Statement nr.2 2008

Statement 2008 # 16

Autumn 2008 # 16

Statement

M A G A Z I N E O N R E A L E S TAT E D E V E L O P M E N T

LIVING IN THE NEW EUROPE ALAIN DE BOTTON: ‘REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT HAS A HUGE SOCIAL IMPACT’

CHARLES LANDRY:

‘The living conditions define a place’ Statement 2-2008 colofon.indd 1

07-10-2008 09:53:40

Statement Magazine is published on behalf of ING Real Estate Development.

The magazine is distributed to ING Real Estate’s international business relations.

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Living

Statement

THIS ISSUE OF OUR CORPORATE MAGAZINE FOR ING REAL ESTATE Development is dedicated to ‘living’. With more than half of the world population currently living in cities, a percentage that is growing every day, the coordinated and professional production of housing is proving to be a major challenge and opportunity for city planners and developers all over the world. Even in developed Western European countries the residential sector is often only referred to in terms of quantity in both government policies and market analysis. In this context, we would like to draw your attention to the more qualitative aspects of living we all experience every day.

As ING Real Estate Development we direct our activities in the residential market primarily towards providing new and existing residents with added value. We aim to make places where people love to live. This entails more than just building houses.

Essentially, living has little to do with housing when you regard houses destined to be occupied by consumers as the end product of a building process. Living may even be regarded as the opposite of occupation and consumption: living is more about cultivating land in sustainable coexistence.

Although the living environment consists of physical elements, these elements cannot bring it to life. This is done by the people who actually live there.

This issue singles out people who create living environments, either through their ideas about city planning and design – such as consultant and author Charles Landry, or through their day-to-day role within these environments – like Vicente Torres, the porter in Madrid. In our approach to creating living environments we stress the human factor by paying extra attention to safety and security, identity, image and sustainability in terms of environmental impact and the integration of natural elements. We also take into account the area’s potential to adapt to different and changing lifestyles. We must not view living environments as static structures determined by their suppliers. The article on ‘future living’ shows how technology enables dwellings to become more and more adaptable to their users’ wishes. In the same spirit we need to welcome residents as ‘co-makers’ in the development process in order to satisfy the need for quantity as well as to contribute to their joie de vivre. <<<

MENNO MAAS, CEO ING REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT

contents 28

4 Living: from shelter to

4

identity symbol 10 Branding: Gert Jan Hagen 13, 19, 27, 43 For the residents 14 The architect: Steven Holl 20 The user: mayor D. Pedro Rollán Ojeda 23, 39 Items 24 Suburban bliss with bytes 28 Living in the New Europe

10

32 The interview: Charles Landry 36 A sense of community 40 At home with Alain de Botton 44 Expert opinion: Nasrine Seraji and Frédérique Monjanel 48 The perfect home

32 50

50 Work in progress: The Hanspaulka residential complex 55 Column: Daan van Egeraat

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From shelter to 04

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LIVING

The house has over the centuries evolved from a place of protection into an expression of its occupantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personality.

Also, the way we build houses has radically changed.

Meanwhile more than half of the world population lives in cities. This presents the professionals with new challenges and opportunities.

identity symbol

BY JACO BOER P HO TO G R A P HY: A N P - P HO TO , H OL L A N D SE HO O G TE , I S TO C K P HO TO , G E RT- J O O S T P E E K

TODAY IN THE WEST HAVING A HOME IS AS TAKEN FOR granted as food and water. While a small group in the big cities is still homeless, most people have the pleasure of living in their own home. Few people realise what it means to have a roof over their head al-though the function of the house has radically changed over the centuries. While a house once served mainly as protection against a severe climate or hostile neighbours, for many people it has since become the ultimate expression of their personality.

A close look at the evolution of dwelling places reveals many parallels with the American psychologist Abraham Maslow’s concept of a hierarchical system of human needs. He stated 40 years ago that people have to satisfy four basic needs before they can deal with self-fulfilment. Although his theory was later disputed by many, it helps to explain the changes in our perception of living.

For example, after satisfying the most fundamental need for food and water, human beings have a basic need for safety according to Maslow.

For primitive peoples who sought refuge in caves or self-built huts protection against the heat or cold was indeed all-important. They sought a place where they were safe from external dangers and could rest after hunting.

Living in groups made them less vulnerable to being attacked by others.

The family and members of the tribe provided security and a guarantee against starvation and loneliness, as well as satisfying their need for social contact, Maslow’s third stadium of hierarchial structured basic needs.

Expressing personality: living in a secluded house like Villa Malaparte, Capri, or in a community for golfing.

COMMUNAL LIFESTYLE To begin with fellow occupants were almost always members of the same family or ethnic group. But as society evolved people gained more freedom to decide for themselves how and with whom they wanted to live. Greate prosperity and better educational facilities drive that development. Restrictive group ties and traditions lose their influence. And for protection against poverty and injustice the government and the constitutional state have replaced the family or tribe.

In that way, many western societies have reached a phase in which the majority of the population are in a position to choose the home or district that suits them. As a result the place and lifestyle have increasingly come to symbolise a person’s identity. The way you live is who you are, or how you would like others to see you. This matches the fourth stadium of Maslow’s basic needs: the need for appreciation and recognition. In the cities, groups with the same preferences and characteristics concentrate in certain districts. The French sociologist Bourdieu remarked in 1979 that the ‘bourgeois-bohème’, for instance, preferred mixed urban neighbourhoods with many cultural and commercial facilities. Such districts lend a certain status to this group, which is now often referred to as the creative class. In the United States and parts of Europe there are already special communities for golfing enthusiasts or wealthy senior citizens. A common factor in all such communities is that they are constructed around a communal lifestyle.

The more society develops, the more freedom people have to decide how and with whom they wish to live

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CRITICISM But in reality not everyone is in a position to have their housing requirements fulfilled. How and where someone lives, says the Swedish geogra-

The rise of a professional mortgage market means people no longer have to save up until they can afford to add another storey to their house

pher Torsten Hägerstrand, is also determined by personal and social handicaps – the elderly and infirm are less likely to live independently than people with no physical problems. And a detached villa is usually beyond the means of those with a limited budget.

Many cultures also have strong ideas about how people ‘ought to’ live. Those who want to have a different lifestyle can expect severe criticism or even opposition from friends or family. Sons or daughters in a group with a strict religious background are less likely to live together as unmarried couples than those from less conventional families. Ultimately, even the climate influences our choice of home. Thanks to the pleasant weather the average Italian or Spaniard tends to spend more time outdoors. They would rather spend their euros on new cars or tailor-made suits than on luxury apartments.

I N N O VA T I V E L I V I N G : THE HOUSE KIT

An affordable house which you can erect within a few days and take away again to another place. It may sound surrealistic, but innovative builders are working flat out on the development of such house kits. The names of the concepts may differ but they have a number of things in common. The houses always consist of demountable elements produced in the factory to a common design. On the building site they are sometimes put together in a few days’ time. With an easily adaptable layout and size, the house is often suitable for both permanent and temporary occupation as well as being cheaper than usual, thanks to the prefab elements and short construction time. A breakthrough seems imminent now that even Ikea has latched onto the concept and after Sweden, is successfully selling its BoKlok house in the UK: in Gateshead the giant furniture company is already building a two-bedroom single family house in just four days’ time for € 180,000.

NEW STOREY Our living experience is not the only thing that has changed in recent decades. The way we build houses has also changed considerably. Many countries have a long tradition of brothers and sisters helping to build the family home. At weekends and on holidays the amateur bricklayers and carpenters got to work on the patch of land that had been bought near the parents’ house. The amount of francs or drachmas saved also determined when another storey would be added on.

The European tradition of self-building families has not completely died out yet. But many skilled manual labourers like bricklayers and carpenters have in recent decades taken over much of the work from family members. Contractors started more often to coordinate the building activities and supplied within a short time the future owner with a prefabricated house. The greater and more anonymous the demand for housing, the more contractors evolved into professional developers who began to build housing at their own expense and risk. Market research and strategic land purchases became important conditions for a company’s success. In recent years some housebuilders in parts of Europe have even been expanding into area development, building entire urban districts in consultation with the authorities. Continuing cutbacks in public organisations and the developers’ growing expertise have accelerated this trend.

CREDIT Whichever player builds the home or district, they do it in a radically different way from 50 years ago. Individual projects gave way to housing built to a common design, making it possible to work faster and more cheaply.

Moreover, new materials appeared on the building site. From then on, instead of individual bricks and wooden planks, the construction consisted of prefabricated frames and precast concrete units. Sophisticated logistics became key to a smoothly running operation in which each unit was delivered just on time.

One of the main developments that made this new building method possible is the rise of a professional mortgage market. Families no longer needed to save up until they could afford to have a new storey added to their house. They bought a prefabricated house on credit. In countries where it is less easy for people to get a mortgage housing built to a common

design is usually less well developed, although many builders in Central Europe and Asian cities have in recent years switched to the new building process.

Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm.

NEW MIDDLE CLASS Increasingly, the many hundreds of thousands of new homes built each year by companies around the world are in urban areas. Last year a magical threshold was crossed: more than half of the world population now lives in cities. According to figures released by the UN, less than 30 per cent lived in the city in 1950, but in 2030 that figure will rise to over 60 per cent. More and more city dwellers will land up in megacities with over 10 million inhabitants 35 years ago only New York, Tokyo, Mexico City and Shanghai had that many inhabitants.

But by 2005 the UN had already counted 18 such cities. In 2025 there are likely to be 27 megacities with a large number of them situated in Asia.

This rapid urbanisation has advantages and disadvantages. If people are concentrated in one place it means that areas outside the city remain open and scattered building is less of a nuisance. The installation and exploitation of amenities like waste- and drinking-water systems can also be more cost-effective in urban areas. As well, there is a broader base for public transport and diverse commercial facilities. Metropolises also function in a social sense as emancipation drivers that eventually give rise to new middle classes.

The modern city with its strict division of functions was just a short interlude of the age-old tradition of mixed urban areas I N N O VA T I V E L I V I N G : THE ‘KANGAROO HOME’

A concept from Scandinavia. Most examples are to be found in Northwest Europe. The ‘kangaroo home’ consists of two self-contained internally connected homes built beside or above one another. That makes it easier for children in the larger main part of the house to take care of their infirm parents in the smaller ‘pouch’ area. Apparently families with a non-western background are particularly fond of this type of housing. In their culture it is perfectly normal for children to take care of their parents right to the end. The big advantage over ordinary houses is that both parties live close together and help can be given quickly.

The separate spaces guarantee privacy for all concerned. An attractive idea in aging populations.

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PARKS The rise of megacities also presents new challenges. In the coming years millions of people will need decent housing and clean drinking water. Cities will need to remain accessible and keep their air pollution under control.

Moreover, both rich and poor inhabitants will need to feel safe in their cities and have sufficient opportunities to develop. And then there is the necessity for a reliable electricity supply and good health care.

Public authorities and companies will have to come up with intelligent solutions to all these challenges. So it is encouraging that cities tend to be breeding grounds for creativity and innovation. Many trends in living originate in the cities. In the 1970s lack of money and space led American artists to see the advantages of living and working in loft-like warehouses. And the hippies with their houseboats paved the way for the floating villa districts along the densely populated waterfronts of Europe and North America.

The continuing urbanisation has triggered a reaction. The further removed people are from nature, the more they long for trees and meadows.

So city dwellers who can afford it often buy a second home in the country for weekends and holidays. Others fight for the preservation of parks or the creation of new public gardens.

The gardens on the former railway viaduct in Paris’ 12th arrondissement show that cities still offer many surprising opportunities to bring greenery to a neighbourhood.

In response to this trend, real estate developers attempt to find smart ways of connecting ‘red’ with ‘green’. Within projects they couple the new residential development with the creation of new parks and green areas, creating on the urban periphery new rural areas for holidaymakers. Fal-

Greenery in Parisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 12th arrondissement.

