The Hybrid_Link #05 Waterfront for an hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space
www.urbanhybridization.net ISSN 2039-4608
Cover image: Sara Carraretto, Luca Pugliano, Kevin Santus, Scuola di Architettura U.I.C., Politecnico di Milano Š 2017
Contents
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Gioia C. Sawaya Edge and Image: The Evolving Cartography of Beirut’s Urban Waterfront
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Julio Alberto Cedano, Jacqueline Taylor A New Face for The City: Detroit’s Re-emerging Riverfront
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Fabrizio Zanni Nodi urbani: i waterfront il caso dell'area "Montecolino", Iseo, Lago d'Iseo, Lombardia
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Tan Shilong Waterfront as Node
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Jingwen Shan Folding As an Experiment
The Hybrid_Link #05
Waterfront: for a hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space
ISSN 2039-4608
Edge and Image: The Evolving Cartography of Beirut’s Urban Waterfront Gioia C. Sawaya B. Arch from the Faculty of Arts, Architecture, and Design, Notre Dame University, Lebanon Email: gioiasawaya@hotmail.com
Abstract The idea of edge, in relation with the definition of a city, has always been a major inquiry in major fields. Today, its study is no longer a pure result of geography, but also sociology, history, culture, and more. Combined with place-making, edges produce much of the context for urban identities. Cities often take their shape in edges, and urban forms (according to Lefebvre) are not only made out of material and things, but also out of meanings, language, and symbols that this material carries. Tied to the past and folded through intimate sites, Beirut is one example. However, a city such as Beirut is subjective: contextualized in such a sensitive geography, the case of its waterfront, for example, and the question of intersecting its past edge with the new, parallel to “time”, produces critical responses and major changes that arise on the spatial, social, and toponymical scales. Edge, here isn’t merely an image, or a picture, but an interpretation of what Beirut’s evolving waterfront may hide or carry, in terms of metamorphosis and evolution. Keywords: edge, urban margin, waterfront, evolution.
Figure 01: The edge of Beirut, being inextricably linked to water. Source: ©Ayman Trawi, Beirut’s Memory, Anis Commercial Printing Press, ltd: p. 02. Photo Edited by: Gioia Sawaya
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Edge and Image: The Evolving Cartography of Beirut’s Urban Waterfront
1. Introduction “Cities are never random. No matter how chaotic they might seem, everything about them grows out of a need to solve a problem. In fact, a city is nothing more than a solution to a problem that in turn creates more problems that need more solutions, until towers rise, roads widen, bridges are built, and millions of people are caught up in a mad race to feed the problem-solving, problem-creating frenzy.”1 (Shusterman, 1999). Urban sprawl is open-ended, and the need to expand has always proved indispensable. However, the more the city is densified, the more there is congestion, and the more it is packed to the point it can no longer function. Lion Krier refers to this concept as vertical sprawl. Similarly, at urban margins and edge-contexts, it is at the horizontal level and its articulation (such as waterfronts) where architects, urban planners, stakeholders and market forces find provision. 2. The notion of “edge” as an urban margin "Where there is nothing, everything is possible, where there is architecture, nothing (else) is possible."2 (Koolhaas and Mau, 1995).
Figure 02: The edge as a place for further urban expansions, a space to be generated, and an opportunity to create new relations in the congested territory. Source: ©Ayman Trawi, Beirut’s Memory, Anis Commercial Printing Press, ltd: p. 04. Photo Edited by: Gioia Sawaya
Hence, urban margins are tissue edges, delicate areas, interstices, and spaces located at edgecontexts. We deal with these margins where the line extends to become physical, transitional and transformative so that the bands that are on its edges extend, and so that the place that is “marginal” (a margin with respect to the urban fabric), won’t remain off-center. Therefore, the
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Edge and Image: The Evolving Cartography of Beirut’s Urban Waterfront
margin is a transitional zone that filters passage, thrives to allow easier accessibility, and is a driving force for new market dynamics. But “the condition of marginality is not necessarily linked to a geographic location or a defined spatial relationship. There are outer edges of margins that aren’t physically tangible. The meanings of the term are varied.” 3 (Augé, 2007). Only with an analytical approach we can consider the condition of the margin in real sense, accounting it into the space within a four-dimensional system, the margin as a “crossover” that is not only physical but also about “time”, a path of history, from the past into the present, and looking towards the future. In space, the margin is the edge-context, (in this case, Beirut’s waterfront). In time, the margin is the transition (Beirut’s history). In the reading of the city, the time dimension opens up new fields of inquiry about its possible shape.” 4 (Mei, 2009).
Figure 03: Diagrammatic Metamorphosis: The Evolution of the Waterfront as a Superimposed Map Source: Gioia Sawaya based on historical maps of Lebanon
Therefore, urban margins provide potential possibilities towards the enrichment of the city and its better functionality. However, if they are to be regarded as a solution to the city’s problems, them, themselves, could become a problem with yet a far more estimated complexity: Clément writes: "The future of a system is, by its very nature, unpredictable. The inconstancy and possibilities of change, even sudden or unexpected, are a resistance at the time warranty. The time dimension is an element of richness and openness to new perspectives for the space of the margin. It allows places to be in the face of changes in the environment and to create new living solutions.” 5 (Clément, 2005). 3. The notion of “edge” as an expression of social and economic forces In addition, Nan Ellin states the great interest people have with edges, especially when it comes to water: The edge of Beirut, being inextricably linked with water. This adjacency Beirut has
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Edge and Image: The Evolving Cartography of Beirut’s Urban Waterfront
between city, edge, and water made possible “the dissolution of traditional limits and lines of demarcation due to rapid urbanization and globalization.” 6 (Ellin, 1999). The notion of the “edge”, then, as a margin to a scape with a dualistic nature (cityscape on one hand, waterscape on another), showed an opportunity constituted of different criteria in relation to interpreting the idea of the waterfront and its planning with respect to the city. However, as architect, I am inevitably linked to the further mappings of urbanization, their complexities and contradictions. In the case of Beirut, the evolution of the waterfront (diagrammatic metamorphosis of the shoreline), the gradual shifting in function from public to private, (the shrinking of public access to the water’s edge),… can tell much about the way edges are thought of; more precisely, the way they are designed and built. Referring to the above diagrams (figure 03), zones of overlap, having so much peculiarity to such a privileged shoreline site, show that Beirut’s current waterfront was born out of a process: one that was pieced together from heterogeneous units, but that when combined, create a homogeneous urban structure. It is not however the “spatial” integration of the individual units of the waterfront that is the most significant, but the “evolving” and “multiplying” nature of those units themselves. So the above diagrams are important for both, what they reveal and what they conceal: “In this sense, diagrams are those forces which appear in every relation from one point to another as superimposed maps.”7 (Eisenman, 1999). Given this situation, “the city is becoming less the result of design and more the expression of economic and social forces. The size of contemporary urban agglomeration means that no one single authority controls the form of the city. A mixture of bureaucracy and market forces defines it.” 8 (Marshall, 2001). 4. Result Today, Beirut attempts to revolutionize the national infrastructure of the seafront in compliance with an enforced policy of privatization. Hence, the national agenda aims to respond to the demands of real estate agents, profit makers, and stakeholders, aiming to recapture economic investment. Therefore, the urgency for stopping the privatization at the edge must be set into action. Urban edges speak to the future, not only the past. However, this urgency, as logical and reasonable for a healthy and sustainable waterfront development as it may seem, is limited to the laying down of principles that sometimes cannot be put into practice. Owners of the lands that should have been turned into free, public areas at the seafront are, in the current system, forces that are proving themselves to be effectively invincible. At the current moment, and between public and private, Beirut is left a suspended cosmopolis. 5. Conclusion As a conclusion, one can say that Beirut’s waterfront needs to build its nucleus leaving free the land necessary for both social health and public sustainability, aiming to create a community that offers better choices for where and how people live. A link between private development and public benefits should be provided; however, Beirut’s new frontier is far often being affected by
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Edge and Image: The Evolving Cartography of Beirut’s Urban Waterfront
power, and forces that are political, financial, and economic (capital) are frameworks with a faster outcome than the ability for adjustment and sensitive planning.
Figure 04: The edge as a result of social and economic forces Source: Gioia Sawaya
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Edge and Image: The Evolving Cartography of Beirut’s Urban Waterfront
Figure 05: Comparative Plans: Beirut’s Waterfront Before and After New Port Expansion Source: Top: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem & The Jewish National & University Library ©1923 Bottom: Retrieved from Arabia GIS ©2007 Edited by: Gioia Sawaya
6. References 1| Shusterman, N (1999). Downsiders, New York: Simon and Schuster Publications. 2| Koolhaas, R. and Mau, B. (1995). S, M, L, XL, New York: The Monacelli Press. 3| Augé, M. (2007). Tra i Confini: Città, Luoghi, Integrazioni, Milano: ed. Mondadrori Bruno. 4| Mei, P. (2009). Il Tempo Della Simultaneità nel Progetto Urbano: Tra Permanenza e Mutazione, Napoli: tesi di dottorato, Federico II. 5| Clément, G. (2005). Manifesto del Terzo paesaggio, Macerata: ed. Quodlibet. 6| Ellin, N. (1999). Postmodern Urbanism, New York: Princeton Architectural Press. 7| Eisenman, P. (1999). Diagram Diaries, New York: Universe Publishing. 8| Marshall, R. (2001). Waterfronts in Post-Industrial Cities, London: Taylor & Francis.
