Re-using the built material

Full text

RECYCLING
CITY
Lorenzo Fabian, Emanuel Giannotti, Paola Viganò Eds.
Lifecycles, Embodied Energy, Inclusion

We recycle things that are subject to a life cycle.
Parts of cities, objects, materials: talking about the city as
something that can be recycled makes us think about its
rhythms, life cycles, metamorphoses.
Recycling cities is an essential strategy that cuts across the
scales and themes of the contemporary urban question: the
environmental crisis, the progressive divide between rich
and poor, forced or denied mobility that points towards
new exclusions.

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Università Iuav di Venezia
Dipartimento di Urbanistica
QUADERNI IUAV
RECYCLING CITY
LIFECYCLES, EMBODIED ENERGY, INCLUSION
edited by
Lorenzo Fabian, Emanuel Giannotti, Paola Viganò

RECYCLING CITY
Lifecycles , embodied energy, inclusion
L. Fabian, E. Giannotti, P. Viganò eds.
LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMME, 2011-1-IT2-ERA10-27080
IUAV Venezia
L. Fabian, E. Giannotti, P. Pellegrini, B. Secchi, P. Viganò
UPC Barcelona
A. Cuellar, J. Moreno Sanz
TU Delft
B. Hausleitner, M. Sanchez, S. Tiallinji, D. Zandbelt
KU Leuven
C. Nolf
coordination of the Intensive Programme
P. Viganò
ATLANTIS TRANSATLANTIC EXCHANGE PROGRAMME “URBANISMS OF INCLUSION”
PARSONS The New School for Design, New York
B. McGrath, M. Mitrasinovic, M. Robles-Duran
TU Eindhoven
OTHER PARTICIPANTS
CVUT Prague
M. Jedrychowicz, K. Maier, Z. Zavrel
Arizona State University
C. Barton
RESEARCH GROUP “IGNIS MUTAT RES”
IUAV Venezia
P. Viganò (scientific coordinator), B. Secchi, L. Fabian, E. Giannotti
with P. Bagatella, S. Causin
Studio 012, B. Secchi, P. Viganò
A. Calò, M. Durand, E. Longhin, R. Sega.
TRIBU énergie
B. Sesolis, L. Jarrige
SUPSI Lugano
D. Fornari
Cà Foscari, Venezia
V. Bonifacio
BOOK
character
Fago Off Sans, Foundry Journal
graphic
nuclearlab.it (F. Radaelli)
cover
S. Causin (model), M. Andriani (photo)
revision/English translation
D. Ronayne
website
www.recyclingcity.it
publishing
Giavedoni editore, Pordenone
ISBN 978-88-98176-01-4

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CONTENTS
Foreword
PART 1: LIFECYCLES, EMBODIED ENERGY, INCLUSION
Elements for a Theory of the City as Renewable Resource
Paola Viganò
Recycling Energy
Lorenzo Fabian
Recycling City, Reintegrating Renewables
Sven Stremke
The Rich and the Poor, Inclusion and Exclusion
Bernardo Secchi
Emplaced Difference
Elena Ostanel
Who Recycles the City?
Emanuel Giannotti
PART 2: RECYCLING VENETO REGION
"Soft urban": Changing Settlements and Renovation Processes
Monica Bianchettin Del Grano
Territories of Recycling
Irene Guida
Every Man for Himself
Steve Bisson
Toward No Auto
Lorenzo Fabian
User Features of Commuter Transport in the Central Veneto Area
and Design Explorations
Dao-Ming Chang
8
12
24
36
44
50
58
72
80
90
107
98

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114
148
182
216
THREE CASE STUDIES
edited by Andrea Curtoni, Michele Girelli, Verena Lenna, Giulia Mazzorin
CAMPOSAMPIERESE
Reframing Efficiency and Growth in the Città Diffusa
Verena Lenna
Embodied Energy
Carmen Boyer, Claudiu Forgaci, Mengdi Guo, Anna Gutierrez, Johanna Jacob,
Sam Khabir, Marta Mezerova, Radka Simandlova, Maya Weinsten
The Inverted
Città Diffusa
Jelisa Blumberg, Junbiao Huang, Elsa Kaminsky, Meredith Moore, Valerie
Raets, Maarten Wauters
MESTRE
A Complex Node
Giulia Mazzorin, Michele Girelli
Re-constructing the Polis
Giulia Mazzorin
Re-territorialisation
Sanne Claeys, Amber Kevelaerts, Vahid Kiumarsi, Katerina Kosová, Jitka
Molnarova, Maggie Ollove, Aida Rasti, Tamara Yurovsky
Cultural Diversity as Urban Value
Michele Girelli
CITA: Perfect Ghetto
Azadeh Badiee, Jordi Stals, Kyle A. D. McGahan, Michele Girelli, Nelson Lo,
Olivia Heung, Rashid Owoyele, Teodora Constantinescu
FUSINA
To Avoid the Closure
Andrea Curtoni
Fusina 2050
Sarka Dolezalova, Perrine Frick, Jana Grammens, Luke Keller, Marina
Martashova, Cecilia Saavedra, Carlos Rafael Salinas, Francesca Vergani
PILS: Post Industrial Legacy Site
Fernanda Alcocer, Andres Gonzalez Bode, Christopher Colja, Zuzana
Krmelova, Joon Kim, Janet Lobberecht, Arthur Shakhbazyan, Bridget Sheerin
Listening to the Territory
Valentina Bonifacio

