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BUILT UTOPIAS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE: THE RURAL AND THE MODERN IN FRANCO’S SPAIN
Get PDFAnchored by Hí¼ppauf and Umbach’s notion of Vernacular Modernism and focusing on architecture and urbanism during Franco’s dictatorship from 1939 to 1975, this thesis challenges the hegemonic and Northern-oriented narrative of urban modernity. It develops arguments about the reciprocal influences between the urban and the rural that characterize Spanish modernity, and analyzes the intense architectural and urban debates that resulted from the crisis of 1898, as they focused on the importance of vernacular architecture, in particular the Mediterranean one, in the definition of an “other modernity.” This search culminated before 1936 with the “Lessons of Ibiza,” and was revived at the beginning of the 1950s, when architects like Coderch, Fisac, Bohigas, and the cosigners of the Manifiesto de la Alhambra brought back the discourse of the modern vernacular as a politically acceptable form of Spanish modernity, and extended its field of application from the individual house and the rural architecture to the urban conditions, including social and middle-class housing. The core of the dissertation addresses the 20th century phenomenon of the modern agricultural village as built emergence of a rural paradigm of modernity in parallel or alternative to the metropolitan condition. In doing so, it interrogates the question of tradition, modernity, and national identity in urban form between the 1920s and the 1960s. Regarding Spain, it studies the actuation of the two Institutes that were created to implement the Francoist policy of post-war reconstruction and interior colonization–the Direccií³n General de Regiones Devastadas, and the Instituto Nacional de Colonizacií³n. It examines the ideological, political, urban, and architectural principles of Franco’s reconstruction of the devastated countryside, as well as his grand “hydro-social dream” of modernization of the countryside. It analyzes their role in national-building policies in liaison with the early 20th-century Regenerationist Movement of Joaquín Costa, the first works of hydraulic infrastructure under Primo de Rivera, and the aborted agrarian reform of the Second Republic. Inspired by the Zionist colonization of Palestine and Mussolini’s reclaiming of the Pontine Marshes, Falangist planners developed a national strategy of “interior colonization” that, along with the reclamation and irrigation of extensive and unproductive river basins, entailed the construction of three hundred modern villages or pueblos between 1940 and 1971. Each village was designed as a “rural utopia,” centered on a plaza mayor and the church, which embodied the political ideal of civil life under the nationalcatholic regime and evolved from a traditional town design in the 1940s to an increasingly abstract and modern vision, anchored on the concept of the “Heart of the City” after 1952. The program was an important catalyst for the development of Spanish modern architecture after the first period of autarchy and an effective incubator for a new generation of architects, including Alejandro de la Sota, Josí© Luis Ferní¡ndez del Amo, and others. Between tradition and modernity, these architects reinvented the pueblos as platforms of urban and architectonic experimentation in their search for a depurated rural vernacular and a modern urban form. Whereas abstraction was the primary design tool that Ferní¡ndez del Amo deployed to the limits of the continuity of urban form, de la Sota reversed the fundamental reference to the countryside that characterizes Spanish surrealism to bring surrealism within the process of rural modernization in Franco’s Spain
Welgelegen: Analyse van Hollandse buitenplaatsen in hun landschappen (1630-1730)
Get PDFAim and outline of the research
The aim of this dissertation is to identify and classify the various Holland country houses landscapes based on the most important factors and motives involved in building of the large amount country-houses between 1630 and 1730. The method combines research to tangible and intangible aspects of the spatial designs of country houses and their surroundings. The main research question is: what physical, societal and mental factors determined the position, orientation and composition of country estates in Holland built or transformed between 1630 and 1730? A second question is: can country estates be grouped on the basis of similar location and composition factors?
The research area is Holland and the period covers the years between 1630 and 1730. During this period Holland was the most influential province of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces. New was its form of government led by an upcoming urban elite with no noble origin. The urban elite created a new way of living for themselves.In the city, their houses were built according to the new fashion at streets planted with trees and with large gardens. Similarly they build country estates in the new way in the rural landscapes. In this study the word historic country estate is addressing the house and its garden as an ensemble and this is used for country houses (landgoederen) with a more rural function, as well as for suburban villas (buitenplaatsen) referring to houses for recreation and pleasure.
