Sociability Identity Inclusion in Weimar-Nord
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Mahgol Motalebi
Master Dissertation MAIG42 Under supervision of Prof. dr. Kris Scheerlinck
International Master of Science in Architecture KU Leuven, Faculty of Architecture, Campus Sint-Lucas Ghent 2015-2016
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Ambiguity and indirectness can play a liberating role in social relations; they can both provoke us and make us reflect. "The Open City"
Morten Anderson
"Richard Sennett, Conference in university of Virginia, 2006
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Content INTRODUCTION AND FRAMEWORK Methodology to define the site
RESEARCH QUESTION
URBAN STRATEGY ARCHITECTURAL INTERVENTION Zooming in on the design proposals
READING Weimar, city of art and culture Weimar-Nord, failure of soviet construction
DYNAMIC FACADE Private-collective structure
STREETSCAPE ANALYSIS
COLLECTIVE WINTER-GARDEN Exposed balconies and hallways
URGENCY
REFUGEE CENTRE From border to home
Demographic facts Proximity and mobility Labor market Urban segregation Urban form Soviet imagination Collective green Left-over lands Parking zones Typology Rent price - Financial segregation
CONCLUSION AND REFLECTION REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY IMAGE CREDITS
Integration analysis
POSITION AND CASE STUDY Segregation Isolation Exclusion Inclusion Integration Loneliness Disconnection
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INTRODUCTION FRAMEWORK In reference to the ongoing crisis of refugee flow to and as a result, study subject of "Welcoming cities" the main focus is on offering shelter, support and welcome to refugees in European cities especially in Germany. With the rapid progress of the Syrian refugee crisis, the ability of European cities to provide affordable housing in the first place is a key challenge. The location and type of housing offered, and the presence of welcoming and supportive local communities, are crucial. Steven Vertovec indicate in his book "Super Diversity", Given the overwhelming fact that "most new migrants move into places populated by previous cohorts of immigrants or ethnic minorities. A wide variety of interactions and integration processes occur among these groups. Indeed, many immigrants often only meet, live, socialize or work with other immigrants or ethnic minorities." It obviously shows the importance of social inclusion and living condition of current immigrants which will help the whole system. These kinds of encounters http://www.gettyimages.be/galleries/photographers/pablo_blazquez- dominguez
1 Vertovec, Steven. 2007. NEW COMPLEXITIES OF COHESION IN BRITAIN: SUPER-DIVERSITY, TRANSNATIONALISM AND CIVIL-INTEGRATION
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and processes have hardly been addressed in social scientific research or policy development. So it seems crucial to investigate whether previous immigrants lived in a well-integrated zone. How can we identify a good practice in housing for resettled new comers at the local, regional and national level? The more important point after physical settlement is obviously the answer of how to create rich contact and communication between residents and newcomers? METHODOLOGY TO DEFINE THE SITE When it comes to the perceived special socio- urban aspects of the city, whether large as Berlin, or small as Weimar, the description include all sides: the glamorous part, shady and also in between situations. Nevertheless, if you have spent not just a long time in a city, the access to different sides is not easy. Especially since the goal is to seek and expose segregated zone with immigrants, low income and diverse inhabitants. The chosen method of finding the suitable context was walking through the city, hoping find out something that is regarded as the most important instrument the https://jbreelblog.files.wordpress.com
fieldwork. This has been what Robert E.Park advised An American urban sociologist who is considered to be one of the most influential figures in early U.S. sociology
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to his students when he invited to Chicago to walk
from the situation as the social circumstances actually
through the city to feel for the dynamics of the city. He
manifest in town.
was an American urban sociologist who is considered to be one of the most influential figures in ethnographic sociology. Max Winter also went with this method when he explored and describe homeless and poor people situation in 1900 in his book the "underground Vienna". After walking within the historic part or better to say inner part of Weimar, there was an intention to look for the refugee camps in Weimar which was too far from the city centre. As Weimar is not such a big city, the public transportation is almost well covered the whole area but unfortunately there is only line one of the buses which goes to Weimar north. The district which has a vast social diversity and is the district of almost low-class non-German residents. After the first visit an important presumption urged immediately, it was so clear that social diverse groups marginalized by being accommodated in suburb parts of the city and also uncomfortable transport links does the rest influence, to support a social segregation. One main point to investigate is the purpose of this apparent differentiation In order to keep tourists eyes away 
An Austrian reporter, journalist, writer and politician
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS IN FOCUS
- Does Weimar-Nord host spatial clusters of social problems? And how is this spatial cluster in relation with the social situation? - How can new approaches in configurational analysis and description develop and deepen our understanding of the spatial dimension of social segregation? - How can architectural interventions navigate collective spaces in streetscape territories in order to provide fertile context for social cohesion and diversity?
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READING Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
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CITY SCALE FACTS
https://commons.wikimedia.org
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The Free State of Thuringia is a federal state of
270 KM from Berlin and Frankfurt, a trip that can be
Germany, located in the central part of the country. It
completed within a 2.5 hour train ride. It also holds
has an area of 16,171 square kilometers and 2.29 million
relics of a grim past, including the nearby Buchenwald
inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the
Concentration camp 8 kilometers north from the city of
fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states.
Weimar. Geographically, Weimar is situated between
The state capital is Erfurt. Thuringia has been known by
Erfurt, Thuringia's capital, and Jena, a college town
the nickname of "the green heart of Germany".
famous for optics research. The city center and the
Weimar is a city in the federal state of Thuringia,
Bauhaus School buildings have been named UNESCO
Germany. Together with the neighbor cities Erfurt and
World Heritage Sites. In 1999, Weimar was named the
Jena it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia
European Capital of Culture.
with approximately 500,000 inhabitants.
The historic city center of Weimar is situated between
Until 1948, Weimar was the capital of Thuringia. Home
the Ilm River in the east, Grabenstrasse in the
to Goethe, Schiller, Liszt, and Bach, among others.
north, Goetheplatz and Theaterplatz in the west and
Weimar was home to Henry Van de Velde and Walter
Schillerstrasse in the south. Its two central squares are
Gropius, as they founded the Bauhaus Movement
the Marktplatz in the south and the Herderplatz in the
within the confines of the city.
north. Despite its medieval origin, there are only a few
Upon the completion of WWII, Weimar lied behind the
me-dieval buildings, many being destroyed by frequent
Iron Curtain of Soviet dominion, and as a result one can
fires throughout the city's history. Most buildings in this
see relics of Soviet rule in the northern industrial region
area date back to the 17th and 18th century.
of Weimar- Nord.
The city itself is divided into 10 inner urban and 11
Weimar central location makes it a tourism hub and
suburban districts. The center is formed by the district
a source of national pride for the German people.
Altstadt (old town) and the Nordvorstadt in the north,
Connected by the DeutschBahn rail system, it is only
Parkvorstadt in the east and Westvorstadt in the south and west.
http://www.allgerman.com/thuringia
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DISTRICT SCALE FACT
Weimar-Nord district had Built since the 1950s to the 1980s is now a modernized residential housing estate in a quiet region with multi-purpose outdoor facilities and green areas. Since 2001 Weimar-North is an independent district with 5687 inhabitants. Weimar-North is located on the north western outskirts at the foot of the mountain Etter. For the EXPO 2000 in Hanover Weimar-Nord has been a model for the revitalization of residential areas of the block and bricks Goethe House
www.planetware.com
Schiller House
www.thueringen.info
decentralized location of the Universal Exhibition.
