In Favour of Public Space - European Prize for Public Space

7/26/2019 In Favour of Public Space - European Prize for Public Space

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Open-Air Library, Magdeburg

KARO* with Architektur +Netzwerk

text by Peter Cachola Schmal

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Norwegian National Opera& Ballet, OsloSnhetta

text by Kjartan Flgstad

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Playa de Poniente Esplanade,BenidormOffice of Architecture inBarcelona

text byJos Miguel Iribas

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Fishermens Huts,Cangas de MorrazoIrisarri & Piera

text by Sarah Ichioka78

Urban ActivatorsTheatre Podium &Grotekerkplein, RotterdamAtelier Kempe Thill

text by Huib Haye van der Werf

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Passage 56, Espace Culturel

cologique, ParisAtelier dArchitectureAutogre

text by Francis Rambert

88

Barking Town Square, London

muf architecture/art, AllfordHall Monaghan & Morris

text by Beatrice Galilee

94

Centrum.Odorf, InnsbruckFroetscher Lichtenwagner &IDEALICE

text by Gabriele Kaiser

98

Homage Tower, HuscarAntonio Jimnez Torrecil las

text by Luis Garca Montero

102

Other Peoples Photographs,FolkestoneStrange Cargo Arts

text by Xavier Ribas

108

Sea Organ, Zadar

Nikola Baictext by eljka Corak

114

A8ernA, ZaanstadNL Architects

text by Ole Bouman

120

Piazza Nera Piazza Bianca,Robbiano

Ifdesigntext by Luca Molinari

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Heroes of the Ghetto Square,KrakowPiotr Lewicki & Kazimierzatak

text by Adam Zagajewski

128

Volkspalast, Berlin

text by Dirk Laucke

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In Commemoration of theTen Years of the European Prizefor Urban Public Space

Antoni Fogu

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ForewordJudit Carrera

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The City and theHuman Condition

Josep Ramoneda

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The Impossible Project

of Public SpaceManuel de Sol-Morales

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Interview with Rafael Moneo

Magda Angls / Judit Carrera

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A Decade of Awards

Dietmar Steiner

2010 2008 2006


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136

Restoration of the Vall den Joan

Controlled Landfill Site, BeguesBatlle i Roig Arquitectes +Teresa Gal-Izard

text byJoan Nogu

142

Refurbishing of the Paseo delvalo, TeruelDavid Chipperfield, FermnVzquezb720

text by

Luis Fernndez-Galiano148

Harbour Baths, CopenhagenPLOT A/S: Bjarke Ingels &Julien De Smedt

text by Lars Gemze

152

Tilla Durieux Park, BerlinDS Landschapsarchitecten

text by Andreas Huyssen156

Stortorget, KalmarCaruso St John Architects

text by Philip Ursprung

160

Green Tenerife [Site 9],Buenavista del NorteGPY Arquitectos

text by Marina Romero

168

Regeneration of the River Gllego

and Environs, Zueraaldayjover arquitectura ypaisaje

text by Luis Francisco Espl

174

Lene Voigt Park, LeipzigBro Kiefer

text by Arnold Bartetzky

178

Skatepark in Westblaak Avenue,RotterdamdS+V

text by Hans Ibelings182

Programme of UrbanRehabilitation in Marinha deSilvade District, EspinhoSrria-Jnior

text by Ana Vaz Milheiro186

Environmental Regenerationof the River Bess, Barcelona /Montcada i Reixac / SantaColoma de Gramenet / SantAdri de BessBarcelona Regional

text by Oriol Bohigas

192

Can Mul, Mollet del Valls

Serra-Vives-CartagenaArquitectes

text by Montserrat Tura

198

Smithfield Public Space, DublinMcGarry N anaigh Architects

text by Shane OToole

202

Central Ter Park, Girona

Francesc Hereu & JoaquimEspaol

text by Antoni Puigverd

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The Flneurs Surprise

David Bravo

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Map of the European Prize forUrban Public Space (20002010)

Elas Torres

2004 2002 2000


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20002010ten years of the european prize

for urban public space

Buenavista del Norte160


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Girona202

Oslo60

Magdeburg54

Cangas de Morrazo72

London88

Folkestone102

Huscar

98

Krakow124

Berlin128

Mollet del Valls192

Kalmar156

Innsbruck94

Zadar108

Leipzig174

Robbiano120

Barcelona186

Espinho182

Benidorm66

Teruel142

Begues136

Copenhagen148

Zaanstad114

Rotterdam78

Zuera168

Dublin198

178

Paris82

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Bearing witness to the tensions of public spacein Europe: this is the aim of the European Prize for Urban Public Space, which wasestablished in 2000 by the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB).

The Prize was an outcome of the exhibition The Reconquest of Europe(1999) withAlbert Garcia Espuche as its curator and organised jointly with the then InstitutFranais dArchitecture which showed the impressive scale of the movement torecover public spaces in Europe in the 1980s and 1990s. In time, several institutionsjoined the project, which is presently an initiative of the CCCB working in collabo-ration with six other European centres: The Architecture Foundation (London), theArchitekturzentrum Wien (Vienna), the Cit de lArchitecture et du Patrimoine(Paris), the Nederlands Architectuurinstituut (Rotterdam), the Museum of FinnishArchitecture (Helsinki) and the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (Frankfurt). As a

result of this joint endeavour, the Prize has become a permanent observatory ofEuropean public space.

Besides contemplating the evolution of European cities, the Prize particularlyhighlights the collective nature and political potential of public spaces. This is theonly award of European scope that recognises spaces that are at once public (openand of universal access) and urban. Understanding the power of urban planningto create a political community, the Prize differs from other initiatives that focuson the work, the architect or the landscape by emphasising the relational andcivic character of typically urban space. Owing to this political quality, the Prizeis awarded to both the author of the work and the developer behind it, who oftenalso guarantees its financing. The Prize then stresses the importance of an alliancebetween policy and architecture that favours the common good, while recognisingrepresentatives from the public sphere who are sensitive to the need for defendingpublic space as an instrument for buttressing democracy. It focuses on examplesof urban surgery or those interventions on the small or large scale that createcommunity where there was none and that seek to improve the citizens livingconditions. Priority is given, then, to socially sensitive architecture over projectsof marked aesthetic accent or spectacular appearance.

ForewordJUDI T CARRERA

Judit Carrera, head of the European Pr ize for Urban Public Space.

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The Prize has an avowed Europe-oriented vocation, which is ref lected in its defence

of the model of the dense and compact city. Indeed, encouraging debate on the urbannature and even the extent of Europe is one of the CCCBs objectives in offeringthis Prize. Does a strictly European model of the city exist? What are the limitsof Europe? The Prize reaches beyond the bounds of the European Union to takein the greater Europe of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe that havesigned the European Convention on Human Rights. Nevertheless, the inclusionof Turkey, Russia or Israel is frequently a matter for discussion (and often a boneof contention) among the jury members, just as it is in European political debate.Whatever the case, in bringing out the shared concerns of the whole continent,

the Prize manifests a certain European identity in the spheres of architecture andurban planning.

From its very beginnings, the Prize has created an ideal space for debating, in anongoing way and with a multidisciplinary focus, some of the central issues of con-temporary society, starting out from the city as a universal category. Discussion onthe concept of public space, which can be traced back to the origins of philosophy(unity is not the object of the city because the city is pluralism, as Aristotle said),has intensified in recent years as an offshoot of the increasing blurring of theboundaries between the public and the private. This has led some thinkers to call

for new concepts such as collective space as opposed to the more classical idea ofpublic space. The distinction between the rural and urban domains is also evermorediffuse as is as a result of this the frontier between urban planning and landscap-ing. Over the past ten years, the projects presented for the Prize have ref lected thetransformation of our urban milieu and the main lines of the debate generated bythese changes: matters such as the impact of globalisation on the city, recovery ofhistoric memory, urban peripheries, privatisation and security-oriented manage-ment of public spaces and, more recently, the need to uphold formal austerity inarchitecture, have moved to the forefront of the concerns that European cities have

in common. The Prize, like this catalogue, does not eschew the paradoxes that areinherent in the debate on public space in Europe. On the contrary, it gathers themtogether, discusses them and elaborates them.

