a huge influence on public space? How can we benefit from it?

Are there only positive influences, or also downsides?

These questions form the base of this theme section.

Doing research on technology and how it influences the public space will give insight into the pros and cons.

Does technology make people lazy? Or can it activate people to use the urban space in a better and more efficient way while getting all the necessary information?

These important question will be answered while giving more insights into the combination of urban space and technology.

Furthermore it is important to get to know how we are dealing with technology now. Is there still such a thing

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as privacy, and does it have limitations? Respecting ones whishes is important, but at which costs? If overruling the privacy of one can improve hundreds of other’s daily life, is it then allowed? Also the power of technology to bring people together cannot be underestimated. With the help of social media words travel fast and it is used to promote large scale gatherings in cities. How to mobilize this? And how can we use technology in a proper way without losing grip?

In the future technology will be of great importance. It will be an enormous part of that age, maybe technology even is the future. The following articles will give you more insight into the interaction between technology and public space.

Anna van Rij

Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

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TITEL WIRED CITIES

Digital Movement

Nowadays big cities want to become the best smart city. Which results in a continuous competition between them, and technology - together with its gadgets - is playing a huge role in this battle. Which city is going to be the smartest? Can only one be the best?

Does a city need to be the best? The competition is endless, but when are the limits of the effects on public space reached? Can they even be reached?

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In this age it has become self evident that every house in the city has at least its own broadband internet connection. If this minimum standard is not met, the intellectuals and creatives will leave town and move to other cities where they have a more developed technological infrastructure. Studies showed that one wants to live in a combination of a social and creative framework. Some even believe that participatory culture is one of the keys to how one will individually organize theirits life in the future. The framework can be shaped by creating social networks that are completely open and transparent. During this process it is important that the developer puts the interest of the network before their own interest. That is why the internet is taking a prominent place in the Western world. Other parts of the world - where often more corruption is present – find it hard to adapt to the Online World (Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design, 2014).

The Online World is rapidly evolving, and of course every development comes with its advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages is that you can

be reached and connect with the whole world while sitting on your lazy ass. Getting off the couch is no longer needed, and this simultaneously makes the Internet Age a big danger for your health. But you can also spin this the other way around. With the help of technology one can view exercise videos, check out personalized workout routines, track your progress, follow a parkour with an Augmented Reality app which explains the exercises etc.

Additionally when you think about the social aspects of technology there are pros and cons. Connections between people are easily made, but the question is how good the connection is; most of the times it will be superficial. This because people are not forced to get out of their comfort zone. Instead, they stay in the same social circles which in its turn influences the urban environment. Public space is less often used because of this reason. So humans are acting differently since they are taking part in different activities - if you can still call them this - than they used to. This all results in the fact that people think that they “don’t have to live with someone else anymore”, and therefore are not socializing, getting out of their comfort zone, and they are making less use of the public space.

This is a downward spiral and therefore it is necessary that the Internet Age changes for its own good. Today many cities have seen this light and are working hard on it. They started with using technology to promote their city and to let people know how they can move and where to find leisure in the city. Because they think

that using technology can help in getting people more active and to let them use the public space more intensely; hoping the situation will be like during the old days and hopefully even better. A recent example of using technology for getting people active is the event Daybreaker which is held in multiple big cities around the world. Here you can start the day with one hour of yoga at 5.30 or a party from 6.30-8.30 before you go to work. Social media helped to advertise it and it went viral. The booming wouldn’t have happened without technology, because people would then not have known about the event (Piersma, 2017). This is just one example of how technology can help to get people moving and how to encourage creative initiatives based on the needs of their residents.

The support of technology within the urban space even goes further. Various streets, lights, and screens now have an influence on the public space. “The imbrication of media and urban space does not produce a one-way street of negative effects, but a complex series of possibilities and potentials whose outcomes are not yet wholly given” (McQuire, 2008, p. 10).

Jide Sobo – representative of global media agency MEC – even states that technology is not just a message, it enables to deliver Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

value to the user (Still, 2015). City officials also noticed this and started adding value to the technology used in urban space.

Examples can be found in smart cities like Los Angeles, where traffic lights are synchronized to decrease congestion, and in New York, where a quantified community is established which monitors real-time data from energy usage, foot traffic, and waste production. Other cities which are proclaimed to be smart are Barcelona, London, Tel Aviv, and Copenhagen. The technology may cost something, but in the end it is a $3 trillion economic opportunity which provides greater engagement with citizens (Walden, 2015).

Sources: - McQuire, S. (2008). The Media City - Media, Architecture and Urban Space. London: SAGE Publications.

- Piersma, J. (2017, August 22). Begin je woensdag met een feest om 6.30 uur. Retrieved from Het Parool: https://www.parool.nl/stadsgids/ begin-je-woensdag-met-een-feestom-6-30-uur~a4510932/ - Still, J. (2015, April 30). How technology is shaping the future of advertising – webchat roundup.

