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ARCHITECTURE AND DEMOCRACY 1965–1989: Urban Renewal, Populism and the Welfare State
Full text linkSixth Annual Conference November 2019 - Jaap Bakema Study Centre
The Jaap Bakema Study Centre was established in 2013 as a collaboration between Het Nieuwe Instituut and TU Delft’s Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. The goal was and is to instigate academic research in the fields of architecture and urban planning based on the rich holdings of the State Collection of Dutch Architecture and Urbanism, which is accommodated by Het Nieuwe Instituut. Not only between Delft and Rotterdam, but also together with third parties depending on the scope of each project. In 2019 and 2020 the Jaap Bakema Study Centre collaborates with the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon for the museological project ‘Art on Display 1949–69’, which revisits the special relationship between art and architecture and the involved conceptual exchanges between the two disciplines.
This year’s edition, Architecture and Democracy, focuses on the years 1965 to 1989, in which welfare state arrangements were contested by counterculture movements and the rise of populism. While government institutions sought a proper response, urban renewal and city repair became a new field of work for architects and planners. The focus on Architecture and Democracy was chosen in connection with the start of the new PhD-programme of the same name. Starting in 2018, the research group Architecture, Culture and Modernity was established at TU Delft by my colleague Jorge Mejia Hernandez and myself. The new PhD-programme Architecture and Democracy is at the core of the group’s research work. It reframes much of our long-lasting interest in the post-war histories of architecture and planning, modern architecture and the welfare state.
For the purpose of the conference and the overall research programme the two terms of Architecture and Democracy are deliberately juxtaposed next to one another. Their interrelationships are manifold as they are complicated. The collection of twenty papers, the archive presentations and the keynote lecture by Esra Akcan, that make up the full programme of the conference make this crystal clear in a most eloquent way. Looking at the contributions brought to the conference, the question of the place of democracy in architecture and vice versa, is answered by investigations into social justice and how this plays out into space, especially urban space, by ways of contestation, appropriation, planning and design, from practices of direct democracy and participation to the critique of institutional policies. To refocus once again on the political and ideological dimensions of architecture, is in function of a reflection on and a speculation about the societal relevance of our work. And as such, it also aims to critically probe the autonomy of the architectural discipline, to redefine the values of our work, and to explore the possibilities of alternatives to current models of knowledge production.
The Story of the Bucky Lab
Full text linkA book about a university docent and one of his courses – why would you do that? And what is the academic impact?
The question of impact, especially as it relates to the rapidly developing culture of publications in scientific journals, should be the topic of a separate discussion. With all of the related advantages and disadvantages it could fill an entire book – however, not this one. And yes, buildings do impact the user, the environment and the planner – those already active in the field, as well as the next generation that learns from the results and will enter their own discussion for future developments. A friend of Marcel Bilow’s and mine, Thomas Auer, known for his exceptional work as climate engineer with the company Transsolar in Stuttgart, Germany, has, for example, certainly made an impact, influencing and inspiring generations of architects and engineers. Faced with the decision of whether or not to continue spending the majority of his time with projects rather than as a teacher and researcher at TU Munich he based his decision on the premise: you can best multiply impact by affecting the next generation, buildings alone cannot achieve it.
And affecting the next generation is the motivation for this book because it is the motivation for Marcel Bilow’s work and his approach to teaching, be it about a concrete product to be developed or an individual’s experience. It is about teaching students to physically exercise practical application rather than merely thinking about it: we can contemplate a hole in a wooden plank; however, actually creating it, experiencing the consequences and identifying limits and failures is the most valuable aspect. Any and all construction is based hereupon, a combination of both: the activity of constructing itself but also constructive thinking, thoroughly understanding a solution – essential skills that any architect needs to experience.
And the tool to accomplish this is, of course, a practical, hands-on course. Going conform with the generally established tradition in construction-related university subjects at TU Delft of having students build small projects, the faculty at TU Delft has a history of conducting hands-on courses. But Marcel Bilow certainly breathed new life into these courses that are part of the Master’s program at the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft: by setting up the Bucky Lab. Buckminster Fuller, constructor and inventor served as inspiration, for the name as well as for the program: to be able to think, conceive and realize sensible and practical solutions. It is, therefore, no surprise that Marcel became known as Dr. Bucky Lab.