These are some of the themes of the in-depth articles to be found in the openingpages of the present catalogue, written by prominent experts associated with thePrize. The director of the CCCB, Josep Ramoneda, opens the reflection herein withan article championing the urban condition of Europe. The architect Manuel deSol-Morales, president of the 2008 award, criticises the banalisation of the conceptof public space and espouses its political nature. Dietmar Steiner, director of Archi-

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tekturzentrum Wien and a jury member since 2002, relates his particular journey

through the history of the Prize. The architect and Pritzker Prize winner, RafaelMoneo, president of the 2010 jury, offers in a hitherto unpublished interview, hisdefinition of the city and public space, along with his analysis of the present situa-tion of architecture. The architect David Bravo, secretary of the 2010 award, drawssome theoretical conclusions on the 29 winning projects since 2000. Finally, thearchitect Elas Torres, president of the 2006 jury, has presented us with a Europeancollage of all the prize-winning works over the past ten years.

In the second part of this catalogue, the 29 projects that won or were given spe-cial mention in the first six awards of the Prize are analysed by architects, urban

planners, writers, sociologists and political representatives, bringing out, one byone, the common strands of the first decade of the Prize. These works are only aselection of all the projects that can be consulted on-line in the European Archiveof Urban Public Space (http://www.publicspace.org). In some cases, ten years havegone by and the works have gained their own autonomy through the citizens ap-propriation and the passing of time. In others, the intervention is still recent andtheir evolution will need to be attentively observed. However, the totality offers adiverse, plural overview of some of the more signif icant projects from the recenthistory of public spaces in Europe.

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Map of theEuropean Prize forUrban Public Space(20002010)ELAS TORRES

Elas Torres, architect.


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2010


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Cangas de Morrazo72

Paris82

Rotterdam78 Magdeburg

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Oslo60

Benidorm

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Magbrg

Open-Air LibraryKARO* with ARchiteKtuR + NetzweRK

[ Joint Winner ]

2010

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When this small project was awarded joint winner

with the Oslo Opera House by the jury of the Euro-pean Prize for Urban Public Space, presided over byRafael Moneo, I was not that surprised, as this de-lightful project has been stirring up quite a bit of pressdust in Germany in the past years, while evolvingfrom a grassroots installation into a real building.Members of the jury commented that this projectjust did everything right you can do right in archi-tecture at the moment. This was viewed already asbeing a litt le suspicious. Are not so many politically

correct ingredients a sign of a calculated strategy?But what are these ingredients? A small piece with anopen social nature was built in the difficult district ofMagdeburg-Salbke, a typically derelict and shrinkingcity in former socialist Eastern Germany, marked bya vacancy ratio near 80% and a high unemploymentrate of around 20%. This project was planned withthe participation and even enthusiastic support of thelocal community, including some youth groups. Itrecycles architectural faade elements. And it places

books in its centre of attention, for 24-hours freeuse in the main public square of the district. Andthis impressive spatial object is not only a great suc-cess with the public but it also looks really good, itis elegantly designed and balanced, it is fresh andappealing to architects countering the notion thatgrassroots projects generally have a dreary pedagogi-cal image.Yes, the Leipzig-based collaborative KARO foundedby the architect and freelance collaborator at the Bau-

haus Dessau Foundation, Stefan Rettich, the archi-tect Antje Heuer, and the mechanical engineer BertHafermalz did everything right, but they also riskeda lot. The genesis of the project that their authors de-scribe as situative urbanism shows a slow evolutionrather than a strategic marketing concept at work.Like so many other derelict public spaces in EasternGermany this one, too, is in danger of being takenover by bored and notorious right-wing youth gangs.But this project was not generated by a top-down ap-

proach that could later easily fall prey to negligenceand vandalism just the opposite. It was the result ofa patient social intervention process that started backin 2005 . For a few days the central square where in

Books against DepressionPETER CACHOLA SCHMAL

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the 1980s the local library had actually been standingbefore it burned down was inhabited by a spatialsculpture built out of 1,000 beer crates, followingworkshops of developing possible design approachesfor this site together with the local community. Callsfor book donations brought in around 10,000 booksfor this event that ended in poetry slam sessions and

readings by authors. In the following years thesebook donations doubled in size and were used in aninformal citizens library set within a neighbouringunused store. The potential of the project managedto attract public funding within the federal govern-ments program of experimental urban planningschemes, and the permanent building could finallybe realized in June 2009.The Open-Air Library, locally known as the SalbkeBookmark, comes very close to the very first beer-

crate simulation, with its interior situated on theformer central square well sheltered from the street.The beer crates have been substituted by aluminiumfaade panels that are not only iconic, as they stemfrom the shopping center faade system of the 1960sHorten chain but they can also be read as a re-useof a typical Western consumerism symbol for East-ern social action. A small covered stage also servesa public function. Both the patio and the stage havebeen widely accepted and put to use by the citizens

who have organized themselves to take care of theiropen library. The youth groups use the open space astheir public meeting ground, since there is nowhereelse for them to go in town. When the first attack ofvandalism occurred recently, the people were aware ofits meaning and defended their space. They organizedthe repairs and thus propagated a strong signal, thatthey would not tolerate such actions.Stefan Rettich, the most public figure of Karo, statedthat a lot of the recently emerging public spaces in

Eastern Germany are mainly leftover residual spacesin the urban fabric produced by the demolition of dis-used buildings without any favourable impact, point-ing to the problem of the sustainable maintenance ofthese important spaces. With the Open-Air Library,Karo found a very original answer to this topic thatis both convincing and invigorating. Therefore thisproject rightly deserves the 2010 European Prize forUrban Public Space, as it is exemplary for all other Eu-ropean cities faced with the problem of shrinking.

Gnral plan. 1. Sag / 2. Bookall / 3. Sang n /4. Yo-ornr / 5. Lan / 6. trra

Peter Cachola Schmal, director of Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM)in Frankfurt.

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Like so many other urbanzones of East Germany,the district of Salbke in thesoutheast of Magdeburg issunk in deep physical andsocial dereliction. The unem-ployment rate is high and itspost-industrial landscape isscattered with abandoned

factories, empty lots and alarge number of vacant busi-ness premises and homes.In this setting, the site ofthe districts former librarysaw, in 2005, the beginningsof an urban planning experi-ment called City on Trial,promoted by the residentsthemselves.The abandoned premises ofan adjoining shop were usedas a working space for orga-

nising the book collectionand to draw up, in an openand neighbourly participa-tive process, the programmefor designing a new open-air

library and listing its needs.Some 20,000 books werecollected and, with over athousand beer crates, a 1:1scale model of the resultingproposal was constructed onthe site. This then becamethe venue for a small poetryslam and readings festival.

The success of the initia-tive helped to procure fromthe Federal Governmentthe necessary funds toconstruct the facility, whichwas opened in 2009. Prefab-ricated pieces from thefaade of a recently demol-ished 1960s building nowshape a thick wall that holdsthe bookshelves. The wall,topped by a higher sectionthat houses a cafeteria,

shelters a green space wherepeople can read in the openair and there is also a stageon which primary schoolplays are performed, publicreadings are given andconcerts by young peoplesbands are held.Open 24 hours a day, thefacility is managed by theresidents who, without anykind of monitoring or checks,freely take and return books.

Although there has been theodd episode of vandalism,testifying to the toughsurroundings, the new libraryis fully-functioning. The resi-dents have taken over a run-down space to turn it intoan innovative meeting placethat, with its powerful iconiccharge, rises as an emblemof a more promising futurefor Salbke.

