viaVIA 62 Urban Madness by VIA Urbanism

VIAVIA # 62

Y E A R 2 8

Activities

URBAN MADNESS

VIA

Industrial

Transformation

Projects you Missed Troubled Neighborhood Structure

Non-Structure

Garden

Interview

with

OMA

Formal Settlements Things are Happening of

Nervure

Structure

the

Madness

viaVIA is published by the study-association VIA Urbanism, at Eindhoven University of Technology

SIMPLICITY TO DESIGN THE COMPLEX. Create with more tools and fewer clicks, and discover a better way to design. Get your free trial at VECTORWORKS.NET/NL/2021

TAICANG YUQIN GARDEN | COURTESY OF PLACEMEDIA LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS COLLABORATIVE AND EIICHI KANO

EDITORIAL Dear reader, As we passed the one-year anniversary of working at home, watching press conferences and calling ordering food ‘supporting the local economy’, the COVID-19 lifestyle is slowly becoming the normal way of living. Personally, I find it hard to miss things to look forward to; every day is the same and there are few exceptions. Therefore, this magazine is meant to stop every day routine for a second. What if we stop looking at the usual ways but broaden our horizons by looking at the extraordinary, the unique and the mad. This edition is themed urban madness, all different kinds of mad projects will come along so let’s explore them together! . In this edition we will see what two of our sponsors are working on, both inspiring projects, meant to inspire and inform you. As we all have been staying home, some projects are shown on paper as you could not have yet visited them due to traveling restrictions.We also zoom in on Eindhoven and its vision on the city, including some visionary development plans. If you stay at home, we will give you all the highlights you need! Furthermore, the theme section will regard all kinds of urban madness. We will look back in history, to both failed and successful projects and informal settlements. In addition, cities with structure will be compared to those without and when you finish the magazine you’ll even know how to design your own urban madness. The section also includes an interview with David Gianotten regarding urban madness. To conclude the magazine we have a wonderful master project regarding healthy living environments from Marije de Boer as well as a successful graduation project from Dennis Aalbersberg about the development of Antwerp. I hope you will once again enjoy this edition. Let’s go mad! With love and on behalf of the viaVIA committee, Miriam Pouwels

Theater Zuidplein | Rotterdam www.dezwartehond.nl

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

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year 28 number 62 Eindhoven, May 2021 viaVIA is published by: viaVIA-committee VIA Urbanism Den Dolech 2 (Vertigo 02)

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E-mail: via@bwk.tue.nl www.viaurbanism.nl facebook.com/viaurbanism

Industrial Transformation CB5 Things are Happening Article: Stig Wesselink Activities of VIA Projects you Missed Article: Miriam Pouwels Garden of Nervure Vectorworks, Inc.

Editors Hassan Javed (co-editor-in-chief) Miriam Pouwels (co-editor-in-chief)

Leander Krijnen Lena Blomert Maarten Kamp Stig Wesselink

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Guest Editors Alessa Klomp David Gianotten

Dennis Aalbersberg Giordana Credendino Herman Kerkdijk Ilke Klasen Marije De Boer

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Vectorworks, Inc. Wietse Oostra Printing DrukwerkMAX (Zoetermeer)

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ISSN 1385-7045 Picture on cover:

Bird’s eye view of Barcelona by Márton Mogyorósy Source: Urban Projectization Referece: Stewart, J. (2019, February 24). Drone Photos of Barcelona Highlight the Symmetry of the City’s Architecture – Urban Projectization. Retrieved May 2, 2021, from https:// urbanprojectization.com/2019/05/02/ drone-photos-of-barcelona-highlight-the-symmetry-of-the-citys-architecture/

Theme picture: District-e Eindhoven by Power House Source: Power House Company Reference: Powerhouse Company - District E. (n.d.). Retrieved May 3, 2021, from https://www. powerhouse-company.com/district-e

Urban Madness A Troubled Neighborhood and its Origins Article: Stig Wesselink Structure the Madness Article: Miriam Pouwels Urban Planing, But Different Article: Lena Blomert Urban Madness Projects Article: Leander Krijnen Interview: OMA with David Gianotten Structure VS Non-Structure Article: Lena Blomert Formal Settlements Article: Leander Krijnen Master Project Marije De Boer Graduation Project

Dennis Aalbersberg

INDUSTRIAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE FORMER SITE OF SMARIUS QUAY,TILBURG From an outdated, paved, and stony factory site, the vacant area along the Wilhelminakanaal in the city of Tilburg, in the province Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands, will be transformed into a lively neighborhood with a lot of attention for health, sustainability, and circularity. The planned site is located near the northern entrance of the city, on a major traffic node, and along the waterside. CB5, Antea Group, Quant, and VAN AKEN Concepts, Architecture and Engineering are working together on behalf of SDK Vastgoed and Vestum Vastgoed on the daring transformation of the Smarius site. A factory site that is transforming into an area with both high density and residential quality The project location assumes the uniqueness of the place: its genius loci that is reflected in the power of the canal on the north of the project area. In the transformation plan, this unique power is combined with a new urbanity that entirely focuses on people instead of cars. The Smarius quay will be a place without streets and sidewalks, but with shared common spaces that stimulate encounters.

“In the Smarius quay, it is all about us – about together” Actual interaction between future residents and entrepreneurs, and activity and recreation, will lead to surprising building typologies which refer to the industrial past of the planned site. To create an energetic dynamic for the Smarius quay, public space is central in the urban plan. It is this space where you live, work, or meet other people. In short, it is in the public domain where the area comes to life. In the urban design, a main concept concerns ‘eyes on the street’. This results in all houses facing the street, and the interaction between inside and outside by implementing studios and workshops with activities all day long in the plinth of the building blocks. The Smarius quay is thus a mixed-use development area in the northern part of the city of Tilburg. The urban plan consists of three major green pedestrianized public spaces:‘the park’,‘the courtyard’, and ‘the square’. Each public area is surrounded by a high quality of unique architecture. Along the canal, several architectural specials will refer to the rich industrial history of the location. The Smarius quay will be an area with a high density. The plan consists

of a mixture of a lot of different housing typologies, with a total of 721 units. About one-fifth of these units consist of affordable housing. All houses will be designed with nice private outdoor spaces. Green-blue structure The green-blue structure of the Wilhelminakanaal forms a strong spatial element that connects the city center of Tilburg with the surrounding landscape. Connections between the urban plan, the canal, and the landscape ensure that living and working along the water become visible and tangible. The canal, which is visible by surprising views from inside of the neighborhood, is an essential part of the Smarius quay. The connections between the plan area and the surrounding urban fabric are very important according to the public amenities, the outdoor sports areas, and the cycling routes; all aspects that will contribute to the quality of life in the neighborhood. Due to increasing changes in our climate, heavier rainfalls, and the increasing extent to which heat stress becomes important, another important aspect in the urban plan is the implementation of climate adaptivity. In the green courtyards in the urban plan, space is made – in collective gardens, on roofs, and on the ground level – for the retention and drainage of rainwater. Therefore, the Smarius quay will be a new part of the city that does not fight against the water but dares to play with it! The transformation of the Smarius quay is an integral design project in which the disciplines urbanism, landscape design, and architecture interact and reinforce each other; resulting in a unique and multileveled development plan.

Meet one of our colleagues: Wietse Oostra “Within the existing city, there are in my opinion great opportunities for urban developments related to green spaces. Densification is an answer to the shortage on the housing market, and of course the need for affordable and accessible housing within the city. The need to create urban districts in which affordable housing and great accessibility are the key topics, responding to the need for a more sustainable and healthy society and high environmental qualities, which are all aspects that I consider important in my work. I already demonstrated these design principles in my graduation project (TU/e, 2015 under the supervision of Pieter van Wesemael, Marcel Much, and Anne-Marie Peters van den Heuvel) in which I have designed an urban park in the station area of the city of Eindhoven. At CB5, I continue working on these design principles, for example in the project Smarius quay in the city of Tilburg, but also in the design of sustainable inner-city areas elsewhere”.