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250
238
258
268
276
284
290
296
304
221
228
Interacting with Territories
Davide Fornari
PART 3: RECYCLING TERRITORIES
NEW YORK
Recycling New York City
Brian McGrath
FLANDERS
The 5th Life of the Stiemerbeek
Christian Nolf, Bruno de Meulder
HOLLAND
Binding Elements
Daan Zanbelt
AMSTERDAM
Re-Using the Built Material
Birgit Hausleitner
ROTTERDAM
Recycling Transport Networks
Joan Moreno Sanz
ITALY
New Energy Scenarios for Italy
Edoardo Zanchini
PART 4: RECYCLING AND URBANISM: A NEW APPROACH?
Rehearsing the Future
Marcelo Sanchez
Recycling Planning
Paola Pellegrini
Quiet and Dynamic
Sybrand Tjallingii
Shifted Mission of Spatial Planning
Karel Maier

258
fig.1 Location of the areas of investigation: Amsterdam
Nieuw West and Amsterdam Centrum
Source map data: DRO 2012
[1] NIEUW WEST
[2] CENTRUM

RECYCLING TERRITORIES - 259
RE-USING THE BUILT MATERIAL
Potentials for programmatic continuity and change
Birgit Hausleitner*
Introduction
The future development of the European city is less a question of extension
but rather one of reusing and recycling the already existing built material.
Thus the existing build substance has to cope with a permanent change in
uses and related changing requirements.
This text presents how different grain size of user units in Amsterdam influ-
ences the recycling of built material in the process of urban (re-)development.
A user unit is the built space that is under the direct control of one single user,
be it an individual, a group of individuals or a company. The urban tissue of
an area can be dominated by either small or big user units, combined either
homogeneously or with a variation in size.
Changing requirements
Changing needs are based on changing spatial requirements and qualities
by already existing uses or by the appearance of new, not foreseen uses.
An example for the first are increasing apartment sizes or the demand of
businesses for bigger units. Examples for the latter are caused by changing
economic or environmental conditions. In the context of changing needs it is
interesting to study what built material is re-used for what kind of use, which
demand of uses causes a change of the user unit size and how this affects the
urban system on the micro scale.
This essay is based on observations taken during fieldwork and interviews
with different stakeholders in Amsterdam. Both, fieldwork and interviews
were undertaken to identify, whether a certain built material was filled with
the same program, and where the program changed. Two types of tissues
[Fig. 01] were investigated: The first type is the closed urban block tissue of
Amsterdam Centrum [Fig. 02], which was constructed until the 17th century.
The second type is the tissue of Amsterdam Nieuw West [Fig. 03], which
Amsterdam

260
fig.2 Built tissue Amsterdam Nieuw West
Source map data: DRO 2012
fig.3 Built tissue Amsterdam Centrum
Source map data: DRO 2012
fig.4 Residential use Amsterdam Centrum
(photo by B. Hausleitner)
fig.5 Shopping and retail in Amsterdam Centrum
(photo by B. Hausleitner)
BUILDINGS
PLOTS
INNER CITY WATER

