General @ 11 Feb 2008 02:05 pm by Robert Schmidl
This January, The History Channel (an American cable television channel) initiated a design and engineering competition called “City of the future”. Together with sponsors Infiniti and IBM architects and designers from all over the
General @ 31 Jan 2008 03:13 pm by Christina Anna Tramburg
Today we want to focus on another factor of our current poll concerning City Architecture: Infrastructure. Infrastructure is everything that sustains our quality of life including at least (public) transportation, built environment, water supply, waste management, building and development constraints. All these points form infrastructure but public transportation is a point that concerns every one of us.
And this time I want to share some personal infrastructure experiences that I have had.
| Project title | Chassé Campus Breda |
| Place, country | Breda, The Netherlands |
| Project type | Masterplan |
| Client | Municipality of Almere |
| Planners | OMA-Office for Metropolitan Architecture |
| Construction period or completion | 2000 |
| Area | not specified |
| Costs (million Euros) | not specified |
In 1996, a competition was held to develop a masterplan for a former army barracks vacant since the
1990’s. Instead of conventional perimeter block development and rows of housing, it proposes high,
solitaire buildings in a park-like landscape. Playing on heights and densities, an interesting arrangement
of residential blocks is created. Some extant buildings were incorporated in the design and
dedicated to new uses.
OMA realised the “Het Carre” building, three residential blocks linked by a courtyard, with commercial
uses on the ground floor.
The buildings on the campus show variety of housing types, from standard flats to a villa or gallery
houses.
Chassé Campus provides good infrastructure facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, while car traffic
has been reduced to the minimum. From Claudius Prinsenlaan, the main underground car park is
reached. Its roof emerges as a multiple folded surface, an abstract walk-in landscape. Main qaccess
for pedestrians is via Akkerstraat, setting up a visual connection to the city centre, shops and service
facilities.
IULA @ 17 Jul 2007 05:21 pm by Stephan Braunfels Architekten
| Project title | Neue Mitte Ulm (New Centre Ulm) |
| Place, country | Ulm, Germany |
| Project type | Building ensemble |
| Client | City of Ulm |
| Planners | Stephan Braunfels Architekten, Berlin/ Germany |
| Construction period or completion | not specified (competition 2004) |
| Area | not specified |
| Costs (million Euros) | not specified |
Ulm’s historic centre was badly destroyed during World War II. In the course of its reconstruction, a
6-lane highway was built right through the former centre, dividing it in two separate halves. At the end
of the 1990’s the city agreed to demolish the highway. A masterplan was developed to work out how
to bring back together the two halves of the city. On this basis, for new buildings competition entries
were invited. Stephan Braunfels won a competition for two buildings. One houses the mutual savings
bank (Sparkasse) Ulm, the other a shopping centre. The ensemble is situated between the town hall
and the Ulm cathedral and opens up to its environment.
The design avoids a reconstruction of the historic street layout or façades. „Neue Mitte Ulm is a statement
- which today is no longer obvious - conveying that is possible to restore a destroyed historic
ensemble using modern architecture.“ Its objective lay in creating urban spaces between the new and
existing buildings, rather than trying to connect the two halves of the city. Such urban quality has never
existed in this place before. This goes for Hans and Sophie Scholl Platz (square), but also for the
adjacent streets and squares between the Sparkasse and the “Münstertor” (Cathedral gate). “Neue
Mitte Ulm” not only creates a new urban focal point through new streets and avenues, but also develops
entirely new perspectives towards the town hall and the cathedral.
| Project title | Almere Masterplan Urban Redevelopment |
| Place, country | country Almere, The Netherlands |
| Project type | Urban Masterplan |
| Client | Municipality of Almere |
| Planners | OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Rotterdam/ The Netherlands |
| Construction period or completion | Stage 1 – 2005, Stage 2 – under construction |
| Area (hectares) | 15 |
| Costs (million Euros) | not specified |
Almere is situated in the greater Amsterdam area and originally was a typical Dutch small town, of
low density and embedded into the surrounding countryside.
During the 1990’s, population rose annually, but the town lacked a parallel development of urban
structures. An urban development competition carried out in 1994 intended to start off the evolution of
a town centre. The urban masterplan resulting from OMA’s competition entry defined an entirely new
cityscape. Contrasting the extensive low-rise structure of Almere’s historic town centre, OMA proposed
large solitary volumes with a mix of housing, entertainment, cultural facilities, and commerce.
The first construction stage focused on the Weerwater area. As a result of the evident success of the
measures, a second construction stage was initiated, focusing on the commercial development in
the northern part of the planning area, where a shopping centre, entertainment facilities, housing and
office premises are planned. The design for Entertainment Centre Block 6 included in this stage of
construction was conceived and realised by OMA. Effected by the production of a dense functional
mix in the town centre, Almere has turned into a lively city.
Inner-city open spaces play an important role in urban life, helping to integrate communities and providing a context for social cohesion. They are prime factors in determining the attractiveness of cities and urban neighbourhoods, significantly contributing to the quality of life of the people living and working in them.
Eurohypo’s International Urban Landscape Award picks up these thoughts and is a competition in recognition of public and private commitment to the improvement of the urban environment and continuing development of the city. Exemplary urban design projects are sought which also provide an inspiration to the development process in other cities.
General @ 02 Mar 2007 02:01 pm by Thomas Wai
Retirement is, after all, an artificial construct. In Singapore, the Retirement Act states that the retirement age is 62; In Japan, the age is 60; in some other countries, the age would be different. So do we need to be constrained by the “official retirement age” when we are planning what work best for companies and workers? Should we “retire” our workers immediately once they reached the retirement age? Does it mean that once our workers reached the “magic” age, they would suddenly become unfit to work? (more…)
General @ 26 Feb 2007 10:50 am by Sean Hicks
Team Helsinki is an international, interdisciplinary group formed earlier this year to take part in the ideas competition Greater Helsinki Vision 2050. The Finnish capital underwent a major transformation during the second half of the 20th Century and emerged as a worldwide centre of technology and innovation. (more…)
General @ 21 Feb 2007 11:06 am by Robert Schäfer
In 1300, the first fortified settlement came into being at the mouth of the Ochta/Neva estuary in the area that is now St. Petersburg.
This place that is steeped in history has been chosen by Gazprom Neft as its administration centre. In December 2006, an ideas competition was decided: RMJM from London won with an almost 400 m high tower for 20 000 Gazprom employees as well as various ancillary buildings on both sides of the Ochta.
(more…)
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