CHEPOS built environment magazine
BUILDING THE ENVIRONMENT 64 RENOVATION BINNENHOF | NITROGEN VERDICT | REBUILDING AFTER WAR
DEC. 2019
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CHEPOS built environment magazine
Transformation is happening all around us. The built environment has been transforming ever since it existed. It has been through a type of evolution with the current cities and villages as a result. Whether this result is positive or negative is up to you, but the fact remains that this is not the final result. The built environment will keep developing itself endlessly. It is both a slow and a fast project. Architecture has always been named the slowest of artistic disciplines. It sometimes takes years to create a building and it takes centuries to form neighborhoods and entire
However, due to the current technologies of renders, immediate feedback can be given during the design process of a building, without it actually being constructed. Competitions create numerous fictional buildings of which only one will eventually be built. These different fictional realities form options for the future. They create alternative pathways. The pathway which is chosen shapes the final future. Nowadays, the built environment is on a tipping point. It has been influencing the earth for thousands of years and will keep doing so in the future. Even when humans itself have disappeared, they have left an ever-lasting mark on the earth. It is therefore important to think about what this mark will look like. That is why the FILE theme of this edition is “Building the Environment�. We only have one natural environment to work with, so it is crucial to integrate both environments together and form a symbiosis. A world in which the two environments are in close contact and benefit from each other’s presence. Some articles directly deal with the impact on the natural environment, such as the nitrogen
verdict in The Netherlands and the sustainable lifestyle of residents. Others focus on the transformation of the built environment itself, starting with a time-line through history and the way existing buildings can be renovated. The Chepos committee itself is transforming as well. Every year the group of students that write articles, create lay-outs and promote the magazine are changing. The cycle of people joining and leaving again is continuous. However, this year is quite special: only two editors of previous year have remained and ten new members have joined the committee. It is a fresh start for Chepos. New faces, new ideas and new content. We have had high ambitions since the start, releasing a full magazine three times a year even though everything was new to the committee. Furthermore, similar to the built environment, the Chepos committee is on a tipping point to re-organize the Chepos for next edition. I hope you have a good time reading the 64th edition of Chepos! Karim Jaspers Editor-in-Chief
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42 NOW NL NEWS 4 CHEPOST 6 EDITOURS 8 DUTCHHOUSING MARKET 10 THE RENOVATION OF THE BINNENHOF 12 EARTHQUAKES 14 Shaking Up the Built Environment PICTORIAL 16 Meeting the Committee
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FILE: BUILDING THE ENVIRONMENT SKYSCRAPERS Highest throughout History THINKING, WRITING AND DESIGNING Column Jacob Voorthuis NITROGEN VERDICT RENOVATION AND CONCRETE Revitalization as an Alternative CONSTRUCTING A LIFESTYLE CHANGING URBAN MOBILITY
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34 THAT’S WHY FREETOWN OF CHRISTIANIA SMART FAÇADES SPATIAL PLANNING IN FLANDERS A Story of Path Dependency REBUILDING AFTER WAR
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TOOLS 34 36 38
PROGRAMS AND RENDERS 44 PANTHEON 46 This Building Smells... Funky AGENDA 48
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Concrete price The dutch concrete award in the category “groundbreaking” goes to a small office for the Dutch Society for Nature Conservation. The walls only consist of concrete with a high foamglass content that insulate the building, while also increasing the acoustic performance due to chunks of foamglass that are exposed on the surface of the concrete. The idea is that the office should not look like a building, but more natural, like a rock in the scenery.
Text: Chepos Committee & Jesper van Duijnhoven
Annoying Measure In a few weeks the maximum speed at Dutch highways will be 100 km/hour, instead of the current 130 km/hour. For the daytime at least, during night 130 km/hour is still allowed. The current coalition parties in Dutch parliament agreed to this to end the building stop that is currently going on in the Netherlands. The amount is nitrogen compounds will decrease that much that we can compensate the decrease with building. One of those political parties, the VVD(which nickname translates into carparty), called it #rotmaatregel (#stupidrule). We on this faculty probably disagree with that statement. Drastic as it may be it does however still not help the environment around us. The amount of nitrogen compounds stays the same anyway and the cattle farmers still do not yield and take their responsibility to decrease the amount of nitrogen.
Trudo Challenge The Trudo Challenge is an immersive contest where its participants are faced with various relevant challenges in the built environment. From the 15th until the 17th of November, CHEOPS participated with two enthusiastic teams. The assignment was simple, enhance the identity of the vibrant triangle area of Strijp-S. It all started with a tour through Strijp-S. The teams visited people who live, work and recreate at Strijp-S. Inspiration was found in the stories of all the creative people who have found their place in Strijp-S. On Saturday morning it was time to start the challenge, a little bit over 24 hours to develop a concept and make a design. It doesn’t sound like much, but it was amazing to see what people can create in such a short time.
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AZ Stadium August 2019, the roof of the AZ-stadium in Alkmaar partly collapsed due to poorly welded connections and a strong wind. Research found out that many mistakes were made during the construction phase of the project. Parts were being built without permission, certain important calculations were missing and concerning abnormalities were found by inspectors. It got so bad that the municipality stopped the construction process a total of three times. From communication between the municipality and the construction company it became apparent that the reason for all these mistakes was pressure to get the project done on time. Other research found that not just the part of the roof that collapsed was not up to standard. The rest of the roof apparently also cannot withstand a strong downward wind. For this reason, the entire roof will be replaced, not just the section that broke down.
Ecoducts One of the most rising forms of bridges in the Netherlands concerns ecoducts. This type of bridge does not follow the needs of humans, but the needs of the fauna living in this country. This however does not lead to fewer regulations for the building of such environmental passages. One of the most recent examples of this concerns the to be built ‘Oudste Grond’ passage located over the A35 in the province of Overijssel. This project was set to get off the ground, but was stopped due to a decision of a judge, since it was protested against. Those protests came from both neighboring residents and by the Wageningen Environmental Research team, since it was deemed to be too narrow for fauna to actually use it frequently. The future of this project is now certain, as the Raad van State accepted the new plans for this project. This project is expected to be finished by the beginning of 2020.
Naturalis Recently the new building of natural history museue a new house fitting to their scale. The new building is designed by Neutelings Architecten. It transformed the old museum into the depots and created new and imposing halls, looking like an excavation pit with an skeleton cover over it, perfectly matching the vibe of the great museums of the 19 th century.
Images: 1. Office Natuurmonumenten Zierikzee. Matthijs Labadie. 2. Highway (source: pxhere.com) 3. Trudo Challenge 5 2 (photo by Patrick Ullmer). 4. Tilemahos Efthimiadis (source: flickr.com) 5. Wikipedia, 3 6 2013 6. BotMultichillT. Mammoet. Wikimedia commons. Sources: 1. Dit gebouw krijgt een ‘olifantenhuid’. 2019. Nos.nl. 2. Zihni Özdil. “Progressief leedvermaak om #rotmaatregel is misplaatst”. NRC Handelsblad. 2019 3. Unknown author. Alkmaar legde bouw AZ-stadion driemaal stil vanwege ernstige fouten. October 30, 2019. Nu.nl. 4. Geldverspilling? Nieuw ecoduct A35 waarschijnlijk te smal voor ree. 2019. RTV Oost. 5. Ecoduct over A35 bij Enschede mag afgebouwd worden. 2019. Tubantia 6. Bernhard Hulsman. ‘‘De metamorfose van Naturalis is spraakmakend en schitterend’’. Nrc handelsblad. 1
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ChePOST NOORTJE VERVERS 1ST YEAR MASTER STUDENT ARCHITECTURE 23 YEARS OLD
The Big Apple It is February 4th 2019 and my adventure is about to start. Today, I will move to New York City for 6 months to do an internship and see what living there is actually like. It has been a long time dream of mine and finally it is coming true. At 11:00 I say goodbye to my dear family at Schiphol and at 4.30 PM I set foot at John F. Kennedy Airport where it all starts. I stand in line for the dreadful security and call home to let them know I arrived safely. Probably the last time I will speak to them today since time difference is 6 hours and their evening is already about to end. I finally make it through security and the yellow cab line and I am on my way in to the big city. It is beautiful weather and the sunset is one of a kind. I am feeling excited but anxious, not fully knowing what my residents looks like and not knowing who I will meet. I see the skyline of Manhattan becoming bigger and bigger and it fully hits me, I AM IN NYC and for the next months I can call this my home! This little introduction reflects my time in NYC pretty well. It was a time where I had to find out several things about myself, positive and negative, adjusting to being far away from family and friends, being fully on my own and starting my first internship. I did not make it easy for myself by moving so far away, but it was the best choice I ever made!
Before moving to NYC, I visited the city three times already, so the city was familiar to me. With every visit, I fell in love with the city more and more. This was the main reason I wanted to find a way to experience living there. For me, international experience was absolutely not a must, but since I had such a driven passion for this city I decided to give it a go. The idea to do an internship in NYC came about in my second year of my Bachelor’s, when I knew I would finish my Bachelor’s half a year later and thus would have half a year left after that. Of course I would have been able to start my master’s, but doing an internship in between felt like a great option. In November 2017, I went to an event where all kinds of organizations, that could help facilitate me in finding an internship abroad, were present and I came across StageUSA. This company helped me in finding an internship, getting the US Visa and finding residence. The whole process took a good while, overall it took me from February 2018 until December 2018 to get everything sorted. In the beginning of December 2018, I had the official interview with the architectural firm I eventually interned for, Tuller McNealus Feld. It is a company that focuses on interior design and architecture work mainly in Manhattan itself. The projects they take are mainly big commercial buildings and/or floors.
Before starting my internship, I took the opportunity to adjust to my new home and to the city for a week, which was a great decision for me. I lived at West 34th Street, which is in mid-town Manhattan and I was able to walk to work since this was just a few blocks away. The first day of work was nerve-wrecking, since I didn’t know exactly where it was and I didn’t know the people and the way Americans go about things. The company has around 12 employees and is very small, which I really liked. I got my own cubicle (so American) and was happy to see I wasn’t pushed in a corner (as I only had movie references and that often happened in American movies). The people were kind to me so I was very relieved. However, a few weeks went by and I was having a very hard time at my internship. The American mentality is a very high one and the company expected a lot from me. This had also to do with the fact that the company took on more projects than they could handle (this happens in a lot of companies in NYC since bills need to get paid etc.) and so everyone was expected to work their hardest. They expected me to work as a full-time employee, while I was still adjusting to their working methods. Originally, my work shifts were from 9 am to 5:30 pm, but I have had to work extra hours very often. This led to some serious conversations between me, my tutor
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and my bosses, which was a very hard thing to do. However, these conversations eventually helped and they hired more people. The main tasks I did were drafting and building surveying, but because it was such a small company I was able to do all tasks everyone did. I did work around 45-50 hours a week, so I was at the office for a long time during the week. Overall I would say my internship challenged me greatly, because of the high mentality. The start was very difficult, but this made me stand up for myself several times, which were very educational moments too. It made me learn and adjust very quickly and at the end I was able to work in the company like every other
employee. Even though they were not great at giving compliments and feedback, especially in the beginning, they explicitly told me how much they were going to miss me when I had to leave the office and return home. The evenings and weekends, I of course spend exploring the city. The evenings during the week were often mainly resting, but in the weekends I was able to do lots of fun things. New York City is known as the city that never sleeps and when living there it is one of the things you notice. It doesn’t matter whenever you walk on the streets, people are everywhere and even restaurants are open 24/7. Everything you eat is bigger than you can imagine and everything you do is bigger and crazier. There is nothing weird about seeing
celebrities in clubs or movie sets on the streets and going to Jimmy Fallon during the week is just something you do. I can recommend an international experience to everyone. I didn’t do it for credits or because I had to, but just because I wanted to fully go out of my way and comfort zone. Not only did it give me great practical experience in my field of study, it also gave me the opportunity to get to know and develop myself on a personal level in a way I never thought was possible. Images: 1. Noortje Ververs (photo: Noortje Ververs) 2. New York (photo: Noortje Ververs)
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Aron: “a fairytale place” It came with an endless Wikipedia link clicking session during an exam week I became familiar with the works of one of the architects that really put their stamp on the Netherlands: Pierre Cuypers. I was that intrigued that a few days later I went to one of his biggest works. The weather was bad and in the hurry of a short transfer I was afraid I took the wrong bus. However, the rain turned into fog and out of the fog magical and fairytale like structures of Castle De Haar appeared. This castle is a 19th century romantic building built on the ruined foundations of the old family home with unlimited funds. This design of Cuipers differs from his other works because it concerns a renovation. This in combination with excellent research resulted in an enormous gothic castle filled with weird shaped rooms in which numerous historical references to the history of the original building and the time in which it was built. The whole design was a true gesamtkunstwerk. Not only the furniture and the cutlery was designed by Cuypers; when I arrived in the village beside the castle I discovered even those buildings and public space were of his hands. An environment designed by only one individual can feel quite intimidating. In the case with castle De Haar and the weather it was surely not. That day I added a new design to my favourites.
HANGHAI THE EDITOURS HAARZ Where did our editors go? Ipek: “sinking city” We arrived at this small sinking city on the second day of our trip. The air was humid but that was a given and was quite expected considering the conditions of the city. Our tour bus parked near a small buffet where all the other busses were also waiting, and we started walking towards a bridge connecting the two hills surrounding the valley that is now almost completely filled with water. The two parts of the city is separated by the Tigris River. While we were walking on the bridge, we saw terracing houses overlooking the river. In current day, the city is almost completely evacuated and will be unfortunately opened to construction of the Ilısu Dam. As a result of this permit the locals are forced to move and find new homes leaving their memories behind. Before the creation of this new legislation the site had been under protection as a heritage since many years. The city, as I had last seen it in May, was a sight to behold with the cave houses, many old and stone structures that have housed countless civilizations. We concluded this few hours long trip with a coffee break on one of the terracing cafes overlooking the river.
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Lianne: “a city of contrast” When we think of Shanghai, we often picture tall, futuristic skyscrapers. The famous skyline of the city shows modern towers in the district of Pudong. Grand buildings like the Shanghai tower, the Oriental Pearl tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center (which is often referred to as the bottle opener) can be seen from the opposite side of the Pudong river. Even though this is the popular image of the city, it is nowhere near being the only or most impressive architectural style. The Bund is located on the other side of the river and its architectural style is in stark contrast with the futuristic style that is often associated with the city. Most of the buildings lining the grand promenade of the Bund were built in the early 20th century. As a result, these buildings look and feel more European than anything. The neoclassical style that is incorporated into many of the buildings along the Bund is a very surprising, but welcome, feature of a great city.
