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Stedebouwkundig(e) ontwerpen in woorden: Honderd jaar stedebouwkundige begrippen
Get PDFThe realisation of an urban design involves many players, such as designers, critics, politicians, journalists, public relations specialists and residents. In order to consult with each other they make use of drawings, but also frequently of words, to be able to interpret the drawn objects in the plans. But are these urbanistic notions used by everyone in the same way? And have there been noticeable changes in their usage or meaning over time? This urbanistic and linguistic doctoral research addresses these questions.
The problem statement is as follows. Both during the design and realisation phases of urbanistic plans and during the present-day study of plans from the past, it turns out that the most important urbanistic notions — words that refer to the drawn objects — are not used uniformly (with the same meaning) by the designers, the other actors and contemporary researchers. This lack of clarity on terminology is a hindrance to good planning, design interpretation, communication and project realisation. It is therefore necessary to find out which actors are using which words (linguistic signs) and with which meaning, how these relate to the drawings (visual signs) and ultimately to the reality (built objects), and what changes have taken place since the initial planning phase.
To define the scope of the research, words have been selected that refer to concrete, physical design phenomena in three so-called semantic fields: the structure of the city plan (for example, stad [city] and buurt [neighbourhood]), types of public spaces (for example, straat [street] and park [park]) and types of buildings (for example, huis [house] and winkel [shop]). As a further restriction, the use of such words has been investigated in texts written by five types of actors: designers, colleagues, politicians, journalists and (if present) public relations specialists. In order to connect the research to design practice, case studies were carried out on three comparable designs (extension plans) for the city of Amsterdam, each representing a different social context: Plan Zuid (1900-1917), Bijlmermeer (1962-1968) and IJburg (1995-2003).
Using theories from semiotics (the ‘study of signs’) a conceptual model is presented which can be used to describe urban design notions. This model is shaped like a rhombus, with the linguistic sign (word) on the left and the visual sign (drawn object) on the right. The meaning is given at the top and the (built) object in reality is at the bottom. The latter is not of particular importance in this study, however the meaning is all the more important: this can be further divided into the physical abstraction on the one hand and the subjective concept on the other. This last component in particular can differ among various actors, for instance due to the actor’s motive and the frame of associations that the word evokes.
The method used for the case study comprises four steps per semantic field (and within this per drawn object). Starting from a designed drawn object, it is first investigated which words were used by the designer(s) and with which meanings. This enables insight into the ‘articulate and convince’ mechanism used by the designers, and in many cases the combination of word and drawing provides additional insights into the plans (sub-question 1). Then it is examined to what extent contemporaries — colleagues, politicians, journalists and public relations specialists — applied their own ‘articulate and convince’ mechanism to the drawn object, by ‘accepting or rejecting’ the words used by the designer(s). This gives insight into differences in word use as well as strategic motives (sub-question 2). Finally, the development of the words to date is researched, using historical and etymological dictionaries, and the realisation of the drawn objects is considered. This provides insights into the relationship between object, word and meaning in both the planning period (synchronic, at the same point in time) and in the development between then and now (diachronic, through time); patterns are evident in both cases (sub-question 3).
Based on the designers’ use of words (sub-question 1) it can be determined that plan explanations written by the designers (the written language) in all three cases display similarities with their plan drawings (the ‘drawn language’) in terms of structure, focus, detail and progressiveness; while the combination of text and image in particular tells the full story. The designers use different motives to convince other actors, especially in a functional, technocratic or figurative way. Studying the plan explanations also produced many additional insights into the designs, compared with simply analysing the plan drawings.
In Berlage’s Plan Zuid, the development of a collective society was central, with ‘worker palaces’ surrounded by monumental, leafy avenues. Based on his ‘Explanatory Memorandum’ and his original plan drawing — which strikingly was not made public due to the amount of detail — Berlage’s written language and his visual language can best be described as precise, functional and comprehensive, and includes a kind of ‘rules for visual quality’ in terms of blokbouw [block construction] and bijzondere bebouwing [special buildings]. The design focused on monumental public spaces, which were drawn in great detail in a geometric network of long lines on four hierarchical levels.
The design for the Bijlmermeer was aimed at creating a kind of ‘super collective’: a socially-engineered society made up of identical residents, for which a single ideal home and residential area would suffice, with 90% high-rise buildings in green areas. Nassuth’s and his team’s use of words and drawings can be characterised as abstract, technocratic and sometimes even hermetic (not focused on communicating). The employees of the Urban Development Department drafted their design as though it was a construction drawing for a machine, with strictly separated flows and planes. The plan explanations also read more like technical manuals, including incomprehensible abbreviations, such as I.C.G. (inrichting voor het collectieve gebruik [arrangement for collective use]).
In the design for IJburg an attempt was made to strike a balance between diversity and regularity. The written and drawn language of the initial phase of the plan demonstrate how expressive, symbolic and metaphorical it is. Because IJburg was to be constructed on the open IJmeer, the initial plan drawings and explanations had to win over opponents of the project. It is no coincidence that almost all drawings in the ‘Memorandum of Starting Points’ were sketches and the most important drawing - Palmboom’s bird’s eye view - only used the symbolic ‘natural colours’ of blue and green; as if the development of IJburg would make the IJmeer more natural. Metaphorical concepts such as groene tunnel [green tunnel] (in reality neither green nor a tunnel), vizier [visor] (in the sense of ‘openness’), onderwaterlandschap [underwater landscape] and eilandenstad [island city], and positive archetypes such as boulevard, stadsstraat [city street] and laan [avenue], fitted in well with this almost manipulative use of visual language.