Societal relevance The need to describe Holland’s country estates landscapes is based on the growing attention in heritage policies for the link between the country estates and their surroundings. The attention resulted in attempts to describe estates and suburban villas as groups of country houses. Three phases can be identified in national policies regarding the preservation of country estates: preservation of the objects trees or main building since 1910s (phase 1), preservation of house and garden as an ensemble since 1980s (phase 2) and preservation of groups of estates and its surroundings describing them as biotopes since the 2000s (phase 3). To ensure the spatial quality of and the coherence between these country estates during phases of transformation a scientific approach of the coherence between country estates is required to guard historic continuity (Chapter 1).
Research approach
The research on classifying groups of country estates is based on a combination of cartographic research and a literature study of historic books on gardening from that period and is worked out on three scales. The research combines the distribution map with the most important themes, based on the literature study. Central to this study is the identifcation of the physical and compositional factors as well as the motives, determined by experience and use by creating of country estates and together they for the physical, social-societal and mental aspects. The most important themes were infrastructure, city and landscape. This information was combined with historic research to elements of the seventeenth century landscape, understanding the physical landscape. Information on personal social and mental motives of the owners for building the estate based on their descriptions in letters, books and diaries of the use and the experience of a country estate.
This research implies that the analysis encompasses not only the reading of the landscape but also the reading the authorship of the urban elite. People often used the Dutch word ‘Welgelegen’ to describe their choices, the word used in the title of this thesis. The word strictly means “well positioned” in modern Dutch but the descriptions show it can be interpreted better as well-functioning and entertaining.
Location and composition factors
The most important physical factors and motives, the answer to the first research question, were: a favorable location in the landscape (i.e., fertile soil, water, height differences, landscape gradients); a position along good and “entertaining” infrastructural connections (land and waterways); and a favorable relation with the city (view of and mental link to a city, accessibility and travel time). The factors were analyzed in relation to the described ideal layout of the plot (chapter 4), to the available infrastructure (chapter 5), to the landscape (chapter 6) and to the city (chapter 7). The three most important motives, stressing the mental and societal aspects were finance, societal and recreation.
Urban culture
Urban culture was found to be an important location and composition factor for the construction of country estates. This implies that country estates featured specific urban signatures, related to a specific city, its economy, its specific smell or industry. The analysis showed that country estates were part of the new fashion of living of the elite in a ‘green’ environment by the urban elite. This applied both to the house in the city and to the country estate situated in the rural landscapes. The construction of country estates is closely linked to the introduction of trees in the public realm, especially in the new-city layouts but also along the roads connecting the cities with the country estates. The self-conscious citizens chose not only to have a house in a modern architectural style in a rational layout, but also to have trees planted in the public space, so creating well-situated places. View lines to and from the city were important composition factors for most country estates (Chapter 7).
Infrastructure
The system of heerwegen (main road system between cities) was an important location and composition factor for the majority of the country houses in Holland. This had to do not only with the accessibility, but also with the sense of a pleasant land road. The pleasantness of the road was partly determined by trees on both sides of the road planted at regular intervals. For a particular group of country estates the first phase of the creation of barge canals (1631-1647) became an important location and composition factor because of its novelty. Transport of burghers was organized on these canals according to a fixed timetable with horse-drawn ships or barges (trekvaart). It was important for the urban elite to be seen by the good citizens in the barge vessels passing by every hour or so and to enjoy the sight of the traffic on the canal. During the second phase of the creation of barge canals (1655- 1701), most country estates had already been founded. The old trade routes on water preexisting the barge canals were neither a location factor nor a composition factor (Chapter 5). Road accessibility, the appearance of water infrastructure and its status were probably decisive in the choice of a location for a country estate and for the composition of house and garden.
Landscape
The landscape played a major role as a location and composition factor for country estates. Soil fertility was not primarily determined by the soil itself (sand, peat, clay), but mainly by the gradients between two types of soil; this way the water would flow and plants, trees and animals could flourish. Country houses were built on different types of soils; the coastal sandy landscapes, the rivers and their clay riverbanks and the newly drained polders, mostly consisting of peat. The choice for one of these landscape was made by the owner. Important factors were gradients in the landscape, availability of water and fertility, but also the sense of landscape beauty, the feasibility of recreation and the general sense of well-being. Spring and fall migration of small birds (vinken) and the use of the North Sea beach were important recreational features of the physical landscape, important for hunting and socializing with peers from the same social class that had similar interests. In the new drained lake polders the location of the country estates was determined by the owner’s status and position in the consortium, a group of wealthy people investing the drainage of the polder. The country estates were built near “entertaining” roads and were modest in size because the main function of these country estates was agricultural (Chapter 6).
