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OASE 80 - 108 Towards A Culture of Regional Design PDF
OASE 80 - 108 Towards A Culture of Regional Design PDF
Naar een
kende opgaven, gecombineerd met
de moeilijk te doorgronden, diffuse struc-
tuur van het stedelijke territorium, leiden
cultuur ertoe dat de traditionele ruimtelijke
planning steeds minder goed lijkt toege-
van regionaal rust op de transformatie van het regionale
landschap.
Nancy Meijsmans and Bart de Zwart Such complex and far-reaching questions,
combined with the diffuse and difficult
Towards a
to fathom structure of the urban territory,
lead to a situation where traditional
spatial planning seems to be increasingly
Culture ill-equipped for the transformation of the
regional landscape.
of Regional Furthermore, this discussion about
the condition of the present-day urban
This article aims to explore the practice carried out at the TU/e into the role of design in
in the making that is becoming visible regional development was made possible by the
NICIS Institute and the Netherlands Organisa-
in this collective search for a suitable set tion for Scientific Research (NWO).
of instruments with which to understand 2 Quite the opposite, in fact; the Netherlands have
and direct territorial transformations. a long tradition in the field of supralocal design.
Since the information on this subject is Among others, design initiatives from the 1980s
and 1990s belong in this category, such as the
still mainly to be found in innovative exhibition Nieuw Nederland by the Stichting
practice, rather than in theoretical dis- Nederland Nu Als Ontwerp (1987), various
course, a choice has been made to manifestations of Architecture International
discuss four concrete design cases from Rotterdam (19822002), and the competitions
organised by the Eo Wijers Foundation (1985 to
the Italian and Dutch contexts. Further- date). Interesting initiatives can also be found in
more, particular attention will be paid other countries. Striking examples from Germany
to the use of design in terms of its are, for example, the regional development pro-
explorative and mediatory capacity, in jects relating to IBA Emscher Park (19891999)
and IBA Frst Pckler Land (20002010).
other words its respective ability to 3 Dirk Sijmons, De regio als belofte. Op zoek naar
prospect, read and examine in context, as de juiste schaal voor ruimtelijke plannen, in:
well as to connect and organise in plan Maarten Hajer, et al. (eds.), Een plan dat werkt.
and process. Ontwerp en politiek in de regionale planvorming
(Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2006), 2743.
4 Important milestones in this development
within the Dutch context were the publication of
Framing and Rescaling the the report Ruimtelijke Ontwikkelingspolitiek
(Spatial Development Politics) by the Weten-
Regional Issue schappelijke Raad voor het Regeringbeleid
(Scientific Council for Government Policy)
The use of design as a tool to gather in 1998 and the enactment of the Nota Ruimte
knowledge is often related to the novelty (National Spatial Strategy) in 2004, in which
the concept of development planning
of regional issues, as can be seen in was put forward as an alternative for so-called
control planning.
5 Hans Mommaas and Joks Janssen, Sturen
1 This article is the outcome of two work sessions op kansen: nieuwe ontwikkelings coalities in de
organised by The Netherlands Architecture Fund ruimtelijke ordening, de Architect, 9 (2006),
and the chair of Urban Design at Eindhoven 3643.
University of Technology (TU/e) on 24 October 6 Joost Schrijnen, Stad en land. De creatie van
and 7 November 2008 in Rotterdam. Research een opgave (Delft: TU Delft, 2005).
of organisation (city, small centre, shopping precinct, scattered building, etc.) and how they
organisatorische patronen (stad, kleine kern, winkelboulevard, verspreide bebouwing, enz.)
