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3D Data for Urban Issues
No full textDifferent urban issues urgently request up-to-date, valid, accurate, suitable, error-free 3D data of the living environment. A dynamic, virtual copy of cities, landscape, and buildings enables to continuously monitor what is happening in reality and evaluate different scenarios through simulation. These simulations help address issues like flooding, noise pollution, air pollution, and urban heat islands. Methods are developed to reconstruct, validate, and disseminate virtual 3D models. The resulting methods are implemented in open-source software, such as PolyFit, MVStudio, 3dfier, and Val3dity. The resulting semantic rich 3D data of the living environment is structured and tailored for specific uses
The Trombe Wall during the 1970s: technological device or architectural space? : Critical inquiry on the Trombe Wall in Europe and the role of architectural magazines
Full text linkDuring the 1970s, before and after the international oil crisis of 1973, some European architectural periodicals were critical of standard construction methods and the architecture of the time. They described how architects and engineers reacted to the crisis, proposing new techniques and projects in order to intervene innovatively in the built environment, using energy and natural resources more efficiently.
This article will provide a critical analysis of the role of architectural magazines of the time, describing the technological innovation of the Trombe Wall in Europe. It will treat when, how, and what specific aspects were described. It will also carry out a critical analysis of the Trombe Wall itself: about its performances, its evolution throughout the 1970s, its integration in different houses, and its influence on inhabitants’ behaviour. Using three houses as case studies, an analysis of the architects’ efforts to integrate the technology of the Trombe Wall with architectural elements such as shape, aesthetic, materiality, and natural light will be carried out.
Though this article is historical in character, it aims to inform the contemporary debate, especially concerning issues of the built environment meeting the Paris agreement on climate change (AA, 2015)
Reimagining (Sub-) Urban Parks: The challenges of negotiating conflicting interests in a park system master planning process
Full text linkThe demand for green spaces in highly urbanised, metropolitan cities is well documented. However, adjacent to or surrounding these densely populated urban centres are extensive areas of newer suburbs, where land use and public space demands differ from those found in large urban cities. Though dependent on the age of a suburb and its associated societal changes, the demands made upon suburban green spaces are changing. However, little research has focused on ageing suburban park systems, which today may be managed by multiple administrative entities.
The development of a master plan for the seventy-year-old network of Bergen County parks, located in north-eastern New Jersey, approximately 30 km outside of New York City, is a case study that illustrates this environmental planning challenge. Competing user interests can be traced to conflicting demands and expectations for open space amenities, highlighting the difficulty of providing an equal voice to all park user populations.
A primary goal of this user-driven public process was to foster mutual respect and understanding between relevant groups, creating the possibility that these groups will become stewards of the county park system over the long-term under subsequently elected administrations. Having these public champions will be critical to successfully implementing and sustaining the proposed parks master plan concept. The following discussion describes a community engagement process that surfaced and negotiated user conflicts linked to New Jersey’s specific administrative and political environment
Rhizome: a growing horizontal stem of affordable housing in Menen, Addis Ababa
No full textRhizome faces the poor living conditions of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. The project offers a robust alternative solution to top-down developments promoted by the governments in the Global Urban South. Instead of high-rise buildings, based on Western models, planned by the local government, a system of human-scale community-driven low-rise buildings is developed. The design can either be built in concrete, the most used material in the capital, or with local materials. Through interviewing the current inhabitants, redrawing and exploring their environment at all times of day, the essence of the site was grasped. The resulting project is technically feasible, economically competitive, and flexible in construction time and materials.