Grouping in Hollands Tempe
The second main research question was if a classification of country estates in country estates landscapes could be made. Four types of country-estates landscapes were identified that differed in the important collective location and composition factors, namely gradients in the landscape, barge canals, land reclamation and the motives of their owners for building the estates. The four types are: group 1-country houses in areas along barge canals), group 2 - country houses in newly drained lake polders, group 3A - country estates in the inner dunes and near ‘s-Graveland, group 3B - country estates in and on the beach ridges and along the Wijkermeer. The groups were called country estates landscapes and made up of a number of zones distributed over the entire province Holland. The four country estates landscapes together form Hollands Tempe (Chapter 8).
Identifying individual country estates as parts of different country-houses landscapes explains why the three suburban villas Hofwijck, Zorgvliet and Clingendael, situated close to each other, have such different compositions. It explains the often mentioned pluriformity of country estates as the result of different choices by the owners for the scenic, well-situated places and particularly their different motives. Country estates landscapes form a physical constellation with similarities in physical factors, social inspiration and motives. It makes a coherent narrative possible based on comparable social and mental aspects.
 
When We Build Again: The Bournville Village Trust
No full textLike many UK cities Birmingham was heavily bombed during the Second World War and, as with so many bombed British cities, and many un-bombed ones that jumped onto the re-planning bandwagon, there was a clear imperative to reconstruct. But Birmingham was atypical in how it went about this. The city had begun planning in the mid-1930s, principally to replace vast quantities of slum housing — and there had been suggestions about ring roads even from the time of the First World War. So plans were available virtually ready to go, and were approved by a private Act of Parliament in 1946.
Yet within Birmingham there were individuals and organisations with a great interest and influence in planning matters. This followed a significant and long-standing local tradition from the Chamberlain family to Nettlefold’s pioneering work on planning and housing at the start of the twentieth century. Prominent amongst these was the Cadbury family and the Bournville Village Trust, and immediately after the bomb damage the Trust published the book When We Build Again.
This was immediately influential in several respects, as contemporary reviews and on-going citations demonstrate. It highlighted some less-palatable truths about conditions in the city and more widely, with ideas about what might be done. To modern eyes some of these are radical — for example, the wholesale redevelopment of the Jewellery Quarter, an area which was recently proposed for World Heritage status. The origins of the derided post-war comprehensive clearance approach lie here. Further, it used innovative and striking graphics to communicate statistical information to lay readers, including the use of eye-catching photography of places and, particularly, people.
Also included in this volume is a facsimile of a second Bournville Trust publication from 1955, Birmingham — Fifty Years On. This less famous but equally important publication grew from a frustration at the slow pace of post-war reconstruction, and envisaged what the city would look like half a century later
Urban informality shaped by labor: Addressing the spatial logics of favelas
Get PDFThis doctoral thesis presents the results of ten years of research on informal settlements, with particular reference to Brazilian favelas. The research aimed to understand the social dynamics of the production of space in these settlements. To this purpose, the author took residence in favelas and performed field research for a total of six years, including the witnessing of a resettlement process from a favela to a formal social housing development in the city of Maceií³, in Brazil. The social dynamics that produces and influences the space of the favelas observed in the field were systematically codified in a new pedagogic tool by the author. As main findings from the analysis, it emerged that labor primarily shapes, plans and governs space in informal settlements. Working activities explain the emergence of these settlements, influence the dynamics of space inside the domain of the house, influence the shape of streets up to the margin of the favelas, but also has influence on city and global scales. From the residents’ perspective, labor represents both a means to earn their subsistence, livelihoods and underscores their inner self-esteem as human beings. Working practices originally present in the favelas were in fact restored in the social housing development to where citizens were relocated, with their original domestic function. According to this thesis, labor practices of inhabitants of informal settlements must be addressed when designing housing solutions for deprived citizens fighting for their survival and must be considered as a housing right. The reasons why the current housing approaches do not contemplate work are understood in context and interpreted according to their historic and economic backgrounds. A housing architectural and planning approach aimed at restoring the combination of working and domestic functions of human beings is proposed instead
Unveiling the third dimension of glass: Solid cast glass components and assemblies for structural applications
Get PDFGlass as a material has always fascinated architects. Its inherent transparency has given us the ability to create diaphanous barriers between the interior and the exterior that allow for space and light continuity. Yet, we are just starting to understand the full potential, properties and characteristics of glass as a material. Only in the last decades did we discover the structural potential of glass and started to use it, besides as a cladding material, also for load-bearing applications thanks to its high compressive strength. Indeed, at present the structural applications of glass in architecture are continuously increasing, yet they are dominated by a considerable geometrical limitation: the essentially 2-dimensionality imposed by the prevailing float glass industry. Although glass panels can stretch more than 20 m in length, the maximum monolithic thickness by this manufacturing method remains a mere 25 mm. As a result glass structures are currently dominated by virtually 2-dimensional, planar elements and confined to the limited shapes that can be achieved by those.