Retrieved from The Guardian: https:// www.theguardian.com/media-network/2015/apr/30/technology-future-advertising-webchat-roundup - Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design. (2014). The End of Politics: Cities, Social Networks and Loneliness in the 21st Century. Retrieved from Future Urbanism: http://

The intensified use of technology in city is not always good for a city. It boosts globalization – 84% of the world will reside in cities in 2100 - thus cities can grow too fast and often do not know how to cope with it (Walt, 2015). One’s life is drenched in extensive amounts of data and boundaries need to be set to handle the privacy and inactiveness of people. Cities should not battle for being the smartest city, they should provide a stable, safe framework for its citizens that makes their lives easier without making them lazy.

futureurbanism.com/interview/theend-of-politics-cities-social-networksand-loneliness-in-the-21st-century/ - Walden, S. (2015, February 23).

How the Internet of Things is affecting urban design. Retrieved from Mashable: http://mashable. com/2015/02/23/urban-design-internet-of-things/#A.3A4.KxOGqz - Walt, V. (2015, July 29). Barcelona: The most wired city in the world.

Retrieved from Fortune: http:// fortune.com/2015/07/29/barcelona-wired-city/ Pictures: Left: CityTouch - Remote light management (Philips, 2015) Right: City lights (Freepik, 2015).

Anna van Rij

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Digital Movement

DRIVING ON DATA

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Do you already know where you will be driving to tomorrow morning? At least your car does! Stepping inside your car, the route you have to follow will be projected on the road in front of you. This route will redirect you past traffic jams, and even better, it will prevent traffic jams from happening in the next few hours. You will have to stop every now and then, at a few places on your route, in order to pick people up and drop them off on your way towards your destination. But maybe as you would not expect, car sharing can be one of the reasons why you will arrive sooner at your travel destination. During your trip, thousands of measurements are being made in order to collect data from the surroundings, which is useful for all different kinds of purposes. The next few days, you won’t have to drive yourself, but you will be driven by other cars.

Does the previously described car trip sounds unrealistic? All the different aspects mentioned in it are ongoing projects. Soon, many features of this trip will take place in real life. Car trips in the future will

look very different to how they are now. And as traffic patterns change, cities change. Collecting different kinds of data will have a big influence on them. Also the amount of data gathered for car driving is enormous, which tends to go towards the case of big data. The earlier described car trip could only be possible by using this data.

One of the most important types of data for car driving is information about the locations of cars, provided by GPS systems. Affective Intelligent Driving Agent (AIDA) is a newly developed system using this kind of data. It uses also data about an individual person, for example their personal planning. This system is installed in cars and makes well educated guesses what the destinations of people will be, based on information like their previous driving destinations, collective mobility patterns in the city and someone’s personal agenda. As the driving agent already knows where you will go, it can prepare the most ideal route for you, avoiding traffic jams. It is even possible to predict traffic jams, as the system records up-to-date information

about heavy traffic. The route which the AIDA system made for you, will be clearly projected on the windshield of your car.

From within the car, it will look like the route is projected on the road. The real and virtual world are now blended in one view. In this view, not only the route can be seen, also other information on the side of the road is projected, like restaurants, shops or important events happening. The data behind some of these projections is already available, for example from maps of a city. However, special events for example, require up-to-date information.

This information can be received from for instance news agencies.

But what if this route can be even more optimized by combining it with a car sharing system? If you know in advance where everybody will be going to the next day, a scheme for car sharing could be worked out in advance. Not only does car sharing has environmental and financial advantages, but as it reduces the amount of cars on the road, thus prevents traffic jams which will bring you faster to your destination. Of course, in order to make such a scheme, data is needed which provides information about the departure place and destination of people. A research done about car sharing by MIT also uses other types of data. It shows that different factors have an important influence on the ability of a city to make car sharing workable. One of them is the average speed of the traffic.

You can imagine choosing a road with slow traffic just to pick someone up can result in an unprofitable car sharing situation, as it costs time and gasoline. Also the density of

Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

the people which need to go somewhere is important. The more people need to travel, the higher the chance someone can be picked up or dropped off on your route.

The data for these types of information can be gathered by GPS systems, which help predicting the right driving routes for cars.

Sources: -MIT SENSEable city lab. (2011). Aida 2.0. Retrieved from: http://senseable. mit.edu/aida2/ -R. tachet, O. Sagarra, P. Santi, G. Resta, M. Szell, S.H. Strogatz and C. Ratti. Nature. (2011). Scaling Law of Urban Ride Sharing. Retrieved from: https://www.nature.com/articles/ srep42868 - M. McFarland. CNN tech. (2017).

Your car’s data may soon be

“The data collected by cars can be of more value than the car itself”

more valuable than the car itself.

Retrieved from: http://money.cnn. com/2017/02/07/technology/car-data-value/index.html

The AIDA project and the car sharing research are just two examples of how data can be used in order to evolve car driving in the future. Combining these two examples already would give major changes in the way we drive cars. Until now, we only spoke about cars using data.

However cars can also be an important producer of data, which can be used for other purposes than car driving. Cars are more and more packed with cameras and sensors which measure all different kinds of things. It would be possible for them to keep track of the amount of pedestrians who are passing by, the height of the pedestrians and the types of clothes they wear. All this information can be valuable in some way. Some experts even say the data collected by cars can be of more value than the car itself. The impact of data on the future will be enormous.