ZUILENS HASANKEYF GÖBEKLITE Ipek: “the first temple” We arrived at this city on the last day of our trip early in the morning. We drove for a few more hours until we reached the skirts of the hill where the museum with an exhibition that is specifically focused on the history of the region of Göbeklitepe is located. There we had the chance to have a glimpse of the day to day lives of people that once lived here. This is the first temple that has ever been constructed. A history that dates back 12 thousand years ago. Inside the museum we had the chance to see certain animations that were played on the walls of a circular room and we saw models of the actual stones that were found in the temple. After a quick tour of the museum, we were taken to the top of the hill to see the actual Göbeklitepe site. When we reached the circular area that is covered by a system of ramps matching the topography and enabling the visitors to experience the place, we also met the owner of the land. Apparently, the whole area once belonged to this old man who was just an ordinary villager in the area until he discovered the existence of this ancient temple on his field. The site belongs to the Neolithic age and is now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage. The whole structure is preserved quite well, and it is an experience that I would recommend combined with the museum.
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Dutch Housing Market Over the past couple of months more problems regarding the Dutch housing market came up on the news. In order to get a better insight into these problems, this article will focus on the housing market in the Netherlands. First it is necessary to get a better understanding of the history and composition of the Dutch housing market. The history can be divided into four time periods: Genesis, Growth, Flourishing and Pruning. Text: Jasper Poel, Lay-out: Henryk Gujda Genesis accounts for the period from medio 1900. During that period the poor housing conditions due to industrialization were improved following the Housing Act of 1901. During the Growth period, spanning from 1945 to 1975, a great number of dwellings had to be build following WW2. These large scale plans development were carried out by the municipalities, who handed over the ownership of these dwellings to the housing associations. Those municipalities were the only ones allowed to act as a commissioner for the social rental houses. To build so many new houses in such a small country, the idea of high rise flat buildings were stamped on the urban landscape. The period from 1975 until 2000 became known as the Flourishing period. During this period the individualism of people was considered more important, leading to a bigger diversity in housing supply. During this time the market became demand-driven, where housing associations were regarded more as
a service and became more independent. This independency resulted in a more liberal policy towards consumers where they can more easily switch to another supplier and housing sector. The Pruning period is the name for the period since 2000. During this period the owneroccupied housing sector was for the first time bigger than the rental sector. This was due to multiple interventions by governmental institutions. The Dutch government for example put a levy on landlords, resulting in the reinvestment of the housing stock by the housing associations. Another important trend was that citizens themselves take the initiative build and own their property. Having discussed the history of the Dutch housing market, we can now take a look at the current housing market and problems. The Dutch housing stock consists of approximately 7.3 million dwellings. Of those dwellings, 8% falls within the commercial rental sector, 32% in the social rental sector for which the housing association is responsible and 60% is owneroccupied. Since around 2.4 million dwelling are managed by the housing associations, this group is considered as the biggest and most important landlord in the Netherlands. Since they are the biggest landlord, they are continuously monitored to make sure their task of promoting the housing stock quality and prioritizing low income groups are carried out sufficiently. Since the basics of the Dutch housing market have been explained, we now take a look at the current problems. Maybe the biggest
problem is the rising of the housing prices: where the housing value or WOZ-value has grown with 7,8% from start 2018 to start 2019, leading to an average value of 248.000 euros in 2019 which is the highest value ever measured. This growth was the biggest for the provinces of Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland and Utrecht. This growth was the lowest for the province of Groningen. The reason for these high prices is simple: there are not enough dwellings. The shortage of dwellings lead to higher demand than there is supply, resulting in the higher valuation of the supply. The high prices can be found in both the commercial rental sector as the owneroccupied sector. This is especially resulting in bigger housing acquisition problems for starters, who then more often decide to rent, leading to a decrease in demand of owneroccupied houses. In order to solve the housing value problems, building new houses has been opted as the prime remedy for the problems, especially in the cities. The prices of houses are still increasing, leading to higher taxes for house owners. The build of new houses has been stagnating as well. These facts can ultimately result in a new crisis in the housing market. What can we expect if such a crisis happens once more? Well the contrary can happen, the housing prices can drop. This can result in house owners that will face residual debt when selling their houses, since the selling price will be lower than the acquisition price. Future crises will have a lower negative impact however, since the amount of debt will be lower. Especially people that
House prices in the Netherlands
Price indication of existing owner-occupied homes 125 120 115 110 105 100 95 90 2007
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bought their homes after 2013 will face smaller financial problems, since the maximum amount of money possible to rent is lower and they were obliged to repay their mortgage from the beginning. If a crisis happens again, the remedy is to build, new houses, even during a possible crisis since the amount of dwellings will lead to a bigger housing stock and future stability regarding housing prices. Not only does a possible crisis have an influence on the housing market, other trends may affect the market as well. First, the effects of a possible Brexit remains unknown. One expectation is that the differences on the housing market between the Randstad and the other regions in the country will grow even more. A second expectation of the Brexit is that the mortgage interest will decline. Another occurring trend is the use of innovative dwellings, where temporary problems in housing stocks can be solved by prefabricated dwellings.
Images: 1. House prices in Netherlands (CBS/ Kadaster) created in Adobe Illustrator 2. Property valuation (cbs.nl) 3. Map of Netherlands (vecteezy. 2 com) Sources: 1. Peter Boelhouwer, Hugo Priemus. 1 Demise of the Dutch social housing tradition: impact of budget cuts and political changes. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 29, June 2014, p. 221-235. 2. Nico Nieboer, Vincent Gruis. Shifting back-changing organisational strategies in Dutch social housing. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 29, March 2014, p. 1-13. 3. Unknown author. WOZ-waarde van Nederlandse huizen naar nieuw record. September 13, 2019. rtlnieuws.nl. 4. Unknown author. Waarom de problemen op de woningmarkt maar niet weggaan. July 13, 2019. rtlz.nl. 5. Natasja de Groot. Nieuwe crisis dreigt op de woningmarkt. August 21, 2018. ad.nl. 6. Unknown author. WOZ-waarde naar record, hoogste stijging sinds jaren. September 13, 2019. cbs.nl. 7. Arjan Meesterburrie. Wat als de huizenprijs over een paar jaar weer instort? Zo kwetsbaar ben je met een annuïteitenhypotheek. May 29, 2018. businessinsider.nl. 8. Sam de Voogt. Over drie, vier jaar slaat de woningmarkt om. February 5, 2019. nrc.nl. 9. Unknown author. Deze 2 grafieken laten zien dat de huizenmarkt in 2019 en volgend jaar echt afkoelt - prijsstijging maar iets meer dan 2% eind 2020. March 15, 2019. businessinsider.nl. 10. Jaap Hoeve, ​Brexit is een vloek voor de woningmarkt. January 23th 2019, VastgoedActueel. 3
This article has explored the Dutch housing market, its past, present and future. The history showed the importance of the housing associations on the Dutch housing market, the present showed some problems and what caused them, where the future trends have been stated with their influence on the Dutch housing market.
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The Renovation It was the hot topic on the news these last couple of months: the soap opera of the renovation of the Binnenhof. The project was done on a secret location, with only a couple of employees of OMA that knew of the project and they had to sign a contract that required total secrecy. Chaos began when it was revealed that the main architect, Ellen van Loon of OMA, was fired from her project at the Binnenhof. To top it all off, it was announced that the project would be postponed for a year. This caused a lot of commotion and questions began to rise knowing what went wrong during the project. Text & Lay-out: Quirine Heijnen The Binnenhof is a square in The Hague where a lot of important buildings for The Netherlands are located. Since the first construction of the Binnenhof in the 13th century, there has been constant addition, demolition and renovation. The buildings housed graves, governors, kings and republicans. In 1292, grave Willem II and Floris V built the Grafelijke Zalen (including the Ridderzaal). In 1450, the first governors came to live on the Binnenhof. In 1696, the States General was located in the Binnenhof which, from 1814, is the parliamentary representation. This then was in 1815 divided into the first and second House of the Netherlands. Thus, the Binnenhof became the centre of democracy of The Netherlands. All over the world, the government and parliament buildings have an important symbolic function for a country. The buildings do not simply provide shelter for the leaders of a country, but they also propagate certain essential values through their design. For example, a rigid building stands for the consistent character of the politics in a country. While a building with a lot of columns can mean that the country aims for balance, reasonableness and order. Therefore, the design of the Binnenhof represents the vision of The Netherlands. The last renovation in 1992 expresses the current democratic system in The Netherlands, where transparency, consultation and coalition governments are central. The glass walls, open States passage and outward-facing meeting room function as a meeting place where citizens and politicians can come together and where politics is conducted in all openness. Since the building is in constant use, has a rich history and high value for The Netherlands, it needs to be well maintained. Unfortunately, the building is not well maintained. The last renovation was in 1992. Since then, only little maintenance and small renovations have been
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carried out. Therefore, it should be no surprise that currently the building requests a large renovation considering structural design and building services to bring it back into good shape. For example, the building is battling electricity wires that are exposed to water, asbestos, moist spots, concrete rot and rust formation. In 2015, the parliament decided they wanted to renovate the Binnenhof which included the Eerste Kamer, Raad van State, Tweede Kamer, Grafelijke Zalen and Algemene Zaken. The aim was to keep the renovation within a budget of 475 million euros and the total design of the Binnenhof had to be a secret. Only a handful of people were allowed to know what was going on and had to sign a contract that required total secrecy. It was planned to release the renovation in one time and in a time span of 5,5 years. The realization of this project would start in 2020. In the beginning of 2017, Program of Requirements is prepared. For this document Members of Parliament could give their preferences for the renovation. Only three parties had something to say about it. The lack of interest of the MPs for the project is reflected all over the project. In the Program of Requirements is mentioned that the renovation should be sober and goal-oriented. Yet, it should be applicable for the 21st century which means more visitors, more meetings and better security. Furthermore, they also wanted a second big meeting room. After the Program of Requirements was approved, it was the job of the Chief Government Architect Floris Alkemade to appoint the main architect. During this process, he did not consult the Members of Parliament because the project was secret. Although the MPs wanted a sober and goaloriented renovation, Alkemade had something different in mind. According to him, the architects won’t make the building iconic, but the generation does not have to remain invisible either. He chose Ellen van Loon as the main architect of the project. Ellen van
of the Binnenhof Loon is a Dutch top architect who works at OMA. OMA is mostly famous for their large and iconic buildings. Although the Program of Requirements was quite ambitious according to Ellen van Loon, she was convinced that she could do it.
