T33 Research – thesis topic exploration.

Every meter counts.

I am fascinated by the adaptations that are shaping landscapes of the world and more locally, London. I would like to investigate the ways people occupy buildings, new and old alike.

My research in planning and urban design so far has been focused on the way poor people live in the city. When reading on the subject of slums I discovered an interesting typography, a pattern of ‘space grabbing’. This is now happening in densely populated conurbations of the world like India and San Paulo. Policies there are meant to eradicate bad living conditions, provide sanitation and social services to people, but also they aim in preventing illegal occupations. In third world squatting is an everyday accordance but even now in Europe and in London squatting happens. It is a well recognized and controlled phenomena. However there also is in existence and more subtle occurrence of infilling of urban fabric.

Property owners invent ingenious ways to seize every square metre of air and turn it into properly. They do it to have more storage, a safe place for their bike a bit more space in the kitchen. They do it in various ways from small crude shed like structures of a small footprint to a construction of planned and managed extensions. The first one is very interesting as it simply happens, it needn’t have permissions, it only requires an idea of the owner and a bit of physical labour for a day or two.

I walk London streets and I see small home interventions. Long streets of front and back extensions. Amazing selection of materials on all types on elevations. Balconies incorporated into the house fabric. What is the point to build a balcony in the first place than? Gardens shrunk to a space just enough to store garbage bun. Why would anyone need a private open space?

I think of the places i lived at. Always lacking space, always having too little storage, London is struggling and will continue to struggle for space. We architects / planners speak of beauty, proportion but it is practicality of living in a city that prevails. High density is inevitable. As good citizens of the capitalist society people acquire more items and as houses get smaller will the space grabbing eat away the city. We are far from catastrophic sensations of The City of Darkness, yet the tension is there. I feel it every day and, as it cannot be retained any more in some houses I see it on the streets of London.

T13 London Walk Photoes Essay

Squares:

1. Bedford Square

2. Soho Square

Markets:

1. Berwick Street

2. Canarby Street

Lanes / Yards:

1. Newman Passage

2. Walkers Close

Network of Spaces:

1. Central St.Giles

2. Phoenix Garden+Stacey Street

T30 Start Again 3 – The Idea of the City - ARU

Florian Beigel, Philip Christou – Architecture Research Unit

There are thinks I don’t like about the way Florian and Philip talk about architecture. There seems to be a large degree of ignorance about the receivers of their designs, their projects. All they seem to care about is art. But this at the same time the most seductive thing about them. Through the series we have heard about participation, communities, jokes, bad and good ideas but we did not hear about art. Here it is. Architecture for arts sake. Or...one moment please: City for arts sake.

Youl Hwa Dang Boolchall Building, Paju Book City, Korea.

A building can be a city. Where does that lead us. If a building is a city than it is made to be like a cluster of buildings, than a passage through it is a street like journey. It’s exactly what Youl Hwa Dang Boolchall Building is like. The speakers did not mention the client, nor the budget, nor the procurement process. The Building is a city and it is beautiful in its tectonics, it sits well in its surrounding. This is what matters.

Saemangeum Island City, Korea.

City built from scratch on water. Man made islands. Florian and Philip had a free unlimited scope for creation. Square kilometres of water were to be filled with earth but in which form, what principles were to be applied. They choose to create small connected cities that would function on their own. They were to be concentrated in spaces looking out onto the natural beauty of the sea. Again: the islands were to be laid in a manner allowing the view onto the sea. Not that there weren’t any other design principles. This is one that stroke me the most. Beauty of the nature to be admired is one of the most important ideas behind where tons of earth are to start infilling a sea bay! Fascinating ignorance or bravery!

T29 MA Presentations - Matt

I’ve been to Royal Docks and I recall its vast empty spaces waiting for something to happen to them. I remember the Old Mills building well. It stands on the dock edge tall, strong and alone. Royal Docks are a difficult site. The process of change here has been initiated already but it will take long. In the Meantime: Matt has to come with some ideas.

From Matt’s presentation I most liked the use he gave to the Old Mills building and the idea behind it. He was talking about process. Already standing building can be a process. A building can train people, can be used and reused in a way that is contributing to the community. The question is whether it is a local community, or whether it is a new community. This can be a process to bring people into the area, give them a shelter and a period of training threw making, and hope they will than use those skills in Royal Docks. I guess it’s the best that can happen. Royal Docks desperately need people, they need a vibrant community. If threw his design Matt manages to create a community he will have achieved what all planners are aiming for. One building The Mill is maybe big enough to be magnet into the area. I suggest a strategy for wider area development and with that the training program for people to deliver this strategy. This can be Matts brief for the Mill or any other building he chooses to use as a training platform and area magnet.

T28 Peter Bishop

Peter Bishop, London Development Agency (LDA) Group Director of Design, Development and Environment and Deputy Chief Executive

Well delivered lecture, smooth transition between slides, and great speech in slow, well mannered voice. Peter Bishop was selling us his own vision. And he was doing it so well.

