Lending Libaries for Berlin: Poro[city] for the Green and Grey | Section 3

[Part II]

3 | POROSITY AND MOVEMENT

In January 2024, the students of Berlin: Close Encounters design studio and I entered the AIV Schinkel Competition 2024 with a brief entitled the day after tomorrow. The competition provided the exciting opportunity bridge the gap between the two proposals in the thesis and to continue to speculate our themes of exchange and co-existence. As part of our competition entry, we chose to expand and redeploy ideas established in The Park in Motion and to create a scheme that would be aimed at a specific group of people: the residents of the Berlin Blocks of Schöneberg. The AIV Competition brief opened with the following quote: "Yesterday the earth was a disc, today it is a sphere; what will it be tomorrow? What will it be the day after tomorrow?"

The brief offered us the freedom to solve a task at an urban planning and architectural scale. Faced with an immediate point of reflection, the brief encouraged us to ask ourselves, what do we want to see in tomorrow's Berlin? We believed Schöneberg had our answer.

In Soft City: Building Density for Everyday Life by David Sim, a rather extensive research environment was establish, part of a wider movement at the School of Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in the mid-1960s. Their collective goal for around 40 years was to develop research into people-orientated architecture and city planning. Not only did their efforts have a major influence on the development of Copenhagen creating one of the most livable cities in the world, but has also started a brand that has over the years been applied to other cities across Europe. David Sim taught me that there is a huge significance in the small and its the small that is the everyday experience of life in a city.

We channeled our design efforts into creating a series of architectures with the aim of encouraging the residents of each block to connect with one another through common activity. Each block would house a different kind of sport or music specialism; access would be created on each of the four sides and would only be permitted to resident part of the scheme (to maintain a degree of privacy that is enjoyed by the residents). The lending library facilities would provide equipment for loan in the same fashion as The Park in Motion, providing financial autonomy to those who wish to take up an instrument or sport of their choosing.

Integrated into this process of exchange, would be a celebratory carnival that would be held under the elevated railway spanning between Nollendorfplatz and BÜlowstrasse once a year, to put on a public display of talent yearned through their commitment to the craft. The architectures aim is to provide the means of conviviality and invigorate a new sense of atmosphere, some of which was lost with the closure of many popular venues. Ultimately, the scheme aims to advocating for healthy, enjoyable and meaningful relationships by being neighbors.

pictured | Our competition panel entry for the AIV Schinkel Competition 2024. Our proposal expresses our vision for Schöneberg with The Park in Motion scheme shown in a long transect. The map serves to offer a sense of scale and show the sites relation to one another. The panel includes 2.No 1:50 sectional perspective, the top expressing the materiality of The Park in Motion scheme, the bottom detailing the AIV Schinkel Competition / 5 No. renders of The Park in Motion / SW-Isometric of the scheme digitally modeled in four blocks / 1:2000 map showing site analysis and the intervention implemented in other blocks across Schöneberg / Plan and section of the Potsdamer Strasse block, originally drawn at 1:200 / Urban protocol diagram

drawn | AIV Schinkel Competition 2024 long section, originally drawn at 1:200

[1] DHL Postage Store - created in replacement of the original that was converted to create a threshold into the block [store]

[2] Cricket Lending Library

[3] Tennis Lending Library

[4] Percussion Lending Library

[5] Percussion Lending Library

[6] Tobacconist - created in replacement of the original that was converted to create a threshold into the block [store]

[7] Rugby Lending Library

[8] Boxing Lending Library

[9] Tuba Lending Library

[10] Volleyball Lending Library

[11] Trombone Lending Library

[12] Lacrosse Lending Library

[13] Trumpet Lending Library

[14] Ice Skating Lending Library

[15] French Horn Lending Library

[16] Golf Lending Library

[17] Saxophone Lending Library

[18] Amplifier and Audio System Lending Library

[19] Sandwich shop - created in replacement of the original that was converted to create a threshold into the block [store]

left | The plan shows the 'activated corridors into the blocks, integrating retail either side to replace the services lost as a result of creating the apertures- originally drawn at 1:200.

right | The master-map is used for site analysis, showing the provision of public and private uses on the ground floor which we use to determine where it is suitable to create an aperture.