Wietse Oostra CB5

THINGS ARE HAPPENING Things are happening all over the city of Eindhoven. The city is currently in rapid development, to the point where the municipality is expecting to host 300,000 inhabitants by the year 2040, in comparison to the current 230,000. For this rapid growth, a large expansion plan has been set up, including 18,000 houses and apartments to be developed in the city center. In order to gain more insights behind the scenes of this expansion, we talked to Herman Kerkdijk, urban designer for the municipality of Eindhoven. To allow for this massive expansion, there is a need to densify the urban fabric in the center. As a logical solution, Eindhoven will start building higher. To tackle the large expansion, different supervisors are chosen for different sectors in the city. The center is developed under the supervision of Winy Maas. The choice for highrise by the municipality was not an easy one. The city, even though generally not perceived as beautiful by many, has its historical heritage. Building highrises in the center doesn’t sit well with some parties. However, Herman Kerkdijk thinks the city of Eindhoven is one of the best cities where this modernisation can play an interesting and large role. This potential for modernisation is rooted in history. The city has seen massive growth in the 1930’s when Philips and DAF caused a lot of need for housing. In the decades following, the city became larger and larger. Then, in the 80’s Phillips decided to move its headquarters out of Eindhoven and DAF filed for bankruptcy because of the crisis. All of the sudden, Eindhoven was in need for a shift, otherwise the city would bleed out. Therefore, Eindhoven shifted its focus on research and development. It became a brainport. This mentality of entrepreneurship and technology is since then rooted into the city; it has become a merger between old and new aspiring buildings. Eindhoven has become the capital for crazy urban ideas and concepts, just as Rotterdam was few decades ago. The city is on the verge of redefining itself. One of the great examples in Eindhoven of Crazy Urbanism is the idea to heighten the Catharina Church in the center. This is an absurd idea to its roots. However, Herman Kerkdijk thinks Eindhoven is actually the only city which can pull something like

Year 28, number 62 - May 2021

this off. Other cities in the Netherlands wouldn’t even consider the absurd plan. There is space for crazy ideas like these in Eindhoven. They are more likely to be allowed because the urban mentality is very different, maybe even more progressive, than in other cities. Another new and daring project is District E. These three towers will form the portal to the city. They are located next to the train station, exactly on the spot of the bike parking right now. These towers will primarily have residential functions. However, the lower floors are completely dedicated to the public. The passage through the towers will act as the entrance to the city. Sightlines were extremely important in the design brief. The visual connection between the station and the 18 September square have to remain. The city is changing. New developments are made. The strategy to do this development in cooperation with supervisors such as Winy Maas makes for a really well streamlined process. Development isn’t a top down process anymore. All the parties are at the table the entire time and plans are developed together. Workflows like this are rather scarce in the building industry but with this approach, Eindhoven has the opportunity to set the standard for future development strategies.There is something happening in Eindhoven and we’re all in the midst of it. A special thanks to Herman Kerkdijk. Stig Wesselink

ACTIVITIES OF VIA VIA has again organised a bunch of interesting and fun activities over the last year. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was often not possible to do these activities in the way we are used to, but by adapting and being innovative with online alternatives, the activity commission managed to still make all of these happen. In this article you will find an overview of some of the most interesting of these. Enjoy! Lunch lecture by Buro Lubber “Public space instruments” - Giordana Credendino To start this new academic year 2020-2021, Marian de Vries and Joeri Sowka shared the basics of designing public spaces in Buro Lubbers style with their lecture “Public Space Instruments”. During this interactive presentation, different successful reference projects were used to explore the concepts of pavements, stairs, benches and trees! Due to the pandemic, only a limited number of spots was offered for this lecture, since all of them were booked, a live recording was made and published for you to watch from home! You can find the link on our Instagram page: @viaurbanism. Workshop by Vectorworks - Ilke Klasen Think about all the different programs you use for designing and presenting a spatial plan. You may use AutoCAD, SketchUp, Illustrator, and Photoshop. Do you also see the flaws of these programs and the struggle of shifting between them? Well, I did!

AutoCAD is great for detailed line drawings but it always crashes as soon as you want to move to 3D or want to color surfaces. SketchUp is terrible when lines don’t connect perfectly and it is quite hard to attach data to elements or get the total surface area of specific land uses or something alike. And yes Illustrator and Photoshop… great for beautifying your visualizations but not for designing. Luckily there is Vectorworks! Vectorworks is a software application to use during the entire design process from sketching to modeling to documenting up until presenting; it contains all the positives of the other software tools. At the end of November, it was time for a new workshop. Vectorworks is giving these for VIA members two times a year. We had quite some workshops from them already, but this was a special one! First of all, because it was the first online Vectorworks workshop. Yes… Just like almost everything in our current life. It was also special because it started with a lecture by IMOSS! IMOSS is a design and consultancy firm for urban design, landscape design, and outdoor space in general. They introduced themselves as a firm that develops spatial plans quickly, carefully, and accurately. This is all made possible by Vectorworks. During the lunch lecture, they showed us how they use Vectorworks and what they think is great about the program. One of these was the ease of putting layers of data on top of each other based on geographical referencing.

Another feature of Vectorworks that they appreciate a lot is the possibility to attach data to models and based on that data create reports of for example the number of parking spaces. In this way, it is easy to check if you meet all the requirements in the spatial plan. After the lecture of IMOSS, the Vectorworks workshop started with a short introduction to the software and its features. Now it was the time to bring what we saw into practice! We started learning the basic 2D tools within the software. After that, we moved to 3D tools. They showed us how easy it is to make 3D volumes within Vectorworks. It was shown how you can make theme maps based on data attached to objects. For example, when data on building heights is attached to objects, you can make a 2D height map in a few clicks! With this data, you can also create 3D objects of the indicated heights in a few clicks. We also learned about importing DWG files, doing a quick shadow analysis, and many more!

Lunch lecture by De Zwarte Hond “Inner-city restructuring” - Hassan Javed Despite all the challenges faced by the association due to the pandemic in organising events, we were still able to do so in alternative environments. One of the first events organised for the current academic year was a lunch lecture by one of our sponsors: De Zwarte Hond. De Zwarte Hond is a design bureau for architecture and urban design with offices located in the Netherlands and Germany. The firm’s goal is to survey different elements in a specific location, adding value to their projects. The lecturer was Bart Van Leeuwen, who has been working at De Zwarte Hond for the past five years as an urban project leader on a diversity of urban challenges, among which are complex inner-city restructuring Year 28, number 62 - May 2021

programs. One of these projects is the design of the train station neighbourhood of Hilversum. During the lecture, he spoke about, among other things, the process of the genesis of the design and the influence of (social) media on the design process. This was only the second time the event was livestreamed on Instagram, where you can still watch the lecture. Movie Night - Hassan Javed People have different preferences when it comes to watching a movie. Some prefer to watch movies in the cinema while others at home. Personally, I prefer watching it in the cinema. There’s something to be said about watching visual storytelling on a threestory screen (unless you are going to watch Borat), particularly when the film really takes advantage of the format. It’s only normal to think that staring at a massive white sheet won’t matter when everyone has got 60plus inch TVs, but scale has quite some ability to sweep you away. You get sucked into the movie in a way that you don’t experience while sitting on the couch at home. Another part of the experience of watching movies in cinema is watching it with friends. The type of movie has a great effect on the experience. If you are watching a comedy, it’s better to do so with friends since the laughter is infectious. The same applies for horror movies but in another way. When watching these, it’s better to be with friends in case you get too scared. When you are watching with other people, you also get the opportunity to discuss the movie with them at the end. And you might learn something about the movie from someone else that you didn’t pick up on yourself.