I N N O VA T I V E L I V I N G : LIVING IN A BOX

Students in the Dutch city of Delft were taken aback when they first saw their new accommodation. Several years ago, to remedy the shortage of student lodgings, the DUWO housing corporation converted sea containers into self-contained living accommodation. The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;space boxesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; had room for a couch, a bed and dining table to work at. And each student had their own kitchen unit and bathroom, all of which cost just a couple of hundred euros per month. After their initial hesitation the students were won over and the living containers soon became highly popular. The Loftcube by German designer Werner Aisslinger shows that the new living concept can be used for other target groups as well. For mobile city-dwellers who prize flexibility and speed he designed a trendy living box that can be erected in a jiffy on the roof or the lakeside.

High-rise projects, like Siu Hong Court in Hong Kong, are built to house the increasing flow of countryside immigrants.

low fields become watersports lakes with villas on their banks. That brings about a new symbiosis between city and outlying area.

LIVING AND WORKING Over the past centuries we have come to look at our homes with different eyes. Our houses are built in a different way by new players. And our home base is more likely to be in the city. Is there anything that has not changed in the way we live? Yes, there is. The way we now combine living and working in western cities is suspiciously like the situation before the industrial revolution, when most people lived and worked in the same place. The advent of factories brought about the separation of home and workplace. The cities were divided into functional zones with their own specialisations. Especially after World War II, modern urban districts with straight roads and tall apartment buildings built in a modernist way and conceived on the drawing board, grew up on the outskirts. More and more cities have left the industrial era behind and now depend on commercial and financial services for their survival. It would seem, then, that the modern city with its strict division of functions was just a short interlude in the age-old tradition of mixed urban areas.

At first sight many modern lifestyles appear to be revolutionary, but on closer reflection turn out to be less new than we thought. The highly trained consultant roaming the world like a nomad to earn a living has more in common with members of tribes from the Sahara than many realise. And the well-paid web designer, who from his loft launches images into the virtual world, has a counterpart in the farmer or village blacksmith who has lived and worked all his life in one place. <<<

The further removed you are from nature, the more you long for trees and meadows

BRANDING

‘People are more demanding than ever. As a developer, you had better know exactly what their wishes are.’ Managing partner of The SmartAgent Company Gert Jan Hagen specialises in the psychology behind consumer behaviour.

‘DO YOU KNOW THAT FEELING, WHEN YOU WALK through a neighbourhood and instinctively feel you do not belong there?,’ asks Gert Jan Hagen. ‘I see that as a good sign. It means that the neighbourhood has a distinctive character.’ Hagen is a managing partner at The SmartAgent Company, where he is responsible for the research programme on real estate marketing. He has carried out several studies on the living experience. ‘Neighbourhood branding is on the increase and has been an important topic of debate over the past five years,’ says Hagen. ‘Brands can help consumers decide which neighbourhood best suits their needs, though housing is of course a much more complex product than, say, margarine. Inevitably, there will be people living in the neighbourhood who don’t feel part of the brand. At the same time, the branding of districts and municipalities is not really new. Most famous brands came into being spontaneously. Amsterdam’s canal belt has been a brand for centuries.’

G E RT JAN H AGEN:

‘Our living environment 10

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B Y R OB H A RT GE R S PHOT OGR A P H Y: R OY T E E , COR B I S, H OL L A N D SE H OOGT E

‘The empowerment of consumers has altered the relationship between developers and consumers’

is part of our identity’

oper, SmartAgent put together a panel of consumers belonging to the target group. They commented on the designs in the presence of the architect, who was slightly disappointed after the session. “Those people do not all belong to the target group,” he claimed. “Some of them even wanted a garden.”’ The architect’s mistake, according to Hagen: ‘He identified with his design, not with the potential users.’

‘Despite our individualism, we remain social beings’

EMPOWERMENT SmartAgent specialises in what it calls ‘psychographic consumer segmentation’. ‘We look primarily at the psychology behind consumer behaviour,’ explains Hagen. ‘What inspires them to make certain choices? We use this information to produce motivational profiles of different consumer segments.’ Hagen roughly distinguishes between four different types of consumer lifestyles. These styles are neatly organised into a colour scheme, ranging from a ‘red’ group that cherishes freedom and flexibility, to a ‘green’ group that prefers stability and a sense of security. There is also a ‘yellow’ group that is extraverted, socially conscious, and sociable, and a ‘blue’ group that is highly ambitious, career-minded, and susceptible to social status.

Hagen believes motivational profiling can be a great tool for public and private real estate developers and investors: ‘Real estate is a buyer’s market these days. People are more demanding than ever. As a developer, you had better know exactly what their wishes are.’ Foremost among these wishes is the desire to create a community. This is most obvious on the internet, where people with shared interests or common goals form communities. As a group, they can exercise power. The same thing is happening on a smaller scale in real life, says Hagen: ‘I know of a town where senior citizens got together to scout a suitable location for housing, taking over the role of the city council and corporations.’

The empowerment of consumers has altered the relationship between developers and consumers. This takes some getting used to, for both parties. ‘Many developers hold on to traditional ways of thinking,’ says Hagen. He talks about a well-known architect who had designed a residential area: ‘At the request of the devel-

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AUTHENTICITY Two words are central to Hagen’s philosophy of real estate branding: ‘belonging’ and ‘identity’. Hagen: ‘Since the 1960s, society has become much more dynamic. We are no longer rooted in our regional or social backgrounds. Because of our increased mobility we can settle down anywhere we want, with anyone we want. However, despite this individualism, we remain social beings. We are still looking for a place where we feel we belong. Our living environment has become an important part of our identity.’

Joseph Pine, author of the The Experience Economy, recently wrote a follow-up to this bestseller in which he describes the call for ‘authenticity’ as today’s most important consumer trend. When life itself becomes a series of marketing-driven, company-designed ‘experiences’ consumers will naturally ask themselves what is real.

Hagen believes the need for authenticity ties in with the quest for identity. The anonymous housing developments of the 1970s and 1980s are gone forever, he says. ‘The search for belonging and identity will lead to living environments with an explicit, outspoken identity.’

STEREOTYPES In the ‘psychographic’ terminology of SmartAgent, these environments can be red, green, yellow or blue – or anything in between.

Hagen: ‘Our classification of consumer lifestyles is not absolute.

Many combinations and crossovers are possible.’ Some of these combinations are of particular interest to real estate developers.

‘Purple’ areas, where freedom-loving, creative ‘reds’ meet the ambitious, successful ‘blues’, can be economic and creative powerhouses that attract investments and boost their surroundings. Hagen: ‘For consumers in the purple group location is terribly important. They want to be close to cultural amenities and services. They often have an interest in design, which should be reflected in the level of specification of the houses or apartments. Consumers in the green and yellow group, on the other hand, focus on social ties instead of freedom and individualism. For them an occasional chat with a neighbour is an essential ritual.’

All this consumer information can be put to use by architects, developers and urban planners when creating a living environment. But Hagen again warns that care must be taken not to create stereotypes. While motivational profiles are fairly stable over time, consumer behaviour and attributes change constantly. Loft living started with squatters with a ‘red’ profile, now it has moved into the ‘blue’ world: ‘Loft buyers bring their own interior designer with them. The only way to find out what the different consumer segments want is by asking them, over and over again.’ <<<

FOR THE RESIDENTS: NEW YORK BERNADETTE QUIGLEY, GARDENER:

‘New Yorkers like to impress their neighbours with garden parties’

BY M ARS VAN G RUNSVEN, P HO TO GRAPHY: L AJOS G EENEN

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Nobody is better qualified to talk about living in big cities than those who look after the communal urban spaces.

IT HAD JUST STARTED RAINING SOFTLY, SO THINGS COULDN’T BE MORE perfect this afternoon for Bernadette Quigley, an avid city gardener and landscape artist in New York. Bernadette was planting moss in a tiny shade garden in Manhattan, and moss loves it when it gets damp. ‘I like moss because it’s so tranquil and relaxing. You can step on it, which is convenient in small spaces, and it doesn’t need sun – very helpful amidst all these tall buildings. Another cool thing about moss is that it likes bad soil. Perfect for New York City.’

Not that she needs to talk her clients into moss, though. ‘Ever since The New York Times wrote that moss is the way to go, people are like ‘‘Yes, do the moss!”’ So much for those famously individualistic New Yorkers. ‘I have noticed that many people base their choices on what they think other people will like. They like to impress their neighbours and friends with fabulous parties in their gardens.’

Luckily that’s not the majority of Bernadette’s clients. ‘I work with residents from all walks of life. Some of them simply follow my suggestions, others are very knowledgeable and know exactly what they want. I like both types of clients, but I don’t do well with people who treat me like a servant.’

In many big cities, gardens are often public places where the pace of urban life slows down.

‘New York too has many shared or community gardens, but the people who run them are usually gardeners themselves. Most of my clients are home owners.’ Like most New Yorkers, Bernadette doesn’t have her own garden. ‘I have window boxes filled with plants and flowers in our Manhattan apartment. And I live vicariously through my clients’ gardens.’ <<<

Steven Holl Architects received eight awards for the extension and renovation of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, USA.

THE ARCHITECT In his work Steven Holl combines the uniqueness of every place and situation, his guiding principle is the genius loci, the spirit of the place. ‘I want to embed my architecture in the landscape.’

ST EV EN HO LL

B Y JAAP H U I SM A N PHOT OG RAPHY: MARK HEI T HOF F, A N D Y RYA N , BILL TIMME RMAN, PAUL WARCHOL , ST EVEN HOL L A R CH I T E CT S

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Visionary

Rather than one massive building, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art extension is composed of five interconnected structures.

and experimenter

‘IDEAS, NOT FORMS OR STYLES, WILL BE THE MOST promising legacies of 20th-century architects,’ according to a forecast made in the early 1990s by the US architect Steven Holl (1947).

But can you actually live in an idea? The architect proved that was possible with the Stretto House in Dallas, Texas (1989-1992), which consists of a series of small pavilions joined by arched canopies, all based on a highly abstract principle. Holl claims that he saw a parallel between that house and Bartok’s Music for Strings Percussion and Celesta, and that the canopies, or arched roofs, are comparable with the overlapping stretto in the music, which he translated into a design.

Holl’s career really began to take off with the Stretto House, which is actually a group of houses with bright white walls and roofs.

Before that he had entered competitions and immersed himself in architectural theory. In 1989 he published Anchoring, a manifesto in which he argued the case for the uniqueness of every place, situation and design. ‘Rather than impose itself on a landscape, architecture should attempt to elucidate it. It is a metaphysical connection.’

In his view, as soon as a building is there – whether it’s a museum or a house – it helps the onlooker to read the landscape.

OUTSIDER An outsider among American architects and difficult to place in a particular movement, Holl’s largest commissions, like the housing block Void Space/Hinged Space in Fukuoka, Japan, and Helsinki’s Kiasma Museum for Modern Art (1998), initially came from abroad. That museum is a convincing example of how Holl exploits the landscape. Kiasma is on a slope between Helsinki’s city centre and the much lower Lake Toolon – Holl suggested bridging that hilly site with a stepped pond and stream flowing to the museum.

Although the pond was never included, Kiasma is a great success.

In 1998 Holl won the prestigious Alvar Aalto Medal, and in 2001 he featured in Time Magazine as ‘America’s Best Architect’. He is in great demand for museum buildings because of his prowess as a creator of spaces, particularly spatial connections.

In that sense he is a follower of Le Corbusier, for whom architecture was a walk that gives the user a constantly changing sensory experience.

And just like Le Corbusier he uses light as a material for that purpose.