PROject o-a l,mgg, G

dAte 2009

AuthORS Karo* w

ak+nwk

SuRfAce 488 2

cOSt 325,000 m

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Son al

Nor laon ws laon

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Oslo

Norwegian National Opera & BalletSNhettA

[ Joint Winner ]

2010

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From natures point of view the Norwegian capital liesat the very end of a fjord. Bjrvika is the innermost bayat the head of the Oslo fjord. This is as far as the seacan reach. It is in this deep indentation of the oceanthat we find the new Norwegian Opera House.Many of Snhettas building projects can be foundin such locations, in the transition between land andsea, between the ocean and solid ground. Here therewere once quays, wharves, boat traf fic, moorings forships, the loading and unloading of cargo and pas-

sengers. Architects intervene by building new culturalarenas and thereby changing these historic meetingplaces. The opera house in Bjrvika too is locatedin a traditional harbour area, which is today in theprocess of being gentrif ied and renamed Fjordbyen(Fjord town). As in harbour towns all over the world,the scrap heap of industrialism is being transformedinto a palace of consumption. Our senses ring in timeto the cash registers. Industrial culture becomes theculture industry. The wheel of fortune replaces the

sprocket wheel as the driving economic force.In itself an opera building in an old harbour area isa spectacular expression of gentrification and thelate-modern transition from industrial culture toculture industry. According to the ideology behind thetransformation of the old harbour towns, the closeddocks are being reopened for the towns citizens. Thisis also what Fjordbyen claims. But at the same timeas it opens inwardly, Fjordbyen closes itself off fromthe world outside. The docks stand idle, the ocean-

going vessels loading and unloading elsewhere thanin the town centre. As shipping winds down, so doesdirect contact with the world beyond. By cateringto the needs of the cultural bourgeoisie, Fjordbyenbecomes the harbour town that turns its back on theworld and turns in on itself.The saloon itself is fashioned along classical lines,modelled on La Scala, almost the Stradivarius of theopera house. But the great feat of the Oslo Opera isthat it is not only, and perhaps not even primarily,

a concert hall and a politico-cultural emblem. Rightfrom the beginning its external forms have been putto use and taken to heart by the whole town, regard-less of opera interests, as a public arena. By opening

The UnobtrusivelyMonumentalKJARTAN FLGSTAD

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for egalitarian, democratic and non-commercial use,its external form becomes its most important con-tent. The opera house lies there on the seafront, likea glacier calving or an iceberg hitting land, drawingthe line of vision landwards towards the character-istic hills behind the city centre. Also in this respectthe building is a reminder of the architects verbal

signature: Snhetta means Snow Cap.The Twin Towers of Manhattans World Trade Centrewere potent architectural expressions of late-modernutopianism. The skyscraper of steel, glass and con-crete was both capitalisms and socialisms attemptto build their way to heaven. Although Snhettaslandmark buildings point in a different direction, theyare not primarily anti-utopian. At the same time theyare fundamentally different from the World TradeCentre and Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which with its 800

metres is now meant to be the highest building in theworld. When Snhetta lays its monumental buildingsalong the ground, like f lat, horizontal skyscrapers, itis not laying to rest the notion of soaring aspirations,but rather giving our late-modern dwellings a newearthly foundation.With its precipitous and extremely undulating terrain,Norway appears as a sort of natural skyscraper land-scape. Highly conscious of this topographic point ofdeparture, Snhetta take the vertical and the towering

as a given and create buildings that carve earthboundforms, cutting across both the natural conditions andtechnological utopianism.In this way Snhettas monumentality often becomesan unobtrusive monumentality. The Library of Alex-andria in Egypt, another of their landmark buildings,creates a negative space in relation to the buildingsaround it. You dont see it until youre up close. Thesame will probably be the case with the opera housein Bjrvika when the docklands around are fully de-

veloped, with office buildings following a strictlycommercial rationality. In many ways Snhet tasopera house can be seen as a draft of a different sortof modernity to the one that proved so vulnerableon Lower Manhattan that fateful day in September2001. The opera house in Bjrvika makes its mark atboth a natural and an ideological point of intersec-tion. The architecture has grasped the external, thesuperficial and the spectacular aspects of operaticart, and created an arena in which to act out physi-

cal and social roles in the open air, on the roof of theopera building.

Kjartan Flgstad, Oslo-based writer; his recent novel is Grand Manilapubli shed by ditions Stock, Pari s 2009.

Built around a cove of theOslo fjord, the port neigh-bourhood of Bjrvika isthe historic centre of thecapital. Despite its centrallocation, by the end of the20th century, the largebuildings constructed togive infrastructural support

to the ports commercialactivity had ended up segre-gating it from the rest ofthe urban fabric so that itwould become a marginalarea. The Norwegian Govern-ment decided to turn thezone into a representativeneighbourhood that wouldattract a lot of visitors andarticulate the relationshipbetween city and fjord. Thefirst step in this transforma-

tion was to be achieved withthe construction of an operahouse on a wharf adjoining abusy highway and the railwaylines that run together asthey enter the nearby centralstation.

tr-loor plan

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Accessible only by meansof a walkway that crossesthe adjacent highway, theroofing of the new OperaHouse forms a series ofgently sloping planes that,rising from the waters ofthe port, ascend over theconcert hall. The slopes,

covered in white Carraramarble, are totally open forpeople to walk on. Theirdisposition generates severalspaces suitable for strollingaround, for holding open airshows and contemplatingthe splendid views over thecity and fjord.Independently of the activitythat might be taking placeinside the building, the roof,with its different parts,

has become an appealingand popular meeting place.The gentle encounter ofthe sloping planes with thewater gives visitors thesensation of being on abeach, while the height theycan attain as a result of theascending surface offersthem a splendid lookoutover the city and its scenery.The slope that makes suchattributes possible does

not, however, involve anyindiscriminate appearance ofprotective barriers but ratherit opens out in a perfectlynatural fashion, respectingthe freedom and intelligenceof the people walking there.With the majestic presenceof an iceberg, the new OperaHouse rises as a symbol of anew Bjrvika which presideswith dignity over the meetingof city and fjord.

PROject nwg n

o & b, o, nw

dAte 2008

AuthORS s

deveLOPeR sgg, t

m c

c a

SuRfAce 38,500 2

cOSt 500,000,000 m

Longnal son

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Bnorm

Playa de PonienteEsplanade

Office Of ARchitectuRe iN BARceLONA

[ special mention ]

2010

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One of the factors that distinguishes the Spanish

tourist offering is that, apart from a few lamentablerecent exceptions, it has been established on thebasis of urban structures since unlike what hap-pens with the resort model, which is extrinsicallymimetic and intrinsically monotonous cities alwaysachieve a high degree of singularity and this is a keycomponent for finding a differentiated niche, andhence one that is intelligible to consumers in theinternational market.The city is, then, the most powerful and fertile set-

ting for consolidating a tourist destination in the longterm, as well as limiting its vulnerability to noveltyand short-lived fads.In those tourist zones where, like Benidorm, the ur-ban personality is so well defined (since, howevercontroversial it might be, it achieves very f irm at-tachments and is thereby guaranteed a high degree ofstability), the permanent reconstruction of collectivespace is a decisive factor in maintaining the thrust ofthe tourist industry, despite the fact that there have

been no outstanding operations in this domain inthe last 25 years because the public sector has clearlylagged behind the private sector in the process ofregenerating the overall tourist offer.In urban-based mass tourism, collective space is a keyelement in shaping the product so that the cities ofbest scenic quality tend to be those most highly ratedby tourists (under the pressing condition that theyare also fun). Their better quality has immediate eco-nomic effects in generating greater demand. Hence,

in being part of the productive system, the urbansetting should be perceived as a remote and indirectbut also a secure and profitable factor of productionin such a way that its constant regeneration becomesan objectively indispensable requirement.Besides constituting an imperative that is conceptu-ally assimilable to any city, positive intervention incollective space has, in the case of Benidorm, an addedcomponent that should not be underestimated. Formany years now the street has clearly come before

the beach in the consumption and space/time prefer-

Waves in ColoursJOS MIGUEL IRIBA S

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ences of tourists, and people spend more than fourhours a day in the former. Hence collective space,in this city, is the most fundamental component ofthe offering.Finally, the existent imbalance between the twoBenidorm beaches, both with regard to how oftenthey are frequented and the degree and quality of

their urban development, made it obligatory that theproject should resolve the difference by construct-ing a space that would not only meet demands andrectify the problems and conflicts over the beach andits immediate urban environs which was alreadypledged but that it should also undertake, albeitpartially, the goal of restoring the balance betweenthe citys two beaches in their symbolic importanceand ability to attract people.The project of the Playa Poniente seafront esplanade

in Benidorm is highly positive in its strategic urbanplanning content, for the specific setting and for thecity as a whole, no matter how much considerationof these strategic factors is only implicit. Althoughit is a space contending with the beach and the sea,which do not appear as clearly as they should as themain contents of this space, the esplanade more thanadequately resolves the functional conflicts while alsosubstantially improving the immediate urban spaceand managing to convey an idea of Benidorm that is

very pleasing to its public since it identifies in goodmeasure with the cultural and generational contentthat the city had in the crucial phase of its urban de-velopment. It is a sixties-style project, cheerful andcolourful, as befits a city that, with its recovery of thepopular festival (lost or shunted aside in Europeanindustrial spaces), has created the conceptual core ofits tourist offering.It is not surprising, then, that it should have beenindisputably successful as far as the clientele is con-

cerned. Maybe this is not sufficient for escaping nit-picking of the academic navel-gazing variety whereany social success is suspicious in itself. This is a de-plorable attitude since it is evident that any collectivespace must comply with the necessary morphologicaland functional demands and it is also obvious thatit attains full legitimacy when it is able to attract thepublic and when its frequenting is achieved in themost efficient, low-cost, open and dynamic way.

