Paldiski: Landscape + urbanism

Part of the course of landscape architecture, every year a workshop is being held. The habit is to go directly to the site and have a direct contact in the creation of landscape(s). This year the place was Paldiski, which was a former closed military city. Different from previous years was that together with students of architecture, the course was open to urban studies people. The rooms were provided by local municipality. In Paldiski we had bicycle excursions in the city and around the peninsular.

The purpose of the workshop was to find different ways to approach urban landscape and the method was named ‘prototypical’. Which meant, that students formed groups which each looked at one landscape topic such as: 1- geology, plants, climate; 2- new clear plant, pollution; 3- ports, infrastructure; 4- fauna; 5- industry, services; 6- build environment. Then they had to extract the strongest element of their topic and tune it to maximum. Landscape prototype should be seen in this context like any other prototype. Like for example in car industry, where prototypes are made to test certain characteristics and look at different performative aspects. Students were asked to concentrate only to their topic and make “no compromises”. In this way a bottom-up approach was tested, where particular landscape characteristics were enhanced.


6 Groups were mix of 2nd and 5th year students of architecture, to provide more internal discussion in the department. Chair of Urban Studies was represented successfully by two students. The course of landscape architecture is managed by Katrin Koov and the workshop was tutored by her and Kalle Komissarov. Guest critic was Lilia del Rio.

Time of the workshop: 22-24.09.2006
Nr of participants: 25

Text by Kalle Komissarov, photos by Tarmo Stöör

80th Anniversary of the Bauhaus Building in Dessau

From December 2nd 2006 is running an exhibition for celebrating the 80th anniversary of the building designed by Walter Gropius that hosted the Bauhaus school in Dessau. The exhibition will be open till March 11th 2007 and it explores the topic on three levels:
-the restoration of the Bauhaus Building
-the building’s impact on the media
-its interior architecture as a prototype of modern spatial organisation

Official web site:
http://www.bauhaus-dessau.de/
Short article on the building’s restoration:
http://www.bauhaus-dessau.de/images/body/sanierung_7_2006_en.pdf

GREATER HELSINKI VISION 2

_international ideas competition_

Greater Helsinki municipalities and State of Finland (Ministry of Environment) organize an open ideas competition for the future land use and spatial vision of Greater Helsinki. The organisers are expecting refreshing entries to participate the competition and vision the future Greater Helsinki 2050.
The aim of the competition is to find innovative ideas for the future land use planning and develop sustainable strategies and concrete solutions for strengthening the status and competitiveness of Greater Helsinki as an attractive region to live and conduct business in. The competitors are expected to present their general vision for the Greater Helsinki in 2050 together with the detail study supporting it.
Total of EUR 500 000 will be awarded as prizes and purchases.
The sunmission of entries is 31 May 2007.

All the information here: http://www.greaterhelsinkivision.fi/

1st ARCHITECTURE, ART AND LANDSCAPE BIENNIAL OF THE CANARIES

To creatively involve the people of the Canary Islands, its residents and visitors in a reflection on the conservation of its unique natural surroundings whose beauty and variety never fail to surprise us, with a view to promoting the interest of different social groups and collectives in the configuration of a large space for shared co-existence, preserving the natural environment, valuing the urban landscape, promoting dialogue between the different islands for a better understanding of the needs of the people of the Canaries and of its visitors, instigating actions and debates with renowned architects, urban planners, landscape architects, artists and sociologists, while also attracting young generations of creators and experts. The seven islands making up the Canaries could be seen as a metaphor of the diversity of man or microcosm, conceived as a complete summary of the universe or macrocosm. Starting off from the term microcosm we will then pose questions affecting man’s encounter with his surrounding environment and his optimum use of it. To encourage the setting in place of the necessary synchronicity between “celestial bodies” represented by the conjunction of man and the environment in which he develops and inhabits. Questions pertaining to the preservation of the natural environment and the urban environs, the infrastructures and equipment most suitable to the characteristics of each island, will make up the central axis of the actions, even when the importance of certain equipment already in place in various countries makes an exhibition event essential, required, and even exemplary. We want to offer residents and visitors examples of actions by leading urban planners, architects, landscape architects and artists which stand out for their suitability, respect for the user, the environment and the surroundings in which they are emplaced, and for their innovative character and the proportion and beauty of their lines.

Rosina Gómez-Baeza, Director

Official web site:
http://www.bienaldecanarias.org/

city as it is

‘Now let me call back those who introduced me to the city’

Walter Benjamin

This part of the blog is for sharing each others city experiences. The modest aim is to introduce the city theme from a persons point of view. This person can be you or somebody else, but it has to be someone.

If we do not notice the city, it ceases to exist. So help us to keep it real and thought-provoking.

Smacked by the city is meant for your own individual translations and findings about the city. This is your direct way of seeing things in the way they coincide with your life.

City as image is about representations, the way people see cities through certain mediums. Here you will get acquainted with the filtered and somehow distorted city.

SMACKED BY THE CITY

Sometimes the city just hits you, showing its twisted and unexpected sides.

The urban space as a reservoir for expressions is waiting to be translated and revealed. What is happening on the streets, behind the corners or inside the buildings, how do people feel themselves and how do they show it. Whenever you find a message, some unlike logic or a statement, please share it with us by describing and explaining it.