Pictures: Left: Retrieved from: https://betapage.co/product/remoto-big-data Right: Retrieved from: http://money. cnn.com/2017/02/07/technology/ car-data-value/index.html

Stefan Dermaux

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Digital Movement

AUGMENTED REALITY

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With the increasing popularity of Augmented Reality, a new dimension can be added to Urban Planning.

With the help of apps and other software, designers are now able to overlay the real world situation with their digital designs. When making designs, there is often a gap between the 2D design and the 3D reality.

What looks good on paper does not always work out in a real environment. While this problem can partly be solved by creating 3D renderings of the design, or by creating scale models, it is still hard for clients to envision the design in a real-life context. This causes unnecessary trouble and complaints from clients or residents, when the finished design does not look like the artist’s impression (The Future is Now, 2016).

This problem could not be completely solved until a few years ago. With Augmented Reality software becoming readily available for anyone to use, urban planners are now able to show residents and clients exactly what their design will look like. With their phones or tablets, people can look at the design in the real-life context, and view it from all angles, at all times.

A lot of people are experimenting with this, aiming to create a new way for urban planners to communicate their designs to other people. However, the Augmented Reality technology is still in development and therefore most projects are still works in progress (D. Jefferies, 2012).

One of those works in progress is a project that started in 2014 and is called UrbanPlanAR. This project is a collaboration between the Heriot-Watt University, which focusses on BIM, and a digital visualisation company called Linknode. Their goal is to “enhance the value of BIM information by enabling in-field visualisation from any location, in real-time” (UrbanPlanAR, 2016). This project is still ongoing today, and has so far produced an app called VentusAR. With this app among others windmills, solar panels and buildings can be visualised in a rural landscape.

(VentusAR, 2016) UrbanPlanAR is an example of looking at the future through Augmented Reality software. In the city

Sources: - High Street Stories. (n.d.) Heritage New Zealand . Retrieved from http:// www.highstreetstories.co.nz/ - IDEALOG. (2013) Augmented Reality Brings Old Christchurch Back.

N.a. Retrieved from http://idealog. co.nz/tech/2013/10/augmented-reality-brings-old-christchurch-back - Jefferies, D. (2012) Augmented Reality Adds a New Dimension to Planning Decisions. The Guardian.

- Perey, C., Terenzi, G. (2014) Augmented Reality-Assisted 3D Visualisation for Urban Professional Users.

Retrieved from http://standards.ieee. org/innovate/ar/white_paper_Urban_ AR_for_Professional_Users.pdf - The Future is Now - Using Augmented Reality Tools in Architecture and Urban Design. (2016) Fenner & Esler. Retrieved from https:// www.fenner-esler.com/blog/the-future-is-now-using-augmented-reality-tools-in-architecture-and-urban-design/

Christchurch in New Zealand, the same kind of software has been used to enable people to look at the past. In 2010 and 2011, several earthquakes damaged most of the High Street precinct, and a lot of heritage from the 70’s and 80’s has been destroyed (High Street Stories., n.d.).

The New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) decided to bring back what has been lost - on phones and tablets. They created an app called High Street Stories, where people can wander around the area, and look at what buildings used to be there. On top of that, the app includes stories of life in the area, to engage people and to show them what life used to be like in the precinct (IDEALOG, 2013) While Augmented Reality software has become more and more accessible the past few years, there is still a number of limitations to modern technology that hinder the development of these apps.

For instance, the accuracy of GPS is at the moment limited to approximately ten metres (C. Perey, G. Terenzi, 2014). This might not seem much, but for buildings to show up correctly on a screen, an error of ten metres is unacceptable. Additionally, when underground or indoors, GPS signals are not always strong enough to give any indication of a location. A second limitation is found in mobile devices. Not all phones have internal compasses, and when they do, they are too imprecise for professional use. The short battery life of most devices is also a problem for these Augmented Reality apps; they can only be Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

used for a few hours at a time. Apart from technological limitations, money also plays a role in the development of professional Augmented Reality software. Both creating suitable 3D models and overcoming technological issues cost a lot of money, which is not always available for start-up projects in this segment.

- UrbanPlanAR (2016). Linknode Ltd. Retrieved from http://urbanplanar. com/ - VentusAR (2016). Linknode Ltd. Retrieved from http://ventusar.com/ Pictures: Left: UrbanPlanAR (2016). Linkdode Ltd. Right: Inition (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.inition.co.uk

However, despite all limitations, VentusAR and High Street Stories are merely two examples of what Augmented Reality software is already out there in the app store for people to download and use.

There are many more apps and programs being developed as we speak. For instance, Augmented Technologies Ltd. is producing so called X-ray software, which can be used to view the position of all underground infrastructure in real-time, without having to break open roads or call for a professional to come and designate the location of all wires and pipes (C. Perey, G. Terenzi, 2014). It is clear that Augmented Reality will help greatly in reducing time and money spent on urban projects, but there are more ways in which this could potentially improve the urban realm. For instance, in case of emergencies, search-and-rescue parties now have to rely on maps to show them where dangerous materials or emergency exits are located. When all of this can be accessed via phones, In the future Augmented Reality can even save lives.

