Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
http://www.archdaily.com/180932/tverrfjellhytta-snohetta/
The Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre Pavilion is located at Hjerkinn on the outskirts of Dovrefjell National Park, overlooking the Snøhetta mountain massif. The 90m2 building is open to the public and serves as an observation pavilion for the Wild Reindeer Foundation educational programmes. A 1,5km nature path brings visitors to this spectacular site, 1200 meters above sea level.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Accessibility
Accessibility, Urbanization and Physical Activity
by Morten Myrup Jensen,
February 16th 2010
How much planning and design do citizens need to be encouraged to be physically active in the city?
The two extremes are on the one hand the group of disabled citizens who need designers to pay particular attention to accessibility in order for them to navigate the public spaces at all. They are at the mercy of planners who in fact have the choice to lock people up in their homes by planning badly with no regard for disabled people´s needs.
On the other hand we have the few dare devils that scale tall buildings as spiders on a wall, those that jump from skyscrapers with a parachute, train hoppers and the practitioners of parkour. They are bold, imaginative and practice their activities in spite of, and perhaps because of, the inaccessible city. They ignore rules and laws and city planners have little or no influence on their activity.
In between we have the large majority of people for whom the creative planning of the city spaces is vital for their will and urge to use it actively.
It argues that securing safe, direct and convenient links between often used destinations like schools, workplaces, homes, shops and community facilities, people are more prone to go by foot or bicycle and leave the car behind.
Some conscientious design studios manage this aspect very well though, as documented in the Danish-Jewish Museum by Liebeskind, the new Ordrupgaard Museum by Hadid, and the Elephant House of the Copenhagen Zoo by Foster. (Ark). These projects should act as model examples for Danish contractors in the future.
Accessibility to spaces for physical activity is the major issue of the provided examples for this paper. They show that relatively small additions to the public space can make a world of difference.
A well planned playground in a Dutch town square, a wooden basin in the Copenhagen harbor or a safety net spanning a parking lot in down town Tokyo are simple constructions strategically placed to yield maximum gain.
The case of Tokyo is particularly interesting to me as I have a great desire to visit this urban jungle but haven´t yet had the chance. A quick search in the literature came up with a similar case of small scale / big reward kind of planning, namely the futsal ball courts occupying rooftops in Tokyo (focus).
This phenomenon made me think back to the time growing up in the workers quarters of Copenhagen when redevelopment of housing districts was in its first phase. The back yard transformed before our eyes from a useless place occupied by garages and divided by fences into one big playground for kids and hang out place for adults. The central object was this cage or enclosure for ball playing that turned out to become the favorite playing field for all the kid in the neighborhood. It was designed exactly like the futsal enclosures of Tokyo. So, it is no surprise to me that they turn out to be popular in Japan too.
In fact a simple idea to utilize the unused spaces on top of flat roofed buildings in dense urban areas, this example perfectly illustrates the points made by the Active Design Manual. As they are placed above street level, the danger of traffic is eliminated and makes them safe in this regard. I imagine though, that the air quality must be really bad even when raised above the city. But this remains to be documented. The accessibility is often high as the ball courts are placed close to public transportation routes. One even placed on top of a major route intersection, being the roof of a metro station hub. Providing that people have good access to the public transportation system from their homes, it seems that the major criteria of the Active Design Manual are met in this case.
In most urban areas transport routes divide quarters and cut off access from one side to the other. Typically, highways and railways are the causes of dead zones that would otherwise have been accessible to pedestrians or cyclists. This problem is particularly dominant in the case of Paris where a major highway encircles the entire city leaving the outer quarters totally cut off from accessing the city center by foot or bicycle. Many other cities and urban areas suffer from similar maladies which become apparent when urban sprawl intensifies.
Even thought I find the Active Design Manual rather doctrinal and its definitions and language tiresome to read from start to finish, I´m convinced it is invaluable as a checklist for planners of urban and suburban areas alike. Many inexpedient city plans could have been avoided if this manual had been referenced during the design process. This adds to my starting argument in the first paper, that the management and administration of knowledge is the key issue for designers and planners in the pursuit of building a better environment in the future.