VIA Urbanism, Mollier and AnArchi decided to organise an online movie night together. Of course we couldn’t have three-story-tall screens for everyone, but we could still watch it together with friends

and still experience that element of watching it in the cinema. Since we are all very much interested in design (hence the chosen associations), the series we watched was a Netflix original series “ABSTRACT, the art of design”, which focuses on an in-depth look into computer design and modern contemporary design with some of the world’s most highly regarded designers.The episode we watched was “Neri-Oxman: Bio Architecture”, which was about one of the most famous and observant Architects. After watching the movie, we had a very interactive discussion on the subject. There were some elements of the movie which I personally wasn’t able to pick up on but after hearing it from others, I could see it and it took me back to the times when we all could enjoy cinemas. I realised the purpose of watching a movie together was achieved in a very different environment. Lunch Lecture by Buro Lubbers “Who owns the streets?” - Giordana Credendino During the second lunch lecture by Buro Lubbers of this academic year, we explored the many implications of the question “who owns the streets?”. This enlightening and interactive lecture by Joeri Sowka and Marian de Vries took place completely online in a calm and informal character aimed at involving the students! The introduction focused on explaining who exactly makes use of our streets, described which elements can help us identify the “owners” of our urban jungles. The idea that the public streets of the Netherlands are too often filled by cars, which, by any means, are not efficient in terms of occupying space, set the atmosphere for the body of the lecture. During the rest of the lunch lecture, Marian shared some impressive projects, here in the city of Eindhoven, aimed at the reconciliation of expat communities. By creating a dynamic and communal setting in between buildings, the office was able to return the streets to the inhabitants of said buildings, banishing cars. Game Night - Alessa Klomp At the end of 2020 we had two fun online game events. First we played drawfull, a game where you have to guess what the other people drew, though drawing is rather hard on a phone. The urbanism related drawing prompts like “eyes on the street” and “Noooo, my Illustrator crashed!” often gave hilarious results, seen as it had to be drawn on tiny phone screens. We had a lot of fun that evening! The other game event was via board game arena, where we played more traditional tabletop games together. To celebrate the end of the year and Christmas we had an ugly Christmas sweater competition, rightfully won by Maarten, Petar and

Hassan. Especially Maarten’s glittery Christmas creation deserves praise, and all three won a bottle of gluhwein. And as a little surprise, the current VIA board prepared cookie kits for everyone, with sweet christmas messages to make our own santa cookies at home. It was a cozy evening, truly in the spirit of Christmas. Altogether a very successful event that went on longer than planned!

Drawing workshop “There are not only buildings” - Leander Krijnen One of the most recent activities organised in cooperation with Hélène Aarts, one of the teachers at the University. With a group of stude, we gathered at the Piazza square in the center of Eindhoven, after which we sought a spot to sit down and start sketching the surroundings. While the students drew, Hélène would pass by to review the drawings and give advice on how to improve skills. One of the main things that we were supposed to pay attention to was how to draw the people moving over the square, and how to illustrate them on our drawings. Hence, the title of the workshop “There are not only buildings”. It was nice to have a physical activity once again, which was made possible by the small group of gatherers and the setting in the open air. In the end, we had a small exposition at the passage next to the Bijenkorf, and one of the students even managed to sell a sketch to a passer-by!

PROJECTS YOU MISSED Dear reader, first of all, I want to start by saying; I am proud of you. The last year has been hard on all of us but you still managed to push through, keep going and even though it was hard, you got this far! It has been good to see many of you staying inside for the last year. Hopefully we are able to get out of the house soon enough. While you were doing your job staying inside, a lot of things happened in urban landscapes in the Netherlands. As field trips are a bit complicated due to all the restrictions, we decided to show you some of these new projects while you can stay safely at home. So sit back, relax and enjoy while we take you through the urban updates and show you what you missed! Nederzetting Marker Wadden Located in the Marker lake, several nature islands can be found. Only one of them allows visitors, this specific island forms the setting where this settlement is located. Near the islands harbor, the ensemble of buildings is located, offering a shelter from the fickle

weather conditions. Ziegler|Branderhorst and Palmbout urban landscapes managed to provide a complete sustainable network and fully self-providing system for the island. Even all buildings were built in a sustainable way, electricity is powered with solar panels and water is drawn and cleaned locally. All combined, making it the first offgrid island of the Netherlands. De Nieuwe Kern The New Core, located in Amsterdam is a neighbourhood in Ouder-Amstel. A development plan including approximately 4,500 new dwellings and 200,000m2 reserved for social and commercial services, it connects to both the city as landscapes. Furthermore, the entire plan is designed around a park. Around this core several facilities can be found, such as living and working, creating a perfect mix between dwellings, facilities and work.

In the new development plan, water plays an important role. As the area is based on a poldermodel, creating an important identity and backbone to the project. To increase the sustainability in the area, mobilisation is fully adapted. Public transport, cycling and walking are encouraged by the networks, while personal motorized transport is moved to the outside of the area. ZOHO Rotterdam The industrial area in Rotterdam, placed between 19th century neighbourhoods, got a full transformation, owning up to the creative identity that was always present. The goal was to keep this creativity and provide space for new ambitions. Low and middle income classes are the target group, adding to the diversity of the location. This dynamic project takes mobility, sustainability and the connection to nature very seriously; all aiming to create a new Rotterdam neighbourhood, full of driven inhabitants and users.

Sources: Singh, G. J. (2020, September 23). ARC20: Nederzetting Marker Wadden – Palmbout Urban Lanscapes en Ziegler|Branderhorst stedenbouw en architectuur. De Architect. https:// www.dearchitect.nl/projecten/arc20-nederzetting-marker-wadden-zieglerbranderhorst?_

Hopefully, these projects inspired you. More information can be seen in the links in the references. I hope you get a chance to visit them soon enough, until then, stay safe!

ga=2.150993206.1272192916.1615641527-1109999096.1615641527 8, W. (2020, October 3). ARC20: De Nieuwe Kern in Ouder-Amstel – West 8, Rotterdam. De Architect.

https://www.dearchitect.nl/projecten/arc20-de-nieuwe-kern-in-ouder-amstel-west-8-

rotterdam ARC20: ZOHO Rotterdam – ECHO urban design, ORANGE Architects, MORE Architecture, Studio NAUTA en MoederscheimMoonen Architects. (2020, October 8). De Architect. https://

Miriam Pouwels

www.dearchitect.nl/projecten/arc20-zoho-in-rotterdam-echo-urban-design

Pictures: Baart, T. (n.d.). Markermeer nederzetting [Picture on the left] West 8(n.d.). de Nieuwe Kern [Picture on the right page below] Vero Visuals. (n.d.). ZoHo [Picture on the right page above]

Year 28, number 62 - May 2021

GARDEN OF NERVURE:

HOW ONE FIRM BROUGHT LIFE TO LUXURY APARTMENTS

Taicang Yuqin Garden | Courtesy of PLACEMEDIA Landscape Architects Collaborative and Eiichi

Since 1990, Japanese landscape architecture firm PLACEMEDIA has maintained a crucial ideology — that landscape architects, while specialists, must incorporate the perspectives of all project stakeholders in order to deliver a successful design. One such project that showcases this collaborative spirit is the Taicang Yuqin Garden in Taicang City, China. The master project, a luxury housing development would not be complete without an equally luxurious landscape — and architecture firm Sakakura Associates Architects and Engineers invited PLACEMEDIA to devise a plan for the land between apartment buildings. Establishing a Collaborative Workflow A hallmark feature of many landscape projects is collaboration with architects for the building elements on the site. PLACEMEDIA worked closely with Sakakura Associates Architects and Engineers on the overall scheme of the Taicang Yuqin Garden, ensuring a harmony between landscape and buildings. But any project comes with a roadblock, and one for PLACEMEDIA was overseas constraints — “Many materials that can be procured domestically are not

available overseas, so it’s necessary to review the selection of materials and specifications to suit the local conditions, and to give detailed instructions,” said Yuta Kobayashi, associate at PLACEMEDIA. “For plants in particular, since there are differences in local weather and climate, as well as differences in tree planting and production techniques, we made many trips to the Chinese planting fields to select plants, communicated with local planters, and sometimes made decisions on changing tree species,” he said.