As far as the use of words by the other actors, their motives and mutual communication is concerned (sub-question 2), it turns out that contemporaries may be attributing alternative meanings to the words that they are copying from the designers, and that they can use alternative words when they reject the ones of the designers. In doing so, colleagues in particular use negative and neutral alternatives to distance themselves, politicians do use the designer’s words but they also sometimes use more concrete alternatives, journalists use well-known but neutral alternatives instead of jargon, and public relations specialists use both the designer’s words and sometimes even jargon.
For the relationships between the object, word and meaning (sub-question 3) four synchronic patterns were found (unambiguity, synonymy or variations, polysemy (multiple meanings), and overlap), and four diachronic patterns (continuity, new words, outdated words, and changes of meaning). In historical research urbanistic notions must therefore be seen in their historical context, because they can change in various ways, sometimes even unnoticed, easily resulting in possible misinterpretation.
This research has produced various general implications. On a linguistic level it can be said that, among other things, urbanistic linguistic and visual signs refer to a meaning in the head of the person who uses them, just like other signs, but because they also refer to a future object that does not yet exist in reality, the creation process of both types of signs is complicated. In an urbanistic sense, changes within a few pairs of concepts are particularly notable, such as stad [city] and land [country], buurt [neighbourhood] and wijk [district], straat [street] and weg [road], and huis [house] and woning [dwelling]. The research reveals a number of general shifts, such as those between government and market, between urbanistic and architectural design, between urbanism and other fields, and in the role of language and communication. Above all it demonstrates that there is a close relationship between drawing and language, and hopefully, thanks to this research, that relationship has become a little clearer for all actors involved
Pregledi održivosti i otpornosti građene sredine
Get PDFOdrživa i otporna graÄ‘ena sredina je složen sistem čije se značenje kontinualno razvija. Cilj ove publikacije je da problemu održivosti i otpornosti pristupi kroz sistematsko istraživanje različitih segmenata i razmera izgraÄ‘enog okruženja, odnosno da predstavljanjem preglednih radova (poglavlja), meÄ‘u kojima je uspostavljena odgovarajuÇa funkcionalna veza, podstakne razvoj specijalizovanog znanja, podigne kritičku svest o potrebi za interdisciplinarnim i transdiciplinarnim istraživanjem i ojača vezu izmeÄ‘u univerzitetskog obrazovanja i naučnog istraživanja. Analiza razvoja održivosti i otpornosti, istraživanje aktuelnih pitanja i predviÄ‘anja o moguÇoj održivoj i otpornoj buduÇnosti zajedno omoguÇavaju sveobuhvatno razumevanje ovih koncepata i njihovih meÄ‘usobnih odnosa u kontekstu graÄ‘ene sredine.
Publikacija je izbor recenziranih radova, objavljenih na engleskom jeziku u okviru tematske serije pod naslovom Reviews of Sustainability and Resilience of the Built Environment for Education, Research and Design. I pomenuta serija i ova publikacija predstavljaju rezultate Erazmus+ projekta Stvaranje mreže laboratorija znanja za održive i otporne sredine (skr. en. KLABS), koji je posveÇen uspostavljanju sveobuhvatne obrazovne platforme u okviru drugog ciklusa visokog obrazovanja na prostoru zapadnog Balkana. Å iri cilj svih KLABS publikacija je bio da se razviju pregledi održivosti i otpornosti graÄ‘ene sredine, korisni za studente, nastavnike, istraživače i stručnjake koji se ovim važnim temama bave na meÄ‘unarodnom nivou.
Publikacija se sastoji iz dva dela. Prvi se bavi održivoÅ¡Çu i otpornoÅ¡Çu urbanog prostora a drugi nivoom zgrada. Istraživanje počinje teorijskim pregledom istorijske i savremene debate o problemu urbanizacije u svrhu razumevanja i novih tumačenja (urbane) održivosti. Zatim se tumače poreklo, istorija i razvoj koncepta otpornosti, evolucija njegove definicije, tipovi i ključni principi. U treÇem poglavlju istraživanje je usmereno na neka fundamentalna pitanja u okviru socio-kulturoloÅ¡ke ravni graÄ‘ene sredine. SledeÇe poglavlje pruža pregled pojmova i strategija koncepata Àžefikasnosti resursa“ i Àžotpornosti“, prikazuje njihova zajednička područja delovanja, kao i potencijalne protivrečnosti i suprotnosti, u svrhu nalaženja uzajamne ravnoteže i davanja doprinosa ispunjavanju Å¡irih ciljeva održivosti. Istraživanje alternativnih modela potroÅ¡nje, potrebnih za postizanje održivih urbanih transformacija, predstavlja predmet petog poglavlja u okviru ove publikacije. U nastavku se pažnja usmerava na rekonstrukciju trenutnog naučnog istraživanja i nalaženje ograničenja i moguÇnosti inicijativa koje su do sada preduzete, kao i na sintezu metodoloÅ¡kih i praktičnih predloga, kako bi se javnoj upravi i lokalnim organima ponudio Àžpraktičan način” stvaranja efikasnijih klimatskih politika i planova. ÀžPouka Milana”, u sedmom poglavlju, pokazuje kako aktivno uključivanje poljoprivrednika može pomoÇi javnim politikama, Å¡titeÇi zajedničko dobro u teÅ¡kim okolnostima i dajuÇi povod za alternativne načine planiranja; ona naročito može da inspiriÅ¡e istraživanje u kontekstima gde su otvoreni prostori oko gradova ugroženi, a uključivanje u proces donoÅ¡enja odluka predstavlja cilj koji treba postiÇi. U poslednjem poglavlju prvog dela elaboriraju se definicija, klasifikacija i kritička analiza uticaja braunfilda na okruženje i definiÅ¡u ciljevi održivosti koje treba postiÇi kroz njihovu obnovu i ponovni razvoj.
