Urban CampScape

For the first time it was possible to stay overnight as an urban adventurer under the viaduct ‘Strijps Bultje’, at Strijp-S; the design heart of Eindhoven. The space underneath the viaduct was the stage for a city-campsite and thé hangout of the Dutch Design Week. Both in day- and nighttime, there was a varied program with interactive, relaxing and informative activities during which the CampScape was constantly changing form and meaning: outdoor cinema, salsa room, restaurant, design studio, stage for concerts and local café. Together with the local parties we worked with, we transformed the viaduct into an attractive space, which made citizens and visitors curious. They felt home right away, sitting in the seats made by Ontwerpstudio Bomm and eating local and organic breakfasts, lunches and dinners of (H)Eerlijk Anders.

The choice for this location wasn’t coincidental: ‘Strijps Bultje’ is an underexposed, but at the same time much discussed space in Eindhoven, full of potential. It also forms one of the intersections on the - still to develop - Green Corridor: the lush green connection between Eindhoven and the green forest. Through the Urban CampScape and all the activities attached to it, the potential of the place and the roll she can play in the city has been researched. By working bottom-up with local parties and citizens, Urban CampScape tried to accomplish a certain degree of social sustainability. It was a showcase of what temporary art, urban design and events can mean for a city and how a temporary project can reach a lasting, positive contribution to the place and its surroundings.

Initiators Urban CampScape:
Manoe Ruhé - Studio Urban Sprinkle, André Cools - Studio Synthese, Kirsten Bekkers - Trainee Haarlemmermeer

Together with Latitude Venice, we researched the future of the Veneto region in a multidisciplinary team. What is the future of the Veneto region in 2100, given the threats posed by rising sea levels, heavy rainfall, floods and drought? The Monti Lessini creeks form one of the three case studies of this project. They lie in between the ridges of Verona and Vicenza. They are cut by a corridor of heavy infrastructure and dense construction formed by the A4 highway, the railway, industrial activity and settlements. The danger linked to the creeks is well known: the 'areas' heavy rainfall and the steepness of its valleys make the creeks a constant threat, for they often overflow due to uncontrollable amounts of rainwater and eroded sediment.

The scenario proposed here suggests creating north-south buffers along the creeks, that would make room both for the excess rainwater and for hosting basins, wetlands and woods. However the buffer differs from local agriculture and reorientates the urban growth along the valleys, across the east-west corridor, thereby gently restructuring this large region into a recreational territory.

Urban design team Monti Lessini Creeks:
Fabio Vanin, Andrea Masciantonio and Manoe Ruhé
International Biennale of Architecture Rotterdam 2012
Product: research & design, exhibition

A research into the urban and ethnographic tissues of two quarters in The Hague in the Netherlands, which serve as a catalyst for the restructuring of the public domain between the districts. The daily life of the residents of Transvaal and the Schilderswijk has been ignored by planners for a long time. There is still a lack of specific knowledge in town planning of the area and its residents. The town planner has the ability to acquire more knowledge of the specific qualities of an existing quarter, by analyzing the urban memory. In this research the morphology of the physical and symbolic qualities in the districts Transvaal and the Schilderswijk becomes visible.

The qualities are especially found in the "strip zone", an area which lays in between the two districts. At the moment there is a need to restructure the area. The strip zone is a suitable location where, with the current qualities used as the fundament, an improvement of quality can be made. The strip zone has been developed as the centre for both districts. With the use of little inventions an attractive climate is created for existing and new parties who are willing to investigate in the districts. In the design there is partly a fixed program and space that creates opporrunties for a more flexible program.

University of Technology Eindhoven: graduation project
year: 2011
product: research and design: The urban memory of Transvaal and the Schilderswijk
awards: nomination Archiprix 2012, nomination StedenbouwNU, winner of the public price TU/e 2011

OOR was an urban design workshop of 4 days, organized by a Dutch society for spatial living environment: ‘Vereniging Stadswerk'. During the workshop you work in interdisciplinary teams of professionals and students with different background and expertise. This year’s case focussed on the ‘Green Corridor’, the lush green connection between the Dutch city of Eindhoven, the green forest and the Dutch village of Oirschot. The municipality of Eindhoven requested out of the box solutions for the so called intersections that interrupt the continuity of the Green Corridor.

After a day of cycling and exploring the area we noticed that the one-dimensional route was rather boring than exciting and the intersections were understandable interruptions. It was obvious that the route was segmented, where each segment could be the scene of a movie; different landscapes passed by when we were cycling. These various landscapes and the curiosity for the hidden ‘rooms’ alongside the route, and the transverse connections sparked our interest and we designated this as a quality of the route.

In our solution, therefore, we reinforced the contrast between the segments, so one could experience them better and has the opportunity to visit them. We presented three proposals for three different intersections along the route. Our solutions convinced the jury. They appreciated our analytical approach and how we managed to translate this into concept and design. We were selected to present our solutions at a local festival at the Fruitgardens of Philips, for a group of 100 people who all had something to do with the Green Corridor. Finally we ended up second place. It was an inspiring, informative and nice experience to join this workshop!

