In recent years, more and more initiatives try to counter the role of the car in urban streets with projects like PARK(ing) Day, World Car-Free Day in Riga or Neighborhood in Motion. These bottom-up projects show how the removal of cars affects the urban space and the mindsets and lifestyles of the residents.

“In Ghent 16 residential streets were transformed into collectively created spaces. It all started in 2013 with a bunch of enthusiasts who were busy with the Ghent policy concerning the future of mobility. In order to make people feel what a difference it makes when streets are used by people instead of cars, they came up with the idea of ‘Leefstraten’ which translates as Living Streets. Leefstraten is an experiment that enables inhabitants to transform their street into a place they’ve always dreamed of. By removing the cars and finding other places for parking, new space came available that were turned into places with slides, hen houses, petanque courts, pop-up bars and a lot of astroturf and picnic benches.

One of the most interesting elements is that the process is led by the inhabitants themselves. All the locations have a different outcome resulting in a different use or no use at all. The inhabitants all have their own ideas on how to use the street, which makes up a very local decision making process.

The success in Ghent has led to initiatives in different cities across the Netherlands and Belgium, but seems suitable for every city with inhabitants that want to create places for people instead of cars.”

(Via Pop-Up City)

(Photos by Dries Gysels and Jesse Jorg)

La entrada Leefstraten | Living streets made by people se publicó primero en More Than Green.

The Water Mirror offers a meeting place in town to play and cool off, and establishes an intelligent relationship with its historical context.

Water Mirror is a rectangular water surface designed by French architect Michel Corajoud and located in a very particular point of Bordeaux (France) since 2009. This pool of 3,450 square meters of water is strategically situated between the Garonne River and the Place de la Bourse, in a way that it fully reflects the characteristic façades of the 18th century buildings that are located in it. Thus, the emergence of this new urban element generates an interesting visual game between the historic buildings, the square, the river and the new water surface.

Moreover, the mirror effect of the thin film of water can be suddenly interrupted by the appearance of an artificial fog that exceeds two meters. Thus, the combination of liquid and vaporized water offers refreshment to the citizens on the hottest days. Thanks to these social qualities, the Mirror of Water has become a major attraction for entertainment, play and rest, especially during the summer.

“A series of in situ coincidences led us to create a new urban equipment, which is fresh and playful and doesn’t fight (oppose) the Bourse building, but displays a polite attitude in relation with it.”

“This global device: square, water and mist, magnifies the heritage of this part of the docks, and it quickly became […] a place to practice games, a place of entertainment, refreshment, an attraction point. This unexpected event has become an urban phenomenon that goes far beyond our expectations.”

“The elegant historic French idea of the central reflecting pool has been made participatory. The water mirror both forces people backwards to observe the reflection and then bring them together in the play of splashing water and hide-and-go-seek fog.”

(via aesthetic grounds)

(images via landezine)

La entrada Water Mirror | A place to cool off in Bourdeaux se publicó primero en More Than Green.

After a life dedicated to the enhancement of the importance of public space in the city, its analysis and even promotion, Amanda Burden was appointed Commissioner of City Planning in New York. No easy task in a city in constant growth despite its high density and has always grown under commercial interests.

His most important challenges were to approach the population growth of 1 million people by redistributing residential density around the axes of public transport; reconditioning disused spaces by creating urban parks such as the now existing in Brooklin Bay; and the recovery of the old railway abandoned in height reconvertiendolo in a magnificent park instead of demolition: the High Line.

All due regard to the detailed design for the citizen. Away from mercantilist pressures, Amanda Burden argues that “the city has to think long term, penser in the common good”, that “public spaces have power” and that “turn a park into a place where people want to be depends that is not designed as an urban planner, but as a citizen. “

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La entrada TED Talk | The importance of public space: how it make work to cities | Amanda Burden se publicó primero en More Than Green.

The Active Pool is one of the four main spaces at the Fort Worth Water Gardens (Texas, USA), an urban oasis designed by architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee in 1974. The waterfall, which is eleven meters high and shaped by a terraced geometry, surrounds a small central pool to which all the water is poured.

The particular design of this fountain invites visitors to descend to its very center, offering them a unique walk in which water is the protagonist. Thus, this urban element provides more than refreshment and relief from the hot weather of Fort Worth, enabling the user to experience firsthand the power, strength and movement of an everyday element: water.

“It’s the sound that captures most people’s attention: the roar of 10,500 gallons [40,000 litres] of water per minute hurtling down the four-story sides”.

“And then there’s the spectacle of the water cascading down the concrete terraces and splashing past the steps that lead visitors down to a pentagon of large blocks at the bottom of the sunken waterfall. Here, in the center of it all, the cacophony of the falls muffles conversation, leaving visitors to stop for a moment to soak in the scene”.