Drugi deo publikacije počinje uspostavljanjem veze izmeÄ‘u efikasnog koriÅ¡Çenja prirodnih resursa i smanjenja ekoloÅ¡kih uticaja zgrada. Ovde se daje pregled sadaÅ¡njih trendova i izazova u pogledu upotrebe energije, materijala, vode i zemljiÅ¡ta i promiÅ¡ljaju moguÇi scenariji efikasne buduÇnosti u kojoj bi Å¡ire socijalne i ekonomske sheme postale relevantnije za uspeÅ¡no projektovanje ekoloÅ¡ki ispravnih zgrada. Fokus se, zatim, usmerava na analizu složenosti i dinamike klimatskih promena kao ključnih faktora u oblikovanju strategija za projektovanje zgrada otpornih na delovanje klime. Na osnovu značaja sagledanih rizika, varijabilnosti i neizvesnosti u vezi sa klimatskim promenama izvodi se opÅ¡ti projektantski okvir, obrazlaže značenje termina Àžtransponovani regionalizam“ i diskutuje odnos izmeÄ‘u otpornosti i adaptacije zgrada u (ne)izvesnoj klimatskoj buduÇnosti. U treÇem poglavlju drugog dela istražuju se meÄ‘usobni odnosi održive arhitekture i arhitekture otporne na promenu klime tako Å¡to se uporeÄ‘uju njihovi osnovni postulati i analiziraju ključni ciljevi, kroz prizmu uzajamnih (ne)konzistentnosti. SledeÇe poglavlje obrazlaže hijerarhijski pristup projektovanju održivih zgrada i daje pregled niza aktivnih i pasivnih projektantskih mera koje su, pre svega, u funkciji postizanja energetske efikasnosti, poput toplotne zaÅ¡tite, ostvarivanja solarnih dobitaka, disipacije toplote, generisanja toplote, aktivnog ventilisanja i hlaÄ‘enja, kao i generisanja električne energije iz obnovljivih izvora. Energetska svojstva i toplotni komfor u zgradama, u petom poglavlju drugog dela, razmatrani su sa aspekta uticaja materijala. Na primeru karakterističnih tipova stambenih zgrada sa područja Beograda, koje su prikazane i analizirane, razmatran je stepen zadovoljavanja ukupnih zahteva komfora, kao i meÄ‘uzavisnost koja postoji izmeÄ‘u različitih tipova komfora (toplotnog, vazduÅ¡nog, zvučnog i svetlosnog). Poslednje poglavlje prikazuje činjenice i primere koji su relevantni za razumevanje i primenu metodologije ocene životnog ciklusa u različitim projektantskim i inženjerskim okvirima. Ovde se detaljno analizira struktura metode ocene životnog ciklusa (en. Life Cycle Assessment — LCA), koja se koristi za kvantifikovanje ekoloÅ¡kih uticaja
ne—xt facades: Proceedings of the COST Action TU1403 Adaptive Facades Network Mid-term Conference
Get PDFThe ne-xt facades conference is the official International Mid-term Conference of the European COST Action TU1403 ‘Adaptive Facades Network’, an international scientific cooperation with the aim to harmonise, share and disseminate technological knowledge on adaptive facades on the European level. During the mid-term conference first results are presented to stakeholders from industry and design and to the public. The goal is to share knowledge and discuss novel facade concepts, effective evaluation tools and design methods for adaptive facades. Alongside the contributions from members of the COST Action, the conference received many contributions from external researchers and the industry. This added to the interesting debate about adaptive facades we believe it was an excellent stage to test the first results of the COST Action
Managing Social Condominiums: Strategies for third sector intermediaries to support low-income homeowners in Chile
Get PDFLow-income homeowners face financial and social constraints that are serious challenges to providing adequate maintenance. The fact of owning a property should lead to material progress, security and income opportunities to cope with poverty, however these benefits depend on the capacity of homeowners to keep the property in good condition, and also on the opportunities and support generated by the context and the institutions involved. If these conditions are not guaranteed, low income households are at risk of experiencing unsuccessful ownership processes that may perpetuate poverty conditions. In the case of multi-owned buildings, also known as condominiums, the tension between individual and collective needs also affects maintenance, and entails additional challenges in terms of organisation, social relations and the use of common property areas.