It is important that the client and architect work together in an atmosphere of trust and cooperation In September 2017, she presented her structural plan to the parliament which almost all agreed upon the plan. She let the parliament give their opinion and changed the building plans in case it was requested. But in the summer of 2018 resistance raise against Ellen van Loons design. There was a leak saying the plans were “too big”, “only white” and “megalomaniac”. Ellen van Loon gave an exclusive interview with the NRC, in which she tries to defend herself. She made design choices to stay within budget, to please the habitants and to have a nice outcome. For example, she got a lot of criticism on the Oude Zaal. It was described as a kind of “white mausoleum” with “disgusting”, cheap laminate, a destruction of historical elements. According to Van Loon, the tubes beneath the floor had to change anyway. There was an amazing floor, but it was to
expensive to construct it there. In an interview with the NRC, Ellen van Loon tells that according to her, the secrecy was where it went wrong. Communication is key in a design process but in this project it caused a huge problem. People that were responsible for the project were not allowed to know what was going on, others knew but did not spend time on the design, others did not consult the right people when it came to a decision. This all led to the point that on July 1 2019, the chairman of the States General, Raymond Knops, wrote a letter in which he stated that: ‘‘for a successful project, in addition to good design, it is very important that the client and architect work together in an atmosphere of trust and cooperation’’. After various debates with Parliament and discussions with the users of the Binnenhof, he found that there is insufficient trust in the collaboration. Therefore, he declared the end of the collaboration. OMA was redeemed with a sum of 2,7 million euros. In the same letter it also mentioned that the architect that will continue the work is Pi de Bruijn, the same architect that did the renovation in 1992. There are also some changes considering the consultancy of the Members of Parliament. The former D66leader Alexander Pechtold, President of the Chamber, Khadjia Arib, and VVD-Member of Parliament, Ockje Tellegen, who has become the chairman of the building management committee, will take on the responsibility. Due to all these changes and some other setbacks, the project will be postponed a year. The Binnenhof is a very important building in The Netherlands that severely needs a renovation. Next to a beautiful design, a design process depends on a lot of communication. Constant feedback and criticism can lead to trust and a good cooperation. Also, the vision of the architect and client should be overlapping from the beginning of the project. This was not at all the case with the Binnenhof, which lead to Ellen van Loon being fired. The project will go on for at least 6,5 years and remains to be a secret. Let’s see if the reorganization will resolve the current problems. Images: 1. Binnenhof (photo: Joris van der Zwet) Sources: 1. Stokmans. “Weggestuurde architect Binnenhof: “ik moest vechten tegen schimmen””. 6-09-2019. www.nrc.nl 2. Ri1 1 1 jksvastgoedbedrijf. “Geschiedenis Binnenhof”. N.d. www.rijksvastgoedbedrijf.nl. 3. Smit. “Het belang van het Binnenhof”. 12-10-2018. www.historiek.net 4. Derk Stokmans. “Het doolhof van de democratie verbouw je niet zomaar”. 8-112019. www.nrc.nl 5. Jeroen van ‘t Hof. “Renovatie Binnenhof definitief jaar uitgesteld”. 16-10-2019. www.nos.nl
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The new Forum building in Groningen was no more than a building site containing a five-story basement, two concrete cores and the first floor when an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.4 struck the area. A building break was initiated, while the structure of the building was recalculated, with the help of experienced engineers from NewZealand, to withstand the increasingly strong earthquakes. To implement the recalculated design, the brand-new construction had to be demolished before it was ever used. The earthquake related hassle with the construction of the Forum building is one of the many examples of the problems, frustrations and fuss the building industry in the northern province experiences due to earthquakes. Text: Teun van Warmerdam, Lay-out: Tessa van Amelsvoort The earthquakes in Groningen are a result of natural gas winning in the province. In 1959, the natural gas diggings got kick-started when the NAM (National Oil Firm) dug into the world’s second largest natural gas field, located near Slochteren, 15 kilometer east of the city of Groningen. Over the years, the Dutch government earned close to 300 billion euros by means of gas extraction. As of now, 150.000 people in the province of Groningen live in houses damaged by the earthquakes. For 10.000 of these people, the earthquakes are a direct cause for (mental) health issues. Enough
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reason for local firms to focus on earthquake resistance when designing new buildings. Where the structure of a building is mostly designed to bring vertical loads through walls or columns downwards into the foundation, an earthquake introduces lateral (sideways) loads on the base of the building. Extreme stresses are introduced on walls, floors, columns, beams and their connections due to the difference in movement between the base and top part of the building. One way to make your building earthquake proof is, unsurprisingly, by enforcing the structure. This approach is also used in the Forum building in Groningen. Using concrete of a higher strength class with more steel reinforcement, applying heavier steel profiles and using larger joints between elements transformed the initial design into an earthquake-proof design. The use of “sliders” that allow for movement between the foundation and the building are an effective but costly method to reduce the stresses on a building during an earthquake. A very effective way to build earthquake proof buildings can be found in the century old pagodas in Japan. Instead of reinforcing a structure, one can improve a building’s capacity to withstand an earthquake by making the structure lightweight. The use of timber elements and joints, which are relatively
light, ductile and agile, reduce the stresses on a structure drastically, since less mass is being moved during an earthquake. More high-tech solutions to make a building sustain an earthquake exist as well. The use of a massive (steel) ball, hanging from a hydraulic system from the top of the building is one of these more high-tech solutions. This method, called ‘pendulum power’, is mainly used in skyscrapers in earthquake-prone areas. In the case of an earthquake, the tower will start to sway, but the ball will move in opposite direction and thereby, thanks to its mass, reduce the lateral movement. For everyone involved with the built environment in Groningen (and the Netherlands in general), taking earthquakes into account while designing a new building is relatively new. The fact that the Forum building had to be taken down during construction to address the earthquake resistance of the building, indicate the magnitude in which the presence of earthquakes can dictate the final structural design. 1
Images: 1. Earthquakes (illustration: Tessa van Amelsvoort)
Sources: 1. BAM. Groninger Forum. No date. bambouwentechniek.nl 2. BAM. 2016. Groninger Forum aardbevingsbestendig. bam.com 3. Historiek. 2018. Gaswinning in Groningen. historiek.net 4. Marcelis, H. 2019. Groningen getroffen door vierde aardbeving in twee weken tijd. ad.nl 5. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. 2018. Aardbevingsschade enorme impact op gezondheid en gevoel van veiligheid. rug.nl. 6. van Laarhoven. K. 2019. Opnieuw aardbeving in Groningen: kracht van 2,5. nrc.nl. 7. Zitzman, L. 2019. How Earthquake-Proof Buildings Are Designed. bigrentz.nl
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file:
Building the Environment
The built environment is on a tipping point. The current methods of building are not sufficient for the upcoming environmental challenges. That is why we should build towards an integrated environment of cities and nature. Future buildings should incorporate innovations on every facet of the built environment. In this FILE we will deal with the history, the integration of users and the current nitrogen verdict. Furthermore, urban mobility and renovation are tackled and Jacob Voorthuis talks about how clear thoughts can help in coming up with designs. Text: Karim Jaspers
Highest throughout history Somehow humans always have had the drive to be the best, to hold the records. This drive ensures that humans are always trying to improve themselves and rise above others. In sports this is clearly notable; the only thing that matters in sports is being better than the opponent. However, in the Built Environment there is also the drive to hold the record, in particular the record of the highest. Throughout history, there has been a never-ending competition of who built the highest building. This competition has brought us some of the most remarkable buildings: masterpieces of both architecture and engineering. Only the competition is never finished, so what is still to come? To what level can humans rise? Text: Joep Dirx, Lay-out: Quirine Heijnen
Touch of God In ancient history the highest structures were always religious buildings. It all started in ancient Egypt, where decadent Pharaohs were honoured by laying their mummified bodies in large tombs, the pyramids. The best-known pyramids are the Pyramids of Giza, containing six pyramids in total: three towering ones and three smaller ones. The highest of the six is the Great Pyramid, or the Pyramid of Cheops, the only marvel left from the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Great Pyramid is especially remarkable because it was the highest structure for nearly 4.000 years. For the Pharaohs the pyramids were a “stairway to heaven”, the path to take place between the stars and Gods in heaven. After 4.000 years, the Great Pyramid lost the record of the highest building, but for the next six centuries, it was still up to religious buildings to be the highest in the world. The height of cathedrals and especially the spires had several functions. First of all, it was a symbol of wealth and prestige of the city and church. The larger and higher the cathedral was, the more powerful the appearance of the church. Next to that, there was another important aspect of the height of the spire. The
Images: 1. Cheops Piramide (image: Berthold Werner) 2. Lincoln Cathedral (image: Haywood) 3. Empire State Building (image: Sam Valadi) 4. Burj Khalifa (image: Nicolas Lannuzel) Sources: 1. Rebecca James. Facts You Never Knew About The Pyramids of Giza. April 3, 2017. Architecturaldigest.com. 2. Cory Santos. When Lincoln Cathedral was the tallest building in the world. November 6, 2013. Thelincolnite.co.uk. 3. Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannics. Spire. January 2, 2012. Britannica.com 4. Anne-Claire Verham. De eerste wolkenkrabbers. N.d. Historamarond1900.nl. 5. Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Skyscraper. October 11, 2017. Britannica. com 6. Geoffrey Morrison. Taipei 101: Exploring one of the tallest buildings in the world. August 25, 2018. Cnet.com. 7. Margherita. 30 Interesting Burj Khalifa Facts. June 28, 2019. Thecrowdedplanet.com. 8. Editors of The Telegraph. Revealed: The world’s 20 most expensive buildings. July 27, 2016. Telegraph.co.uk.
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spire reaches into the sky, so the taller the spire, the closer man came to God. With this reasoning, the record for the highest building was for six centuries in the hands of different cathedrals. The first one to rise above the Great Pyramid was the Lincoln Cathedral in the United Kingdom. Even though historians are still not sure about its precise height, it is said that the highest spire of the cathedral reached 160 meters into the sky, improving the record by about fifteen meters. None of the three spires survived and with the highest one being destroyed in 1548 in a storm, Lincoln Cathedral lost its record of the highest building in the world. The collapse of the Lincoln Cathedral spire resulted in the fact that the new highest building was lower than is predecessor. The record for the highest building would only decrease over the next three centuries, due to the destruction of the record holders. It was not up to 1874 that the new record holder was taller than its predecessor. This was when the reconstruction of the Church of Saint Nicholas in Hamburg, Germany was finished, improving the record with only five meters bringing the total to 147 meters. After this several cathedrals would be built higher than this and take the record of the highest building. There were also cathedral spires that would become higher than the original from Lincoln Cathedral. However, there was never a cathedral anymore that would hold the record of the highest building that was higher than Lincoln Cathedral.
Rise of the skyscraper Around the turn to the 20th century, a new development was taking place in the United States. New ways of construction were developed, which resulted in a new kind of building: the skyscraper. Since the opinions about what the term “skyscraper” means differs, it is not certain what the first real skyscraper was. The building that measures up to most of the terms and is therefore often
mentioned as the first real skyscraper is the Woolworth Building in New York, rising 241 meters into the sky. It was the highest building for approximately seventeen years and it is still in the list of the hundred highest buildings in the United States. The record did not leave New York till 1973 but was owned by four different buildings. After the Woolworth Building, three of the most iconic buildings in the world took the record. In 1930, the Art Deco masterpiece named the Chrysler Building took the record with a height of 319 meters. After only 11 months, it lost its record already to the Empire State Building. For the modern era, the Empire State Building held the record quite long, approximately 40 years. The North Tower of the World Trade Centre in New York and the Willis Tower in Chicago would be the next two to hold the record. With this, the United States and especially New York set a benchmark for modern skyscrapers. New construction techniques and technologies would be developed, which would help construction further in the future.
Ultimately there has to be a maximum to which men can build In 1998, the record would move to Asia and from that moment it did not leave that continent anymore. A vast competition started in Asia for the record of the highest building. The demand and cost were no factors anymore in the construction of monster skyscrapers, the only thing important was that the tip was higher than any other. New innovative mechanisms to construct buildings with such large height were introduced. One of the most
Building the Environment interesting and well-known mechanisms is used in the Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan. With 101 stories and 509 meters it was the highest building from 2003 till 2007. Originally the tower would only consist of 66 floors till planners were aiming for a more ambitious height. The problem is that Taiwan is an earthquake- and tropical storm region. The tower should therefore be designed in such a way that it could withstand earthquakes with high magnitudes. The idea rose to implement a tuned mass damper at the top of the building, a large mass that swings in opposite direction of the movement of the building caused by strong forces. The damper is a steel ball with a mass of 660 metric tons, hanging from the 92nd till the 87th floor. The damper makes sure the building can withstand large windspeeds and earthquakes of high magnitude. In 2015, during a massive typhoon, the damper swayed a meter from its original position, setting a record. If the damper would not counteract the movement of the tower, it would not have been possible to reach this height or the tower would have collapsed with the first tropical storm. In 2007 a new benchmark was set by reaching more than 300 meters higher into the sky than the previous record holder. This was the moment at which the full 828 meters of the Burj Khalifa was constructed. For Dubai it did not matter what the tower would cost, their only goal was to hold the record of the world’s highest building. They succeeded with the construction of the Burj Khalifa and with that the building has got some interesting facts. During construction it was unsure how
high the building would finally reach since something like this was never done before and no one knew if it was possible. With the extreme height of the tower comes an extremely high observation deck, just over 550 meters. After completion, it turned out that the total construction cost of 1.5 billion dollars would be fully earned back by the observation decks. With this in mind, Dubai has started on the construction of a new tower, which probably will become the new highest in the world.
but it presumably takes some time before this will be reached. For now, the competition of the highest will go on. In the future however, it will become more important who has the most sustainable, most impressive, or most innovative building besides who holds the record of highest.
More people are moving to the cities and therefore the pressure on the land becomes higher. The only way to accommodate more people and more facilities is by going into the sky, because of this skyscrapers will become more and more important. Vertical cities can become a new way of living and working. However, aside from this, the urge to hold the record of the highest building will make sure that there will always be someone to find out what the limits are. It will not be long before the kilometre benchmark is achieved, the first towers aiming for this are already under construction. Ultimately there has to be a maximum to which men can build,
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Jacob Voorthuis Jacob is a publicist, associate professor and lecturer, who professes enthusiastically about philosophy and architecture.
Thinking, Writing and Designing An inferentialist approach to design
I want to talk about thinking clearly. There are, I feel, a few myths and misunderstandings about thinking that could easily be addressed if we look at thinking in relation to writing and designing. So here it goes.
What understanding something means Understanding something, for one thing, means to be able to show your tutor that you understand something. She can, after all, only judge fairly what she is shown. Understanding something means to have practical mastery over that something; it means that you can use that something to think and communicate with or think and communicate about; To understand something means to be able to apply that something properly in some situation or to use it effectively to achieve some purpose and knowing the implications of what you have done. So to understand the activity of hammering is to be able to use a hammer well. To be able to talk about hammering, is to understand how the word hammer works together with a set of other concepts so that people listening to you talking about hammering can begin to form an image about the activity and imagine doing it themselves. But doing something is not yet doing it well. How do we get to an idea about doing an activity well? People who feel confident that they understand something can show that they are able to use that something well. With this is meant they can use this thing in various ways and in various situations effectively. And with this is meant nothing more or less than achieving what they want to achieve with it. There must be intention and control. Furthermore, they must know the differences between - and implications of - one way of using it and a selection of other ways. Above all they must know the advantages and disadvantages involved with these different ways of using it. To sum up: understanding A = knowing how A works in practice (this includes the practices of thinking, talking and writing). This is true with concepts that we think and talk with and what those concepts refer to that we do things with that we think and talk about.
Thinking clearly Having dealt with understanding something we can now move on to thinking about what we think we do or do not understand. In the end we shall discover that to write clearly just is to think clearly. Both are things that anyone can learn. Thinking and writing are activities: forms of doing. For all activities you might do well to ask yourself two questions which I already asked with reference to understanding. The first question one must ask is: What is it you are actually doing when performing that activity and for what reasons? What subactivities is this activity made up of and how do you perform those activities? The second question one must ask is: What counts as doing it well?
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Well, with regard to thinking clearly it is a matter of knowing, for each claim you make: What else you are committing yourself to when making that claim? In other words, knowing the further implications of a claim or proposition. For example: if you propose that the building would be best constructed using concrete, you are committing yourself to all sorts of implied challenges with regard to construction technology and management, structural restrictions, light, acoustics, climate control, the look and atmosphere of the building. Then, what you are ruling out. In our example that means knowing what building in concrete makes impossible that might be worth considering. A third question is: What would count as evidence for or against making that claim and on what grounds? In our example that would mean knowing what the advantages are of building in concrete in this or that situation, over building in steel. And then of course one must know on what grounds that might be decided and where that information came from and how reliable it is.
Making, reflecting upon, judging and evaluating a design decision So now we arrive at how all this ties into designing. To make, reflect upon and judge a design decision is to make or evaluate a claim that doing A (rather than B or C) will be for the best. That means asking yourself what can be given as evidence for or against doing A? (i.e. why it is a good idea to do A rather than say B or C); what else is the decision committing the designer to by doing A and lastly, what (good or bad) consequences are being ruled out?