Taicang Yuqin Garden | Courtesy of PLACEMEDIA Landscape Architects Collaborative and Eiichi

Envisioning the site is not only a 2D process for PLACEMEDIA. In fact, their use of 3D modeling helped them visualize the controlled line of sight throughout the space and create a sense of scale. Furthermore, PLACEMEDIA could easily show their designs to project stakeholders and quickly get feedback on everything from the shapes of each “island” to the look and placement of outdoor furniture. What Does Creativity Mean to You? In the spirit of the theme of the #Vectorworks2021 launch, “simplicity to design the complex,” we asked each featured company the same question: What does creativity mean to you? “I believe that creativity is the ability to create something that does not yet exist in this world. It means designing forms and programs that create new values for the natural environment and the life cycles of the people living in the given site and surrounding

area,” said Kobayashi. “In order to achieve these goals, I would like to value relationships with people from many different fields and industries, and to collaborate with them while expanding our knowledge of each other’s fields.” “The way people think about outdoor spaces is about to change significantly,” he continued.“Although there has been much talk of extreme weather conditions that are becoming more and more pronounced year by year, there has been no significant change in society. However, the impact of the COVID-19 that has spread throughout the world has forced us to change our lifestyle and our behavior toward society and the environment. “We, as landscape architects, are facing a turning point to think seriously about how to improve the relationship with the land, the region and the environment, and we feel that it is a mission of our profession to be the first to create a better society.” Vectorworks, Inc.

Year 28, number 62 - May 2021

Taicang Yuqin Garden | Courtesy of PLACEMEDIA Landscape Architects Collaborative and Eiichi

URBAN MADNESS Urban madness. Stepping out of your comfort zone and designing something radical. Who are your predecessors in this process and what can we learn from them? In this section we will find out everything that regards urban madness. Whereas we are taught in the current society to play by the rules and always take the regulations into account, we will let every restriction go in this edition. What will happen when we get rid of all the rules, stereotypes and practicalities? Let’s go crazy. Are you in? Miriam Pouwels

Urban Madness

A TROUBLED NEIGHBORHOOD AND ITS ORIGINS

Le mirail, the streets are littered, the people are poor and the cars are burning. Not much good is happening in this neighbourhood nowadays. It is perceived as one of the toughest neighbourhoods of France. In 2005, a neighbourhood-wide curfew was initiated, and it was necessary. The neighbourhood was in a state of war; since the 1968 student revolts, France hasn’t been in such a turmoil.Twelve straight nights of unrest played out in Le Mirail. Gangs were raiding and cars were set on fire. The national government decided in a crisis cabinet meeting to implement a curfew. The most radical measures were needed to instill order. How could such a concept of beauty in the post war period turn out to be such a nationwide disaster? How did George Candilis come up with this concept and why did it eventually fail so catastrophically? Part 1: Establishment of the concept After the war, great destruction and a large increase in the population due to the baby boom meant that the housing market in France was under severe

stress.With the introduction of suburbanisation and the shift away from industrialism and the welfare state, new radical plans came to be. In contrast to the post war mentality of the welfare state, a new way of thinking emerged. For the first time since the war people averted from the structure they sought after in that time period. People were not sick, society was. In these turbulent times, Team X emerged. It was the tenth delegation of the “Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne”. They opposed previous thinking and instilled a new standard. Furthermore, they focused on the stimulation of encountering people and the multi-functional use of space. Large walking bridges with shops and cafes located on them created the connection between the volumes of buildings. The design was human-centered, with every amenity within walking distance. The four main objectives were in George Candilis’ words:

“To bring all activities of urban life back within pedestrian access of every home; to keep cars and pedestrians on two completely separate circulation systems; to preserve the site’s beautiful green spaces and to minimize, if not eliminate, the harmful effects on the environment usually produced by moving 100,000 people onto land where only a handful had lived before.” The concept behind Le Mirail was elegant and simplistic. All elements in the design helped towards a more human focussed society and would create a green, inclusive neighbourhood, based on radical concepts. Part 2: Deterioration of the plan However, the path to completion wasn’t as great as the concepts themselves. Not even close, as in these times of rapid urban expansion, the French government appointed nine critical regions for development. Le Mirail was not one of them. This led to the fact that the municipality needed to build a project for 100,000 people with a public private cooperation. At first this didn’t pose many problems. However, after a while, the problems came from Paris. Politicians halted the approval of the plans for four years before eventually giving the green light. During these four years, the economy stuttered and grinded to a halt. The funding became tighter and the private parties requested a more budget focussed development.

Sources: - https://www.lemonde.fr/ municipales/article/2014/02/13/ le-mirail-de-l-utopie-a-la-desillusion_4360295_1828682.html - http://architectuul.com/architect/ georges-candilis Pictures: Left: Cros, A. (n.d.). [Photograph]. Retrieved from: https:// commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:13.11.1970._Le_Mirail._ (1970)_-_53Fi3295.jpg Right: Jorna, J. (n.d.) [Photograph]. History of European Architecture G07

weren’t used as anticipated because only two neighborhoods were finished. The strategy to first build the budget apartments, and to build them in larger volumes, resulted in a lower class taking up residence in the neighbourhoods. Crime rose, funding stopped and the future became as bleak and cold as the concrete the plan was built from. part 3:The sad ending to the story Nowadays, The Mirail remains one of the poorest and most problematic neighbourhoods in France. Multiple redevelopments haven’t helped raise the living conditions. The combination of not enough funding, bad timing due to the financial turmoil in the 60’s, and a shift in perception of large scale massive projects resulted in the sad but inevitable demise of the once great concept of Le Mirail. There have been many attempts at improving the quality of this neighbourhood. However, the streets remain litterd, the people remain poor and the cars keep on burning. Stig Wesselink

After a lot of financial struggles, only the first two out of three neighborhoods in the original plan were completed, the second plan was not even developed yet. The main walking bridges, which were supposed to serve the pedestrian, and its housing functions were eventually demolished because they were deemed cold and too large and Year 28, number 62 - May 2021

STRUCTURE THE MADNESS Creativity aims to provide unique insights, designs and results, but it also requires out-of-the-box thinking. This creativity is needed when designing an urban project. However, different levels of detail are possible within this creativity. Some designs are very extreme while others are considered timider. Let’s look at the extreme designs, what makes them extreme and how can you design something this extreme yourself? This magazine’s theme is urban madness, focusing on the extreme side of creative design. To get a clear image of its definition, it is important to define this first. Madness can be defined in various ways; lunacy, fury, excitement, these are all extreme terms showing emotions and behaviours out of the ordinary. Therefore, we can see this madness as something extreme or unlikely. Linking it to urbanism, extreme urbanism which is out of the ordinary could be a translation for urban madness. Examples of this urban madness will be shown in the other articles, this article will focus on a guideline to develop such designs yourself. Three things are of great importance when designing urban madness: Imagination, unknown needs and practicalities. First of all: imagination. As madness and creativity seem to go well together, this creativity is needed. Let go of all the rules, regulations and restrictions. What if you could design whatever you liked and wanted? Closely linked to this imagination are the surroundings, making it a challenge to look at an area with a fresh and unique view. In this way, imagination and reality can be combined. Such an exercise could be done by simply taking pictures of an area and just drawing on them, take your pencil and get creative!

term in the sales where salesmen show and tell the buyer what they didn’t know they needed. This concept can also be seen in design. People don’t always know what they need, for example regarding street furniture, design or the use of public space.Think about ways to improve their wellbeing, think in extremes and unique designs. Quit playing safe and dare to design the unknown. While doing this, your urban madness can be welcomed in communities, adding value to their neighbourhood.