RECYCLING TERRITORIES - 261
is characterised by open configurations of buildings and open space. The
development of Amsterdam Nieuw West was based on the General Extension
Plan of Amsterdam in 1934, planned according to modernist principles
of urban development and built after WWII. The inner city closed block
configurations were a place of different combinations of uses on small scale
and in close proximity. In the modernist tissue instead working facilities were
scarcely interwoven with the residential tissue. By distinguishing small and
big grain in both tissues it becomes visible that in the process of recycling, the
built material of the two tissues is reused in different ways.
User units and their grain size
In both tissues the median value of the area of the cadastre units does not
differ substantially: while in Amsterdam Centrum it is 90m2, in Amsterdam
Nieuw West it is 115m2. The difference in the mean and standard deviation
value shows that Amsterdam Centrum has a more homogeneous grain
(mean=215; Ð=1407) than Amsterdam Nieuw West (mean=667; Ð=5048).
Based on this, a building block in the historic tissue is assembled by many
cadastre units of different size, each containing one main building; in contrast,
in the modernist tissue a built island is often made out of only one cadastre
unit, which contains more buildings with more or less the same footprint.
However, the crucial difference lies on the fact that cadastre units in the city
centre contain in average four user units, whereas the modernist cadastre
units contain a multiple of it.
Recycling of the user unit
In both types of tissue two different types of recycling can be identified:
On one the hand continuous small grain user units without changing the
size of the individual user unit, on the other hand the recycling of the user
units that follows an up-or down-scaling of the size of an single user unit.
The recycling of the first category is frequently present in both tissues. In
this category either a continuity in use with change in user(s) exists or a
unit absorbs new uses. Empty small scale units can be re-filled with new
uses, if a space is fit for it. Sometimes the void is filled by temporary uses,
which a unit does not have to be fit for completely. The latter are often non-
commercial or low budget uses. The second category, up- and down- scaling
of the user and/or cadastre unit, has different consequences for reuse. Up-
scaling of the size of the user units in the historic tissue takes place without
changing the size of the cadastre units. The down-scaling of cadastre units
in the modernist tissue goes along with both, a constant size of the user
units or up-scaling of user units.

262

of new uses
former working unit
working: hairdresser
living
former living
unit
fig.6 A business located in an apartment
(photo by B. Hausleitner)
fig.7 (a-b) A business location turned into an
apartment in Amsterdam Nieuw West
(photo by B. Hausleitner)

RECYCLING TERRITORIES - 263
Reuse of continuous small grain user units
User units in closed building blocks of the centre are re-used more frequently
and usually remain hosting a similar type of use, either for residential [Fig.
04] or business functions [Fig. 05]. Apartments are usually located on the
upper floors, businesses on the ground floor, in the main shopping streets also
on the first floor. The refilling with a similar use is mainly caused by zoning
regulations, and not in the limitation of the fitness for only one specific use.
This kind of reuse does in general not affect the urban system as whole,
because it does not change the order from public to private. Private uses
continue to be located in the private realm, whereas public uses stay directly
connected to the public realm, thus the micro-zoning from public to private
remains the same.
In the modernist city small scale user units also absorb new uses, besides
the frequent reuse with similar uses. The usual location of uses is analogue
to the city centre, apartments are located on the upper floors, whereas
businesses are occupying the ground floor level, which in the modernist
tissue is more restricted to specific places. Results from recent fieldwork
(Hausleitner 2012) has shown that this typical placement of uses is slightly
changing. An infiltration of businesses in what were formerly apartments
took place on different levels above the ground floor [Fig. 06], while some
business locations on the ground floors are used for residential purpose
[Fig. 07a&b]. Whereas the configuration of the modernist tissue allows the
business locations turned into apartments to create a semi-private buffer
between the private and public realm, the situation is more complicated for
businesses, which embed themselves in an apartment that might be located
on the fourth floor of a residential building. Even though most spaces on
the upper floors of residential buildings were not designed for hosting a
business, they are still fit enough to accommodate various businesses. In this
case different challenges appear, which result in a dissolution of the border
between the public and private sphere besides different safety requirements
for businesses and apartments. The least interfering with a residential
use is a home office with only one person working there. The next step
includes businesses like cleaning companies, which has employees coming
in during the start and end of the day. Businesses with direct client contact,
as for example hair dresser, are the most interfering with a residential use,
because employees and clients enter a space, which did not belong to the
public sphere before, throughout the whole day.