Bauhaus University
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The substantial shortcomings in the design of open spaces and the connection to the environment have been rectified. The development of Weimar-North as a residential area began in 1954/55; the first apartment buildings were built by the former AWG in East part of Ettersburg Street. The further development took place (1962-1964) at West part of Ettersburg road. Three ten-story tower blocks in Allstedt road were built (1966-67). At that time they were the first high-rise buildings in Weimar. In 1993-94 in Marcel-Paul-Strasse road a district center was created with appropriate infrastructure such as Sparkasse, Hairdresser, Dry Cleaning, etc. Furthermore, additional food / shopping malls emerged in the years
Weimar Nord
after reunification. The youth club in Weimar-North has been created for children and young people from the first day of its opening in the year 1986th after one year of construction. In 2008 a skate park also created near the youth club. This unique facility was built with an area about 1000 m2.
5
http://stadt.weimar.de/
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CONFLICTS
The existing situation of this district has generally a poor image. The slab buildings from the GDR are symbols to modernist-socialist architecture and it evokes the post war soviet decades. The architecture of this district was built with the notion of a communist taste. Except for the residential buildings, there are lots of undefined spaces in this district which Mostly exists in the northern part. The northern portion of our site is scattered with few buildings. The lack of amenities on the northern boundary make it difficult for development. Although
Railway buffer zone, abandoned land
the gardens are used sporadically during the summer time. The former industrial site adjacent to the railway line is an eyesore as well, especially due to its proximity to the residential sector. Finally, the rail track forms a clear boundary to the connection of the inner city. The existing tunnel and the uphill slope detracts pedestrian traffic, and the velocity of traffic further impedes bicycle traffic.
Abandoned undeveloped land
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ASSETS
One of the strong qualities of Weimar-Nord is that there is already a strong foundation of institutional facilities on the site, such as schools, kindergartens, elderly homes, supermarkets, and a surplus of on-street parking. The quantity of parking spaces denotes this area as a caroriented region. The existing space between the GDR slab housing suggest a strong connection of nature to occupants in the site. Furthermore, between 1994 and 1998, a massive Proximity of industrial and residential zones
redevelopment/modernization of the GDR buildings was conducted. In the EXPO Hannover 2000, this site was home to an architectural intervention, linking the Altstadt (old town) to Buchenwald (concentration camp). The majority of the assets of the district are situated in Area around to the old GDR buildings. There is also an opportunity to live in city but with natural views. The rental prices also in this district is quit low and it could be a cons for the inhabitants.
Isolated Garden clubs
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STREETSCAPE ANALYSIS Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
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ZONE 1
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To start with the streetscape analysis of the first zone it could be seen from East houses facing an undeveloped land which used to be an industrial zone worked for the railways. From south there is an informal path that works as a boundary between railway and the island. And from west this zone faces a road (Pic. Above) which has a different streetscape from 2 sides. In the left side, there are several parallel containers which is used as a store containers. On the other hand, in the right side there is a tall fence and a grass mound which works as a barrier between the zone and this street. The street seems like a dead-end but
Adjacencies of garden club and industrial zones
actually there is an informal road between the trees and grasslands which goes through the south edge. By passing through this path you will reach a long path parallel with the railways in one side and the long fences of the "garden club" the other side. There were several paths along this "Garden club" but the doors were all locked. So it could be said that this place is a collective space for a specified number of users. It is an island works as an intimate sphere for the users. During the visit no inhabitants were seen. It might related to the winter. But on the other hand a Railways border informal path
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south streetscape of garden club
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significant percentage of the whole area is restricted to the member of this garden club which practically is being used just in summer. The structure of the Cottages inside this zone is similar to detach houses and form a suburban landscape. This one district is enough to explain how this segregation is lie between different levels of WeimarNord district. It seems that this garden club works as an artificial little village for urbanite upper classes who want to enjoy the rural way of living as they wish. The bridge which links the Weimar-West district to Weimar-Nord is just a pedestrian one.
Informal paths to railway borders
The typology of the housing unit and the whole character of the two district seems similar. But by passing the bridge, you will reach to the informal road and the high fences first which is not welcoming for the pedestrian and also no straight path is defined.
Industrial storage
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Within the zone the detached houses often just divided
So the territorial boundary coincides with the limit of the
with a light fence or sometimes just a series of stone.
garden and there is always a physical depth to reach
All the cottages seat back from the yard.
the door. While between the paths outside and the garden club there are high walls and fences covered with greenery. So basically nothing could be seen from the outside.
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ZONE 2
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The second zone is the prefab housing zone including front and back greeneries. To start with two residential complex in the west part, the general diagrams are the same. Both complex have a U shape diagram which the outer facade indicates as the main facade and the entrances of the whole complex (8 entrance in each side) designed on these facades. There is also an outline street next to the entrances to make them accessible for cars alongs with a side walk for pedestrians. All entrances connect to the sidewalk by 10 stairs. In some cases. The staircases choose
Streetscape of prefab buildings
to be as an outdoor space or better say a part of the outdoor collective space. On the other hand in either cases the staircases are a part of the indoor spaces. In the example of the #1 building, the stairs are just been used by the inhabitants of that complex as they are dead-ends by the sides. So in this case the only pavement change indicates the division and indicate the territorial boundary. As this staircases are not a part of an indoor space, there was no differences in spatial character of these stairs with the indoor stairs or the inner hall. The reason for this pavement change seems to be the notion of privacy for the first floor. Streetscape of prefab buildings
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The vertical gap space is also filled with greenery to create a more intimate facade for the first floor balcony. However the #2 building entrances has a significant change stressing the territorial boundaries. The first side walk in the #2 building is not segmented and it creates a path which connects all the entrances of the same facade. This path is connected with the sidewalk of the street again with some stairs, as the pavement changes in this step. So in this example, we will have one more step in depth diagram of the building. This path could be indicate as an overlap scenarios in which people of
Territorial boundaries of the pre-fab building
the Entrance A could meet the inhabitants of Entrance B, before both enter to the street as a public space. By the notion of segregation in analysis of these streetscapes, the #2 building complex seems to be more successful in creating a context to create a social connection. As there is an opportunity for the inhabitants to pass by the path and meet closely with the first floor neighbors and have a conversation or two inhabitants meet each other in this collective path and feels like unity in using a space and it could be a ground for future social activities between them. In both cases, there is not any door to reach the inner U shape which is designed as a collective exposed greenery. Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Territorial boundaries of the pre-fab building
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The huge differentiation between the front facade and back facade however is significant, as there is not any balcony situated in the back facades. So all balconies in this typology are facing an open view face of the building which is the outer part. The inner part of the housing units seems abandoned as the cause of no accessibility from the building itself. In conclusion, the inhabitants want to use the inbetween space of their building as a meeting place or any function they have to pass different territorial boundaries. From the apartment to the stairs and hall ways, then to
Entrance of prefab building
the main entrance, after passing the public space of the street (the public sidewalk), eventually they could enter the greenery which seems to belong first to the building then to the public space. These kind of collective spaces are good options to create a context for social inclusion within the neighborhood. Also by adding some function to it like playgrounds, sport facilities, meeting places, etc... Otherwise a path is situated in the Blue building complex in order to guide the inhabitants to the vast collective greenery which is hidden behind the huge slab building but the space is not being used. As it is shown in the
Streetscape of zone 1
picture here is also a designed Canopy with benches
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to provide the context, but it is assumed that it is not
So lots of these greeneries is being used just visually
successful.