Holl slices corners off cubic volumes, puts windows in strategic positions or tears façades wide open: possibly the most eye-catching building being Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which opened in the summer of 2007. Here, Holl mixes warm light from the south with cool northern light, using an ingenious construction of glass lenses which he calls ‘Fluttering Ts.’

‘Architecture today can inspire and shape new feelings and meanings’

Thanks to the abundant wind, air and light the Turbulence House (top) and Planar House are places made for reflection.

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RESIDENTIAL TOWERS Holl’s guiding principle is the genius loci, the spirit of the place.

After inspecting the place, he starts painting watercolours. As he

The irregular shapes of the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland, create a dynamic backdrop for the art exhibitions.The museum also includes a theatre, café, shop and artists’ workshop.

once wrote, ‘I want to embed my architecture in the landscape.’

In 2007 he published House: Black Swan Theory, a book about 15 houses that cannot be compared because each one is attuned to a particular place. They are all private villas, such as the Sun Slice House on Lake Garda designed for a lighting company owner. Holl refers to his client’s artificial lighting business by bringing slices of sunlight throughout the day into a house consisting of three simple cubic volumes. The rectangular slices and panoramic window in the Corten steel walls allow the changing seasons to be experienced as intensely inside the building as outside. The Sun Slice House is in fact a sequel to the Amsterdam office building of Het Oosten housing association, where the windows are square or oblong portholes whose coloured interior recesses bring a constant play of coloured light into the building. The same thing happens in Garda. There the light has free play thanks to the windows, one of them a northfacing glass wall overlooking the lake.

There could be no greater contrast than that between the diminutive, yet so distinctive Garda villa and one of the most futuristic buildings currently under construction in Beijing: the Linked

Hybrid project consisting of eight 22-storey asymmetrical residential towers joined by sky bridges. When completed it will look like something straight out of the Fritz Lang film Metropolis.

ECOLOGICAL MOTIVE The contrast between the past and the present city could not be more striking either. Beijing was for decades a city of low buildings because the inhabitants were not permitted to see over the Forbidden City’s 12 metre-high walls. So there were no high buildings around the Forbidden City until the mid-1930s. Things only started to change when the communist party took office and there has been no holding back since then. Holl: ‘China has a population of 1.3 billion as opposed to about 280 million in America. Just imagine!

First they were not allowed to do anything at all, now they demand cars and apartments.’

In Holl’s experience the sky is the limit in China. ‘The construction companies want insulated 30-storey towers with as many apartments as possible – the type with marble floors and brass door latches. Our design for the Linked Hybrid goes against that. We

came up with a huge pond containing two floating cinemas with roof gardens. A later addition to the programme is a round hotel, and we have connected all the towers with enclosed zig-zag bridges with public facilities. One bridge contains a swimming pool, there are cafés, and at ground level there is a kindergarten and a Montessori School. In China the rapid construction schedules currently provide the time-force needed to drive progressive master plans.

Larger urban projects of multiple buildings provide architecture with a renewed transforming potential. Architecture today may not only effect the way we will live – it can inspire and shape new feelings and meanings.’

The architect believes in on-the-spot basic facilities, so that nobody needs to leave the complex for the necessities, certainly not by car. Though there is room for bicycles, it is primarily a pedestrian-orientated community.

That is attributable to the ecological motive of Holl, who in 1970 joined the founders of the Environmental Works at the University of Washington. Sustainability is a fixed component of his housing designs. Beijing’s two million square-metre Linked Hybrid complex has one of the world’s largest geothermal heating and cooling systems for housebuilding. In addition, there are sedum roofs and a separate grey water recycling system that reaches all 790 apartments – the water flows back into the pond and waters the lawns as well.

Holl puts windows in strategic positions or tears façades wide open

Linked Hybrid in Beijing, China, is a three-dimensional urban space, fusing buildings on, under and over the ground. The many multifunctional layers and passages create an ‘open city within a city’.

H O L L’ S H O U S I N G 1988 Berkowitz/Odgis House, Martha’s Vineyard, MA USA 1988 Seaside House, Florida USA 1991 Void Space/Hinged Space, Fukuoka Japan 1992 Stretto House, Texas USA 1996 Makuhari Bay New Town, Chiba Japan 1999 Y House, Catskills NY USA 2002 Simmons Hall, Cambridge, MA USA 2004 Writing with Light House, NY USA 2005 Turbulence House, New Mexico USA 2005 Planar House, Arizona USA 2006 New Residence at the Swiss Embassy, Washington D.C. USA UNDER CONSTRUCTION: 2008 Linked Hybrid, Beijing China 2009 Sun Slice House, Lake Garda Italy 2009 Vanke Center, Shenzhen China 2009 Beirut Marina, Beirut Libanon 2010 Sliced Porosity Block, Chengdu China

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UNLIMITED FREEDOM The primary reason for Steven Holl to work in China is because he can experiment and try out new proportions which today’s Europe and America cannot accommodate. Freedom. The unlimited freedom is what makes China so attractive to Holl – and to other architects. Here the urban planning of the 21st century gets a new dimension and Holl, for example, can apply his knowledge of new energy systems and his ideas about public space in megaprojects in cities like Chengdu and Shenzhen.

Holl also has a penchant for brass, bronze and Corten steel, which he uses to clad his buildings, including the villa in Garda.

What is so special about those materials is that they age well, that they take on the colours of their surroundings and acquire an almost picturesque appearance thanks to oxidation. He looks appreciatively, then, at the walls of the School of Art & Art History at the University of Iowa, which are composed of an alloy of metals comparable with Corten. Now known in Iowa as rusty graffiti, the text the students scratch on the walls with their fingernails gets washed away again by the rain. Thus the building’s patina is due not only to the climate but to human interventions as well.

Holl says he is seeking ‘the elusive essence of architecture’, architecture that is somehow intangible. Judging by his oeuvre, one can only subscribe to his search. Elusive, attuned to their location and therefore in each case unique, those are the things that make Holl’s buildings so memorable. <<<

FOR THE RESIDENTS: MADRID VICENTE TORRES, PORTER:

‘The residents are almost like family to us’

B Y NACHO HERAS, P H O TO GR AP HY: ENRI QUE DE L A B ARRERA

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Nobody is better qualified to talk about living in big cities than those who look after the communal urban spaces.

VICENTE TORRES’ 11-HOUR SHIFT STARTS AT EIGHT IN THE MORNING IN A stately residential build-ing full of marble and mirrors with carpeted halls, in one of Madrid’s most exclusive shopping areas. ‘I live in the same building as I work in. When I open my front door and see the main entrance, I am looking at my office, my workplace. It is a special profession, because you never lose touch with your responsibilities, it is more a way of life than a job.’

‘Each day I greet 50 or 60 people. There is a constant flow of people entering and leaving the building, which means I have conversations with all kinds of people, from business men in suits to members of the jet set, yuppies, journalists or messengers in a hurry. The residents are like my family.

When they meet by chance in the hall of the building, it looks more like a living room during lunch than a place of transit that should be calm.’

‘In addition to cleaning and maintenance, it is my job to keep an eye on the premises and check who enters the building. With so much coming and going, I have to make sure that nothing disturbs the peace and order.’

‘Unfortunately, there are more and more entry phone systems each day and in luxury residential developments they have security guards. But neither technology nor security guards will ever be able to play our social role. I’m 51 and have been living and working here for 22 years. No security guard who works eight hours a day and then goes back home for dinner will ever mean the same to a building as porters like me, who have dedicated our lives to the residents who are almost like family to us. People don’t know what they will be missing.’ <<<

THE USER

Located 19 kilometres from Madrid, Torrejón de Ardoz has been a dormant city for decades. Due to the shortage of jobs and the lack of land suitable for industry its inhabitants have had to look further afield for employment. The election of mayor D. Pedro Rollán Ojeda was a catalyst for change.

New horizons for B Y N A CH O H E R A S, PHOT OG RAPH Y: E N R I QU E D E L A B A R R E R A

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MAYOR D. PEDRO ROLLÁN OJEDA HAS HAD A KEY role in formulating the new scenario for Torrejón. ‘Our neighbours have said that they don’t wish to live in a dormant city. What they are looking for and need is the power to develop in the environment they have chosen to live in. The development of large commercial areas will broaden Torrejón’s horizons and make it a more attractive place to live because the new local jobs will also be more diversified.’

‘Torrejón will be a more attractive place to live’

Torrejón It has taken almost a decade to acquire the necessary permits to develop the disadvantaged sector of Casablanca. Rollán Ojeda was elected mayor of Torrejón in mid-2007 and his party has also helped to speed things up.

BACK ON TRACK ‘The initial decentralisation phase involved transferring power and resources from ministries to regional communities. Now

we’re waiting for the second decentralisation phase, from regional governments to municipalities. There is no doubt that as municipalities we are the administration closest to the people, which is why they come to us first. The coming independence will enable us to provide them with guarantees,’ explains the mayor. In Spain mayors are highly popular public figures. Recognised on the street, they are under constant scrutiny in their city or municipality. With its 120,000 inhabitants, Torrejón de Ardoz, eagerly awaits the comple-

tion – expected to take 18 months – of the new industrial complex and logistics park located in the Casablanca industrial estate.

It has taken almost a decade to get the necessary go-aheads. ‘Urban developments in Spain are regulated by the Master Plan, which designates land use, and the Land Law. During the last 12 months many meetings took place with major stakeholder ING Real Estate Development. They got the anticipated administrative procedures back on track and reopened permits that had been shelved for as long as four years,’ says Rollán Ojeda.

PLEASANT Designed with current environmental issues in mind, the new logistics park will enable companies that settle there to use renewable non-polluting energy.

Furthermore, its 200,000 square metres of green areas, services and recreational areas are expected to be an additional attraction for businesses. ‘Obviously we need to escape from the 1980s classical model of indus-trial estates based on bricks and concrete. It’s awful to work in an environment devoid of plants, trees or meadows. We need to take account of the fact that we spend a large part of our lives at work, so it’s only logical that those environments should be as pleasant as possible. The creation of green areas promotes wellbeing,’ he confirms.

‘The Casablanca complex will be a positive model that should be emulated throughout Madrid. It will be a benchmark for future small and medium-sized industrial developments. Our goal is to be a centre for important multinationals,’ concludes Rollán Ojeda.

‘The people come to us first’

FACTS AND FIGURES Project: SUNP-T2 sector, Casablanca industrial estate SUNP-T2 = Development Assembly of Owners and ING RED as major stakeholder Surface area: 1.5 million square metres (150 football pitches) Green areas: 200,000 square metres Investment: € 30.5 million in infrastructure projects and € 1 billion in private initiatives Run time: 18 months Jobs: at least 3,500

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THOUSANDS OF JOBS Rollán Ojeda acknowledges that the Spanish economy, like other major European economies, is currently experiencing a downturn in investment. ‘We appreciate the fact that ING Real Estate Development chose to invest in Torrejón, because it’s investing in people.

By developing industrial zones capable of generating thousands of jobs it is creating added value for the city’s inhabitants.’ According to Rollán Ojeda it is too soon to give a concrete figure for the number of new jobs. ‘That will depend on what kind of businesses eventually come to the industrial park, but we are talking about 3,500 jobs minimum.’

The new logistics park will therefore enable Torrejón’s inhabitants to play their part in helping the capital to emerge from its dormant state. Its strategic location – five minutes from Madrid Barajas International Airport and ten minutes from the capital – and its expansion possibilities were taken into consideration when promoting the new development. ‘Torrejón has become the axis of Madrid’s eastern sector, an area that will certainly be the region’s economic driver for decades to come.’ <<<

Madrid, Spain SIMA FAIR SIMA is the largest real estate fair in Spain when it comes to new and existing homes, holiday homes, commercial real estate and mortgages. It is the meeting place for consumers, real estate professionals and investors.

items

The Salón Inmobiliario de Madrid (SIMA) is also one of the world’s most important showcases for real estate. More than 600 companies, nearly 200 of which were from abroad, displayed their products at SIMA08.