Marked entry point within the block

Movement between blocks

Tree Canopy Coverage

Existing ground floor uses

Transport

Music facilities

Sports facilities

Residential

Public Retail/ Restaurant/ Cafe

Commercial

Public Religious/ Arts/ Community

Proposed Lending Library/ Relocated programmes

Proposed Programmes

Residential

Sports Lending Library

Music Lending Library

Public Retail/ Restaurant/ Cafe

Reflection

If we were to re-approach the AIV Schinkel Competition 2024 scheme, we would be more selective in terms of the programmatic functions as the proposal seeks to achieve too much in one block. Thus is doesn't provide enough incentive for residents to travel to other blocks. Furthermore, the number of pavilions in one area makes it difficult to achieve designated zones for the residential gardens and the non-human territory (that hadn't been developed until after the competition). The Components of the Craft seeks to hone in and create architectures of higher specificity, whilst remaining multi-functional should the activity cease to become popular in the area. It also seeks to show our concern for flora and flora with more rigour.

left | Following the AIV Schinkel Competition 2024, we tested overall massing and placement in accordance to shadows and their fitment amongst a non-human zone. Model scale: 1:200.

right | Paper maquettes allow for rapid prototyping and experimentation. Model scale: 1:200.

[1] Wood workshop rear extension

[2] Lending library for live sound production - passive audio systems, cables, amplifiers, equalizers and MIDI

[3] A hybrid industrial pavilion and tertiary space

[4] Data analysts office for processing arduino generated data

[5] Sports Lending Library

[6] Hybrid space for band practice or personal training sessions. A space which can accommodate different sport and music activities as a bookable space

[7] Mixed use hall for gymnastics, choreography or for other practice requirements

left | Rapid prototyping with soap at 1:500 .

right | Further massing and experimentation at 1:200 assessing opportunities for porosity and the movement of people.

[1] Polyphonia, music production practice pods, events space, mixing and mastering studio and a multi-sport lending facility

[2] Nature's Theatre, viewing platform, café, reception/ weigh-in rooms, kit check and kit lending library, changing room, warm-up, training halls and power lifting arena

[3] Components of the Craft: wood workshop, audio Lending library, fitness lending library, multi-purpose hall for performance, gathering, gymnastics and basketball

[4] Components of the Craft: Street-side vocal production studios, bedroom production studios, elevated non-human-zone (sedum green roof) and private balconies providing additional outdoor amenity for upper story tenements

[5] Unter de BrÜcke Street Carnival

Designer

[1] Oliver Maxwell

[2] Folahan Adelakun

[3] Carl Harris

[4] Carl Harris

[5] All

drawn | A holistic overview of the scheme in context of the SchÖneberg neighborhood

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left | 8am shadows - the placement of the architectures is based on the sun position. The hall being the largest of the proposals, is placed in the darkest part of the block and in an area that is a sensible distance from the boundary. Natural sunlight falls in the non-human zone throughout the day promoting biotope growth.

right | 4pm shadows - natural sunlight continues to falls in the non-human zone.

pictured | Every town or city is a complex combination of hardware and software9. The hardware is physical: the buildings, streets and everything that is designed to be present. Behind this lies the software - all of the invisible components such as law, economics, professional practice, education, politics and sociology.

"In the midst of the essentially aesthetic economy hat has developed in the Western world, the difference between technology for use and the technology for pleasure seems to be vanishing"10

[Part II]

4 | HUMAN PROTAGONISTS

Through Berlin's many epochs, architecture continues to sculpt place, direction and movement. In the true spirit of movement and thoughts about how people may interact with our architecture, the gateway into our study began with the coding and fabrication of an urban sensing device. Transported to Tiergarten, we deployed the device for testing along a planned route, encountering many of the parks' Baroque features described in Franz Hessel's book Walking in Berlin: a flaneur in the capital. The device measured the sound produced by a 3D printed ball that rolled on the surface of the ground. A a sound sensor, outputting voltage signals wrote a string of data to an SD card which enabled us to 'map' textures of the ground, according to a particular voltage response. The device used three prototyping boards, each instructing a sensor with a grove connector, powered by a 9V battery. With a combination of code and workshop fabrication, we were able to detect the sound of the ground. In addition to the focal data, the other two boards could detect the distance the ball travels from the ground (Y axis) and the distance actually traveled (X axis). In summary, the device allowed us to execute our interest in motion, negotiated by the device as the mediator. In effect, The Park in Motion proposal is a scaled up version - an apparatus for individuals interested in sport or simply getting outdoors; to engage with devices or tools around them. The human protagonists are the people who may be interested in visiting a lending library park or a music lending library in Schöneberg. For the ease of navigating our narrative, we put our human protagonists into three categories - the sports contender, the flaneur and the busker. As we encountered the site through a technified lens, it allowed us to step into the mind-frame of the individuals whom may play a role in the narrative.

the observer of life and its surroundings the public performer the athletic

pictured | In and amongst the vibrant pulse of Tiergarten' tranquil expanse, we winds along the irregular paths

left | Schematic for the urban sensing device - originally drawn at 1:5

right | Isometric drawing of the field sensing device pictured | One of the many photos captured by the urban sensing device's camera - linking sound, texture and colour to their reality.