To make, reflect upon and judge a design decision is to make or evaluate a claim that doing A (rather than B or C) will be for the best Some design decisions appear to be so obvious to a designer, such as placing a window at a certain height, designing a staircase so that people of more than average height do not bump their head, or placing a door in a particular position, that it would appear tedious to make the justification of each design decision explicit every time. Nevertheless, it is worth doing so as many clients are not professional architects and are much helped by being given the ‘Jip & Janneke’ version, that is
Building the Environment
the elementary version. So, the practicing of giving an account of your design decisions on this elementary level helps you eventually to give an account of design decisions at a much greater level of complexity and sophistication. At the same time, seemingly elementary design decisions can achieve great sophistication in a design and would demand proper justification also on a master level. From a journalistic point of view, it is a good idea not to make your written account too long. Impose restrictions on that written account and keep to them. To tell a good story is then a matter of weighing up which design decision deserves priority as far as their justification is concerned.
require design activities and vice versa. How Design Research can be made scientifically accountable and how its exploratory freedom, which, to the surprise of some no doubt, constitutes an essential part of its scientific accountability, is secured, is of seminal importance to our discipline especially now when we are tackling the great challenges of today: sustainability, circularity, social fairness.
All design decisions need to be judged against their usefulness to achieve some purpose, whatever that purpose is
Seemingly elementary design decisions can achieve great sophistication in a design Considerations regarding design that require justification All design decisions need to be judged against their usefulness to achieve some purpose, whatever that purpose is. The account a designer gives of them should exhibit an understanding of the claim made as discussed earlier. But in achieving a purpose, designers need to know what other consequences come from doing A rather than B or C. Moreover, they need some evidence to show why doing A is a good idea. Considerations that traditionally play an important role in the making of design decisions include a wide range of topics such as the political, economic, historical, cultural, ideological, climatic, geographical, and geological, typo-morphological context of the site and the program to be designed; the placement, orientation, enclosure, access, routing and organization of elements and volumes in plan and section; the measurements and proportion of volumes, surfaces (solid and void) and objects or elements in plan, section and elevation; the materialization, construction and detailing of elements. When dealt with in this way we come to a rather surprising conclusion and that is that when we design buildings, structures and systems we do so well when we think clearly about our task. Thinking clearly about our task makes it quite easy to write clearly about it. This has implications for the relationship between design and research. Unfortunately, design is often seen as somehow separate to research. That is not a good idea to my mind. It is certainly possible to distinguish design activities from research activities but never to separate them. Many research activities
These are complex problems that need evidence and innovative approaches as input. Design is exploratory research in that its special concern is to seek out what is possible under a certain set of conditions that it must analyse and critique relative to a purpose that is itself part of the design process to further specify. Design is intentional or deliberate action based on thorough reasoning as outlined above. To qualify as design that reasoning activity must be allowed to explore every and any possible avenue so as to specify its objectives and its means. If it is prevented from exercising its exploratory freedom, its outcomes cannot be guaranteed the rigour we demand of our designers with regard the challenge of sustainability. All forms of knowledge seeking must be unfettered by unquestioned restrictions. The conditions a design challenge operates within should be subject to scientific and historic/ precedential research relative to the purpose envisioned. Therefore, a university level course that wants to teach design must also teach how to explore possibilities openly and to underpin each design decision explicitly with reasoning based on (scientific and/or precedential) evidence. Silent assumptions regarding likes and dislikes that might be prejudicial, need to be sought out, made explicit and made part of the discussion. They must not ever be supressed or ignored. That is the secret. 1
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Images: 1. Jacob Voorthuis (source: Voorthuis Archive) 2. Synapse structure in the brains (source: Needpix.com)
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NITROGEN NITROGEN VERDICT VERDICT Tuesday October 29th a mass protest was held by people from the built environment. Constructors, builders, (former) politicians and other involved parties came to the malieveld in The Hague to let Dutch politicians know that there are some fundamental problems in the national building policy. They had their reasons to protest; The Economic Institute for the Built Environment (EIB) calculated that thousands of jobs will be lost the coming years. The same report also states that there will be a production loss of six billion euros. Analysts from bank ABN Amro estimated even a loss of 14 billion euros and the loss of 70 thousand jobs. Text: Aron den Otter, Lay-out: Sacha de Bruin The building sector protested because they feel unfairly treated by the nitrogen verdict of the Dutch high court. The current Dutch government has the preservation of ecological environment as a very high priority and wants to reduce the amount of carbondioxide and nitrogen. They set up Committee Remkes, which advises the Dutch government on how to reduce the amount of nitrogen considering the new developments. Their proposals include reducing the maximum speed on highways, changing building projects and reducing the amount of farmers. This advice shows the built environment in a wider perspective than just the building process and its direct context. It shows the involvement of the built environment in society and the ecological environment. The discussion and advices of Remkes committee asks the question about if a building project is actually justified instead of just considiring what needs to be built and how. Nitrogen is in itself not a bad thing, it has always been present in the air which we
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humans and other living organisms breath. The actual problem are the nitrogen compounds such as nitrogen oxides and ammoniac that form at high temperature. Because of these compounds plants can grow and we as humans can live. Because the proportion of nitrogen compounds was at a constant rate for most of earth’s history, humans and plants adapted their needs to form a balanced system. This balance becomes unstable with the current growth of nitrogen compounds in the air. Plants such as grasses and nettles grow rapidly and dominate over other more rare species that profit of non-rich ground. With this reduce of plant species all kinds of insects will become extinct. Biodiversity is therefore at risk. Also; animals get weaker bones because of poor calcium levels in the ground. For humans this large amount of nitrogen causes problems with for example breathing. In contrast with carbondioxide, the building process does not actually produces that much
This advice shows the built environment in a wider perspective nitrogen. It is the emission of the machines and transport that cause the nitrogen production. This building discussion started after a rule by the Raad van State; The highest governing judge in the Netherlands. The rule basically stated that the way big projects were authorised is not correct considering the law.
Until the verdict the PAS method was used, which basically authorised big building projects under the condition that direct loss of nature would be regained in the long run. The new way to retrieve a permit is to pass the ADC test. A building project passes the test if it has no (A) alternatives, is (D) urgent for society and that there will be full (C) compensation for the loss of nature. A recent successful application of this test was obtained in Veldhoven where the Kempenbaan will be enlarged. ASML is reached via this road and with the redevelopment of this road the municipality of Veldhoven hopes to solve the daily traffic congestion. Engineering company Tauw made a report which stated that 1.000 square meters of nature had to be created because 0,002 percent of the nature along the road would be lost by the new enlargement plans. This is not a big amount and the municipality decided to create 5.000 square meters of nature to be sure. To make this number visual; a soccer field is around 7.000 square meters. The report shows a detailed plan for every square meter of this compensation nature. This compensation nature will be placed in the east of Valkenswaard, 10 kilometres away from the Kempenbaan. The report further shows that the available alternatives for this road were not sufficient and that the development of the Brainport region is of societal importance.
Building the Environment
This example shows that the ADC method, which will be the future standard procedure of application for a building permits, tries to find a balance between taking care of the natural environment around us without comprising the needs of the future. This sounds a lot like the idea of sustainable development of the well accepted Club of Rome (“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”). The ADC method does however raise some questions as: What is the definition of nature? Nature is surely more than just numbers such as square meters and amounts of carbondioxide and nitrogen. Considering the example in Veldhoven; the new widened road will allow more traffic and will thus have a big impact on the animals living in the woods besides the road. The quality of their whole habitat declines and an area with the size of a soccer field 10 kilometres away does not feel as a good solution for the animals to maintain their original quality of living. These are questions where I as an individual do not have an answer to. The answer to this question lies in public debate. Because the PAS method is now forbidden by rule of the high court, project developers and governments on all levels will have to face the ADC method to receive a permit for their building and infrastructural projects. This means that the
The ban shows serious effort to achieve sustainable development and shows that we can only archive this by seeing all contributing factors together
unanswered and the fear of misuse, the ban on the old PAS method and the obligation of the new ADC method shows a change in direction of the Dutch society. It shows serious effort to achieve sustainable development and shows that we can only achieve this by seeing all contributing factors together. This is a wonderful development and the building sector does need to adapt its processes with near emission free building by innovations such as electric machines and transport, modular building, filtering and gas free living. But it is not needed to damage the building sector that severely, the main focus should be on the biggest contribution to the problem: transport and agriculture. That is why the building protest was a good signal: it showed that not only the building sector needs to be compromised in this drastic change. All sectors should adapt. 2
urgency for society needs to be proven. This will be especially a hard thing for the building plans that consider livestock. The part of public urgency of the current method is however under debate. There is almost no experience in judging a proposal made considering the ADC method. People including jurists fear that this aspect will be misused to justify the building of large housing projects because of the shortcoming of dwellings in the Netherlands. It would be a shame if the ADC method will be misused as the old PAS methods also was misused. The high European court in Luxemburg is however watching closely how the government in the Netherlands reacts to his new approach. But besides these questions that are still
Images: 1. Spot (Illustration: Sacha de Bruin)
Sources: 1. Bokkum and Leijten. “In Veldhoven mogen ze wél bouwen”. NRC Handelsblad. 2019 2. Rutten. “Stikstofregels raken 18.000 projecten”. NRC Handelsblad. 2019 3. van Bokkum. “Halveer de veestapel wel/niet”. NRC Handelsblad. 2019 4. Rutten. “Heilige huisjes bestaan niet bij oplossen stikstofcrisis”. NRC Handelsblad. 2019 5. Rotmans, Erisman, Turnhout, van Dijk and Bakker. “Het huidige Nederlandse landbouwmodel is failliet. NRC Handelsblad”. 2019 6. Schreuder. “Stikstof-advies”. NRC Handelsblad. 2019 7. “Schade aan het Malieveld lijkt mee te vallen na boerenprotest”. 2019. omroepwest.nl 8. “Drukste ochtendspits ooit vanwege boerenprotest en regen”. 2019. omroepwest.nl 9. Leijten. “Nederlandse boeren produceren grotendeels voor het buitenland”. NRC Handelsblad. 2019 10. Dutch government. Programma Aanpak Stikstof (PAS). www.synbiosys.alterra.nl 11. Kos. “Duizenden banen in de bouw verdwijnen door stikstofuitspraak”. NRC Handelsblad. October 31th 2019 12. Boerop. “Waarom staan er door stikstof 18.000 bouwprojecten op losse schroeven? 4 vragen en antwoorden”. 2019. businessinsider.nl 13. Speksnijder. “zes vragen om het stikstofdebat te begrijpen”. Volkskrant. 2019 14. Koekkoek. “Stikstof: alles wat je moeten weten”. 2019. kvk.nl 15. Heijligers. Addendum Passende Beoordeling Kempenbaan-West met ADC-toets. Tauw bv 2019
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Revitalization as an alternative We are all very much used to seeing buildings when we scan our surroundings on almost any given day. They cover the skylines of the cities that we live in and are usually accompanied by something else: the cranes. Both elements relate to a single common connotation that we ever so rarely give much thought about and that is new constructions. Even though the idea of constructing new buildings, demolishing a portion of the unused and not so special older ones to make space and the whole industry revolving around it is something we are very used to. In addition to it almost being like a given in a period of rapid urbanization, there is another layer to the whole idea and process of constructing new buildings. Text: Ipek Toplkara, Lay-out: Quirine Heijnen It may seem exciting to design something from scratch to create something that has never been built before and make a statement by adding a new face to the city skylines for both the architects and others in the construction industry. The whole process of construction sites popping up in areas that we walk by while doing our day-to-day endeavors and seeing them slowly rise into new buildings and structures for use is something that we ever so rarely think twice about. A new need for a function arises and this is followed by constructions. What we do not so commonly realize is the answer for the question “but at what cost?”. Concrete is a preferred construction material for its durability, weight, price and its accessibility. And unless you are inside the wilderness you are not more than a few meters away from a piece of concrete when you come to think of it. It is seen as an essential part of our lives as it helps shield us away from the cold, rain, snow and excess heat which are not quite welcome for our usual way of living. What we do not give that much thought about is the amount of energy that is consumed during the construction process and the overall environmental impacts. “For the same reason buildings account for nearly half of the global
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energy consumption and half of that is used during the construction process and this is called the embodied energy” Another point to keep in mind is the impact of the production of concrete on the environment. Concrete is composed of water, gravel and cement. The water and gravel part will come into picture later but cement production on its own accounts for 5% of the CO2 emission and thus contributes heavily to the carbon footprint of mankind. The production has seen an exponential increase following the destructions caused by the two world wars. Though the need for new constructions after these two world wars is vital for the continuation of life, constructing new buildings should not be the way to go in our current era. Concrete is the most basic component of any construction that we se,,e around us. However, extracting and processing raw materials needed to produce concrete has vast environmental impacts. It results in landscape degradation caused by the process of harvesting aggregates; loss of agricultural land; creates dust and noise; and requires large quantities of water to be used to wash aggregates, suppress dust and it is also added inside the mixture and used during the manufacturing process. The whole process does not even begin to end there as the transportation of these to the construction site also takes up energy and adds more on to the carbon footprint aspect, alongside vehicle pollution. When this process is considered as a whole, it causes concrete to be the 4th largest cause of the emission greenhouse gases following coal, oil and gas with the aforementioned 5% CO2 emission. Thus, all of these call for an alternative method for creating new spaces, without constructing everything from scratch.
But at what cost? It is too starry-eyed to suggest the halting of creation of new spaces completely when we consider the population increase and the changing technologies but the search for new
spaces to live in is not interdependent with the idea of constructing new buildings. A great substitute for new buildings to be constructed is the revitalized unused and older buildings. Finding these buildings to bring back to life should never be an issue either. Changing technologies also resulted in the equipment we use to change in both forms and dimensions, along with the further urban developments and shifting of the city structures and movement of people also caused changes in building uses. Some few lucky buildings, even though unused somehow managed to escape the almost inevitable fate of destruction and were ready for transformation. The previously used old industrial buildings are mostly vacant nowadays as the technology caused machinery to shrink in size or called for different options. The now quite popular and expensive lofts of New York City are an example of such reuse. These first emerged as low-cost housing alternatives for people who could not afford the American Dream homes with gardens inside the suburbs. Later lofts gained popularity for their style thus making the prices skyrocket and became pioneers for the popularization of spaces with such styles and architectural characteristics. It became trendy to have a reminiscent of the feeling of an old factory that ceased to exist with the exposed cables, pipes, brick walls, steel structures and high ceilings. Not only is this alternative trendy and popular, it also minimizes the downsides of the creation of new spaces by removing one large step in between, that is the construction starting from foundation. This drastically minimizes the duration, cost and effort even though there are still points to be considered. For example, in the case of Hong Kong, a program has been started for the revitalization of industrial spaces and to be converted into offices, hotels and retailing. This enabled the reduction of construction wastes and promoted the essential gentrification. The main problem, or challenge so to say, regarding this method is slow financial return.
