Archiprix 2013 tu delft jasper nijveldt

the wall The re-discovery of ordinary public places in an alternative urban architectural model for Chinese cities - The case of Chengdu

Jasper Nijveldt

With fragile growth or even shrinkage in Europe and the United States, the shift in economic

balance toward the South and more decisively East is happening with unprecedented speed and

scale; We are witnessing the biggest economic transformation the world has ever seen. More than

ever, cities matter. Especially China is undergoing a massive urban revolution, with emerging

mega-cities you maybe never heard of like Fuzhou, Wuhan, Chongqing and Chengdu. Chinese

cities will have an enormous impact on the global economy the coming years and will experience

massive growth. But are they ready to handle it? What will it take for these cities to serve their

expanding, and ever more prosperous, citizens while still sustaining growth?

The current dispersed growth model rapidly replaces finely meshed networks of courtyards, pocket

parks and pedestrian friendly streets by a Neo-Corbusion urban landscape with large squares,

impressive parks, eye-catching architecture and privatized compounds. This tactless reconstruction

is more focused on the spectacle and the object, than on space itself. However, several Chinese

scholars argue that this leads to a decline in the quality and use of ordinary public places and on a

subconscious level to a feeling that cities are becoming ‘placeless’. It is the hypothesis of this project

that if this becomes the new tendency of all future developments, it would be the deathblow of

public life and several problems facing China will be fortified.

Therefore, to counteract this trend it is crucial to understand the Chinese perception of space,

which is very different than the Western perception, in order to know how to structure it.

Enclosure, with the wall as its most prominent architectural element, represented for centuries

a key experience of space in Chinese cities. Even the word ‘city’ and ‘wall’ (cheng 墙城) were

the same. Walls provided a structure for ones position in space, time and society and a tangible

spatial reference for everyday life. This worked on every scale from country and city to house and

bedroom. This project presents a contemporary interpretation of this; The Wall.

The Wall is a strategic vision for an alternative urban architectural model that will guide the

city towards compact sustainable growth, giving at the same time ‘place’ to the millions of new

migrants. A new dense 300 km long and 1 km wide urban zone along the current city border

takes on the specifics of the local soil, vegetation and existing land use patterns. From birds-eye

perspective the Wall looks therefore rather chaotic, but from eye-level its secret is being unravelled;

Space is experienced trough a crossing of various enclosures and different spatial sequences, from

the very public all the way to the private bedroom. Space is presented little by little. The next space

is always unpredictable which creates a sense of mystery. The wall is a strategic approach that

ranges from designing a small water gutter, to a robust and general solution for the entire China.

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carbon

evaporation water

rain water collectionpolluted ground water in aquifer

Grey water

rainfall interception

reducing moisture

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valley

water ponds

1st �oor min. 4 m.

max. height 18m

At least one side accessible to public

One side at least a Wall

min. 7 m.x 7m. court

max. 80% build

at least 5 m. distance

5m

6m

max. 6 m.setback from street.

max. 5 plots per developer

on 50% max 23 m.

URBAN AREA, Chengdu (sqkm)

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400

19851980 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

economic reform industrialization, export, manufacturing

Global,FDI

AVERAGE SPEED city centre, Chengdu (kmph)

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25

average during rush hour

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

biking

Source: china StatiStical Yearbook, 2009Source: china StatiStical Yearbook, 2009

156 KM2

If we would project the estimated population growth in Chengdu in the same space-consuming manner as the last decade (1), we would almost need to build a second city of similar size by 2030 (2). But the current finger model of the city will grow out of proportion, precious land and ecosystems will be eaten, resulting in urban sprawl and traffic congestion. Because of the growing distances the inhabitants become more dependent on cars and more ring-roads need to be built. Traffic jams (today 1200 new driver licenses are issued each day) and an increase of air pollution will be inevitable (air pollution in Chengdu is already 2,5 times higher than who guidelines (3). Chengdu’s development will gradually slow down, become more congested (4) and will decrease in liveability and efficiency. The finger model is no longer sustainable. The city is at the crossroads. We therefore have to look for a new urban architectural model that cater to a greater population without compromising the quality of daily life.