“The Active Water Pool is the centerpiece of the 4.3-acre [1.7-ha] Water Gardens, an open-air complex of waterfalls, pools, fountains, plazas, walkways, and trees located adjacent to the Fort Worth Convention Center. Famed architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee designed the Water Gardens, which have provided a meditative haven in the heart of Fort Worth since their opening in 1974. While not open to swimming, the Water Gardens are a popular destination for walks, picnics, and events on the plaza.”

(via Texas Highways)

(images via Eric Hunt)

(images via hyperallergic)

(images via Architecture in Fort Worth)

La entrada The Active Pool |A waterfall at the Fort Worth Water Gardens se publicó primero en More Than Green.

“A group of six young architects under the leadership of Renzo Piano have been hard at work transforming unused spaces within Italy’s suburban framework. The team, known as G124, focuses its efforts on injecting life back into overlooked and forgotten areas of its built environment and stimulating the local economy through design. This most recently entailed transforming a long abandoned area under a viaduct in northeast Rome into a bustling cultural hot-spot.

The project, aptly named “Under the Viaduct,” uses recycled materials to create an inviting community space. Shipping containers host the area’s organized events, providing multiple spaces for workshops for local residents to attend.”

Renzo Piano and this group of young people, after a long process of analysis abandon areas they have proposed in revitalizing this environment a series of cultural activities managed through a process of public participation. A project by and for the neighbors.

via plataformaurbana.cl

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La entrada Under the viaduct | Marginal urban environment’s revitalization | Renzo Piano and G124 se publicó primero en More Than Green.

[Article originally written by Pilar Ferreres and José Luis Gisbert for More Than Green]

__Architects: Pilar Ferreres + José Luis Gisbert

__Collaborators: Xavier Pepiol, architect + Álvaro Hueso, architecture student

__Location: Valencia, España

__Date project: 2015

Traffic crossing or square? We have asked this question to neighbors, merchants, professionals and pedestrians in the quarter of Pla del Remei in Valencia. It is a question that arises from the Alternative Proposal or Improvement (PAM), submitted to City Hall to review the municipal project involving the change of two streets in the city center. Moreover this plan suggests an even more important question: Is this a city for cars or a city for people?

The streets Hernán Cortés and Pizarro, part of the commercial city center that attracts many visitors throughout the year, have not changed in over 30 years. These streets pose numerous obstacles to pedestrian: narrow and uneven sidewalks, clutter from dining tables to parked motorbikes, and non-stop traffic. Cars are even seen driving on the curb to avoid hinder the lane. This chaotic traffic affects the pedestrians walking in a group who frequently have no other choice but to walk in a single file line, sometimes even on the street to dodge the vehicles that park on the sidewalk. Furthermore a pedestrian’s pace is broken up by having to patiently wait to pass through the number of traffic lights.

When the Valencia town hall announced upcoming renovations in April 2014, from the perspective of residents and architects, we were thrilled to take on an active role in the project design for a highly anticipated upgrade.

We have found, however, that the project that does not respond to nor reflect the real needs of this community because they have not been analyzed beyond the traffic logistics, and the essential information that can only be given by the community has been ignored. A project that does not account for a lack of space in the neighborhood and ignores the existing architectural heritage, makes it difficult for residents and tourists alike to admire the area to its true potential. Likewise the municipal action seems to disregard and even contradict all current urban mobility policies to accommodate for the additional space needed cyclists and pedestrians. In so doing the council is also ignoring the benefits of trees in an urban environment that contributes to better air quality and appropriate hygrothermal control. This planned redevelopment, an expenditure of 800,000 euro per street, would influence the way of life for the next 25 years and does not meet social and cultural needs of our community.

It appears as though the town hall of Valencia is taking on the renovation street by street without proper coordination. It is not possible to address road and spatial arrangement of a neighborhood without studying the full scope because there are problems that can only be resolved from a global approach.

Upon receiving the town hall’s initial plan in January of 2015, we offered an alternative proposition, known as Propuesta Alternativa de Mejora (PAM), to open up the dialogue and improve upon the solution. This alternative plan was submitted free of charge as we are fully invested in living and working in the area.

The PAM is a response to the plan that was originally approved by the town hall. Written by architects, we offer a solution that promotes a healthier environment and the development of relationships. The town hall’s plan of widening sidewalks does not take into account the number of needed trees that line the streets- one for every thirty meters. A tree is not merely an ornament. It provides shade to the pedestrian, filters the air and offers protection from the wind. Trees serve a purpose and should be enough in number.

For example, a square in Pizarro street (20 meters in width), would slow down traffic and would convert a crossway to an agreeable square.

Multipurpose zones, called beaches in our proposal, would eliminate parking and decrease the number of vehicles going through. It would also reduce all types of pollution and danger. These beaches are the structure of an urban landscape that changes according to the time of day and season. Flexible zones would accommodate how different people use the area, from unloading cargo from a truck, to parking a bike, to taking a rest on a bench. This multipurpose zone would accommodate everyone without further construction needed. The implication results in less money to be spent. Our alternative proposal permits people to meet their needs with the opportunity of enjoying the space in their free time. Why not use a space to encourage to building relationships within a community?