To begin with he quoted Kieślowski “Beware of people who know the answers”. I believed he was suggesting he is a man with many questions. So followed many observations: on cities which disappear in a matter of days (Portuguese moving out from Angola in Ruanda), and monuments lasting for thousands of years (Roman Arena), on reused contractions (temporary housing in Istanbul), and cities cut in 2 (Berlin). And a final well made pont: there are elements that endure and there are ideas that will be followed. One just needs to get it right (Leying down Baroque Rome, Fontana).

The STRONG IDEA is the key to success of any city concept. But the branding of it is the way to make people listen to your idea. Better yet the branding is now the way to convince people the idea is a god one, to generate interest and investments and to start the ball rolling. Visions of City East, Olympic Park and King’s Cross are prime examples of branding exercises. Olympic logo sends a simple but strong message of connecting people. Can such a message be refused? The mushrooming developments of East London got a new name recently: Green Enterprise District. Can any company in 21^st century reject this fashionable concept? Kings Cross was not necessarily an effect of branding but an example of social engineering of investors and various parties around Section 106 at the beginning of development. And we were socially engendered to trust and believe Peter Bishops judgements. An 18 year development around a growing up time of a child in Kings Cross sounded great. A child needs schools and later in life it needs training and as the development progress all these successively were to be built for this child / youngster . It was a tool to make investors build what a visionary wanted.

Peter Bishop is good at branding. He is a man with answers a man we should ‘be ware of’. I think it’s because this is his job. How else would be so good in selling visions? Toward the end of his smooth speech I started feeling a bit crossed. I was sold the ideas, I had the enthusiasm for the new exciting frontiers of urban growth in London, but I felt I was forgetting something in the speed of things. I was brainwashed to forget all the details of those developments, all obstacles and also historical heritage of some places. Is this: the business like speed and branding what we need to make building happen?

T26 Evidence

‘With regard to proposals which fall outside designated town centre and local parade locations, hot food takeaway shops will be resisted where the proposal will:

1. Fall within 400m of the boundary of an existing school or youth centred facility (e.g. YMCA, after school clubs).

2. Fall within 400m of a park () boundary.’

(Waltham Forests Supplementary Planning Document, p.11)

This means it should take a minimum a 10 minute for a child to get a take away on a school brake. Since this is mainly unhealthy food restrictions on number of take always a good idea. I do think some children will make those 10 minute walks and in effect may get late for classes. Or maybe they will have a run and burn some of the calorie overtake from their fish and chips or a burger. Good idea which works for the benefit of child’s health. Only disadvantage is that the freedoms of shop owners are heavily limited. The limitations to take away numbers around parks i do not understand however. The children are in parks mainly with their parents. Children will not therefore run for a burger by themselves, they will ask their parents to buy it for them. Adults can say no to children, can’t they?

T25 Croydon

What came out from presentation on Town Centre of Corydon is the power of vision and participatory process.

On one hand Corydon is an effect of a post World War 2 vision. Council purchased kilometres of Victorian land and developed Courbusian style city centre of towers and massive roads. Vision accomplished. However years later the Corydon Town Centre is out of fission, it’s a subject of jokes, and it simply is not for people. The same old problems of scale and lack of connections through 6 lane highways are applied here in a concentrated form. Adding to that is that those blocks from 50’s and 60’s are looking quite tired and boring. Croydon needs doing up, but how?

Good crazy ideas came about in 1993 when 15 architects were invited to reinvent city centre, they talked about public realms, tramline, new library complex, lakes instead of tower blokes, new uses for old department stores and art on top of car parks. None got immediately implements yet their legacy lives on. These ideas stimulated some minds. Those papers must lay around in Corydon council. I can imagine every now and again a planner looking at them thinking: Oh Yeah!

Yet another vision was recently requested. Vill Aslop, a strong visionary, made sense of Croydon in 2008. In his own bendy style he put forward and idea of what Corydon is about but. Also this vision most likely will not see a day light but its role is satisfies. It generated enthusiasm greater than any Masterpalns would able to collect.

Vision is a powerful thing to initiate processes of change and participation is a way forward. Masterpalns follower the vision. Proposals, and details are left to planners. And planners in Cordon are a clever bunch of people. They carry the vision but others own the land. So they sit the land owners and talk to them. They sit them again in one room, are late for meeting and let people talk. This way in East Corydon for example, 4 owners of land in conflict managed to do develop a plan with unified objective and at the same time council got a step closer to accomplishing their vision.

I like the way Vincent presented the planning process. I bet this work is really hard but it sounds quite poetic and possible when spoken of visions and participation.

T23 PPS Review

I think these housing aspects should be put more emphasis on and people would be happier:

Planning for more Sunlight

Planning against Unsanitary Housing Conditions and Exploitative Landlords.

also

Planning for Cyclists and Pedestrians.