This research focuses on the exploration of cast glass as a promising, 3-dimensional construction material in architecture. The main aim of this research is therefore to investigate the potential, as well as the constraints, of cast glass components for the engineering of transparent, 3-dimensional glass structures in architecture.
By pouring molten glass into moulds, solid 3-dimensional glass components of virtually any shape and cross-section can be made. Owing to their monolithic nature, such components can form repetitive units for the construction of freeform, full-glass structures that are not sensitive to buckling. Such structures can take full advantage of the high compressive strength of glass, sparing the necessity of additional supporting elements. To achieve cast glass structures, it is essential to use an intermediate material between the individual glass components that contributes to the structure’s stiffness, ensures a homogeneous load distribution and prevents early failure due to concentrated stresses triggered by glass-to-glass contact. To maximize transparency, this intermedium should be colourless and any additional substructure should be minimized.
Accordingly, the main scientific contribution of this research work is the design, development and experimental investigation of two distinct systems for selfsupporting envelopes of maximized transparency: An adhesively bonded glass block system, using a colourless adhesive as an intermedium and a dry-assembly, interlocking cast glass block system, employing a colourless dry interlayer. Although, in this work, both systems have been developed for self-supporting envelopes, the results can be used as a guideline for further structural applications of cast glass components in compressive elements, such as columns, arches and bending elements, such as beams and fins.
At present, the load-bearing function of cast glass in architecture remains an uncharted field. Discouraging factors such as the lengthy annealing process required, the to-date non-standardized production and the corresponding high manufacturing costs, have limited cast glass to only a few realized architectural applications. As a result, there is a lack of engineering data and a general unawareness of the potential and risks of employing cast glass structurally. Hence, in order to accomplish the research goal, all pertinent aspects of a cast glass structure should be tackled, ranging from cast glass’s production method to practical implications when building with cast glass. These distinct aspects are addressed through the formulation of the research sub-questions, which in turn define the different chapters of this dissertation. Accordingly, the presented work is divided in four parts.
Part I provides the Introduction to the Research, and aims at giving a brief summary of the involved challenges, identify the research gap and introduce the research questions and the research methodology.
Part II focuses on the Theoretical Framework of the Research. It lays the foundations for this dissertation and contributes to the scientific field of structural glass by providing the first comprehensive literature review and state-of-the art overview of cast glass structural applications. Initially, the material compositions and production methods for solid cast glass components are explored. Then, to address both possibilities and limitations in the size and form of cast glass components, an overview and critical assessment of the largest produced monolithic pieces of cast glass is made. Given the limited published scientific output on this specific field, an extensive field research was conducted in order to derive the relevant data. The discussed examples, although coming from different fields of science and art, provide great insight into the practical implications involved in casting as a manufacturing method. Subsequently, a separate chapter gives an overview of the state-ofthe- art in cast glass structural applications in architecture. Aiming on providing the reader with an holistic overview of the structural potential of cast glass in architectural applications, this chapter includes the synopsis, feasibility assessment and comparison of not only the realized structural design systems but also of the adhesively-bonded and dry-assembly interlocking systems developed in this dissertation. Special attention is given to the advantages and disadvantages of the connection method of each -existing and developed in this dissertation- structural design system with solid glass blocks.