52 km
Stefano Munarin & Maria Chiara Tosi, exploration of the Veneto region: different patterns
1. Stefano Munarin & Maria Chiara Tosi, verkenning van de Veneto regio. Verschillende
the work of Stefano Munarin and the shopping centre or rural ribbon
Maria Chiara Tosi for the Veneto region development, are analysed and their accu-
in northern Italy.7 This study places mulative capacity investigated. In order
the quiet transformation of the area on to unravel the complex pattern of the
the agenda, the small changes in density layers of (self-)organisation, the territory is
which take place incrementally but traversed at different levels and in
often and are dramatically changing the different fields of knowledge. The design
region as a whole into a citt diffusa.8 is just one of the many tools used. [2]
In accordance with the Italian school of Sketches, photos and narrative accounts
typo-morphological urban analysis, as a reflection of the fragmented and
historical knowledge of the research labyrinthine gaze of the field research
object in this case not the city but the round out the birds-eye view of the map.
territory is considered to be crucial.9 The whole thing leads to a multiple
In a series of maps, Munarin and Tosi interpretation that endeavours to bring the
attempt to mark out processes of latent pieces of logic in the territory
dynamics and change which cannot to the surface. This precise and detailed
be seen on the topographical map.
By collecting recurring phenomena on a 7 Stefano Munarin and Maria Chiara Tosi, Tracce
more widely framed map, incidental local di citt. Esplorazioni di un territorio abitato:
discussions suddenly scale up to become l area veneta (Milan: Franco Angeli, 2001).
a structural issue at regional level. [1] 8 This concept was first launched by Francesco
Micro and macro phenomena are linked Indovina in a study into the urbanisation of the
countryside and the suburbanisation of living in
together. By making these underlying the Veneto region. Francesco Indovina,
patterns visible, the regional issues La citt diffusa allarcipelago metropolitano
at stake also become convincingly clear. (Venice: Franco Angeli, 1990).
9 The Italian typo-morphological urban analysis
Consequently, the interest in the was developed from the beginning of the
material objects in space is more instru- 1960s at the faculties of architecture at Venice
mental, because its principal aim is and Milan, with protagonists Aldo Rossi, Saverio
an attempt to get to the bottom of the Muratori and Carlo Aymonino. A point of
attention in their work was the relationship
production of that space. Different between urban analysis and the architectural
systems of organisation, such as the small design. Aldo Rossi, Larchitettura della citt
historical centre, the land allotment, (Padua: Marsilio, 1966).
2. Stefano Munarin & Maria Chiara Tosi, verkenning van de Veneto regio. Analyse op
microniveau van enkele kenmerken (dimensie, bouwfasen, bebouwde en open ruimte, diensten)
van productie fragmenten, 2001 /
Stefano Munarin & Maria Chiara Tosi, exploration of the Veneto region: analysis at
micro-level of some characteristics (dimension, realisation phases, built-up and open space, services)
of production fragments, 2001
capacity of design is also utilised here for recreation can take place but where
the exploration of concrete projects. people can also live, on both a permanent
The work consists of a whole range of and temporary basis and in varying
cartographical exercises in which relationships with nature and the land-
observation, interpretation and interven- scape. Many almost anecdotal micro
tion merge almost seamlessly.11 narratives, including stories about second
The Salento peninsula forms the homes, vineyards and water wells are
heel of the Italian boot, a lands end on assembled to form a greater story: Salento
the European continent, and as such as a sponge, an agricultural mosaic
is often considered underdeveloped. where people live and work in a diffuse
The region has long been characterised but still very qualitative way.
by an intense coming together of agri- These micro stories form the turning
cultural and landscape production. point between the descriptive and
But here too, just as in the Veneto, recent the narrative. The transformation dynamics
incremental transformations have led detected are extrapolated into dispersion
to different types of problem which and concentration scenarios that function
go beyond the scale of the plot. Almost as an exploration of possibilities. These
all have to do with the increasingly diffuse what if maps are not only quantitative
occupation of the territory. The precarious but especially qualitative exercises based
underground balance between salt on visible trends.12 [3] The scenarios for
and fresh water layers has been disturbed the expansion of vineyards, or for the
by the drilling of numerous and wide- spread of houses and businesses are a
spread wells that provide each villa or conscious search for friction between
farm with drinking and irrigation water. actors, social sectors and also the charac-
The challenge is therefore to formulate teristics of the territory. Consequently,
a proposal for change that does justice the rescaling of recurring phenomena up
to the diffuse development model of to regional level is not just an exercise
the region, but at the same time advances in spatial analysis, it is also a first step in
a minimal order that will allow a qualitative raising several bilateral discussions
reversal to take place. To that end, and conflicting spatial claims to issues of
the concept of Salento as park has been general interest and also in achieving
launched, a territory where not only a win-win solution with several parties.