Home Food Production.

Planning for Every Meter Grabing.

Freedom of Expression.

T24 Start Again Missed

I’ve just returned from India, I’m starting again. I look different at all that I have learned so far about planning. I look differently on the London life. 4 days since return the India magic still lasts, or maybe its lack of contact with the reality of my the foggy mind in my ill body.

India is a truly eye opening place as much as I suspect all third world countries would be to some extent. India is full and poor but happy. And England is reach, London a bit overcrowded and everyone is miserable, stressed and overworked. I simply could not make myself to go to this lecture. What difference would it make to my life to listen to yet another archi-talk? Just occasionally I chose my health before architecture.

T21 Stratford Lecture

Kay Hughes and Eleanor Fawcett

There is a wide strategy for London. London’s growth is moving east.
Is this a good idea, we’ll all find out in many years to come, but it is definitely happening. In the desert of deprivation, on the borders of 4 councils : Hackeny, Walthm Foret, Newham and Tower Hamplets rises the new shining star of London. The numbers for the games are: 203 counties, 5.000 strong Olympic Family, 17.800 Athletes and Teams, 22.000 media personnel and 7.7 million tickets. They all will come and leave. ODA have presented us today with a vision of the coming and ending of the games. Their intention was always to give this area a better future. Vary beautiful concept one i would fear to star to embark on. Also one all planners are kind of obliged to peruse. Better future for 3 most deprived borough in London. How do you do that?
Olympic Park is no small scale intention. It shines a bit too bright next to the housing of Tower Hamlets. ODA have thought carefully about this, it seems. A large enterprise of downscaling and downgrading the site will happen just after the games end. Temporary structures will be taken away. Bridges will be made smaller. Structures will be reused or adjusted to fit their new functions. And suprose suprise! The infrastructure will be ready laid for new exciting developments to take place on those mega big leftover plots. I do admire the long term planning in this project. But it feels so big! There will be a long meantime between Olympic Games themselves and the time when the site becomes a fully integrated and full part of the city. A time filled with walks in the park.

Next to the Olympic Park with its high profile development, Low profile redevelopment of Stratford is also taking place. Quite obviously once glamour comes to one place some sparkles of it fall onto those nearby. The legacy of the Olympic park already started to work. Problem with the Olympic big brother is that it’s smaller sister Stratford would like some big scale interventions and it can only get a lift up. Few features corrected and Stratford can work smoothly, but councils don’t like small connections any more. The legacy of the Olympic park already started to work.

T20 India Trip

The feeling

There is a peace on the river. Certain form of rest is possible here. Even though the city is so close, the road is so loud, there is so much dirt and pollution, yet this is still the calmest of all places in the Old Town. I think it is due to the feeling of space, because here unlike deeper in the city there is a feeling of ‘afar’, ‘on the other side’. Here people wash their clothes, rest all day next to the temple under the Rail Bridge, fish and look after their cattle. The activities that take place here are truly an image of a village yet just few metres away to the west through the busy road raise the walls of the old city. Road is impossible to cross: it hosts a catalogue of vehicles, animals from elephants to donkeys, and endless numbers of people.. People live in peace and in conflict with animals. People live on the edges, trade, pass by, and wait. It is all connected to the deeper areas of the city. Road takes product and people out and into the city. And City is a place of work. Work almost 24h a day. From down deep into the night trade and production is happening. Its busy, it’s mixed, it’s difficult to understand. Boundaries are fluid. All the spaces are owned yet none is designated. Mixed communities and religions share the ever smaller spaces as I go deeper. I am lost.

The site

The site stretching from the river front through the Mubarak Manzil to the Haveli of Sasat Khan is an example of how the old Mughal city fabric of Agra has disintegrated to the point of no recognition.

The garden city of Agra consisted of baghs of the emperor and his wifes, havelis and manzils of princes and nobles on both sides of the Yamuna river. Gardens inside the walls of residences as well as on the river edge represented a picturesque heavenly image praised by all visitors to the city. Yet the riverfront once occupied by costly palaces of famous lords carries little similarities today. After capital of India was moved from Agra to Delhi in mid 17^th century Agra stated to decline. Ordinary inhabitants started to take over the river edge and its buildings. Gardens have been absorbed by expanding city. British put in new infrastructure: the rail and contributed to the process of inhabitation of the old gardens. River is polluted and its levels are much lower due to Thames built upstream to draw water for irrigation. Part of it has been reclaimed and a big road has been laid along the Yamuna dividing the old direct city-river connection. Today river is used as a latrine, for garbage, for washing and water buffalos.

The Mubarak Manzil still stands. Its site is partly preserved, partly in filled with new buildings and it is possible to trace the original walls which used to enclose this site. Even less has remained of the Haveli of Sasat Khan. These sites have become a vibrant important point of trade. Here some of the ancestors of old families reside and trade with a vibrant immigrant communities. It is a new city centre of all.