Veerle Roijackers

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Digital Movement

TWEETS AND THE STREETS

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Today is the day where one Tweet, one Facebook post, or one Instagram picture cannot be silenced.

Today is the day where we live in a new era, a new time. The era in which we all have a voice, the era of great power. Power coming from all corners of the earth. The era of Social Media. Due to this Social Media era, protests in urban public spaces are multiplying in cities all around the world. Our new, accessible and technological tools, like the smartphone in your pocket at this very moment, have made it easier to organize protests and made it more difficult to sustain and authorize these revolutionary gatherings. History teaches us that protests and civil disobedience are inevitable and necessary expressions of disagreement in any democratic nation. Besides the need to express ideals in our free world, the unavoidability of the current, accelerating technological development is very certain as well. In short, protests being inevitable, and the tool that makes organizing them easier being indestructible, what will happen to our public space?

The public street is often the stage for all facets of public life, like festivals, markets, criminal activity, children’s

activity, surveillance and engagements between people.

Public streets also provide a space of safe passage for residents and visitors. However, essentially our streets are spaces for the projection of democratic ideals. So within the concept of public space lies a fundamental tension. On one hand it requires to be predictable to function properly. Yet on the other hand, by definition, public space allows some degree of chaos, because people are unpredictable, and public spaces can be a living representation for the chaos and necessary expressions that make us human.

“The right of people from all parts of society to meet their fellow-citizens in the public space is a basic pillar of democracy.”

— Jan Gehl November 9, 2016: the day that Fifth Avenue, New York City, became a new kind of public space - a chaotic public space – filled with large numbers of bodies, marked as hashtag, and forever changed in its city’s collective memory. This day was the day after

the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. The corner of Fifth Avenue and Fifty-Sixth street became home base for an enraged protest. From all corners of New York, people with anger and disbelief gathered to show their condemnation. They all had one destination: The Trump Tower.

Sources: -Artemel, A.J. (2013, October 8th).

Planning for Protest: Designing Cities for Political Activism. Retrieved from https://architizer.com/blog/planning-for-protest/ -Daphi, P. (2017, January). “Imagine the streets”: The spatial dimension of protests’ transformative effects and its role in building movement identity. Retrieved from http://www. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/

As many of us know, New York is the source of commerciality, and with Manhattan as example it is the perfect portrayal for grid patterns in the urban structure.

The public space in New York is based on consumption and linear movement rather than gatherings or meeting points on squares. The Manhattan streets are designed for function, not expression. For efficiency, not public assembly. So you can imagine what happens when the streets are used for the exact opposite, like it did on November 9th. Fifth Avenue was never designed for massive demonstrations.

It’s not a marketplace for ideas, it’s just a marketplace. And shifting that identity, whenever unpredictability takes the overruling hand, can end in everlasting, shocking memories. It is interesting how these massive gatherings affect our streets.

By the end of November, the demonstrations had moved from the Trump Tower to a much more recognizable twenty-first public space: the internet. The resistance took in other forms than just thousands of physical bodies in the physical word. Larger and better organized actions started growing through social media such as the Women’s March: An event that united millions of women globally to use their voices against sexism and to show their disfavor for Donald Trump, which started with a Facebook event. And in a blink of the eye, in the USA only, one million people joined the Women’s March.

These protest were not just local: people all around the world gathered to join the movement. The power internet has given us is to reach our fellow human on the other side of the world and persuade him with just a ‘click’.

But what are our public spaces if not for democratic expressions? The example of Fifth Avenue, and many other cases, show that the response to democratic movements can mean radically controlling the streets with surveillance and security.

Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

S0962629816302062 -Hunka, G. (2011, February 23rd).

Designing a city for safe protests. Retrieved from https://www.eurekalert. org/pub_releases/2011-02/afotdac022311.php -Lora, K. (2017, April 4th). New York Hates You: Trump and the Occupation of Fifth Avenue’s Public Space.

Retrieved from http://urbandesignforum.org/review/uxd-public-space/ files/366.pdf -PLAN 70 (2008, May). Urban Design And Civil Protest. Retrieved from https://sap.mit.edu/article/ standard/urban-design-and-civil-protestning-for-protest/

Making accessible streets inaccessible, and making us believe that it is not ok to use our voices freely. But does the fact that freely expressing ourselves in public space is nowadays seen as abnormal, indicate how far our public spaces have drifted from their purpose? And what happens to our public space if these expressions increase due to the internet. For one thing, this social media era can be defined as an uneasy and quickly evolving hybrid of online and offline mobilization that will be impossible to accommodate with public space design alone. Dr. Hatuka, who is trying to promote healthy democratic urban design, says; “with so many protests going online, the physical element is critical for enhancing society’s sense of togetherness and solidarity.” However many spontaneous social media driven protests didn’t take place in traditional, designated public gathering spaces. In short, our definition of public spaces is broadening beyond the physical to the virtual and temporal. We as modern and technologized human beings have learned that it doesn’t just require a lot of bodies in the street, but a lot of eyes on the screens. Public expression can now organize in a flash, multiply with a click, and live in a collective memory supported by digital connection.