Building the Environment
This is a result of the additional costs created to bring the old industrial buildings into state that is up to the current fire code. In addition, repairing and maintaining sprinkler systems, the distribution of new electricity and water sewage system depending on the new function and many more points to be considered create new expenses. However, all of these are quite minimal when we consider the fact that our very own planet is at stake. This is a good step for taking action in reverting the “ever-lasting” cycle of demolishing and constructing from scratch. It is important to consider how to revitalize what already exist and research ways of fitting it with the demands.
One fourth of the global energy consumption is due to construction process Industrial revitalization examples are also quite common inside the city of Eindhoven, and especially in the Strijp-S region where a lot of the old and unused buildings have been transformed into new spaces to fit the needs of today. A striking example of such is the restaurant called Radio Royaal which used to be an old power plant facilitating the factories of Philips with energy. The whole restaurant is quite spacious with very high ceilings, typical of industrial buildings, and an overall area of 1300 m2. The main entrance is quite unique with a giant rusty hook hanging from an
equally big chain welcoming the visitors and coming together with the overall composition of the exterior. Some old machinery still remains on the inside and complements the general atmosphere with the aid of other elements. The touch ups to facilitate this conversion seem to have been kept at a bare minimum thus creating an enhanced effect. The power plant is still there and the visitors just chose to eat in it, hence making it feel rather more natural when compared with other places of the sort. The furniture used inside is not excessively modern so as not to fit with the rest of the interior, but rather work as being a part of the composition with the idea of a power plant that once existed within the borders of this façade. Having considered the issue of environmental pollution and which measures to take to reverse the process of decay for our planet, it becomes evident that the current construction process is rapidly rendering it uninhabitable for us humans. It is important to start adopting this approach based on revitalization more and more and implement it while making decisions regarding cities and districts. It is a given that we need more space with increasing population, but it is also helpful to look around us for what already
exists instead of opting to start digging for a new building’s foundation. Otherwise our carbon footprint will continue its exponential increase, our clean water sources will run out, and our cities will no longer be as welcoming with the ever-increasing heat island effects and global temperatures. Thus, we need to focus on ways of preserving the existing built areas in the best way possible and we should convert and re-use them in the best way possible instead of looking for ways to demolish and replace them. Images: 1. Moss on concrete wall (photo: Preechachanwate) Sources: 1. James Siu. Rethinking Industrial Building Revitalization. November 11, 2017. ejinsight.com. 2. Ana Lisa. Radio Royaal is a 1 Gorgeous New Restaurant in an Old Philips Power plant in the Netherlands. August 30, 2012. Inhabitant.com. 3. Albert Chan, Esther Cheung, Irene Wong. Impacts of the Revitalizing Industrial Buildings (RIB) Scheme in Hong Kong. Hong Kong. 2015. 4. Francis Neoton Cheung. Industrial Building Revitalisation 2.0: Optimising Social Efficiency. September 20, 2017. Harbourtimes.com. 5. n/a. n/a. The Environmental Impacts of Concrete. Greenspec.co.uk. 6. Jonathan Watts. Concrete: The Most Destructive Material on Earth. February 25, 2019. Theguardian.com. 7. n/a. n/a. What is Concrete: Concrete & Cement Defined. Concretenetwork.com. 8. Claudia Perris. A Sustainable Adaptive Reuse of Old Buildings to Implement Social Housing. 2013. Academia.edu.
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Constructing a lifestyle The built environment is responsible for 40% of the global CO2 emissions. Not only that, it covers the earth in a concrete shell where no vegetation can penetrate through, resulting in loss of biodiversity and lack of absorption of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, the natural resources that are consumed to construct the ever-growing metropolises are shrinking. This does not end in the near future; the world population is increasing exponentially every year. Cities need to house more and more humans, each with their individual desires and goals. To reach the Paris Agreement, the built environment needs to ‘go green’ as soon as possible. Architects and construction companies are already competing to create the most energy efficient building, the Dutch government is imposing a nitrogen verdict on the housing market and ‘greenwashing’ has become a tool for real estate agents to sell their buildings to the public. However, we are all fixated on the wrong aspect. Producing net zero buildings is a valuable basis, yet to really initiate a global impact, we should zoom out and look at the entire picture. Text & Lay-out: Karim Jaspers Since the beginning of history the function of buildings used to be to protect humans from the environment. However, since a few decades the environment has become the one needing protection from its humans. Instead of stopping heavy winds from entering the building present-day walls should prevent pollution from leaving. Buildings are only a tool created by humans to house residents and other functions. Buildings by themselves do not generate pollution. Without the user there would be no pollution at all. To change the resilience of the built environment the focus needs to be on the user instead of the producer.
Buildings by themselves do not generate pollution The ancient principles of Vitruvius, Firmitas, Venustas and Utilitas have been guiding the architectural styles for centuries. It has been rephrased many times, but it has always been a combination of engineering, art and user. A building should be able to withstand changes in climate, it should be designed pleasantly and it should ensure a proper functioning during its lifespan. Nowadays,
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the built environment is changing towards ‘sustainabilism’; an architectural philosophy that has sustainability as the main guiding principle. Engineering is already represented in this principle by creating energy-efficient buildings that suffice for certain certificates. The artistic side of buildings can be seen in the global trend of greenwashing; creating representations of sustainability that can be understood by the general public. However, the user aspect has not been incorporated in the design practices yet. True sustainabilism has to connect engineering, art and user. Incorporating the lifestyle of users is therefore of vital importance.
True sustainabilism has to connect engineering, art and user The biggest obstacle for this is the active participation of humans. Most of us want to strive for a society that focuses on the climate, reduces CO2 and protects the environment. Most of us want the government to plant more trees, introduce a carbon tax and prohibit airplane flights. However, those people are the same people who fly across the world, who only care superficially about separating trash and who only buy biological products when they feel like it. The desire is present, yet the actual behavior is stuck to wishing for a stricter government. The main reason for this is that people only see short-term and personal disadvantages in living environmentfriendly. Separating trash is beneficial, but walking two extra floors to throw away that one plastic cup is most of the times too much work. There is no advantage for the individual in performing these simple actions except for perhaps a momentary feeling of goodness. The same happens for airplane flights: taking the public transport limits the amount of emissions tremendously, but due to some monetary and comfort issues, the airplane is preferred. The ultimate solution of not going to a distant country at all and staying at home does not exist in the minds of most people. It is too easy and comfortable. Thus, most people want to contribute to a better society and environment but only if it benefits them personally as well. An example are solar panels, which reduce the needs of
fossil fuels. These are bought by many people as they are also economically beneficial. Within a few years, you have reduced your personal carbon footprint while simultaneously having gained money. The perfect compromise. The problem is that most of the other small environmental dilemmas do not have any personal benefit. Why would anyone take the stairs if the elevator is right in front of them? We are constantly choosing the option that takes the least physical or mental effort. Most of these decisions are made unconsciously. Then, how are designers supposed to change behaviors if the people that execute these behaviors are not even aware they are making decisions? The answer is quite obvious, architects have been doing this for centuries. The way buildings are shaped reinforce certain behaviors. Habitations are nothing more than places for long habits. Most movements and actions that are performed in the home environment are habitual, they are performed lacking any conscious process. Habits can be defined as automatic responses to regularly occurring cues, of which these cues can be of architectural nature. Most buildings and urban plans complement the habits of the user, however, to create behavioral change towards a sustainable lifestyle, perhaps future habitations should disrupt existing habits. Imagine a house that guides you to actively participate in reducing your personal carbon footprint.
Habitations are nothing more than places for long habits But the question remains: how do we design an environment in which its occupants will live a sustainable lifestyle? Therefore, we should consult the discipline of sociology and psychology, the masters in shaping behaviors. One of the main difficulties they describe with adapting towards a sustainable lifestyle is the so-called ‘awareness-gap’. This gap explains the difference between general environmental awareness of a person and his actual proenvironmental behavior. A large majority of people is aware of the general consequences of human behavior, however, their specific actions show otherwise. This could partially be explained by the shared responsibility that
Building the Environment people feel. One small action can never have influence on the global challenges that we are facing, so why would any individual perform this action?
If the social norm is to act sustainably, then many people will follow Another big part of the problem is the missing procedural knowledge of people. This means that people have a general idea on what they should be changing, but do not know the specific actions or procedures to adapt their behavior. This applies to the general public for simple eco-friendly actions, but also to experts such as architects and urbanists. Perhaps you are convinced that introducing the residents in the environmental challenges
of the built environment is a crucial aspect. But where should you start? This is why two small psychological solutions are given to enhance your procedural knowledge on this topic as well. One of the ways is to construct a social norm based on environmental behavior. The social norm in which a person is situated is crucial for his actions. Humans are herd animals by nature; meaning they inherently want to belong to any group. To become part, a certain social norm that is set up by this group should be followed. If the social norm is to act sustainably then many people will follow this trend, regardless the attitude towards this norm. The latter is essential: people do not necessarily need a positive attitude towards sustainability to act accordingly; a social norm is often enough. After conforming to the norm, humans tend to adapt their attitude towards this norm anyway, resulting in a genuine acceptance of their newly modified sustainable behavior. This social norm can be taken into
the design process of an apartment complex or a whole neighborhood to create a green community or even a friendly competition. Another tool that can be applied in a design is the creation of opportunities. Evidently, the tools for pro-environmental actions should be in proximity of the user. People will never bring their broken devices to a repair shop if there is none in their neighborhood. In addition, most humans are, as mentioned earlier, inherently lazy: decisions are made based on the option that takes the least effort. Therefore, organizing spaces and neighborhoods in such a way that the most sustainable behavior takes the least effort will result in a habitual change towards this behavior. Architects should place stairs in eyesight rather than elevators and design its routes accordingly.
We should design to support a sustainable lifestyle These two examples are only a small part of the many ways behavior can be influenced through design and planning. For practitioners of the built environment it can have a significant effect if this procedural knowledge on how to influence residents is extended. Therefore, research has to not only stress the importance of a sustainable lifestyle, but also highlight its possibilities for in practice. Until now, there has not yet been a truly sustainable building. There are constructions that acquire certifications of sustainability and monuments that represent the environment in their façade, or a combination of both. However, the user has been mostly forgotten about. Future architecture should again be a fusion of engineering, art and user. We should design to support a sustainable lifestyle and not only focus on creating high-end technologies with the idea that this will solve all our problems. To realize the Paris Agreement, we need to look at the bigger picture and recognize the importance of involving the user in the design. Not the built environment, but the user is responsible for this 40% of the global CO2 emissions. Images: 1. Constructing a lifestyle (illustration by: Karim Jaspers) Sources: 1. Douglass, D. B. “Defining a sustainable aesthetic: a new paradigm for architecture”. 2008. University of Southern California, California. 2. O’Neill, D. W., Fanning, A. L., Lamb, W. F., & Steinberger, J. K. “A good life for all within planetary boundaries”. Nature Sustainability (, 1(2), 2018, p. 88-95). 3. Ong, I. “Bad (Habit)at: Architecture as Action Forms”. 2019. Interactivearchitecturea.org 4. “Paris Agreement”. 2015. United Nations. Unfccc.int 5. Van Zon, L. “CO2 and (the average) you”. 2014. Sustainsubstance.org 6. Verplanken, B. “Promoting Sustainability: Towards a Segmentation Model of Individual and Household Behaviour and Behaviour Change”. Wiley Online Library (, 26, p. 193-205). 7. Kollmuss, A., & Agyeman, J. “Mind the Gap: Why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior?”. Environmental Education Research (, 8(3), 2002, p. 239-260). 1
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Changing urban mobility A city is defined as an inhabited place of greater size, population, or importance than a town or village. As of 2018, according to the UN’s population statistics, 55% of the world population lives in urban areas. It is projected to increase to 68% by 2050. Urban area is limited in most countries with specific city borders for improved jurisdiction of the city. What makes the city attractive to the inhabitants is the opportunities and facilities. To accommodate for the growth in population of cities, the most common method for municipal corporations is to build high rise buildings without expanding city limits. Taller buildings are a highly common thing to witness nowadays in almost all developing cities across the world. Text: Arjun Tyagi, Lay-out: Henryk Gujda The downside is that it increases density significantly. One of the major downsides of a higher density is the challenge it poses with mobility. The most common solution for the inhabitants is to use automobiles to commute. This poses a major threat to transportation system of cities causing major delays through traffic. Not only does this cause traffic, this also causes major pollution. For instance, one of the most densely populated cities in the world is Manila, the capital of the Philippines, the air quality index is always higher than the recommended levels. The city
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typically does not have as many skyscrapers as New York does, however they are densely populated. This is to say that the density of a city is not only achieved through skyscrapers. Another example of this is Paris, a highly densely populated city with very few high-rise buildings. Paris is quite a unique example since the density of traffic is quite high however number of high-rise buildings are not as high as other cities mentioned above. As it is seen in images of Los Angeles, New Delhi or Paris, the density of cities is closely related to the traffic and congestion caused in the city. The most common things in densely populated cities is traffic and pollution. Traffic is a big hindrance for inhabitants causing delays not only to direct users of automobiles but also the inhabitants around. According to Business Insider, the top 10 most congested cities in the world, have people waiting in traffic for over 200 hours on average annually. Moscow became the most congested city twice in a row. To combat this issue in New Delhi, the capital city of India where population density is high and density of vehicles as well, the traffic commission of the city decided two years ago that a car’s license plate that ends in an odd number gets to drive on one day and the alternate day the license plate of a car that ends with an even number drives on the road. This has not completely solved the problem as
a lot of people are able to afford two cars and they are able to request for specific numbers or they have their spouse or relative’s vehicle and share the usage of cars, ultimately not reducing the number of cars on the road by much. Major traffic jams cause a lot more than wasted time for people, it can be a major health hazard due to the pollution it causes. Recently in June, Paris banned major polluting cars from the highways around the city due to high levels of pollution and heat wave in the region. Not only that, to reduce lasting effects the motorway speed limit was set to reduce to 110km/h from 130 km/h. Similarly, in the Netherlands speed limit is set to reduce to 100km/h from 130km/h. Merely the reduction of speed is not enough, reduction of number of cars can be a possible solution. For traffic congestion was extremely high in New Delhi so they tried to reduce the number of cars on the road, however recently the first two weeks in November the city has been in lockdown, the air quality was so hazardous that schools and universities were shut down and people were requested to stay at homes, no vehicles except a few public transport vehicles were allowed to drive in the city. Pollution is a major problem all over the world now especially now with a lot of industries that keep growing and growing, increasing
Building the Environment
overall global pollution levels. Climate change is a threatening issue, however when it comes to transportation sectors major harmful substances are caused not by chemicals from exhaust of vehicles but more from fine rubber particles that are a byproduct of high-speed vehicles on the road. The Randstad area in the Netherlands is said to have the highest levels of pollution in the Netherlands. This unfortunately also causes major health problems in the area, especially for children. It has been discovered that 2/3rd of children in the area are suffering from any form of respiratory ailments. It has become evident that the only way to prevent pollution and/or traffic jams is by having fewer vehicles on the road. That begs the question, with increase in population density in urban areas, what the future of mobility will look like. The most logical solution would be to improve public transport infrastructure. One bus is equivalent to 20-30 cars on the road as it carries the same amount of people, or otherwise metro or train. Nowadays more and more of these types of vehicles run on renewable energy, especially in public transportation sector. It is only logical that renewable forms of energy sources cause significantly less pollution than other forms of fuel. However, the majority of emission is caused in the manufacturing of a car rather than its usage over a lifetime.