A New Face for The City: Detroit’s Re-emerging Riverfront Julio Alberto Cedano, Jacqueline Taylor, Planning & Development, City of Detroit Detroit, Michigan 48226, United States Cedanoj@detroitmi.gov; Taylorja@detroitmi.gov
Abstract How does a city that has lost its raison d’être through the demise of industry discover new purpose, generate hope, and build equity for its citizens, all while exchanging grit for beauty? One way is to transform its international riverfront – the face of the city - into a beautiful, dynamic, inclusive, world-class gathering place for all. Surfacing from bankruptcy, Detroit struggles to retain its dramatically declined population. Vacancy, poverty and physical devastation characterize the urban environment. But, as the only body of water that anchors the city in a state dominated by lakes, Detroit’s river has failed to unlock its powerful potential. A re-imagining of design, access, public engagement, and programming permits a transformation of this unique local asset into a resource that must be shared across all communities. Through a public-private partnership the City’s Planning and Development Department envisions a multi-pronged initiative that integrates historic elements with contemporary design, creates ecological landscapes, reserves land for active public spaces, and through physical connections enhances access to the riverfront and beyond. Keywords: riverfront, urban regeneration, equity 1. Introduction What a city long-suffering from disinvestment and decline really needs is a champion. Occasionally that champion comes from the general populace or from philanthropy, but here in Detroit, it was the leader of the municipal administration elected in 2014 to bring to city back to its former glory. As the city where the American Dream was first established with plenty of jobs, high wages and land bountiful enough for every man to own his own home, this city needed serious attention after years of neglect and bankruptcy. Although throughout the city a need existed for rehabilitation of homes, maintenance and regeneration of vacant lands, it is the city’s main asset, the riverfront that can truly bring revitalization, imbue a sense of hope and optimism, and provide its people with the amenities necessary to overcome hardship and despair. Mayor Mike Duggan understood this, when in April 2017 he spoke to leaders in the realm of politics, policy, business, development, and philanthropy, identifying 8 priority points to fulfill in the next four years should he win reelection. Duggan’s eighth point that the “Riverfront belongs to Everyone,” suggests a renewed recognition in the importance of designing the waterfront as a key public domain for all citizens (Detroit Chamber of Commerce, 2017).
Duggan’s declaration to address the waterfront is a response in many ways to prior urban visions that once seemed attractive, fashionable, exciting, but in fact were destructive, divisive and caused unremitting devastation across the city. Focusing on the new fascination with speed and the automobile, urban administrations and their planning departments of the 1950’s and ‘60s employed highway development as a tool to direct communities, particularly the white middle-class, away from city centers to the vast horizons beyond, where single family homes, green lawns and access to employment were paramount. These highways however, cut through Detroit on all sides, wiping out entire, mostly minority, neighborhoods of seemingly obsolescent historic homes, and displacing communities. Mayor Duggan’s new vision for the waterfront attempts to redress the wrongs committed in the past, establishes a universal connection to the river underscored by a singular Detroit sense of place, engages with residents, embraces the environment and an ecological sustainability, as well as weaving the past together with the future, as it builds on existing structures and introduces new design to compliment historic character. Furthermore, this 21st century vision takes advantage of contemporary inclinations to forge private-public partnerships as a means to achieving success in a market strained by economic/financial insecurity. 2. Methodology Through research into the design and built interventions of the past, we explore the city’s relationship to the body of water that was its raison d’etre, from which its name derives, and through which settlement and development occurred over time. Extracting lessons from these earlier interventions we analyze and evaluate the new vision for Detroit’s waterfront suggesting how it might better serve the people who rely on this significant landscape for essential, active, and passive engagement. The City of Detroit currently comprises 139 square miles; the river that forms its border with Canada runs 32 miles between Lake St Clair and Lake Erie and within the City of Detroit it is 13 miles. How city officials have managed this valuable resource can suggest a great deal about their values and the values of those constituents who elected them into power. 3. From Farming to Industry In 1701 French explorer Antoine Laumet de Lamothe Cadillac identified an attractive stretch of riverbank alongside a body of freshwater linking two lakes and providing a strategic outlet for expansive fur trading. This strait or le détroit, as it was officially named, supported commercial, agricultural and military activity for about seventy years, as French Canadian, American Indian and British traders and soldiers sought to establish conflicting claims to the land. The French made the most pronounced mark on the land at this time, establishing ribbon farms - a typical French method of dividing land into narrow plots extending two to three miles inland, while allowing each property direct access to the water - along the East riverfront. The place attracted attention for its beauty, with visitors in 1763 declaring it the “prettiest settlement in America” (Dunnigan, 2001). When a devastating fire in 1805 wiped out much of the development that had occurred so far, amounting to little more than 300 buildings, including dwellings, government structures and the fort, the way was opened for a new urban plan.
Prominent citizen and municipal judge Augustus B. Woodward (1774-1827), designed an urban plan emulating aspects of Pierre Charles De L’Enfant’s grand Baroque plan for Washington D.C. with its ceremonial spaces and grand radial avenues superimposed over a grid. Woodward established the central spine at a boulevard emanating from the riverfront; it would become Woodward Avenue. To the east of this central spine the grid created a series of parallel streets along the waterfront (Woodford, 2001). Incorporated in 1815 and with a new urban plan, the City of Detroit took advantage of developments such as the opening of the Erie Canal, New York, and the Sault Ste. Marie Canal on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, establishing the Detroit riverfront as a center of regional and international trade. These engineering feats, may have created positive energy for Detroit’s economy, but it had a seriously detrimental effect on the physical landscape of the waterfront, as new industrial uses ranging from ship building to tobacco and soap manufacturing began to infiltrate the shoreline. The water’s edge had already begun to expand as the city itself grew in the early 1820s and municipal authorities deposited increasing amounts of refuse in this industrial area, a situation that was remedied through filling the low ground with dirt from Fort Shelby. Reclaiming land came to a halt when an international agreement, signed in 1889, prevented expansion of the river's edge along the border with Canada (Leake, 1912).
Figure 1. Bird’s eye view-showing about three miles square-of the central portion of the city of Detroit [Photograph]. (1889). Library of Congress In Calvert Lithographing Co (Author).
Although expansion of the iron and steel industry provided employment for the city’s growing population it nevertheless polluted the landscape along the river frontage. In other industrial cities, the railroad transported freight, but in Detroit, the river took on this role, as steamers transported goods from one side of the river to the other. Moreover, a freight tunnel was established as early as 1910 taking goods to Canada. At one point,
river traffic was so intense the annual figure for passengers crossing on a daily basis, amounted to 25,000. At the turn of the twentieth century as the automobile industry developed, the riverfront was seen as an attractive site to establish company headquarters, yet as land became increasingly there was little room for company factories to accommodate mass manufacturing, so many firms moved outward, away from the riverfront, de-industrializing the area and prompting a steady decline. Civic engagement with and public access to the water at this time was extremely limited, particularly with regard to recreational activities (Belle Isle Park, 2017; Kozora, 1982). 4. Belle Isle & Recreation On The River However, some recreational activity did occur along the east riverfront, in the form of the Detroit Boat Club, the first of its kind in the country. From its initial establishment along the riverfront as early as 1839 the boat club inspired other rowing clubs and as the century progressed the sport became highly popular, drawing competitors from across the State of Michigan to participate in regattas, and attracting thousands of spectators and fans. After a fire destroyed the original boathouse and subsequent relocations failed to take root along the riverfront the Detroit Boat Club moved its business across the river and settled on Belle Isle in 1891 (Kozora, 1982). Ironically, in a region surrounded by the largest freshwater lakes in the world, the growing industrial City of Detroit located on a river between two lakes, was unable to provide its citizens with any relief in the form of healthful recreation. In the 1870s, municipal officials influenced by the 19th-century parks movement, looked to the 1.45 square-mile landscape mostly made up of untended swampland and located a short distance from the shore, to provide the much needed recreational space for its residents. Purchasing the Belle Isle property from private owners the city hired famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design it into a picturesque city park, a key place of leisure where the peacefulness and beauty of nature could soothe and restore citydwellers’ spirit. Initially a ferry service on the Western end of the riverfront brought Detroiters to the Island, until the 1890s when the classically designed, white stone MacArthur Bridge was built (Cialdella, 2013). Conceived in the philosophy of 19th-century pastoral and picturesque landscapes, Belle Isle Park was one of the city’s first environmental visions that explored engagement with nature, emphasizing movement that was both passive and active, and conserved land for open space rather than for manufacturing and industry. The island was thought of as a park for all, where the universal necessities of health, comfort and recreation could be enjoyed a short distance from the city. Over time, Olmsted's original park concept would be modified, as early twentieth century City Beautiful Movement tenets prescribed a more architecturally designed space, with clearly delineated circulation routes punctuated by focal points of sculptural interest. Cass Gilbert, architect of Detroit’s classically informed Public Library (1913-1921) introduced a new plan for the western end of the island with a geometric radial pattern that centered on a grand fountain. Cultural and educational programming in the form of the country’s first aquarium and a horticultural conservatory, both designed by famed Detroit architect Albert Kahn, and built in the early 1900s transformed the more pastoral landscape into a built environment that was both natural and constructed, picturesque and classical in form (Cialdella, 2013). At its
height of popularity, the island park was a key visitor attraction and an internationally recognized destination, attracting around a million visitors annually for recreation, conventions, and to admire its beauty (Burton, ca. 1912). 5. The Riverfront’s Decline While the face of the city became increasingly tarnished, Belle Isle shone like a valuable jewel. The heavy industry that had once flourished along the riverfront become less profitable in favor of light industrial and mostly auto-related businesses, such as sales or auto mechanic services - existing industrial buildings were adaptively reused as warehouses and garages (Kozora, 1982). By 1920, Detroit’s population peaked at 994,000 as a mass immigration labor force attracted to auto industry jobs arrived from Europe, the Middle East and the southern United States. This new working class, immigrant population introduced a shift in the way of living on the East riverfront, early mansions along East Jefferson Avenue were turned into apartments and boarding houses to accommodate growing numbers of laborers. Between 1920 and 1930 the subdivision of property and an expanding poorly paid labor force crammed into substandard housing resulting in increased crime along the riverfront. Federal attempts to eliminate the corrupting force of alcohol sweeping industrial cities nationwide introduced prohibition, driving the manufacture and sale of spirits underground and sending areas like Detroit’s riverfront down a destructive path as it became an international trade route for illegal goods and a safe haven for smugglers (Zunz, 1982). With the decline of heavy manufacturing on the East riverfront, the depletion of raw materials from Northern Michigan, such as the lumber that fueled the wood ship-building industry, brought production to a standstill, and the railroads that carried goods and people diminished in importance. Despite the social and physical disorder of the riverfront in the early twentieth century, attempts were made to transform it through urban design and planning. In 1924, 1937 and 1938, internationally renowned Finnish architect, Eliel Saarinen, and his firm, Saarinen and Swanson, produced schemes for a forty-three acre site along the southern edge of the city’s radial street plan at the point where Woodward and Jefferson Avenues intersected and met with the river. An insecure economy, the Wall Street crash and the pending imminence of war halted progress on the public realm. In 1943, wartime racial tensions heating up in many cities across the country came to a head in Detroit as the once predominantly white city resisted accommodating increasing numbers of blacks seeking jobs and housing, and in turn blacks struggled against police brutality and widespread discrimination. The one place of recreation and pleasure, which had been available to citizens of all ethnicities and classes was transformed in 24 hours when one hot summer evening a fight broke out on Belle Isle, quickly escalating into a violent citywide race riot that left the city in a state of high alert and shock (Sugrue, 1996). Despite intense national news coverage of the 1943 riots, the city administration sought to attract its citizens and outside visitors downtown and in particular to see the potential of its riverfront. Eliel Saarinen, now in his late seventies, and his son Eero, produced another set of plans that would contribute to a 1947 master planning initiative (Pelkonen and Albrecht, 2011).