Following the findings of the literature review and field research, Part III, consisting of four chapters, presents the design and experimental investigation of two distinct, novel structural systems out of cast glass components, developed for selfsupporting envelopes. Part III can be considered the main scientific outcome of this dissertation. Firstly, the research, development and experimental validation of an adhesively bonded system utilizing solid cast glass blocks is presented. Numerous full-scale prototypes are made and tested in order to comprehend the structural behaviour of the adhesively bonded glass assembly. A separate chapter explores the main challenges and innovations and defines the construction requirements necessary for the realization of the investigated system at the Crystal Houses Façade in Amsterdam. An important conclusion is that such an adhesively bonded system requires an extremely high dimensional accuracy both in the fabrication of the glass blocks and in the entire construction, and has an irreversible nature, which in turn results in a meticulous and unsustainable construction. Based on the aforementioned challenges, a new concept for glass structures out of dry-assembled interlocking cast glass components is developed that tackles the integral limitations of the adhesively-bonded system. An entire chapter is dedicated to the principles, the establishment of design criteria and to the preliminary exploration and assessment of different interlocking cast glass shapes that can yield an interlocking cast glass system of satisfactory structural performance. Following, the last chapter of this part concerns the experimental and numerical investigation of this second system. The effect of various parameters in the structural behaviour of the system is explored through the production of scaled prototypes and their experimental validation. A numerical model further explores the correlation of the various geometrical parameters of the interlocking geometry to the structural behaviour of the system.
Finally, Part IV presents an integrated discussion of the research results, summarizing and discussing the main outcomes of the dissertation. Initially, responses to the research questions are given in order to assess the particular findings. Based on the conclusions, further recommendations are made, firstly for overcoming the limitations of the presented research, following by general suggestions on a wider range of the aspects of cast glass that can be explored and contribute to its structural applicability.
The findings of this dissertation prove the feasibility of the discussed systems and can serve as solid guidelines for further applications.
The research presented in this work has been positively received by the international architectural and engineering community. In specific, the presented adhesivelybonded cast block system, which was realized at the Crystal Houses façade, received numerous awards by the structural engineering community, including the Outstanding Innovation Award 2016 by the Society of Façade Engineers and the Glass Innovation Award 2016 from the Bouwend Nederland association. Still, the Crystal Houses façade is but the first real-scale prototype of the developed adhesively bonded system. The actual construction of the façade provided invaluable feedback on the engineering challenges and construction requirements involved in such a system, giving room for new suggestions. This triggered the development of the second presented system with interlocking glass blocks as a reversible, easily assembled solution. The interlocking cast glass block system, initiated within TU Delft and funded partially by a 4TU.bouw grant is yet to be applied in practice. Prototypes of this research, using recycled cast glass components, have been exhibited in international fairs such as the Venice Design 2018, the Dutch Design Week 2018 and Salone del Mobile 2019 and are currently displayed at the material collection of the Vitra Design Museum at the Vitra Schaudepot. The project was also nominated for the New Material Award 2018 under the title Re3 Glass.
Even though cast glass has, so far, been rarely applied in structural applications, the development of new building systems and their experimental validation presented in this work provide a strong basis for further developments and applications in a range of compressive structures. At present, the most considerable drawbacks hindering the marketability of cast glass components are (a) the cost barriers imposed by their customized production and application and (b) the lack of standardized strength data and building guidelines. Thus, even if cast glass elements have proved to be suitable structural components, several economic aspects and logistics need to be tackled, and performance issues need to be further explored, in order to make cast glass a competitive manufacturing method to float production for structural components
POWERSKIN CONFERENCE 2019: PROCEEDINGS
No full textThe building skin has evolved enormously over the past decades. Energy performance and the environmental quality of buildings are significantly determined by the building envelope. The façade has experienced a change in its role as an adaptive climate control system that leverages the synergies between form, material, mechanical and energy systems in an integrated design.
The PowerSkin Conference aims to address the role of building skins to accomplish a carbon neutral building stock. Topics such as building operation, embodied energy, energy generation and storage in the context of envelope, energy and environment are considered. The 2019 issue of the PowerSkin Conference focuses on the digital processes in façade design and construction, showcasing presentations about recent scientific research and developments in the field. The main theme about digital tools and methods in façade design and construction is the overarching topic that combines the three subjects:
Envelope: The building envelope as an interface for the interaction between indoor and outdoor environment. This topic is focused on function, technical development and material properties.
Energy: New concepts, accomplished projects, and visions for the interaction between building structure, envelope and energy technologies.
Environment: Façades or elements of façades, which aim for the provision of highly comfortable surroundings where environmental control strategies as well as energy generation and/or storage are an integrated part of an active skin.