behind the windows. There are some situation which
The huge 20 meters high walls of the short length
the greeneries are not defined to be a part of the
surfaces of these building left without any windows. By
building, although they are exposed. Often there is not
passing through these building you can see disturbing
even a path trough these spaces and in some cases
visual boundaries.
they are surrounded by Green bushes from the side of
Unlike what was predicted, it seems the existence of
the building facades!
balconies on the back facades play a positive role in
One of the cases is the #4 building. This building had
increasing the use of these spaces, which is create
just a North-South orientation. The back facade is facing
mostly
short
a smaller green space. Unlike the vast greeneries that
conversation between neighbors. The example of these
were blanked, this one contains a square with benches
kind of social activities was seen in the building #3. It
and some fruit trees.
visual
connections
but
sometimes
could be seen in the photo how the back facade of this building meets the backyard of building #2. It seems that there is uncertainty about how to use the collective spaces within this area. Some times the situation of back gardens are in a way that affect the permeability which create a hierarchial organization. This fact is also clear in depth configuration analysis. As an example the way which leads inhabitants towards the collective greenery of #2 building is just at the end of the parking space of the building and there is not any elements to make it welcoming at least for the inhabitants itself. Tall bare concrete walls
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Unfortunately this gem is surrounded by fences and bushes which make it invisible. This place could work as an example for creating places to use all these spaces. One of the interesting points about this space could be seen in (Pic. Bottom-Right). It shows how inhabitants react to these kind of spaces. The balcony of the apartment which is facing the entrance of the gem! Space is the only one which is covered to bring more privacy for the users. It leads the investigation to the social aspects about the class of Weimar-Nord inhabitants. The front facade of #4 building unlike the others has only
Back facade of prefab building
two big entrances which is situated in front of a vast wall and after a long bush which make it totally separated with the huge greenery exist in front of. The greenery is undefined and it is not a part of any functions. So why the design led to separation of the building with a front green space is an important question which may repeated in this analysis. In general it seems that the amount of permeability in the greenery behind #2 building is not suitable for this kind of organization and it could be better to have more shortcuts to create a more social sustainable locations within this dense housing zone. Inner garden of prefab building
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"When the spaces are laid out in a way to priorities a minimum permeability and combination of different scales
and
possibilities
simultaneously,
more
positive results come out: people decode spaces in a spontaneous way and as a result, more urban qualities will appear in systems of shortcuts and detours, crisscrossing the collective spaces in a surprising emergent way( Scheerlinck, 2013).
1 Scheerlinck, Kris. 2013. CollectiveSpacesStreetscape TerritoriesNotebook, Page 24
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The right side of this zone several pre-fabricated multi-
Mostly, the communal greeneries left empty all over the
story residential building which are parallel to each
district and inhabitants avoid to use them as a meeting
other could be find. Each building has its own narrow
place or jogging path as the parallel buildings limits the
but long backyard. At the end of this zone there is a
views for the users.
vast grass land as well which serves as a public land
It seems that if there were some goals to reach in post-
for children to play or elderly to walk but unfortunately
war construction method in Eastern Germany, Weimar-
without any particular program or function just grass
Nord district construction was not successful to reach
hills in a natural form.
the goals.
In the middle of this zone there is also a park with children playground inside it that was seen to be used more than the communal greenery between the slabbuildings itself. It could be a demonstration on the uselessness of the existing narrow and long court yards behind each building. The whole neighborhood brings the concept of micro district as it was in soviet urban design but in a smaller scale. The parallel long building which does not even have a balcony to create the visual connection between the neighbors this time. It seems that the building situated in this zone are older than the one in zone 2. The pavement of the first floors is almost aligned with the ground surface which seems to be a problem for inhabitants. Mostly covered their windows or small
Inner garden of prefab building
courtyards with dense green bushes in order to create a safer and more secure feeling.
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Existing and future situation of front and back facade coincident
It could be said that the neighborhood was not planned
itself. The borders of these urban housing units are
to reflect the glories image of socialism but rather the
always full with parking spaces full of cars. So the urban
normality of everyday life. Maybe also as a result of
units consist of 3-4 parallel building consist of hundreds
housing unit shortage.
of flats and followed by that inhabitants are surrounded
The buildings are grouped in 3 or 4 parallel urban units.
with parking spaces and fulfilled within by undefined
Although these groups all have the same facade there
greenery.
is no other connection between them. The whole area
It also could be claimed that the hierarchy way that
of the ground floors are filled with housing units. No
the parallel slab building situated could also affect the
space for a communal activity or a passage between
notion of segregation. As a series of buildings the first
the parallel buildings is situated there. So once more
building is facing a two way street, parking spaces and
the segregation could be seen even inside the district
also people are passengers.
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So the facade which faces to the street becomes the front facade of the first slab building. The other facade though with balconies becomes the back facade which faces the front facade the next building. So the greenery between this building and the next one carried two situation. It should include the characters of a back-yard and front-yard greenery at the same time. As a result between each greenery just one series of balconies is situated which end up decreasing the number of opportunity to establish even visual connection with the neighbors. It could be conclude that whatever the notion of communist ideology about public and private relation is, the units of the slab buildings designed to be completely introverted.
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ZONE 3
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Zone 3 is more about the history which is now considered as the leftover of the Weimar-Nord district. Several functions could be seen in this zone but the majority is industrial. This differentiation in functionality Leeds to create a diverse streetscape in marcel Paul Strasse. It started with new housing construction which unfortunately still has the social-modernist concept in design. Right next to it there are grocery shops with parking behind them which faces the railway pat. In the middle of this zone something strange happens. It is rare to see that storage space in the form of containers with an unappropriated appearances sits
New building with old concepts
in the front side of an important street in a district. By walking through the marcel Paul Strasse, suddenly you will face it and it creates a unique and ugly appearance for this street. So to talk about the edges, this whole zone is surrounded by the railway from south. From north there is Marcel Paul Strasse which explained above. From West it reaches the "Garden club" of Weimar. And from East it will end with those 6 bourgeoisie building blocks which meet the main road through Weimar-Nord and also in the bottom the vast parking space and infrastructure for Railway Company. Four story bourgeois building
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The vast parking zone is built on the former railway system that has been tried to cover the history with asphalt by local authorities. As thousands of Jews died by the means of this station and being transported form Buchenwald concentration camp to Auschwitz. So this point in Weimar is called the transfer point of this incident.
The picture shows prisoners when working on the so-called Buchenwald train. The tracks that should go out from Weimar train station, transported tens of thousands to their deaths.
Former railway covered with asphalt
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Track construction Inmates at work on the construction of the Buchenwald line, spring of 1943
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Buchenwald concentration cap and blood road
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There is also a vast undeveloped piece of land which has
On May 9, 1942, the transportation had started there
a dramatic past. It was the place of "Viehauktionshalle"
for the first 513 people. Hardly anyone of them came
a wooden niches with art-center functionality. It was
back alive. Survivors reported that they were in the hall
built in 1937. In the Nazi era, During the third Reich, the
brutally searched for valuables out robbed and beaten.
hall served as a way station for Jewish prisoners, inter
It brunt in fire without any suspect in 2012.
alia, of the Buchenwald concentration camp who were deported to extermination camps in the east.