The event offered more than 159,000 different proposals to acquire a house, whether for a permanent residence, a holiday home or an investment. This increase is largely due to foreign residential demand – especially from Latin American countries and Eastern Europe – , which has grown by 8 per cent with respect to last year. SIMA08 also offered 640 commercial and logistics developments (more than 113.6 million m²).

The 2008 event was the tenth anniversary of the trade fair, which ING Real Estate Development attended for the first time with a stand displaying its major development projects in Spain.

This year’s fair was marked by the current uncertainty in the sector characterised by a drop in residential real estate sales. Ángel Rodríguez Campos, country manager of ING RED in Spain, explains: ‘It is precisely now, with so much talk about reaching the end of a cycle in the Spanish market, that it is necessary to show our leadership and bank on the market.’ Eloy Bohúa, director of SIMA from the first, adds: ‘It is in periods of uncertainty that companies reaffirm their confidence in those tools that have proved effective in the past and therefore know exactly how to handle their image, brand and positioning needs. This is the key to SIMA’s success.’

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Nieuwegein, the Netherlands ‘QUALITY BOOST FOR THE CITY CENTRE’ The centre of Nieuwegein is being completely renovated. The project, realised by ING Real Estate and Multi Vastgoed, comprises a doubling of the number of shops and catering establishments, plus about 250 homes, 1,500 extra parking places and the new City Hall housing a number of amenities. The new Stadskwartier will give Nieuwegein a fully-fledged and lively city centre.

The first phase, due for completion in 2011, will feature a splendid building designed by Pi de Bruijn, with 17,500 m² of retail space where many renowned players will set up shop. About 180 owner-occupied and rented apartments will be located in elegant residential towers above the shops. De Bruijn: ‘The buildings are highly varied, as if they were the work of six different architects. The shop fronts are different heights as are the six residential towers, half of which have about 12 floors and half four floors.’ Gardens for the occupants have been laid out on the shop roofs and there is an underground car park.

The second phase, expected to start in 2011, will see the realisation of about 15,000 m² of retail space in a new arcade and on the new marketplace. About 75 homes are to be built above the shops. So even when the shops are closed at night, the centre remains lively. Liesbeth van der Pol of DOK Architects: ‘The arcade will be an intimate and pleasant shopping street with apartments above it, their playfully staggered balconies always catching the sun. The other side of the marketplace with the new City Hall has a robust urban design with large lower fronts.

If you walk through towards the marketplace you notice that the atmosphere here is more intimate and the scale smaller; with the restaurants and terraces the accent is on sociability and getting together.’ With Stadskwartier, the city centre of Nieuwegein will again meet the inhabitants’ recreational requirements and wishes.

The completion of phase two is set for 2013.

Suburban

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bliss with bytes THE VIRTUAL WORLD BECOMES A REALITY Thanks to new technologies the home is evolving from an oasis of peace and privacy into a dynamic abode, where all things are possible and accessible at all times and in every place. Future living: from ambient intelligence to nanotechnology.

B Y ROL F DE B OER, PHOT OG RAPHY: CORB I S

IN THE WEST, OUR HOMES AND lifestyles are becoming ever more closely interwoven with the development of new technology. Introduced several decades ago, the phenomenon was termed ‘domotics’, from domus (house) and electronics. Domotics embraces all devices and infrastructures in and around the house that use electrical information to measure, programme and operate functions. But the fact that a light goes on when you come in or that you can turn up the central heating from your car has in 2008 lost its appeal.

Domotics will eventually be regarded as the prehistoric era of the smart house.

WIRELESS The successor to domotics is ambient intelligence, a virtual environment that is sensitive to people and responds to them as well. An envelope of screens, flat or convex, with human beings as the mouse.

That is the result of communications technology that is getting steadily smaller and more powerful, whereby mostly wireless interconnected devices ‘disappear’ into the background of our environment. Thanks to LCD and plasma screens, televisions are as flat as a painting and wireless technology enables related devices like DVD players to be neatly stowed in a cupboard. (The DVD player is already on the way out, making way for small boxes with hard disks like

those in the computer, or files stored online.) The ultimate in ambient intelligence is a totally wireless environment where there is no need for users to go to the information because that information is accessible wherever the user happens to be.

Hardware manufacturers, telecommunications companies and network companies are collaborating on a technology capable of wireless communication with all existing wireless technologies, such as WiFi, UMTS, HSDPA or WiMAX.

WALL Even wireless power supply is waiting in the wings. The US company Powercast is working on wireless electricity transportation. The first devices, say the Powercast researchers, are chargers for toys, computer accessories, digital cameras and pacemakers. Together with Philips, Powercast has marketed an artificial Christmas tree with wireless lights. ‘The technology will pervade our living environment without our noticing it,’ says the futurologist Marcel Bullinga. ‘It is not a virtual world on the internet, but a virtual world that is embedded in the real world without you being aware of it.’ The computer and the TV merge into huge screens on, or within which that world exists – as a wall-to-wall screen, or simply in a table with the tabletop as touch screen that serves as web browser, video player

In the future every home will have a robot like Wakamaru.

and musical instrument. Want to paint a wall? Just change your screensaver to another colour.

You no longer need a study, a cupboard for your papers or a place to work from home. In a wireless world every place is suitable for working, having fun, networking, telephoning, reading.

Bullinga predicts that in the near future nobody will notice the ubiquitous technology – and that nobody will be able to escape that technology, because it will be woven into every aspect of society.

ROBOTS Robots will be the big thing in the home.

The Czech word robota means the compulsory, unpaid work by a serf for his master. The South-Korean company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has developed the super robot Wakamaru. A yellow talking robot, Wakamaru recognises 10,000 words and ten faces – and can use camera surveillance to monitor the house.

The biggest investor in robotics after the Japanese and the Americans, the South Koreans believe that by 2020 every home will have its robot.

Experts in that domain predict that robots will in the near future be just as intelligent as human beings.

For that reason, South-Korean futurologists and science fiction writers have already started to draw up a code of ethics for the contact between humans and robot: a robot may not injure a human, he must carry out the human’s orders and he must protect himself as long as that does not conflict with the first two rules. The English government conducted a survey, the Horizon Scan, with 250 pressing questions about the future, including whether robots should get the vote or pay taxes. The report does not so much give the answers as re-

Atoms and molecules get personal design instructions for building a table, couch or light

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flect the developments. Aaron Edsinger of America’s research institute Massachussetts Institute of Technology in Harvard expects that it will go the same way with rights for robots as for animals. ‘We protect some animals in every possible way. We leave others to fend for themselves.’

SELF-GROWING FURNITURE For the American futurologist and robot designer Rodney Brooks, the artificial intelligence guru, Wakamaru is the equivalent of Neanderthal man. Working in the same laboratory as Edsinger, Brooks builds biological robots capable of learning, responding and expressing emotions that come a close second to real people, though Brooks himself does not see them taking over from people. Not exactly reassuring: Brooks says the reason we stay one step ahead of robots is because, with all our implantations, we have become a bit robotic ourselves.

The following step is nanotechnology. A nano is a millionth of a millimetre and the technology consists of tinkering with molecules and atoms that can organise, control and repair themselves. Designers put atoms and molecules to work and that should result in new materials and structures. Brooks foresees, with nanotechnology somewhere in the future, self-growing furniture being created from the combination of nanotechnology and biotechnology.

Atoms and molecules get personal design instructions for building a table, couch or light. So an easy chair is one that takes a long time to grow. ‘Self-growing furniture is the most science fiction-like part of nanotechnology,’ says Marcel Bullinga. ‘But if Brooks says that, it’s not rubbish, though he does project it far into the future.’

Nanotechnology has already produced self-cleansing materials and Bullinga believes it will not be long before we see self-repairing materials as well as furniture.

And three-dimensional printing is a reality.

‘There are printers that can already print three-dimensional objects. At present that’s only possible in plaster, but the following step is that you can print out an appliance with a printer that can be bought anywhere.’ <<<

FOR THE RESIDENTS: SHANGHAI EMILY WU RONG, MANAGER CHILD DAY-CARE CENTRE:

‘The day care adds an extra bond to this strong community’

B Y REMK O TANI S, P HO TO GRAPHY: PAT RI CK WACK / DE B EEL DREDAK T I E

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Nobody is better qualified to talk about living in big cities than those who look after the communal urban spaces.

VILLA COMPOUND CONTEMPORARY SPIRIT IN SHANGHAI COULD HAVE MADE a lot of money renting out every one of its villas to expat families. Instead, the management decided to dedicate one of the homes to child day care, choosing a safe and reliable service to its residents instead of the extra money. Emily Wu Rong (38) manages the day-care centre. ‘Most children come here two or three times a week. They’re all aged three years or younger.’ On Saturday mornings it’s busier with older kids as well. A lot of mothers in the compound use that time to go out and do the family shopping. ‘Here, we give the little ones a safe environment to play in. Each morning we also have 30-minute classes in singing, dancing, drawing and crafts. Even though 90 per cent of our 180 families are from abroad, we speak Mandarin to the children to extend their exposure to a different culture. The parents like their children to learn that language as well.’

Most other residential compounds in Shanghai prefer to have an outside company run a kindergarten on their property. ‘A year ago, we decided differently. We want to ensure our children’s privacy. With an external kindergarten you make more money, but it also means children from outside come here. That brings a lot of traffic twice a day and you have strangers from outside entering the compound. We decided to offer up one of the villas and create a day-care centre for residents’ children only. That way parents know their child is safe. The management’s main goal is to provide all residents with a safe compound that offers all services exclusively for them. The day care adds an extra bond to this strong community. Our residents form one big family. We not only take care of the kids, but whenever parents have inquiries about the children’s health and behaviour we share our experience with them. If there are problems, we can find a solution together with the parents. Offering this service has enabled parents here, especially the mothers, to really lead their own lives and go out when they want to. They know that with us, their children are safe and always close to home.’ <<<

Living in the New Europe The largest single enlargement of the European Union took place on 1 May, 2004. Most of its new members, including the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, were located in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE). Statement reviews the region’s residential markets.

UPCOMING RESIDENTIAL MARKETS

Simplon Udvar, Budapest.

B Y G ARY RUDL AND, P H O TO GR APHY: I NG REAL ESTAT E DEVEL OPMENT

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‘ALTHOUGH THE RESIDENTIAL market in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) varies from one country to the next, they also have a lot in common,’ says Tim Hulzebos, development director for ING Real Estate in Hungary. ‘They have a lot of catching up to do, in general, with Western European markets and a large proportion of the existing housing stock is located in satellite housing developments on urban peripheries.’

‘Most of the big cities in CEE are growing and, just as in the rest of Europe, there is a trend towards urbanisation. The populations of cities like Prague, Warsaw, Bucharest, Zagreb and Bratislava are all growing, and real estate developers are busy trying to accommodate this influx.

ING Real Estate Development aims to be among the leading residential developers in CEE. Ultimately, the residential market is the largest of the real estate markets compared to the industrial, office and retail markets. If you want to be seen as a longterm player you have to be involved in the residential market.’

Hungary

SURPRISINGLY, EVEN DURING THE SOCIALIST ERA, around 40-50 per cent of Hungarian residences were privately owned. ‘The government of the time auctioned or sold properties to raise capital,’ explains Pal Baross, country manager at ING Real Estate Hungary. ‘Today, almost 95 per cent of Hungary’s housing stock is owner-occupied.’

‘As in most former Eastern Bloc countries, 30-40 per cent of our housing stock consists of low-cost housing estates of 5060 m² units located on the outskirts of cities. They have good public transport connections and are relatively cheap so they are suitable for first-time buyers. As far as the inner-city housing stock is concerned, and this also applies to most CEE countries, we have a reasonable amount of interesting, classical, residential buildings in good locations.’

