WORK IN PROCESS: URBAN STRUCTURE SITE BRUSSELS

URBAN STUDIO. From Peter and Alison Smithson’s ideas till the Barcelona School’s urban fabric approach, disentangling different forms of urban growth, the idea of urban structure is an important issue within the urban design discourse. The previous mapping of the Canal area in BRUSSELS helped to understand the functioning of the area at different scales and invites to extract the Urban Structure of the whole area and in particular the Ninoofse Poort site.
The objective of this ongoing exercise is to present in a coherent way the Urban Structure of the area and to introduces an additional residential and commercial program into the site. To be continued...

Urban Studio: Mapping Brussels

Participants of our Urban Studio were asked to present a series of maps of the studied Canal area in Brussels to explore or explain the urban dynamics and characteristics. This specific task demanded a “filtering” of the presented material in studio, according to the following themes:
-social networks
-the structure of open space
-social control and functional mix
-streetscape
-morphology and scale of the environment
-the canal as part of a circulation network
Here are some results... To be continued...

ADAPTABILITY

To be able to speak of a good adaptability in a project is necessary to focus on issues such as the context in which housing will be built, and based on the customer needs the architect most achieve an intervention that can solve the problems of distribution, climate, energy saving etc. without affecting the ground or adjacent buildings. That´s why it is important to document some projects, so people can see the different ways to intervene in an existing environment in a way that isn’t invasive.

New goals in dwellng for the current urban space

The city has always affected the way we live, so that economic activities, transportation, communication, etc. so those issues have shown some parameters for the architects so they can shape different spaces for living. There are many criticisms of the new types of dwellings, departmental towers and mass housing because some builders do not consider such important situations of coexistence among people, sustainability and the use of land. Until now, the architects are looking for the ideal model to dwell and it is very interesting to observe the new proposals and try to make that the housing fits with the people and not backwards.

Communal spaces

The concept of communal spaces is the housing type where private spaces and public spaces are designed in harmony with each other.

The distinction between these 2 places needs to be designed carefully in order to make sure the inhabitants still have the privacy they require.

According to the CIAM, creating architecture with communal spaces is creating the centralization of household functions and the conversion of the isolated nuclear household into a modern mechanized operation instead of the small-scale organization of individual households.

Architects who want to create architecture with communal spaces have to be careful that, although sharing is the main idea, this doesn’t mean that residents have to scarify their privacy. Instead, a comfortable balance between the public and the private realms is an important issue in this type of housing.

communal spaces

Sustainable housing

Nowadays, sustainability is everywhere, perceptions of sustainable housing have even moved from the importance of the individual dwelling to the issues facing neighbourhoods and communities.

Sustainable architecture is expanding that much due to exhaustible resources, large urban developments and the current attention given to climate issues.

A truly sustainable housing project should also incorporate economic, social and environmental issues in the planning and design stages with the aim of providing a building that is affordable, accessible and environmentally good. However, architects must be careful that they try to give an answer to the needs of today without compromising the needs of the next generations.

sustainable housing

Which is the dweller today?

The dweller could be anyone, but the basic problem it´s to try to find, transform or build a good dwelling for this person. So we need to think that dwelling it´s not the same as housing. The Professor N.J. Habraken said in his paper “An alternative to mass housing” that “A dwelling is made only and exclusively when people come to live in it”. Anybody with resources can get a house but it´s our duty as architects to create real homes to them, not just a place to stay. That’s why mass housing becomes a real problem when the people try to adapt into the new house, instead the house adapts to the new dweller, as Habraken says “Mass housing demands in advance what a dwelling is before the occupier is in any way concerned.” But the idea is to make that the future dweller participates in the conception of his new home because “The house form is the result of choice among existing possibilities: The greater the number of possibilities, the greater the choice”. (N.J. Habraken), and with this choices from the dweller we could make a better solution for the new housing problem.