Is there more to the course? Yes, there is another, very important part that goes beyond practical application. It\u27s all about stimulating the students’ desire to make things better, to introduce technical developments into construction, and to utilize new methods if they make sense in a given context.
The course is designed to make the students look for traditional as well as non- traditional, out of the box ideas. With his constant questioning, continuously asking "Why?" Marcel Bilow drives his students to question every single step they take in a project, every design decision they make along the way, every choice of material. The course requires them to generate initial concepts that will be revisited, re-evaluated, redefined several times as they learn to focus on the important, justify their decisions and gain knowledge in conceptualizing and ultimately realizing their ideas. The experiences gained in the course are valuable for any project the students work on during their studies or in their later professional lives.
Marcel Bilow has a brilliant mind, he is extremely motivated and motivating, sometimes a little stubborn but always driven by an innate desire to understand and, above all, to share his knowledge and experience. And this is what he does in the Bucky Lab, a course that is coined by his convictions and approach to disseminating knowledge as well as by interdisciplinary work that is embedded in and connected to the overall curriculum
energy: resources and building performance
Full text linkThe use of energy in buildings is a complex problem, but it can be reduced and alleviated by making appropriate decisions. Therefore, architects face a major and responsible task of designing the built environment in such a way that its energy dependence will be reduced to a minimum, while at the same time being able to provide comfortable living conditions. Today, architects have many tools at their disposal, facilitating the design process and simultaneously ensuring proper assessment in the early stages of building design.
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). This book attempts to highlight the problem of energy use in buildings and propose certain solutions. It consists of nine chapters, organised in three parts. The gathering of chapters into parts serves to identify the different themes that the designer needs to consider, namely energy resources, energy use and comfort, and energy efficiency.
Part 1, entitled “Sustainable and Resilient Energy Resources,” sets off by informing the reader about the basic principles of energy sources, production, and use. The chapters give an overview of all forms of energies and energy cycle from resources to end users and evaluate the resilience of renewable energy systems. This information is essential to realise that the building, as an energy consumer, is part of a greater system and the decisions can be made at different levels.
Part 2, entitled “Energy and Comfort in the Built Environment”, explain the relationship between energy use and thermal comfort in buildings and how it is predicted. Buildings consume energy to meet the users’ needs and to provide comfort. The appropriate selection of materials has a direct impact on the thermal properties of a building. Moreover, comfort is affected by parameters such as temperature, humidity, air movement, air quality, lighting, and noise. Understanding and calculating those conditions are valuable skills for the designers.
After the basics of energy use in buildings have been explained, Part 3, entitled “Energy Saving Strategies” aims to provide information and tools that enable an energy- and environmentally-conscious design. This part is the most extensive as it aims to cover different design aspects. Firstly, passive and active measures that the building design needs to include are explained. Those measures are seen from the perspective of heat flow and generation. The Passive House concept, which is explained in the second chapter of Part 3, is a design approach that successfully incorporates such measures, resulting in low energy use by the building. Other considerations that the following chapters cover are solar control, embodied energy and CO2 emissions, and finally economic evaluation. The energy saving strategies explained in this book, despite not being exhaustive, provide basic knowledge that the designer can use and build upon during the design of new buildings and existing building upgrades.
In the context of sustainability and resilience of the built environment, the reduction of energy demand is crucial. This book aims to provide a basic understanding of the energy flows in buildings and the subsequent impact for the building’s operation and its occupants. Most importantly, it covers the principles that need to be taken into account in energy efficient building design and demonstrates their effectiveness.