‘Professional housing developers first entered the Hungarian market in 1997, building small developments of 20 to 30 units due to lack of capital and the uncertainty of the market. The real breakthrough came in 2000, when international developers started to develop 200 to 300-unit projects, some including additional elements, such as playgrounds, underground parking and other facilities.

Ever since 2005, the Hungarian residential market has been comparable to those of Western European markets, although economic conditions have since led to a downturn in the market.’

‘The affordable houses on the outskirts of cities are generally poorly insulated and consume a lot of energy. There is, therefore, a growing pool of people willing to move up the property ladder into more economical, environmentally-friendly properties in more central locations.’

‘ING Real Estate is currently taking a very cautious approach towards the Hungarian residential market,’ Baross concludes. ‘Housing does not form a large percentage of our portfolio and we are concentrating more on offices and retail developments.

We have started to focus on mixed-use developments, however, which combine residential, office and retail elements with recreational facilities in good locations.’

‘There is a growing pool of people willing to move up the property ladder into more economical, environmentally-friendly properties in central locations’

UNDER CONSTRUCTION Simplon Udvar is part of a larger mixed-use development, including a large retail element, in Budapest’s 11th District, which is scheduled for completion by autumn 2009. It consists of two buildings that are stylistically different but form a single unit. With shops at ground level, floors 1 to 6 will comprise 85 modern, high-quality apartments of 35-130 m², with unique penthouse apartments on the top level.

A three-tier underground garage will be established specifically for the apartments, with a separate residents’ entrance from the commercial centre.

Poland

‘In 2007, 134,000 new flats were built and the estimated number of flats which will be delivered in 2008 is 180,000’

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

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WITH A POPULATION OF 38.1 MILLION, POLAND IS THE largest investment market in Central Europe (GDP $ 400 billion).

‘The Polish residential market underwent a number of changes in 2007 due to developments in the domestic and global housing markets,’ says Miroslaw Bednarek, country manager at Development in Poland. ‘Having experienced a property boom for over three years, the residential market is now stabilising. But there is still plenty of growth potential in our regional cities with 100,000-400,000 inhabitants.’

The majority of Poles own their own homes and only a small percentage of people rent: usually students, young people leaving home, young couples and people moving around for their jobs. Rental prices are comparable to monthly mortgage repayments and many young people are therefore opting for long-term investment. ‘In 2007, 134,000 new housing units were built and the estimated number that will be delivered in 2008 is 180,000. Despite this large and growing supply, the shortfall of dwellings in Poland has been estimated at some 1.5 million units,’ Bednarek reveals.

‘Although ING Real Estate Development Poland closely monitors current market conditions, we tend to act according to our long-term plans, which are based on research and prognoses for at least the coming five years,’ he emphasises. ‘We offer a top quality product – in terms of materials, architectural details, client-friendly solutions and functionality – which is not sensitive to minor market fluctuations.’

‘For example, when we developed an up-market detached housing estate near Krakow in 2003, we were the first in the area to undertake a project of this scale, architecture, technical solutions and sustainable solutions (reduced energy consumption, natural materials, internal filtering and heating of air), in an immature market with no stable demand. This decision was more than justified over the coming years.’

Aquarella, a three-storey luxury apartment building with Mediterranean influences, is being constructed at the Konstancin health resort near Warsaw.

With stone cladding and plenty of glass and wood, Aquarella will comprise 42 apartments and underground parking. The building will be U-shaped to enclose an internal courtyard, which will become a garden and children’s playground, with a swimming pool at its centre. The apartments on the ground floor will have private gardens and the project is due for completion in 2010.

Czech Republic

‘THE RESIDENTIAL MARKET IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC is booming and property prices in Prague grew by some 16 per cent during 2007,’ says Jan Lukas, senior residential developer at ING Real Estate in the Czech Republic. ‘This is impressive enough, but in some regions, such as Ostrava, they rose by 50 per cent year-on-year.’

‘The main reasons for this are favourable mortgage conditions, together with increasing market confidence, the deregulation process for rents and a general lack of supply.

About a third of the country’s 3.7 million residential properties are situated in prefabricated buildings from the communist era (so-called panelaks). Demand for new apartments is very much price-driven and the focus is on smaller units of 50-60 m².

However, we are experiencing a gradual shift in preference towards larger apartments.’

According to research carried out in Prague, 82 per cent of people intending to move would prefer to buy, rather than rent.

Some 46 per cent of the total residential stock is already privately owned and 86 per cent of these are family homes. The remainder is predominantly owned and let by municipalities or housing cooperatives. Most new development projects are sold to private owners, which means that the percentage of privately owned homes is continuously growing, along with the middle segment of home owners.

In 2007, 42,000 new residences were completed in the Czech Republic (9,500 in Prague). ‘This number represents a 38 per cent increase in volume year-on-year, and is the highest number since 1991,’ says Lukas. ‘Projects realised by developers account for 6070 per cent of this volume. However, in order to satisfy demand, some 55,000 new dwellings are needed each year till 2012.’

‘In the past, ING Real Estate was perceived as a developer of luxury projects, which were out of reach to the typical Czech buyer. Over the past five years, however, we have increasingly profiled ourselves as a developer for the middle-income market, offering projects in established and traditional locations at affordable prices.’

‘The percentage of privately owned homes is continuously growing, along with the middle segment of home owners’

UNDER CONSTRUCTION A good example is the 651-apartment U Zameckeho Parku project, which is spread over nine buildings and was completed in 2007. Another good example is the A7 Holesovice Brewery project consisting of 155 apartments and lofts. Scheduled for completion in 2008, this involves the refurbishment of existing industrial buildings and the construction of new office and residential buildings on the site of a former brewery.

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;You could talk about aesthetics or beauty, but emotions, senses and human behaviour are rarely in evidence in planning committeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

‘Living together is the 21st century’s challenge of challenges’ C HARLES LAND RY, AU T HO R O F T HE A RT O F CIT Y M A KI N G In urban planning there is too much emphasis on technology and too little on what really matters: the human being, says the renowned consultant Charles Landry.

INTERVIEW

B Y G ARY RUDL AND, P HO TO GR AP H Y: CHRI S G L OAG /DE B EEL DREDAK T I E

CITY LIFE IS LANDRY’S CORE BUSIness. Oddly enough, he himself lives in the middle of nowhere in the green county of Gloucestershire. ‘For 250 days of the year I travel to or stay in cities. At home I want peace and quiet, so that I can get on with my work. In the city the public sphere is much more demanding. There I reduce my identity. Not that I’m humble, but in the city you live together. That’s an agreement we make: I restrict my freedom voluntarily for the greater good of living together in the city.’

Landry makes the point again: the function of the city has altered dramatically in recent decades. Now it is the living conditions, not the commercial activities, industry or official organisations, that define a city’s character: ‘The local culture defines the distinctiveness of the place.

On top of basic standard things like public transport and facilities, it’s the atmosphere that counts. That’s what puzzles decisionmakers in newer cities and urban regeneration: it’s very difficult to create atmosphere.

It takes a very long time to get that texture, that “lived in” feeling.’

CONVIVIALITY That is an even bigger problem because, with decision-makers, ‘thinking from the urban planning and infrastructure perspective’ has become firmly entrenched.

‘Shakespeare said: “What is a city without its people?” That might sound like a cliché, but it’s true. The key is: you have to look at the physical infrastructure in terms of how it enables people to connect. The hardware has to serve the software. City-makers have to think about and invest in conviviality.

Living together is the 21st-century challenge of challenges. Cities hardly invest in bringing different types of people together.

If you calculate the costs of roads being built in cities, I bet one kilometre of road would pay for 50 projects for people to get on better together in one way or another or understand each other better.’

Landry sees city-making as an art precisely because it should be less about the built environment and more about facilitating interpersonal contact. ‘City-making is an art because it’s about judgement and attitudes and not about predictability. I don’t think it’s a scientific process, although I do believe there are scientific elements in it. But the science which is not looked at is how the physical city impacts psychologically and emotionally upon people. In a way, we are all urban designers. We all understand when a building or street feels negative, is overwhelming, feels comforting, makes you want to be there. Things which have to do with atmosphere, really, people understand instinctively. Many things are common sense, but unfortunately – and this

is very important to me – in this world a lot of things are technically defined, because people don’t want to make judgements.

Authorities are worried about bringing emotions in. Within that process of making everything technical and, as a result, of looking at things as problems, we began to fragment these things away from each other.’

Landry illustrates his point: a busy London street was closed off with barriers to prevent pedestrians from crossing over.

Motorists took it to mean they were free to drive fast there, while pedestrians just climbed over the barriers. Removal of the barriers led to a sharp drop in the number of accidents and the problem was solved.

Landry: ‘Some disciplines have evaded the realm of common sense. You could talk about aesthetics or beauty, but emotions, senses and human behaviour are rarely in evidence in planning committees.’

CHARLES LANDRY Founder and director of Comedia, a UK cultural planning consultancy.

Since its foundation in 1978, Landry has advised hundreds of public authorities and companies worldwide on urban planning and development. Landry regularly appears in print. Best-known books: The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators (2003), The Art of City Making (2006), and The Intercultural City (2007).

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CREATING CONNECTION In Landry’s view urban design and urban planning are, effectively, social sciences: ‘Of course planning still means land use and housing. But talking about the diversity of types of people, planners have to be good at mediating between people. That is the central role of planning: creating connection.

In “normal” planning, the road-people are on top and the people-people are at the bottom and always dealing with problems.

Let’s switch that around. We need a “new generalist”, a person who understands the essence of various disciplines, who can find the balance between the physical and the non-physical. A lot of people understand this instinctively, but planners first need to rethink their training.’

According to Landry, city-making is a universal activity, the same in Calcutta or Tokyo as in New York or Mexico: ‘How the individual and the group come together, is a central issue of every city. What you want is that people fall in love with the place they live in. But real estate is too often a driver.

It’s real-estate logic rather than a bigger picture within which real estate fits.’

BATTLE Landry sees that going wrong in Dubai, for example. Every developer follows their

own particular strategy, connection is virtually out of the question: ‘I was there to blend engineering, transport, social-economic development and culture into some sort of coherent story. Well, I was disappointed in the end. The vision I put together had a lot of aspiration which spoke to the mindset of the leaders. But all these bureaucrats below just wanted simplistic details about the widths of roads and buildings.’

How things can be done he experienced during a project in Penang (Malaysia).

The government asked Landry to help solve the deadlock in a gigantic regeneration project. Penang may get World Heritage status for its 3,000 historical buildings.

Many of those buildings are dilapidated because the owners are unwilling to invest in them. Landry was asked to come up with a holistic vision for the area. It was almost impossible for the people with whom he was involved to see beyond their own discipline. But his powers of persuasion did work here: ‘To trigger the imagination I tell the story of what a place could be. The simplistic way is to knock half of the buildings down and build a shopping mall. However, if you look at the city as a whole, as a combination of financial, economic, social, intellectual and heritage capital, you can immediately see there will be an increase in value if you combine this in a World Heritage site. By not accepting profit maximisation within one element, the total value of the whole city can be more. In the end it is sustainable, because you’re getting more commitment. The people of Penang understood that.’

Sooner or later everybody will realise that commitment and connectivity are therefore the crucial elements in urban planning, thinks Landry. Or rather, he hopes. ‘Well, I’m neither optimistic nor pessimistic.