The three universities Technical University of Munich, TU Darmstadt, and TU Delft are signing responsible for the organization of the conference. We have to thank the authors and speakers for their contribution and our teams for doing such a good job in organizing this event. Finally we have to thank our sponsors for their support and the Messe Mí¼nchen, which is so kind to give us the platform to organize such an event at their tradeshow BAU and by that create a link between academia and practice
Colour, Form and Space: Rietveld Schrãder House challenging the future
Get PDFThe Rietveld Schrãder House in Utrecht was designed in 1924 by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (1888-1964) for Mrs Truus Schrãder- Schräder (1889-1985), as a home for her and her three young children. Mrs Schrãder had very decided ideas about the modern family, the upbringing of her children, and a corresponding way of living. She wanted a flexible house that would be able to evolve over time in tandem with the changing needs of her family. Known and celebrated as the architectural expression of the ideology and design ideas of the De Stijl movement, the house is just as much the expression of the personal attitude to life and wishes of the client who commissioned it. In Rietveld, Mrs Schrãder felt she had found the ideal interpreter of her modern ideas.
Mrs Schrãder lived in the house until her death in 1985, during which time it underwent several changes and alterations. By the 1960s the house was showing the effects of inadequate maintenance and the need for a comprehensive restoration became increasingly urgent. In 1974 work began on the restoration of the exterior. The interior followed after Mrs Schrãder’s death. Both restorations were carried out by the architect Bertus Mulder (b. 1929), who had worked with Rietveld in the early 1960s and knew his body of work better than anyone. In his restorations, Mulder opted to return the house as much as possible to its original condition, whereby the re-establishment of the original concept was considered more important than presenting or respecting the history of the house and its occupancy. Since the restorations the house is once more a shining manifesto of De Stijl and modernist living. Few realize that this is also one of the first examples of a restored modern heritage building. The Rietveld Schrãder House is also a milestone in the history of modern heritage restoration and a manifesto for the concern for modern heritage in the Netherlands.
In 2009, Bertus Mulder gave a personal account of the restorations of the house in the book Het Rietveld Schrãderhuis. He had already prepared a similar overview for the dossier in support of the UNESCO World Heritage nomination. Various reports and memoranda are also to be found in the Bertus Mulder archive. Owing to the restoration architect’s advancing years, the opportunities to draw on his memories in conversations are gradually diminishing. It was the value of this form of historiography — oral history — that motivated this study, which was made possible by a Keeping It Modern Grant from The Getty Foundation (2015). The conversations yielded a wealth of information, which was then weighed against the 2009 publication, and more especially with the many archival sources, in an effort to bring a degree of objectivity to the history of these restorations. During our investigations more and more new documents and pictures came to light and these have contributed substantially to the end result.
The aim of this historical research was to reconstruct the ‘Bertus Mulder time period’. This involved examining the guiding principles, points of view, choices, and outcomes. Also considered were the respective roles of Truus Schrãder of the client who commissioned the restorations (the Stichting Rietveld Schrãder Huis / Rietveld Schrãder House Foundation), and of the heritage agencies. And, given that the house has been managed by the Centraal Museum and opened to the public as a museum house since the completion of the restorations in 1987, the museological decisions made during the restoration of the interior were also subjected to scrutiny.
In Rietveld’s design concept the materialization of the external and internal walls, in plasterwork and paintwork, were of crucial importance. In addition to the three-dimensional spatial composition of horizontal and vertical elements, and the interplay of inside and outside, open and closed, the Rietveld Schrãder House as a whole, from ground level to roof, from floor to ceiling, displays smoothly finished and painted surfaces. In restoring the original concept of the house, the finishing of those external and internal walls, the paintwork and the choice of colours, were therefore key considerations. This is why the first three chapters focus on the ideas and principles that informed the restoration of the inner and outer skin of the house. The crumbling of the internal plasterwork (2016) gave the research an unexpected twist and also led to a limited material survey of the wall finishes.
During the restorations, Mulder dismantled large areas of the inner and outer skin down to the structural shell. After which he ‘made a recreation of the Rietveld Schrãder House, together with Truus Schrãder and the advisers’. The architect is convinced that with this the last, definitive phase in the creation of the house was completed. This recreation of Rietveld’s work has added a new dimension to the history of the house. This is not only important from a historiographical perspective but also forms a new challenge for future restorations.