Former Viehauktionhalle
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ZONE 4
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Zone 5 is the most well design zone among Weimar north zones. The well-designed building blocks are GeWuS. The GeWuS (Corporative living and senior center) is a residential area completed in 2002 in Weimar-Nord with 167 apartments. The whole area is barrier-free, has lots of greenery and is a delightfully quiet place to live in, particularly suitable for senior citizens and families. In addition to the residential buildings, the center has a swimming pool, a sauna, doctors' practices, a spacious underground parking garage, a welfare center, a physiotherapy practice, a cafeteria and a newspaper kiosk with post office and lottery. So it is a neighbor with multiple function as residential-commercial. The only point is that the program of this residential neighbor is designed for elderly. So there is not any diversity of residents. The residential area is barrier-free. All apartments are serviced by a lift. Five apartments have been specifically designed for wheelchair users. The larger 3- and 4-room apartments with garden are suitable for families. This quiet residential area, no car traffic in the inner region, is distinguished by its gardens and greenery. The division of the housing units is different than the slab buildings in other zones. Mostly the corridor serve
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Building typologies of zone 4
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as circulation for the units is designed to be outside. So there are windows which are open to the corridor. Although it absolutely reduce the privacy as other neighbors pass by your windows but it could also help to create a communal space for the neighbors. So this configuration increase the chance of social inclusion within a residential building. Also it creates the visual connection of the residents who is passing through the inner territorial communal space and outdoor passenger. As normally this chance of establishing at least a visual connection cannot be seen in most residential buildings. Another advantage of this well-designed zone is the direction of the buildings. As it was a problem in parallel slab housing the identity of front and back faç ade is completely divided in this zone. Also an impressive number of large balconies could be seen. By walking through this zone, it could be seen that the housing units with their communal front and back yards serve as gardens, parking, communal space, etc... Almost divided by the main passages of pedestrian by a pavement change and short division walls. This decision leads to increasing the level of physical depth in territory configuration and it create a wise and Categorized hierarchy configuration from the most
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Building typologies of zone 4
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private to the most public space which starts from inside the apartments to the communal outside corridors, to the in between yards or parking and then leads the users to a more public space and at the end by two main path through outside the residential zone.
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URGENCY Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
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DEMOGRAPHIC FACTS
There is a decreasing trend in population in the Nordstadt, whereas an increasing trend in the Weimar Region. The average age is 44 years old. When looking at the age distribution, we see that there is a relatively low population of 0-18 years old, and again a decrease in 25-30 years old.
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PROXIMITY AND MOBILITY
Weimar Nord feels gloomy, abandoned and the buildings are in disrepair. The gateway functions as the transition that separates the historical UNESCO World Heritage Old City Center from Weimar Nord. To start with the edges and borders of Weimar-Nord area, it is being noticed that the Ettersburger Street which is the main road and it is the road to refugee camp is strikingly idyllic. Residents have to snake through forests and fields to reach the camp. For cycling Ettersburg road through Weimar-Nord
certainly ideal, but difficult for pedestrian as there is no without pedestrian paths to switch to public transport or to get away. A little boy was seen ran actually right next to the road on the wooded ground to reach the lonely bus stop. Maybe it is not unusual for an outer district road to be like this but it is difficult to find the correct port when you are a stranger in a foreign country and in a city anyway. Bus line 1 loops around the entire district, while bus line 5 makes a smaller loop around the GDR developments. Parking lots lie parallel or perpendicular to the prefabricated GDR flats and apartments. The new roads make it easier for the commuters to reach
Homeless situation in Weimar City centre
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supermarkets and other amenities from other areas.
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In 1993-94 at the Marcel-Paul-Strasse/Ettersburger
Of course, then they would be seen in the urban space
road a district center was created with appropriate
on the road, but they would not really attract attention.
infrastructure such as Sparkasse, Hairdresser, Dry
So this fact could be a clue for urban segregation which
Cleaning, etc...
related to the working factor.
It could be found in some studies about segregated urban zone that there is a link between social exclusion and mobility. The links between social exclusion and transportation is that some groups of society, the young, elderly, less physically able, ethnic minorities and lower income groups (and often these groups are not clearly distinct but frequently overlap) become increasingly excluded from mainstream society through accessibility barriers to everyday, vital services, such as locations of employment, healthcare and shops (Conroy Dalton, 2007). Beside from this fact of inaccessibility for inhabitants of Weimar Nord it is also relevant to demonstrate whether you can find a lot of homeless in the city. It was not surprising that the answers is negative. The reason is that the homeless could only go to sleep in the home, to make quite early again.
6 Dalton, Conroy. 2007. Social Exclusion and Transportation in Peachtree City, Georgia.
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LABOR MARKET "Physical separation of poverty areas from the eco-
of households that have access to private cars. By
nomic life of the city implies a lack of potential for the
assuming that most inhabitants could afford buying a
economically marginalized to integrate into society"
car in this district we could still acknowledge that as
(Vaughan 2005).
the accessibility to public transportation is low, the

Accessibility Analysis is also relevant in order to demon-
significance of private alternatives for mobility increase.
strate how the accessibility to locations of employment
Or in a worse situation which inhabitants do not have a
influence the segregation level of a zone within the city.
car they become more abandoned in the district. Still
By analyzing the typology and function of the building In
both assumption is lead us to social exclusion.
Weimar-Nord, you can find some office building in the
This restriction of movement makes people highly
area but the percentage is not comparable with the resi-
dependent on either private or public transportation
dential building in this zone so it can demonstrate that
and on the street or pedestrian network that link these
the potentials for an inflow of people who do not live
areas to places with more locations for employment
in these areas is low and the people who live in these
(Gotheplatz for example).
areas need to be quite mobile in order to participate in
It could be concluded that from a design perspective
labor market.
is it important to highlight the character of the paths
In conclusion, here are high number of people coming
that people are most likely to use if they want to walk
to city center but not a lot of people from city center
within the neighborhood. Especially in Weimar-Nord
goes to Weimar-Nord district. So this everyday migra-
district that it seems all inhabitants could not afford to
tion of people to labor market is only one way which
have a private cars, it makes the residents even more
cause urban segregation.
dependent on walking and public transportation.
An important aspect of social deprivation is related to
Maybe one of the main spatial factors that cause the
the minimum distance to bus stop and also the number
remoteness of this district is the entrances.
7 Vaughan, Laura. 2005. The relationship between physical segregation and social marginalization in the urban environment.
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There is only one entrance to the district with vehicle accessibility and one informal pedestrian path over the railway in an abandoned form that connects the whole neighborhood to the rest of the city (towards the city center) these two gates has very few people flow. Also Weimar Nord has an inclining topography, making pedestrian travel difficult. The existing bridge is the only path connecting to the rest of the city. It seems dangerous, as the steel sections are rusty and the concrete is weathered. So it Indicates that very few people walk to and from Weimar-Nord. The pedestrian path is not incorporate with buildings or entrances and is even not in contact with the street for vehicles and is most likely to be perceived as insecure when it gets dark. Again here it can be argued that the lack of roads, paths and as a result public transport which form from these paths is a main factor of segregation here.