The future of cities should be to focus on public transport, strengthening and improving the network. In many countries across the world there are major employment opportunities in the cities, however sometimes companies or manufacturing units are located outside cities and it is hard to reach them on time due to lack of infrastructure. It is easier to commute to other cities as there is a direct connection via public transport, but the sub-urban regions are not that easy, for instance in the Netherlands to travel to smaller villages or towns it is not as easy as large cities. Trains, buses a couple of exchanges or transfers are required to reach places that are outside of cities, in addition to that, the time taken to commute via public transport is significantly longer than when travelled by car in comparison. Major cities are transforming and as mentioned earlier, the density of urban areas is ever increasing. To overcome issues such as traffic, pollution and other hindrances caused in largely populated cities, urban infrastructure should be set up in such a way that the inhabitants are more inclined to use bicycles as a primary mode of transport or use public transport. The above mentioned has been successfully achieved in a lot of major Dutch cities and also in Denmark. People are not forced to use bicycles or public transport
but rather motivated to use it as it is more convenient, and the public transportation system is highly convenient in most places. With changing demands and changing infrastructure the system is not flawless, however the system is also constantly changing and adapting to demands in society. Ultimately to solve the issue of traffic congestion and pollution from vehicles and to ensure that more cities in Europe and around the world do not face the same issues as seen in Moscow, Paris, New Delhi, etc. It is vital that cities develop better public transportation infrastructure and also reduce levels of pollution that can be possibly caused by an increase in the number of cars road. Sources: 1. UNO. “Revision of World Population”. 2018. UNO.org 2. R. Rovers. “Hoogbouw: Nergens goed voor”. 2019. ronaldrovers.nl 3. “Air Quality Index”. aciqn. org 4. G. Migiro. “The World’s Most Densely 1 Populated Cities”. 2018. worldatlas.com 5. The guardian. “22 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities are in India, Greenpeace says”. 2019. theguardian.com 6. M. Khan. “Netherlands cuts speed limit to curb emissions”. 2019. ft.com 7. M. Matousek. “These are the world’s 20 most congested cities”. 2019. businessinsider.com
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What are your career goals?
www.continu.nl
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Building the Environment
FILE 33
Freetown of
This summer I went to Copenhagen and was amazed by the city. The architecture was a good balance between new and old. There are lots of cool museums, it is perfectly accessible by bike and it had just this very pleasant atmosphere. It was clean and structured. Very clean. I was therefore surprised when I entered Christiania, part of Copenhagen. Text: Aron den Otter, Lay-out: Karim Jaspers The Freetown of Christiania is a self-claimed anarchic state in Copenhagen. It was founded in the seventies when the hippie culture of Denmark squatted the unused military terrain of Bådsmandsstrædes Kaserne. The squatters met high resistance from the local government at first but after some time the community was respected and treated as a social experiment. The city is accessible via foot; cars are not allowed. There is an open trade in soft drugs and Christiania has its own daycare, shops and small municipal services of which one of them is its own garbage collecting. Everything on the grounds is collective property. Although tolerated its relation with the municipality of Copenhagen has always been under tension. Most issues such as not paying the water and electricity, the trade in drugs and the absence of shop- and restaurant permits have been settled; Danish law was implemented in 2010. The buildings and spaces on the terrain of Christiania form an exception and still do not follow the rules of Danish building law and have no permit. This is the subject of the current stride between the Copenhagen city council and Christiania.
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A self-claimed anarchic state in Copenhagen
The area which now is Christiania was always a place for defending the city. It consists of the boatman’s barracks and its most characteristic features are the 7 bastions (defense works), named after famous members of the royal Danish family. On these bastions gunpowder storages, far from the people’s homes in the center of Copenhagen, were built. The bastions however proved to be outdated during several wars and the area was therefore used mostly for military storage and eventually was used less and less. Almost all of the barracks, bastions and gunpowder houses still exist to this day. These spacious terrains, large building volumes and lots of green space are the perfect place to start a new state according to its first inhabitants. They took charge of the area in a time of housing shortage. The 19th century barracks of the marine base are covered with graffiti and are used as workshops or dwellings with balconies, weird additions and dormers in all sorts and forms. This results in weird and colorful buildings. The old bastions are used as the park of the area and are filled with small farm-like houses that are made of mostly recycled materials. Many of the inhabitants have built their own houses between the old barracks. All approximately 300 newly built dwellings are illegal. The function of the buildings is not only living, there are also news stations, bakeries, markets and theaters in the large former military halls. Where elsewhere in the city the bastions and barracks are maintained via strict preservation
laws and are kept up to date with very good maintenance, the inhabitants of Christiania have a totally different approach to handling Copenhagen’s heritage. At first the local government tolerated the matters at Christiania and there was even a special Christiania law created which stated officially that the ground and the buildings on it are collective property. Because of this law the area developed itself without the control of a building council. Over the years this caused an unsafe situation because of bad constructions and unsuccessful renovations. The open space was not designed carefully, that is why it created a breeding place for all different kinds of criminal behavior. There were numerous deaths because of overdoses and disagreements between dealers. This, among other reasons, was the main reason for a totally different approach. There were feelings of unfairness with the Copenhagen inhabitants because of the Christianians who paid very little for gas, water and electricity while life in Copenhagen became very expensive. Another factor was the feeling with inhabitants of Copenhagen and the municipality that the ground was
not efficiently used in a financial point of view. The areas around Christiania became very expensive over the years and there are only 800 people living in the large area of Christiania. In 2004 the municipality of Copenhagen retracted the law, giving special status to the area. It started with large police operations to end the trade in drugs. An unwanted consequence of this was the spread of drugs trade over the whole city of Copenhagen after which the council chose to let the drugs trade turn naturally back to the free town to keep it under control. After this the Copenhagen made a register and started to register all buildings on the site, started demolishing the unsafe houses and prohibited the construction of new buildings. An architectural contest was initiated to redesign the area of which none of the submissions fulfilled the requirements set by the government.
instead offered to sell the area to its inhabitants for 10 million euros, only a small fraction of its actual value. The inhabitants founded a funds so the property would stay common property. Only the future knows if the inhabitants will get that much money to buy the property. In the meantime, however, Christiania will live on in a more structured and civilized way. The anarchistic principles are gone, but it still is a place of socialism and equality that attracts numerous of free souls to its grounds. A significant contrast to the property developers that are circling around Christiania as hungry vultures. Just as the contrast that Christiania once was with Copenhagen. Images: 1. Entrance Christiania (source: commons.wikimedia.org, 2014) 2. Inside Christiania (photo: Kieran Lynam) 1 2 Sources: 1. Information og arkiv christiania, date unknown, Christiania.org 2. Author Unknown, Christiania-omrĂĽdets historie, Date Unknown, web.archive.org 3. Henk Donkers and Sanne van Poppel, Christiania 2.0, Radboud University 2012
The inhabitants of Christiania protested immediately to the retraction of the special law which ended in a case in front of the highest Danish court, which the government won. After the governmental win the ministry of defense decided not to evacuate the area but
THAT’S WHY 35
Smart façades A façade is the border between inside and outside. It is one of the most important parts of a building when it comes to protection from outside conditions. As a result, the façade helps to create comfortable indoor climate in the building. At first glance, a façade is just that, a protector from the harsh outside. However, nowadays so much more can be going on than what you can see at first glance. Smart systems are all the rage and façades are no exception to this new trend. Smart façades have built-in systems that read the environmental changes that happen outside and adapt to these new conditions. Innovators are coming up with complex systems that help make buildings more environmentally friendly and less energy consuming. These systems can help the built environment make the transition towards energy neutrality and are thus a very important development. In this article, some interesting cases of smart façade use are discussed. Text: Lianne Willekers, Lay-out: Quirine Heijnen
Electrochromic glass Newer architectural styles are known for using a lot of glass in the façades of buildings. Especially new skyscrapers, of which countless are being built all around the globe, often have a façade made entirely out of glass. Glass is known to be a terrible insulator and as a result, there is no way that these new all-glass skyscrapers are energy efficient. During winter, massive amounts of heat is lost through these facades, which means that more energy will have to be used to keep the building heated. During summer, the situation is exactly the opposite. Sunlight heats up the entire building and to keep the environment comfortable, the building will have to be cooled down. Temperature regulation in these glass fronted buildings is extremely energy consuming, but also very expensive. Scientists have now come up with smart systems to reduce the energy consumption in glass fronted buildings. An example of this is electrochromic glass, which changes its tint Images: 1. Colored cubes (illustration: Quirine Heijnen) Sources: 1. Eduardo Souza. Smart Facades: Buildings that Adapt to the Climate Through their Skin. April 26, 2019. ArchDaily.com. 2. 1 How Much Do Smart Windows Cost? October 15, 2019. Modernize.com. 3. What is electrochromic glass? January 25, 2018. Sageglass.com. 4. Jason Palmer. ‘Smog-eating’ material breaking into the big time. November 12, 2011. BBC.com. 5. Larry West. The Causes and Effects of Smog. July 21, 2019. Thoughtco. com. 6. Elijah Wolfson. Mexico City Hospital ‘Eats’ Pollution: Torre de Especialidades Features Innovate Façade Tiling That Neutralizes Smog. December 2013, 2013. Medicaldaily.com. 7. Nicky Rackard. World’s First Algae Bioreactor Façade Nears Completion. March 4, 2013. ArchDaily.com.
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when it is needed to block the sunlight and heat from entering the building. Electrochromic glass is regular glass on which five layers of special coating have been applied. The tint of this glass is controlled by applying a short burst of voltage to the glass. When a certain amount of voltage is applied, lithium ions and electrons move from one layer of the coating to another, which darkens the tint of the glass. Users can control the color of the glass while still preserving access to daylight and views of the outside world. This system can either be controlled by building users themselves or by using sensors to tint the glass in reaction to certain light conditions.
Smart systems are all the rage and, facades are no exception to this new trend
innocent substances. The paint that is used on the façade is made of titanium-dioxide. When the ultraviolet radiation from the sun hits the titanium-dioxide, it frees up electrons and turns them into free radicals. These free radicals cause a chemical reaction with the NOx gases and VOCs in the air and actively break these pollutants down. These harmful substances are broken down into chemicals that are a lot safer. The shape of the façade of the hospital also helps in this process. It was specially designed to slow down wind, so that more pollutants could be ‘trapped’ in the façade and could be broken down.
Energy producing algae
Smog can be an enormous problem for densely populated areas. Smog is produced by mixing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Togetherwith sunlight, these substances make ozone. At least half of the smog-forming pollutants in cities come from cars, trucks, buses and boats. Ozone can be good, when it is high up in the air, acting as a barrier protecting earth from excessive amounts of ultraviolet radiation. However, ozone poses a problem when it is on ground level. It is toxic to humans and causes a number of health issues, like asthma and other respiratory diseases.
Energy production has always been right at the center in the discussion about climate change. New ways to produce renewable energy are needed to replace the polluting ways of producing energy through coal and oil. Objects like solar panels and wind turbines are very well-known and are already being used all around the world to make sure that energy production becomes more sustainable. However, these renewable energy sources are not always enough to make buildings completely energy neutral and other sustainable methods are needed. One building that uses an entirely new way of producing energy is the BIQ house in Germany. It is an apartment complex that was completed in 2013 and is completely energy neutral. The BIQ house was the first building in the world to use micro-algae to produce energy. Micro-algae are small organisms about the size of bacteria. They are also one of the most efficient plants to use, as they produce more biofuel than any other crop.
Society has been working towards lowering the emission of pollutants that cause smog, by encouraging development of electric cars and reducing the amount of polluting vehicles. Another way to combat smog is by using a smart façade. A hospital in Mexico City named Torre de Especialidades has a 2500 square meter façade that, quite literally, eats smog. The façade material is designed to transform the toxic pollutants that form smog into more
The south-east and south-west facades of the building have a sort of second skin over the original façade. The second skin consists of hollow glass paneling, which contain microalgae farms. The algae that are stored in these panels absorb the sunlight that hits the façade. Carbon dioxide is supplied to the algae through a pipe system, which the algae use for photosynthesis, in combination with the sunlight. The algae continue to grow and are
Smog-eating façade
periodically harvested from the façade and turned into biofuel. This biofuel is in turn used to power the apartment complex. Not only does the façade double as sound insulation, it also acts as a shading device. The more sunlight that hits the façade, the more algae that grow and the darker the façade becomes, thus providing shade during the summer. Furthermore, heat that is collected but not used by the algae to grow, can be used for space and water heating.
seems plausible that these façades use up a lot of energy during production. So while this may be advertised as a new innovative way of conserving energy, it might just be doing the opposite. Another disadvantage has to do with the cost of such a system. For example,
electrochromic glass can cost up to ten times more than regular glazing. For many building developers, this would be a reason not to implement smart façades, because while sustainability is an important part of the built environment, money is as well.