There is a battle going on between the very big mega-development approach, which is at best comprehensive development, and the more fine-grained, organic, step-bystep, or merging-the-old-and-the-new approach. In Eastern Asia the mega-development approach is definitely winning. Even if they have an environmentally-friendly approach, politicians and developers want a result, something on the ground. That is my main worry.’ <<<

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;How the individual and the group come together is a central issue of every cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

A sense of

community Researchers and real estate experts are still undecided: are master-planned communities places where groups lock themselves away from the real world, or do they answer peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s need for a place where they can feel at home? One thing is certain: there are more and more of them. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The development industry now realises that communities are a viable option.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

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UPCOMING RESIDENTIAL MARKETS

COFFEE SHOP SHERLOCK’S SPONSORS A ‘TEEN MIC NITE’ WHERE LOCAL TEENS can come together to share their musical talent. Participants in the annual 4th of July Parade are invited to come to the Water Tower Place to decorate their bikes. New Resident ID-cards will be issued to owners and renters. ‘Monitors will not only ask to see your ID card at the pools, but also at basketball courts, tennis courts and parks. This card will also serve as your proof of residency for any resident-only events.’

This information comes from the monthly newsletter for the residents of Celebration, Florida. The 4,900 acres (20km²) of Celebration directly border Disney World. The area was developed by the real estate branch of The Walt Disney Company in the early 1990s and remains to this day one of the best-known examples of a ‘master-planned community’. Celebration’s 9,000 residents are only a 15-minute drive from Cinderella’s Castle, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, and Dumbo the Flying Elephant.

Celebration is ‘unincorporated’, that is, it does not have the legal status of a city, town or village. In 2004, the Disney Company ceded control of the area. It is now administered by its residents and by commercial landowners, who are organised in several owners’ associations that are represented in a governing body called the ‘Joint Committee’. Just like a local government in an incorporated area, the Joint Committee is responsible for public amenities and safety.

EMANCIPATION OF CONSUMERS In discussions about planned communities, Celebration is a recurring reference point. To some, it represents a nightmarish vision of a future in which the well-to-do retreat into ever more controlled, ever more privatised residential environments. To others, it is a prime example of the emancipation of consumers, and of the trend towards the development of communities that offer a sense of belonging absent from most suburbs and inner cities.

Pieter van Wesemael, professor of Architectural Design and Urban Cultures at Eindhoven University of Technology and partner at Dutch consultancy firm Inbo, belongs to the latter group.

‘The way in which American developers combine high-quality architecture, high-quality urban development, community building, lifestyle and sales within a commercial context is inspiring,’ he says. ‘Europeans tend to draw an unfair caricature of American area development, concentrated around moralistic misrepresentations of gated communities.’ Van Wesemael distinguishes between two traditions in community planning: ‘There is the European tradition, dating back to the 19th century and most strongly manifested in Scandinavia, of people with a shared ideology or profession who decide to live together. American communities are a more recent phenomenon. The motivation is usually not ideological, but pragmatic and financial. Since residents of a planned community are responsible for their own living environment, the value of the real estate is believed to be quite stable. In that regard, the growing popularity of planned communities can also be seen as a response to urban decay. People flock to communities to escape the downsides of the American Dream.’

‘People flock to communities to escape the downsides of the American Dream’

B Y ROB HART G ERS, P HO TO GRAPHY: DUANY PL AT ERZYBER K & C O , HOL L ANDSE HOOG T E

TIPPING POINT As a director of town planning with Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, Tom Low has been designing planned communities for the past 19 years. Duany PlaterZyberk is most famous for Seaside, an unincorporated master-planned community in Florida, often cited as the first of its kind and hailed by Time Magazine as ‘the most astounding design achievement of its era’. In the early days of his career, Low spent a lot of time defending himself against critics. ‘It was the first generation of planned communities,’ he says.

‘They still had to mature and we needed to get some of the bugs out. Five or six years ago there was a tipping point. People started to understand and appreciate how a community works. The development industry now realises that communities are a viable option.’ For Low, Seaside and other newly designed areas are only part of the spectrum of planned communities. One-third of the projects he was involved in were situated in existing neighbourhoods. ‘For a long time, urban expansion in the US meant pioneering into the greenfield,’ he says. ‘Recently, things started to change. We are returning to the ideal of the compact city and are trying to find out how we can

Kohl thinks the solution to our modern woes lies in the past. Together with Krier he promotes a return to traditional street plans and an emphasis on urban space. ‘Emotionally, we are not as far removed from the Middle Ages as we may think,’ he says.

Seaside, Florida.

improve the existing cities.’

CLEAR BOUNDARIES German-Italian architect Christian Kohl speaks with pride of Kirchsteigfeld, a residential development in the German city of Potsdam, southwest of Berlin. Together with Luxembourgian architect Rob Krier, Kohl designed a master plan for a multifunctional city district with 2,500 apartments, a central market square with office and retail space and a church. The project was completed in 1997.

‘It is the only district in Potsdam that is free of graffiti,’ boasts Kohl.

‘Which shows that the people of Kirchsteigfeld feel responsible for their living environment. This development was the first of its kind in Potsdam, which used to be part of East Germany. You have to understand that these people had just emerged from 30 years of communism. Almost two generations without any experience with ownership, yet they immediately, almost instinctively understood how the neighbourhood “works” and what it means to live in a community. To me, it proves that you can stimulate social cohesion through architectural design.’

Kohl is a firm believer in the continental tradition of tightlyknit, compact neighbourhoods. He gets his inspiration from premodern urban designs, going back as far as the walled and moated cities of the Middle Ages. ‘People don’t want to live in anonymous neighbourhoods without any clear boundaries,’ claims Kohl. ‘They want a place that offers them a sense of belonging and possibilities of self-fulfillment. In medieval times, the walls protected those living within them from the dangers of the outside world. Those historic inner cities still feel like safe havens. You sense it the moment you pass the gates. The enemies outside the gate have been replaced by the challenges of modern life. The social fabric that used to keep communities together is wearing away. Individualism, fuelled by demographics and technological inventions, threatens social cohesion.’

‘A community challenges people to regain control over their life and their living environment’

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‘CARCERAL’ STATE Both Kohl and Low are associated with New Urbanism, an urban design movement that started in the late 1970s. Rob Krier, his brother Leon, and Andrés Duany are among the most prominent theorists of the movement. New Urbanists advocate a return to a historical model of the European city. The ‘charter’ of the Congress for New Urbanism calls for ‘the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the following principles: neighbourhoods should be diverse in use and population; communities should be designed for the pedestrian and transit as well as the car; cities and towns should be shaped by physically defined and universally accessible public spaces and community institutions; urban spaces should be framed by architecture and landscape design that celebrate local history, climate, ecology, and building practice.’

Not all communities are designed according to the rules of New Urbanism. Neither are all New Urbanist developments communities. In the US, a community can be anything from an unincorporated, master-planned development like Celebration or Seaside, to a lifestyle community situated around a golf course or a marina, or even a ‘security zone community’ created by traffic barricades within an existing urban area. Critics like the researcher Edward J. Blakely warn that the rise of gated communities may destroy rather than improve social cohesion, and may eventually transform the US into a ‘carceral state’, a state modelled on the idea of a prison.

DIVERSITY Kohl is quick to point out that he is ‘not inspired’ by American examples: ‘In the US, New Urbanism has a social and political background. Architecture is hardly part of the discussion. In Europe, it is the other way around.’ Low also turns to Europe and the ‘compactness of European geography’ for inspiration. Like Kohl, he believes in creating a community through architectural design and urban planning, rather than through experiments with self-governance. Low: ‘Privately run towns run the risk of becoming squeaky clean.’ Low feels that social diversity is crucial for a successful neighbourhood. ‘There has to be diversity on all levels.

If you create homogeneous blocks you may have diversity on the neighbourhood scale, but that’s just statistics. People will still be terrified of each other. That is why we use the mixed form as a template. We do a lot of up-front work with clients to try to ensure a mixed-use area.’

Van Wesemael says developers, investors and urban planners should learn from both the European and the American traditions. ‘We should try to translate these examples and trends to local contexts. That way we can create living environments that suit the needs of residents, and leave room for personal involvement. A community challenges people to regain control over their life and their living environment.’ <<<

Glivia, Poland BRIDGE BETWEEN OLD AND NEW Liberec, Czech Republic NEW AND IMPROVED NISA 1999 saw the opening of the Nisa

items

Liberec shopping centre in the city of Liberec in the Czech Republic. Renovated and expanded from July 2007 to October 2008, Nisa Liberec’s new shopping area, of about 50,000 m², is now even better than before. Major changes include a new underground car park, extra parking spaces in the car park next to the shopping centre, increasing the total number of parking spaces to 1,800, as well as a new main attraction: a multiplex cinema. Being the only shopping centre in the Liberec region with one, Nisa Liberec offers people a unique opportunity to combine shopping with a visit to the cinema. Finally, the development of a new section with shops has brought more than 160 retailers to the city. The new and improved shopping centre is a good example of ING Real Estate’s many succesful refurbishment projects. Nisa Liberec is now all set to maintain its position as the region’s largest shopping centre and one of the most profitable in the country.

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ING Real Estate is building 566 luxury apartments in Gliwice, Poland. Based on the historical buildings, the Glivia plan combines old, urban elements –19th-century brick façades – with contemporary architecture in a green urban environment. The shape and detail of the buildings will correspond to the nature of the area. Historical façades will be decorated with modern glass elements and in the new buildings natural materials like brick and wood will be used. Each building in the four-hectare area will be equipped with lifts, glazed balconies, spacious terraces, gardens and an underground car park. Glivia is located in the green part of Gliwice near the city centre. The Starokozielski Park and tennis courts are also within easy reach. Apart from the residential section, there is also space for offices, shops, restaurants and a playground. The result is comfortable living in the broadest sense: high standard apartments surrounded by facilities, greenery and recreational area in the vicinity.

É v r y, F r a n c e OASIS OF WELL-BEING The Évry, France, urban renewal programme comprises the Horizon Sud project consisting of 256 new housing units. Playing a key role in the revitalisation of the city centre, it offers over 19,000 m² of living space and 650 m² of retail and business space. Horizon Sud marks the first phase of an ambitious, primarily residential operation.

After completion in 2011 it will be complemented by Horizon Ouest. The area will eventually consist of a total of 32,800 m² of living space, 6,900 m² of office space and 1,500 m² of retail and business space. Designed by the firms Claus en Kaan Architecten, Beckmann N’Thepe, Carlos Jimenez Studio and landscape architect Michel Desvignes, the project displays a new wave of architecture that is both innovative and elegant, offering a wide variety of dwellings, such as apartments, maisonettes and lofts.

Grouped around a garden, the terraces of Horizon Sud’s 256 spacious and light housing units have a lovely view. The garden at the heart of the block is reserved for the residents’ private use and provides a lush green area within the city. Nestling in greenery with all inner-city facilities close by, Horizon Sud meets the heightened expectations of today’s urban dwellers.

At Home

PHILO SO PHER A LA IN DE BO T TO N O N TH E PSYCHO LO GICAL IM PA CT O F R E A L E S TATE

As a child he moved from Zürich to London. A depressing experience – which he attributes in retrospect to the drabness of the English capital – that has left him with nostalgia for Swiss architecture. Today he is a celebrated interpreter of ‘the philosophy of everyday life’. One of his best-known books, The Architecture of Happiness, analyses architectural beauty and ugliness.

F E AT U R E

DO PEOPLE REALISE THEY ARE LIVING IN A MAN-MADE ENVIRONMENT? ‘Most people find the origins of architecture mysterious and look at the man-made world as though God has made it. Architecture is something that happens to us, it isn’t something we make happen. We’re very passive towards architecture, even though everybody comes into contact with it.

Compare this to how animated and personally involved people are when choosing their clothes, political leaders, relationships or jobs. The business of architecture and property development is a strange thing: unlike many businesses it has a huge social impact, but that is often not recognised.’

WHAT DETERMINES THE QUALITY OF THE LIVING ENVIRONMENT? ‘It is a mixture of things. Architecture, personal history, the people. And of course they affect us in different ways. If you have a nice family life and a nice job, but your neighbourhood is not that beautiful, you may take a more optimistic view of the area. Similarly, you can live in the most beautiful place on earth, but if your life has gone wrong it doesn’t really matter what the architecture is like. Even so, there is a distinction between what is beautiful and has good associations, or what is ugly and has bad associations. So, you must be aware that the impact of architecture is combined with the impact of other things.’

