Urban Oasis. A small retreat in the busy urban fabric. 3.1 Community park on St Jacobsplaats

Transcription

1 Urban Oasis A small retreat in the busy urban fabric 3.1 Community park on St Jacobsplaats

2 Urban Oasis A small retreat in the busy urban fabric INTRODUCTION Continuing on the concept of creating a landscape to cover St Jacobsplaats, seperate directions in execution for the Masterplan. To emphasise the idea of the urban archipelago, the design proposal aims at creating a heirarchy between that of an urban connection and a communal space. By doing so as metioned through the research, the greenery currently on the site provides the local community a gathering and activity space. In order to amplify this issue more program were added without compromising the greenery. Also to compliment this space an enclave was made with this part of the site closing off the park to locals only. However at the same time the site must also satisfied the urban connection which will link the Maas to the Northern Suburbs. Therefore the interventions should also address the busy route where it facilitates the people who pass by the fragment. Programs such as restaurants, exhibition spaces or markets will help gather people and create interaction and by doing so revitalizing the dead spaces which exists currently around the site. 3

3 New York Highline -Influence area - Borough of Manhattan -Population - 1,537,195 -Density - 25,698 inhab/km2 3.3 Aerial View, 3.4 Night View, 3.5 Before intervention, 3.6 After intervention, 3.7 Suburb before intervention, 3.8 Elevated park 4

4 CASE STUDIES - New York Highline By searching for possible solutions to the complex problems in St Jacobsplats we look into other projects situated around the world with similar properties. The New York Highline is a 1.6 km park built on a former elevated railroad running along the lower west side of Manhattan. With the highline being a postindustrial ruin Diller Scofidio + Renfro Architects proposed to transform it into an urban park to revitalizing the community surrounding the infrastructure. A once deteriorating suburb for the poorer classes with high crime rates was transformed into a desirable real estate area in one of the most famous metropolis in the world. In the case of the the park on the Highline, it was a surgical insertion rather than simply just placing greenery on lot of an old railway line. Spaces that enhanced the community were implanted such as public theatres, event spaces and exhibition areas are scattered through the duration of the highline creating numerous possibilities of public interaction and activity. But the most obvious intervention is creating a pleasant and calm atmosphere for people to stroll through in the city that never sleeps. A similar situation stands for the Hofbogen. Though the density is greatly decreased the potential for the current abandoned space remains intact. A park like atmosphere could be easily introduced to the highline with the possibility of increasing the vibrancy and rising real estate property value throughout the region. The connection as mentioned previously would extend all the way from the Noorderkanaal to the Maas sitching the scattered fragments up into a urban network for circulation and interaction. 5

5 Hofbogen -Influence area - Laurenskwartier -Population - 1,2403 -Density inhab/km2 3.9 Hofbogen Route, 3.10 Original situation, 3.11Elevated parklands, 3.12 Aerial view, 3.13 Highline through the North, 3.14 Highline by the Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam 6

6 CASE STUDIES - Hofbogen Doepel Strijkers Architects have made a proposal for the old elevated train track in downtown Rotterdam which is being redeveloped as a commercial strip and elevated park. The Hofbogen will become an elevated pedestrian walkway with also the ability to link up the centre with the northern suburbs of the city. Addition to the physical attributes, it also provides thermal mass heating and cooling for the old residences alongside the highline. In this manner, industrial waste heat can be used to warm the prewar buildings along this trajectory, thereby radically reducing their CO2 footprint. This will help bolster the real estate desirability of property along the highline establishing a new urban oasis for people to move into. The major contributing factor to the vibrancy and desirability of the location is obviously the mass introduction of greenery. The floating gardens and park provide a public leisure area for the residents where they would interact and transform the public realm. On top of that moving up to an urban scale there is a congregation area for the city dwellers to go as there are no current urban parks for people to use. This will essentially break the barriers between the suburbs which exist due to the highline and reconnect the different classes of people through one unified space. 7

7 Housing Towers that are designed to increase the density upon the site but also start to establish the enclave suitable for the community park. In order to maintain the park s atmosphere it had been elevated so that the creating of the plinth under could house more programs. A community centre was placed underneath encouraging interaction as well as providing creating a buffer between the city and the community. The landscaping technique was used to soften the boundaies left by the infrastructure. The walls currently on the site break any connection between the two sides of the site. With the landscape it takes away the boundry and changes it into a porous threshold axonometric of design proposal 8

8 designer shops shopping mall sport centre market community park 3.2 Inserting programs into pockets along the route 1.18 Site Plan 1: Section 1:1000 9

9 View of St Jacobsplaats from the west with the recreation park and the outdoor amphitheatre aerial view of the community park created by the enclosure of the towers and context 1.1 axonometric of design proposal 10

10 CONCLUSION In conclusion, the intention for the design is establish an urban connection previously mentioned in the research. But with the fragment in particular enhancing the activity and green spaces within the suburb will help the community in creating an identity and coming together. At the same time the greenery also address to the city as a whole bringing vibrancy and the public realm back into the area. 11

11 BIBLOGRAPHY All images and diagrams were produced by the author unless specified otherwise [Figures 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8] n.d. [image online] Available at : < [Accessed 18 October 2013] [Figures 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13, 3.14] n.d. [image online] Available at: < [Accessed 18 October 2013] 12