(Ark) Danske Ark Byg, 09.2007, p 4
(fokus) Arkfokus, 4/2008, pp 4-9
Innovation
Innovation, Urbanization and Physical Activity
by Morten Myrup Jensen,
February 22nd 2010
The industrial revolution liberated us from hard physical labour. Machines were exchanged for our bodies and then we got an obesity epidemic on our hands. Lack of physical exercise is one important cause of our life style maladies. We know this, and we want to exercise more to live better and longer.
In the industrial age physical exercise was mainly associated with labour. Then there was sports, which in all forms and sizes was competitive or performance oriented, largely motivated by obligation. Only the wealthy had access to activities like horseback riding, hunting or sailing which might not be categorized as sports per se.
Today most of us are wealthy in the sense that we can choose to improve our health and wellbeing with physical life style activities. The majority of us are motivated by inclination and care less about performance and more about that the activities are both pleasurable, sociable and identity forming.
But we are basically comfortable animals and we want easily accessible opportunities to exercise our lazy bodies. That’s why we need to design and plan our cities in a way to encourage people to leave their homes and cars to engage their bodies in movement.
I feel fortunate to live in Copenhagen which has bicycle traffic high on the priority list. One of the great additions to the city from a bicycle point of view is the planning and construction of green bicycle routes. They are basically residual areas from abandoned railway tracks that have been joined and transformed into greenspaces, creating a web of routes across the city1). They serve as expressways for cyclists that can travel unhindered by car traffic and stop lights. There is no doubt that the planning of the routes is in accordance with The Active Design Manual and greatly encourages people to use their bicycles. One third of daily commuters within the city go by bike!
Young Danish architects are sometimes aware of this unique quality of our capital. One such example literally brings the qualities on international display. The Danish 2010 Shanghai World Fair pavilion is equipped with 1.500 cph city bikes and a harbour bath with clean swimmable water from the cph harbour canal 2). In my view, an effective way to promote both Copenhagen and healthy city design to the world.
A series of residential projects by the Copenhagen based studio BIG have considerations on people being able to be physically active in or around the buildings. I will mention a few and comment on them.
Inspired by New York and Tokyo projects, the High Square is using the roof top of a large department store in cph to create outdoor leisure activities including a ball court 3). In my opinion the weather conditions in Denmark doesn´t really favor projects of this kind. Generally, I think more attention need to be paid to include shelter from the elements in projects that rely only on physical activity outdoors.
The KløverKarréen project proposes a huge residential block surrounding an existing grass covered area with numerous ball fields. The roof is designed as a publicly accessible terrace undulating from ground level to 15 stories. Thus potentially giving unprecedented views of the city in a 3 km stroll around the block 4). A spectacular idea that is sure to attract people to take a long and awarded walk.
Same concept is used in the figure 8 house in a newly developed part of Copenhagen called Ørestad. In this residential block the roof touches ground level and rise to trace the figure 8 before returning to ground level 5). In this way runners can race endlessly if they feel like it. This project is nearly completed.
Worth mentioning is also the Mountain Dwellings project which has the opposite effect by bringing the car garage as close to the front door as possible. Arguably, by doing so you free space by saving parking lots, but in my view the project encourages and favors car transportation to adverse effect. To make up for this, it seems, the studio shows in a movie how accessible the building is to tracours (parkour practitioners) if not for ordinary people 6).
The Third Urban Space denotes the collection of activities and offerings to a local community coming from the planning and addition of an arena. Isolated, sports are an economically bad deal to be investing in. The positive return for a town investing in a new arena comes from the “secondary effects” i.e. new jobs and taxes arising from synergy with other cultural and popular economies comprising the Third Urban Space. In this way an arena can be a catalyst for development.
In my fourth year of school I designed an Olympic size swimming stadium for the Ørestad Nord quarters of Copenhagen. I elaborated on the dreams of bringing the Olympic Games to Copenhagen and did plan work on the location, building and design of the project. I decided on a two stage building design which would transform the space occupied by half of the spectator seats after the Games into community related facilities like children’s pools, spa, fitness center, restaurant, conference facilities etc. Thus gaining the economic benefit of the Games and also of the Third Urban Space growing in the greater part of the Stadiums lifespan.
A segment of people do not join sports clubs, favour non-traditional forms of exercise and want to engage in their activities regardless of opening hours. In my experience, formation of club-less networks often involve activities like diving, surfing, hiking, skiing, running, ice- and roller-skating etc. and can be observed on the internet in communities like facebook and dating sites.