DO ARCHITECTS REALISE THAT MORE IS INVOLVED THAN JUST THE ARCHITECTURE? ‘I’m not sure if they have to. To some extent it is not really helpful for them to think about that. If you’re a writer, it is possible that your book will be used as a doorstop or be put under a child in a seat. You can only hope that your book will be read. It’s similar with architects, they just hope their building is going to be used in a certain way, but they can never prevent abuse.’

B Y R U U D SL I E R I N GS, PHOT OG RAPHY: HO L L A N D SE H OOGT E

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IS LIVING A RATIONAL OR AN EMOTIONAL ‘ACTIVITY’?

‘When you’re buying a house you definitely have to think of practical things, but as soon as you have money to spare, building a beautiful nest is

‘“At home”means being near the people you like, as well as being close to values, ideas and memories’

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home. If you’re running a slave factory, it doesn’t matter what the place looks like. But most jobs in the modern age rely on people being happy.’

‘In a room with a low ceiling, our thoughts are kind of hemmed in’ an aesthetic impulse. Then it’s not just a shelter, but also a place of psychological comfort, a place that can remind you of everything you want to be reminded of, which can make you feel properly “at home”. That’s a mystical phrase, “at home”. As well as being near the people you like, to be “at home” is being close to values, ideas and memories that you feel are important to you.’

SO THE EMOTIONAL PART DETERMINES THE QUALITY OF LIVING? ‘Certainly. I have two children and before they were born, I didn’t like mess in the house. I’m the tidiest person you can imagine. But now my children make a mess all the time I don’t really mind, because I love them. Their mess is just an extension of them, and I’m very forgiving towards them.’

SO IF THERE IS A MESS IN A CITY WE LOVE, WE’RE WILLING TO MAKE ALLOWANCES? ‘Well, obviously there are limits. There are cities that are chaotic and whose chaos is rather exciting. But you can’t just take a picture of a street and ask: do you like this city? You have to understand a city as a whole, your response will be coloured by that. There is a difference between the messes in New York, Amsterdam, Calcutta or Naples. In the last two examples it feels as if a line has been crossed.’

CAN YOU HAVE THAT AT-HOME FEELING EVERYWHERE? ‘You feel at home when you’re in a place where the objects are arranged in such a way that they reflect to you an image of who you would like to be. That’s why most people don’t feel at home at the office. What’s wrong with the office is that it is designed with somebody else’s feelings. You can’t make it personal by putting up your family photos, a chair or something. You can make it personal by putting up a kind of narcissistic confirmation of what goes on at

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YOU’VE WRITTEN: ‘WHERE YOU ARE’ INFLUENCES ‘WHO YOU ARE’. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? ‘It’s very basic: we’re not the same wherever we are. In a room with a very low ceiling, our thoughts are kind of hemmed in. In a church we can feel that all kinds of ideas are more possible. In the middle of a desert, we might feel the loneliness of humans in a giant universe, something we wouldn’t feel in McDonald’s. That’s why architecture matters, we can’t hold on to important feelings in all places.

And “who we are” also defines “where we are”. We decorate with our character to confirm our character. Our existence is not just brains and contacts, we’re also always in a place. This place has an impact on us, on our senses, on our experience of life.’

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF ARCHITECTURE FROM THIS PERSPECTIVE? ‘The overall good point of architecture is that it brings us things that we don’t have enough of within ourselves and are in need of.

Architecture can make us happy or sad. When we’re looking at houses or thinking about cities, we’re often drawn to those that compensate to some extent for things that we lack, or for things that we’ve lost.’

DO YOU HAVE A RECIPE FOR CREATING SUCCESSFUL LIVING AREAS? ‘If I’d give advice to developers I would say: you really have a choice either to make a lot of money or to do good. That’s such a cliché that we forget it is true. Do you want to reach the end of your life having destroyed countryside with horrible development, or do you want to go to your grave with a sense of having done something good? It’s the job of society to spit on the bad real estate developers and architects and to give the good ones so much respect that everybody else wants to be like them.’

ARE YOU SERIOUS? ‘We need a national holiday called “worship the good real estate developer”. Of course I’m a bit sarcastic, but there is real cause for concern.’

IS IT POSSIBLE TO GUARANTEE GOOD REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT AND ARCHITECTURE? ‘The ordinary mechanisms of commerce cannot deliver great architecture except in a few rare cases. There is always a conflict between making money and creating good spaces. Developers are only human. And human nature always sees the benefits of easy money before it sees the benefits of the longer term goal. I’m a free marketeer in almost every area of life, but when it comes to architecture I’m an enlightened dictator. I believe in a state approach. Good architecture pays itself back in 150 years. You can’t do it as just a business, you are creating spaces where people live their life.’ <<<

FOR THE RESIDENTS: THE HAGUE ELLEN HUIS, SERVICE MANAGER HET STRIJKIJZER:

‘People in trainers to suits live here’

B Y EL SK E K OOPMAN, P HO TO GR APHY: I NG MAR SI EG RAM

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Nobody is better qualified to talk about living in big cities than those who look after the communal urban spaces.

IT IS A STRIKING BUILDING IN THE HEART OF THE HAGUE AND AT 132 METRES the highest tower block in the city. Het Strijkijzer is already a landmark. It has 42 floors and two entrances for the residents, one for the 300 studio flats for workers and students from 18 to 27, and one for the 51 luxury apartments occupied mainly by expats.

Service manager for landlord Vestia is Ellen Huis. All residents can contact her by email, Intranet and telephone. ‘We take into account the differences between the young residents and those living in the luxury apartments. I run an English language Intranet specially for the expats. Residents can use this Intranet to contact each other but they also do this elsewhere. They study together, work for the same company or see each other in the fitness room or the lounge. The residents form a very diverse group of people, some are in trainers while others are in suits.’

There are house rules. Huis makes sure that these are adhered to and where necessary she issues fines. If something is broken in the flats Huis is the first point of contact. ‘With so many residents there is always something to be done, from selling tokens for the launderette to inspecting a flat when a tenant leaves. I invite groups of interested people when looking for a new tenant so that more can view at the same time. I don’t live here myself, because then I would always be at work.’ As service manager she experiences all sorts of things, including funny events of course. ‘Recently somebody tried to fit a lamp into a sprinkler!’ <<<

Financial crisis redefines architecture The consequences of the global financial crisis are not yet entirely clear. However, they may have an unexpected positive influence on the creativity of French architects and the flexibility of French politics. ING Real Estate France is playing a key role in this transformation.

EXPERT OPINION

Frédérique Monjanel

Nasrine Seraji

B Y ST EFAN DE VRI ES, PHOT OG RAPHY: I NG MAR SI EG RAM

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PRIZE-WINNING ARCHITECT Nasrine Seraji, a renowned specialist in housing projects, cooperates regularly with Frédérique Monjanel, development manager of ING Real Estate in Paris. Seraji and Monjanel explain how the current crisis will lead to a profound transformation in the way developers and governments work together and to a new kind of urbanism. ‘We have been facing the crisis for a year now and we have set up a taskforce to consider what has to be done. For one thing, we need to invite architects, city councillors, urban planners and all those implementing the new laws to round table meetings,’ explains Monjanel.

Local governments, always active players in French real estate development, should be part of the solution as well. Monjanel: ‘One of the most severe consequences of the current crisis is that the average surface area of three-room apartments in our port-

folio has gone down from 72 m² to a mere 60 m², the reason being affordability or the price of an apartment.

Making compact, affordable and intelligent housing without compromising on quality has become an important challenge.

In order to guarantee housing quality, municipalities should start to realise that our efforts need to be reciprocated with lower land prices.’ This may seem a bold statement, but French cities, increasingly aware of the problems, are starting to cooperate, albeit on a modest scale as yet.

Monjanel continues: ‘Homes need to be cheaper. Housing also needs to be energy-efficient and is subject to increasingly restrictive construction standards.

So the combination of these restrictions and our commitment to energy efficiency means we are facing construction costs that are still rather expensive.’

CHANGING LIFESTYLES Architects cannot believe that just building smaller can be a real solution. Seraji: ‘The current economic situation is pretty tough, because the crisis is new and will probably continue. For architects, however, it is just an added constraint. Frames of reference are constantly changing, as our expectations of our habitat. In a bizarre way it is very exciting because the architecture of living has to change dramatically. We need to design new living conditions. Perhaps not everyone needs a huge loft or a large apartment as a status symbol. So for architects, the financial crisis is a very good opportunity to reappraise how we live, almost a process of elimination in residential design.’

Monjanel agrees and thinks local governments have overplayed their hand since the start of the new millennium. ‘Before the crisis, cities wanted at least five architects

per project, very strong architecture and often a higher price in order to generate more tax revenues. Today, entire areas have become too expensive for real estate developers. Cities are now wondering how to unblock these areas. Meanwhile, real estate developers are losing money, while cities are four to five years behind in their development.’

One ING Real Estate project to be hit by the crisis and that needed rethinking was a family housing project in Besancon.

Seraji: ‘Because of the crisis we had to dramatically reduce the average surface area by more than 30 per cent. We have to ask ourselves “How do we live on 60 m²?” It means that a bedroom can no longer be just a bedroom. It will have extra functions like an office for instance. We need to start looking at the complete housing plan and all of its functions. Everything depends on

‘Making compact, affordable and intelligent housing has become an important challenge’ where, who and with what budget?’

For ING Real Estate these are routine questions. Monjanel: ‘Our role is to convince politicians to increase the urban density. A city should aim for compactness and therefore intelligent urbanism is a prerequisite. Compact housing requires shared spaces, communal areas and extra services in the entrance hall. In France however,

FINDING SOLUTIONS With respect to the housing market, the outcome of the global financial crisis in combination with energy-efficiency regulations and restrictive construction standards is that people in France get increasingly less surface area for the same amount of money. The challenge now is to make compact, affordable and intelligent housing without compromising on quality. For ING Real Estate mixed-use towers are part of the solution.

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more services mean higher costs, which is a ridiculous concept. All the extras are taxed.

Mixing is the answer and mixing requires density.’

Seraji adds: ‘During the last decade, form became more important than function or programme. Today we need to consider more significant aspects as well as a more intensive use of the available land. The central question is how to maximise land use – mixed functions, programmatic elasticity and density being amongst the most obvious answers.’

HOUSING QUALITY For the last couple of years France has been rocked by violent riots in the many derelict suburbs of the big cities. A different kind of architecture and urbanism could help to make suburbs more liveable. Monjanel: ‘ING’s Dutch roots are helpful in France.

Dutch architects are more committed to housing quality than their French colleagues, although the French really are improving. At ING Real Estate we try to build quality that reflects today’s culture. However, the constructions costs are prohibitive and are still rising. The large contractors have a kind of monopoly in France. And protectionism is huge in France, so that’s something we should solve as well.’

Though quality is a major concern for ING Real Estate, is it really a selling point in the current market situation?

Monjanel thinks not. ‘Architectural quality is probably important for a very small elite who can afford to buy high-end design.

Most French people just want to know what space they are getting and what their monthly charges will be.’ Seraji thinks the solution lies elsewhere. ‘It is a political issue. The predicament of the suburbs is

primarily a problem of how governance influences urbanism. Most suburbs have just one theme: housing. Why are all the facilities located within the city boundaries of Paris? Suburbs need to be planned and governed differently.’