Jos Miguel Iribas, Valencia-based sociologis t, specialis ing in tour ismanalysis. fnal layo

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The esplanade of the westernbeach of Benidorm once ranfor one and a half kilometresparallel to a four-lane roadand a long line of above-ground parking spaces. Inthe 1970s it was coveredwith mediocre paving andlined with a heavy concrete

balustrade, 1.2 metres inheight, which considerablyobstructed the view of thesea. Access to the sandwas only possible by way of

ostentatious imperial stair-ways set 200 metres apart.The new esplanade hasreduced the urbanisedsurface, creating a complexstrip of transition betweencity and sea. It is structuredover a sinuous succes-sion of white concrete

walls delimiting terraces,flowerbeds and ramps witha line of apparently capri-cious concave and convexgeometric surfaces that, in

fact, are subject to a strictmodular system. Gardenplots and the interplay ofdifferent colours in thepaving fill in the sectionsseparating the walls in theirundulating coming and going.The road has been restrictednow to two lanes and an

underground parking arearuns longitudinally along theesplanade. The architecturalbarriers have been elimi-nated, markedly improvingaccess to the beach by wayof a good number of stair-ways and ramps.Once again, Benidorm isposited as an urban para-digm within the industry ofmass tourism. Its extremedensity is concentrated in an

area of land that is signifi-cantly small in comparisonwith the large extensions ofterritory taken up by othermore disperse models ofsporadic occupation andalmost unviable mainte-nance. It is precisely thisdensity that makes possiblethe concentrated invest-ment of large amounts ofpublic money in projectssuch as this. The esplanades

colourful surging formsevoke the gardens of AntoniGaud or Burle Marx, whileits powerful iconic presenceunfolds in a forceful embracewith the skyscrapers alongthe seafront, ordering theminto a unitary body.

PROject p p

e

dAte 2009

AuthORS c f

l & x m G(o a

b oab)

deveLOPeR G

c v

b c c

SuRfAce 40,000 2

cOSt 10,620,000 m

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cangas Morrao

Fishermens HutsiRiSARRi & PieRA

[ special mention ]

2010

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In the Galician harbour town of Cangas de Morrazo,where the dramatic and actively used Vigo ra(inlet)gives out onto the Atlantic Ocean, 40 new storageunits for f ishermens equipment are graceful ly andcleverly designed to coexist with a new public prom-enade and its leisure uses. This intervention, com-missioned in 2003 and opened to the public in 2008,was the pilot project for a programme of interventionscommissioned by the Galician Regional Port Author-ity, intended to support the local f ishing industry.

Cangas, with a resident population of about 25,000, islocated on the regions relatively prosperous westerncoast, which in recent years has received an increas-ing number of tourists, albeit much later and stillfewer than other parts of Spain. Fishing, alongsidemanufacturing, is still an essential driver of the re-gional economy. The Vigo inlet is one of Spains mostactive fishing ports and the neighbouring city of thesame name hosts the Community Fisheries ControlAgency, regulating European Union waters. Although

fortunately less sullied by tourism-oriented develop-ment than the countrys southern coastline, the areasmaritime livelihood and larger image was seriouslydamaged by the Prestige offshore oil spil l Spainslargest environmental disaster in 2002.Working within the constraints of a limited pub-lic budget, regionally based architects Jess IrisarriCastro and Guadalupe Piera Manso have artfullycombined the fishermens functional brief for netand tackle storage with Cangas residents expressed

desires for new, flexible public space. The result-ing intervention on the Calle de Dioco de Arrigo, arock-piled breakwater extending west-east in paral-lel to Cangass historic seafront promenade, artfullychoreographs the coexistence of multiple uses thatwould otherwise have potential for friction, includ-ing impromptu marine events, a car park, a yachtclub, a boat-launch ramp, pier, and pedestrian accessto the beach.The interventions visual dominance, stretching 215

metres along the length of the pier, makes a confident

Horizontal ChoreographySARAH ICHIOKA

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assertion of its importance as a new element withinthe built environment. However, while the structuremaintains a strong, unified presence when viewedat oblique angles, its metal mesh cladding fulfils itsarchitects intentions that it dissolve into the land-scape when viewed at a cross or frontal perspective,avoiding too aggressive a blockade of the view intoor out from the town centre to its north.The south-facing facade is porticoed, bordering a con-tinuous new public boardwalk offering views out to

the mouth of the ra. A half-storey lower, the northernelevation, facing back towards the city centre, givesthe fishermen access to boats moored below.The 40 f ishermens storage units come in three dif-ferent sizes. These are arranged in 11 groupings ofthree to four units with each cluster sharing stair-ways, patios and courtyards for services and outdoorwork, encouraging collective activities amongst theirusers.The narrow, water-bound breakwater offered limited

room for construction, necessitating prefabricationof components, which were then assembled on site.The structure is made from galvanised steel sheeting particularly durable in the harsh marine climate and polycarbonate panels. A metal mesh at varieddensities unifies the structure, shaping intermediatezones between the storage units, communal workingareas and the fully public spaces, and allowing a levelof transparency. According to Irisarri & Piera, thematerial was also chosen to harmonise with the ports

changing blue and grey skies. The concrete underfootcontains seashells from the local canning industry.

Strategically built around abay of the Ria de Vigo, theport of Cangas is home tointense nautical and fishingactivity that is not in contra-diction with the beauty ofits environs. It is closedon the southern side by abreakwater consisting of tworectilinear arms meeting atan angle to form a walkwaymore than 500 metres longand offering good v iews of

the town from the sea. Onthe inner wharf of the break-water, there is a yacht club,a road for vehicular traffic,an above-ground car parkand moorings, while the sidefacing the river is lined by anesplanade and a dike madeof large blocks of stone,which is frequented byrod-and-line fishermen.The entity that manages theports of Galicia promoted

an intervention with a viewto constructing a row of40 fishermens huts on thebreakwater along with a newpublic walkway. Made ofgalvanised steel plates, thehuts allow the fishermen tostore their tackle and availthemselves of the outsideworking spaces. The line ofhuts is interrupted by tentransversal passagewaysthat connect with the inner

wharf where the boats aremoored and with the outerdike used for rod fishing.

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The walkway that runs alongthe dike, thus enabling

passers-by to watch the fish-ermens activities, has beenpaved with a platform ofwooden slats.Despite the specificity ofits beneficiaries, the projectbrings life to the breakwateras a public space, organ-ising the setting aroundan activity that appeals toeveryone, besides beingone that is deeply rootedin the everyday reality of

Cangas. The tasks and tacklepertaining to this popularactivity invade the neutraland contained minimaliststructure of the huts confer-ring on them an air of vitalitythat changes with time.

PROject f h,

cg m, s

dAte 2008

AuthORS J i

G p

deveLOPeR p GSuRfAce 3,920 2

cOSt 1,200,000 m

Gnral plan

Exterior works space

Mezzanine floor plan

Ground floor plan

Elevations

Longitudinal section

a-Exterior works space / store: b-ground floor, c-upper floor / d-double-space

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As with most newly completed architectural interven-tions there is a certain apparently wilful cleanlinessabout the projects presentation in published pho-tographs. If this is to be an active place of work forindividuals, some capacity for personalisation (andwith it, disorder) is necessary. However, this is a minorquibble and no doubt fleeting condition, as the robust

plainness of the galvanised steel structure both prom-ises durability and suggests the generous potential foradaptability and customisation over time.The structures unapologetic modernity and durabil-ity avoids any romanticisation of the fishing tradeas a nostalgic relic or as a secondary attractor for thetourist industry.Nevertheless, the project appears to succeed in ac-commodating and reconciling the needs of at leastthree distinct groups: workers (fishermen), locals

taking recreation, and presumably elevated num-bers of visitors attracted by the performative visibil-ity of the intervention. The confident interweavingof functions surely benefits from locally embeddedknowledge; Irisarri & Piera have practiced fromtheir studio in the neighbouring city of Vigo for thepast 20 years.By demonstrating how an urban public space thatproudly features places for locally embedded eco-nomic activity can generate delightful spaces for lei-

sure and contemplation, and integrate their respec-tive users, the projects client and architects offer apositive alternative example of coastal development,particularly poignant in a Spanish context.