[1] iPhone, capturing photographs every 10 seconds

[2] | SR04 ultra-sound distance sensor, detecting the balls distance from the ground (Y-axis)

[3] | PIR motion sensor, counting the presence of a ticker affixed to the balls axis (Z-axis).

With the circumference of the ticker and the quantity of ticks, the distance is calculated.

[4] | Sound sensor, capturing volume of the sounds produced by the ball, measured as voltage signals.

[5] | The device is designed to fit in a travel luggage back for ease of transportation from Edinburgh to Berlin

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[5]

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left | The ground textures we recorded with the urban sensing device

right | Techniques for surveying with the urban sensing device

[1] Mulch

[2] Granite setts

[3] Foliage

[4] Water

[5] Gravel

[6] Fallen branches

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[1] Stake to stake - recording takes place between two stakes. Data is mapped as the crow flies. The distance can be arbitrary as the device will measure the distance.

[2] Pivot recording - recording takes place around a singular stake.

[3] Canvassing - recording arbitrary routes in an area between 4 stakes

[4] Field of vision - recording within an arc between 3 stakes

[5] Transect Line - recording at perpendicular intervals between two stakes

[6] The Network - recording arbitrary routes in area between multiple stakes, revisiting key points more than once.

Reflection

The original aim was to attempt each method of surveying in Tiergarten (we had not envisioned working in SchÖneberg at this point in the thesis). Despite, a productive drawing exercise and group discussion, attempting to carry out these methodologies on-site was less realistic whilst trying to keep covering enough variation in ground textures for the data to be nuanced and conclusive. We opted for the networking method, selecting fairly arbitrary routes purely on areas where there was the most variation in texture to get the best results. Ultimately, the canvassing method for the north-western part of Tiergarten (north of the Nuer See lake) worked best.

left | The urban sensing device as an artifact of motion in its own right serves as a metaphor for our human and non-human protagonists. It also describes, Tiergarten that itself is a product of transgression and motion. This is why one could describe the park as a Park in Motion.

right | The urban sensing device: Sounding the Ground

B: Terrain A: Sound

A: Volume data (arduino sound sensor) The unit of measure is arbitrary, however, the data is relative, thus producing an accurate waveform according to the grounds' texture

B: Vertical distance data (arduino SR04 ultrasonic sensor) in millimetres

C: Length, ie. distance walked (in meters)

left | Arduino Urban Sensing Device Data | 11 paths were recorded with our urban sensing device. These were accurately placed over an OS map in Rhino 3D using grasshopper. A GPX tracker allowed us to accurately plot the paths we took on-site and align the data to the exact route it was taken on.

right | Arduino Urban Sensing Device Data | The transect lines with the data values

Example:

GPX path 7

GPX path 7

Transect Lines

Terrain

A: Volume data (arduino sound sensor) The unit of measure is arbitrary, however, the data is relative, thus producing an accurate waveform according to the grounds' texture

B: Vertical distance data (arduino SR04 ultrasonic sensor) in millimetres

left | We selected one of the transect lines and combined it with the textures we encountered on-site to create a physical artifact - the black card subtly displays the data for GPX 7; the lengths of paper are the textures encountered on site (see page 118). The model represents the way the specific paths on the site we chose weave themselves through the textures of the land - in a similar way that our human protagonists would negotiate the architectures in The Park in Motion proposal.

Example:

B:

A: Sound

right | Flickr Site Analysis Desk Study | Twinned with our interest in texture and sound interpreted through our own experience on-site and with our device, we were interested in learning about the predominant colours that occurred across the different nature-sites in Berlin, of which, there are three main ones. Instead of attributing colour to specific plant species found within the garden, we chose to use a technical means of finding colour in the spirit of our design unit. Thus, we used Grasshopper and Rhino to purge geo-located photographs found on Flickr to create an index of the predominant colours found in the three main urban ecological centres.