In Chile, subsidies and credit facilities, combined with the massive construction of low-cost housing, enabled low income groups to access homeownership, and social condominiums are a significant part of the affordable owner-occupied housing stock, however after decades of occupancy, this housing stock shows signs of deterioration and devaluation due to neglected maintenance. This situation is the result of a multi-causal problem involving the construction and architectural deficiencies of the dwellings provided, the financial and social constraints of the owners, problems of coexistence and cultural differences between residents of different backgrounds, and deteriorated internal organisations. The challenge of condominium maintenance in Chile is twofold. On the one hand, it includes the financial and social restrictions faced by homeowners that decrease their collective capacity to take care of building maintenance. On the other hand, it includes institutional limitations with regard to housing and condominium management in terms of regulations, institutions, and actors. Given the weak governmental support for maintenance practices and post-occupation process, third sector organisations are positioning themselves as alternatives that provide technical solutions and contribute to improving opportunities among deprived communities.
This thesis explores the role of Chilean third sector organisations as part of the solution to support homeowners in condominium improvement and management. The following research question is asked: what are effective and feasible strategies for third sector organisations to support Chilean low income homeowners in the management of social condominiums?.
In order to answer the main question, key questions are organised into three main parts: conceptualisation, analysis and proposal. The general research design is based on case study analysis in order to expand the type and range of solutions, given the limited experience of the Chilean third sector in condominium management activities. The first part, conceptualisation, presents the societal problem of low income homeownership through the lenses of condominium management and the specific situation of social condominiums in Santiago, Chile. The main findings are the identification of condominium management dimensions and interrelated challenges according to technical, organisational and sociocultural dimensions. Sociocultural problems related to knowledge, the culture of maintenance, trust and individualism were identified as important triggers for organisational and technical problems. The section ends with the development of an analytical framework to describe and evaluate interventions by third sector organisations in condominiums. The core of the framework is the intermediation that comprises the activities and the process developed by the organisation to improve management dimensions, and it is described through three overlapping roles: implementers, catalysts and partners. The framework also includes the concept of institutionalisation, which describes the relationship between the organisation and the institutional framework.
The second part, analysis, comprises the case study analysis of third sector organisations in housing management through one local case (Proyecto Propio, Chile) and two international cases (VVE-010, The Netherlands and SDV, Spain). The Chilean case study focuses on the improvement of deteriorated social condominiums in Santiago, and aims to identify the possibilities and limitations of a local practice. The case of VVE-010 explores the technical and organisational dimensions of condominium management and the role of the municipality in the maintenance of owner-occupied housing stock. The case of SDV explores the sociocultural and organisational dimensions of housing management and the role of civil society organisations in the management of their own neighbourhoods. Given that the practices respond to a particular context and specific community needs, this research follows a systematic process of lesson-drawing to ensure the adequate implementation of the learnings according to the characteristics of the Chilean context.
The third part, proposal, provides a synthesis by combining the lessons of the analysis with a set strategies (and their respective measures) to tackle the management challenges identified in the first part. Two type of strategies were defined by their goals: those aiming at intermediation (i.e. to improve management conditions) and those aiming at institutionalisation (i.e. improving the conditions under which the organisation intervenes). The goals are the following:
To improve built environment conditions, levelling the physical conditions of condominiums
To activate passive communities and promote leadership
To provide training in condominium management
To provide services for long-term administration and maintenance
To promote better coexistence and reduce conflict
To enhance organisational resources to intervene
To improve the institutional capacity in relation to condominium management
The selection of, and priorities for, the application of the strategies were defined by two main variables related to the context, and to the organisation that carries them out, represented in two matrices that define the typologies of the initial situations and management approaches. The typology of the initial situation describes the problems in condominiums according to the management conditions, and municipal capacity in relation to condominium management. The typology of the management approach is defined by the combination of roles and the scope of the intervention, representing overlapping and complementary ways to intermediate in social condominiums. The strategies and the typologies were discussed with third sector organisations and municipalities in a validation process which evaluated the adequacy and relevance of the typologies, and the feasibility and effectiveness of the strategies. Whilst the initial situations are relevant to identify potential barriers and enablers for the intermediation (in relation to municipal capacity) and to prioritise the strategies (in relation to management conditions), the management approaches are relevant to expanding the potential of third sector participation in Chile by promoting specialisation according to the challenges identified.
Feasible and effective strategies with which third sector organisations can support low income homeowners in the management of social condominiums are multi-dimensional, so as to tackle the interrelated challenges. They are developed from the capacity of the third sector organisation as intermediary, meaning that they respond to catalyst and implementer roles to address management challenges at the condominium level by contributing to increase the community’s capacities and level the built environment conditions. Given the social complexities of deprived neighbourhoods, integral interventions, but also trained organisations, are required. The partner role is therefore included to foster the specialisation of third sector organisations and collaboration between local public and private organisations.