Sarah Ichioka, director of The Architecture Foundation, London.

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Roram

Urban ActivatorsTheatre Podium & Grotekerkplein

AteLieR KeMPe thiLL

[ special mention ]

2010

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St Lawrence Church is the only medieval building in

Rotterdam and therefore the oldest standing structurein the entire city. Having been started in the mid-15thcentury and not attained its current robust statureuntil the mid-17th century, the church itself is a sym-bol to the perseverance of its patrons and the role itplays in the social and cultural fabric of the city ofRotterdam. It has seen buildings come and go, riversand canals dammed and rerouted, destructive forceindiscriminately being dropped from the sky, as wellas countless city-councilors disputing over the past

and future shape of the city. Throughout, the churchand its stature have remained a solid and constantfactor in the citys identity and skyline.When contemplating so much history and transfor-mation, however, it is strange to consider the pecu-liar structure that now stands on the Grotekerkpleinimmediately before its doors. At the west-end ofthe square in between the main entrance of thechurch and the Delftsevaart waterway stands aroofed elongated pavilion open on its two main sides

with two square compartments on each end, raisedjust slightly higher than the surrounding square. Thisobject at first seems to have fallen from the sky. Thestructures minimal form offers a clinical contrast tothe late-gothic style of the church itself, but also to thetypical end-modernism of the adjacent buildings. Itslight-grey concrete quality also has little relationshipwith the predominantly brick characteristics of thesurrounding square. All the while the form itself astrong horizontal structure with a roof stretching over

a span of 50 metres seems placed on the surface ofthe square but not fully rooted in the surroundings.The steps to ascend the pavilions stage seem to accentthe notion that to do so means to board an object justslightly hovering over the ground.But then as with many things, on second glance arelationship and purpose begin to reveal. It becomesevident that the architects Atelier Kempe Thill have been quite precise in their design and position-ing of the pavilion in terms of the balance it has with

its surrounding environment. Its elongated qualityemphasizes the waterway running just next to it, aswell as the Blaak market plaza on the other side of thechurch. This horizontal character provides a strongcontrast to the verticality of the church tower (which

The Citys StageHUIB HAYE VAN DER WERF

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is only 14 metres higher than the pavilion is long),thereby creating a perpendicular stability betweenthe two objects. Finally the synchronicity betweenthe design of the Grotekerkplein itself and the posi-tioning of the pavilion is subtle yet impressive. Theopen space of the square still intimately framed bythe surrounding buildings reveals the clear balance

between the pavilion as a stage and the square as thespace for a potential audience.It is then that one realizes that this is not simply apiece of street furniture that latently offers itself tothe citizens of Rot terdam as a place to sit or skateon, it is a podium in every active connotation of theword, which is exactly what the commissioning body the Rotary Club of Rotterdam had in mind whenholding a competition for the square. They sought toinvigorate with cultural activity what had become a

rather desolate public square, for on each side of thesquare behind its surrounding buildings run busyshopping/market streets that had left the Grotekerk-plein isolated without a function or reason to stay.Thanks to Atelier Kempe Thills bold yet open (almosttransparent) manifestation, the square has gained acertain intimacy and presence. When programmed,the architecture acts as a podium that draws visi-tors and facilitates cultural action. When not in use,the structure acts as a pavilion for leisure and urban

recreation. More so, because of its open quality itacts as a frame for its surroundings. Because it hasno rear it does not turn its back on the city. Rather,it outlines what is behind and in front of it therebyemphasizing its environment. If there is one thingto be said about the structure as a negative result itis that what it frames is not always a pretty picture.It becomes painfully clear that the buildings acrossthe waterway have turned their backs on the squareand church, and that buildings on the square itself

do not share the same open quality of the pavilion/podium. However, even there lies the positive and ac-tivating potential of this architecture. Thanks to thisframing, more citizens will see that much can still bedone to change their surroundings. They may realizethat an initiative such as that atoned in realizing theUrban Activator Theater Podium can lead to culturalactivation but also structural change. Both lead to abetter city. Already the church is being renovated andstands as a strong comrade together with the podium.

When finished both should be witness to the cominghistory of an active, urban Rotterdam.

Bombing attacks in theSecond World War levelledalmost all the buildingssurrounding the Grotekerk-plein, the old main square ofRotterdam. Despite its privi-leged position between SintLaurenskerk (St LawrenceChurch) and the Delftsevaart

canal, the mediocrity ofthe adjacent buildingsconstructed after the wargave it the feel of a backyard.A theatre pavilion has nowbeen constructed with aview to programmaticallyactivating this dull, unap-pealing space. The buildinghas a prismatic volume andruns parallel to the canal toclose off the western endof the square. It consists

of two cubic nuclei restingon a podium and sustaininga 50-centimetre-high,30-metres-long slab. Theresult is a great horizontalgateway framing a stagethat is open on both sides.A 70-metre-long runningcurtain hanging from theedge of the roof makes itpossible to have perfor-mances facing the square orthe canal, and the curtains

can be closed on both sidesat the same time to createa closed hall. The lateralcore buildings offer storage

Huib Haye van der Werf, curator Nederlands Architectuurinstituut (NAi),Rotterdam.

Loaon

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space, toilet facilities and adressing room for the artists.Besides equipping the squarewith a new focus for publicevents, the pavilion rises asa structure with the twofoldvalue of acting both as anopaque limit reinforcing the

perimeter of the Grotekerk-plein and as a thresholdsignificantly connecting itwith the Delftsevaart.

PROject u a

t p &

Gkk, r,

t n

dAte 2009

AuthORS a K t

deveLOPeR r

c r

n, fGkk, obr

r

SuRfAce 10,000 2

cOSt 1,150,500 m

Longnal son

Plan

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Pars

Passage 56, Espace Culturelcologique

AteLieR d'ARchitectuRe AutOGRe

[ special mention ]

2010

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Paris has a history with its passageways. They haveinspired literature and nurtured thought about thecity. But what would Walter Benjamin say today aboutthe discovery of Passage 56 in north-east Paris? Be-cause this is where we are, here, in the Rue SaintBlaise in the 20th arrondissement, far from the cen-tre of the capital, almost on the boundaries of theHaussmannesque city. The ring road is just a stonesthrow away.This intervention on the suburban fabric of the city

is part of a process geared to reconquering areas ofurban neglect that is taking place throughout Europe,but which is a pilot scheme in Paris. How can weextricate ourselves from an impasse smoothly, howcan we reactivate a site that cannot be used to buildpublic space: this is the strategy used in this, thetightest of spaces.This project by the Atelier dArchitecture Autogre(AAA) sings the praises of microurbanism in a neigh-bourhood that isnt easy. The challenge laid in the

transformation of a small plot of land covering anarea of 200m2. The scale was one of proximity. Theintervention was exceptional in more than one way.First of all, it sought to recreate the conditions ofurbanity in a completely barren place. The passagein question was, in fact, used as a dustbin by the localresidents who had adopted the unfortunate habit ofthrowing their rubbish into this fenced-off urbanwasteland. Next, the work on this passage focusedon the thread of a low-tech culture: it was designed

to be easy, or even obvious, to carry out.Finally, it put into practice the principle of enclosurethat didnt separate but sought, on the contrary, toconnect. A visual link from one end of the plot toanother, a social link between the inhabitants in awider circle. The key word is resocialisation. This ishow 30 families and a dozen associations have cometo share this new space. Social practice is the key tothis project whose spatial practice is based solely onuses. Several parallel activities can take place here,

from gardening to political debates. There is no roomfor design in its layout. This is not the purpose.