Sources: Madness Meaning | Best 11 Definitions of Madness. (2021). Your Dictionary. https://www. yourdictionary.com/madness Pictures: Lanoo, J. (n.d.). JDS Architects [Picture]

Finally, urban designs work best when they are actually used according to their purpose. Some designs can look really good but still be impractical, causing people to neglect the design. As this would result in another item for the “failed urban madness project’” article, practicalities are important to take into account.Try to walk through your design, would the spaces work in the way you designed it? One project which combines all three can be seen in Denmark. A project in Copenhagen, the mountain dwellings, combines all three perfectly, with a creative design people are given the comfort and features they didn’t know they needed while the design is practical and adds to a green future. In conclusion, it can be said that it isn’t always easy to make a working urban madness design. The power of the design is characterised by its practical uniqueness, and even though this reality and imaginary world seem contradicting, the challenge is to make it work. So, why not take on a good challenge and design some madness? Miriam Pouwels

Secondly: unknown needs can be of great help. Users often don’t know what they need, the unknown need is a popular

Year 28, number 62 - May 2021

Urban Madness

URBAN PLANNING, BUT DIFFERENT

Since the beginning of time, humans have had the urge to settle and create permanent lodgement. However in the last few decades, things have been changing. Urban plans are becoming more and more futuristic, with a long term vision. Urban planners are taking a wider approach while designing and using new perspectives. Especially in Asian countries, urban plans have been evolving a lot because of the need to house and structure such large and growing groups of people.Their economy has been booming with the growing need for housing as a consequence.

getting people to actually go and live there turned out to be much more difficult than anticipated..The government has rushed to urbanize massive rural areas in order to create housing for the economic growth of the country. One of the key goals of this urbanization project is the redistribution of economic opportunities that have drawn millions of rural inhabitants. Constructing buildings has been happening at an immense speed in China. For your comparison, China has used more cement in its construction of new cities between 2011 to 2013 than the entirety of the United States in the 20th century.

China, ghost cities and immense living towers. Historically, there’s always been a natural reason for building a city in a particular location, whether it is proximity to a water source, fertile land, mineral deposits, or simple geography. Over time, that city would expand almost organically, increasing in size to accommodate its growing population. However, China decided to do things a little bit differently and just build the cities in these locations even if there was no logical reason for them to be there. They were guided by the idea that once the cities were built, people would come on their own. When thinking about these big cities, vast, growing, immense, crowded cities come into mind. However, try to imagine these big cities and all their infrastructure without the people themselves. Seems crazy right? However, these cities are actually being built in China. According to several sources, around 50 communities are referred to as ghost cities. Reports of these cities have been vastly exaggerated, but the cities are certainly underpopulated, with the reason being; they’re brand new! Built with the future in mind! These cities are the product of the Chinese government’s great urbanisation plan that originated in the early 1980s and sought to relocate hundreds of millions of the country’s rural inhabitants to cities to fuel economic growth.There was only one problem –

Other things China is working on right now to cope with the immense growing population would be the construction of immense housing towers. These housing tower blocks are based on the same idea as ghost cities. They can be compared to vertical ghost cities. The government is moving 250 million people from the country into urban areas by 2025 and to make this possible, lots of housing is needed. China’s relocation plan is designed to give those in poor, rural areas access to healthcare, schools, and jobs. To entice people into the cities, the government is paying people for their land and subsidizing their housing in gargantuan towers that stand 40 stories or more. Both these ghost cities and ghost housing towers are not extinct even though the name might trigger this thought, they are just brand new and waiting for their new inhabitants. As the saying goes “easier said than done’’. Very few people actually moved to the ghost cities or living towers. The main reason would be the lack of basic public services like health care, schools, transportation and shopping centres in these ghost cities. Whereas local governments were hesitant to build the necessary infrastructure only after enough people inhabited the cities. Even though most of its socalled ghost cities have not fully lived up to their promised expectations, there are some success stories like the city of Pudong which is now the most populous district in Shanghai. Other ghost cities have not completely failed

and could become fully functioning cities with just some final touches and adjustments. Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps Let’s now move onto a city in a whole different continent. In Las Vegas, the biggest city of Nevada located in a basin on the floor of the Mojave Desert, which is an accomplishment in itself of course. However the city is better-known for its reputation of “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...”. The well-known street “The Strip” was first created in Paradise, a township of Nevada. This city was mainly formed by hotel buildings proving the search to push the boundaries. Thoughtfully building outside the city with the advantage of minimizing taxes, bypassing regulations and avoiding utility disputes from the city.The absence of laws in this specific building area resulted in what is nowadays known as an adult theme parklook alike. Discussions arise if this can even be called urban “planning”, since it seems that no real plan has been followed and builders could actually just freely build as they wished. Urban planning on the Strip is quite different compare to other parts of the Las Vegas valley. Multimillion, even multi billion projects are reviewed regularly on the strip, whereas these are far from common throughout Las Vegas valley. Whereas the strip seems chaotically, not planned at all, the huge flamboyant buildings have been planned very well. Each one can be seen as entirely self-contained and once inside you’ll lose track of time and space, making you spend hours and hours inside the building.

centered area towards a pedestrian one. Using a car at all times was the norm, however the strip was gradually taken over by thousands of pedestrians every day. What’s especially interesting about the Strip, is that the gaming corporations in a city without even a city hall became invested in implementing good planning and urban design principles since these masses of people occupying the promenade, needed to be regulated. Some developments even build their own transportations systems, like a free tram, connecting cooperating casino’s.The need for handling these masses of people grew with the popularity of the area, especially since the Strip is only four miles long. The amount of people occupying the streets results in a need for close cooperation with the private companies in order to regulate the different streams of transport. The interesting difference between China and Las Vegas would be the “reason of planning”. In Las Vegas, Urban planning only became important after, when the population grew. Whereas the complete opposite happened in China, they initially created large cities for which their was no demand at that moment. Their goal was to provide housing for future demand.

Sources: Marshall, C. (2015), “Learning from Las Vegas: what the Strip can teach us about urban planning”, Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/ cities/2015/feb/09/las-vegasstrip-learning-temple-excess on 23-03-2021 Goldberger, P. (2010), “What happens in Vegas”, Retrieved from https://www.newyorker. com/magazine/2010/10/04/ what-happens-in-vegas on 2303-2021 Ishak, N. (2019), “34 Unforgettable Photos of china’s massive, uninhabited ghost cities”, Retrieved from https://allthatsinteresting.com/ chinese-ghost-cities on 2303-2021 Van Hooijdonk, R. (2018), “The truth about china’s futuristic ghost cities”, Retrieved from https://blog. richardvanhooijdonk.com/ en/the-truth-about-chinasfuturistic-ghost- cities/ on 2303-2021 Marechal, A. (2016), “China’s huge, eerie tower blocks that will soon house millions”, Retrieved from https://www. wired.com/2016/12/aurelienmarechal-block-china-cities/ on 23-03-2021

Pictures: Retrieved from unsplash

Lena Blomert

However, one clearly recognizable change in urban planning, has to be the shift of a carYear 28, number 62 - May 2021

URBAN MADNESS PROJECTS It often occurs that large urban – or architecture projects are simplified or reduced due to costs, public opinion, or impracticality. Therefore, it is one of the greatest fears of the urbanist or architect. In a lot of these cases, it is predictable beforehand that the project is not going to make it without any reductions. This has, however, not hindered designers to dream, and to draw up ‘crazy’ ideas. Let’s take a look at some proposals that have been made in the past, and could be defined as ‘mad’!

Urban TacticalMadness Urbanism

London’s wheel-shaped airport The area around London’s famous King’s Cross station was once one of the most dilapidated areas in the city. Therefore, it was theorized that it would be a brilliant idea to tear the whole neighborhood down and build a giant airport terminal in its place. Charles W. Glover elaborated this idea in his design for a wheel-shaped airfield around 1931. This would have made it possible to fly an airplane from the center of London, but sadly the idea was scrapped to the safety risks, which were deemed too high.