Overall, the dissertation addresses the maintenance problem from the external action of third sector intermediaries in order to catalyse better management practices. The strategies altogether seek to achieve autonomous condominiums in which homeowners have the tools and the capacities to maintain an internal organisation, and have access to the professional services that allow them to provide adequate maintenance in the long-term, and manage the existing but limited resources efficiently.
The dissertation contributes to filling knowledge gaps regarding the concept of housing management in the Latin American context. It also proposes a problem-solving perspective by introducing the role of third sector intermediaries as one of the solutions, exploring different approaches and respective strategies to intermediate in the field of condominium management. The main limitations of the study are related to the specific applicability of the strategies to the Chilean context, but further developments are related to action research exploration, and an evaluation of the capacity of civil society organisations such as neighbourhood associations in the management of their own neighbourhoods.
 
Dissemination, Future Research and Education: Adaptive Facade Network
Get PDFThis booklet is one of three final documentations of the results of the COST-Action TU 1403 ‘ADAPTIVE FACADE NETWORK’ to be published next to the proceedings of the Final COST Conference ‘FACADE 2018 — ADAPTIVE!’ and a Special Issue of the Journal of Façade Design & Engineering (JFDE).
While the proceedings and the journal present current scientific research papers selected through a traditional peer review process, these three final documentations have another focus and objective. These three documentations will share a more holistic and comparative view to the scientific and educational framework of this COST-Action on adaptive facades with the objective to generate an overview and a summary — different from the more specific approach of the proceedings and connecting to the first publication that was presenting the participating institutions. The three titles are the following and are connected to the deliverables of the responsible Working Groups (WG):
Booklet 3.1 Case Studies (WG1)
Booklet 3.2 Building Performance Simulation and Characterisation of Adaptive Facades (WG2)
Booklet 3.3 Dissemination, Future Research and Education (WG4)
Booklet 3.1 concentrates on the definition and classification of adaptive facades by describing the state of the art of real-world and research projects and by providing a database to be published on COST TU 1403 website (http://tu1403.eu/). Booklet 3.2 focusses on comparing simulation and testing methods, tools and facilities. And finally, Booklet 3.3 documents the interdisciplinary, horizontal and vertical networking and communication between the different stakeholders of the COST-Action organised through Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM), Training Schools and support sessions for Early Stage Researchers (ESR) / Early Career Investigators (ECI), industry workshops, and related surveys as specific means of dissemination to connect research and education. All three booklets show the diversity of approaches to the topic of adaptive facades coming from the different participants and stakeholders, such as: architecture and design, engineering and simulation, operation and management, industry and fabrication and from education and research. The tasks and deliverables of Working Group 4 were organized and supported by the following group members and their functions:
— Thomas Henriksen, Denmark ESR/ECI
— Ulrich Knaack, The Netherlands Chair (2015-16)
— Thaleia Konstantinou, The Netherlands ESR/ECI
— Christian Louter, The Netherlands Vice-Chair, STSM Coordinator
— Andreas Luible, Switzerland Website, Meetings
— David Metcalfe, United Kingdom Training Schools
— Uta Pottgiesser, Germany Chair (2017-18)
As editors and Chairs, we would like to thank the Working Group members and authors from other Working Groups for their significant and comprehensive contributions to this booklet. Moreover, we sincerely thank Ashal Tyurkay for her great assistance during the whole editing and layout process. We also want to thank COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology)
sustainable and resilient building design: approaches, methods and tools
Get PDFThe challenges to which contemporary building design needs to respond grow steadily. They originate from the influence of changing environmental conditions on buildings, as well as from the need to reduce the impact of buildings on the environment. The increasing complexity requires the continual revision of design principles and their harmonisation with current scientific findings, technological development, and environmental, social, and economic factors. It is precisely these issues that form the backbone of the thematic book, Sustainable and Resilient Building Design: Approaches, Methods, and Tools.
The purpose of this book is to present ongoing research from the universities involved in the project Creating the Network of Knowledge Labs for Sustainable and Resilient Environments (KLABS). The book starts with the exploration of the origin, development, and the state-of-the-art notions of environmental design and resource efficiency. Subsequently, climate change complexity and dynamics are studied, and the design strategy for climate-proof buildings is articulated. The investigation into the resilience of buildings is further deepened by examining a case study of fire protection. The book then investigates interrelations between sustainable and resilient building design, compares their key postulates and objectives, and searches for the possibilities of their integration into an outreaching approach. The fifth article in the book deals with potentials and constraints in relation to the assessment of the sustainability (and resilience) of buildings. It critically analyses different existing building certification models, their development paths, systems, and processes, and compares them with the general objectives of building ratings. The subsequent paper outlines the basis and the meaning of the risk and its management system, and provides an overview of different visual, auxiliary, and statistical risk assessment methods and tools.
Following the studies of the meanings of sustainable and resilient buildings, the book focuses on the aspects of building components and materials. Here, the life cycle assessment (LCA) method for quantifying the environmental impact of building products is introduced and analysed in detail, followed by a comprehensive comparative overview of the LCA-based software and databases that enable both individual assessment and the comparison of different design alternatives. The impact of climate and pollution on the resilience of building materials is analysed using the examples of stone, wood, concrete, and ceramic materials. Accordingly, the contribution of traditional and alternative building materials to the reduction of negative environmental impact is discussed and depicted through different examples.