FLEXIBILITY

"Humans are flexible creatures. We moved at will, we manipulate objects and we act in a large number of environments" (Robert Kronenburg: Flexible, arquitectura que integra el cambio, 2007). If we look back, humans have always been flexible to a greater or lesser extent. The nomads moved every day searching for survival by adapting their homes to different places and situations, or even moving them with them. Although at these principles flexibility was at mobile or adapted homes, little by little flexibility has been accomplished in fixed homes, even at the distribution and arrangement of spaces. If we look back a few centuries, we can see that Frank Lloyd Wright created the open-plan, something unheard at that time, in the same way that almost no one had work with the interior and exterior modeled flexibility. Today we can find all kinds of flexibilities that provide a bonus to the house; it allows having advantages as the possibility of performing different activities in a same place, changing the dimensions of a room, manipulating the interior-exterior division, etc. But the houses have a long and difficult life since the use may change and the surrounding environment is constantly changing, in contrast to the buildings, which is fixed. That is why the ability to adapt to changes could be the most important factor to consider on housing. But, although all buildings can be flexible in a greater o smaller extent, sometimes that is not a solution and and it requires a great deal of endeavor to be a entirely comfortable house. So, how should we design a flexible house? And is it real an advantage create flexible homes? If true, is it possible to find a flexible mechanism that can be used to satisfy all types of tenants?

COMMUNAL SPACES Interior-Exterior

“In considering the effect of buildings in relation to a site, I shall show that here too the exterior is always an interior” (Le Corbusier: Towards a new architecture, 1923). These words of the Swiss architect may be the beginning of a rather subjective issue: interior-exterior spaces. In ancient architecture, it was clear which was the exterior space, and which the interior one, because there was a strong division between both and each one had different characteristics. But Greek and Roman architecture started building porches, which already represented a transitional space between interior and exterioe. Today, architecture has advanced, the same way that technology and lifestyle of the people, and we can find areas with ambiguous characteristics at many housing projects. Some projects have the intended of confusing and make believe you're in an open space when you really are not, as the Kaufmann House of R. Neutra, where the transparency of the walls completely ignored the feeling of being surrounded by a cladding and gives the feeling of being at a exterior space. However, there are others that design spaces that respond to a specific use or need for the project, but can hardly be defined as interior or exterior (eg, Cloister House of Tezuka Architects) because it may be a space that has some interior-space characteristics, but combined with other exterior-space characteristics. As a third option we have projects where a flexible element can convert a interior space into an exterior one, and vice versa (for example, the Collector House of Adam Kalkin, where with the opening of three sides of a interior space can get a exterior space).
We can see that there is no definite pattern to classify interior and exterior spaces, and although there were, probably everyone would have their own point of view. So, is there any definition that would serve everyone to explain what an "interior space" is? And what about an "exterior space"? And should the transitional spaces discussed above be introduced into the groups "interior" and "exterior"? Or should they create a third (or more) group that explains these spaces?

Adaptability/Accessibility

Houses should be designed for simple and barrier-free use, low physical effort, but as well for full accessibility, flexibility and adaptability. It is important to take into account the Universal Design.

Its intention is to simplify life for everyone by making products, communications and the built environment usable by as many people as possible. It helps to eliminate the need for special features and spaces.

To measure whether a building is fully accessible, four levels of accessibility are distinguished, according to Dr. Marc Dujardin: reach, enter, use, understand.

“Universal Design is an approach to design that incorporates products as well as building features which, to the greatest extent possible, can be used by everyone.“

Flexibility

How does flexibility reflect in today’s housing? What does flexible housing mean?

According to T. Schneider and J.Till it is housing that can adjust to changing needs and patterns. It is important to realize how the society changes today, and how the needs of dwellers changes as well. Housing should be flexible enough to accomodate new demands, such as aging of users or changes in working patterns. By its design, housing has to be able to adjust to these kinds of changes.

„The question for the future is to create flexible, neutral structures that can resist and allow continuous changes."

COMMUNAL SPACES IN HOUSING BUILDINGS

In architecture, communal spaces have a special importance because its social function. But, in housing buildings, these spaces are not very common and sometimes forgotten.