I was involved in one part of the Louisiana Exhibition, Green Architecture for the Future 7) which used a technology of piezoelectric inducers. These tiny devices can be built into floors or pavements to produce electrical current from the movement caused by people walking on top of it. With refinement, the potential is obvious to make people save energy by not using their cars and at the same time producing energy by moving their bodies 8).
1) Abandoned Copenhagen railway tracks transformed into green bicycle routes.
http://www.cphx.dk/index.php?id=27551#/23983/
Not in English, but play the short movie to the right on the page
Detailed map:
http://www.kk.dk/Borger/ByOgTrafik/cyklernesby/~/media/08702E26BA1542B798207A48C1CA51F4.ashx
2) Danish 2010 Shanghai world fair pavilion with 1500 cph city bikes, harbour bath et. al.
BIG:XPO
http://www.big.dk/projects/xpo/xpo.html
3) Recreational space on top of department store
BIG:HIGH SQUARE
http://www.big.dk/projects/mag/mag.html
4) 3 km of publicly accessible roof terrace
BIG:KLØVERKARÉEN
http://www.big.dk/projects/klm/klm.html
5) figure 8 shaped roof where you can run endlessly if you feel like it
BIG:HOUSE
http://www.big.dk/projects/bh/bh.html
6) BIG:MOUNTAIN DWELLINGS
http://www.big.dk/projects/mtn/mtn.html
MY PLAYGROUND, movie trailer, parkour on the Mountain Dwelling project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoU6ee5jz4A&feature=player_embedded#
7) Green Architecture for the Future
8) http://www.piezomaterials.com/
Responsibility
Responsibility, Urbanization and Physical Activity
by Morten Myrup Jensen,
February 7th 2010
Advances in science and developments in culture and society has made our western lives longer and more pleasant than those of our grand parents. Less war, more social security, better health care, comfortable houses and an abundance of machines to ease the work we do for a living. As we have eradicated most of the fatal bacteria and viruses from our immediate surroundings along with most of the potentially dangerous circumstances in our work, we are more or less left with the effects of our life style to influence our health.
Our knowledge of the factors that can promote and also hinder the further advancement of health and quality of life is so extensive that it is, in my view, in fact the management and administration of this knowledge which is the key issue in the future. We need to use this knowledge to design and plan a better environment, better houses and healthier life styles for the sakes of ourselves and of the planet. We need to act on what we know.
The re-designing and -planning of Nørreport Station in Copenhagen is at present time at the stage where the winning design has been declared. The project is long awaited as the site is the single most busy traffic hub in the country and the most chaotic as well.
The issues involved are massive air pollution from underground diesel trains and surface traffic, and logistics of commuters changing from public transportation (trains, metro and busses) to bikes, walking and private cars. The vast number of bicycles parked in the area is indicative of the municipality´s ambition to become the world´s best city for cycling by 2015 (ref.). In my opinion a very admirable goal and a long step in the planning of a healthy city with physically active citizens.
The project seems to become a great improvement for the thousands of people who daily cross the site on bike or use public transportation. But in fact, the ambition of the project is far smaller than expected by architects from such a long wait. I was thought to include the public parks at each end as well as being capable of binding together the medieval city and Israel´s square. Many student projects have shown greater imagination over the years. This disappointment is generally perceived as due to the fact that federal officials, administrators, and not experts, have been in charge of planning the project.
In my view, planning is improved by bringing together the relevant parties; representatives of the affected groups, the professionals and the decision makers. Professionals are experts possessing knowledge that is crucial to the informing of the decision makers; architects, designers, planners, engineers, health professionals et al.
Key elements to consider in the process include the following:
Preventive action. Planning intelligently involves a breadth of view that encompass urban planning workshops as well as economic and health impacts. Looking ahead to prevent facing expensive future complications can be economically viable in the long run. When coming upon areas where knowledge is scarce, research should be applied before irrevocable action is taken.
Design for pedestrians. People won´t be physically active in spaces designed for cars. There are specific ways to encourage activity and pauses in between our buildings as Jan Gehl has put it in lectures for decades. Designing not for cars, but for pedestrians, not 100 km/h architecture, but 5 km/h architecture is his mantra.
Zoning for multi-use. Mixing residential, commercial and public functions will create areas where people can live, work, shop and go to school within biking or walking distance, lowering the need for aided transportation.