N naturalit / nature
V vigneto / vineyard
D+ I
D+N
D+V
I+N
I+V
N+V
D+I+N+V
OASE #80
en percolatie in de Salento
regio, 2001 /
Paola Vigan and Studio-
LeccePtcp, a diffuse develop -
ment model for nature
through expansion, infiltration
and percolation in the
Salento region, 2001
117
nieuwe woningbouw in het gebied van ingekapselde uitbreidingen rond
deels binnen, maar uitdrukkelijk ook buiten landelijke kernen, zoals tot dusver gang-
de bestaande bebouwingscontouren. baar in de Nederlandse planning,
Naast een verkenning van de eigenheid aanleiding geeft tot aanzienlijke nadelige
van het gebied fungeert het ontwerpmatig effecten. Hiertoe behoren onder andere
onderzoek dus ook als een medium ondorpse verstedelijking, het verloren
om beleidsmatige stellingnamen over de gaan van landschappelijke eenheid,
woningbouwopgave onder de loep te stijging van grondprijzen en het ontstaan
nemen. van speculatie rond ontwikkellocaties.14
De methode van La4Sale bestaat De auteurs betogen dat de voornaamste
uit een inventarisatie van fysieke kenmer- bedreiging voor de kwaliteit van het
ken en ruimtelijke patronen op basis Waterlandse landschap dus niet zozeer
van observerend veldwerk en historisch- gelegen is in de toevoeging van nieuwe
topografisch materiaal aan de hand bebouwing als zodanig, maar in de wijze
waarvan een systematisch typologisch waarop deze in het landschap wordt
overzicht is opgebouwd. Vanuit dit ingepast. [5]
overzicht construeert het bureau een uit- Om dit te illustreren wordt in de
gebreide en gedetailleerde taxonomie, verkenning voor alle dorpen in het gebied
waarin termen als Dijkdorpen, Burgergrid het ontwikkelingspotentieel ontwerpmatig
en Slotenland de revue passeren om geschetst. Aan de hand van het eerder
verschillen en gelijkenissen te identifice- in de verkenning gesoleerde Waterlandse
ren tussen diverse landschappelijke DNA bouwt het ontwerp voort aan
karakteristieken. Stelling van de ontwerpers het bestaande ruimtelijke weefsel en
in dit verband is dat het in acht nemen tracht het zich in te schrijven in de context
van contextgebonden architectonische en van de regio. Via een omvangrijke serie
stedenbouwkundige kenmerken bij atomaire interventies die ogenschijnlijk
toekomstige ontwikkelingen van centraal onzichtbaar in het landschap oplossen,
belang is voor de ruimtelijke kwaliteit en worden kavel voor kavel ontwikkelings-
identiteit van het gebied. mogelijkheden verkend en kwaliteitscriteria
Hierin klinkt een pleidooi door uit benoemd. Deze op zichzelf veelal klein-
eerder werk van het bureau, waarin wordt schalige locaties leggen per saldo
gesteld dat de ontwikkelingsstrategie een capaciteit in het gebied bloot met
also examined. In this respect, the Current regional planning for the area
opening image of the study is significant: provides for the realisation of 6,000 homes
a confrontation between two maps. up until the year 2020, to be allocated
The first shows the mosaic of well-defined according to specifications elaborated in
centres as can be seen in the existing the policy document Waterlands Wonen.
urban master plans; the second displays As part of this elaboration, the province
the diffuse building development evolution of Noord-Holland has commissioned
that has been taking place since the the landscape architecture firm La4Sale
mid-1970s. This confrontation could be to carry out a cultural-historical inves-
understood to originate from dissatis- tigation into the possible interpretation
faction with the existing set of planning of the proposed residential building
instruments, but even more as an aware- programme, on the basis of a so-called
ness of the ever-present field of tension preservation by development regimen.13
in design: the pendulum between an This investigation, entitled Bouwen
understanding of what is, the factual voor Waterland, is not solely aimed at the
element, and imagining where to go, the four search locations originally defined
desired element. In that field of tension, by the province, but explores in a broad
the margin and vector for the formula- design study the conditions and criteria
tion of the project, of what is possible, for future developments in the area
lie concealed. partly within, but expressly also outside
the existing building contours. So,
besides an investigation into the individu-
In Search of Controlling Elements ality of the area, the design survey
in Spatial DNA also acts as a medium for scrutinising
policy assumptions relating to the housing
To the north of Amsterdam, directly bor- assignment.