Pedestrian path through Weimar- West
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URBAN SEGREGATION - URBAN FORM
One of the main analysis basics of urban segregation is in relation of the urban form. The way that cities shapes and structured by built form has a direct relationship with spatial and physical separation. It may be so obvious from Weimar-Nord district figure ground map that the percentage of unbuilt spaces is more than built spaces. This differences as built and unbuilt could also name as Hard and soft urban spaces. Hard spaces are those principally bounded by architectural walls and soft spaces are those dominated by natural environment. (Trancik ,1989). In some urban fabrics it could be seen that the urban spaces is the generator of urban form. For example
The further development took place between 19621964 at West part of Ettersburger road. Three ten-storey tower blocks in Allstedt road were built between 1966-67. At that time they were the first highrise buildings in Weimar. It can be seen that this area is being built through the post-world war II decades and all these building blocks are influences by sociocommunist architecture and some even has Stalinism style. The housing developments in communistic style generally feature shoebox-shaped apartment blocks that sprouted on the periphery of such cities as Dresden, Berlin in communist East Germany in park-like settings, standardized and mass- within a short period of time.
urban fabric of Barcelona, Spain with cubic, repetitive forms. One more example from historical urban fabrics could be Piazza del campo, Sienna, Italy. But the case for Weimar-Nord is completely the opposite. There is a vast Soft space with totally diverse urban block form within that almost none of these typologies of the buildings follow the roads and streets configuration. Most building in this district is built after 1950s. The first apartment buildings were built by the former AWG in East part of Ettersburger Street in 1954. 8 page 62
Trancik,Roger. 1989. Finding Lost Space: Theories of Urban Design By,
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SOVIET IMAGINATION At the time of construction in Weimar-Nord instead of inspiring from the existing homogenous, organic fabric of public places that intimately servicing which create a different streetscape appearance in Weimar central, the tabula-rasa urban craziness of Communistic development took place with immense collective housing walls and rational format.(E. Harris, 2013) By pointing the ideologies of a socialist city, It could be concluded that the goal was creating a physical utopia for collective equality to have a systematic community. Of course the designs in Weimar-Nord were inspired by Modernist principle which comes along with socialistic
Backyard street scape
values. The situation become even worst in the field of urban realm and segregation even within a community. The post-socialistic ideologies influence with cutting off the individual expressions and private property. It helps to create more fragmentation and disunity (Hirt, 2012). So it seems impossible to create a healthy environment and non-segregated community, especially when referring to the concept of the public realm. Beside the situation of the housing in Weimar-Nord 9 E. Harris, Steven. 2013. Communism on Tomorrow Street: Mass Housing and Everyday Life after Stalin, Woodrow Wilson Center with Johns Hopkins University Bogdan Girboveanu
10 Hirt, Sonia A. 2012. GATES, SUBURBS AND PRIVATIZATION OF SPACE IN THE POST-SOCIALIST CITY,
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there are a lot of gaps between buildings which often are used for public greenery. The wooden barn and the abandoned Villa in the South-East corner of Weimar-Nord district shows the disrepair of the existing commercial building stock. The Villa has not been used for decades, whereas the large barn had been used as an art gallery but it had burnt in 2010.
Soviet effect
www.uncubemagazine.com
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COLLECTIVE GREEN
All playground which by the author's category is defined as public green are spread at the edges of WeimarNord district, whereas parks are integral to the fabric of the neighborhood. The situation of greenery are chaos in this district as they covered with garbage and glass in some areas. However an advantage is the presences of sheer number of green spaces and corridors between buildings. The problem with this green spaces is that as Weimar is located in the heart of Germany which covered with forests and green field, it seems that everything except the built area is inherently green
Allotment gardens
by its own. On the other hand, these constructions took place during different decades, so there were no overall detailed master plan. In conclusion the greenery between the building blocks and also in the edges of the district seems to be undefined, lost and without any straight identity.
Collective green- Playground
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LEFT-OVER LANDS 30% of the whole site is not developed, and only a quarter of it is used as recreation which consists of park and open space. So the phenomena of non-space or not-oriented space is seen a lot in this district.
Abandoned Old fabric factory
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Industrial zone
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Parking zone parallel to Macel Paul strasse
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TYPOLOGY The house of Ettersburgerstr. used to be a place for
Johanna Klasander in her report mentioned that the
students gathering and art gallery in 1990s. There is
physical structure with a separation of functions as well
also a strong visual connection to Weimar's old city
as a separation of traffic is one of the basic problems in
center and Buchenwald. Facilities such as the school,
many areas. (Klasander 2003).
health clinic, hotel/restaurants, services, and shops tend
However, one important question is that whether a mix
to lean on the south east border, while the recreation
of dwelling types always leads to a mix of categories of
facilities are situated in the northwest. Marcel-Paul
residents? In order to fix the problem of segregation in
Street is planned, car dominated, commercial corridor
urban context?
that supplies conveniences for the residents in the entire site. Few pedestrians were visible upon our visit to the site. Some of the commercial amenities found on this street included a hairdresser, a stone shop, numerous supermarkets and dollar stores, an insurance company and a carpenter's workshop. The dominant building typology in Weimar-Nord is a prefabricated residential building that is 5-8 storeys. This cluster of the medium-density flats can be considered the dominant building typology of our site. Furthermore, adjacent to our site are a series of converted military bunker units converted to residences as well as a new, award-winning residential unit. There is not a lot of information regarding the spatial conditions and the role of urban form in relation to the segregation on a comprehensive level. Again Anna11 Klasander, Anna-Johanna. 2003. Suburban navigation: structural coherence and visual appearance in urban design. PhD
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RENT PRICE- FINANCIAL SEGREGATION building here as well to intrigue more wealthy people to Jacobs presents a very concrete view on the built
live here and create a good- diverse community by this
environment, presents a set of very well defined features
notion. So according to what mentioned above a socio-
required to achieve urban qualities. She indicates that
economic mix within a neighborhood probably results in
"The conditions for diversity, a key concept, include a
a decrease of segregation.
land use mix as well as a mix of different building types to achieve a variation of the rent levels within the same area. Jacobs promotes a certain level of density and variation both regarding people and different activities. Also, small or short building blocks are preferred, creating opportunities for frequent meetings between people." (Jacobs, 1989) But the situation is somehow reverse in Weimar-Nord district. As it is shown in the following map all buildings in this zone are in the category of low price rental building, So mostly low income people from Weimar choose to live here and it may cause a paradoxical situation. On one hand a diversity of nations is chosen to live here as they are immigrants or refugees with low income which seems to be an improving aspect for this zone, but on the other hand the lack of diversity in housing rental and incomes there is not high level residential 12 Jacobs, Jane. 1989 [1961]. The death and life of great American cities. New York: Vintage Books.