The book subsequently addresses existing building stock, in which environmental, social, and economic benefits of building refurbishment are outlined by different case studies. Further on, a method for the upgrade of existing buildings, described as ‘integrated rehabilitation’, is deliberated and supported by best practice examples of exoskeleton architectural prosthesis. The final paper reflects on the principles of regenerative design, reveals the significance of biological entities, and recognises the need to assign to buildings and their elements a more advanced role towards natural systems in human environments
Future roles for architects: an academic design guide
Get PDF‘Future Roles for Architects’ describes the core insights from a research project into new role structures in the Dutch architectural sector, conducted as part of the futurA project on “future value chains of architectural services”. For four years a joint team from Delft University of Technology and Radboud University in Nijmegen, working in close collaboration with BNA, the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects, studied the future of the professional roles performed by architectural firms within the broader construction process.
FuturA was one of 23 projects funded by NWO, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, in 2013 as part of the CLICK.NL programme, to strengthen knowledge about and innovation in the creative sector. The objective of this particular project was to better understand changes to the architectural profession arising out of ongoing social trends and the recent financial crisis, as well as to expose opportunities for the future. I believe that we have accomplished that mission very well.
Our professional consortium made up of De Zwarte Hond, EGM Architects, IAA Architects, JHK Architecten, Rothuizen, Ballast Nedam, Havensteder and the Studio of the Chief Government Architect (Atelier Rijksbouwmeester) has been of inestimable value. Twice a year, they helped us to critically examine our findings in “living lab” sessions against their own experiences in leading their own firms and in cooperating with partners in the building sector.
The members of the consortium and various other industry players were also generous in allowed us to gather data in their organisations. In line with the vision behind CLICK.NL — collaboration between curious researchers and entrepreneurial creative professionals — we have really invested jointly in knowledge and innovation to build a strong economy and a sustainable society. For me personally, this has been a most pleasant and inspiring process. I am therefore convinced that we will continue to work together beyond the duration of this project to enhance the innovative capability of the Dutch creative industry.
The architect “as entrepreneur” has long been a largely neglected topic in research on the construction industry. Thankfully, entrepreneurship has now become an accepted concept within the architectural sector. The Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA), for example, has developed many activities in this field. As a team, we are extremely proud of the enthusiasm with which our PhD students Marina Bos-de Vos and Bente Lieftink have foraged for scientific understanding amidst the forest of interesting practical examples and personal experiences in their respective areas of expertise. As a result of their efforts, we have not only been able to gather solid know-how about the creation and capture of professional, financial and use value, but also gained a good understanding of the various role structures within the construction supply chain, as well as the consolidation of changes to them.
This academic design guide for the architectural firm of the future is one of the products of our research. As well as providing theoretical insights into the architectural firm itself and into project collaboration in general, we present four practical role identities that architectural firms can take on within the construction process: “initiator”, “specialist”, “product developer” and “integrator”. The board game with cards accompanying this publication can be used in a variety of ways to stimulate collective reflection about the direction you as a firm want to take with a particular project and about which revenue models and collaborative strategies are best suited to that trajectory.
For each role identity, we present the most crucial professional challenges and opportunities facing the architectural firm as part of the supply chain. This should enable you to design your own role within a given project. But with that our task is complete. From here, it is up to you as a reader of this book and a player of the game to translate the lessons you learn into financially and professionally sustainable roles as an architect of the future
Jane Jacobs is still here: Jane Jacobs 100 Her legacy and relevance in the 21st Century
Get PDFOn the occasion of Jane Jacobs’ 100 anniversary, the chair of Spatial Planning and Strategy of the Delft University of Technology, together with the OTB Research Institute for the Built Environment and the Rotterdam Erasmus University College organised a two-day conference on Jane Jacob’s legacy at TU Delft on 24-25 May 2016. This event was complemented one year later by a ‘Jane Jacobs Year’ closing event.
We wished to celebrate the life and accomplishments of one of the most important urban thinkers of our time, someone who has influenced generations of designers and planners and others concerned with the built environment: the great Jane Jacobs.
Jacobs’ theories and ideas are seminal to many different academic fields: urban design, planning, architecture, sociology, human geography, environmental psychology, economic geography and many more. Her writings have been influential for more than five decades. This alone tells us of her importance for urban studies and for understanding the complex relationship between urban space and society.
This is reflected, among other things, in the immense popularity of Jane’s ideas among young planners and designers. A simple Google search of the term “urban planner” yields the following results: A line-up of male planners is headed by a woman, the most relevant of them all (at least according to Google’s algorithms), Jane Jacobs! This is ironic since Jane Jacobs would hardly see herself as a planner.
Maybe, like Roberta Gratz (who was a friend of Jacobs’), she was an ‘anti-planner’, someone with a keen eye for careful empirical observation, for whom cities ought to be understood from the careful exploration of how the built environment influences and is influenced by human life. Jacobs was an astute observer of the life of cities and the processes that produce both cities and citizenship.