Façades are no longer just a protective border. Now, they are supposed to generate and save energy, and make the environment cleaner. These benefits have been mentioned and discussed thoroughly. However, there can be huge downsides to smart façade systems like these. Firstly, one can wonder if these systems actually save energy in the end. It
THAT’S WHY 37
SPATIAL PLANNING a story of path dependency
Clemens de Olde is an urban sociologist specialised in spatial planning. He is PhD researcher at the University of Antwerp and works as consultant urban and territorial development at IDEA Consult in Brussels.
On my first working day in Flanders I barely avoided disaster: my new employer was planning to order a laptop with the wrong keyboard layout. Like all Dutch people I learned to type using the English QWERTYlayout but in Belgium – also in the Dutch speaking part – the French AZERTY is predominant. Luckily, I was just in time to prevent a return to typing class as a thirty year old. Text: Clemens de Olde. Layout: Joep Dirx What does this have to do with spatial planning in Flanders? Most Dutch people have a quite negative image of it and do not realise the exceptional position of The Netherlands as far as planning goes. You often hear Dutch people say that space “is just a mess as soon as one crosses the border”. On the other hand, there are a few enlightened souls who celebrate the Belgian freedom of housing opportunities (no so patronising!). Often these are the same people that are also charmed by the “Wild Dwelling” propagated by Dutch architect Carel Weeber. But both sides forget to consider the origins of the situation as it is and its long-term effects.
You often hear Dutch people say that space “is just a mess as soon as one crosses the border” That’s why in this essay I want to reflect on spatial planning in Flanders from the perspective of path dependency. This is an approach used by some sociologists, economists, and political scientists to trace the effects of a historic choice or event. To put it simply: in history one can find certain “paths” that originate at a specific moment in time. Once taken, some of these paths are extremely difficult to leave because of the (real or perceived) cost of departing from
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it. In this case analysts speak of a lock-in situation that causes inertia that stands in the way of necessary innovation. Since spatial developments are built for decades or longer, spatial policy is exceptionally important in shaping path dependent outcomes of our living environment. I will argue that the shape and problems of the current Belgian spatial planning are a result of a path laid out in the 1970s from which it is practically impossible to depart.i The classic example in the literature about path dependency is that of the QWERTY keyboard layout. It turns out that QWERTY is not at all the most efficient layout to type with, in English nor in Dutch, yet it is used in a large part of the worldii. QWERTY actually deliberately slows down the typist by placing the most often-used letters in English far from each other. This way the mechanism of the first typewriters was less likely to jam up due to the type bars (that hold the letters) following each other too quickly in succession. Once “lockedin” other more efficient layouts (like Dvorak) did not stand a chance because the costs of changing equipment and retraining typists was regarded as being too high. This example shows that seemingly small details can mean a junction is taken to a path that affects millions of people a century later. Spatial planning in Flanders is full of such pathdetermining decisions. An infamous example is the so called “fill-up rule” (opvulregel). This policy measure from the 1980s determined that spaces up to 70 metres between already developed plots could be developed as well, even though the ground was not zoned for building. The rule was a huge boost to the endless ribbon development along the Flemish roadsiii. Now we are facing the negative results: traffic congestion, ugly streets, high infrastructure costs, unsafe traffic situations and so on. The Flemish Department of Environment recently calculated that the public expenditure on infrastructure for housing in allotments and ribbons (26% of the housing
Public expenditure on infrastructure for housing in allotments and ribbons runs twice as high as that in city centres stock) runs twice as high as that in city centres. The costs of scattered housing (10%) are even seven times higher! But the greatest lock-in in the current Flemish spatial planning can be found in the Regional Plans (Gewestplannen) that date back to the 1970s. These are zoning plans that painstakingly lay out which type of activity can be developed where: residential, commercial, agricultural, nature, and some mixed categories. A total of 48 of these plans was drafted that cover the entire Belgian surfaceiv. At the time they were drafted, zoning was handed out very lavishly. There are accounts of influential landowners visiting the Brussels administration to have their property zoned residential or commercialv. This is the reason why currently in Flanders there is still 42.601 hectares (about 275.000 lots) of residentially zoned land. It translates to housing prices that are quite a bit lower than in The Netherlands, on paper there is no shortage of building plots after all. But those plots are not always situated favourably. Some are far removed from existing centres; others are in areas prone to flooding. The generous zoning of the Regional Plans is one of the causes of spatial disorder characterising Flanders today, which has the potential to grow further when building occurs in all places where it is still allowed. But perhaps even more important than the current spatial pattern is that with the generous zoning an enormous potential value was created. Land that can be sold for residential or commercial development is worth
IN FLANDERS
much more than land zoned for agriculture or nature. For large developers ownership of this land is an investment, for small private owners it sometimes counts as their pension fund. In my view the lock-in of potential land value is the biggest problem spatial planning in Flanders is facing todayvi. The Regional Plans are now almost 50 years old, and in some locations they have been replaced by newer plans, but their zoning still remains valid. Argued from the principle of legal certainty (citizens should be able to count on maximum predictability of authorities’ behaviour) that means that zoning is as good as untouchable. In the meantime, awareness in the professional community as well as (gradually) among politicians has grown that continuing to develop in a business as usual scenario is not an option. Flanders is already one of the most built-up regions of Europe and in addition to the effects of the current spatial pattern that I described earlier, the effects of climate change are also starting to be felt (e.g. drought, heat islands, flood risk in periods of heavy rain). It is time to get rid of some concrete and start a big clean-up of the stock of land legally available for development! But that is easier said than done. A government that aims to correct this situation must produce a giant bag of money to compensate landowners. The stock of available land is so great that it is impossible for Flanders to pay this compensation in full. Measures to limit the stock run the risk of gaining a negative public opinion and to lead to lengthy legal procedures. No politician that wants to get re-elected will touch either people’s pensions or companies’ investments. The previous government did announce a “concrete stop”, but because of outright clumsy communication, that happened before political consensus had been reached, it led to an intensification of development (build, while you still can!)vii. Ultimately, legislation on the topic did not get passed before last spring’s elections.
No politician that wants to get re-elected will touch either people’s pensions or companies’ investments The new Minister of Environment has already communicated that it is one of her priorities to have the “Decree on Instruments” (Instrumentendecreet) pass successfully through government and parliament. This law describes that transferrable development rights (TDR) can be used to rationalise the stock of developable land. TDR, in a nutshell, separates development rights from landownership. This way the owner of unfavourably situated land can cash its development value by selling the development rights to another party that can use those rights to build higher or more densely on a better location. A TDR system then, would disconnect the potential value of the land from its location. Local authorities are waiting desperately for this instrument because they expect it to help them steer development away from the countryside and to the urban cores. The feasibility of the system in the Flemish context is controversial however. Organising a successful development rights “market” would take quite a bit of government intervention which is a sensitive subject in the Belgian context. And as long as the stock is so large a relatively limited trading of development rights has little effect. In any event there needs to be a serious culling of the stock of developable land. But here another measure in the law comes to the fore: the compensation for landowners who lose their potential for development is being raised to 100% of its current value. You can trade all the development rights you want, but the potential
costs of compensation make a truly meaningful intervention impossible. That means the lock-in of potential land value continues to this day. Yet a solution will have to be reached somehow if Flanders does not want to clutter up any further and guarantee a more pleasant, safe, and clean living environment for its residents. Which politician is powerful and brave enough to let that potential value evaporate? About the typing? By now I have moved on to another employer and I’ve had to get used to the AZERTY-laptop that was already waiting for me on my first day. Thankfully you can always change the layout in the software so I can continue my business as usual, typing blind. That’s the power of the path! i. Clemens de Olde is not the first to use this perspective. Housing sociologist Pascal De Decker describes the origin of the Belgian urban sprawl as path dependent process and goes back to choices made in the nineteenth century. ii. This naturally only applies to the part of the world using a Latin alphabet. iii. An offshoot of this rule still exists as the “finishing rule”. iv. The jurisdiction of spatial planning was split between Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels in 1980. v. Cf. The book “Wat kan ik voor u doen?” by Peter Renard. vi. The Regional Plans are obvisously not the only events that determined a particular path. The introduction of the Spatial Plan for Flanders in 1997 for example meant a serious increase of planners in civil service with mostly beneficial results. vii. Clemens de Olde described the framing of the “concrete stop” more extensively in AGORA Magazine, “Betonstop van metafoor tot werkelijkheid”. 2 1
3
Images: 1. Clemens de Olde (image: Clemens de Olde) 2. Houses in ribbon structure (image: Eric Verstraeten - Next Generation Photo Nextgenerationphoto.be) 3. Urban ribbon structure (image: Joep Dirx)
Sources: 1. Pascal De Decker. “Understanding Housing Sprawl: The Case of Flanders, Belgium”. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, July 1, 2011. 2. Jared Diamond. “The Curse of QWERTY”. April 1, 1997. Discovermagazine. com. 3. Karolien Vermeiren et al. “Monetariseren van urban sprawl in Vlaanderen”. Depertement Omgeving, 2019. Ruimtevlaanderen.be. 4. Statistiek Vlaanderen. “Beschikbare woonpercelen”. December 20, 2018. Statistiekvlaanderen.be. 5. Editors DeMorgen. “Demir wil bouwshift (voormalig bestonstop) nog dit jaar beginnen uitvoeren”. DeMorgen, October 22, 2019.
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Rebuilding after war War influences every single part of society. Oftentimes, when the topic of war and its effects is discussed, people tend to focus on the social and economic impacts of war. The built environment and how that specific part of society is affected is often left out of the conversation, even though urban areas have always been the target for destruction during wars. The built environment is often targeted in modern wars, because destroying major urban areas is an effective way to destabilize the enemy. Places like airports, political establishments and ports are strategic places to hit, as they are often directly connected to large, densely populated urban areas like big cities. Destroying symbolic places, like religious buildings, can be a way to further destabilize and demoralize the society. Cities themselves are not often the target of destruction, but since they are so close to these strategic places, they are often taken down with them. Since the built environment is an integral part of society, a civilization can barely function without a working urban structure. Text: Lianne Willekers, Lay-out: Karim Jaspers Reconstruction after war is difficult and it has always been hard to get it started, but these days, it can be even more difficult. In the past, weapons that were used usually only caused physical destruction, in the sense that buildings may have been destroyed, but there were no long lasting effects beyond that. Nowadays chemical, biological and nuclear weapons are often used, and they can have more catastrophic and long-term consequences than the weapons that humans used in the past. The very definition of warfare has changed, and as such, also the consequences.
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Because of this new level of destruction that new weapons can bring, wars have an almost permanent effect on the environment, people’s health and entire ecosystems. This makes it increasingly difficult to rebuild effectively after a war. Toxic and radioactive properties of these newer weapons make sure that all local materials cannot be used for reconstruction. This makes it more difficult for people to find materials and start rebuilding a city. As a result, in post-war areas it is increasingly important to focus on rebuilding entire ecosystems and cleaning up the pollution left behind by the war, instead of just reconstructing urban areas. Another issue that can get in the way of rebuilding quickly and effectively is the cost. Wars already influence a country’s economy negatively, so after the war is over, countries have very little money to spend. Normally, constructing a building in an area that is not even affected by war is already extremely expensive. Added costs of cleaning up rubble and demolishing buildings that cannot be salvaged make the cost of rebuilding an entire city infinitely high. Another thing to take into account is the fact that many people will have left the area and have sought refuge in other countries. There will be fewer and fewer people left behind to actually rebuild.
How not to do it Cities that have already been rebuilt can serve as an example, or a warning. One such example is Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. After a fifteen year long civil war the city was left in ruins. It has since risen from the ashes and now serves as a symbol for richness, with its
glass skyscrapers and luxury hotels. However, the reconstruction of the downtown area of the city was anything but how you are supposed to do it. A private company was contracted to oversee the rebuilding process of the city and even though it now looks like a futuristic and progressive area, the way this company went about reconstructing the area had great consequences, both politically and economically. While new iconic architecture boosted the economy, it left many of the inhabitants of Beirut excluded from an area which they used to visit frequently. As a matter of fact, more buildings were torn down during the reconstruction process than were destroyed during the actual war. Much of Beirut’s cultural heritage was ignored and even destroyed and now that the history of the city has been wiped away, it looks nothing like it did in the pre-war era. Public interest was ignored and private profit was prioritized. This was done with the consent of the government, as the actual Prime Minister of Lebanon was at one point the biggest shareholder in the private company that conducted the reconstruction. Furthermore, the reconstruction process was so expensive that the country went into great debt and is now still the third country with the most debt in the world.
Beirut is an example of what not to do when rebuilding an urban area. Public interest and history were ignored and things that no one but the billionaire Prime Minister could afford were put in the place of a city that was once vibrant with local cultural heritage. As a result, Beirut is now a true city of exclusion.
How to do it So how do you rebuild a city after war? The answer is quite simple: there is no answer. There is no one way to rebuild an entire city. It would not make sense to suggest that there is some sort of step-by-step plan that to follow and the result will be a beautifully reconstructed city. However, there are some things that need to be taken into account when making a plan for the reconstruction of an urban area. Firstly, knowledge of the area and what the war exactly did to it is important. It needs to be clear before starting reconstruction in which areas the war has left its mark. Mapping exactly where the environment is polluted and needs to be cleaned up, or where unexploded devices left by the war may still lie is crucial to making a clear plan for the reconstruction. Secondly, the people need to be taken into account. Inhabitants of a destroyed urban
area have obviously been through a lot and their wishes for the reconstruction of their city need to be considered. Involving the local community in the plans for the reconstruction will give them the chance to have a say in how their city is restored. This will strengthen the sense of community and the connection people feel to the city. Thirdly, the war and its scars must not be buried. People will want to leave the idea of the war behind, but it is impossible to go back to the way things were before the war. There are some great examples of destruction of architecture caused by war being turned into a place where people come to remember the war and the people that it affected. In England, the entire roof of Saint Michael’s Cathedral in Coventry was destroyed as a result of bombings in the second World War. Instead of reconstructing the roof, the place has been transformed into a space where people can remember the war and its victims. Trying to erase every trace of the war is not going to work and keeping monuments can serve both as a reminder of the devastation war can bring, and as a place of memorial where people can remember their lost loved ones.