From the Intersticeto the InterfaceFRANCIS RAMBERT

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The tightness of the plot, a space that is 6.50 metreswide and developed to a depth of 30 metres, betweentwo gable walls, is expanded by its setting. The min-imum seeks to be the creator of the maximum. Alightweight architecture of polycarbonate marks outthe threshold of the passage which reveals a series ofplanted beds with the traditional garden shed. Even

if we are invited to grow here (organic vegetables ofcourse), this type of intervention is totally differ-ent from the workers gardens that are widespreadthroughout the Parisian region.The architects Constantin Petcou, Doina Petrescu,and their team set out to design a device that wouldmake it possible to produce (by solar roof panels) moreenergy than the users consume. Rainwater is collectedand the rubble has been transformed into a garden bythe landscape architect Agns Sourisseau. The idea

that brings everyone together is the development ofthe environmental potential of the place.Things arent frozen in this process, architects haveeven called for a blurred concept. To move fromthe urban terrain vagueto terrainof urban vagueness,of urban indeterminacy, as Constantin Petcou, whowas one of the founders of AAA in 2001, puts it. Thismore community-based than environmental col-lective has actual ly been pursuing this goal for a de-cade in a spirit of extradisciplinarity: another word

for cross-cuttingness. They thus look for a way toembark on a new practice of the city, often by startingfrom nothing but always with the involvement of theresidents. It is within this participative frameworkthat their ECObox came to fruition in Paris in 2004from the perspective of creating a network of eco-urbanity.With the transformation of Passage 56, the AAA ar-chitects have shown that an unlikely situation caneventually generate public space, thereby opening

up prospects and bringing a certain optimism. Thelease signed with the social housing foreman (whohas become a partner in the project) will run for fiveyears. We have already arranged a meeting to evaluatethis intervention that was conceived as an invitationto appropriation.

Francis Rambert, director of La Cit de lArchitecture et du Patrimoine,Paris.

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inal ss

Opn blng s

crrn ss

2009

20082007

2006

Rue Saint Blaise runs throughthe 20th arrondissementof Paris, a neighbourhoodnotable for its urban densityand cultural diversity. Thedeterioration undergone bythis pedestrian precinct inrecent years has broughtabout a decline in its public

uses, the closing down ofbusinesses, social segre-gation and insecurity forchildren and the elderly. Atnumber 56 in this streetthere is a passageway thatwas closed off in the 1980swhen a residential block wasconstructed and the space,which was not amenableto further construction,remained shut off andneglected ever since.

In an unusual associationbetween the public adminis-tration, local organisations,professionals and residents,an open process of consulta-tion was organised in orderto discuss in a public forumsuggestions, possibilities andmisgivings related to the site.This gave rise to the idea of acollectively managed spacethat could be the venuefor meetings, film screen-

ings, workshops, games,intercultural exchanges andactivities revolving aroundgastronomy and horticulture.By means of a continuous

participative process, aproject was drawn up andconstructed with minimalcost and using recycledmaterials collected by theresidents themselves. Theresult is a wooden construc-tion with a garden coverand a green office hanging

between the two buildingsthat flank the space, thusconstituting a lintel betweenthe public space and thenew garden with its plots forcollective cultivation. Theproject as a whole has solarpanels, compost pits anda rainwater collection andstorage system so that it isalmost self-sufficient in thewater, compost, food andenergy it consumes.

The Passage 56 project rein-forces the idea that publicspace does not culminatein the idea of the physicalconstruction of a designedobject but is continuouslydeveloped as a social,cultural and political produc-tion. Here, the client doesnot precede the interventionbut gradually emerges in thegroup of people who manageit, offering irrefutable proof

that everyday ecologicalpractice can transformpresent spatial and socialrelations in a dense andculturally diverse metropolis.

PROject pg 56, e c

egq, p, f

dAte 2009

AuthORS a a

ag (aaa): c. p, d. p,

n. m, f. rg, G. b,

s. pq, r. b

deveLOPeR a a ag

w dpvi, m 20, p h

g g s-b

SuRfAce 200 2

cOSt 90,000 m

dagram song ss by yars

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2008


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London88

Folkestone102

Huscar98

Innsbruck94


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Lonon

Barking Town SquareMuf ARchitectuRe/ARt, ALLfORd hALL MONAGhAN & MORRiS

[ Winner]

2008

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On the very outskirts of London, 15 miles northeast

from the city centre, Barking is a town once famousfor its flourishing port and fishing industries. In the19th century this gave way to heavy industry andmanufacturing. At the turn of the 21st century thetown was synonymous with a bleak post-industriallandscape of unemployment, deprivation and politi-cal extremism.It was in this context that Barking was pinpointedas part of a major regeneration scheme for afford-able homes and new commercial centres along the

Thames Gateway. The town centre was also selectedas a site for the Mayor of Londons f lagship 100 Pub-lic Spaces project, which aimed to rejuvenate towncentres across the capital.The selection of muf to produce a town square mas-terplan was enlightened. The London-based officestarted in 1996 with an interdisciplinary agenda tofuse art in the public realm with an architecturalapproach that investigates social and political issues,prioritising process and research over design and

building. They have produced a discourse of ideasand language about place shaping and identity thatis peerless in the UK.The square allocated to muf is a rectangle f lanked onthree sides by brand-new, brightly coloured apartmentbuildings designed by London-based AHMM and ona fourth by an old brick library. When approachingthe site, the studio had to answer several questions:how to create a feeling of the local in a new towncentre? How to create a relationship to history and

context in a brand new space with a confused anddisparate past? To produce a design that encouragesa synergic relationship with surroundings, the diversecommunities of local people and encourage them tostay there, to feel comfortable without resorting toa tiresome didactic of a palate of tasteful materials,forms and colours.Instead of a single concept, muf have chosen to an-swer these questions with a number of distinct ele-ments each with their own individual qualities and

which are linked by a mass of pink granite acrossthe square.

Return to the PicturesqueBEATRICE GALILEE

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The first is a dazzling black and white arcade on theground floor of one of the new apartment blocks. Gi-ant diamonds of monochrome terrazzo zig-zag alongthe ground like a super-sized version of an Edward-ian London doorstep. Above them 13 bright goldenchandeliers designed by Tom Dixon hang from thedouble-height ceiling adding unexpected grandeur

and style.The arcade spills out onto the salmon-coloured pav-ing of the square. Large circles containing youngand old trees are cookie-cut from the ground andoccasionally filled with jazzed up terrazzo as a few ofDixons golden chandeliers are strung between thebranches and hover between the trees. A rich greenarboretum meanders through the middle, creating avaried and dense atmosphere that useful ly concealsthe brightly coloured balconies of the immediate

surroundings. In amongst the wooden decks and ivy-covered walls, muf commissioned bespoke benchesdesigned by students from the Royal College of Art,a large timber stage, new bins, drinking fountainsand installed public WiFi.At the corner of the square,The Secret Garden, themost curious of their interventions, stands. Namedafter the childrens novel in which an overgrown wallis discovered to conceal a world of unimagined beau-ty, mufs Secret Garden is a 7-metre-high wall made

from a variety of dusty-red and yellow reclaimedbricks. Built by local college students, it is litteredwith strange artifacts from architectural salvageyards: gargoyles, a coat of arms, a ram, an impassabledoorway. Muf describe it as a folly, which it is. Butunlike the intentions of the newly built ruined castleswhich were positioned across the English countrysideby Victorians to prettify landscapes, this prominentpresence, forming a backdrop to their square, seemswonderfully strange and unexplained.

What is interesting about muf s response in Barkingis that the seemingly incongruous nature of theirinterventions an arcade, a folly and an arboretum together create an atmosphere that is warm and quiteunexpected. With the use of subtle symbols of com-fort, shelter, calm, grandeur and history, these scat-tered mementos ensure none of the intimidatingnewness that can render such developments unusedand unloved. Instead they trigger an instantly habit-able picturesque space of human scale, of undoubted

eccentricity and definite success.

Beatrice Galilee, London- and Berlin-based independent wr iter and curator.

After years of neglect,Barkings urban fabric hasbeen transformed by majorconstruction work, whilerecent tensions betweennewcomers and the existingpopulation have affected itssocial fabric. Barking neededa new civic space that would

rescue a lost identity fromthe past and project intothe future a space wherethe community could cometogether. The area of levelground in front of the TownHall, which was previouslyused as a parking space, hasnow been transformed intoa centrally located, well-equipped main square thatis full of shared meanings.Besides the Town Hall, the

new square is flanked by alibrary and a Learning Centre,while the fourth faade isa Folly Wall which hides asupermarket boundary and,in resembling a ruin, evokesthe exposed brick facades ofBarkings old buildings. Thesquare is connected with theboroughs main shoppingarea by way of an arcadeilluminated by chandeliersand tiled with black and

white paving slabs that harkback to Londons magnifi-cent Georgian houses.Alongside the arcade andthe square is an arboretumwith 40 mature trees of 16different species that are litup at night with colours thatvary according to the time ofyear. The eclectic combina-tion of all these picturesqueand extravagant elementscounters the banality of an

urban landscape that hadlost its attributes, givingthe space the colour of newmeanings and making of ita recognisable and mean-ingful place. Surprisingly, it iseccentricity that has broughtcentrality to Barkings newmain square.