In the fourth chapter, the guiding principles of the furnishing of the museum house are placed within the context of the occupational history of the house. After the death of Truus Schrãder the interior of the Rietveld Schrãder House was restored in an ‘abstract manner’ in the spirit of the 1920s. But how can the supposedly all-important ‘domestic culture’ be represented if the museum house is not allowed to suggest that the occupant has just stepped outside?
Finally, one further aspect, which is set to become very important for the future use of the museum house, is addressed: the indoor climate. Today, almost a century after the house was built, the measurement of temperature and humidity, in relation to outdoor climate and visitors, ought to be an essential part of ensuring a sustainable future for the Rietveld Schrãder House as heritage building, as museum house and as collection object
The Art of Bridge Design: Identifying a design approach for well-integrated, integrally-designed and socially-valued bridges
Get PDFEarly 2017 I read an old book that shed a new light on the writing of this dissertation. At that time I had been working on my dissertation on and off for over five years and the end was not in sight. Ever since I took a part-time position as a lecturer in 2012, I had been engaged in a balancing act between two busy jobs, having one foot in the academic world and one foot in practice as an architect and designer of bridges. At first, teaching and working with students gave me a lot of energy and opened my mind to new ideas, and was as such very beneficial to my work as an architect. However, the combination of working two jobs and writing a dissertation as well proved no easy task. Even though I managed to write some journal papers during brief bursts of writing frenzy, I had become aware that the balance between work and family life had imperceptibly tilted to the wrong side. By the end of 2016 it became clear to me that my inner machine needed a major revision. I needed time for myself to think about the further development of my career(s), so come Christmas eve I took a six week break from work.
To distract my mind, I started reading Henri Gautier’s ‘Traití© des Ponts’ [1], the very first comprehensive handbook for bridge designers (figure 1). My fellow board member of the Dutch Bridge Foundation and a fervent Francophile, Jan de Boer, had lent me his first edition from 1716, a beautiful leather-bound specimen with intriguing engravings of bridges, details of joints and depictions of various tools employed in the art of early eighteenth century bridge building. I have always had a fascination for old books and history and I was curious about this fellow bridge designer from the time of Louis XIV. Despite the old French language and the somewhat different typography, the ‘Traití© des Ponts’ turned out to be surprisingly accessible reading material. Reading the Traití© provided me with a whole new lens to look at my dissertation subject. In fact, looking back on my subject across a bridge of three hundred years proved to be a very good remedy against my writers block.
Henri Gautier (1660-1737), who was sometimes referred to as Hubert Gautier, was an architect, engineer and inspector of the ‘Corps des grands Chemins, Ponts, & Chaussí©es du Royaume’, the erstwhile corps of engineers for roads and bridges at the service of the king of France. From his own rich working experience, Gautier writes about a discipline that he and I both share. For an engineer in the service of the king, his writing is remarkably down-to-earth. He writes very spontaneously and with plenty of self-reflection about his metier. I especially enjoyed discovering parallels between Gautier’s practice and the current bridge building practice.
Gautier wrote his Traití© out of dire necessity as he had noticed that not a single architectural author had so far concerned himself with the art of bridge building. To his frustration only sideway glances on the subject of bridge design were offered in the literature of those days and he wondered how a schooled architect was supposed to learn the art of bridge design if his training was deprived of the right books on the subject. He further notes that even the great Vitruvius, the Roman architect of antiquity, doesn’t dignify to write on the art of bridge design. For this reason Gautier took it upon himself to collect what little had been written on the subject and to comment on it. More important however is that Gautier shares with us his own practice experience acquired through the many bridges he had built in his lifetime. It is interesting to note that Gautier does not write to impress the reader with the vast extent of his knowledge. Rather he writes out of a personal motivation to share his knowledge, dedicating his work to ‘those that are ignorant’ (on this specific subject, red.). Gautier deeply feels it to be his duty to share his experience, describing the tools and the means that he employed to come to a bridge designs, all in a way that makes it easy to understand. According to Gautier bridges are ‘amongst the most difficult of structures (to design and to build, red.), deserving our full attention, and belong to a domain of Architecture where there are the most precautions to keep, more place to fear and to doubt, and to which one can never take too much care’.