dering on the capital citys ring road, the La4Sales method consists of making
Waterland region stretches out. an inventory of physical attributes and
An Arcadian Dutch countryside of marshy spatial patterns resulting from observa-
meadowlands, reclaimed land and fishing tional field work and historical topo-
villages, all considered to be of great graphical material, on the basis of which
ecological and cultural-historical value. a systematic typological overview is
constructed. Using this overview, the To illustrate this point, the investigation
firm builds an extensive detailed taxonomy, uses designerly research to sketch
in which terms such as Dijkdorpen (dike the development potential of every village
villages), Burgergrid (grid of inhabitants) in the area. Based on the Waterland
and Slotenland (ditch country) are DNA isolated earlier in the investigation,
presented, in order to indentify differences the design continues to build on the
and similarities between diverse charac- existing spatial fabric and attempts
teristics of the landscape. The position of to register it in the context of the region.
the designers in this respect is that Through an extensive series of atomic
the consideration of context-linked archi- interventions, which apparently seem
tectural and urban planning characte- to melt invisibly into the landscape,
ristics in future developments is of central development possibilities are investigated
importance to the spatial quality and plot by plot and quality criteria are
identity of the area. designated. These basically small-scale
A plea resounds here which arises locations ultimately expose a capacity
from earlier work carried out by La4Sale, in the area with a significant excess
where it is argued that the development in relation to the proposed housing
strategy of tightly-demarcated village assignment.
extensions up until now an accepted Although the name potential building-
method in Dutch planning gives plan map suggests otherwise, the
rise to significant negative effects. makers emphasise that their design is
Examples of these effects are unvillage-
like urbanisation, loss of the unity
of the landscape, rising land prices 13 La4Sale, commissioned by the province of
and the creation of speculation round Noord-Holland, Bouwen voor Waterland 2020.
Verkenning naar de invulling van het regionale
development locations.14 Consequently, woningbouwprogramma voor Waterland
the authors argue that the principal vanuit een landschappelijk en cultuurhistorisch
threat to the quality of the Waterland land- perspectief (Haarlem, 2004).
scape lies not so much in the addition 14 La4Sale, commissioned by the province of
Noord-Holland, Kleine Kernen Kookboek. Naar
of new buildings as such, but in the een nieuw beleid voor de ontwikkeling van
way in which they are fitted into the land- kleine kernen in Noord-Holland Noord (Amster-
scape. [5] dam, 2002).
0 200 m
duction of a new, phased competition the basis for a design assignment that
setup, consisting of an open ideas phase links three different scale levels with each
(the laboratory), where the focus lies other. Designers are not only asked
on developing a vision, and a closed plan- to draw up a spatial plan in support of a
elaboration phase (the factory), where long-term regional perspective, but
ideas that have sufficiently matured can also to indicate one or more strategic key
be progressed towards implementation.18 projects that can be picked up immedia-
Furthermore, the competition has tely at a local level and which set a
been expanded with a preparatory sequence in motion to carry out the plan.
phase during which the conditions of the Although the exact relationship
regional issues are explored. During between vision, plan and project is not
this stage the role of the commissioning made explicit, the scheme suggests
party is critical, as it is considered an a relationship that is more than just hier-
important link between design and imple- archical coherence alone. It seems that
mentation. Consequently, a litmus test the search is for a planning figure in
is carried out on the institutional capacity which plans at the local scale level are not
in the area, by means of a series of just an elaboration of the regional vision.
thematic work conferences. The confer- A figure in which a spatial strategy
ences also fulfil the function of supporting takes shape that can be transposed be-
local parties in the accentuation and tween different scale-levels, time horizons
clarification of spatial development issues and degrees of abstraction.