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INTEGRATION ANALYSIS
Bill Hillier and Julienne Hanson describe how architecture defines systems of space and how those systems are related with social life: movement, encounter of social relations or avoidance are part of the architectural social vocabulary. (Scheerlinck, 2013). The system is mentioned above is a spatial characteristics define what they call space syntax: a system of spatial relations. Space syntax began from the observation that space is the common ground of physical and social cities. The physical city is a complex pattern of space, while all social activity and interaction happens in space (Hillier and Vaughan 2007). A detailed presentation of the theory is found in "The Social Logic of Space". Spatial configuration means relations between spaces: the simultaneously existing relations among the parts that make up the whole. The spatial relations potential to embody or carry social ideas is first theorized and then transformed into measures by linking them to geometric representations of the system of spaces that 13 Scheerlinck, Kris. 2013. Collective Spaces Streetscape Territories Notebook, Page 69 14 Hiller, Bill, and Laura Vaughan. 2007. The city as one thing. In The spatial syntax of urban segregation, ed. Laura Vaughan. Progress in Planning 15 Hillier, Bill, and Julienne Hanson. 1984. The social logic of space. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
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are studied (Hiller,Hanson 1984). In order to find out
accessible each public space (or axial line) is from
how integration analysis could help to find the issue of
all other spaces (or axial lines) and help to find the
segregation in streetscape territories, it is essential to
potentials of each space.
address the space syntax approach.
By this analysis highly integrated paths could be found
Space syntax reflects both the objectivity of space and our intuitive engagement with it. From a spatial point of view, human experience and use can be translated into quite simple geometrical forms. The elements used are the axial line (since movement is essentially linear), the convex space (required for interaction), and the isovist (the variably visual field that we see from any point in space). Space is not only about properties of individual spaces but also about inter-relations between the many spaces that make up the spatial layout of a building or of a city. Formally this is called the configuration of space and layouts that shape shallow graphs are defined as integrated, (high accessibility between spaces), while layouts that shape deep graphs are segregated (Legby, 2010). An axial configuration map is a tool to investigate the spatial segregation in Weimar city and the effect of it in Weimar-Nord district. This map is a measure of how
Weimar Nord integration analysis- Space syntax
16 Legby, Ann.2010. URBAN SEGREGATION AND URBAN FORM, KTH university, PHD thesis
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and link them with a kind of function or activity that depends on high accessibility. And on the other hand it helps to understand how urbanize Weimar-nord is and how well integrated the post-war housing neighborhood located in Weimar-Nord urban Fabric. Warm colors indicate high integration while cool colors, such as blue and green, indicate a segregated location in the system. So, it is concluded from the previous map that all in- between spaces of the slab housing colored blue which shows that these paths are not well integrated. It seems that this area is planned according to the principles of traffic separation and hence car traffic is directed to 2 intersect street, Marcel-Paul-Strasse/ Ettersburger road that more or less encircle the neighborhoods with no direct contact to buildings, while the internal system is restricted to pedestrian (and maybe bicycle) movements. It is also evident that many of the spaces (axial lines) that are significant for the areas are not constituted by buildings, and hence not by entrances. The axial lines also appear to be shorter with very few that go through a whole neighborhood.
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POSITION Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
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After previous analysis it is obvious that Weimar hosts layers of social problem specially segregation. This issue results in isolation of inhabitants of Weimar-Nord. The railways also has an impact on disconnection of the district with Weimar city centre and as a result the amount of loneliness increase. So in this point the exact definition of all these notions related to urban sociology seems crucial. SEGREGATION The notion of segregation is used when one group separated from the mainstream of society but they usually serve as a smaller group with poorer facilities. The separation of a race, class, or ethnic group by enforced or voluntary residence in a restricted area, by barriers to social intercourse, by separate educational facilities, or by other discriminatory means. Segregation is a deliberate separation with physical facilities or social structures intended for the use of one group but not the other.
Social relations diagram
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EXCLUSION The third notion is exclusion which could happened when some or several external factors force an individual or a community to move to finger society. Exclusion from the prevailing social system and its rights and privileges, typically as a result of poverty or the fact of belonging to a minority social group. INTEGRATION Social integration can be seen as a dynamic and structured process in which all members participate ISOLATION
in dialogue to achieve and maintain peaceful social relations. Social integration does not mean forced
Isolation is in the same category with segregation.
assimilation.
Isolation usually happened when a community separate
Social integration is focused on the need to move
themselves from the mainstream of society to preserve
toward a safe, stable and just society by mending
part of their identity . So isolation often done on a
conditions of social disintegration and social exclusion
voluntary basis.
- social fragmentation, exclusion and polarization; and by expanding and strengthening conditions of social integration - towards peaceful social relations of coexistence, collaboration and cohesion.
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INCLUSION
DISCONNECTION
Inclusion means that a person with a disability has the
Disconnection refers to more geographical and
same rights, access and choices as everyone else in
physical separation. In the case of Weimar-Nord the
a community. Inclusion is now considered a universal
disconnection element is the railways and the one and
human right.
only tunnel that connect the urban fabric.
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LONELINESS Loneliness happened as a result of separation and exclusion. This feeling appears when a person can not find anyone to make a proper conversation with. It usually happened in either heavily populated cities or it brought by social setting of a society. In this notion the quantity and quality of the contact matters the most.
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The first strategy is to act by program and configuration connector
between
Weimar
and
Weimar-Nord.
The result of this action could solve the problem of segregation between the community and Weimar centre. So by using the notion of function as a metaphor to connect people. On the other hand It could improve the quality and quantity of connect and as a result the reduce the loneliness. But still isolation and exclusion stays as powerful social boundaries in Weimar-Nord.
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The second strategy is to act in Weimar-Nord in order to re activate the community. There are good infrastructure in the community but the proper program to bring the context of social inclusion is missing in Weimar-Nord. So by proposing new programs in the direction of social inclusion The problem of exclusion which start from an individual to a building, a neighborhood and the whole district could be decrease. Also it could help to reduce the amount of isolation which could be seen in the "Garden Club". But defiantly it could not affect the loneliness and connection. As a result this strategy could make a better quality segregation but still the proper integration is missing.
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The third and final strategy which seems to work well for this
district is the combination of the first and
second strategy. So by providing programs with a base in Weimar city and introduce it to Weimar-Nord. Not in one location, but as several intervention which can have a connection either in concept or function. So two cycle will appear. The big cycle in Weimar city as a whole and the second one around Weimar-Nord.
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The decision of choosing a strategy to lead WeimarNord to be more of a inclusion community is to instead of trying to mix up neighborhoods and communities to reach maximum inclusion, divide the neighborhood based on their levels of collectivity and configuration to several micro-neighborhood and actually divide the whole area to smaller parts. As a result each microneighborhood could start to act as a more integrated community on the first level between themselves and then try to create social cohesion through the whole zone. The strategy is chosen for the organization of the whole Weimar-Nord neighborhood is to first categorized different residential configuration based in different levels of collectivity and the comparison between being "Introverted- Extroverted", "Intimate- Exposed", "Safe- Embody threat and danger" and finally " Private ownership- Public Ownership". The result of such analysis is a clear gradient between different zones from the most introvert to the most extrovert, the most safe to the most dangerous and so on...
Green typology and collective level
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So basically the micro neighborhoods surrounded by vehicle paths and all the previous paths in between omitted to create a walk-able micro-neighborhood. Different functions on the other hand spread in different micro- neighborhood which could play the second role of creating social cohesion on a more slow pace within the whole zone. So as an example recreation field will situated in one micro neighborhood and supermarkets on another one. After the first draft of the micro-neighborhood borders based on the former paths and roads, it seems that the best micro-neighborhood division is to combine different levels on collective spaces and atmosphere together in order to reach more proximity within each micro-neighborood. So new lines and borders created. In some micro- neighborhoods there are overlaps of two or several neighborhoods which are meant to work together.