The backbone of our project is the idea of residential compound, a physical and social structure composed by three elements: two incremental housing blocks and the circulation system. These are clustered together and can be rotated, mirrored and attached to each other creating a series of spaces that compose a hierarchical sequence of community spaces. This enacts a holistic strategy that bridges multiple scales, from the main urban streets, to the intimacy of the compound and, eventually, to the most private space of the dwelling
Un-war Space in Sarajevo, 1992-1996
No full textThe research shows experiences of the war in Sarajevo from the citizens’ point of view, learned from architectural drawings, videos, photos, and other media projects from the war, different from sensational media representations. The results display how citizens in Sarajevo have been responding to the military violence during the siege between 1992-1996, relying on all available architectural and other materials. The newly developed x-media analysis includes the study of analogue and digital media documents on the war in Sarajevo, and a translation of the analogue materials to the digital materials for exhibitions or lectures. A virtual reality model includes a 3D model of the city and a transformed by war modernist apartment. Archival photos and videos from the war are collected in the open source digital archive ‘un-war space’
(W)egocity
No full textEgocity and Wegocity are based on the hypothesis of maximum density achievement and maximum desire fulfilment when designing collective housing. This intensity, when applied to housing, can optimise land use, help combat inequality, and counteract the centrifugal force condemning contemporary urban development to urban sprawl. We asked students to tackle the challenge of converting density into desire by accommodating the users’ needs, yet following a restricted urban envelope that keeps energy consumption and carbon footprint under control. Students developed an innovative game capable of facilitating and visualising a typological puzzle resulting when different clients, cultures, and desires come to live together. Users began to work with and around each other and, somehow, together create something that is even nicer
Metropolitan Landscapes? Grappling with the urban in landscape design
Full text linkOn January 2016, a joint consortium of the Flemish and Brussels Chief Architects published Metropolitan Landscapes. Espaces ouvert, base de développement urbain/Open ruimte als basis voor stedelijke ontwikkeling. Based on the assumption that open spaces have the potential to spur and structure future urban development and surpass administrative boundaries, Metropolitan Landscapes presents research by design, authored by four prominent design firms with the intention of jumpstarting conversations about a shared spatial vision for the fragmented territory of Brussels and its periphery. In this article, we examine the methodology and definitions put forth by Bureau Bas Smets & List, explore the historical context that has rendered the landscape approach so promising in Brussels, and perform a thematic and critical reading of the four projects and their underlying rationale. These projects demonstrate the potential of landscape to engender novel territorial solutions. However, by choosing to ignore competing spatial claims and tending towards a techno-managerial rationale based on infrastructural and ecological systems, these designs raise questions as to the capacity of the landscape approach to deal with everpresent socio-political concerns in Brussels
The landscape of critique: The state of critique in landscape architecture and its future challenges
Full text linkThis essay explores critique as a specific instrument to evaluate and discuss artistic products, and argues that the relatively young discipline of landscape architecture could profit from further developing criticism within this field. Based on the work of Carroll, a theory on critique is provided, focussing on the aspect of ‘grounded evaluation’. An overview of the media in which criticism operates is given, including social media. Using examples from art and architecture, the role of criticism in landscape architecture is described. In so far as there is a ‘recipe’ for a critique, the main ingredients are given. The essay points at the difficulties for landscape architecture criticism due to the particularities of landscape and landscape architecture - the aspect of time is very important in this. As critique can be both an activity in the professional arena and an academic undertaking, the specific requirements of both options are considered. An agenda for future actions is given, including a list of projects that strongly asks for criticism, appealing to a shared feeling that these projects should be known, discussed, and visited
Small matters: Explaining the city through a medieval wall
Full text linkIn the city of Kranj, Slovenia, three former medieval defence towers were redesigned as public spaces. The three interventions are positioned and discussed within the frame of small-scale interventions, specifically as urban acupuncture. First, small-scale interventions are looked at as an approach to designing open space, and parallels with landscape approach are presented. Second, the Three Towers project is discussed, focussing on the relationship it establishes between the city and its context. As the city is built on top of a conglomerate canyon, the interventions open up the slopes and offer distinct views of the surrounding landscape. In this way, they rediscover and emphasise the relationships between the existing contextual amenities and the city itself. The experience of the site grounds the visitor in a physical and historical context and thus fulfils the mental map one might create of Kranj. In this way, the three small interventions influence the perception of the whole city
Tough Choice – Easy Decision: How to Handle Installations in Public Urban Space
Full text linkIn cities of increasing density, public space is under pressure from both commercial and non-commercial interests. Private installations in public space, such as kiosks, pavement cafes, advertising, and parklets, influence its usability and appearance. Based on the assumption that such installations can also alter and define the inclusiveness and accessibility of public space, the authors argue that the process of granting permission for and regulating the design and positioning of such installations is not only an administrative decision but one that is connected with planning strategies and political considerations. This article presents the theoretical background and the ensuing guidelines for a consultancy study for the administration of the city of Vienna. Showcasing a variety of case studies, we discuss the impact of installations on the surrounding public space and develop criteria for their regulation and authorisation in three thematic layers, covering the social, spatial, and design aspects of a submission. The innovative social layer formulates a premise and raises the question: Does the general public benefit from this installation? With this in mind, the authors transform political agendas, policies, and strategic planning goals into a pragmatic toolset, aiming to support the fair and balanced use of public space. The results of the study have already been integrated into a new set of guidelines entitled ‘Thematic Concept: Public Space’, which is part of Vienna’s Urban Development Plan ‘STEP2025’. The guidelines are to be actively applied by the city administration in the future assessment of usage requests for commercial and non-commercial installations in public space