This master plan introduced regulations that were in complete contrast to earlier zoning, mandating a mix of industrial, residential and commercial uses along the river’s edge. These Euclidean land use regulations were intended to separate areas of the city into single separate functions. As such, industrial, commercial, public and utility uses were confined to one, residential to another, and parks and recreation to yet another zone. In 1947 the three-mile stretch from the downtown area to the Belle Isle Bridge was one of the older industrial sections of the city, and since the war, had been in steady decline. Over one third of the riverfront in this area, 500 acres, was used by industry and by publicly and privately owned utilities. Much of the land was given over to parking at a total of over 400 acres, residential with totals at less than 140 acres, recreational at just over 100 acres, and commercial at 58 acres. 6. Saarinen’s Plan for The Riverfront As part of the Master Plan, Saarinen and Saarinen’s new scheme replaced the industrial landscape, with a large plaza for civic events, and a series of white modern buildings reflecting light off the water. A convention center and circular auditorium were separated from the rest of the city by a wall of municipal buildings. In some variations of the scheme, the municipal building comprised a single four-block slab raised on columns allowing traffic to circulate to Jefferson Avenue and for pedestrians to access the riverfront. Despite receiving approval from the city planning commission the scheme was never realized, however, it did become the framework for the final design that came to fruition in the same location. The final scheme for a downtown riverfront civic center included a ten-story L-shaped Veterans Memorial building completed in 1950, the Ford Auditorium (1956), a white marble cubic form, distinguished by mica-flecked blue granite on both the city and river-facing facades, and Cobo Hall (1960), designed by local architect Gino Rossetti, and built at a cost of $100 million, in the form of a white marble edifice punctuated at one corner by an expansive circular structure providing interior space for 11, 600 guests, and exterior parking for 3400 cars (Cavanagh, (April 1965). This urban design intervention replaced dilapidated industrial warehouses and eradicated old tramlines (along the downtown riverfront) successfully sparking further construction of modern buildings, including hotels and office space. At the western edge of downtown the civic center spurred development in the form of the mammoth Joe Louis Ice Hockey arena which, when constructed in the late 1970s, completely alienated the public from the riverfront with its massive windowless form and lack of access to the water (Cavanagh, 1965). Further west of downtown, along the river, heavy industry was reinforced with physical connections to automobile manufacturing in the Ford Company Rouge Plant located just outside the city. Earlier plans to embellish and dignify the area that staged the international border at the base of the majestic art deco Ambassador Bridge (1929), with a free trade zone, hotels and restaurants remained unrealized. While Saarinen’s original plan of the 1950s, would have transformed a gritty and unhealthy landscape into one that was clean and green, it was sadly scaled down in favor of a public space concept that privileged utilitarian materials and supported programmed space around a series of subsurface amphitheaters paved in concrete. New modern
buildings appeared as isolated precious objects focused on their own beauty and program with no connection to the river, as specifically ‘back of house’ services were often at the rear of the building facing Atwater Street, and suggesting the river was merely a backdrop to beauty rather than intertwined with it. Further development a decade later did little to improve human interaction with the riverfront downtown. Local architecture firm Smith, Hinchman and Grylls with Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi completed a public space intended to support ethnic festivities, Independence Day, and other events that could bring the people of Detroit together. Noguchi’s polished steel space-age sculptural fountain shaped like an upturned wingnut, created a focal point that was intended as a playful element, projecting a patterned spray of water from its 300 jets. Although occasionally offering a visual and tactile spectacle on hot summer days, the fountain rarely functioned as intended. Furthermore, ground cover was granite paving, complementing the luxurious materials of the modern buildings around the plaza but the privileging of hardscape over softer landscape features left the plaza devoid of nature and discouraged human activity, leaving the space predominately desolate on a daily basis (Pelkonen and Albrecht, 2011). Other efforts sought to embrace the possibilities for civic space inherent in the waterfront and despite some design failings in the Hart Plaza plan, the city began for the first time ever, to focus efforts more intensely beyond the central downtown node and comprehensively approach the riverfront as a public asset. In the 1960s, Planning Director Charles A. Blessing and his team envisioned the downtown section of the riverfront as the basis of a unique district based on its natural form, accessibility, clear boundaries and landmarks, as well as its proximity to the central business district. Noted attributes were the psychological benefits, beauty, and the river’s ability to assist residents in orienting themselves in the city. Blessing imagined residential buildings, parkland, piers and docks all along the downtown area. At this time, however, the racial tensions over segregated housing, limited access to good jobs, and rampant police brutality erupted into violence and spreading chaos across the city, with massive property destruction, looting and fatalities and resulting in a national disaster that became known as the 1967 riots. A decade later, private funding established a center at the riverfront downtown intended to signal a renaissance, and that the city was again safe for habitation. The Renaissance Center as it was called, comprised five large cylindrical towers, one slightly taller than the rest, and formed wide vertical barriers that separated the riverfront site from the city, particularly as the initial concept had two large concrete berms through which a single driveway provided access to the buildings. The “fortresslike” appearance, suggested the possibility of a protected downtown experience, sparking controversy and anger among the citizens of Detroit who felt the open civic space of the city, urban retail, restaurants, and social interaction accessible to all levels of the population, was firmly rejected in favor of an interior suburban style mall. (Longo, 2006). 8. Linked Riverfront Parks Project In the 1970s, Mayor Coleman A. Young, publicly promoted the development and reactivation of the riverfront as an essential revitalization strategy. A joint study by the Recreation and Planning Departments together with local consultants, examined the possibilities for public access to the river and the concept of a “linkage system,” which would weave ten miles of the East riverfront through a multi-use, bicycle and pedestrian
network of pathways linking nodes of programmed open space and parkland and actively encouraging recreational uses between the Renaissance Center and the MacArthur Bridge at Belle Isle. Although focusing on the East riverfront, the “Linked Riverfront Parks Project” also included land north from the shore up to Jefferson Avenue and its environs. This desire to extend accessibility to the river up into the densely populated neighborhoods would be revisited in later plans (City of Detroit, Recreation Department, 1979). The “Linked Riverfront Parks Project” identified five sites along the three-mile-stretch of the East riverfront for urban parks at the river's edge. Two sites were to be developed on Chene Street where the land terminated at the river’s edge; one on St. Aubin Street; another on Leib Street, and another on Mt. Elliot Street. St. Aubin, Chene, and Mt. Elliot were classified as parks, while the other two became development sites. In addition to establishing a stronger connection to the waterfront the project was intended to serve as a catalyst for future commercial and residential development (City of Detroit Recreation Department, 1985). Chene was the first of the three parks completed on the riverfront between 1980 and 1990. The amphitheater structure, with its white canopy widely spanning a tiered 5,000 seating area facing the river, was the first attempt to truly acknowledge the significance of the water as a site of beauty and inspiration. A highly popular destination, the amphitheater hosts multiple events throughout the year, actively attracting people to the area since its opening in 1983. In addition to arriving by land, visitors with boats can draw up close to the amphitheater to enjoy the entertainment from the water, further adding to the spectacle and glorious views from the land. On St. Aubin Street a new marina and park completed in 1987 saw the return of sailboats to the water’s edge, echoing the first Detroit Boat Club established at the riverside in 1839. The marina, located alongside Chene Park, provides those Detroiters as well as visitors with financial means, a new arrival point to the city, offering them temporary docking facilities, while they visit the increasing number of amenities and destinations along the riverfront. Mt Elliot Park was the third and last site to be developed as part of the plan. Located further east from Chene and St Aubin, the Mt Elliot Park was severed from the network because of private lands that stood between. 9. The Riverfront Conservancy & Public interest on the river As a means of generating revenue and jobs, several Detroit Mayors considered bringing casinos to the city. The small town of Windsor, Canada, across the border, lured money away from Detroit through its own casinos, which lined the riverfront. Mayor Dennis Archer (1994-2001) was successful in gathering support from City Council and a number of prominent citizens particularly some members of the dominant African American population who saw their opportunity to invest equity in the concern and rank among the millionaires of the nation. The plan would have constructed three casinos on 57 acres of riverfront property near the Renaissance Center. However, many people felt the casinos were an inappropriate use for prime real estate and although the property was acquired, it sat vacant until Archer’s successor, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (2002-2008) and his administration negotiated for casinos to be built away from the riverside, leaving the window open for more fitting development and programming (Pulley, 1998).