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Micro - neighbourhoods and overlaps
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Beside the micro-neighborhood concept as a generator in creating social inclusion within Weimar-Nord district, there are different types of strategies involved. The first one is the principle of mixing different function which could serve each category and level of collectivity within each micro-neighborhood. The second one is the notion of creating proper street wall. The main discourse of this thesis is based on streetscape which include every relation, notion and principles related to the moment that a building facade meets the street level. It was seen through the Weimarnord district that there is lace of street wall and specially its identity. The most of it appear in Marcel-Paul Strasse.
Programs
In designing the master plan for this neighborhood this fact is taken into consideration. The third strategy is to create an straight and also important history path within the Weimar-Nord district. the location of this path is started from the very first point of the district which could more consider as the gate of Weimar-Nord. This path will invite public from Weimar, tourists to this district which could work as a catalyzer to create social inclusion and more important than that integration based on the third strategy mentioned in page 78. On the other hand there is a second path choose to be bold in this neighborhood. Street-wall
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From expo 2000 which Weimar-Nord introduced as an
So as a new concept this imaginary line is converted to a
example of revitalized neighborhood, a new conceptual
new pedestrian path which not only makes that concept
line was created which could connect Goethe house to
stronger, but also it could straightened the notion of
Buchenwald concentration camp. The influence of this
social inclusion and create the proper connection.
design could be seen in different location within WeimarNord by the means of simple concrete cubes which was put on the ground as it is shown in the picture below.
Conceptual connecting line of Goethe house to Buchenwald
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History Line
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Following the micro neighborhood strategy, the vehicle paths and pedestrian paths created. There are only pedestrian path inside each micro-neighborhood. So basically the borders are created with natural and visual elements such as trees, carparks, green fences, etc. New buildings are defined based on the program needed in each micro neighborhood. Several community housing are created in the corner of Ettersberg Strasse in order to create the typology differences in housing and on the other hand solve a part of housing shortage in Weimar. The configuration of these housing is more 3,4 story housing blocks with commercial and collective
Pedestrian Paths
functions on the ground floor. On the other hand, several building is created around the new walking path which connect Goethe house in the center to Buchenwald. Programs which are more linked to the public could situated around this path. As it is shown in the master plan, two types of collective structures are also designed which could increase the quality of slab buildings and increase the collective spaces within each building.
Vehicle Paths
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Interventions
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INTERVENTIONS Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
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DYNAMIC FACADES
PRIVATE-COLLECTIVE STRUCTURE
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CONCEPT
New plan
Existing plan
The first series of collective structure is designed on the inner facade of the 3 side building. The reason of choosing this building is that this
N
inner garden considered as the most introvert, safe and local yard among the whole neighborhood. Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
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As it is obvious on the existing situation the only collective space is the staircases and circulation. On the new intervention the purpose is to create modular collective structures as much as possible attached to the facades. These structures could be add time to time based on inhabitants demand.
The inhabitants themselves could also choose the level of collectivity in each modular unit by consulting with the neighbors. They can also choose to use it as a private space and an attachment to the small houses in order to have a better living space. So the facade of the building is constantly changing and the percentage of collective spaces based on the block area
is
consonantly balancing. These collective structures could serve as a winter garden, a new suitable balcony, a shared living room between two or several neighbors or even a pleasant living room inside one apartment. The modular feature of these structures increase flexibility and adaptability of the project.
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Standard
Double
Free standing
Modular Systems
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UP
DN UP UP DN
DN DN
UP DN
UP
DN DN
DN DN
UP UP
DN UP DN DN DN
DN
DN
UP UP UP UP
UP UP UP
DN
UP
DN DN
DN
DN
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories SCALE 1:1500
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Existing pre-fab building
Open Direct access to inner collective gardens
The removal of the studio apartments has allowed the creation of breakthrough spaces connecting the streetscape and its character to the collective garden by a new collective hallways. This more direct access to the garden for all the flats helps to make the garden a more lively resource.
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Add structure, Elevator shafts and private-collective extra space on demand
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Dynamic facade with flexible structure
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F
E 17
D
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Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
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1 Level 7 20000 Level 6 17900
Level 5 14500
Level 4 11100
Level 3 7700
Level 2 4300
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
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Room Legend
Room Legend
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Collective Hallways
Shops
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Shops Mahgol Motalebi
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Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
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Kitchen
Livingroom Bedroom
Circulation
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Refugee Accomodation
Kitchen
Storage
Livingroom
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
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Refugee Accomodation Storage
Wc Mahgol Motalebi
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Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Removal of some studio flats has allowed the flats either side to grow and gain one or two more bedrooms and makes them more suitable for family accommodation. Although the structural intervention has been kept to a minimum, the flats have been able to achieve double aspect giving a much better quality of natural light and feeling of space. After revising the plans the orange rooms created in order to work as a flexible space. In time of serious crisis these flexible rooms could be embedded refugees which could help the notion of inclusion within newcomers. on the other times it could be rented or used as an office space.
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Dynamic facade time-line
Bare structure with elevator shafts and connecting hallways
Private - collective structure installed on demand
Private - collective structure installed on demand
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIES
Wells for irrigation
Rain Gardens
Collective allotment Gardens
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Wild Grass Gardens
Mahgol Motalebi
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Thermal Line Although the cubic system of collective space make a huge improvement to the generosity, flexibility and attractiveness of the apartments, the system is energy efficient which gives the user personal control over their environment. The system is unheated but insulated with highly effi-
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cient glazing. The thermal line splits in two at the level if the cubic system with the inner and outer layers.
The collective structure is activated according to the external conditions providing and adaptive use of the space during different seasons. In winter it acts as a warm buffer zone that reduce the heat losses from the flats. During spring and autumn it can be utilized as an extension of the living room. During the summer, it could be extended, creating an interactive private-collective space.
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi

Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
COLLECTIVE WINTER-GARDEN EXPOSED BALCONIES AND HALLWAYS
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
New plan
Bench/ LED info
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Existing plan
Cafe stand
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Waiting area/ Cafe stand
Mahgol Motalebi
The second intervention is also a set of collective
circulation that inhabitants could walk through the slabs
structure, but on a different building configuration but
and the second one will use a new small balconies or
the same slab designed.
sharing spaces with adjacent neighbors.
These 4 parallel buildings are situated perpendicular to
The design of this collective structure is in a way that
the main street and the collective structure is designed
the design principles are more fixed than the firt design.
on the front facade on these buildings. All the small
But on the other hands inhabitants could also act in
balconies demolished and instead new parallel slabs
modifying their own space.
attached to the existing building. The accessibility to the slab is by the new staircase and elevator. The existing buildings did not have elevator, but it seems crucial in a 5 story building to have several elevators. The slabs are divided to 2 different paths. One path just serve as
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
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Mahgol Motalebi
Remove Terraces
Remove Staircases
Existing pre-fabricated building
Direct access to inner collective gardens
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Add new vertical circulations
Mahgol Motalebi
Keep several staircases as fire safety
Add new horizontal circulation with voids and bridges
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
New staircases and Elevators
Finish open-able glazing to create collective- winter- garden
Mahgol Motalebi
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Room Legend Circulation Shops
Room Legend Circulation Shops
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
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Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
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Room Legend Bedroom
Kitchen
Refugee accomodation
Void
Circulation
Livingroom
Storage
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Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
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Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
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Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
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Mahgol Motalebi
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Level 7 19000 Level 6 18000
Level 5 14400
Level 4 10800
Level 3 7200
Level 2 3600
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Level 1 0
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
REFUGEE CENTRE
FROM BORDER TO HOME
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
The 3rd intervention is the most influencing one which
in Buchenwald concentration camp to wait for the train
could works as a catalysis within the Weimar- Nord
form the east to take them to extermination camps. Now
district which could integrated the newcomers and
the new building is serve to newcomers and refugees as
ethnic minorities with the rest of Weimar population and
there is a serious refugee crisis in Europe and specially
as a result decrease segregation and exclusion. The
in Germany which lots of facilities is needed to serve
location which is chosen for this intervention is exactly
them in different level.
on the footprint of Viehauktionhalle which was burnt in 2012. The very first function of that precise building was to store Jewish prisoners which were worked and kept
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
New housing community within the framework of collective streetscape has been designed on the former industrial lands close to the refugee centre which could help the newcomers to settle down in these socially well-designed community housing to reach inclusion and integration. The orientation and position of the buildings situated on the edges of the North street designed with considering the notion of creating proper street-wall as an urban strategy. The buildings could create sets of collective squares in different proportions and sequences.
