Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INICIATIVAS
CIUDADANAS
PARA UN PAISAJE
EUROPEO
POSTCRISIS
W+G, arquitectos:
Federico Wulff Barreiro
Dr. Arquitecto PhD in Architecture
Melina Guirnaldos Díaz
arquitecta architect
El urbanismo temporal se presenta como regeneración urbana de espacios gestio- EMUVE (Euro Mediterranean Urban Voids Ecology)
una respuesta lowcost a las necesidades de nados por comunidades de vecinos. En la
Ecobox
desarrollo urbano en tiempos de crisis. La actualidad, desarrollan el proyecto R-Urban,
búsqueda de soluciones creativas no solo articulado en tres líneas de investigación:
se extiende desde el contexto urbano al Recyclab, Ecohab y Agrocité. El proyecto
ámbito económico y social, sino que implican ECObox es un jardín temporal en el área
de forma directa a la ciudadanía en el diseño parisina de La Chapelle que utiliza pallets
urbano, en colaboración horizontal con los como unidad básica para conformar una
arquitectos, urbanistas y las instituciones superficie de trabajo, paseo y espacio públi-
públicas. co ajardinado. Gracias a la flexibilidad del
sistema, el jardín se ha ido extendiendo y
El proyecto europeo EMUVE (Euro ha sido replicado en otros lugares, convir-
Mediterranean Urban Voids Ecology) se tiéndose en una plataforma para la crítica
centra en el estudio de los vacíos urbanos y urbana y actividades no sólo del barrio sino
las estructuras inacabadas de la costa Euro- también del resto de la ciudad.
Mediterránea en el escenario post-crisis.
Estos desarrollos urbanísticos abandona- En Italia, los colectivos Orizzontale y Todo
dos fruto de la especulación inmobiliaria por la Praxis de Madrid junto a estudian-
pueden convertirse en la base para generar tes de la facultad de Arquitectura de La
nuevas intervenciones bottom-up que acti- Sapienza de Roma crearon S.O.S., una ins-
ven su resilencia. talación temporal cuyo principal objetivo
es la reactivación de un espacio urbano
Una de las líneas de investigación de EMUVE abandonado en Roma utilizando materiales
analiza el impacto de las microcirugías urba- de reúso y la participación ciudadana en su
nas en diferentes ciudades europeas, sus construcción. El lugar de intervención es
efectos económicos y sociales, así como el el espacio de conexión entre el barrio de
papel de la ciudadanía en el proceso. El con- Centocelle y el Forte Prenestino, ocupa-
texto político y las formas de gestión urbana do por los vecinos y convertido en centro
caracterizan las condiciones de contorno y social autogestionado. El proyecto se basa
las estrategias de activación desarrolladas en el carácter indeterminado de este espa-
en cada ciudad. cio para convertirlo en un anfiteatro vivo y
acogedor, aprovechando la topografía del
Desde 2001, el estudio parisino Atelier lugar. La introducción de unos objetos que
d’Architecture Autogeree trabaja en la funcionan como máquinas relacionales,
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cities, its economic and social effects, as main objective is the revitalisation of an
cult landscape well as the public’s role in the process. abandoned urban space in Rome using
The political context and the forms of recycled materials and the participation
urban management characterise the of local residents in its construction. The
RESIDENT-LED INITIATIVES type of projects and activation strategies site of the of project is the area connecting
FOR A POST-RECESSION developed in each city. the district of Centocelle and Forte
EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE Prenestino, occupied by residents and
Since 2001, the Parisian Atelier turned into a self-managed social centre.
d’Architecture Autogeree (Studio for The project is based on the indeterminate
Temporary urban landscaping is Self-managed Architecture) has worked character of this space, by taking
presented as a low-cost response to the on the urban regeneration of spaces advantage of the local topography and
needs of urban development in times of managed by neighbouring communities. converting it into a lively and welcoming
economic crisis. The search for creative Currently, they are developing the amphitheatre. The introduction of
solutions extends not only from the R-Urban project, articulated around a series of objects that function as
urban context to the economic and social three lines of investigation: Recyclab (a relational elements, welcome visitors and
level, but has direct implications for the recycling and eco-construction unit), encourage its use for everyday events,
public in the process of urban design, in Ecohaby (an ecological cooperative restoring value and identity to the place.