Looking back at the activity that occurred along the riverfront it is ironic that it took 300 years for the shoreline to be recognized as a real asset for the citizens of the city. In 2001 to commemorate Detroit’s 300th birthday, the State of Michigan funded development of a promenade at the civic center on the downtown riverfront. Designed by multidisciplinary design and planning firm, Sasaki, the promenade extends along the river side of Cobo Hall just south of Hart Plaza on the east and to the Joe Louis Arena on the west. A concrete seat wall defines the linear park and 100-foot-wide walkway that serpentines throughout its 3,000 feet ending in a concrete stepped spiral on the west end to create a gathering place. Groves of river birch trees and landscaped berms contribute much needed softscape and shade along the length of the concrete seat wall, while ribboned lawns with pine trees anchor the west end, acknowledging the old ribbon farms that spurred neighborhoods along the water in the mid 1700s (“Detroit Riverfront Civic center Promenade,” City of Detroit, 2001) A year later, determined to develop a revitalization framework for the East riverfront Mayor Kilpatrick formed a diverse team of stakeholders including the City, philanthropic organizations, General Motors, and nonprofits and tasked them with finding a strategy within 90 days. The hope was that improvements to Detroit’s riverfront would make an unparalleled contribution to the image of the city as a destination, residential location, and as host for international events. Out of the plan came public, private and foundation investment, with more than $500 million dollars committed towards the realization of the East riverfront and a pledge on the part of stakeholders to make it a reality. This signed agreement between private and public entities gave birth to the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy (DRFC) in 2003, a body tasked with undertaking the improvement, operation, maintenance, security and programming of the riverfront. The Riverwalk was the first designed space to be implemented in 2007. Intended as the centerpiece for transformation and designed by SmithGroup, a nationally recognized architecture and planning firm located in Detroit, the Riverwalk was to extend from the Ambassador Bridge on the west to the MacArthur Bridge at Belle Isle on the east. It built on earlier projects such as the “Linked Riverfront Parks Project,” and in addition, finally opened up the river side of the Renaissance Center creating a plaza where public interaction with the water could occur. It was envisioned to be an average of 62 feet with pedestrian sections, biking and extensive landscape features including tree canopy, and a mixed approach to the river that included soft and hardscapes. The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy established an approach to hire the best possible designers, while intensely engaging the public for comment, setting a number of precedents for future planning and implementation (Hemming, 2005). 10. Re-imagining the riverfront By December 2007, the Riverfront Conservancy had constructed two parks and a greenway: Gabriel Richard Park was located just east of the MacArthur Bridge and the Dequindre Cut, an abandoned rail line was transformed into a pedestrian and bike path that ran between the river and Eastern Market a few blocks to the north.
Figure 2. Detroit RiverFront Conservancy (2017). Dequindre Cut Greenway [Photograph]. Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, Detroit.
Milliken State Park, located on the riverfront reintroduced a design concept that had long been part of the vision for Detroit as a green city, yet was initially only implemented offshore in Frederick Law Olmsted’s 1880s plans for Belle Isle. This time however, Milliken State Park took Olmsted’s approach one step further, in remediating formerly industrial land by introducing wetlands to the riverfront, and providing educational opportunities with interpretive signage. Ecological landscape interventions physically transform the riverfront into a more attractive public space that simultaneously demonstrates nature’s capacity to reverse industrial damage by filtering contaminated water, removing pollutants from it and returning it to the Detroit River in more purified form - all without going to a wastewater treatment plant. While the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy has taken giant steps in demonstrating the value of the riverfront to the city, there is still more to be done. Private property ownership and physical obstacles cut the walk short or created turns that abruptly jogged inland and ended the Riverwalk at specific locations. On opening the Riverwalk in 2007 much remained to be done to really connect the river as one uninterrupted stretch along the shore.
Figure 3. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. (2017). Milliken State Park Expansion Vision [Photograph]. Detroit RiverFront Conservancy & City of Detroit Planning and Development, Detroit.
11. YOUR! Detroit East Riverfront Framework Plan Between the height of Detroit’s success in the 1950s and 2013 when the city succumbed to bankruptcy, it had lost one third of its population, had become racially polarized, and many businesses had closed or relocated to the suburbs; poverty, illiteracy and crime were on the rise. Belle Isle was taken under the wing of the State for a 30-year period. But hope surfaced for the city in 2015 with a new mayor, Mike Duggan, who revamped municipal agencies and hired an architect/community activist, Maurice Cox, to lead the Planning and Development Department. Collaboration between the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, (DRFC), the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) and the Planning and Development Department (PDD), produced a framework plan for the East Riverfront in the spring of 2016. Led by world renowned architecture and planning firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) the plan acknowledged DRFC’s commitment to the riverfront and extended its goal to reconnect the East riverfront along the entire east side to the center of the city. SOM was chosen from a list of seven teams presenting proposals in early 2016 through a highly public process. Engagement with the community was an essential element in the planning process, occurring from the start of the project, when SOM, the City of Detroit and DRFC, held eight meetings throughout the 6-8 month project timeline, with workshops, walking tours, and project updates a distinct part of the process that focused on gaining valuable input and feedback. The 2016 framework plan, like the Riverwalk of 2007, expanded on previous efforts, just as the Riverwalk had built on the Linked Riverfront Parks Project, emphasizing an interconnected “linkage system.” In addition the framework plan focuses on the future of the entire East riverfront. Similar to the boundaries of earlier initiatives, this plan reached
further onto Larned Street and neighborhoods on the north, to the MacArthur Bridge on the east, along the river to the south and to the Renaissance Center in the west. A holistic approach wove together four strategies to complete additional parks and green open space; greenways that would safely connect residents to the riverfront; sustainable streetscape improvements on Jefferson Avenue, Jos Campau, and Franklin Street to enhance mobility and safety; and development north of Atwater Street on city-owned property to promote density and preserve the heritage of the riverfront (“YOUR! Detroit East Riverfront�DRFC, 2017.
Figure 4. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (2017). East Riverfront Parks [Photograph]. Detroit RiverFront Conservancy & City of Detroit Planning and Development, Detroit.
The strategy to design new parks and green open space is intended to reinforce the existing park system along the riverfront, providing more inclusive open space within physical and visual proximity of the water for passive and active enjoyment. Equally as important is the need to transform the current detrimental state of these landscapes and the impression they give to anyone who comes across them. Improvements would not only provide greater access to the riverfront, give residents and visitors new amenities through which to interact with the river, but they would also improve the city’s image. Three additional sites intended to become parks are located directly north of Milliken State Park and directly west and east of Chene Park. The park north of Milliken State Park will be an extension of the existing state park, further expanding on the productive landscape of the existing wetlands. The site west of Chene Park will provide a great lawn along the river, a place that is currently a wasteland, with chain-link fenced utility facilities obstructing visual and physical access. A multistory residential development had been planned for this site. Now after public private negotiations, the site will become a much needed green expanse of lawn, a place for residents to soak up the sun and enjoy the views, while relaxing on manicured grass. Rather than providing excellent views for
the few who would have resided in the planned private apartment buildings, the site now will be a place for all Detroiters to enjoy the riverfront. In a city suffering intense disinvestment over a long period, and with dilapidated homes and vacant lots, residents desperately need idyllic places of beauty. Another site, to the east of Chene Park, currently an asphalt-surfaced parking lot and also previously planned for private development, allowing a select few access to a marina and views across the river, will now take park or open space to a new level. Mimicking, to some extent, the amenities available on the shore of Belle Isle, this site will provide residents with a beach-like setting. Coined as “Atwater Beach,� the city and DRFC will import beach sand, install outdoor seating, and umbrellas for shade, create boardwalks linking programmed spaces, and even provide a lifeguard-supported playscape for children, a sensory garden, public restrooms, and a river lighting installation on a cove enclosed by an entertainment barge. At this park, the water is brought right up into the landscape as residents can access pools filtering water straight from the river. This site will be enhanced through access along new and improved river walk connections with separated bike lanes and pedestrian paths that provide a multi-level network of accessibility from the Joe Louis Arena on the west, all the way to MacArthur Bridge and Belle Isle. The third site, known as the Uniroyal site, is also currently a wasteland, fenced in to prevent access to the water’s edge and covered with scrubgrass and a few weed trees.
Figure 5. Groundswell (2017). Atwater Beach Concept [Photograph]. Detroit RiverFront Conservancy & City of Detroit Planning and Development, Detroit.
Figure 6. Detroit RiverFront Conservancy (2017). Uniroyal Site Existing [Photograph]. Detroit RiverFront Conservancy & City of Detroit Planning and Development, Detroit.
As with other privately owned properties, plans have been stagnating and have greatly limited access to the river. Due to the DRFC and the City Planning and Development Department’s successful negotiations this and other developments are to be reimagined. At last, private development is giving way to the possibility of public access and amenities, and the realization that the public realm is key to a well-functioning city.
Figure 7. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (2017). Uniroyal Site-Riverwalk Vision [Photograph]. Detroit RiverFront Conservancy & City of Detroit Planning and Development, Detroit.
The second strategy for improvements at the riverfront focuses on the enhancement of existing greenways and the creation of new ones running north-south to the river to efficiently and more safely connect people through neighborhoods to the riverfront. Existing and proposed greenways include Campau Greenway, and the Beltline, will receive an upgrade and enhancements such as lighting improvements, newly paved pathways that better delineate pedestrian and bicycle traffic and new landscaping, providing safer and more inviting routes towards the river. The Campau Greenway will be extended to the shoreline connecting currently disjointed trails, in areas where the Greenway crosses through streets, which were formerly industrial and where buildings are vacant or have been demolished, new construction will fill in the gaps and roads will be resurfaced to delineate cycling and pedestrian pathways. The Beltline will create a connection through the neighborhoods where once a rail line ran through an industrial zone. The old rail line has been removed, leaving an overgrown pathway that will be enhanced through paving, new plantings, lighting and signage.
Figure 8. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (2017). Greenways [Photograph]. Detroit RiverFront Conservancy & City of Detroit Planning and Development, Detroit.
