Alex Bramhill_Y5 |Unit 14 | Bartlett School of Architecture

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ALEX BRAMHILL YEAR 5

UNIT

Y5 AB

THE MODERN HANSESTADT OF THE NEW SILK ROAD

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All work produced by Unit 14 Cover design by Maggie Lan www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture Copyright 2018 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

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ALEX BRAMHILL YEAR 5 Y5 AB

alexbramhill@gmail.com @unit14_ucl

T H E M O D E R N H A N S E S TA D T OF THE NEW SILK ROAD Duisburg, Germany

T

he Rhine-Ruhr region is undergoing a great change. The heavy industries that once defined the area are closing in favour of more modern production methods. The Rhine-Ruhr is struggling to adapt: there is rising unemployment, poverty and emigration. Described as a region with “roots and wings” there is concern whether the region can reinvent itself as “strong roots have trouble flying”.

The solution to this region’s local issues comes from an unlikely source: China. China is looking to open a direct transportation route to the heart of Europe. Called the “New Silk Road”, the final terminus is set to be Duisburg, a major city within the Rhine-Ruhr region. The New Silk Road will see the influx of goods, trading opportunities, markets, and culture to the region.

This proposal will explore the resultant influx of trade and culture of the New Silk Road, and how this ties in with the history of the region. It frames the New Silk Road in the context of the Hanseatic League; a powerful medieval trade league that utilised the Rhine river network and North Sea. It is proposed that the New Silk Road’s Duisburg terminal will adopt a similar structure, framework, and operation to the Hanseatic League’s Hansestadts; creating a new modern Hansestadt at the heart of Duisburg, bringing revitalisation to the region.

Market stalls, shops, houses, and containers are transported through the scheme via the same transportation routes, either to be inserted into the districts (and attached to the megastructure) or, in the case of containers, transported to their onward journey down the Rhine.

This creates a city that is constantly changing. New businesses enter the scheme as old leave, the bourgeoisie move in to oversee their ventures, locating their houses in prime locations above the hustle of the markets, smaller stalls and markets set up shop on the plazas and promenades of the project. The scheme’s large scale layout was created through the use of genetic algorithms and explored the optimisation of structural and spatial layouts to achieve a successful long span structure.

This new generative design tool was the subject of my thesis. On a smaller scale, the scheme draws from the layouts of Hanseatic cities for its district and small scale urban planning.

The scheme implements this Hansestadt through the creation of a long-spanning megastructure over the existing docks of Duisburg. This megastructure is a new city, a melting pot of Eastern and Western culture. Within the structural framework there are districts containing city elements such as marketplaces, trading, and accommodation.

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All work produced by Unit 14 Unit book design by Maggie Lan www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture Copyright 2018 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmited in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retreival system without permission in writing from the publisher.

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P I O N E E R I N G S E N T I M E N T

2018

At the centre of Unit 14’s academic exploration lies Buckminster Fuller’s ideal of the ‘The Comprehensive Designer’, a master-builder that follows Renaissance principles and a holistic approach. Fuller referred to this ideal of the designer as somebody who is capable of comprehending the ‘integrateable significance’ of specialised findings and is able to realise and coordinate the commonwealth potentials of these discoveries while not disappearing into a career of expertise.

Like Fuller, we are opportunists in search of new ideas and their benefits via architectural synthesis.

As such Unit 14 is a test bed for exploration and innovation, examining the role of the architect in an environment of continuous change. We are in search of the new, leveraging technologies, workflows and modes of production seen in disciplines outside our own. We test ideas systematically by means of digital as well as physical drawings, models and prototypes. Our work evolves around technological speculation with a research-driven core, generating momentum through astute synthesis.

Our propositions are ultimately made through the design of buildings and through the in-depth consideration of structural formation and tectonic constituents. This, coupled with a strong research ethos, generates new and unprecedented, viable and spectacular proposals. They are beautiful because of their intelligence - extraordinary findings and the artful integration of those into architecture.

This year’s UNIT 14 focus shifts onto examining moments of pioneering sentiment. We find out about how human endeavor, deep desire and visionary thought interrelate and advance cultural as well as technological means while driving civilisation as highly developed organisation. Supported by competent research we search for the depicted pioneering sentiment and amplify found nuclei into imaginative tales with architectural visions fuelled by speculation.

The underlying principle and observation of our investigations is that futurist speculation inspires and ultimately brings about significant change. A prominent thinker is the Californian Syd Mead who envisages and has scripted a holistic vision of the future with his designs and paintings.

As universal as our commitment and thoughts is our testbed and territory for our investigations and proposals. Possible sites are as such global or specific to our visits, as much as the individual investigations suggest and opportunities arrive. Unit 14 is supported by a working relationship with innovators across design. We engage specialists, but remain generalists, synthesising knowledge towards novel ways of thinking, making and communicating architecture.

UNIT 14 @unit14_ucl

All work produced by Unit 14 Unit book design by Maggie Lan www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture Copyright 2018 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmited in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retreival system without permission in writing from the publisher.