What if we stop the urban sprawl by densifying the current city border (5)? The pro-posal is a new dense 300 km long and 1 km wide urban zone along the current city border. This ‘wall’ makes the transition between landscape and city manifest. The Wall takes the existing situation radically as a starting point, and not only gives the opportunity to accommodate the projected population growth, but also forms a series of parallel strategies that truly can have the potential to tackle bad air quality (6). 80% of air pollution is caused by transportation and industry. Therefore, by connecting the existing metro system with the Wall, an expanded public transit will be provided,

thus decreasing the dependency on the car. This new transport system will be the backbone of the Wall. Next to that, by clustering industry in the Wall the total system becomes more sustainable; the Wall will cut emissions and capture it before it blows freely into the air. Sharing energy, waste, heat and co2 capture systems will have a big influence on air quality (7)

The Wall is an alternative urban model that fosters compact growth, but the quality of ordinary urban space is ultimately determined by how it is experienced in daily life. Space and the perception of it is therefore the starting point of a new township that is part of the bigger structure of the Wall (8). In order to understand the Chinese percep-tion of space, one would have to understand how a culture perceives and formulates the ideas of space and publicness. China progressively developed its perception of space for centuries in a process of accumulated evolution rather than outright revolu-tion. Before the recent modernization, Chinese cities were conceived as a whole, and were usually based on a plan that was consistently applied to the existing topography. It was a collective work of art. A few principles were systematically applied following precedents established long before. These shaped the perception of space for centuries, but are in the modern Chinese city under high pressure. Based on Chinese litera-ture, five crucial city forming principles are formulated: Linearity, Hierarchy, Unity, Human Scale and Enclosure (9). In China space is organized linear and hierarchical with small and scattered nodes along the street, while in the West (mainly Europe)

2 Estimated urban area needed

1 Recent growth in urban area

4 Average speed city centre 5 Proposal: The Wall accomodates population growth

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6 Integral system of the Wall 8 Conceptual model of the Wall. Public transport and walkable distance is backbone. Part is worked out further

9 Fundamental city forming principles

10 Existing landscape structure, with valley, bamboo hills, and water ponds as basis 14 Block development: Existing landscape structure with building zone

11 Terraced landscape works as natural ventilator 15 Erecting walls on plotlines

12 Adding new secondary east-west lanes to existing road network. 16 Urban rules

13 Building zones

19 Metro station on linear public space with courtyards, pocket parks and small squares. 23 1:500 section showing the crossing of enclosed worlds.

17 Result of block development 18 Birds eye perspective. Township emerges from typical terraced landscape structure

20 1:500 plan showing interior and exterior walls 22 Different materials and plantation makes it an subtle sensorial experience; Indigenous plants function as natural incense. Local materials.

21 1:10 Catchment and natural cleaning of rainwater. Sound of falling and streaming water has cooling and cal-ming effect. White concrete walls maximizes sunshine reflection and keeps adjacent spaces cool in summer

7 New transport and industry system

Existing separated system

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The Wall Clustered system

3 Air pollution Chengdu

big central static nodes play an important role in an non-orthogonal lay-out. Chinese buildings are also inwards oriented, with more focus on family and kinship, instead of transparant and individual towards the street. Open space and nature is blended into smaller pieces and distributed evenly throughout a human scaled and horizontal city, while Western culture breaks it up into bigger pieces, distributing it on important nodes in a vertical oriented city. Finally, the enclosing of spaces touches the essence of the Chinese perception of space. Space is fundamentally perceived like a series of en-closed worlds, and the smaller units repeat on a reduced scale the forms of the larger one. These principles form the basis for a new township.

The township is based on the existing landscape (10) and micro-climate (11) and uses the pattern of agricultural lots on the location (14). Walls are erected on the plot lines to create building lots for a variety of dwelling typologies (15). Urban rules are formula-ted to give right to a process of accumulated evolution (16). The subtle distribution of local materials, plants and streaming water contributes to the quality and sensorial experience of the urban spaces (21 & 22). The township is canopied under trees rising out of small open areas. The result looks in birds-eye perspective rather chaotic (18), but eye-level perspectives mysteriously present a series of clearly understandable enclosed worlds with humanly scaled courtyards, gardens, pocket parks, water ponds and bamboo hills (23-28).