Rebuilding urban areas after a war has proven to be a difficult task. Despite what people have tried in the past, spending a large amount of money on it will not guarantee that this happens in a successful way. As is clear, there is no obvious way to go about reconstructing a city. There are, on the other hand, certain things to be kept in mind that can make reconstruction easier and more successful. The entire world has much to learn about this topic. Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned here is that none of this would be necessary if nations all around the world just decided not to destroy each other. Images: 1. Demolished street (source: rsute. ru) 2. Pedestrian street (source: pxhere.com) 1
2
Sources: 1. Giovanni Tortorici, Francesco Fiorito. Building in Post-war Environments. Procedia Engineering, 180, 2017. 2. Ammar Azzouz. Rebuilding Homs: how to resurrect a city after years of conflict. March 17, 2017. theconversation.com. 3. Julia Tierney. Beirut’s lessons for how not to rebuild a war-torn city. October 12, 2016. washingtonpost.com.
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Programs and Renders It is essential for each student in the built environment to work out their idea and convince others for choosing their ideas. To do this, multiple software tools can be helpful for the making of the design, translating it into visualizations and into presentation sheets. A majority of software tools regarding these aspects will be stated and elaborated, by looking at the (ease of) use of the software, the specific features and price quality ratio. Text: Jasper Poel, Lay-out: Sacha de Bruin
Designing AutoCAD Revit SketchUp 3DStudioMax AutoCAD Revit SketchUp 3D Especially for the architecture discipline it is necessary to translate the ideas one has in their mind, to hard floor plans, sections, façades and isometrics. The first software tool helpful for this is AutoCAD, which is very easy to use for the creation of 2D- sections, floorplans and facades which can be easily hatched, annotated, changed or transferred into .pdf files. This system works with vector files, instead of raster files. This tool is almost updated annually and for students at the TU/e it costs nothing, but for non-students it costs around € 2.100 per year.
this software is commonly used for the production of isometrics, facades and sections as well. Changes made in both the plans as the 3D-model are automatically updated in all drawings, which is a strong advantages on behalf of AutoCAD. This tool is updated almost annually and is free for TU/e students as well, where non-students pay around € 3000 per year. Similar to the Revit software, is the ArchiCAD software. The main tools for this software type are the same, however this tool is slightly cheaper and lies better in the market in Europe than Revit.
The second important software tool is Revit, which is used more frequently. This software is a tool in which 2D- and 3D models can be produced. Instead of simple lines, design are made of actual building components such as walls, roofs, windows and doors. Since the plans made in this program are immediately transferred into a 3D-model,
Especially during the conceptual phase SketchUp is an important tool. This program is very easy and quick to use for the production of 3D mass models and designs. Even though designs are made with simple lines and circles, it is also optional to download already made components from the SketchUp Warehouse. Besides that it has a lot of other plug-ins, such
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as the option to place your building in Google Earth. Due to the use of manually drawn lines, changing the design will take more time than in Revit. Students can use the free version called SketchUp Make, which is however lacking important export and import functions. The SketchUp Pro version however, is able to import .dwg and .dxf files, but that comes with a price of around € 50 a year for students. The last and least common software tool mentioned here is 3D Studio Max. This tool is more difficult to use than the previous tools. Besides that, it is not free to use for students, costs around € 2.000 per year. This tool is especially useful for creating beautiful 3D visualizations and is not only used in the built environment market, but also in the TV commercial and videogame development markets.
Visualizing Lumion Blender V-Ray Lumion Blender V-Ray Lumion Blender V-Ray L Even though SketchUp and Revit produce 3D models, these do not look realistic in comparison with the production of render programs. The first rendering program that will be discussed is Lumion. This tool is very easy to use and is compatible with all previously discussed designing software tools. It produces qualitative high 3D images and videos. Furthermore, it is free to use for students and is updated annually. For non-students however, Lumion PRO costs around € 3.000.
The second rendering tool is Blender. The most important benefit of this software is that it is completely free for everyone. It has a lot of different tools, however it does take some time to learn working with this program. It is compatible for .dxf, and .3DS files. The third and last discussed software tool is V-Ray. This tool is arguably the best rendering software tool of all. This system has a high 3D rendering quality, is easily used by both
professionals as beginners and has a large set of features used for improving the visualization quality. This tool is compatible with Sketchup (Pro), Revit, 3Ds Max and Rhino. The one downside however, is that it is not free for students. To be able to use this program it will cost you around € 700 Euros per year for translating SketchUp files and around € 600 per year for translating Revit files.
Presenting
Photoshop Illustrator InDesign Photoshop Illustrator InDesign Photos It is not only helpful to create designs and translate them into beautiful visualizations, but they also need to be made presentation worthy to really convince others of your idea. For that there are 3 well-known tools which are all free to use for TU/e students. The first helpful tool is Photoshop. Knowing to use this tool is essential for each student that wishes to create beautiful presentation worthy images. With this tool you can modify the (rendered) visualizations of your design. With this tool it is easy to add textures, landscape features, people and a sky among others. This can not only be helpful for visualizations of the design, but also for the final touch on presentation posters. Even though it is free for students, for others it will cost € 24 per month to use this tool. The second tool that is essential for each student is Illustrator, which is somewhat
similar to Photoshop. The biggest difference is that Illustrator is vector based which leads to a better accuracy of output whether you zoom in or out. The downside to this vector based program is that is more difficult to modify existing images since that requires a pixel based program. One thing that is however similar for both is the price. If all the visualizations of your design have been created and optimized visually, it is time to create the presentation itself. One of the best programs for the production of beautiful poster presentations and booklet is InDesign. In this file everything you place can be altered manually: the size of the page, the size of the text box, the size of images etc. Even though this is possible with Word as well, in InDesign images and .pdf files can be placed more easily and changes to the lay-out do not result in large shifts in image locations, which is a downside of using Word. Besides these basic
tools, it also offers tools to create a better document consistency and help to increase productivity with for example page master pages. This program is also very easy to use, since links are updated automatically, so for example changes in an Illustrator file will be automatically updated in InDesign. Where this tool is free for TU/e students, others will have to pay the price of € 24 per month. If you wish to use all three presentation tools, they can also choose to pay the € 60 per month for all these and other programs. In this tool paragraph the different computer based software tools have been explained to help you in creating better designs. However, the most important architectural skill is drawing by hand, which is not only easy to use and cheap, but also unique for each individual.
Images: 1. AutoCAD drawing (Illustration: Sacha de Bruin) 2. Render. Source: pxhere. Sources: 1. 8 Architectural Design Software That Every Architect Should Learn. arch2o. 2 com. 2. 10 Best Architectural Rendering Software Solutions. easyrender.com. 3. Autodesk Autocad 2019. autodesk.com. 4. Autocad Revit 2019. autodesk.com. 5. Sketchup 2019. sketchup.com. 6. Autodesk 3DS Max 2019. autodesk.com. 7. Adobe Photoshop 2019. adobe. com. 8. Adobe Illustrator 2019. adobe.com. 9. Adobe InDesign 2019. adobe.com 10. Blender 2019. blender.com. 11. Lumion 10. lumion.com. 12. V-Ray. v-ray.com. 1
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s i Th g n i d l i u b . . . s l l e sm y k n u f Hospitals. Old age homes. Green Houses. Public swimming pools. Bakeries. Your childhood attic. Your Grandparent’s home. Your Mother’s clothes cupboard. A Christmas tree near the fire place. Grass after it’s been mowed.
With that said, please, take a moment, and smell the magazine you’re reading. Close your eyes, and take a deep inhale of the room you’re standing in. Go into the attic passage between Oost and West in Bouwkunde and pay attention! Smell it! Doesn’t it smell weird? Different at least? Distinctive? The same counts for the Bouwkunde library, as you step into this space not only is there an audio-visual change: the silence and the wonderful rhythm of the book clad walls; but also, a scent that is loaded with all kinds of memories and associations.
“But a whiff of perfume, or even the slightest odor, can create an entire environment in the world of the imagination.” (Bachelard, Jolas, Danielewski, & Kearney, 2014, pp 191)
One of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had was when I was walking through Amsterdam and suddenly when encountering the scent of the still brewing beer from a nearby brewery, I was transported to the age of about 8 playing tag with my best friends: Jaimen, Alex, Jordan and a few other forgotten names. After school in the playground waiting to be picked up by our mothers; the summer sun is baking the pitch-black tar, Table Mountain glistens in the distance and, oddly enough, this intoxicating sweet malty, wheaty, yeasty aroma is making the air thick like syrup. That aroma was coming from the beer brewery in Claremont close to my school, and still to this day if I encounter that smell, I get taken back to my carefree days of cavorting about jungle gyms with my buddies and my primary school crush on Jessica.
CHRISTOPHER CLARKSON
In every Chepos an article is published from the Pantheon// and vice versa.
TOOLS 47
Architecture is first and foremost an activity of experience design. Perhaps at first read this all seems ridiculous, though that’s partially why I’m writing it. As students of one of the best Architectural faculties in the world, we have a unique opportunity and with that, a kind of responsibility to push the boundaries of what’s possible for the world of Architecture. Especially since we are still students, every building you design can be as crazy as you want, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a total fuck up because, well, it isn’t going to be built. In that regard – why not make a crematorium that smells faintly of lavender, to invite the grieving into a more welcoming space that makes them feel at ease. It seems almost cruel to not incorporate scent and in so doing ignore the emotions of the building’s users. If you are going to use diffuse light and neutral warm colours to create an unthreatening visual landscape, why would you not also do your best to create an unthreatening olfactory landscape for the visitors?
These are all spaces, but more importantly they are spaces that contain a distinctive scent that while you might not be able to define with words, will immediately recognise should you ever come into contact with it ever again. Funnily enough these smells also seem to be relatively universal. This seems to suggest you could in fact design around this idea of smell. Weird as it may sound it would in fact be the best way to trigger an emotional response in a building’s user. Unlike tactile, visual, and audio senses, smell bypasses the normal processing units of the brain. Instead, information gets sent directly from your nose to your amygdala and hippocampus respectively responsible for handling emotion, and memory (Hamer, 2018). As such, spaces could be curated to facilitate the emotional needs of your olfactory-having visitors.
The challenge is therefore, much like a poet would with words, to use walls and floors to construct spaces that make your audience aware of something they would have otherwise ignored as a mundanity. The only way to do this is to analyse the world more carefully, and more weirdly. What you analyse, be it in terms of smell, touch, sound etc. can then be reimplemented into your building to make it a more authentic representation of how you have perceived reality outside of that building. Choose to treat Architecture as
For this reason, the text of this article has been printed vertically instead of horizontally. By doing so, you are forced to rotate the magazine, whereby you are come to acknowledge briefly the fact that you are indeed reading something. In this way, we have made the words of this article, wordy.
Architecture is a form of art, and similar to all other forms of art that attempt to submerse you in their world, think of film for example, Architecture has the same ability to submerse the audience in a kind of reality that you wish to give to them. Contrasting to other artforms, Architecture is not contained within the context of a film theatre, or a museum gallery. Buildings quickly become a fabric of the day to day, within the context of the world at large. As Viktor Shklovsky so brilliantly said in his essay, Art as Technique: “Art exists that one may recover the sensation of life; it exists to make one feel things, to make the stone stony.” (Lemon & Reis, 1965).
By mapping the world around you more attentively in terms of senses other than that what you merely see you can create a more authentic depiction of your subjective reality in your designs.
Figure 3: The Architecture Of Light (Serge Najjar, 2016). Retrieved from https://www.ignant.com/2016/01/14/serge-najjarcaptures-the-architecture-of-light/
Illustration 1: Lago d’Idro (Isa van Bussel, 2019).
Lemon, L. T., & Reis, M. J. (1965). Russian Formalist Criticism: Four Essays. Lincoln, United States of America: University of Nebraska Press.
Hamer, A. (2018, January 31). Here’s Why Smells Trigger Such Vivid Memories. Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://curiosity.com/topics/ heres-why-smells-trigger-such-vivid-memories-curiosity/
Bachelard, G., Jolas, M., Danielewski, M. Z., & Kearney, R. (2014). The Poetics of Space. New York, USA: Penguin Publishing Group.
SOURCES
an art, impart a sensation of life into your walls, and make people aware of that which they’ve forgotten, because if you don’t the people in your buildings will feel nothing.//
Dec 18
Feb 6 – 9
CHEOPSx
Art Rotterdam Week
Save the date! On the evening of December 18th, CHEOPS will invite inspiring speakers to share their views on relevant topics within the Built Environment. After which there will be an open discussion on the subject.
Every year Rotterdam houses one of the largest art events in Europe, inviting art lovers form all over the world to this city. The week is filled with shows, exhibitions and lectures about all aspects of art, including architecture!
Dec 19 Plugged Winter Edition On the 19th of December, Plugged will organize its very first Winter Edition! As an addition to the original Plugged Festival, this year the first Plugged Winter Edition will take place. Bands that played at Plugged Festival will come back to play on the stage of Plugged Winter Edition. Keep an eye on the CHEOPS website and follow Plugged Festival on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated on the event.
Jan 28 – 30
Feb 14 – 16 The Green Sector Fair The Green Sector conference is the knowledge and networking moment for the green sector. Professionals from all sides of the sector, including landscape architects, come to the fair to exchange innovations and experience.
Feb 22 – 29
GEVEL Fair
Skiing Trip
GEVEL 2020 is the trade fair for architects, consultants, clients, and builders about the latest developments in the field of the building envelope. GEVEL offers a wide and high-quality range of products, materials and systems, and shows innovations and experiments. The edition of this conference takes place in AHOY Rotterdam.
Are you ready for a trip? From the 22nd until the 29th of February, CHEOPS will take you to Risoul for its yearly skiing trip. Besides skiing, there is also time for a lot of fun and some amazing activities. Will you join us?
Feb 4 – 7 VSK Fair VSK is the conference for installation technology. This edition is in the theme of “In the middle of the future”. VSK answers questions about energy transition and alternative forms of energy, digitization processes and the use of new installations. The edition of this conference takes place in the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht.
Agenda CHEOPS & Built Environment 48 AGENDA
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Chepos, built environment magazine: ISSN: 1873-183X • chepos@cheops.cc www.chepos.nl • www.instagram.com/chepos_ magazine • www.issuu.com/cheops_chepos Advertisements & exploitation: Joep Dirx: voorzitter@cheops.cc Co-Main sponsor Chepos: Vectorworks, Kubus, Continu, TNO Want to be an editor? Want to share your opinion? Submit your photo for the next colophon? Contact the editorial board via chepos@cheops.cc
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