-Setti, G. (2012). Beyond public spaces: shared spaces in the contemporary city. Retrieved from http:// www.eurau12.arq.up.pt/sites/default/ files/366.pdf Pictures: Left: Hundreds of thousands march down Pennsylvania Avenue during the Women’s March in Washington, DC, U.S., January 21, 2017. Photographer: BRYAN WOOLSTON / Reuters Right: Jusai (January, 2015). ¿Puedo grabar con mi celular a la policía?.

Retrieved from http://www.jusai. com.mx/2015/01/grabar-con-celular-policia/

Bethel Lemma

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INTERVIEW BOLD CITIES Nowadays the amount of data is big. City governments are collecting data via sensors and demographical statistics. Big franchises provide discount cards that track our purchases and offer us special deals. Even on the internet we are asked to leave personal data behind. But for what purpose will this data be used and who will benefit from it? These are questions the Centre for BOLD Cities tries to find answer to.

Digital Movement

To discuss the projects by the Centre for BOLD Cities we arranged an interview with Luuk Schokker, executive manager of the research center. BOLD cities initiates research, projects and activities with a focus on the perspectives of citizens and governments in the world of Big, Open and Linked Data. The research facility is a framework initiated by the universities of Delft, Rotterdam and Leiden. The Centre works with data scientists from TU Delft, the Erasmus University’s sociologists and the governance scholars at Leiden University. While each university has delivered at least one board member and researcher, they also equip each project with experts and enthusiasts from their network. This to ensure each project is picked up by the diverse set of professionals it needs.

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Schokker explains that the research group is focusing on three main fields; urban experience, urban health and urban environment. “We were looking for overlapping topics that could bring together the expertises of the three universities and how they could complement each other. In addition it is important to be distinctive of other research facilities.” At the same time the research center is organizing events to raise data awareness in citizens and citymakers .

One of these projects to raise data awareness is called Data Walks. Stimulating this consciousness is necessary to make people understand the implications and benefits of data in the city. They could be used to take away fears and show its positive applications.

These walks are organized in Rotterdam, where the participants explore domains such as crossroads and the Rotterdam harbor. “Interesting was the presence of a kind of long antenna. Even employees of the municipality did not have a clue what its purpose was.”

The goal of the tour was to stimulate conversation and speculation about these kind of data objects in our surroundings. To formulate questions about what data is being gathered, how it is used in our surroundings and how it influences us citizens.

During these walks people commonly give their opinion on data. It is interesting to see how these individual views can vary. Schokker gives an example of a participant that clarified why he refuses to use discount cards in retail. “This particular person was afraid that in the near future insurance companies will be able to get access to customer’s purchase data and alter the costs of their polis to his (possibly unhealthy) shopping behavior.” Schokker continuous by telling there were other participants that saw the positive sights of this matter. For instance by receiving personal discounts based on frequently purchased products.

The Centre for BOLD Cities initiates projects focused on governmental implication as well. Governments can highly benefit from existing data of different sources such as the CBS in policy making, city planning and social programs. This last topic resulted in the ongoing project; Reintegration in BOLD Cities. This

project aims on better integration of the unemployed by offering personalized integration strategies. This could be accomplished through a linkage of various data sources. “This future approach will be generic. This means unemployed will no longer be stereotypes.”

However, municipalities can use data within other fields as well, for example when organizing big events. There can be gathered data during an activity to improve future events. At the same time the event can be controlled during its execution.

Crowd control is an important topic during large gatherings of people. One wants to distribute visitors over multiple locations to prevent a poor circulation. Furthermore it is important to measure the atmosphere to prevent aggressive or disappointed visitors.

Students of the Leiden University are currently exploring this topic for the finish of the Volvo Ocean Race, but there have already been made some notions. “To keep track of accumulations of people, cameras could be used. In addition social media is convenient for determining the atmosphere.”

While publishing data has many (personal) benefits it has a negative side as well; invasion of privacy. What will happen if supermarkets will indeed sell our customer records to insurance companies? This is exactly why the European Union has

introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in April 2016. This regulation involves harmonizing data privacy laws across Europe, protecting and empowering all EU citizens data privacy and reshaping the way organizations approach data privacy. Companies in the EU that do not compliance after May 2018 will receive serious fines. The law includes the right to access and the right to be forgotten, giving citizens control over their own data (EU, 2016).

Sources: - The EU General Data Protection Regulation. European Union.

Retrieved from: http://www.eugdpr. org/ Pictures: Left: Questions regarding data: www.centre-for-bold-cities.nl Right: Data walk in Rotterdam www.centre-for-bold-cities.nl

When we ask Schokker about the use of data in the future, he starts with the future view of citizens on data. He thinks people will be more aware of the data they provide to companies and how they could benefit from it. This will mean there will be a shift from the unknowing citizen to the citizen that is more aware of his/ her position with regard to data, and may even expect personal benefits in exchange for information. “I can imagine that in the future people will give information to commercial companies in exchange for personal discounts at shops near their home or work“. Companies will actually have to put effort in gathering personal data. And us, citizens, will benefit to the maximal extend.