Open your eyes and your mind, the deepest content is often hidden and disguised. Look for the meanings of a city!

CITY AS IMAGE

"It's time we were on our way. I'm hungry, and the city awaits."

-Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

When you first enter a new city, it`s more than likely, that this is not the first date between you... You probably already have some kind of image in your head about the city and the first impression of your new lover can be enchanting or dissapointing pending on the expectations you had before.

We all tend to have a personal kaleidoscopes about every important city in our head, before we have really visited the place. The image is composed of the books we have read, films we have seen, poems we have learned by heart, comics and photographs we have explored.

This blog is a place to share these images, which have had strong influence on you and designed your vision of the citys. You are very welcome to
write personally about films, books, pictures, photographs, comic strips or poems where you have find interesting representations of a city. Visual material to illustrate the topic would be also very welcome.

Bon apetit!

WEBSITE FINALLY LAUNCHED!!!!

I am most happy to announce the launch of the final website urbanistika.ee

There is a list of 12 blogs which deal with different issues, related with urban planning, architecture, society, transformation of cities, everyday life, studies, readings, activism, etc.

you are all welcome to start posting on it sooner than soon! (i will send you the invitation)
If you would like to be invited, please write us- urbanistika@urbanistika.ee

A toast for the website!

Innovative planning

Historically, urban planning has been understood as big scale blueprints for future urban extensions, or as managing the elements of urban system, to take two examples. Currently, it is near paradigmatic to view planning as communication and the fabrication of consensus between conflicting interests. The planner is now in the city, among its citizens.

While innovative approaches to collect users’ experiential knowledge and facilitate multi-actor processes are developed and tested, the older practices and institutional structures often sideline new ideas. Simultaneously, planning is increasingly seen as economic development, as project-driven or facilitating activity. Entrepreneurialism may be a contradictory development vis-à-vis public participatory planning. However, private processes do represent a different set of stakeholders.

The practices and the judicial frame of urban planning are changing across Europe. Estonia makes no exception. This blog aims at collecting actual experiences of new planning approaches both in micro and macro scale. We are interested in new coalitions, urban agenda setting and liminal bodies, but also in the practices of real-estate companies and scenarios of IT investors.

We hope to shed light to meta questions, such as legitimation after participatory democracy or the societal utility of planning, without forgetting concrete issues, such as efficient methods of brainstorming or technological solutions of web-based opinion tagging. In the end, we assume that the future planning system and the relevant professionalisms are quite different from the current ones. Who can plan? For who?

Text by Panu Lehtovuori

gentrification and tallinners blog

"No more yuppies, please! Thank you" says one piece of New York anti-gentrification graffiti.

Gentrification is a process, in which an area’s existing low-income residents are replaced by a more affluent section of society. This is a process that also involves investment into an existing residential area that is initially marked by low cost properties. The first people who begin this process and move into these areas are initially drawn by low prices. However, these areas often have a sense of authenticity and bohemian character about them, which before long, becomes attractive to the existing middle class or the new middle class, the young urban professional or ‘yuppie’, who are – in a certain sense - buying into history… ‘’Oh, I fancy Kalamaja, it would be cool to live there!’’ Thanks to process of gentrification, former blue-collar worker areas, turn to white-collar residences.

Like all things, there are two sides to this issue: firstly, the renovation of dilapidated houses and buildings of historical significance, alongside the opening and development of new social gathering places etc, can only be considered a positive change. Conversely, as an area moves ‘up market’, the original inhabitants are eventually ‘priced out’ of their homes, as value increases due to demand, and succeeding generations of original inhabitants are forced to look for property in other areas.

In Tallinn the process of gentrification is apparent in the ‘wooden-house’ areas such as
Kalamaja, Kassisaba, in Kadriorg. Here a huge amount of buildings have been renovated. However, some buildings stand empty - sometimes due to uncertain ownership, or sometimes simply because the new owners don’t care about them. Perhaps their aim is to damage the buildings in the hope of receiving planning permission, when they would simply tear down the existing building and build new one – bigger of course?

The Estonian ownership reform has been very influential in this process of gentrification. This reform granted the return of properties, which had been nationalised during the Soviet regime in the 40s, back to their former owners - and in the event that the previous owners were no longer living, then to the closest relatives. However pleasant this may sound for the receiving parties, the returning of old property now meant extra subtenants and extra problems for the new owners. While the issues related to new ownership such as unwanted subtenants, and real-estate markets are very complex and difficult, they undoubtedly have had an influence on the developmental process. Because city support to these areas is very poor - only protected buildings and some certain details (for example, historical doors) have received financial support from the City’s Cultural Heritage Department – the responsibility for this culture depends upon the inhabitants and the owners.

As an art historian, I welcome the processes that give shape to a neighbourhood’s physical appearance, especially when it comes to renovation and redevelopment. In Kadriorg, several buildings have been restored, and the overall appearance of the streets has changed tremendously. Of course we must be aware that there can be bad examples as just easily as good examples.

With all this in mind, my question is this…. Is it necessary to bring in the yuppies to save our cultural heritage?