Together with Studio Synthese, we researched the possibilities of urban farming in the city of Eindhoven. What kind of initiatives are there already, what parties are involved and what are the problems they are facing? Urban farming is a way for urban citizens to produce local food. It could be a first step in creating small, local and partly self-supporting networks and in addition it creates opportunities for a bigger biodiversity and improvement of the ecological and hydrological life of the city. The municipality of Eindhoven is aware of the fact that she has to design the city in a more sustainable way and is wondering what kind of role urban farming could play. She would like to stimulate urban farming, but at present there is a lack of a clear vision and policy, and initiatives in the field of urban farming fail due to unclear procedures.

There are already a lot of initiatives in the field of urban farming. The biggest and most successful are three commercially exploited urban farms, located on the outskirts of the city. Besides of that there are a lot of bottom-up initiatives. Local groups, organizations and citizens are trying to get a foothold on leftover spaces, wastelands or public spaces. Important organizations in Eindhoven are Trefpunt Groen Eindhoven, Beginhoven and NATUURsuper. Every organization or group handles a different approach, aspires different aims and are therefore facing towards different problems. Urban Farming in the city of Eindhoven is initially a social activity. Economically seen urban farming is not profitable yet. The harvest is so small that they are using it for the yearly harvest party and for their own use. Groups and organizations are dependent upon subsidies to set up a garden and they have problems arranging a piece of land at the municipality. Especially Trefpunt Groen Eindhoven, a platform for green in the city, has problems with the promotion of urban farming, to stimulate and activate more citizens.

With the current amount of harvest it’s hard to create a lucrative business model, but we found out that there are alternative ways to finance and stimulate urban farming. The municipality pays a lot to preserve green in the public space. Some of these places, which are difficult and costly to preserve are suitable for some urban farming activities. Secondly there is money available to compensate green in the city, in case of building activities. A part of this fund could be used for urban farming activities, with limited involvement of the municipality Finally it is recommended that the municipality provides the necessary information on a website, with a map of wastelands, persons to contact, etc. This task could be combined with a platform like Trefpunt Groen Eindhoven.

client: municipality of Eindhoven
year: 2012
product: research

Halfway the recreational route ‘Green Corridor’ (Oirschotsedijk) a viaduct leads the highway A2 across the Oirschotsedijk. The viaduct looks like many others in the Netherlands, but considering the location this is a viaduct with a task. How can you extend the recreational route under the viaduct? And what can you do with this viaduct in terms of design and function? How can you prevent the viaduct from being a dark and unpleasant interruption and how can it also actual contribute to its surrounding? It is a task that becomes even more important with the restructuring of the highway A2, as an extra exit will be added.

The municipality of Eindhoven requested Studio Urban Sprinkle and Studio Synthese during the Dutch Design Week 2012 to study the future role and function of the A2 viaduct. During the Dutch Design Week the viaduct ‘Strijps Bultje’ in Eindhoven was an urban laboratory where we studied possible activities and functions underneath the viaduct. (See Urban CampScape) During the week we organized two workshops, in which people were challenged to think about a function for the space underneath the viaduct. We made a selection based on three criteria: creativity, feasibility and connectivity to existing projects. We used these inspiring results as input to generate ideas for the A2 viaduct. See the results yourself above.

client: municipality of Eindhoven
year: 2012
product: inspiration book

Within the framework of the IFHP (International Federation for Housing and Planning) Housing Conference 2013 in The Hague, URBEGO, Staedion (housing corporation) and The Hague Municipality organized a five day workshop on a housing casestudy in North Transvaal. The last day we presented our solutions at the congress and hopefully our message forms new input for future developments.

The request from Staedion was a more diverse population with attractive public spaces and preserving historical features. During the workshop we worked on different themes: improving the public spaces, identifying the area, new development strategies and looking at partnership models. After a quick scan of the neighbourhood, with the first impressions in mind and some short interviews we came up with a lot of ideas and possible scenarios for the neighbourhood. Solutions whereby residents are given the opportunity to stay in their neighbourhood, to enterprise and get involved.

We agreed that if you want to restructure Transvaal it is necessary to involve all the present powers. Instead of having one big investor, like Staedion, being more flexible and focus on different parties to make the city. We came up with alternative development strategies, whereby the monologue of the area will be transformed in an urban play. Creating mixed housing, by self-building and the use of shared spaces, creating a mixed neighbourhood both socially and economically seen and let the public space be a reflection of the community, let them lead the process. Activities can be combined with the local economic activities, which are a strong quality of the neighbourhood and therefore enhance local businesses. The solutions will help to reconnect all the separate and disconnected spaces in the neighbourhood that one will find there nowadays. The conclusions after this short and intensive workshop will probably not be new, but the fact that it is still not realised does say something. We hope that our scenarios form new input for discussions and will be taken into consideration.