For more information about the Centre for BOLD Cities visit the site: www.centre-for-bold-cities.nl

Catalien Peerdeman

or contact Luuk Schokker: luuk.schokker@boldcities.nl

Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

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THE UNDENIABLE ROLE OF DIGITAL DEVICES IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN Digital devices have become an undeniable and perhaps vital part of our streetscapes. They help us to decide where we want to use public space for; whether this is work, education, socializing, or no reason at all. They help us to get to this particular place or space, by planning our route and providing for unknown obstacles. And when we get there and decide that we are bored, need new social correspondences, want to know the latest news or anything else, they help us again. One could argue whether this is a positive or a negative trend, but its existence is, as said, undeniable.

The data provided through the use of these devices can be used for infinite possibilities. With the help of GPS we can, for instance, see how areas in the city are used and how we can manage them better. This can instigate a change in design, the amount of maintenance or a drastic change in essence of the place. Another use of these devices can be found in their ability to transfer ideas and to consequently bring people together. A well-known and often used example is the Luchtsingel in Rotterdam, instigated by ZUS. The desolated area surrounding the station served as a blockade for pedestrian movement, which the yellow bridge would overcome. The uniqueness of the project hides in the fact that it was fully crowdfunded and consequently initiated through digital devices. This brought a vast public support on their feet and caused the realization of the plan. Digital devices can therefore offer a platform for citizens, to change their city into one they would feel more comfortable in. Urban planners can respond to these ideas accordingly, but also dispatch their plans easily to the concerned citizens and thereby instigate their engagement in the design process.

At Buro Lubbers the engagement of citizens is particularly valued in our project on the Zuid-Willemsvaart in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The canal was formerly used for professional maritime transport, but when this occupation disappeared, little activity was found around the track.

It has a prominent location in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, by running from the outskirts through the city center, and consequently has immense transformational potential. In our view, this potential would be fully utilized in the form of a park, that corresponds to the different identities of the canal, by executing commercial and private initiatives.

The Zuid-Willemsvaart will thus transform into the ZuidWillemspark!

This may sound simple, but the complexities of the project (large scale, different type of areas and a long time span of transformation) asked for a unique approach. For the success of the project it was of great importance that the entire city would stand behind the Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

basic concept and therefore provide various ideas of how to use the park. To achieve the active engagement of citizens various types of digital devices were used. A drone-flight over the 12 kilometer canal showed the complexity and immenseness of the project and caused a burst of enthusiasm throughout ‘s-Hertogenbosch. In a short period of time the video was shared over 46.000 times. Other examples are teasers via social media, the Instagram-cruise for active bloggers and a central website with all the information about the project.

Over 600 visitors were interested in the new identity of the canal and offered us their view at the night of the Zuid-Willemspark. Another way of offering you a view is through the website www.droomstaddenbosch.nl.

Everyone can post their dreams, gather supporters for their dreams and eventually try to execute them with the help of the municipality. It is furthermore possible to walk around the track with a layar app on your phone, which shows the history of the canal.

The mentioned examples were tools needed for the successful start of the project, but can perhaps not be defined as devices that influence the behavior of people in a revolutionary way. The concept of communication through devices is namely not new (newspapers, billboards, etc.), the only thing that has changed is the particular device. In the future development of the park, it is interesting to experiment with the potential of these devices. Technological instruments can be implemented in the park, which will communicate with the devices of individuals. It can enable the park to adapt to the wishes of its users or help the initiation of civilian initiatives. With for instance the implementation into water taxis along the canal, they can show when most people are in the park and therefore when it is profitable to actively search for customers. And if this is not the case, digital tools can reserve or instantly call upon the services of a taxi.

In this way different digital devices can communicate to ultimately affect the user’s behavior in a positive way.

Technological developments always bring potential downsides that hold back their implementation. Who owns the gathered data in the public domain? What happens when the entire city is controlled by digital devices, can one then steer the life of all of its citizens?

For us, urban designers, the challenge is to place these developments in perspective and see what we can achieve with them. Because even in the public domain, the future lies in digital devices. We should therefore be progressive and figure out how to make best use of them!

Thom Cornellisen Buro Lubbers

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ANTWERP THE OUDAAN FOUR POSSIBLE SCENARIOS Masterproject Architecture & Urbanism The center of Antwerp has various places where the old medieval center meets modern architecture. The most remarkable of these incidents is the Police Tower, designed by the modernist Belgian architect Renaat Bream. It is not just the large posture or the strong vertical lining of the concrete construction which alienates this building from its environment. Taking an awkward position in the middle of the block, the tower has had a large impact on its surrounding morphology as well. The urban structure of closed building blocks is interrupted.

needed. Finding a new solution for this location does not just relate to replacing the Bijenkorf. It involves a new interpretation of the morphology of Antwerp and the relation of the new building to the Police Tower.