in the region. Furthermore, area-specific Despite the fact that the two most
knowledge of local players is linked recent editions of the competition show
to planning and procedural expertise pro- that, even with the new way of proceed-
vided by the Eo Wijers Foundation. ing, the creation of a bridge between
Another element that receives special plan and implementation is certainly not
attention in the new-style competition a matter of course, the Eo Wijers method
is the nested and intersectoral character seems to be a favourable starting point
of spatial issues at regional level. The for the development of plans that are
organisations choice of a thematic focus visionary without their involvement with
on water management as an emblematic reality becoming an issue. In this respect,
multi-scale theme, creates, in this context, the results achieved in the Beerze Reusel
brought into play to chart spatial patterns, or zoning plan notation. By way of con-
or a spatial exploration like this can be trast, in the Italian context, the government
the link between different territorial claims in terms of planning tradition and systems
and interests. Other regional designs is historically less strong than in the
are more concerned with negotiation in Netherlands. As a result, there is still work
the economic, institutional or policymaking to be done in the design stage to formu-
arena. The main function of the design late a spatial planning issue and put
in that case is to create a connection with it on the agenda, whereas in the Nether-
funding, to organise policy-level pressure lands this has often already been brought
and commissioning, or to formulate clearly to the fore by policy and only
management instruments for implement a- remains to be illustrated. The task of the
tion. These different dimensions, of designer in this latter context is more that
a tactical, strategic or operational nature, of a facilitator, with design as an instru-
are often simultaneously present in a ment to legitimise spatial policy.
design, in varying proportions. Being able But still, a few recent regional practices
to differentiate analytically between in the Netherlands register something
them is important to facilitate effective of a shift. Now that regulatory government
plan making. is increasingly relegated to the back-
Despite a strong tradition of design ground, there is a rising need for design
and a wealth of interesting design that takes the initiative and that not only
initiatives, Dutch regional design practice approaches the matter as problem-solving
is provisionally often still lacking the but also as problem-formulating. Con-
(re)search attitude outlined. Up until sidering the long and uncertain develop-
recently, supralocal issues were mainly ment process of a project on a regional
associated with public approach routes; scale, a genre design is required which
large-scale projects were provoked, devotes itself to the rules of play and
for example, by agricultural restructuring the provision of terms, rather than thinking
or the perpetual struggle against water up a material framework. Marking out
problems. This is reflected in the designs these rules of play forces the designer to
made for that purpose in which use be on the look-out for previously un(der)
is made, often from necessity, of standard exposed or unknown logic. As demon-
legends originating from programme strated by the Italian practice, this results
in design that not so much aims to serve pinpoint the right institutional frameworks
the policy process but is rather independ- and commissioning parties, identify
ent, controlling or sometimes even dis- the necessary partners or give shape to
organising with respect to the question in a strategy in which the area and develop-
hand. But giving guidance demands ment logic can be brought together?
first and foremost an exercise in precise This requires precision, the sort of preci-
notation. Instead of the standard program- sion that can only be brought by a
matic methods of notation and planning certain genre of design that makes the
abstractions, a type of cartography is territory as well as the assignment
required that is concrete without lapsing and the client visible, taking the site as
into trivialities. Furthermore, the power of regulative and organisational foundation
visualisation is even more important of the project.
now that the government, for the realisa-
tion of its spatial policy, needs to search Translation: Christine Gardner
for new coupling interests. Appealing
images are intended to draw private part-
22 In the policy document A culture of design.
ners along in the regional development Vision on Architecture and Spatial Design,
pool; from control to seduction. published in 2008 at the initiative of the Ministry
In this respect, a certain amount of of Education, Culture and Science, the strength-
circumspection is called for. The supra- ening of spatial design at a regional scale is
formulated as one of the spearheads of Dutch
local scale has no need for design architectural policy in 20092012.
that produces only seductive images with- 23 Ola Sderstrm, Des images pour agir. Le visuel
out obligation. Besides a culture of en urbanisme (Lausanne: Payot Lausanne
design, a culture of making is also Nadir, 2000).
desirable.22 All too often regional designs
founder even before they can be imple-
mented. That is why it is important to
ascertain what the contribution of design
can be to all those other dimensions
of a regional development process
design as a means of communication be-
tween vision and action.23 Can the design