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Gnral plan

PROject bkg tw

sq, l, u

Kg

dAte 20082010

AuthORS /

, a h mg

& m

PARticiPANtS a o,

a t, b h,

b Wk, s W

deveLOPeR rw

rg

l bg bkg

dg

SuRfAce 6,468 2

cOSt 2,620,000 m

91


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dal o pang

92


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caalog o rs

A onsr son as ma oma blk o blng asrrons pbl spa mar rs p o 12 mrs all onplanng. Also mar rs n ob on n prlg s oLonon.

ty ar arrang n normal ls-rs grop as rmonal bak-rop oolan s ananragl ology an mloramao samp yprss an lloks.

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innsbrk

Centrum.OdorffROetScheR LichteNwAGNeR & ideALice

[ special mention ]

2008

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The Olympic Village at the Eastern edge of Innsbruck,

erected in two stages for the Winter Olympics in 1964and 1976 as a monofunctional recreational develop-ment for about 8,000 inhabitants, has struggled withmany problems typical of peripheral residential areas:lack of infrastructure, a shortage of cultural offeringsand adequate spaces for social interaction, aging,etc. If the Olympic Village with its high-rise towerswas controversial among experts even at the time ofits construction, its status has hardly improved overthe years. The occupants of this quarter, crammed

in between two major roads on the north bank of theInn, complain especially about rising traffic noisecaused by the random construction of shopping mallson the borders of the city. Furthermore, the homo-geneity of the inhabitants, the lacking generationaland social diversity, has contributed to the desolationof the quarter. The worn-down community centerhardly seemed attractive, and the scattered remain-ing spaces between the residential buildings failedin spite of their generous scale to convey any sense of

generosity or cohesion. The 1996 international com-petition Europan 4 , under the heading Town uponthe Town, granted Innsbruck a welcome opportunityto engage in the construction of a new city center inthe Olympic Village.The leitmotiv of the competition Internal growth,instead of consumption of land between up-and-coming architects provided an ideal set of circum-stances for reinvigorating an urban quarter. Thewinner was a project proposed by Froetscher Lich-

tenwagner (its first work under this name), whoseproposal confronted the existing context directly byengaging in its morphology at different levels andin a discrete mimetic fashion. The project, which theEuropan Jury termed an unsentimental statement,pays respect to the existing modernist structures,whose meandering formation exercises an angularhold on the space it creates.The architects realized immediately that it would beimpossible to meet the challenge of forming a city

center within an already existent city context, Town

Internal GrowthGABRIELE KAISER

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upon the Town by architectural means alone. Fromthe very beginning they envisioned the project as anintegrative task that could not be managed withouta sensitivity for the overarching structural context.Though the original Europan draft featured greaterdensity and a more intensive functional mixture thanthe final revised project, even the ultimate implemen-

tation demonstrated the intense efforts of all involvedto rejuvenate the quarter in a socially sustainablefashion. Public space in the low-rise, diverse livingforms in the tower. The public spectrum in the low-rise (a branch of a Tyrolean supermarket chain with acaf, event hall, kindergarten and youth club) createsa certain basic frequency in the plaza, which togetherwith A lice Grssinger, a landscape architect, wasdesigned partly as an urban street space and partlyas an ironic variat ion on an Alpine garden theme.

The diagonal white stripes that radiate out from thepassage between the low-rise and the tower, as wellas the wave-form benches, break up the geometry ofthe rectangular plaza, which can also be seen as anextension or revision of the existing green spaces. Ashadowy pent roof and arches provide for additionalspatial differentiation in the expansive plaza. Onecan cross the plaza, but its even better to use it as atrue outdoor recreational space (provided the weathercooperates). A life that once seemed to get lost in

the interstices of housing complexes and officiallylandscaped spaces can now easily unfold in the newcenter of the Olympic Village.

Gabriele Kaiser, architecture journalist and curator at the Architektur-zentrum Wien, Vienna.

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Many of the housing estatesthat were built in the periph-eral areas of Europeancities in the 1960s and1970s are characterisedby an abundance of publicland and scarcity of publicspace. Such is the case ofthe neighbourhood consti-

tuted by Innsbrucks twoOlympic villages, which wereconstructed side by sidefor the Winter Olympics of1964 and 1976. These newextensions were rapidlyplanned and occupied insuch a way that both theurban landscape and thesettlements themselvespresent an almost isotropicuniformity in which it is noteasy to identify significant

places of collective meaning.This intervention has estab-lished a new, well-equipped,recognisable and accessibleurban centre between thetwo villages, joining theirphysical and functional areasand bringing them togetherin a new meeting point. Thefocus is a multifunctionalbuilding that concentratespublic facilities, housing andoffices around a new square.

Totally and exceptionallyderived from its centralisingfunction, the new construc-tion is not at odds with theneighbourhood landscape,even though it is readily iden-tifiable within the typologyof the surrounding buildings.

PROject c.o,

ik, a

dAte 2006

AuthORS f

lwg w idealice

(a Gg)

PARticiPANtS W

f, c

lwg, lk

lk, p Gj,

c l

deveLOPeR iiG ik

i Gh & c KG

SuRfAce 24,200 2

cOSt 23,000,000 m

Longnal son

Gnral plan

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2006


59/72

Zadar108

Robbiano120

Zaandstad114

Berlin128

Krakow124


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zaar

Sea OrganNiKOLA BAi

[ Joint Winner ]

2006

108


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We are standing on the seaside of the town of Zadar.

The sea moves like the arches on the fronts of Ro-manesque churches. The sun is setting towards whatis said to be the most beautiful sundown in the world.Birds and ships make the picture complete. There arealso young people in it, and many of them becauseZadar is a university town. Until recently, they walkedalong the waterfront as the place to idle. Big cruiserscome and cast anchor in the same picture. Curiouspeople with good intentions will meet here the artisticheritage and the current life of this long-lived town.

And as soon as they touch the ground, they wil l comeface to face with a miracle.Ahead of the town there is a magnif icent archipelago,behind it a green fertile hinterland. The town datesback to prehistory, and in the Roman times it was abustling Mediterranean harbour. Its urban structureis still determined by the Roman layout, upon whichgrew the picturesque mediaeval tissue. It is said thatone only needs to put a hand in the sea to connectimmediately with the whole world. But the sea was not

always associated with only good things. When thecrusaders in 1202 owed Venice transport costs, Veniceobliged them to pay the costs back by conquering theChristian Zadar. They won this battle en routein theHoly War in spite of all the Popes excommunica-tions. Centuries of Turkish conquests also made thehinterland a dangerous area. Although facing infin-ity, many towns were however uncomfortable withit, and they lived an introverted life. But the unusualhistory of Zadar, which in many ways shows to Eu-

rope the other side of its face, continued in moderntimes. In the Second World War 80% of this town-monument was destroyed in the bombings of theAllies. In the recent war against Croatia, Zadar againwent through difficult times. Modern architecture ofthe post-Second World War reconstruction adjustedextremely well to the urban matrix, but some gapsin vivacity sti ll remained. A lot of archaeology cameinto the sunlight; the Roman Forum now spreadsin the town centre, meeting the sea. However, this

encounter did not release all of the energy of thisplace. And this energy should have been felt in orderto move apart the boundaries of everyday li fe in theface of infinity.

Live InfinityELJKA CORAK

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Everything around us is a song, but we hear it rarely.Every thing around us is interconnected into oneholistic message, sound and light, a silent sliding ofminutes. But we have forgotten that language andalso the velocity of transience, and the irretrievable-ness of a moment. Architect Nikola Baic was stand-ing on this shore as well, and heard a twofold sound:

depth and distance. Aided by one of the most poeticintuitions in the contemporary formation of space,he translated the sound of the sea into music for thehuman ear. He shaped a part of the waterfront as stepsdescending gently into the sea, resembling a sectionof an ancient theatre and harmonious as the rhythmof organ pipes. Indeed, this is an instrument, and itwas named Sea Organ by the architect. Underneaththe sea surface there are hollows in the steps, and themovement of water masses through them is converted

by sensors into audible sounds. Aleatoric Gods scoreruns like the oscillogram of time, like the secret lineof history in which there is no pause, in which the pastf lows directly into the future, and the possible placein the present time is only in our mind. Like Wagnersendless melody, like Ligetis radicalization of Wagner,like the activation of silence, like the shading of vol-umes. Gentle blows of short tones, when a ship passesby, when an oar slithers, when a birds wing grazesthe surface. The composition has no end: it awaits us

there always, and it guides us to listen closely to theworld wherever we are because by being an ear webecome an instrument which hears itself. It seems asif Rilke had composed his poem Gong on the Zadarcoast, next to Baics Sea Organ.However, the process of transformation of the word-less into the human did not remain in the area ofsound only. By creating the complementary visualelement to the Sea Organ, Baic translated their soundwith the help of sensors into light impulses. The result

was the project Greeting to the Sun, the sun whosesetting is at its most beautiful in Zadar. Every eveningthe sun performs its dance of light and shadows in thedark-blue glass circle, and the dance relates to a rangeof points in time ancient Zadar saint's days from themediaeval calendar, which are recorded at the brim ofthe circle. Sound, light, history and a moment in thelife of a witness unite under the Sun, thus pointingto the relation between cause and effect.