The third strategy is to enhance mobility and safety with sustainable street improvements. This is particularly important on the major arterial route, East Jefferson, which was one of the early wide boulevards intended for people to access downtown quickly and easily, and along which many of the first mansions and luxurious apartment buildings were constructed. Now, with a huge reduction in population, and in traffic, the street is oversized for its purpose. This will be the first project to be implemented, as its success will help nurture improvements at the locations along the riverfront. Reducing the width of E. Jefferson will not only provide greater safety and accessibility it will improve the visual quality of a major street that, despite inclinations to privilege the highways, continues to act as a gateway to the city. Pedestrian crossings and stop signs will be installed, as well as a median to facilitate crossing, protected bicycle lanes to reduce vehicular traffic lanes and limit speed, new sidewalk surfaces and sustainable landscape
features including ground cover and tree canopy. On streets closer to the waterfront, new surfacing will respect the industrial character of the neighborhood, while signaling new uses, whether pedestrian or bicycle. Bicycle transit and walkability will be emphasized on streets wherever possible, with new surfacing that indicates these focused changes, clearly marked street crossings, enhanced lighting, signage, and landscape interventions, particularly trees. The fourth strategy will be a hybrid of old and new. At the major arterial street of E. Jefferson, iconic older buildings will remain protected through historic preservation tools, while infill will be encouraged to equal and exceed the current height of buildings. The new vertical density will contribute to the sense of the scale of this commercial corridor, which is certainly able to support such density. Higher density will also contribute an appropriate protective physical and sound barrier to the experience of pedestrians on streets closer to the water. Higher vertical density on E. Jefferson will also provide opportunities for views of the river from tall buildings, but intentional gaps will also be created between buildings allowing sight lines direct to the water. On streets closer to the river, where a number of industrial buildings are currently in public ownership, a request for proposals will be issued and developers selected in a transparent process that encourages both local ownership and partnering with new talent. Although encouraged to increase in density and build on typically three to four story industrial buildings, the selected developers will be guided to respect the industrial heritage through such features as scale, massing, and materials, while providing a dynamic sense of contemporary energy and future possibility through new design ideas. Infill on streets closer to the shore will assist in creating a street wall along Atwater Street adding a sense of comfort for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Contemporary construction acknowledges the history of the place, but also the present need for new design will also be encouraged (“YOUR! Detroit East Riverfront,� 2017).
Figure 9. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (2017). Campau Greenway Connector [Photograph]. Detroit RiverFront Conservancy & City of Detroit Planning and Development, Detroit.
12. Conclusion Detroit’s riverfront is a major landscape that can attract investment, outside visitors, and local residents. For those residents of Detroit who stayed during the difficult times, the riverfront presents a place of pride and joy, offering opportunities to connect both physically and psychologically. The riverfront can be a critical sign therefore, in physical terms, of the current state of the city. Looking back at past ways in which municipal agencies have approached development of the riverfront helps us understand how we can aspire to do better today. As we have seen, the river is the raison d’être for the development of land that was first valued for its physical attraction, freshwater characteristics, and function of linking two lakes and providing a strategic outlet for expansive fur trading. Today we are reversing the damage that been done to the east riverfront through years of industrial development and modern interventions that failed to create meaningful engagement between the river and its people. Acknowledging the importance of nature in creating healthful landscapes we are taking disused rail lines and turning them into greenways, modifying historic buildings into relevant contemporary spaces, adapting contaminated soil and remediating it through bio swales or similar landscape interventions. All this establishes the importance of a hybrid approach that honors the positive aspects of the riverfront’s past and weaves it into new possibilities for the future. The landscape of the Detroit riverfront embodies the history of its people, redesigning public spaces and circulation routes to engage residents with the water not only creates significance of place today but provides opportunities that anticipate developments and design interventions for continued future connections.
References Mayor Mike Duggan: Detroit Must Grow and Move Beyond Racially Divided History. (2017, June 2). Retrieved August 06, 2017, from http://www.detroitchamber.com/mayor-mike-duggan-detroit-must-growand-move-beyond-racially-divided-history/ (2017, June 01). Retrieved August 06, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1UoORb7pOY Ribbon Farms. (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2017, from https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-ofdetroit/ribbon-farms Alvord, C. W., & Carter, C. E. (1915). The Critical Period, 1763-1765. Springfield, IL: Trustees of the Illinois State Historical Library. Burton, Clarence M., Detroit Tourist and Convention Bureau, ca. 1912 Dunnigan, B. L. (2001). "The Prettiest Settlement in America": a select bibliography of early Detroit through the War of 1812. Mount Pleasant, MI: Central Michigan University. Woodford, A. M. (2001). This is Detroit, 1701-2001. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
Leake, P. (1912). History of Detroit: a chronicle of its progress, its industries, its institutions, and the people of the Fair City of the Straits. Illustr. Chicago, IL: Lewis. Kozora , K. (1982). Detroit's east riverfront: people and places of yesterday (United States, City of Detroit Recreation Department). Detroit, MI: Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce. Cialdella, J. (2013, September 03). Belle Isle Park and Olmsted's Legacy in Detroit. Retrieved July 27, 2017, from https://smithsoniangardens.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/belle-isle-park-and-olmsteds-legacy-indetroit/ Belle Isle Park (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2017, from https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-ofdetroit/belle-isle-park Encyclopedia of Detroit. (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2017, from https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/race-riot-1943 Zunz, Olivier. The Changing Face of Inequality: Urbanization, Industrial Development and Immigrants in Detroit, 1880-1920 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982), p. 327 United States, City of Detroit, Recreation Department. (1979). Linked Riverfront Parks Project, Detroit, MI: City of Detroit Recreation Department. United States, Coastal Zone Information Center, City of Detroit Recreation Department. (1985). Know your riverfront parks: a historical and informational brochure. Detroit, MI: City of Detroit Recreation Department Recreation Department. Detroit Riverfront Civic Center Promenade, City of Detroit, 2001. Retrieved August 13, 2017, from http://www.sasaki.com/project/217/detroit-riverfront-civic-center-promenade/ Hemming, B. (2005). The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy: A Public- Private Partnership Striving to Reclaim the Detroit River. Golden Gate University Law Review, 35(3), 6th ser., 1-14. Retrieved August 13, 2017, from http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/ggulrev/vol35/iss3/6. Allen-Meares, P. G., Shanks, T. R., Gant, L. M., Hollingsworth, L. D., & Miller, P. L. (Eds.). (2017). A Twenty-first Century Approach to Community Change: Partnering to Improve Life Outcomes of Youth and Families in Under-Served Neighborhoods, New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Coppard, L. C., & Ager, S. M. (2012). Detroit's Riverfront East Neighborhoods: Building community with citizen leadership, strong organizations and strategic investments (Rep.). MI: Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. Ankeny, Robert. “Failed Casino Strategy Leads to Riverfront Rebirth, Detroit: Crain’s, June 18, 2007. Your! Detroit East Riverfront, 2017, Retrieved August 12, 2017. http://yourdetroiteastriverfront.org/
The Hybrid_Link #05 Waterfront: for an hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space ISSN 2039-4608
Nodi urbani: i waterfront il caso dell'area "Montecolino", Iseo, Lago d'Iseo, Lombardia Fabrizio Zanni Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani Urban Hybridization Research Group UHRG Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italia urbanhybridization@gmail.com
Abstract Il lavoro progettuale, sviluppato all’interno del PhD Course Architectural, Urban and Interior Design e nel Laboratorio di progettazione finale del Corso di Laurea in Progettazione dell’Architettura, Scuola di Architettura Urbanistica Ingegneria delle Costruzioni, Politecnico di Milano, si pone come esperienza progettuale intesa come luogo di confronto multidisciplinare e di verifica di apporti teorico-metodologici sviluppati nell’ Unità di Ricerca Urban Hybridization Reasearch Group, Dipartimento DASTU, Politecnico di Milano. La sperimentazione progettuale su un contesto determinato si pone come momento di sintesi e apertura problematica verso gli orizzonti al centro della pratica, della cultura, del dibattito architettonico contemporaneo. Esso ha come obiettivo la messa a punto di sintesi conclusive relative sia alla definizione di un percorso progettuale definito e circoscritto, sia all’approfondimento degli strumenti teorici e applicativi, delle metodiche progettuali. Esso ha avuto come obiettivi l’approfondimento di metodiche progettuali riferite al caso di studio affrontato, in ordine alla loro reciproca definizione e integrazione; l’approfondimento dei contenuti teorici connessi allo sviluppo del tema in rapporto allo “stato dell’arte” delle discipline coinvolte; la stesura di sintesi descrittive e interpretative, la costruzione di apparati referenziali, la messa a punto di elaborati progettuali con riferimento ad un contesto territoriale concreto.
The Iseo Lakeshore around the Montecolino area, Veronica Ferrari, 2016-2017
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The Hybrid_Link #05 Waterfront: for an hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space ISSN 2039-4608
Fasi di lavoro : Ad una fase rapida di analisi con sintesi qualitativa del contesto è seguita una fase di definizione degli operatori teorici (concetti chiave disciplinari); il lavoro progettuale è stato sviluppato a partire da un concept preliminare costituito da una "matrice generativa” dell'insediamento locale studiato, articolato alle varie scale di relazione, al quale è seguita una fase di definizione finale del prodotto complessivo. Obiettivi specifici: La discontinuità del fronte lacustre iseano, corrispondente ad una pluralità di spazi incoerenti, pubblici e privati, rende necessario creare una forte e complementare estensione del fronte-lago in particolare tra le località di Iseo e Pilzone. Per contrastare la bassa-media qualità dell’offerta ricettiva è necessario procedere ad una operazione di “Mixité” (Bianchetti C., 2013), proponendo un mix ricco e diversificato di usi con nessuna singola funzione dominante. La qualità del paesaggio ed in particolare del caso di studio comporta la definizione di una forma urbana adattabile e coerente con il contesto, che porti al rafforzamento del carattere e dell'identità del sito "Montecolino".
Context Analysis: Lakeboard, Veronica Ferrari, 2017
La conformazione morfo-tipologica del sito di progetto, legata alla presenza di resti di un insediamento produttivo della Caproni, consente inoltre di creare un insieme coerente di spazi pubblici, di uso pubblico, privati, interpretando il waterfront come spazio in cui coesistano attività basate sull'acqua e spazi privati e pubblici di ristoro e svago, nodo connesso
The Hybrid_Link #05 Waterfront: for an hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space ISSN 2039-4608
al sistema degli insediamenti lacuali della sponda bresciana del lago d’Iseo con modalità sostenibili di movimento e di accesso con priorità per pedoni, ciclisti e trasporto pubblico. Dal punto di vista funzionale si è operato su tre insiemi funzionali integrati: il primo è legato alle potenzialità del luogo come possibile Marina Center dotato di rimessaggio al coperto, Club house e moli di attracco.