It was never Bream’s intention to place one tower in the middle of the historic block and to leave the space in front of it abandoned. Originally, the project would include a large complex with an even larger tower opposite to the 70 meter high Police Tower. The plan ran out of budget shortly after the Police Tower and the underground parking lot were realized, and the space was left open.

We have approached the assignment with four possible scenarios. All scenarios had a different approach towards the Police Tower and regarded the morphology of the site in a different way. These scenarios influenced the program, the urban design and the architecture of the four new masterplans made for the site.

To prevent the parking lot from floating up a small shopping center was build. The so called “Bijenkorf”(bee-hive) gets its name from the hexagonal units of which the building is built up. The building is currently in bad shape, shops are too small and the hexagonal shape is not very suitable for apartments.

Therefore, a new plan to replace this structure is

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The Police Tower provides a social challenge as well, resulting in the initiative “Wij kopen de Oudaan”(we buy the Oudaan). With this initiative inhabitants aimed at buying the tower and using it for multiple purposes which would allow access to the tower for the inhabitants of Antwerp.

The Counterpart It requires a large gesture to oppose such a large volume as the Police Tower. Its posture dominates the site, which can only be counter acted by a volume of similar proportions and an urban space to support both volumes. A new horizontal volume forms a horizontal counterpart to the tower. The volume is positioned to the side of the site, and this intervention gives a new

street face to the north of the Oudaan while creating a large open space on the other side. This public space is treated as a platter, and is filled up with various smaller fields, which allows the large space to have different identities and a variety between density and openness.

The horizontal building has a mix-use program, with public functions in its plinth and housing on the upper levels.

The Block with a tower A hybrid between the original morphology of Antwerp and creating an opposing element to the Police Tower is the block with the tower. The urban block completes the boundaries of the surrounding streets while the tower provides an opposing element to Bream’s tower.

Between the block and the Police Tower, a square has been created. The new tower was not placed in direct opposition to Bream’s giant, but instead, the library was placed here. The volume of the library is part of the urban block, but distincts itself from its surroundings by its height and façade. The new tower does not match the size of the Police Tower. With a height of 46 meters, the building mediates between the high-rise building and the surroundings.

The Ensemble Allowing the Police Tower to no longer be an alien within its urban surroundings requires a context in Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

which the tower becomes part of an ensemble. The design of the ensemble required tuning between the public space and the building volumes. Three new volumes shape a number of public spaces. They restore the old plot structure while creating a number of interior and semi interior spaces between the buildings. All buildings have their own character, building structure and program. Most outstanding is the square library building that together with the Police Tower dominates the largest public space.

The Passage The passage forms a new urban element in addition to restoring the original morphology. Just like the “Block with a tower”, the passage plan forms a closed building block, but it adds a language to the site. This covered connection leads from a shopping street to the police tower, creating a new link and new possibilities for the tower, while also answering to the original identity of the site, which used to be a market and shopping center. The top levels of the block provide a mixture of maisonettes and apartments which are provided with a shared garden in the middle of the block - all this on top of the commercial area.

Bram Nuijten Project made in collaboration with: Jeroen Bollen, Eva Hexspoor & Luuk Stedehouder

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TITEL FROM OLD RAIL TO NEW TRAIL Graduation Project Urbanism Kassel is a city in Germany which became an industrial city during the industrial period. Due to industrialisation, Kassel’s railroad network grew. Large companies in Kassel, such as Henschel & Sohn, built their own railway for freight transport. The railway of Henschel & Sohn, called the Halle Kasseler Bahn, is not in use anymore since 1999. The departure of the company Henschel & Sohn led to an abandoned railway and adjacent area. This is the location for the design of my graduation project.

Currently, the location is an abandoned area in the north of Kassel. It is an area that needs to be transformed into a valuable asset for the city. This former railway and the industrial area next to it, together create a separation between different parts in Kassel. This transformation plan for the former railway and the adjacent area will create a link between those parts. To strengthen the image of Kassel as an industrial city, the rails and the industrial buildings will be preserved.

The second aspect of the image of Kassel is its function as university town. Today, the University of Kassel is one of Germany’s mid-sized universities and it continues to grow. The refugee flow in 2015 has led to an increase of refugees in the city, which is the third aspect of its image. The former industrial area is the perfect place

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to create dwellings for students and refugees, since it is near the university and the city centre.

The most known feature of Kassel is its art. This is mostly due to Documenta, an art festival that is held in the city every five years. Kassel is a cultural city, among others, by hosting this art festival. The city has the ambition to become the European City of Culture in 2025.

Kassel sees the candidature as an opportunity that opens up the possibility of lending untapped potential for development in the city. The transformation of the former railway can help to fulfill that ambition, because the transformation leads to a piece of infrastructure as an artwork itself. At the adjacent area, studios for local artists and an exhibition space for the art are created.

This way, transforming the former railway and the adjacent area will strengthen the image of Kassel as a cultural city.

To strengthen the image of Kassel on the city scale, the cycle trail is designed for commuting and recreation.

The starting point for the design is the former railway.