Despite this common tendency, there are some cases that illustrate this communal space as a projecting element. As a first example, Rem Koolhaas proposes, with his Social condenser, a space or volume that causes the overlap and the intersection of different programs which enhances the social interaction. Another relevant example is the movement extended in the United States called CoHousing, based on a community which shares the courtyard and some services that are managed by its members.

As these two examples show, the people’s interaction is a good thing to have in mind at the time of projecting a housing building because it contributes to the improvement of the community as well as the relationship between its members.

FLEXIBILITY TODAY

When we talk about flexibility in housing architecture today, we talk about how houses can change along time as a response to different demands. Today, the family structure changes often: new kids, older people, emancipation of children, divorces… and all these factors have different needs that dwelling must be able to attend.

According to this, architects must look at the society and its evolutionary needs in order to give the right answer to the housing problem in every moment. And nowadays, a flexible house seems to be the best or, at least, the most efficient way to face it.

Energy efficiency

Energy efficiency according to dictionary definition is ´using less energy to provide the same level of performance, comfort, and convenience.´ Nowadays it this theme more than important and discussed, because people are getting more and more conscious about our behaviour against enviroment and the truth is, that we dammaged it a lot using harmfull materials, wasting of materials and energy and many other activities. That is why we should use modern technology to aviod this harmful behaviour and think about future. The solution is using for example renewable energy systems, use low energy materials and methods and use as many possibilities to acting friendy to our enviroment as posible.

Sustainability

According to definition by Robert Gillman, the goal of sustainable development is to "meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs"(WECD, 1987). later he extended this goal oriented definition by stating "sustainability refers to a very old and simple concept (The Golden Rule)...do onto future generations as you would have them do onto you." This is short , but really exact explanation of sustainability. We have to think not only about beauty in the process of architectonical designing, but also about many other aspects - social, economic and cultural to create architecture, which is long term lasting and creates the best living conditions during long time.

Participation

There are plenty of definitions for participation, from a financial one untill a political but the best way to understand Participation in a housing context is to identify what is the aim. From this point we can mark to ways of participation, the traditional one and the modern one. The traditional way individuals were involved during the whole building process making posible to create a relation with the enviroment in order to establish their own identity. Today identity is not longer an aim, our society moves too quickly making it dificult to grow roots, so participation understood from a modern

point of view would be the search of efficency and well-being. Dwellers will participate in the design specifying their needs to technicians in order to get the best from their homes.

Social mix

Since the middle of the last century, the planning of many residential areas has been based on the assumption that a socially mixed community is a desirable goal and that housing planners can reach real social mix, interaction, awareness and a “feeling of community”.

As early as 1849, a British industrialist proposing a new “model town” for his employees claimed that “the highest degree of health, contentment, morality and enjoyment yet seen in any existing community” would result if his town of New Victoria were peopled by “an adequate number of inhabitants with such due proportions between the agricultural and manufacturing classes and between the possessors of capital, skills and labour” (Buckingham, 1849).

Some writers have argued that without a heterogeneous population a neighborhood cannot provide the choices and experiences necessary for a meaningful life. Others argue that age mix is essential if community organizations are to have effective leadership.

But there are situations where forcing the mixing of people is not a “good” idea. So, having social mix is always good? Can there be “bad” social mix?

Security and Gated Communities

It is difficult to consider a gated community as a place which can affect its surroundings, its closed design prevents from any relation with the exterior. Indeed thats not fully true, gated communities offers job opportunities plus new services and security to neighbour communities.

What is less known is the how living behind a gate does not improve security, it actually creates a a mental barrier that ruins social integration leaning into more insecurity and fear.

This exclusivity offered by gated communities is anything but an obstacle for coexistence, is important to notice that one of mass housing key points is public space and its interaccion with people.

INDUSTRIALISATION in housing

In architecture the industrialization is the development and improvement of construction work on the basis of mechanization and automation.

The industrialization of construction has several purposes: increasing labor productivity, replacing manual labor with machines, accelerating the pace of construction, putting new projects into operation more quickly, reducing costs, and improving quality. It includes the extensive use of prefabricated factory-finished large-sized elements and the conversion of production into a mechanized and continuously flowing process of assembly and installation of buildings and structures made of prefabricated assemblies and parts.