In their contributions, the authors of the texts included in this book demonstrate how Jacobs is still relevant as a theorist in the realms of politics, economics and design, and how she can also help us understand how urban form yields meaning. But they also criticise and review her ideas in light of the experiences accumulated in more than 50 years since her main works were published, and the perspectives of places that have little similarity to New York or Toronto. This is relevant because indeed Jane Jacobs’ ideas are being reviewed reinterpreted and reinvented, and occasionally refuted, in contexts as diverse as Cairo, São Paulo or Addis Ababa. And it’s high time this happens.
The conference aimed to explore those new insights on Jacobs’ legacy and to take her ideas forward in the context of globalisation, internationalisation and accelerated urbanisation in places like China, India and Brazil. The intensity and scale of current urbanization are unprecedented and new challenges have emerged since she published her texts. How are the ideas of Jane Jacobs still relevant for the understanding of the interplay between urban space and society? Or do we need new theories? To what extent have Jacobs’ ideas inspired today’s urban leaders and thinkers? How are they tackling urban issues such as growing inequality, spatial fragmentation, street life, safety in the public space and environmental decline?
We discussed Jacobs’ ideas critically and to take stock of how those ideas have been used, misused and hopefully updated. We invited abstract submissions for six different tracks, exploring essential aspects of Jacobs’ ideas:
Track 1: Jane Jacobs, ethics, and the just city
Track 2: Jane Jacobs and Street Spaces — Streets as public places
Track 3: Jane Jacobs and the dynamics of neighbourhoods
Track 4: Jane Jacobs and the Reshaping old urban fabrics in Chinese cities
Track 5: Jane Jacobs and organised complexity Track 6: Jane Jacobs and safety in public space
The conference was organised by Roberto Rocco (TU Delft Urbanism), Brian Doucet (University of Waterloo, Canada, then Erasmus University College in Rotterdam) and Andre Ouwehand (TU Delft OTB)
Residents’ Perceptions of Impending Forced Relocation in Urban China: A case study of state-led urban redevelopment in Shenyang
Get PDFSince 1978, urban redevelopment in China has resulted in large-scale neighbourhood demolition and forced residential relocation, which can severely disrupt established people-place interactions in the demolished neighbourhoods. Urban redevelopment in China has also been criticized by the public and scholars, because the position of the residents in decision-making processes of urban redevelopment is often marginalized. Conflicts have arisen between the residents, local governments and developers, against the backdrop of the uneven redistribution of capital accumulated via urban space reproduction such as the replacement of declining neighbourhoods in which low-income residents reside, with newly-build high-rise dwellings for middle- or high-income residents (Qian and He 2012, Weinstein and Ren 2009). The aim of the thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of the influence of urban redevelopment and its induced forced relocation on residents, by investigating their behavioural and emotional responses to the state-led urban redevelopment in Shenyang, a Chinese city. In particular, it highlights the agency of the affected residents, through exploring their interactions with other stakeholders and through displaying the ambivalence embedded in their neighbourhood experiences.
The research firstly conceptualises forced relocation as a process and as a specific type of residential mobility that occurs in the context of urban restructuring. It suggests a conceptual model to show the sequence of events that households experience during urban redevelopment, by dividing forced relocation into three stages: the pre-demolition stage, the transitional stage and the post-relocation stage (chapter 2). This conceptual model helps to reduce the distraction caused by the accumulation of the dynamics of relocatees’ experience as the urban redevelopment proceeds over time, by capturing the sequence of the events that occur to relocatees during urban redevelopment. We used the model to structure the analysis of the literature review and subsequently identify the gaps in the literature that should be addressed in future forced relocation studies about China. We discovered that the experiences of relocatees from household and residential mobility perspectives reveal the dynamic, variable and complex nature of forced relocation, which makes forced relocation in urban China not necessarily equivalent to displacement.
We particularly targeted at the residents who are undergoing the pre-demolition stage of state-led national scale Shantytown Redevelopment Projects (SRPs) in Shenyang, a city in Northeast China. Since 2008, the central government has initiated SRPs to improve the living conditions of low-income residents living in declining neighbourhoods. Between 2008 and 2012, about 12.6 million households in China were involved in SRPs, and forced to move as their dwellings were demolished. These residents are stayed homeowners living in declining danwei communities and urban villages. They are among one of the most deprived social groups due to unemployment, low-income, serious illness etc., and cannot afford better dwellings. We found that (prospective) relocatees’ experiences at this stage are worthwhile to study. Their experiences and compensation choices at this stage can affect their follow-up housing experiences, since they need to make significant decisions with regard to the type and the amount of compensation (in-kind or monetary) that they can get from local governments and/or developers. However, current studies mainly target the relocatees who are already at the post-relocation stage to recall their pre-relocation experiences to evaluate the outcomes of forced relocation, which might lead to distorted retrospective accounts of their experiences and causes of their behavioural and emotional responses to the forced relocation (Goetz, 2013; Higgins and Stangor, 1998).