Design Concept, F. Zanni, 2017
Il secondo è connesso alla presenza della Fondazione culturale Liliana e Michele Bettoni; Si propone di estendere il successo avuto dalla installazione Floating Piers, Christo 2016, Sulzano – Monte Isola, Lago d’Iseo, con un luogo di lavoro e soggiorno temporaneo per artisti, dotato di spazi di alloggio, lavorazione e mostra dei prodotti. Il terzo insieme è costituito da una spiaggia paperta al pubblico, un hotel e un Fitness Center. A lato, connessa con il precedente. una residenza temporanea per anziani autosufficienti sul modello delle maisons de rétraite francesi. Figure ibride ed esiti delle sperimentazioni progettuali: I progetti sperimentali proposti sono basati su una interpretazione del rapporto morfologia – tipologia insediativa e natura – artificio che pur fondandosi sui concetti di forma urbana e di tipo, ne definiscono una variabile “ibrida” che si basa sulla considerazione del “territorio dell’architettura” come “topografia operativa” e non come figura che si staglia su uno sfondo. Nella progettazione dei waterfront possiamo intravvedere il “lavoro” di alcuni operatori teorici, ovvero concettualizzazioni astratte che assumono il ruolo di nuclei concettuali generatori di metodologie di intervento. Il concetto di limite è ad esempio insito nel significato originario e fondativo di waterfront: confine o soglia di definizione del rapporto tra acqua e terra, che assume nel tempo e nell’aumento della complessità morfologica dei luoghi, forme diverse: da quella semplice di riva o lido, a quella via via più complessa di approdo, nelle sue svariate modalità e nella definizione dei suoi attributi tecnologici e tipologici: pontili, moli, punti di attracco. Anche il concetto di suolo sembra avere una particolare importanza in questo contesto. Elemento generativo della forma del paesaggio è infatti la moltiplicazione e sovrapposizone di suoli differenziati e differentemente infrastrutturati (AA.VV. 1998). Il laboratorio ha preso in
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The Hybrid_Link #05 Waterfront: for an hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space ISSN 2039-4608
considerazione un interessante caso di studio, connesso ai fenomeni insediativi accennati, dalla scala urbana, di masterplan, alla scala architettonica, alla definizione di una sorta di “paesaggio complesso”, dato dall'interazione progettuale tra contesto e intervento. L’obiettivo generale è stato passare da una definizione morfo – tipologica ad una più complessa fase di ibridazione di materie, materiali, paesaggi, ripensare lo spazio architettonico e urbano come nucleo generatore di una nuova e più complessa forma territoriale. La progettazione si è avvalsa di alcuni concetti chiave intesi come “operatori teorici” della progettazione connessi strettamente a figure strutturanti di una visone del progetto chiamata “urban hybridization”. Il concetto di “piega” tende al superamento del rapporto tra basamento coronamento corpo edificato per una concezione spaziale che recupera il valore generativo del suolo, verso una concezione ibrida della tipologia insediativa. Il concetto di “spugna” tende al superamento del consolidato rapporto tra tipo edilizio (degradato, nella condizione contemporanea) e tessuto urbano, per una concezione spaziale che interconnette e mischia gli spazi e le tradizionali matrici della tipologia insediativa. Il concetto di “poro”, infine, è connesso al concetto di “in-between” (Zanni F., Giacomini L., 2009), di porosità urbana ed è volto alla definizione non di tipi edilizi, ma in “interspazi” (Crotti S., 1997) complessi che lavorano all’interno dei tessuti urbani tradizionali e nel caso preso in considerazione, all’interno delle “rovine” preesistenti. Nel Workshop “Hybrid design strategies for urban landscape” del PhD Course “Architectural, Urban and Interior Design”, Politecnico di Milano, la “piega” è stata individuata come figura regolatrice ibrida del rapporto tra suoli naturali e suoli artificiali. La piegatura di questi ultimi e la ridefinizione all’interno di essi di livelli spaziali abitabili è connessa alla rinaturalizzazione di quasi tutte le coperture che divengono quindi esse stesse nuovi suoli dell’insieme. L’operazione è anche svolta, per gran parte, sopra i resti dei capannoni della Caproni, poi Montecolino paralleli alla ferrovia ed alla strada circumlacuale.
Masterplan of Montecolino area, aerial view, PhD Workshop Team, Politecnico di Milano, 2016-2017
The Hybrid_Link #05 Waterfront: for an hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space ISSN 2039-4608
Del lavoro svolto nel laboratorio di progettazione finale, Scuola di Architettura Urbanistica Ingegneria delle Costruzioni, Politecnico di Milano, anno 2017, si evidenziano qui i concept di progetto piuttosto che i risultati architettonici finali. Essi infatti rendono conto della ricerca di un corretto rapporto tra contesto e progetto, sia alla scala locale che a quella più ampia di correlazione con l’insediamento lacuale.
Team 2, concept di progetto
Nel primo caso la “piega” del suolo è l’operatore teorico di progetto principale che si appoggia ai concetti di spazio di connessione e rovina. L’intervento è sorretto da un percorso ciclopedonale che da Iseo si sviluppa verso l’area di Montecolino e prosegue verso nord. Esso ridisegna l’area di campeggio adiacente secondo un disegno basato sulle ricerche di nuove forme di camping del gruppo canadese Lateral Office (Lateral Office, 2015) . Il percorso si alza sopra una grande piegatura del suolo che contiene l’hotel e il fitness center per poi ritrovare nel marina center il suolo naturale.
Team 2, dal camping Covelo al Montecolino
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The Hybrid_Link #05 Waterfront: for an hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space ISSN 2039-4608
Nel secondo caso, il concept è basato sul concetto di “poro – porosità” rilevando nella condizione attuale una forte impenetrabilità e scarsa coesione del sito. L’apertura di spazi di connessione trasversali si innesta su una sorta di “chiasma” determinate dall’incrocio di due nuovi percorsi ciclo-pedonali, uno che si “sporge”sulla superficie del lago nell’area del camping Covelo e poi si accosta alla ferrovia esistente, l’altro che proviene dalla pista ciclabile preesistente ma interrotta nella strettoia di Covelo (insediamento) e si accosta poi al Montecolino.
Team 3, concept di progetto
The Hybrid_Link #05 Waterfront: for an hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space ISSN 2039-4608
Team 3, funzioni e volumi
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The Hybrid_Link #05 Waterfront: for an hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space ISSN 2039-4608
Nel terzo caso la riqualificazione dell’area si basa su segni territoriali ampi e curvi che derivano sia dalla presenza delle falde del Montecolino sia dalla conformazione della shoreline tra terra ed acqua, oltre che dal principale percorso connettivo nord – sud. Ad essi sono innestate le singole strategie di trasformazione quali la demolizione e sostituzione di volumetrie di qualità insediativa bassa e la riqualifcazione delle rovine dei capannoni preesistenti.
Team 8, Strategie di progetto
Conclusioni: Il lavoro svolto, ache se in sede di Dottorato e didattica, ha costituito un’interessante “sezione” del più complesso sforzo di approfonsimento teorico – metodologico sviluppato nel tempo dall’Urban Hybridization (International) Reaserch Group sia in sqaggi pubblicati su “The Hybrid_Link” sia in convegni e seminari internazionali, sia sulla rivista del Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani Territorio, edita da Franco Angeli Su www.urbanhybridization.net è possibile trovare tutti i full papers in .pdf oltre che video in formato Youtube.