New interventions
Existing Buildings
SCALE 1:1500 N Territories Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape
Mahgol Motalebi
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Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
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Room Legend Circulation Room Legend Dining zone
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Room Legend
Circulation Kitchen Sleeping Area K I H G J Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Dining zone Reception Storage Territories
Wc
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Mahgol Motalebi
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Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
BIBLIOGRAPHY Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
BOOKS Scheerlinck, K. (2013). Collective Spaces Streetscape Territories Notebook. Streetscape Territories Notebooks, 2. Brussels: LUCA School of Arts. Scheerlinck, K. (2014). Coney Island New York Streetscape Territories Notebook. Streetscape Territories Notebooks, 5. Brussel: LUCA School of Arts. Hillier, B.; Hanson, J. (1984). The Social Logic of Space. Cambridge: University Press. Panerai, P.; Castex, J.; Depaule, J.; Samuels, I. (2004). Urban Forms, The Death and Life of the Urban Block. Oxford: Architectural Press. Jacobs, J. (1961). The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Vintage Books. Harvey, D. (2012). Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution. London: Verso.
Trancik,Roger. (1989). Finding Lost Space: Theories of Urban Design. Dalton, Conroy. (2007). Social Exclusion Transportation in Peachtree City, Georgia.
Hirt, Sonia A. (2012). GATES, SUBURBS AND PRIVATIZATION OF SPACE IN THE POSTSOCIALIST CITY E. Harris, Steven. (2013). Communism on Tomorrow Street: Mass Housing and Everyday Life after Stalin, Woodrow Wilson Centre with Johns Hopkins University Hiller, Bill, and Laura Vaughan. (2007). The city as one thing. In The spatial syntax of urban segregation, ed. Laura Vaughan. Progress in Planning Hillier, Bill, and Julienne Hanson. (1984). The social logic of space. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
Hall, P.; Ward, C. (1998). Sociable Cities. London: John Wiley & Sons. Gehl, J.& Gemzoe, L. (1996). Public Spaces and Public Life. Copenhagen: Danish Architectural Press. Vertovec, Steven. (2007). NEW COMPLEXITIES OF COHESION IN BRITAIN: SUPER-DIVERSITY, TRANS-NATIONALISM AND CIVIL-INTEGRATION
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
and
Mahgol Motalebi
ARTICLES
ONLINE SOURCES
Scheerlinck K. (2012). Depth Configurations and Privacy. Proximity, Permeability and Territorial Boundaries in Urban
Sennett, R. (2013). The Public Realm. Borders and Boundaries. Essay online: http://www.richardsennett. com.
Scheerlinck K. (2010). Depth Configurations. Proximity, Permeability and Territorial Boundaries in Urban Projects. Doctoral thesis.
http://www.allgerman.com/thuringia http://stadt.weimar.de/
Vaughan, Laura. (2005). The relationship between physical segregation and social marginalization in the urban environment Klasander, Anna-Johanna. (2003). Suburban navigation: structural coherence and visual appearance in urban design. PhD Legby, Ann. (2010). URBAN SEGREGATION AND URBAN FORM, KTH university, PHD thesis
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
IMAGE CREDIT Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
1. Ambiguity by Morten Anderson
26. Entrance of prefab building
2. Refugee welcome by pablo_blazquez- dominguez
27. Streetscape of zone 1
3. Refugee crisis https://jbreelblog.files.wordpress.
28. Tall bare concrete walls
com
29. Map of entrances
4. Scale maps of germany , https://commons. wikimedia.org
31. Inner garden of prefab building
5. Goethe House 6. Schiller House
30. Back facade of prefab building
www.planetware.com www.thueringen.info
7. Bauhaus University 8. Map of Weimar/ proximity of refugee camp and city center
32. Inappropriate use of courtyards 33. Existing and future situation of front and back facade coincident 34. Trimmed Google map of zone 3 35. New building with old concepts
9. Bird view of Weimar-Nord
36. Four story bourgeois building
10. Railway buffer zone, abandoned land
37. The picture shows prisoners when working
11. Abandoned undeveloped land
on the so-called Buchenwald train. The tracks
12. Proximity of industrial and residential zones
that should go out from Weimar train station,
13. Isolated Garden clubs
transported tens of thousands to their deaths.
14. Map of zone division
38. Track construction
15. Trimmed Google map of zone 1
39. Inmates at work on the construction of the
16. Adjacencies of garden club and industrial zones
Buchenwald line, spring of 1943
17. Railways border informal path
40. Former railway covered with asphalt
18. South streetscape of garden club
41. Buchenwald concentration cap and blood road
19. Informal paths to railway borders
42. Former Viehauktionhalle
20. Industrial storage
43. Trimmed Google map of zone 4 Building
21. View of garden club
typologies of zone 4
22. Trimmed Google map of zone 2
44. Building typologies of zone 4
23. Streetscape of prefab buildings
45. Demographic facts and age distribution
24. Territorial boundaries of the prefab building
46. Ettersburg road through Weimar-Nord
25. Territorial boundaries of the prefab building Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
47. Homeless situation in Weimar City centre
73. Map of micro neighbourhoods and its overlaps
48. Map of proximity and mobility
74. Urban strategies- Program
49. Map of territories
75. Street wall
50. Pedestrian path through Weimar- West
76. History
51. Communistic block building fabric Weimar-nord
77. Pedestrian paths
52. Traditional fabric city center and old town
78. Vehicle paths
53. Backyard street scape
79. Conceptual connecting line of Goethe house to
54. Soviet effect by Bogdan Girboveanu 55. Soviet effect
Buchenwald 80. Map of intervention locations
56. Map of community centers proximity within Weimar Nord 57. Allotment gardens 58. Collective green- Playground 59. Map of greenery typology 60. Abandoned Old fabric factory 61. Industrial zone 62. Map of parking space distribution 63. Parking zone parallel to Macel Paul strasse 64. Map of residential housing typology 65. Map of rent price distribution 66. Global integration analysis 67. Weimar-Nord integration analysis 68. Weimar-Nord integration analysis- Space syntax 69. Social relations diagram 70. Map of Weimar-Nord social relations 71. Green typology and collective level 72. Micro neighbourhood diagram
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi
Urban blocks and Socio-spatial boundaries in Streetscape Territories
Mahgol Motalebi