This pre-relocation stage is also the most stressful and conflicting stage for the relocatees involved in urban redevelopment and forced relocation. It is the stage that includes land expropriation, compensation negotiations and forced movement, after intensive interactions between residents and other stakeholders. In chapter 3, we discuss a complex interplay between different stakeholders, by focusing the implementation of SRPs and the changing roles of different stakeholders. Conflicts arise between different stakeholders, featured by frictions between the central and local governments regarding the implementation of SRPs, the mismatch occurs between the scope of the SRP policy and residents’ attempts to improve their socioeconomic situation, and an entrepreneurial paradox in the relationship between local governments and developers. However, we also discovered that various stakeholders have consensus on the need for improving the living conditions in deprived neighbourhoods and on boosting the housing market. In particular, by displaying the consensus between residents, local governments and developers, we reveal the agency of residents during urban redevelopment (see also Manzo et al., 2008; Posthumus and Kleinhans, 2014). To a certain extent, residents are willing to accept urban redevelopment and forced relocation to improve their living conditions. They also intend to maximize their benefits from the redevelopment, by mobilising strategies such as constructing illegal buildings to improve the overall value of their dwelling, or by making appeals to local governments to intervene in the redevelopment (chapter 4).
In addition, this research investigates the interaction between people (residents) and place (neighbourhoods) from the perspective of place attachment and ageing in place, to show the influences of urban redevelopment and forced relocation on the residents. By revealing the lived experiences of homeowners and older people in danwei communities and urban villages, we found that residents have ambivalent attitudes towards forced relocation and urban redevelopment. On the one hand, these residents anticipate a potential improvement of their living conditions via SRPs, because neighbourhood decline has been challenging their daily activities and decreasing their quality of life for years. From a people-place interaction point of view, this might be contradicting earlier research which emphasizes the more ‘romantic’ side of people-place interactions, such as place attachment and its related components (e.g. neighbourhood-based social networks and mutual help), that contribute to relocatees’ willingness to stay in their neighbourhoods when facing neighbourhood redevelopment and demolition (Fried, 1963; Manzo et al., 2008). On the other hand, many homeowners and older people are unwilling to move, since their current neighbourhood makes them feel rooted and enables them to develop living strategies to relieve their deprived socio-economic situation. Therefore, we suggest that when studying the influence of urban redevelopment on relocatees, the wider impacts of place attachment on their moving behaviour should be revealed by carefully examining their positive and negative lived experiences and the roles of different dimensions of place attachment (Livingston et al., 2010; Oakley et al., 2008; Vale, 1997).
Based on the aforementioned findings, several directions for the future research can be proposed. Firstly, more research on temporal changes of individual perceptions and experiences during and after urban redevelopment is needed. In particular, we propose to conduct a longitudinal panel survey following relocatees from the three stages to identify how and why forced relocation and urban redevelopment affect the well-being of the relocatees over time and how the outcomes of relocation vary over time. Second, the heterogeneity of the affected residents and the interrelationship of this heterogeneity with their experiences should also be addressed more specifically in future research. Finally, in addition to the declining urban neighbourhoods such as danwei communities, inner city old neighbourhoods and urban villages, other types of neighbourhoods involved in Shantytown Redevelopment Projects (SRPs) should be a focus of research, for example remote rural communities established by state-owned enterprises and enterprises specialised in mining, agricultural and forestry production. We suggest that more comparative studies should be conducted with regard to governance of SRPs and its influence on the relocatees from different regions and cities across China.
Our research findings can be useful for the central state and local governments to recognize the problems existing in SRPs, such as the disparity between the project scope and the expectations of the residents, the ignorance of the diverse needs of the affected residents, and the uncertainties and related negative influence on the residents in relation to the project implementation. We suggest local governments to consider the physical, social, economic and psychological influences of urban redevelopment on residents. In particular, the research suggests local governments to carefully design the compensation policy, which concerns the relocatees the most. The compensation criteria should cover various needs of relocatees regarding rehousing, such as dwelling size, nearby public and commercial facilities, and job opportunities. Local governments need to better investigate the socio-economic and family situations of affected residents before the redevelopment and forced relocation, since the needs and the expectations of different relocatees about redevelopment differ as well
Acoustically effective façades
Get PDFThe silhouettes of the great European metropolises are characterised by a high density of high-rise facades made of glass, metal or stone. On one hand this density stands for economic power and good employment values. On the other hand, the large sound-reflecting surfaces in the cities are responsible for an increase in sound pollution in their vicinity. They cause the most frequent inner-city sound source, traffic noise, to double in perceived intensity. Direct sound and reflected sound add up in the urban environment. This effect of sound level increase through reflection has been subject of acoustic research for some time. In architecture, however, the topic of noise reflection has been completely neglected. But it is exactly these concentration processes in the continuously growing metropolises that make architects face problems that they cannot solve with their own tools alone. For example, placing bedrooms in the quiet part of a building is only possible if there are quiet areas. But highly concentrated areas as a result of creating additional living space are often surrounded by 4 or more sound sources. Hereby, the noise originating from air traffic further aggravates the situation because this type of noise generally impacts the urban space from above. These developments require us to discuss the topic of the reflective properties of facades within the disciplines acoustics and architecture. The fundamental question was:
Is it possible to develop a design strategy that can be employed by architecture firms, and that enables them to develop facades for a quieter city in challenging urban situations