2050 27x27 KM

2030 20x20KM

urban area

201012.2

203016.7

205020.3

POTENTIAL THE WALL27.5

西南财经大学

EXISTING SEPERATED SYSTEM THE WALL - CLUSTERED SYSTEM

TRANSPORT


INDUSTRY

LOCALISED FEEDER SYSTEM

DENSITY

GROWING CITY RELIES ON CAR USE

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URBAN SPRAWL

INDUSTRY

A

D

E

F

GC

A B

B C D

INDUSTRY DWELLINGS DWELLINGS

GREEN HOUSES

CARBON CAPTURE

UNDERGROUNDPARKING

EXISTING METRO SYSTEM


CO2

CO2

HEAT

COLD

WASTE

GREEN HOUSES

EXISTING INDUSTRY

O2

CO2

O2


TRANSPORT


INDUSTRY

LOCALISED FEEDER SYSTEM

DENSITY

GROWING CITY RELIES ON CAR USE

?

URBAN SPRAWL

INDUSTRY

A

D

E

F

GC

A B

B C D

INDUSTRY DWELLINGS DWELLINGS

GREEN HOUSES

CARBON CAPTURE

UNDERGROUNDPARKING



CO2

CO2

HEAT

COLD

WASTE

GREEN HOUSES

EXISTING INDUSTRY

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CO2

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Enclosure on different scales:

From city to bedroom

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1990 - 2010+250%

CRUCIAL DETAILCoated steel gutter let water fall from walls.When it rains small waterfalls appear

Concrete

Gravel

Helophytes

Prefab concrete with constructed gutter

WaterGravelbed

AVERAGE SPEED city centre, Chengdu (kmph)

0

5

10

15

20

25

average during rush hour

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

biking

Jasper Nijveldt

TU Delft | Faculty of Architecture

Departement of Urbanism

1332279

[email protected]

www.jaspernijveldt.com

Studio Vertical Cities Asia

Supervisors

Mitesh Dixit

prof. ir. Henco Bekkering

dr. ir. Luisa Calabrese

prof. ir. Kees Kaan

ir. Henri van Bennekom

Mentor team

prof. ir. Henco Bekkering,

Professor Chair of Urban Design

Assoc. Prof. Deborah Hauptmann,

Associate Professor of Architecture Delft School of Design

Can the Wall be seen as an integral strategy and be an alternative urban architectural for the current dispersed urban growth in China?

In the Wall the challenges (29) will not be dealt with as separate tasks but, rather as an holistic strategy. Not only the flow of people, but flow of energy, waste, water, fauna and flora (30). Traffic congestion and sprawled industries are decreased therefore ha-ving a major effect on air quality. Water can be purified and used as drinking water or for other uses like the shower or toilets. Wast can be collectively dealt with troug-hout the whole Wall. Biodiversity and vegetation in the landscape can be untouched. Migrants from rural areas can move to the Wall, overlooking the farmland on one hand, and on the other hand see the opportunities of the city. Food can still be produ-ced in the landscape and collectively transported in a short distance to the Wall. This more technical approach to the challenges, is complemented with attention to the design and experience of ordinary places used for daily life.

The Chinese cities grew enormously last decades, spreading to almost infinity. The idea of the Chinese Wall can be projected at different cities (31). 350 million people will be added to China’s urban population by 2025. 40 billion sqm of floor space will be built. The urban Walls can accommodate this growth, making the urbanization more compact and sparing the scarce landscape. The cities would grow to dense super cities. This generates the most gdp per capita, is more energy efficient and it would contain the loss of arable land. They can be the second Great Chinese Walls to be erected, therefore preparing China for its urban billion!

29 Challenges facing China. China at the crossroads; a radical course change is needed.

30 A flow of people, energy, waste, water, fauna and flora24-26 Walking from metro to bedroom while passing through a series of enclosed worlds 31 New Chinese Walls

20252020201520102005200019951990 2030 2030 2035 2040 2045

urban area (sqkm)

population

migrants

biodiversity

energy

water consumption(liter/day/capita)

water availability(liter/day/capita)

private cars

cars’ average speed(km/h)

waste per capita

income & expenditure(yuan)

food consumption(kcal/day/capita)