Palace of the Soviets The palace of the Soviets is a never-realised plan for a skyscraper in the center of Moscow, with a giant statue of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the communist revolution at its peak. The building would have needed 360.000 tons of steel, and topped out at an astonishing 416 meters. This would have meant that it would have been the tallest building in the world until 1974 when the Sears tower in Chicago was finished, and would still be the second tallest building in Europe anno 2021. Construction began in 1934, after demolition of a centuries-old cathedral, (that was deemed a symbol of anti-soviet mentality) was completed. However, the second world war put construction of the building on hold in 1941, and construction would never start again due to financial difficulties. In the early 1990’s the foundations temporarily functioned as a public pool, but were finally filled up to rebuild the cathedral that was demolished to make place for the skyscraper. These days, no remnants of the plan can be seen, as a replica of the former cathedral stands in its place. A dome over Manhattan From the 1960’s onwards, the idea of giant domebuildings stepped out of science fiction. It seemed that these structures were finally technically feasible, and Architects started to propose radical ideas for dome structures all over the world. One of the earliest ones was the proposal to build a giant

3-kilometer wide dome over Manhattan island in New York City. It was theorized that these structures would save energy costs by up to 20% by maintaining a steady temperature. According to the architects, Buckminster Fuller and Shoji Sadao, this would also increase the rents of apartments inside the dome. Sadly, the astronomical costs of such a project demotivated the municipality to go through with the plan. Palm Island Dubai The famous palm island in Dubai, also called the palm Jumeirah, is an artificial island in the city of Dubai that was constructed in the early 2000’s.The main purpose of the island is to serve as a luxury neighbourhood with villas, but there are also facilities like a hotel. Due to the island’s complex shape and giant size, the coastline adds up to a total of 520 kilometres! The plan received admiration for its ‘never seen before’ aesthetics, and successive plans for an expansion did not wait for long to be initiated.Two additional islands were started, but sadly the economic crisis put a halt to construction. These projects are currently still on halt, with no plans for continuation in the near future. Dreaming big is something that is of all times, and will never die. It is easy to laugh at these projects and criticize them for their megalomania or ridiculousness. However, the never ending flow or crazy ideas also shows how creative the mind of architects and urbanists can be. These designers most likely knew that the chance of their plans being completely executed was slim, but nevertheless they dared to dream. Their work, realized or not, can serve as inspiration for future generations and an ode to human creativity. Leander Krijnen

Sources: Beall, A. (2016, 7 juli). London’s scrapped 1931 designs reveal a wheel-shaped runway at King’s Cross. Mail Online. h t t p s : / / w w w. d a i l y m a i l . c o. u k / sciencetech/article-3678907/ London-s-crazy-plan-elevatedairport-Scrapped-1931-designsreveal-dangerous-wheel-shapedrunway-King-s-Cross.html Carlson, J. (2012, 8 maart). The 1960 Plan To Put A Dome Over Midtown Manhattan. Gothamist. https:// gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/ the-1960-plan-to-put-a-dome-overmidtown-manhattan Het palmeiland Palm Jumeirah in Dubai | Alles Over Dubai. (z.d.). allesoverdubai.info. https://www. allesoverdubai.info/palm-jumeirah/ King’s Cross Airport. (2011, 23 oktober). Darkest London. https:// darkestlondon.com/tag/charles-wglover/Mamaeva, O. (2020, 24 juni). The story behind the failed Palace of the Soviets. Russia Beyond. https:// www.rbth.com/history/332355palace-of-soviets-ussrTeicher, J. (2017, 3 oktober). What the dream of dome cities tells us about urban sustainability. Industrious. https://www.ibm.com/ blogs/industries/dream-dome-citiestells-us-urban-sustainability/ Pictures: darkestlondon.com gothamist.com rbth.com tix.nl

Year 28, number 62 - May 2021

INTERVIEW WITH DAVID GIANOTTEN,THE MANAGING PARTNER OF OMA

Urban Madness

For this interview, we talked to David Gianotten. He is not only the Managing Partner of OMA, overseeing the day-to-day business worldwide, he is also lead architect of many projects around the globe and in the Netherlands, including the new Feyenoord stadium and the VDMA terrain development in Eindhoven. We had a conversation about his vision on development in Eindhoven and the new structure of cooperation between parties within development.

In a previous interview, Herman Kerkdijk said that Eindhoven is the perfect breeding ground for crazy urban ideas, what is your vision on this? Eindhoven has changed. It changed from a primarily workers oriented city to a completely different profile, namely that of a knowledge culture. It became a brainport. Eindhoven has created all different kinds of possibilities for striving new ideas. This is done by things like appointing Winy Maas as a supervisor or by designing the plans and ideas

from the start with renowned offices like OMA or Buro Lubbers. Creating the ideas and plans together with these design partners is already a huge step in thinking about developments like this. Destination plans and regulations are made after the design of the plan. That is a change. Is Eindhoven a frontrunner on this development? Well, all these developments in ideology ask for a cause. When Rotterdam was bombarded, the city had to rebuild massive parts of the city in a short amount of time. This asked for a new way of designing. Later on, this demand for new approaches to the concept of development were explored by cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht, mainly in their suburbs. Now, because of the change to brainport, it is up to Eindhoven. The municipality of Eindhoven doesn’t decide what comes next, the inhabitants, internationals and large businesses decide. It is a cyclus and now it’s Eindhovens turn.

How does the cooperation between OMA, the municipality and the supervisor of inner city development Winy Maas work for a project like the VDMA terrain? Winy is responsible for creating a vision for the city. Afterwards, a tender for in this case the VDMA terrain is put out by the municipality. However this tender was quite empty and open. Instead of ‘a large part has to be living’, the assignment asks: ‘What has to be here?’. Afterwards, developers can partake in the contest. However, this is done together with a design team. The objective isn’t the financial aspect, it is the quality and the cohesiveness with the rest of the city and local site monuments. After the contest, the plans of OMA are being aligned with those of the municipality and those of Winy. In this way, with a lot of consultation and with respect for the design process, a final design is made. In some previous interviews you already talked about your discontent with the competition structure within the building industry, can you tell a bit more about that? We’re a big supporter of taking initiative on the basis of ideas instead of proving in a competition that you’re the best. I don’t really like the beauty contest idea of winning a project. Just as with the VDMA terrain, the tender itself was really open. It was up to us, to give shape to the concept. In this we had a bigger role than just developer. We were partners, made the design, searched for financing, searched for other partners, and made connections with other companies. With this structure, together with the developer and the municipality, we are fully incorporated as a partner. You are on a completely different level than just drawing.You are fully involved. Is this strategy where the market is going towards? Well, I’m not sure about that. It is what I would like to see. To get more equality instead of being just an executor. In the nineties, it was of course a lot stricter. An architect was an architect. Now that has changed a bit. I don’t know if this fully incorporated design partnership is where the market is moving towards. Year 28, number 62 - May 2021

Pictures Left: OMA VDMA terrain. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://oma.eu/ projects/vdma Right: David Gianotten. (n.d.). Rertrieved from: https://www.tue. nl/en/research/researchers/davidgianotten/

That’s too soon to tell. However, there is more space and I hope that people will see that the quality of these projects is a lot higher. I don’t think that all cities are ready for this. Nonetheless, the municipalities are less and less involved. The skills, funding and responsibilities within are decreasing and are more given to the private sector. However, since the crisis of 2008, the building sector isn’t trusted that much anymore. With the Vinex expansion, the building sector said they didn’t make any money. Yet, they became extremely rich and didn’t give back to society. Because of this, an enormous gap emerged. There was no trust but the government also pulled back with its involvement. In this gap a new type of developer emerged. One more focussed on quality and sustainability. OMA is one of them, we ask for more involvement with creating the vision. This is also what happened in times of the social and industrial revolution. Architects like Berlage had a lot of control over the entire process. From concept to building.That is starting to happen again. I am an entrepreneur in heart and soul. I strongly believe that when I’m in the lead myself, there are a lot more creative possibilities than when I’m checked and restrained by other parties. We would like to end this article by giving a huge thanks to David Gianotten for participating in this interview. Stig Wesselink