The vision of PAM provides the town hall and the citizens with an economic solution that does not increase expenditure. PAM aims to increase the quality of urban life which would serve as a model to other parts of the city and can be extrapolated to other cities’ grid.

Between the 50s and 70s centers of cities turned in favour of the parked car or in circulation. The progressive increase in the number of vehicles in this limited space led to the deterioration of the urban landscape and quality of life of its inhabitants.

During the last decades, most cities have reversed this process in the inner city. They have realized that rescuing space for people was the only way to claim the status of this area of the city. However, economic and social changes not always match physical site transformations, inhabitants and users are the first ones in perceiving and detecting the existing problems.

The urban update has been carried out traditionally through its redevelopment, its considerable cost and lack of will taking unpopular decisions for cars, has led in some cases this process didn’t arrive.

But there are other ways, temporary changes that allow a more guarantees in final redevelopment: Zero Investment actions, as Rome from 20 years ago cut traffic on one of their most commercial streets (via del Corso) from Friday afternoon until Sunday allowing people to walk without restrictions and nowdays has been extended fulltime. Public space for people rescue actions through painting and moving parts, re-imagining as it may be the common space in the city and try it temporarily together with its inhabitants with limited spending before making works is the lesson that we can learn from the New York experience.

Valencia has embraced in recent years various European projects of sustainable development such as SMILE (intelligent solutions and energy efficiency in urban logistics in Mediterranean cities) or CAT-MED, was named European city of the tree in 2007, and that just a week ago was home to the main European platform aimed at reducing emissions of GHG in the cities.

Participate in these projects should lead to the city Council of Valencia, in each step or decision no matter how small it is on the city, to follow the criteria of sustainability, good governance and allocate their economic and human resources to improve the lives of all people. It is not worth to join a swimming club and don’t accept be equipped with bathing suit and jump into the water keeping dry out the pool.

Something doesn’t work properly when the Council refers in its reply to the PAM, in March 2015, to technical problems for planting trees or designing streets 30, without justifying them technically and chooses to arrange, on the other hand, in a parallel street absorbent paving of the contamination with European funds. Is it this proper answer of a smart city? Wouldn’t it be wiser to limit cars and planting trees? Can there be smart cities without smart designed streets? In Valencia with our strong sun, is it a smart street one that lacks of tree shade in summer? What is the suitable, sustainable mobility, in 12 meters wide streets of the city center? Car parking?

The authors invite the Council to ask himself these questions and return to pause the process action for reviewing and incorporating the improvements identified in the PAM, adding signatures of people who have joined this this request and also delivering the results of the open meeting with neighbors, merchants, workers and walkers held last March 5.
People who have joined this initiative rely on City Hall to consider the requested enhancements that we enjoy all and especially future generations.

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La entrada Traffic crossing or square? | PAM project, alternative proposal for the renewal of Valencia’s downtown se publicó primero en More Than Green.

“Street artist r1 recently unveiled “Brothers in Benches,” his latest urban intervention that recycles reclaimed wooden pallets into six interchangeable mobile benches. Artist r1 set the installation on wheels and rolled the pop-up seating throughout the heart of Johannesburg to observe how the public interacted with the playful street furniture.

During the Absolut residency, the six artists shared an apartment in Jeppestown, Johannesburg where they exchanged ideas on how to design creative solutions to the city’s issues. “The theme of the project was for us to transform the immediate surroundings and engage with them in a creative way,” says r1.

Each wooden unit comprises three interlocking components: a central planter flanked by two benches with retractable seats; the three components can be fully collapsed to make a compact shape or expanded like an accordion to create a variety of configurations.”

This interesting proposal is attached to many other projects where the recycled pallet become generating new urban opportunities. R1 wide our environmental sustainable creative catalog.

(via inhabitat.com)

La entrada Brothers in Benches | Urban furniture with recycled pallets | Street art in Johannesburg se publicó primero en More Than Green.

“The idea of the new development and actions on the Targ Weglowy square came at a time when the parking function disappeared from the historic square, and nothing new has come on its place. Car-free space presented the oportunity to propose a new, organised public square, which the Main City in Gdansk lacks. City Culture Institute in collaboration with GDYBY group proposed temporary space in the form of urban grassland rooms, as one of the many possibilities of organizing this place and to inspire some subsequent actions.

Form of the design was a result of its temporary character and a relatively small budget, but also a need to neutrally interfere with historical surroundings. The main idea was to drag the citizens into kind of a game, in which they participated from the moment they entered the square. GDYBY group designed a light modular OSB furnishings in a form of cubic boxes. Users had the oportunity to create their own little spaces in which they felt comfortably. Kids were creating their ideal playgrounds and geometrical compositions, while adults used cubes as tables, seats and space divisions. The whole arrangement was completed with natural grass areas which created „rooms” and gathered people around them. This intervention helped manage the considerable size of the square making it a little bit more cosy.”

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La entrada New public space | GDYBY group | Targ Weglowy, Gdansk se publicó primero en More Than Green.