264
fig.8 (a-b) Void above Red Light windows and
project proposal possible reuse
Source: Boundary Unlimited 2012
fig.9 Up-scaling user units: Connected buildings
from different cadastre units in Amsterdam
Centrum
Source map data: Stadsdeel Amsterdam 2012
BUILDINGS
CONNECTED BUILDINGS
BROKEN WALLS

RECYCLING TERRITORIES - 265
Up-scaling and temporary down-scaling of grain size
In the historic closed blocks two aspects can be observed, which both result
in an up-scaling of the size of the user unit and affect the fragmentation
and grain of the built material as well as its filling with new use. The first is
a clustering of one use, which is economically very viable, like prostitution
in the red light district in Amsterdam. The red light windows are of such
high economic benefit, that the staircases, which enable the access to the
upper levels, are also transformed into rooms with windows. This process
makes the upper levels hardly accessible, which results in the accumulation
of continuous small scale voids. Therefore, the upper floors of buildings
remain widely empty if the main use is not changing in the ground floor. As
a reference the project proposal [Fig.08a&b]. of Boundaries Unlimited (2012)
in Amsterdam proposes to solve this issue by accessing the upper levels of
one block from one access point, which leads to a development of the empty
spaces of a block as whole. In this way the sequential accumulation of empty
small individual user units offers the possibility to develop one big patch,
adding complementary user units of bigger size, which can be occupied by a
variety of different uses, might it be for residential or business purpose.
The second type of up-scaling in the centre was caused by the need for
increased size of user units, mainly for businesses and retail. The increased size
of user unit was achieved through breaking through walls between buildings
belonging to different cadastre units and merging thus two or more user
units into one [Fig. 09]. It allowed different or bigger businesses to locate
their offices or shops in the centre, which the usual fine grained tissue would
not have supported. This was very common until the urban development
department of Amsterdam Centrum altered their zoning plan (Stadsdeel
Centrum 2011), to no longer support this process. The decision was taken
based on the understanding that small scale user units are an important
characteristic of the inner city of Amsterdam, which caused by the up-scaling
were often reduced to a mere subdivision of the facades.
In Amsterdam Nieuw West a down-scaling of cadastre units is recognizable,
which often comes along with up-scaling of individual user units. The splitting
of areas, which were built by housing corporations as one unit, into more
cadastre units, is primarily done when individual user units are to be sold to
turn them into private ownership. The up-scaling of user units is here caused
by a need for bigger apartments, which is due to a generally increased living
quality and requirements of the inhabitants.

266
Other than partial vacant small scale individual units, large empty office
buildings (Fig.10) represent a big grain mainly located in the modernist
tissue, which currently is not easily refilled. This type of building is specifically
constructed to host bigger units often occupying more than one floor. During
the last decades too many office buildings were built, and amplified
through the economic crisis many buildings are currently vacant. The
transformation of whole buildings into residential buildings is commonly
seen as the best option (Remoy 2010), though not easily financed.
The costs for necessary enhancements due to fire regulations, quality
regulations regarding noise, air quality or enhanced requests for higher
floor heights as well as the need for parking space still prevent many
buildings to be transformed and reused. As the big units cannot easily be
filled by individual small user units without adaptation of the construction,
many buildings could be observed to be filled with temporary uses like
creative offices or artists, which also accept less good working conditions
as long as the rental price stays low.
Prospects of reuse
Smaller user units in general seem to be reused easier and more frequently
without big effort in transformation. Though, there is a need for bigger
units as well. As needs are constantly changing, it is not useful to optimize
a space for a specific use, but rather provide a flexible system, which allows
an absorption of new uses. It seems easier to combine two neighbouring
units of similar basic structure than to divide one bigger user unit into
two. If the grain size, which a unit is embedded in, is changing due to
up-or down- scaling, also the involved actors are changing and more
complex decision taking is affecting the direct scope for individual users.
From the up- and down-scaling examples can be seen that the infiltration
of new uses is better facilitated, if separate access is provided for the
fig.10 Empty office buildings
Source: Bing 2012

RECYCLING TERRITORIES - 267
individual units. In the case that the access is not directly related to the
public realm, conflicts might arise. Even though the appearance of small
businesses, for example in the modernist tissue, represents a possibility to
increase the mix of uses, at the same time it blends the public and private
realms. If strangers use the semi-public hallways or lift of a multi-storey
residential building in order to access a business, residents can perceive
this as an intrusion in the collective space, which belongs usually only
to the residents. Summarizing, the observations allow three conclusions.
Firstly, smaller units are more frequently recycled. Secondly, the recycling
of buildings, respectively user units, profits from the possibility to be
combined with or divided into neighbouring units in order to provide
different sizes of user units. And finally the infiltration of units with
different uses shows the necessity of flexible transition zones between
units, which can extend either the public or the private realm.
Notes
* Birgit Hausleitner, TU Delft, b.hausleitner@tudelft.nl
References
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- Hausleitner, B., 2012, Kansen voor kleinschalige bedrijvigheid in Amsterdam, in “S+RO” n. 4/2012, p.20-23.
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cope and prevent, Amsterdam, IOS Press.
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