STRUCTURE VS NON-STRUCTURE Urban planning is as old as humankind, however it is known in a different level of detail. In the beginning of time, settlements were created nearby rivers and fertile grounds, later on, as these settlements grew, walls were built to protect the inhabitants from external threats. The cities grew organically to accompany the growth of the city. Urban planning mainly focused on religion or beliefs and focused a lot on being “impressive”. As the population rapidly grew on earth and both industrialization and globalization took place, urban planning became a real necessity. Without structure there is chaos, right? Or is this not really the case? Is an extremely structured city like New York “better” than a non-grid-structured city like Tokyo? Some cities look like checkerboards, whereas others look a whole lot more like chaotic webs. Is one of the two necessarily bad or good? This search for the perfect urban system has been a challenge ever since our population kept on growing and living in the same place. So lets start this quest. New York, the grid vs. Tokyo, the maze When one says New York, one thinks about this immensely planned gridlike city. The grid, originated in 1811, is characterized by a strict measurement. There are 12 north-south avenues and 155 east-west streets. Each of these avenues are 100 feet wide, the standard cross streets are 60 feet wide and the major cross streets are 100 feet. This plan, publicized while the city of New York was a lot smaller, was a major future focused concept that heavily influenced the development of Manhattan. Real estate values dropped and peaked, depending upon location in the grid and the specific type of development. This grid-like structure brought New York quite some advantages such as easy routing throughout the city and most of all creating a walkable street network and being able to adapt and react to changes needed in the future.

Tokyo would be a city that is planned in a completely different way when compared to New York City. Tokyo is a mix of mid-level dense neighborhoods in between bigger, more dense neighborhoods. The results in the feeling of not being able to understand the city and not being familiar with where one person is located. Tokyo is an even bigger place in comparison to New York city so this certainly does not help either. This city has grown organically by means of answering the needed demand. Especially the usage of cars immensely impacted the work of urban planners. Travelling longer distances in a shorter time period would be less of a problem, giving the planners more freedom in the space they could take up and take distances less into account. However the introduction of automobiles also brought up some serious challenges of course. For example, the streets were mostly occupied by cars and it would be more difficult to gather on the street resulting in the need of planning specific public spaces meant for gathering. Cars needed space, which led to urban freeways dividing cities into two, immense traffic jams at peak hours of the day and the ever longing search for a parking spot when all others were taken.

Tokyo, Metropolitan Government, (2017), “Transition of Tokyo’s urban Planning”, Retrieved from https:// www.toshiseibi.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/ eng/index.html on 17-03-2021 City Data, (2014), “Which feels bigger to you”, Retrieved from http://www. city-data.com/forum/world/2071841tokyo-vs-new-york-feels-bigger-8. html on 17-03-2021 Pictures: Aerial view of snow-covered New York City. (z.d.). [Photo]. imgur. https://i.imgur.com/56kSydA.jpg Aerial view of [Photo]. reddit. mghcpc5xvt761.jpg

Tokyo. (z.d.). https://i.redd.it/

So overall, one could say planning cities goes hand in hand with organically growing cities, one should not exist without the other. Immense planning without listening to the needs of the inhabitants hardly results in immediate success, even with a focus on the future implemented in the plan. Cities that naturally grow automatically feel more natural, but this does not mean that they are more logical and understandable. The naturally grown cities can feel like a maze which does not contribute to a nice flow of traffic throughout the city. As we end our quest it could be said that there is no good or bad solution, but an integration of both could possibly lead to success.

Lena Blomert Year 28, number 62 - May 2021

Sources: Laker, B. (2017), “The worlds most talked about city is Tokyo, but why not New York, London or Paris”, Retrieved from https://www.forbes. com/sites/benjaminlaker/2020/02/10/ the-worlds-most-talked-about-cityis-tokyo-but-why-not-new-york-citylondon-or-paris/?sh=9981408369c0 on 17-03-2021

Urban Madness

INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS

One of the most typical forms of human expression is the construction of settlements. They exist in all sorts and sizes, and can be found all over the globe. The ever-increasing number of these settlements needs to be regulated to maintain urban quality and counteract sprawl. However, regulations are not always in place or enforced. Unregulated construction of settlements usually result in what is called ‘informal settlements’. Ananya (2009) defines these informal settlements as follows: “any form of housing, shelter, or settlement (or lack thereof) which is illegal, falls outside of government control or regulation, or is not afforded protection by the state.” Although these settlements cannot enjoy protection from the state, the lack of regulation also has the effect that these settlements do not ‘have to play by the rules’ and can therefore be found in numerous morphologies. This makes it interesting to have a look at some examples of informal settlements, and to compare some of their characteristics. The first type of informal settlement, which is also probably the most common one, is a slum. These

can be found practically all over the world, but mostly in developing countries. Slums only tend to form when there is no alternative left. Social security in developed countries mostly prevents this, and therefore is mainly the problem of large cities in developing countries. American journalist Robert Neuwirth, writer of the book Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World, estimates that by 2050, a quarter of the world population will live in these informal settlements. One of the prime contemporary examples is the city of Mumbai in India, where an estimate of 54% of the population lives in an informal settlement. This is mainly due to the large influx of people from the hinterland, and the city’s inability to keep up with infrastructure, housing construction and amenities in general. Although these are mostly meant as a temporal settlement and are often only tolerated because of the absence of other plans for the area. In some cases, they are maintained, and are there to stay. Some favela’s (the brazilian equivalent of a slum) in the city of Rio de Janeiro are now over 70 years old

and have developed a certain degree of organization. Committees are formed to spread amenities such as running water and electricity. In some cases, inhabitants succeed in becoming the owner of the land and are able to improve their dwellings. Despite improvements, overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and pollution, disease is rampant in the poorer neighborhoods, not even mentioning the crime rate. These kinds of problems pop up wherever people are living in cramped conditions, not only in slums. Another example where they arise are refugee camps. Zaatari camp in Jordan is the biggest camp for Syrian civil war refugees, and houses around 80.000 people, twice that of an average municipality in the Netherlands. The camp was opened in July 2012 and quadrupled in size during the following years. Most of the refugees housed here live in tents or trailers, the only permanent structures being washing/ sanitary facilities, and some small shops. When considering the suffering people endure in these camps, it is curious to think that some people choose to live in these conditions as a way of leisure: Every year, in a desert on the other side of the world from Zaatari, a festival is held called burning man. Here, people from all over the world gather in a tent camp hundreds of meters across for a week.The festival focuses on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance, and is one of the most well-known festivals

Sources: Bilton, N. (2014, 20 augustus). At Burning Man, the Tech Elite One-Up One Another. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes. com/2014/08/21/fashion/at-burningman-the-tech-elite-one-up-oneanother.html Burning Man. (z.d.). History. https:// burningman.org/culture/history/brchistory/afterburn/06-2/history/ Life in Za’atari, the largest Syrian refugee camp in the world. (2020, 6 augustus). Oxfam International. https://www.oxfam.org/en/lifezaatari-largest-syrian-refugee-campworldMahovac, J. (z.d.). Typisch: favela’s van Rio de Janeiro. ZuidAmerika.nl. https:// w w w. z u i d a m e r i k a . n l / b r a z i l i e / reisgids/typisch-favela-s-van-riode-janeiro/#:%7E:text=In%20 1897%20worden%20de%20 eerste,de%20soldaten%20 Morro%20da%20Favela. MEET THE FAVELAS. (z.d.). ipanema. https://ipanema.com/rio/basics/e/ favela.htm School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, & Risbud, N. (2011). Urban Slums Reports: The case of Mumbai, India. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ dpu-projects/Global_Report/pdfs/ Mumbai.pdf

on the globe. Obviously, conditions are vastly different from those of the Zaatari camp, but one cannot unsee the physical resemblance when comparing pictures. Once considered an underground gathering for bohemians and free spirits of all stripes, Burning Man has since evolved into a destination for social media influencers, celebrities and the Silicon Valley elite. It is weird to think that where these settlements were originally only relevant for the populations standing on the bottom of the societal ladder, they now serve a bigger public, and do not always correspond with poor living environments.