At times, reading the Traití© was like a dí©jí vu; the parallels to my own practice brought a smile on my face. I found it most refreshing to note that a certain amount of friction between architects, engineers and contractors appears to be of all ages. Gautier doesn’t hold contractors in a very high regard. According to him ‘Contractors do not hesitate to enrich themselves at the expense of the King or of those who work for them. Engineers or inspectors of the works, on the contrary, have only in mind the honesty with which they act and [the desire red.] to be highly esteemed. They do not hesitate to regard the former as their enemies, when they are unfaithful.’ (p.248). Nowadays, it is fortunate for all parties involved in the building of a bridge that the laws and fines imposed for building faults have been adapted to modern times, as can be appreciated from this fragment on legal guaranties. ‘If the structure is made out of earth or out of a mediocre material, a six year warranty must be given and in case of a fault committed by the contractor, the law indicates that said contractor shall be whipped, shaven and banned.” (p.225). Gautier however finds these laws to be unjust as he believes that the responsibility for a fault should to some extent be shared by the architect if it is the design that is to blame.
These amusing notes set aside, Gautier concludes his preface with the following recommendation that I choose to quote in Gautier’s original words:
‘Le sujet des Ponts est assez vaste pour donner de l’occupation aux plus habiles. Jusqu’ici personne n’a traití© de cette matií¨re autant qu’elle le mí©rite. J’ai osí© l’entreprendre, & je souhaite que quelqu’autre fasse mieux, afin que tout le monde en profite davantage.’
I would translate this ancient French text as follows:
‘The topic of Bridges is vast enough to give occupation to the most skilled. So far no one has dealt with this subject as well as it deserves to be treated. I have dared to undertake it, and I wish someone else would do better, so that everyone can benefit from it to the full.’
Three hundred years later, reading this very personal recommendation from a fellow bridge designer opened my eyes. What more encouragement did I need to write a dissertation on the topic of bridge design! And like Gautier, I have undertaken this task to the best of my knowledge and experience, hoping it will benefit those who choose to venture in the challenging art of bridge design
Amsterdam 2050: Complex Projects
Get PDFBy using Amsterdam as a living laboratory, graduate students, researchers and teachers of the architectural design chair of Complex Projects at the Department of Architecture at TU Delft Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment have been interested in seeing how ‘growth’ and rapid ‘changes’ — growth of numbers of inhabitants and tourists, and change of energy, mobility, health and leisure concepts - will affect the City of Amsterdam on a time horizon 2050. How can innovations be introduced to the domain of architecture and urban design? The creative exploration presented in this publication aims to understand today’s structure of the City, to explore possible future scenarios and to speculate on new architectural typologies new technology and ways of living may construct.
Complex Projects teamed up for almost two years with Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions and the municipality of Amsterdam, to focus on the theme AMSTERDAM 2050. The book is a systematization of the work of more than 80 graduate students and 6 tutors with the input from researchers and invited critics on a case study on 9 different locations in Amsterdam. The research-through-design process of documenting and analysing the present urban conditions of the City of Amsterdam and investigating various trends directing future urban development resulted in design solutions and visualisations of the predicted development of these locations
The Anatomy of the Village: Thomas Sharp
Get PDFThomas Sharp was a key figure in mid-C20 British planning whose renown stems from two periods in his career. First, he came to attention as a polemical writer in the 1930s on planning issues, including as a virulent opponent of garden cities. His prose tempered over time and this phase perhaps culminated in Town Planning, first published in 1940 and reputed to have sold over 250,000 copies. Subsequently the plans he produced for historic towns in the 1940s, such as Oxford, were very well known and were influential in developing ideas of townscape.
The Anatomy of the Village originated from a brief phase between these two periods when Sharp was seconded during the early war years to work for the Ministry of Town and Country Planning. Started as an official manual on village planning, it followed on from the Scott Report, for which Sharp had been one of the Secretaries. When the Ministry decided not to proceed with the publication, Sharp himself published it 1946. The Anatomy of the Village became one of Sharp’s best known works, with lucid prose and generous illustration by photograph and beautiful linedrawings of village plans. The aim of The Anatomy of the Village was to set out the main principles of village planning, especially in relation to physical design.
Anatomy became a key text in thinking about villages in the post-war period; a period when there was great concern that settlements should develop in more sensitive ways than inter-war ribbon and suburban development patterns. The problems of poor quality development, unrelated to settlement form, was to continue to stimulate books such as Lionel Brett’s Landscape in Distress and campaigns from the Architectural Review. Reading the text today it still has much to offer: while some of its assumptions about the level of services a village might support clearly belong to another era, its beautiful and simple typological analyses of village form continue to be of relevance