Designers are shaping the built environment and it is their task to make energy-conscious and informed decisions that result in comfortable and resilient buildings
Anne Lacaton: Visiting Professor 2016-2017/ Chair of Heritage & Architecture
No full textAnne Lacaton has been a visiting professor at the TU Delft Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment during the Fall Semester 2016-2017, hosted by the Chair of Heritage & Design. In the professional field of Heritage & Design the starting point for design is not just a functional brief and a blank sheet of paper but the challenge of an existing spatial setting and cultural-historical context. It is a dynamic and innovative field in architecture that deals with the architectural re-interpretation, adaptive reuse and restoration of historic buildings.
This book reports on her workshops and studios during her time at TU Delft. It presents re-use projects at different scales, in different situations and with different programs.
These projects generated reflection along with pertinent and inventive ideas that made it possible to overturn the situations in a positive manner, to change the approach and bring forth interesting solutions, a new situational intelligence and a new intelligence towards thinking about architecture and the urban situation.
In these projects, what is initially seen as obsolete and as a constraint or restriction through an opening of the mind and a change in outlook and approach, becomes an opportunity, a chance and an asset. If you look at a situation without a frame or filter and with an open spirit, a building that no longer has a purpose and is a hindrance becomes a liberty.
The students adhered to this specific approach: No longer looking at something existing as imperfect, constraining, obsolete, not beautiful etc., but instead as a resource, a component, a stratum/layer and a basis for creativity.
The idea of drawing value from everything existing, producing richness with less money but with the greater means and parameters offered by existing situations. Extending the story to do better and more of it. A process of regeneration, extension, adaption and re-use rather than replacement.
This way of seeing, thinking, projecting is not really widespread. Making new, remove and replace, restarting from the empty remains mostly the way of doing; whereas the superposition, addition, combination, overlapping, infiltration, appear accurate, contemporary, rich, innovative.
Therefore, with regard to this work of the semester and to conclude the guest invitation, I think it’s important to collect and publish these ideas and positions by students and teachers involved with the semester’s work.
We hope that this booklet will leave a trace and a lasting material for reflection and discussion
realms of urban design: mapping sustainability
Full text linkThe traditional thematic realms of urban design, such as liveability, social interaction, and quality of urban life, considered to be closely related to urban form and specifically to public space, have long since been recognised as important, and have given the discipline a certain identity. The book Realms of Urban Design: Mapping Sustainability is certainly rooted in this fundamental urban design thinking, but its main contribution belongs to the second part of the book’s title – discourse on sustainability. Its chapters, considered as a whole, put forward the importance of the discipline and the designerly way of thinking in the context of the discussion about unprecedented environmental transformation.
The eleven chapters of the book represent the major sustainability concerns that the authors have seen as being related to the urban design discipline in their specific professional and environmental contexts. Therefore, the chapters as an entity could be seen as an act of mapping the sustainability issues that are coming “from the front” of urban design research and practice at the universities involved in the project Creating the Network of Knowledge Labs for Sustainable and Resilient Environments (KLABS). They show disciplinary, mostly methodological, concerns with the larger scales in comparison to those of the neighbourhoods and public space that are traditionally connected to urban design; with the collective or common nature of urban space; and with the distinctive, underused spaces coming not only as a legacy of the 20th century, but also as an important by-product of contemporary economic trends
sustainability and resilience: socio-spatial perspective
Full text linkSustainability and resilience have become indispensable parts of the contemporary debate over the built environment. Although recognised as imperatives, the complexity and the variety of interpretations of sustainability and resilience have raised the necessity to again rethink their notion in the context of the built environment and to reframe the state-of-the-art body of knowledge. The book Sustainability and Resilience: Socio-Spatial Perspective so begins with the exploration of the broadest conceptual frame-of-reference of issues related to sustainability, and the re-establishment of the connection between the built environment and the conditions that are vital to its functioning, primarily in relation to energy, land use, climate, and economy. Subsequent discussion on resilience as a term, approach, and philosophy aims to conceptualise an interpretation of key resilience concepts, explain relationships and links among them, and propose the classification of resilience as applicable to the context of urban studies.