Sometimes called the shipof stone since it occupiesan elongated peninsula,Zadar was heavily bombedin the Second World War.Post-war reconstructionfailed to do justice to itsprow which, despite itswonderful sunsets, was not

much visited. In 2004, withthe incipient tourist industryin Croatia, the authoritiesdecided to refurbish thezone as a wharf for incomingcruise vessels, whereuponthe space went from neglectto having a key gatewayrole. Next, an esplanade wasrequired to lead from theport to the city.A stairway running along a70-metre front bridges the

difference in height betweenwharf and esplanade. Thisconsists of seven juxtaposedflights of white marble stepsgently running down intothe sea, each section with adifference in height of onestep vis--vis its neighbourso that the stairway as awhole offers a staggeredsilhouette reminiscent ofthe varying dimensions ofthe parts of a musical instru-

ment. A series of tubes ofdifferent diameters andlengths run though the insideof each flight, connectingthe submerged part with agallery beneath the espla-nade. With the thrust of thewaves the water comes inthrough the lower end of thetubes, runs into the galleryand spills back into the sea.In this process, the air insidethe conduits is propelled

towards a series of orificesthat emit a wide range ofmusical tones.

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The Sea Organ dissolves thelimits between sea and land,preserving a spacious transitzone between both spaces.The wharf is no longer anabrupt barrier protectingbut distancing man from thesea. Rather, like a beach, itsummons the coming and

going of waves. The stepsbecome a grandstand fromwhich to contemplate thesunset while listening tomusic composed and sungby the sea itself.

PROject s og, z,

c

dAte 2005

AuthORS nk b

PARticiPANtS i. s,

v. a, t. h

deveLOPeR z c cSuRfAce 1,700 2

cOSt 240,000 m

Sk

The struggle with infinity is a motive of personal andtranspersonal history, the existence of an individualand the existence of a town. Horror infinitirequiresa great power of self-control. To face infinity meansto face the real image of ones own soul. ArchitectNikola Baic created a contemporary space manifest-ing itself in the unity of physics and metaphysics,

aesthetics and ethics. This should presumably be agood measure for the fullness of void.

eljka Corak, poet and art historian.

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zaansa

A8ernANL ARchitectS

[ Joint Winner ]

2006

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Few things are as driven by maximalism as architec-

ture. The craft stands out for its almost boundlessurge to prove itself. Success depends on the fullness ofthe portfolio, on the size of the projects, on prestigiousclients, on a deluge of publicity, and, last but not least,on a certain type of personalities for whom enough isnever enough. Unbridled ambition is the hallmark ofthe famous architecture firms and schools, where go-ing home is considered tantamount to giving up. Foranyone hoping to escape the drudgery of just meetingthe clients programmatic demands, sleeping under

the desk is perfectly normal. If you want to becomea thinking, creative architect, not only must you becapable of doing anything, you also have to do it.Work, work, work: thats the motto. But architectureis maximalist not only in this quantitative sense. Italso has a penchant for maximalist designs not lots,but huge. Many projects that were realized in theheyday of the architectural icon, seem confrontationalrather than adaptive, filling airtime and screamingfor attention. Often, it seems these projects revolve

around filling a traumatic absence, both physicallyand morally. As if the void is an unbearable evil.But a counter movement has emerged. The movementof doing less, sometimes even doing almost nothing.Projects have come into existence which aim at theexact opposite. They are small , subtle suggestionsthat do not aim so much to negate the emptiness asto mark it. This is not an architecture of the completemakeover and grand strategies, of retouching real-ity rather than adding a subtle touch. This is about

an architecture that discovers that tactics are oftenthe better option, that doing things is a question ofdegrees, of the right dose.A8ernA, a project for a public space under the A8driveway right through the city of Zaandam, is suchan architecture. Exactly where high-speed logisticsof car culture seem to have prevailed over the publicqualities of pedestrian street life, NL Architects havediscovered and invented space to live and breathagain. In this obtrusive environment they have pro-

jected a set of public faci li ties that turn out to be

Doing Most with LessOLE BOUMAN

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stronger and more attractive than the archetype ofdehumanized wasteland: the neglected spaces underthe notorious highway flyover. And so they made andenvironment for shopping, meeting, playing, relax-ing, strolling and skating, on top of a continued deckthat connects all facilities in one single gesture.They acknowledged the brief in their own creative

way, redefining the aims, suggesting the hidden po-tentials of the site. Much better than maximal designthis project can be called generous design. It doesntdirect its use, it catalyses it. It encourages people tooccupy and appropriate, a much more subjective ver-sion of using faci lities.So modest is the intervention that the clients evenseem to have forgotten that they needed architectsto do it for them, that they couldnt do without ar-chitectural intelligence. On the official webpage

that belongs to the area (http://www.zaanstad.nl/sv/a8ernahp/?view=Standard), they dont mention NLArchitects at all.Perhaps thats the strongest feature of this architec-ture of almost nothing. The design of public spacebecomes so transparent, natural and logical, that itseems to have emerged out of the ashes of derelictterrain as a gif t of fate, not the product of hard workby a very intelligent office.Intelligent they are. They saw opportunities in oblivi-

on. They saw strength in decay. They saw joy in nega-tive space. The most important quality of this designis to identify quality itself, where nobody expectsit to be found. You need a supple mind, first of all;and then enthusiasm, bravura and determination tomake it work.Perhaps it is the European spirit that has inspired NLArchitects. This mind shift becomes strongest, whenit is directed to the transformation of public space.Against all odds, the European city keeps resurrecting

as the urban DNA of the continent.Cost of the miracle this time: 2.7 milion.

Ole Bouman, director of the Nederlands Architectuurinstituut (NAi),Rotterdam.

The A8 motorway,constructed in the 1970s,crosses the River Zaanto run, on 7-metre pillars,through the centre of Koogaan de Zaan in the munici-pality of Zaanstad. This

impressive infrastructurepasses over the main street,leaving the church on oneside and the council cham-bers on the other. Beneaththe slab a 400-metre-longstrip was abandoned tomessily parked cars for over30 years.In 2003 the council beganwork to restore the connec-tion between the two sides.The document A8ernA was

produced in a highly partici-pative process so that itcontained the requests ofthe citizens in a project thatsaw the presence of the A8more as an opportunity thana problem. Its morphologyand central riverside locationmeant that the slab couldfunction as a large arcadeable to accommodate thevariety of wishes the citizensexpressed. An open square

occupies the centre of thestrip. At the eastern end, anew quay with views over theriver brings the water rightup to the main street, speck-ling the underside of the slab

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with its luminous reflections,while the western end hasa childrens playground, agraffiti gallery, a skateboardpark, a break-dance stage,table football and ping-pongtables, futsal facilities, a

basketball court and loversbenches.

Without changing itsmorphology, the motorwayhas become a greatthreshold joining the townin two ways, uniting its twohalves with the river andgathering its citizens under

a single ceiling that accom-modates all the uses theyhave asked for. More thanconstruction A8ernA is occu-pation, offering new content

rather than a new container.As if furnishing an uninvitinghome, the pieces of the newproject are fitted togetherin an eclectic, fragmentaryamalgam that balances theunitary character of the

porticoed slab.PROject a8a, z,

n

dAte 2005

AuthORS nl a,

p bg, W

djk, K K,

mk l

deveLOPeR z

pg mg

d s

SuRfAce 24,000 2

cOSt 2,700,000 m

Gnral sm

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www.publicspace.org

Documents

In Favour of Public Space - European Prize for Public Space