Pictures: Unsplash.com Dezeen.com Slow-journalism.com

Leander Krijnen

Year 28, number 62 - May 2021

MASTER PROJECT

WORKING TOWARDS A HEALTHY LIVING ENVIRONMENT What is a healthy living environment? That was the first question of the urbanism master project, focusing on how the built environment could design an environment that encourages people to go outside, to interact with each other and to live sustainably. After researching this topic, the rather abstract question was put into practice by redesigning a part of the village of Aalst. Aalst is a village located in the south of the city of Eindhoven and consists of two neighbourhoods; Aalst and Ekenrooi. Those two neighbourhoods are separated from each other by a green finger. As a result, the high-quality green surrounding Aalst is continued in the village. The presence of this green area is connected with the river Tongelreep flowing through, as a result, the greenery is preserved throughout time. This project focuses on this green area. Green fingers become more and more important in urban design as a means to bring greenery closer to the built environment. Extra greenery is beneficial for countering climate change and increasing the quality of life for citizens. Another reason to focus on this area is because of its location. From researching social cohesion, this area in-between the two neighbourhoods is particularly interesting. How do these two neighbourhoods relate to each other?

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What kind of activities are happening in this in-between area? When taking a closer look into this green area, it becomes clear that the apparent green finger is separated into detached patches of greenery on a local scale. The green area is penetrated by different roads and is less continuous than expected. Besides that, the greenery and the river are poorly accessible, making the area a separating factor between the two neighbourhoods instead of a connecting one. By interviewing citizens of the village of Aalst, this was confirmed. They mentioned that Aalst could use more ‘social spots’ in their direct environment, providing a place where they could engage with the community. Preferable those sports needed to be placed in greenery, countering the stony atmosphere of the village. The unused green finger offered a great opportunity to implement this. By taking the existing greenery as a basis and focussing on improving the quality of both the green and social aspects, the project area will become an area where people want to go to. It offers a place where people can be social in a healthy and pleasant environment. To achieve this vision, the first step is to change the green zone inbetween Aalst and Ekenrooi into a continuous green zone of high quality. Therefore, it is also important to connect this greenery with the already present greenery surrounding the village. The second step

is to intertwine the greenery and the river with the surrounding village. As a result, the greenery becomes a part of the village, where the citizens can use nature to its full potential. To achieve a more intertwined area it is important to add functions in the greenery, for example, public sporting, more community projects and local facilities. By making the waterfront accessible and improving the visual connections between the built environment and nature, the area becomes a spot where activities and interactions can take place. This vision resulted in the overall master plan of the area. The masterplan focuses on the three most important changes: an accessible river, better connections and accessibility, and more activities. Changing the waterfront to make the river more accessible is an important part of the vision.The river can be transformed by several different changes. In the central portion of the project area, it is for example beneficial to replace greenery. Currently, there are many bushes and trees in-between the river and the sidewalk. By moving the greenery to the other side of the river the visual connection would be improved. By adding elements to the waterfront, such as decks and stairs, more urban types of accessibility are achieved. Lastly, a slowly declining waterfront, suitable for the more natural areas in Aalst, is added. This will widen the river more, beneficial for water storage and is easily accessible for humans and animals.

TITEL

Lastly, it is important to add more activities and functions in the area to make the greenery more public. As a result, there is more activity on the street and the greenery becomes a destination people want to go to. As said, the area offers walking routes through nature. Moreover, a public sports facility, a place for urban activities, a community centre and other facilities (such as local shops) are added. The participants of the interview mentioned that if you are not part of an association, there is not much to do in the village. By adding urban activities (e.g. a survival track) people can participate in sports individually or with a group of friends. The strategic plan for the area touches on the most important themes when designing the environment in a healthy and future proof way: enabling a stronger social cohesion, investing in high-quality continuous green and mixed-land use, all accessible within walking distance. Therefore the already present greenery is transformed into a place with more potential, offering a space for people to socialize in nature. Marije De Boer

Tactical Urbanism

The design focuses a lot on connections, both social and green. The green connections have the goal to create a green finger by making the area continuous and more integrated into the landscape. This is achieved by adding streetscape green, removing old

houses located at strategic important points and transforming inaccessible private areas into public spaces. The social connections focus on a stronger east-west connection (adding more bicycle/pedestrian routes from east to west), visual connections (adding houses to improve the natural surveillance in the area), continuous walking (connected walking routes through nature) and an activity hub/community centre in-between the two neighbourhoods.

Year 28, number 62 - May 2021

GRADUATION PROJECT

FROM BAAN TO BOULEVARD The historical development of the city of Antwerp and its urban expansion are strongly related to the infrastructural and industrial development of the city. A spatial phenomena which resulted from this infrastructural oriented development is ribbonization: the attraction of buildings along existing infrastructure, creating a more or less enclosed wall of buildings along the road. This phenomena not only takes place in Antwerp, but also characterizes the urban landscape in Flanders. The network of stone roads (linear paved roads connecting the main towns in Belgium from the 18th century) provided a good condition for this ribbonization. Also after WWII, this process of ribbonization continued at a larger scale along the national infrastructural system of waterways, railways and highways. This national network was used as a framework for economic development at a national level. This process resulted in industrial corridors between the larger cities in Belgium. One of these main infrastructural corridors is the highway A12 between Antwerp and Brussel, partly following the path of the Boomsesteenweg. In the historical development of the road, a transition can be observed from a historical stone road with housing scattered along it to a car oriented highway with large scale retail. Hereby, the road became more and more an infrastructural border interrupting the urban area of Antwerp.This problem was the starting point for developing a new urban strategy for the city and a new urban design for the Boomsesteenweg. Because of the existing radial infrastructural system of the city of Antwerp, the radial roads like the Boomsesteenweg function as the main entrance

Process of ribbonization, losing relation between road and hinterland

Residential

Retail

Industry

Municipal road

National road

Highway

Relationship between scale of function and road profile

roads for cars towards the city. This in combination with the large amount of car oriented retail (like the typical Belgium ‘baanwinkel’) and industry along the roads results in a heavy traffic pressure on these roads. Therefore, a new infrastructural system for the city of Antwerp has been proposed in order to release the radial roads from the heavy pressure of car traffic. By reviving the plans for a larger ring around Antwerp, the R2, the distribution system of the city can be changed and the role of the main roads into multi modal arteries for locar distribution.The large scale industry along the current radial roads can be shifted to the new ring. Hereby, the composition of the large scale industry and the new ring can shape a new clearly defined border for the city.

Linear development of industry along radials

Shifting industry to concentric ring road

Open spaces become framed as urban green zones

Opportunity for urban development along radials

In order to visualize this transformation of the radial roads, the Boomsesteenweg has been used as a case study for the transformation from car oriented stone road into a 21st century boulevard. The relationship between mobility, function and volume was the main focus for the design of the boulevard. In the road profile of the boulevard, slow traffic and public transport are the priority and are positioned in a green park strip in the center of the profile. By limiting the difference in maximum speed between adjacent traffic lanes, the boulevard becomes more approachable for slow traffic and becomes less an infrastructural border. The classical principles for the design of a boulevard, like the deviation between unity and variety in the street wall, are used for the composition of the facades along the boulevard. The introduced building blocks will transform the program of the area from a monofunctional car oriented retail program into a mixed use program consisting of housing, commercial program and neighborhood functions. Hereby, the transformed street profile in combination with the new program and building block typology provide a spatial elaboration for the 21st century boulevard in Antwerp. Dennis Aalbersberg

Profile of the current highway and parallel roads, without a clear street wall

New radial concentric strategy for the city, where the radial roads become urban boulevards

Year 28, number 62 - May 2021

Profile of the new boulevard, with maximum speed per lane

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