Tiergarten Templehof

Natur Park Südgelände

Natur Park Südgelände

Templehof

On Green Space and Colour

The thematic explorations were inspired by Mark Rothko, the Abstract Expressionist known for paintings, prints and works in various shades of colour. Rothko was also known for his final series of black-and-gray paintings, which created an interesting public response as it turned on the head on all of his earlier work that specifically focused on colour.

As author Christopher Rothko writes in the abstract for his monograph and art book entitled Mark Rothko, Rothko viewed colour as mesmerizing field-optics and as a medium to communicate physiological and spiritual experience for basic human emotions1. The way we interpreted his work (and his son's description of his work) is that it's a test: what colours do we find comforting? Are they the ones that occur naturally in food and in the environment? If they aren't comforting, are they simply provocative? Is provocative a good emotion or a bad one? Is it that simple? The answer to the latter is certainly, no. Perhaps, what Rothko was seeking to understand, through a lifetime and dedication to colour, is the joy in how his audience would respond to the colours he showed them, in a way they hadn't seen them presented before. The absence of a subject in his paintings prevented the viewer not to be distracted by what it meant, but rather, how they felt about it.

In our own study, we sought to find what colours were predominant in the environs that related to Berlin. We did this by assembling found images in a technified means, and using photogrammetry to assign 10 colours beside each photo. It brought attention to them on scale from light to dark. Overall, we were looking to see if we could attribute certain colours to the green areas and find out how and why they are interesting by their colour.

[1] The test area we selected (shown as 'specific site' in the key). This is where we located the Motion in the Park lending library scheme

[2] The paths we walked with the urban sensing device, exact according to GPX data

[3] The predominant colours found in the photographs captured on the camera mounted to the urban sensing device

Specific site -51.513002, 13.339685 Key plan

left | Urban Sensing Device Photograph Colour Analysis | In a similar method to our Flickr algorithm task, we extracted the dominant colours in the photographs that were taken on the urban sensing device using photogrammetry

right | Urban Sensing Device Photograph Colour Analysis | The dominant colours were ranked in order of darkness, assigned a number and place accordingly to where they were found on the path.

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[2]

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[1] The predominant colour and its assigned number

[2] The colour is placed according to when its attributed photo was taken along the path.

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pictured | Urban Sensing Device Photograph Colour Analysis | Further iterations

pictured | A map seeking to draw together our experience of place from our Berlin field studies and site analysis/ data analysis undertaken, into a singular thought-image

The Berlin wall was the city's most famous and infamous structure, yet a year after November 1989, it had largely disappeared - pulverized or sold off in celebration, sparking a new wave of remembrance and solidarity

The urban and natural typologies in the centre of the city exist on the compendium between Tiergarten and SchÖneberg, offer their own textural and sonic qualities

Thursday 7pm - A jog through Tiergarten

Thursday 7:45pm - A game of 5-a-side

rendered | In our rendered images, we imagined how the flaneur or sports contender may use The Park in Motion,

Saturday 8am - A walk in the park

Saturday 1pm - A game of basketball

[Part II]

5 | MATERIAL LANGUAGES

In addition to the programmatic organization and arrangement of the architectural assemblages, The Park in Motion and Components of the Craft show consideration for their material and structural detail within their respective contexts.

The design for Tiergarten largely uses timber to reflect its stance amongst the towering deciduous trees. The warm and cold spaces are expressed architecturally, with the warm spaces being constructed from medium dense thermo-lite blocks, finished in a fine cast white render. The cold spaces are constructed entirely with timber and clad with glass to allow its internal public functions to be seen from afar and encourage the public to approach. Outdoor covered spaces feature a canvas coverings that are easily replaceable removable during seasons of strong winds. In conjunction the material considerations, the characteristic features of architecture such as the circular structures, textured façade and distinctive verandas are designed to offer small areas of outdoor, covered public realm.

Components of the Craft's primary structure uses galvanized mild steel beams and columns that are bolted together throughout to create a structure that can be disassembled after a 30 year lifespan. The use of steel means that the RSJ's can be reused, including any PIR insulation that goes inbetween. The other predominant materials include glass and anodized aluminum and are tested through a series of drawings that look at colour and tectonics.

[1] Lightweight timber veranda fitted with canvas during wet seasons

[2] Thermolite block walls; white fine-cast render finish

[3] Timber balloon frame, FSC Germany certified wood

[4] Timber framed decking with lightweight porcelain tiles on jack-pads, R13 slip rating

[5] Galvanized steel supports to the bottom of timber elements

right | An exploded isometric view shows the typical construction of one of the pavilions in the Park in Motion scheme.

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