collaboration with landscape architects, housing unit), and Agrocite (a civic
town planners and public institutions. agriculture unit). The project ECObox is a The project Caravanserai, in the London
temporary garden in the Parisian area of district of Canning Town, was designed by
The European project EMUVE (Euro La Chapelle utilizing used pallets as the Studio AshSakula, with the collaboration
Mediterranean Urban Voids Ecology) basic material for forming a work surface, of residents. It proposes a new concept of
focuses on the study of empty urban walkway and landscaped public space. public space for the 21st century based on
spaces and the unfinished structures of Thanks to the flexibility of the system, the dynamism and economic sustainability,
the post-recession Euro-Mediterranean garden has been extended and replicated creating social opportunities and
coast. These abandoned urban in other places, becoming a platform for employment for residents. Located in the
developments, the fruit of property urban critique and activities not only in space left by the demolition of a building,
speculation, can become the basis for La Chapelle but also in the rest of the city. in one of London’s most multicultural
generating new bottom-up initiatives and depressed districts, it is a five year
and give rise to a new resilience. In Italy, the collectives Orizzontale and urban laboratory which explores the
Todo por la Praxis from Madrid along with relationships between trade, education
One of the lines of investigation by students from the Sapienza de Roma and social cohesion, promoting a
EMUVE analyses the impact of urban Faculty of Architecture have created healthier work-life balance. The space is
microsurgery in different European S.O.S., a temporary installation whose articulated by a market run by the local
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Parque Via delle Palme Park residents, an urban community garden, temporary use and renewable materials-
play spaces, artistic workshops, a theatre based intervention is an example of what
Caravanserai Ash Sakula
and a café. The project encourages the can be developed in other unused parts of
development of facilities, workshops the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
and other participatory events that
promote the interrelationship between The city of Glasgow has many examples
the residents of the neighbourhood and of empty and abandoned plots due
visitors, boosting the appropriation of to lack of investment and industrial
space by the residents of the district. reconversion of buildings. The city has
become a testing ground to develop
Another program of interest in the activation strategies. The Stalled Spaces
recovery of London’s East End is Hackney program, promoted by the City Council,
Wick and Fish Island (HWFI), near the proposed the development of temporary
Olympic site. The industrial heritage of public uses managed by residents in
the area is recovered through projects led empty private properties. The project has
by a collective of artists. managed to activate more than 50 spaces
into becoming generators of culture,
Availability of space at affordable prices health and wellbeing, with playgrounds,
in an area in which private investment outdoor sports areas, exhibition areas
has not yet developed and which and art installations, urban beaches,
retains a degree of neglect and lack of community gardening and creative
regulation has produced an exceptional workshops. Stalled Spaces has been
accumulation of spontaneous and awarded the 2013 FAD City to City prize.
creative processes. Frontside Gardens is
one of the initiatives carried out, a space to Similar to the municipal activation
support the local community of residents, plans of London and Glasgow, Barcelona
artists and entrepreneurs, a flexible promotes empty public spaces of the city
venue made from recyclable and waste paralyzed by the recession through the
materials, with minimal investment Pla Buits competition. One of the winners
and material resources. The collective of the Pla Buits is the Espai Germanetes,
Frontside has begun building a skate park developed through a citizen participation
and part of the event space, a temporary initiative and urban regeneration plan
market and outdoor cinema, will form called Recreant Cruilles.
the next phases of the project. This
Fronside
La paralización de la inversión pública y del Los procesos de gestión de estas estrate-
mercado inmobiliario en España hace que la gias bottom-up anuncian una nueva forma Can Battlo
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The proposal is structured around social Phases of occupation of the spaces are The analysed cases in the UK show a
and environmental axes, which articulate designed according to the needs of the very different context, in which public
the various elements of the community community over time. The first phase institutions are still leading urban
garden, climbing wall, multipurpose was the occupation of warehouse 11 by processes and providing economic
space, meeting space and a space for a café, library, auditorium, music space, resources for the purpose. In the case
leisure activities. recycling workshop, art workshops and of Hackney Wick, they act as mediators
climbing wall. It has also developed an between landowners and residents,
The management of Espai Germanetes urban garden and a public space open to and as promoters of urban activation
have taken advantage of its success to the fabric of the neighbourhood. In later processes. In the Caravanserai, the
propose a more ambitious participatory stages the development of social and project was winner of the Meanwhile
urban development project that extends cooperative housing, green leisure areas London contest, promoted by the city of
to encompass the nine blocks that and agricultural production areas are London and the borough of Newham for
surround the current site. The whole planned for the rest of the site. the transformation of degraded areas of
area would become a “superblock” of the East End.
restricted traffic and pedestrian transit, The stagnation of public investment and
according to the theories of Salvador the property market in Spain means that The management of these bottom-up
Rueda and Ecological Urbanism. the public have returned to take a starring strategies announce a new way of
role in the design of the city. With the building the urban landscape. From
Can Batlló is an industrial textile area of 14 Pla Buits project, Barcelona City Council a small beginning, new collaborative,
hectares founded in 1880 in the Barcelona creates the conditions for reactivating productive and ecological strategies are
neighbourhood of Sants-Labordeta, the empty urban spaces including its being introduced in the city that begin
recently won by residents after being duration, which would allow the return to to have an effect on the European urban
claimed for public use over the last 35 conventional urban management in the planning policies in a post- recession
years. case that economic investment returns scenario.
to the area. In Can Batlló a residents
The collective La Col, a group of architects collective leads the process, negotiating
from the Platform Can Batlló, works in the conditions of the surrender of spaces,
horizontal collaboration with residents, with a clear vocation to permanence. The
translating their needs into architectural independence of the Platform Can Battló
and urban-planning strategies. These in the generation and management
proposals are then negotiated with the of its own resources strengthens its
City Council, in a process of collaborative position as a partner in the future urban
planning in which the city is designed and development of the area.
built directly by its residents.