Design for the disabled. By improving accessibility, disabled people become less dependent on outside help and will participate and contribute to society.
Design greenspace. Introducing green spaces in urban areas raises the sense of community among people, reducing violence and improving mental health.
The next logical step in planning the healthy city of Copenhagen in particular is reducing the causes of chronic diseases that we have the knowledge and ability to get rid of. Air pollution is the obvious choice for preventive action which would have a positive impact on health.
Given the knowledge we have of the adverse effects of living close to heavy traffic it is, in my view, a mystery that city dwellers haven´t demanded clean air from their legislators and a disgrace that politicians do so little to alleviate the problems.
Particle filters, road pricing or use of only electric vehicles in the city centers are all feasible solutions to reduce the 500 premature deaths yearly caused by traffic pollution in Copenhagen alone (ref.).
Explicitly, politicians are directly responsible for the passing of laws that could lead to investment in more effective and cleaner public transport, but pragmatically, laws are written and projects are run by federal officials. Administrators are gradually taking over the helm when it comes to navigating the bureaucratic waters. Experts and professionals are more often used as consultants than participating in the actual decision process.
It is well known that politicians are driven by public opinion and demands: No public support, no vote. The public, in turn, is driven largely by immediate demands influenced by trends and opinion leaders present in the media. And this is where I see an opening for planners and designers. The current situation is such, that more often than not, the medias turn to economists and engineers when seeking expert opinions on planning and tend to ignore architects. Researchers in architecture need to be visible and opinionated players in the media to get more leverage.
The stake-holders in the planning of an active city are:
Citizens and visitors. The people living in the city and those commuting and traveling to the city as workers and tourists. Their lives are affected in a direct way.
The media has the power to direct attention to matters in a way that can change the focus of the population and thereby the politician´s.
The professionals have the knowledge to inform others and thus the responsibility to put their understanding and skills to use.
Health professionals stress that the benefits of physical activity can integrate public health issues with urban planning issues.
The sports community can contribute specialist insights and determine the realism of designers ideas.
Planners and designers ideally have the role as visionaries and the bringing together of the combined efforts in a synthesis that lifts the physical activity on the city to new levels.
The decision makers. In the public realm they are the legislators and administrators, the politicians who put down the framework within to act. They control zoning rules, building regulations, and decide the economic focus of the state.
The private investors, the building owners acting within the framework, often prioritize economy over design.
It so happens that the best defense against air pollution is physical exercise. This helps slowing down the hardening of the arteries (ref.).
It may even be the fact that helps politicians sleep at night, because the city of Copenhagen is well equipped with possibilities for living an active life.
A great leap forward was accomplished in 2002 when the harbour canal was declared safe for swimming and the Plot designed harbour bassin at Islands Brygge opened to the public (wiki). The waterfront area has later been developed into a promenade with greenspaces, shelters, a public culture house with restaurant and sports facillities used for meetings, yoga classes etc. The annual water festival takes place here and the area is generally packed during summer lifting the businesses of the entire neighborhood.
From the overwhelming success of the Islands Brygge waterfront it has become evident that physical activity in the public space is possible and greatly appreciated.
It seems to me that leisure activities rather than highly competitive sports are better suited to the public spaces. I.e. sports without competition and physical expressions like dance, yoga, tai-chi, parkour, ice- and roller-skating, bathing, swimming, sailing, kayaking, kite- and windsurfing, etc. have no other purposes than recreational. But occasional high profile events like using the city spaces as arenas for sports competitions like marathons, triathlons and other events on ground, on the water or in the air, prove very interesting as well.
I believe that politicians hold the responsibility to be informed by participants and experts alike and act in the interest of the citizens and less in the interest of companies as seems sometimes to be the case. Professionals hold the responsibility to speak up when they possess knowledge which is of crucial interest to the public. They should actively aid the decision process of urban planning and insist on being invited to the table. Of course designers, architects and planners hold the key position in rethinking the uses of public space, synthesize the skills and input of the other parties and have the responsibility to be loud and visible in the public´s awareness.
(ref.) Nørrebro Lokaludvalg, “Referat fra Nørrebro Luftforureningsseminar d. 21. april 2009“
(wiki) Wikipedia article “Københavns Havnebade”
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