Those lines are the lines for the cycle trail and they continue to western Kassel. The trail is divided into four fragments which each show different kinds of pieces of Kassel, such as the industrial history, nature and the urban area. It also represent the four aspects of

existing buildings to emphasise the lines of the former railway. Those new buildings are meant for commercial and cultural use, such as shops and studios for local artists. Hereby, the location will be transformed to a cultural area with residential blocks and in this way, the historical identity will be preserved.

The residential blocks consist of three layers with apartments and rooms for students and refugees.

Refugees can learn about the German habits and language from students. Besides, students can also learn from refugees, for instance about their culture. To get to know each other, there are public or semi-public spaces between the residential blocks. Every public space has its own function, such as urban farming, places to relax and platforms to sport. In the east corner family homes will be created. The dwellings are situated in an angle and are closed to create an edge and to emphasise the cycle trail and the entrances of the location.

Briefly, the transformation of the former railway can strengthen the image of Kassel on local scale by preserving the historical and cultural identity of the former railway and the adjacent area, and the cycle trail strengthens it on the scale of the whole city.

Nienke Oudshoorn the image of Kassel. The trail goes along touristic points which Kassel is known for, such as the Wilhelmshรถhe Bergpark. As signage of the trail, streetlights are used and the trail has received the brand name KreisRadBahn Kassel. This name will come back along the trail on panels, so people can recognise the trail not only by the red asphalt.

To stimulate cycling, the presence and use of cars will be discouraged. Therefore, the location is designed as a car-free area with five parking spaces in the corners of the area. Hereby, the bicycle becomes more important. There are sixteen bicycle storages all over the area for the residents and visitors. Two are located at the former railway - which are meant especially for visitors. The other fourteen are situated next to the residential blocks and can be used by residents.

The eastern part of the location is the cultural area.

This is based on the function of the buildings but also on the residents of the residential blocks, which are situated on the edge of the location. The blocks are turned individually which creates open spaces next to the cycle trail and breaks the tight straight line. The new residents will be students and refugees. The old buildings define the space in the middle of the area.

New buildings will be created in the alignment of the Year 23, number 55 - November 2017

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DEMOCRATIZED URBANISM COLUMN

We are living in a dynamic world where our needs and preferences change rapidly and continuously over time.

This fact has made “resilience” an essential goal for our cities. As architects and urban planners we need to make adaptive designs that can attune when external and internal changes happen.

From an architectural point of view, there are two strategies that can help a building deal with changes: flexibility and adaptability. Flexibility is the degree in which a building can meet different functions (e.g. schools, offices), and adaptability is the rate of physical changes that can be done to a building. To what extent can housing be made adaptable, and to what extent can buildings stay flexible? One of the recent approaches to theses questions is to provide a sort of freedom within which a user has the power to adjust his or her own living environment. This is so-called ‘democratized architecture’.

An example where adaptability and personal freedom of the users are taken into account is Almere. This relatively new city has the ambition to become the most sustainable city of the Netherlands. Their focus is not only on ecological and economical sustainability, but also on social sustainability. They are aiming to involve the user more in the making of their neighbourhoods.

People should be the clients, whom architects and contractors work for, with the motto: “people make the city”(Platvoet, L. ,2009) . This idea tackles the conventional production of housing in the Netherlands, where uniform housing is produced for large groups of people. In Almere, these projects often involve somewhat larger, detached houses, which are codesigned by the user and the architect.

Now the same principle is applied considering urbanism and focusing on outdoor spaces that we create. No matter how popular or successful an urban space is, it can never be taken for granted. Therefore, it is highly important to, every once in awhile, examine whether an urban idea still works or not, and to ensure that the design has not been violated or ignored. Resilience and flexibility in the urban field can be defined, approached and developed in many directions. However, what I have recently been interested in, is the power of people

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in the design of our public spaces.

In my opinion, a public space is successful when it is designed in a way that embraces everyone at various ages, from different backgrounds and with a broad range of interests. People are the ones who activate a public space. Therefore, their opinions, preferences and comfort should be constantly taken into account while designing an urban context.

Backyard Experiment at Garema place, in the heart of Canberra- Australia, is a good example of engaging people and considering them in the renovation of a public area. The project was a transformation of an unused public square into a pop-up park by simply adding some lightweight movable chairs, public bookshelves, vibrant colors and lighting at night. The park was designed by landscape architecture firm Context and was further developed in cooperation with the community itself, namely knitters, painters and local businesses. The amount of visitors of this square doubled within only 8 days, and this change has been perfectly recorded and further analysed using the temporary cameras that were installed at the park.

Another important outcome of this project was how the citizens reacted to and interacted with movable furniture. Out of 60 seats that were added to this open area none went missing. The designers of this project could successfully show that we can live in a city that provides more flexibility in the way we want to interact with it. Bolting fixed benches and tables to the ground is now considered as an old-fashioned way of creating incremental renovations. These days, people are more likely becoming fans of movable street furniture that can be repositioned by themselves, even the ones that are very simple and cheap.

These little resilient solutions provide users with the opportunity to express themselves and enjoy, while they feel valued. As long as such opportunities are given, people slowly create a strong ownership to these shared public places and they will even care about them - just like in their own homes!

Peyvand Taremi Contact the author for the sources and further readings

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