The Hybrid_Link #05 Waterfront: for an hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space ISSN 2039-4608
Working Teams: PhD Course Architectural, Urban and Interior Design, Workshop “Hybrid design strategies for urban landscape” Prof. Fabrizio Zanni, Politecnico di Milano Prof. Lorenzo Giacomini, Politecnico di Milano Arch. Veronica Ferrari Arch. Sun Jingwen Arch. Federica Marchetti Arch. Sissi Shan Arch. Tan Shilong Laboratorio di progettazione finale Corso di Laurea in Progettazione dell’Architettura, Scuola di Architettura Urbanistica Ingegneria delle Costruzioni, Politecnico di Milano Prof. Fabrizio Zanni, Politecnico di Milano Prof. Massimo Boffino, Politecnico di Milano Prof. Lorenzo Giacomini, Politecnico di Milano Arch. Francesco De Bernardi Arch. Lara Magnati Arch. Paolo Scarso Arch. Jr. Riccardo Simonetto Team 2: Fiorenza Giometti Giada Giovinazzi Pierandrea Micale Team 3: Sara Carraretto Luca Pugliano Kevin Santus Team 8: Valentin di Salvo Marta Ghirardelli Milo Giandomenici Filippo Maria Messuri
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The Hybrid_Link #05 Waterfront: for an hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space ISSN 2039-4608
Bibliografia/Sitografia AA.VV. 1998, Quaderns 220, Topografies operatives, Actar, Barcelona; AA.VV., 2012, K-Words, Per la costruzione di una provvisoria Mappa Concettuale della Progettazione Architettonica. Parole chiave commentate dagli studenti del Corso di Teorie e Tecniche della Progettazione Architettonica Contemporanea, prof. F. Zanni, Laurea Magistrale - Scuola di Architettura e Società Politecnico di Milano; blog a cura di Crispino Alessandro Iannello: http://teorietecnichezanni.blogspot.it; Bianchetti C. 2013, Shared spaces and Mixité: two opposite directions (1) in territoridellacondivisione , March 8, https://territoridellacondivisione.wordpress.com; Crotti S., 1997, Interspazi: dai siti pubblici ai luoghi comuni, in P.Caputo (a cura di): "Le architetture dello spazio pubblico". Milano; Giacomini L., 2009, Dal "frammezzo" all’in-between. Un archetipo "tra" spazio mistico e spazio architettonico, Territorio 48, Franco Angeli, Milano; Lateral Office 2015, Making Camp New Model Campsites, Toronto; lateraloffice.com; Tadi M., 2003, Nodi infrastrutturali e processi generativi per il progetto della struttura insediativa contemporanea, , in: Territorio N° 25, Franco Angeli, Milano; Zanni F., 2009, In-between. Frammenti pubblici interposti: una risorsa per il disegno urbano, Territorio 48, Franco Angeli, Milano; Zanni F., 2004, Approdi. architettura dei nodi lacuali di interconnessione in InfoBuildt: http://www.infobuild.it/approfondimenti/architettura-in-movimento; Zanni F., 2003, Nodi infrastrutturali urbani: i waterfront, in: Territorio N° 25, Franco Angeli, Milano;
Waterfront as Node Tan Shilong Politecnico di Milano Shilong.tan@mail.polimi.it
Abstract: Urban waterfronts gain more attention in the 21st century. Waterfront space is generally linear vertical commence along the water system. The absence of the percipient treatment is resulting in the separation of the water system natural environment and the urban environment, waterfront open space and urban public function in isolation. Hence, the sense of transformation and hybridization of the waterfront and node spaces plays an important role in the region. In this paper, it takes waterfront node space as research base by using urban hybridization theory analyzes its concept, characteristics, typologies and functions, and studies the organization method of waterfront node space by Montecolino project design experiment. Keywords: Waterfront space, node space, urban hybridization
1. Theoretical background 1.1 Urban hybridization thinking 1.1.1 What is urban hybridization
Hybrid, in the field of biology known as a crossbreed, is the result of mixing through sexual reproduction, two animals or plants of different breeds, varieties, species or genera. Base on this concept, we expand “hybrid” to the architectural and urban design fields generates the theory “Urban Hybridization”( FABRIZIO ZANNI, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy, 497 pages, Maggioli Editore, 2012). With the deeper study of Urban hybridization, it is a process that is opposed to the urban space structured by zoning for mono-functional areas and for replication of stereotyped typologies of settlement. That means urban hybridization is a form to construct a system which combined by different kinds of spaces and then derived a potentially new form. 1.1.2 Forms of hybridization a. Architecture and nature This kind of hybridization is a mix between natural space and artificial space, aimed at creating a harmonious state of human and nature symbiosis. b. Multifunction area This kind of hybridization is a form of coexistence and intermingling of two or more functions in a single area, aimed at defining a compound area with different activities. c. Interference between pieces This kind is an interference between pieces taken from the different building and urban types reassembled in a new hybrid form. Also, can be understood to reorganize fragmented monofunction pieces. d. Connect public and private space This form of hybridization is connected to a new and innovative presence and intermingling of public spaces, and private functions and spaces. 1.2 Waterfront space and node space Waterfront: Waterfront area of a city or town is its dockland district or the area alongside a body of water. In this case, the area of waterfront can be firstly regarded as a nature element of urban that maintain the urban ecology and create a livable environment. At the same time, waterfront area has
a significant value for the formation of urban space that surrounded by water. As a result of natural and geographical impacts, the area of waterfront develops the value of cultural. This waterfront cultural generates several abilities of activities and related facilities. Hence, the waterfront is an urban area that combines with the nature character of water and cultural value of a city. Node: Nodes are points. In the study of urban and planning, the concept of a node is related to the concept of path and district. They can be recognized as the strategic spots in a city into which an observer can enter and which are the intensive foci to and from which he is traveling (Kevin Lynch, 1960). The character of nodes may be primarily described as the junction, places of a break in transportation, a crossing or convergence of paths, moments of the shift from one structure to another. Nodes can be also simply concentrations, which gain their importance from being the condensation as a street-corner hangout or an enclosed square. With this nodes study, Lynch defined some of these concentration nodes as cores are the focus and epitome of a district, over which their influence radiates and of which they stand as a symbol.
2. Waterfront as node 2.1 Base concept and background of waterfront node space Base on the concept of urban hybridization and waterfront and the characters of a node in the urban study, I summarize the concept of “Waterfront as node”. This concept is especially for the waterfront space with the node characters. There are three main points of “Waterfront as node” space: a. Different from linear waterfront space, it is the result of integrated linear parts, a point that concentrates water and city. This node space broke the linear form of waterfront and recreate a rhythmic and in constant circumstances. b. As an intersection of water space and land space, it is the junction that links the natural of water and the system of artificial space. c. The “Waterfront as node” space can be considered as the convergence of public space. It is the visual center and facility of the linear spaces that attract the flow of people. In this case, “Waterfront as node” space can be firstly emphasized as an urban public space that can provide variety public activity facilities. Second, as the condensation of a street-corner hangout and an enclosed square, waterfront node space is the center of transportation that can be used to mediate the traffic. Last but not least, this space blends with natural and cultural scenarios, it may sometimes contain the historical and humanity values that make the “Waterfront as node” space a distinguished style and features for a city. Thus, the “Waterfront as node” space can be defined as a point space, is the central part of the waterfront public area. It hybridizes the natural and artificial space into a designable urban space for the waterfront. 2.2 Typology of waterfront node space a. Plaza space: waterfront node space is one kind of node which has an urban property, not only for exchanging of human and vehicle circulation but also for people holding public events. b. Garden space: waterfront node space is also one kind of garden space, due to special geographical conditions, waterfront node space can be seen as a nature garden. c. Spot space: this kind of space is more common in linear waterfront space, which crossed by two or more paths. These intersections can form a spotted sequence. d. Surface space: waterfront space also can be one typology which is composed of a variety of public buildings, squares, recreational facilities and so on.
3. Iseo project design 3.1 Context and problems
Montecolino near the lake of Iseo between the town of Iseo and Pilzone is a waterfront node space which naturally surrounds by water and full of green plants. With the field research of Montecolino, it is a valuable area link the transportation of two towns and the natural of water and land. Unfortunately this space lake of developing, due to the existence of abandoned buildings, this area has lost a large part of the city vitality. At the same time, the chaotic traffic system and private land and buildings completely broke the coherence and sequencing of this area. So it brings some problems, how to fusion nature and urban elements, how to reorganize the traffic to make this area no longer a fragmented state and how to stimulate the town’s vitality in this area.
New functions of Montecolino waterfront (left side), Tan Shilong,2017
3.2 Analysis and viable proposal It should take advantage of nature and the geographic and hybridize the urban characters and natural elements as a “Waterfront as node” space. Waterfront node space can also show a variety of spatial forms because of the different connection method through different paths and streets, and then it enriches the diversity of linear space experience. Different paths intersect each other to produce a new aggregation pattern and these intersection points will be upgraded to public space for people for communication and leisure. Hence, the aim of my design is based on the theory of hybridization and “Waterfront as node” concept. 3.3 Design the project In my design, I try to create a Floating path crossing the Iseo lake instead of the camping area which is private land. These paths expand the space, make people more close to nature, at the same time, pedestrian and vehicle circulation are spared. In the intersection of the paths, I make some small square to enrich the waterfront node space, the function of these squares is flexible that means some of them can be seen as a temporary communication area or some opening space for an event such as market and concert. At the end, all paths converge to a big public square which has a view tower and a bar. The tower could be a landmark of this area, the highest point gives the node space the third dimension and it also has a role of pointing and gathering.
Masterplan of new waterfront (left side), Tan Shilong, 2017
4.Conclusion This paper which takes waterfront node space as research base by using urban hybridization theory analyzes its concept, characteristics, typologies and functions, and studies the organization method of waterfront node space by Montecolino project design experiment. Through the above research, the following conclusion is drawn: a. The waterfront node space is not a linear or spot study object but a hybrid space which mixed by nature and architecture b. Waterfront node space has a great significance to improving urban ecology, enriching the lives of residents and enhancing the tourism industry. c. The core system of waterfront node space is building a complete system, creating new space and protecting the environment.