TOWERS The past few months have seen lively discussion on the construction of new towers in the city of Paris, where building heights are currently limited to 37 metres. The municipality favours the building of new towers. Many Parisians are still hesitant, but for ING Real Estate towers are part of the solution. Monjanel: ‘We must get people to think about the towers. Towers should be vertical cities, not just housing or office blocks. A good example is Rotterdam’s Montevideo Tower. This is the type of construction that we like to show to politicians.’

One of the pioneers in mixed-use towers is the architect Rem Koolhaas. Although Seraji’s philosophy is comparable with Koolhaas’ Manhattanism, she is not sure whether there is a place in France for such radical thinking: ‘I am wary of these new French towers, not because they are high, but because they are not doing anything new. The problem is that in France most architects and developers are still in the 20th-century process of regarding the tower as solely a vertical and mono-programmatic object. Starting to see the tower differently, i.e. as an opportunity for complex programming of variable densities and not necessarily vertical, could start to answer the new crisis we are currently facing.’

Looking ahead, Monjanel is more optimistic about the future: real estate developers and governments must work more closely together to create new tall buildings.

‘Towers should be vertical cities, not just housing or office blocks’

‘Public-private partnerships are relatively new in France, but we think that dialogue is becoming more accepted. Local authorities are taking note of the Dutch experience, where there is more reflection beforehand.

Our experience can shed a different light on economic and social issues. Things are currently opening up, so for ING there is plenty of room for reflection.’ <<<

During the first decade of the 21st century, consumers demand and are being given more choice than ever before – from food and mobile phones to social networks and home entertainment.

This is all very well for consumer goods and services, but how can real estate developers cater for individual preferences in their residential projects?

The perfect home MADE-TO-MEASURE CUSTOMISED AND BESPOKE

B Y G ARY RUDL AND, P HO TOG RAPHY: I NG MAR SI EG RAM, CORB I S

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‘IN THE 1950S AND 1960S, THE RESidential market was very functional,’ says Gerrit van Vegchel, director research at Development in the Netherlands. ‘Functionality remains the foremost concern when building new houses and apartments, and people’s choice is mainly limited to the area where they would like to live.’

‘Today, however, we live in a much more experiential society,’ Van Vegchel continues. ‘People want access to services and facilities close to where they live and they also seek their peers’ approval about their choices, in terms of decoration and furnishings. So now, as a residential real estate developer, we not only have to build functionality into our projects but we also have to take into account the services and facilities in the area and people’s lifestyle choices.’

ING Real Estate is research- and knowledge-driven, and organises sessions with clients to build up vital relationships.

‘We have studied the needs and wishes of various groups within society, such as families, singles, couples and seniors. We discovered that even within each of these groups people have different needs and desires.

Some want to live in brown-field apartments, for example, while some prefer the suburbs and others the city centre.’

‘What we are trying to do, therefore, is to get people involved in residential projects at a very early stage and give them as much choice as possible: from larger or

smaller rooms, a range of kitchen layouts and the total number of rooms within the residence, to the kind of cultural, social and educational facilities in the surrounding neighbourhood.’

MATURE MARKET A good example of how ING Real Estate is trying to give housing customers what they want is its New Beginners concept, which is mainly aimed at senior citizens.

‘We researched the senior housing market in Western Europe, which is a mature market in every sense of the word,’ explains Jan Bruil, director residential in the Netherlands and chairman of the New Beginners Task Force. ‘We discovered that the senior market, defined as members of the public aged 55 or older, is expected to grow by almost a million a year within the EU, and by 85,000 a year within the Netherlands alone until 2025 at least. Therefore senior housing is unquestionably a growing market segment and the task force’s aim was to develop a concept that would appeal to this segment.’

‘Our study showed that people’s life choices are governed by four main combinations of Me, We, Control and Self-confident mentalities,’ Bruil continues. ‘The Me mentality is independent and individualistic, while the We mentality is sharing and community-orientated. The Control mentality is cautious about change and the Selfconfident mentality is experimental and

outgoing. Most people can be characterised as having one of four combinations of mentality: Control/We, Control/Me, Self-confident/We or Self-confident/Me.’ The concept ING Real Estate arrived at as a result of this research is ‘New Beginners’, which reflects the fact that 55-plussers have reached a new stage in their lives.

Their children have usually left home and they are free to plan for their retirement, including how and where they want to spend the rest of their lives.

CUSTOMISED SATISFACTION ‘Our aim was to develop a concept that caters for all of the four different combinations of mentality,’ says Bruil. ‘In the Netherlands, for example, the largest groups we have identified are those with either a Control/We or Self-confident/We mentality, each representing 30-45 per cent of the 55-plus population.

The Self-confident/We group are creative and value community. They want to share hobbies, experiences and creative activities with each other.

The Control/We group want a mixture of stability, certainty and community. They tend to stay in their communities after their children have left home, perhaps moving to a smaller apartment in the same area.

Of the smaller groups, Selfconfident/Me people are more flexible. As they retire and have more time, they want to explore new possibilities and may choose to spend part of each year in another country.

A very interesting group to cater for is the Control/Me group, they value individuality in combination with a clearly defined process above all else.’

The New Beginners concept – which was developed for, with and by the clients themselves – caters for all of these groups.

It pools ING Real Estate’s global presence and expertise, especially within Europe, to offer clients the freedom of choice and expression they desire. ‘For example, it

offers the Self-confident/Me group the flexibility of buying an apartment in their home country, which comes with the opportunity to participate in a pool of (guest) apartments spread around different cities in Europe, thus leveraging ING Real Estate’s international presence,’ explains Bruil.

‘New Beginners offers the Self-confident/ We group the possibility to live in a community with like-minded people and share facilities, such as a gym, gardens and perhaps riding stables. By offering differentsized residences within a single complex it enables the Control/We group to stay in the same neighbourhood throughout different stages of life and adapt to changing circumstances. And for the Control/Me group it offers the freedom to build a new

house (interior and/or exterior), providing the owners with sufficient space to express their individuality. In all cases, the associated services and facilities are an important part of the concept.’

The development phase of each New Beginners project is the most important one, so that is when client involvement begins. ‘We also measure customer satisfaction at the design and operation stages, to make sure that their wishes and needs are being met,’ Bruil concludes. ‘Our starting point is that customer-focused developers must have insight into the mentality of their target groups, whether they are firsttime buyers, New Beginners or anywhere in between.’ <<<

J an B ru i l ( ri g h t) an d Ge rri t van Ve g ch e l.

‘It’s about getting people involved in residential projects at a very early stage and giving them as much choice as possible’

Higher quality of living Since the formation in 1922 of Greater Prague its Dejvice district has featured residential development combining apartment blocks with open-ended garden suburbs. One of the most recent developments in the area is the attractive Hanspaulka residential complex.

WORK IN PROGRESS

THE PROJECT, FINISHED IN APRIL 2008, CONsists of 13 villas and 16 semi-detached family houses with total floor areas ranging from 216 m² to 700 m², located on plots of 289 m² to 855 m² in size. Although all houses are different in order to express the uniqueness of the occupants’ personalities, they are all composed of simple forms. ‘During the design phase we were inspired by the ideas of 1930s Modernism. The project is in the spirit of the Dutch De Stijl movement,’ says architect Jirí Strítecky, who also worked on the design by Atelier 8000.

MAGNIFICENT VIEW

B Y K ASPER MARI NUS, P HO TO GRAPHY: I NG REAL ESTAT E DEVEL OPMENT

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The villas have a living room with a kitchen corner and direct entrance to the garden, five or six bedrooms situated on two floors, and three bathrooms. Each villa also has a garage for two cars as well as two outdoor parking spaces on its premises. The semi-detached houses are basically the same, but with four bedrooms instead of five or six. Some houses also have a basement below ground level, which can be used for fitness purposes or as a standard cellar.

To match a high-quality lifestyle, the superior interior furnishings include floors and staircases of exclusive merbau wood, varnished wooden doors, top-quality Italian ceramic tiling in the bathrooms and toilets, and chrome fittings and fixtures.

The entire three-hectare complex is situated on a slope, offering occupants a magnificent panoramic view of Prague Castle. ‘The current owners took into account the project’s quality and, of course, the exclusive location. It is an historic and elegant district close to the city centre,’ says Renáta Kodadová, spokesperson for ING Real Estate Development Czech Republic. The Hanspaulka complex is an outstanding addition to one of Prague’s most sought-after residential neighbourhoods. <<<

As well as five standardised villas, the Hanspaulka project includes eight villas built to individual design.

Differences in faรงade colour, window layout and size distinguish the semi-detached houses, resulting in a livelier looking street.

This customised villa, maximising the possibilities for excellent views, ensures higher-quality of living.

Built on a slope, the houses have a magnificent panoramic view of Prague Castle, one of the biggest castles in the world.

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;All houses are composed of simple formsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

The basic expressive components of the residential complex are cubistic forms and brightly coloured walls.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Each house expresses the unique personalities of its occupantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Buyers of the individually designed villas had their say about things like fittings the lay-out or whether to install a swimming pool or not.

Gabion walls, unified street lighting and trees planted in the pavement give the neighbourhood a distinctive look.

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Accessibility a competitive tool for private players ‘What you need is the creativity of private players, not public authority asphalt.’

Mobility is inextricably bound up with Living.

Dr. Daan H. van Egeraat of the independent consultancy firm Montefeltro researches innovation and accessibility.

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COLUMN

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THE INCREASING CONGESTION IN LARGE CITIES IS A headache for urban planners. Rightly so: if mobility does not improve cities will soon clog up completely. But despite what many people think there is a solution.

What is accessibility? On the one hand roads, parking places, public transport – typically the domain of public authorities, on the other hand marketing, segmentation and services – typically the expertise of private players. The point is that mobility and accessibility largely depend on perception. For example, research shows that with certain travel motives people do not mind long journey times, or that the poorer accessibility is not a problem as long as attractive plus points offset that ‘inconvenience’.

In other words, you don’t need public authority asphalt, what you need is the creativity of private players.

ON TIME Employers, through the terms of employment, can give their staff much more choice: forget the leased car, give them money so that they can decide for themselves whether to spend it on a leased car, a bicycle, a new kitchen or a world tour. The same goes for fringe benefits like a fixed workstation or parking place. Provide workstation budgets instead of workstations, then staff can decide whether to come to the office or work at home. That way you get a substantial reduction in the compulsory commuting.

In the entertainment sector a major concern is the optimum utilisation of entertainment centres and concert podiums. But that is not the concern of visitors, all they want is to arrive on time. So provide them with information, reserve a parking place, remove that cause for anxiety.

Another case in point: retailers are dependent on accessibility for their turnover. But a run shopper’s perception of accessibility is very different from that of a fun shopper. So look at customer behaviour and gear the service to that and, if required, differentiate it at the individual level. Someone is a customer as soon as they decide to visit the shopping centre, not just when they step onto the escalator. Bear in mind that the perceived journey time is always longer than the actual journey time. So inform customers about the expected length of the journey, about the available parking space and public transport times. Offer them valet parking or, even better, send a taxi to pick them up from home. If necessary, link the expenditure in your shopping centre to what you wish to spend on actually getting customers your shopping centre. With such individualised packages you can offset much of the accessibility loss caused by congestion. Even better: you can enlarge your catchment area and therefore your turnover.

INDEPENDENT In the hands of private players accessibility is a competitive tool. Highquality, the favourite concept of developers and urban planners, is much more than the physical form of a building or the spatial quality. Highquality is also largely determined by the quality of the service to customers or staff. And what is more, if you approach accessibility from the service perspective you no longer need any extra asphalt at all. Minimise your dependency on infrastructure-building public authorities, use your own creativity and your own marketing insight. That will bring tremendous opportunities. <<<

D A A N VA N E G E R A AT

Statem ment ment

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How the individual and the group come together is a central issue of every city.

What you want is people to fall in love with the place they live in

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CH A R L E S L A N DRY, A U T H OR OF T H E A RT OF C I TY M A K I N G (s e e p a ge 3 2 )