By studying the processes of transition of the built environment, the book then reveals a coherent formula of ‘thinking sustainability + resilience’ aimed at improving the ability to respond to disruptions and hazards while enhancing human and environmental welfare. The necessity to integrate the two approaches is further accented as a result of a deliberative discourse on the notions of ‘social sustainability’, ‘sustainable community’, and ‘socio-cultural resilience’. The potential of measuring sustainable development and urban sustainability on the basis of defined social, human, and, additionally, natural and economic values is presented though an overview of different wellknown indicators and the identification of a currently relevant tangible framework of sustainable development.
Correspondingly, the role of policies and governance is demonstrated on the case of climate-proof cities. In this way, the consideration of approaches to sustainability and resilience of the urban environment is rounded, and the focus of the book is shifted towards an urban/rural dichotomy and the sustainability prospects of identified forms-in-between, and, subsequently, towards the exploration of values, challenges, and the socio-cultural role in achieving sustainability for rural areas. In the final chapters, the book offers several peculiarised socio-spatial perspectives, from defining the path towards more resilient communities and sustainable spaces based on a shared wellbeing, to proposing the approach to define community resilience as an intentional action that aims to respond to, and influence, the course of social and economic change, to deliberating the notion of a ’healthy place’ and questioning its optimal scale in the built environment.
The study of sustainability and resilience in this book is concluded by drawing a parallel between environmental, economic, and social determinants of the built environment and the determinants that are relevant to human health and well-being
integrated urban planning: directions, resources and territories
Full text linkThe purpose of the book on integrated urban planning (IUP) is to present ongoing research from the universities involved in the project Creating the Network of Knowledge Labs for Sustainable and Resilient Environments (KLABS).
Although sustainability and resilience have been largely explored in many complex social-ecological systems, they have only recently been applied in the context of cities. Both concepts are useful when seeking an integrated approach to urban planning as they help to look at the city as an interconnected, multi-dimensional system. Analysing the sustainability and the resilience of urban systems involves looking at environmental, social and economic aspects, as well as at those related to technology, culture and institutional structures.
Sustainability, resilience as well as integrated urban development are all focused on process. Their objectives are typically defined around the ongoing operation of the process and they can change during the time. Therefore, building a sustainable and resilient city is a collective endeavor that is about mindsets just as much as about physical structures and their operation, where capacity to anticipate and plan for the future, to learn and to adapt are paramount.
The papers published in this book show that the recent and current research in those institutions focuses on the directions of development of IUP, the processes that support sustainable and resilient use of natural resources and their application in the Western Balkan and some other European countries. Each essay aims to provide an overview of key aspects of the research topic.
The division of the book into three parts - directions, resources and territories - underlines how the challenges that the contemporary city poses can be dealt with more effectively by integrating different paradigms, concepts and trends of urban development and governance; taking into account the numerous problems linked to the availability and exploitation of the main natural and non-natural resources; and looking at the city and the territory as systems in constant transformation, not reducible within rigid dichotomies such as urban/rural, dense/sprawled, formal/informal, etc
sustainable and resilient building design: approaches, methods and tools
Full text linkThe 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
Pregledi održivosti i otpornosti građene sredine
Full text linkOdrživa i otporna građena 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 izgrađenog okruženja, odnosno da predstavljanjem preglednih radova (poglavlja), među kojima je uspostavljena odgovarajuća funkcionalna veza, podstakne razvoj specijalizovanog znanja, podigne kritičku svest o potrebi za interdisciplinarnim i transdiciplinarnim istraživanjem i ojača vezu između univerzitetskog obrazovanja i naučnog istraživanja. Analiza razvoja održivosti i otpornosti, istraživanje aktuelnih pitanja i predviđanja o mogućoj održivoj i otpornoj budućnosti zajedno omogućavaju sveobuhvatno razumevanje ovih koncepata i njihovih međusobnih odnosa u kontekstu građene 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 posvećen uspostavljanju sveobuhvatne obrazovne platforme u okviru drugog ciklusa visokog obrazovanja na prostoru zapadnog Balkana. Širi cilj svih KLABS publikacija je bio da se razviju pregledi održivosti i otpornosti građene sredine, korisni za studente, nastavnike, istraživače i stručnjake koji se ovim važnim temama bave na međunarodnom nivou.