Rendering of new waterfront, Tan Shilong, 2017
References: Kevin Lynch, “The city image and its elements” from the image of the city, 1960 Fabrizio Zanni, “Urban Hybridization”, Maggioli, 2012 Christian Norberg-Schulz, “Existence, Space, and Architecture”, 1971
The Hybrid_Link #05 Waterfront: for an hybrid and innovative contemporary urban space
ISSN 2039-4608
Folding As an Experiment Jingwen Shan Department of Architecture and Urban Studies – Politecnico di Milano – Piazza Leonardo 26, Milano, Italy Corresponding Author Email: jingwen.shan@polimi.it
Abstract Urban hybridization, an advanced insight, is inevitable in this area of interlace. Among its possible strategies and methods to be explored, “folding” is a significant one. Waterfronts as a certain form of space featured with its natural and geographical characteristics. The surface of seabed appears a slope, which is a typology of folding the ground. A similar typology is mountain site, which is anther degree and angle of folding the ground. In order to achieve the hybridization of buildings and landscape with its natural surroundings, using the same “folding” method maintains the continuity of the site. In this paper an original project of a lake tour center with a permanent in Montecolino area in Iseo, Italy, will be introduced to demonstrate how this methodology works in actual case. Keywords: folding, hybrid space, lake and mountain. 1. Urban Hybridization? HybridLand Hybridization is a behavior of the mixture of different kinds of animal or plant varieties. Genetically speaking, it is the strategy of recombination of some parents' genes via mating different genotypes of individuals. In terms of urban space design, hybridization is the combination of different spaces, the cultural and the natural, the organic and the inorganic, etc. that forms a kind of new space form. This kind of space is diverse and able to give users a variety of sensory effects. Urban hybridization is constantly updated with the development of space design, borrowing from the genetics: it is a combination between different genotype space to obtain recombination of some parents' genetic space. Being inputted to the current urban design and space design background, the concept of urban hybridization is an architectural and urban design practice methodology, and the single partition function area of urban spatial structure and rigid typology of replication. In this Information Age of interlace, the homogeneous form of space no longer fulfills people's needs. Consequently, urban hybridization is inevitable and plays a crucial role in the present urban design field. 2. Folding the space With the emergence of urban hybridization design method in nowadays pluralistic architectural and urban design field, folding as a nonlinear and chaotic thoughts design method breaks through the traditional space concept of Cartesian coordinates system, to generate "montage" continuous space with the interactive relationship of "turning" and "morphology change" in the enclosure space system, and to integrate urban context, history and culture into the changing space morphology so that the space design becomes a culture carrier with ample culture connotation and space delight. From the perspective of science, folding space is "a phenomenon that space gets distorted due to a powerful gravitation. This phenomenon is real, thus theoretically, once the gravity reach to
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a certain amount, the space will bend. It's like from one side of a flat piece of paper to the other, in addition to draw a straight line between those two points, the points can be also close to each other by simply folding up the paper"[5] Anther instance, it takes a long time if we want to travel from one side to the other on a piece of long elastic object, however if one side of the object can be observed to the other through gravity, users on one side can directly reach the other side of the object. Once the gravitation is glided, the object will automatically restored to its original state. Since the early 1990 s, in architecture and urban design, many architects philosopher shows interest in folding space and attention, such as French philosopher Jill. Deleuze (Gilles Louis Rene Deleuze, 1925-1995) : in this world, time and space with the unfolding and folding of material generated Each cleft won't exist independently, it always exist or contain other wrinkled and fold not concerned about innovation style but relationship, to find the relationship between the folds, finding folds as contact with the world In recent years, the study from the study to practical case more and more, such as Iraq British female architect Zaha Hadid the works of Guangzhou grand theatre in China, just like two pieces of been the pearl river water flushing Lingshi, peculiar shape clever; Descend from SOHO and Shanghai, China, as well as the American architect Adrian Smith design of candle in the wind tower Dubai, together constitute a sculpture of a dance image, looks like a candle in the flashing Many architects will fold as a kind of architecture design method, the architectural form of folding transition relationship between surface and surface, folding and the crossing Angle, folding and concave and convex and continuity, to change the position and orientation of state, etc. Folding, as design way of urban hybridization, it has the characteristics of diversity and complexity of repeatability and difference Folding is divided into organic and inorganic folding, inorganic folding refers to a surface is curved surface for sharp-angled transition relationship between surface and surface, and highlight the Angle of twist and continuous change of a folding form, handover between surface and surface process is folded, inorganic folding is the whole surface in three-dimensional space can be organic fold, its surface is a curve, smooth transition, transition relationship between border no edges and corners, give a person the sense with smooth and soft. Many architects in the design of folding space design is introduced into a place that does not have the space limit, use the rolling surface and fluent line Combination of features, broke the traditional architectural structure, the building of internal constant folding, build the dynamic space sense of issue in the future Folding space can be said to be the infinite extension of space design, through the turning point in space and the change of space form, combined with diverse hybrid combination of the space, become the space the infinite wonderful, and endowed with rich cultural connotation and artistic charm. 3. One Experiment The project is located at Montecolino in Iseo, Italy. It contains a lake tour center with a permanent passing through is design in the northern part of the Montecolino, along the lake. This part of area is considered as anther entrance of the Montecolino site, the entrance from the lake and islands. The design mainly involves the dock, waterfront architecture and landscape. The lake tour center stands beside the landmark tower on the west, together with the top mountain line create a nice skyline. While the permanent exposed completely to the nature, the lake tour center building provide a covered public space for a different experience for people. Also it is a place to rest when it rains.
Mountain and lake, the two significant natural elements in this site, are positive and negative space in people's subconscious mind. However, in fact the ground is always a continuous matter, it is a natural harmony. Here starts the design inspiration. Based on urban hybridization theory, the project use folding design method to transform the waterfront design to a fusion of nature and artifacts. Folding various types of space forms a new heterogeneous space. In the project three main aspects are explored as follows:
1) Between Mountain and Lake The mountain itself is a typology of folding of ground surface due to the extrusion formation. This natural form is a treasure that given by nature. Thus, the lake tour center is designed as a continuous circular space that extends from the top of the mountain to the surface of lake, forming a dynamic folding line that goes up and down and gathering the nature ambiance through an integral space and air. Everything speaks the same language. Besides, considering the positive and negative space relationship between mountain and lake, the building is belongs to the ground and grows from the soil.
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Taking the natural formation of the mountain as references, the circulation lines are designed as public space and connections to guide people. Inside the lake tour center building, while going up from the ground floor to the first floor, there is a lifted grass ribbon goes along the human path, to bring the green inside. Stairs combined with slops are planned for people to get to the first floor. The necessity of going up and down inside the building reflects the mountain context. On the one hand, people can fully experience the fun of “climbing mountain� inside the building; on the other hand users can watch the shore to the top of the mountain of the various attractions. Curves and straight lines are the basic design elements, connecting the bank with the dock. Using the straight line and curve creates a bright contrast, not only strives a lot of fun, but also reflects the soft and hard, firm and mild, fast and slow, simple and complex, and male and female philosophy contains. Straight lines and curves, in the Chinese classical garden art have a special performance. Chinese classical garden is exquisite in content, straight piece of dialectical relations. The form of curves and straight lines are sophisticated applied to garden artistic conception, however they are not isolated storage and relative phase, but interdependent, constitute the dialectical unification of opposites relations. Grasping the aesthetic characteristics of the curve and the line, using it rationally, will give people various aesthetic feelings, which produces different artistic conception effects. In the design, the "curve" represents graceful, smooth, implicit, deep and natural; the "straight line" at the dock on the other hand gives people a sense of order, upright and rigid, as well as security. The lines caused by the effect of emotion to express the aesthetic characteristics of the scheme, whose harmony, proportion and symmetry performance relationship enable the users rich association and wild imagination. 2 Between Buildings There are eight other buildings with facilities based on public purpose catering leisure and culture around the lake tour center in Montecolino. They host respectively hotel, restaurant, bar, water amusement park, local shops, museum, and little exhibition area to display local art works and events etc., which generates the entire Montecolino area. Following the common western architectural design concept, the building construction design part adopts the rational, realistic, order and regularity oriented, and symmetrical design method. In the same time regarding environmental space as the hero of architectural design, involve architecture in the arms of environment, so that it is more harmonious and unified between building and building, and also between building and environment.
In the main body of revetment construction modeling design, priority is given to squares, squares of different margins. With the contrast of various shapes and sizes, the spaces between buildings form mutual folding, strengthen the construction model of the dialectical relationship between unity and change. Moreover, the surface style stands out from the architectural one, composing a slightly lively atmosphere. Besides, the slope of the roof is used to strengthen the relationship between roof and ground and to blur the boundary between building and the ground, so that architecture and environment form a unity where one can naturally travel from the ground to the roof. This also enlarges the usable size of the ground surface, and enriches the recreation. Revetment ground with green line between the main building will buildings together, make them form a main buildings, strengthening the connection between the building the roof of the terminal building green vegetation are used to strengthen the construction and the natural coordination, better in nature, architecture reflects the philosophy of harmony, the building became a part of nature, to achieve infinite harmony. It is widely believed that the exterior modeling is not the first thing to be considered when a building is designed and constructed, instead, more attention should be paid to the relations between building and building, and between building and its environs. The point is clear in the project. 3
Between Landscape Architecture and Environment
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The iconic design node of the project is located at the front of the dock, a symbol of this waterfront landscape in Montecolino. Special emphasis is drawn on the relationship between the main body of landscape architecture and its environs. Taking natural folding curves of the mountain as the background, along with horizontal curves of the revetment and the picturesque disordered vegetation lines, highlight and strengthen the visual effect of the landscape objective. Using the composition law of the painting art, enhance the contrast of framing and folding expressive technique for close, middle and faraway views. Moreover, the rust red color of landscape architecture and the green vegetation formation share a contrast color relations, making the landscape objective brighter and more attractive. The inspiration of the project comes from the Rubik's Cube that can give people unlimited reverie and the possibility of dynamic changes. An inorganic folding design method is applied, using elements such as folding angel, folding orientation, folding line, folding shape, etc., to create a "hard handover" relationship between surfaces of the building, so that it produces obvious turning lines that makes a contrast with the graceful curves of mountain behind the building. The same "folding" method is used to keep the relationship between point and point, via the connection of lines to strengthen continuity of points, so that the whole landscape architecture consists of different but similar planes, among which mostly are triangular folded planes and polygon folded planes, they are connected through corner angels. The overall results in a diversified and complicated, repeating and differentiating landscape architecture composition. Hollow out design is also introduced in the landscape architecture project, mainly using the landscaping and framing technique of Chinese classical garden to make the landscape architecture more transparent, and easier to communicate with its environment, also more unified and coordinated with the environment. The inclination of building and the horizontal plane creates a 60ยบ angle, leaving the hollow out part visible no matter from the sky, the front or the back. Through the hollow out part, people can see the scenery on the other side, thus it strengthens the visibility of the landscape architecture. 4. Conclusion It's an experiment of folding in the urban waterfront design in Iseo. Fruitful inspiration and profound thinking and are gained through this design practice. The design practice is over, yet the research will continue. 5. Acknowledgement First, I am very appreciated that China Scholarship Council sponsored my PHD research in Politecnico di Milano when this paper came out. Second, I would like to thank Prof. Fabrizio Zanni, director of Urban Hybridization International Research Group (UHRG), who first introduced the urban hybridization idea to me logically and systematically. The last but no least, thank Prof. Luca Basso Peressut, my PHD coordinator, head of Dastu department of Politecnico di Milano for his patient guidance from the first beginning of my PHD career. 6. Annotation https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%A9%BA%E9%97%B4%E6%8A%98%E5%8F%A0/2685454 ?fr=aladdin
7. References [1] Aldo Aymonino & Valerio Paoplo Mosco (2016). Contemporary public space: un-volumetric architecture. Milan: Skira [2] Jan Gehl (1971). Life between buildings: using public space. Washington – Covelo – London: Island Press [3] Jaime Lerner (2014). Urban acupuncture. Washington – Covelo – London: Island Press [4] Rem Koolhaas, Bruce Mau (1995). S, M, L, XL: small, medium, large, extra-large. New York: Monacelli Press [5] [.1 53 2 0 . [6] . 0 9 J 0 9 . *This paper work is sponsored by China Scholarship Council.