Publikacija se sastoji iz dva dela. Prvi se bavi održivošću i otpornošću 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 trećem poglavlju istraživanje je usmereno na neka fundamentalna pitanja u okviru socio-kulturološke ravni građene sredine. Sledeće poglavlje pruža pregled pojmova i strategija koncepata „efikasnosti resursa“ i „otpornosti“, prikazuje njihova zajednička područja delovanja, kao i potencijalne protivrečnosti i suprotnosti, u svrhu nalaženja uzajamne ravnoteže i davanja doprinosa ispunjavanju širih ciljeva održivosti. Istraživanje alternativnih modela potrošnje, 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 mogućnosti inicijativa koje su do sada preduzete, kao i na sintezu metodoloških i praktičnih predloga, kako bi se javnoj upravi i lokalnim organima ponudio „praktičan način” stvaranja efikasnijih klimatskih politika i planova. „Pouka Milana”, u sedmom poglavlju, pokazuje kako aktivno uključivanje poljoprivrednika može pomoći javnim politikama, štiteći zajedničko dobro u teškim okolnostima i dajući povod za alternativne načine planiranja; ona naročito može da inspiriše istraživanje u kontekstima gde su otvoreni prostori oko gradova ugroženi, a uključivanje u proces donošenja odluka predstavlja cilj koji treba postići. U poslednjem poglavlju prvog dela elaboriraju se definicija, klasifikacija i kritička analiza uticaja braunfilda na okruženje i definišu ciljevi održivosti koje treba postići kroz njihovu obnovu i ponovni razvoj.
Drugi deo publikacije počinje uspostavljanjem veze između efikasnog korišćenja prirodnih resursa i smanjenja ekoloških uticaja zgrada. Ovde se daje pregled sadašnjih trendova i izazova u pogledu upotrebe energije, materijala, vode i zemljišta i promišljaju mogući scenariji efikasne budućnosti u kojoj bi šire socijalne i ekonomske sheme postale relevantnije za uspešno projektovanje ekološki 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 opšti projektantski okvir, obrazlaže značenje termina „transponovani regionalizam“ i diskutuje odnos između otpornosti i adaptacije zgrada u (ne)izvesnoj klimatskoj budućnosti. U trećem poglavlju drugog dela istražuju se međusobni odnosi održive arhitekture i arhitekture otporne na promenu klime tako što se upoređuju njihovi osnovni postulati i analiziraju ključni ciljevi, kroz prizmu uzajamnih (ne)konzistentnosti. Sledeće 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 zaštite, ostvarivanja solarnih dobitaka, disipacije toplote, generisanja toplote, aktivnog ventilisanja i hlađenja, 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 međuzavisnost koja postoji između različitih tipova komfora (toplotnog, vazdušnog, 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 ekoloških uticaja
Reflections on Urban, Regional and National Space - Three Essays: Nishiyama Uzō
No full textNishiyama Uzō, educated as an architect between 1930 and 1933, was a key figure in Japanese urban planning. He was a prolific writer who influenced a whole generation of Japanese urban planners and his interpretations of foreign planning and local practice still influence Japanese planning theory and practice today.
Nishiyama’s first publications date to the 1930s, and his last ones appeared in the 1990s, spanning a period of enormous political and spatial changes. The three articles translated here, originally published in the 1940s in professional magazines, show how Nishiyama developed his theoretical models based on a social approach to architecture and planning, focusing on land use and land control rather than aesthetic preferences. They provide insight into Nishiyama’s early thinking, his analysis of foreign examples, his reflection on large-scale regional and national spatial organization, and his architectural and urban visions, providing a remarkable and fascinating insight into the state of planning in Japan.
These texts call scholarly attention to the writing of a global planning history and invite the reader to engage with a major figure in planning who is largely unknown outside Japan; to reconsider Japanese planning history; and to work towards a truly global planning history. How does Nishiyama compare to the great urban planners of the past in the West, such as Patrick Geddes, Lewis Mumford, or Werner Hegemann? Many more translations will be necessary to answer this question