How to do Micro-interventions

Here is a small selection of the roundtable discussion, condensed into Q&A, with Jan Konings and Timo de Rijk on how to effectively transform a functionless public space.

Q: How can you transform public space?
A: If you want to change something you have to change something in the process. Through putting a device with a certain function in public space one creates a program.

Q: How can this device have a lasting impact?
A: The function and impact of an object or space dissipate and is eventually understood. In order for it to be carried on one has to create dynamic change instead of static, through for example involvement.

Q: How can you create dynamic change?
A: Through setting up a set of necessary rules. You have to reintroduce social responsibilities.

Q: What kind of social responsibilities?
A: Through giving a function to a public space. Take for example the skate-board places. Skateboarders take care of this space/place because they use it which in turn makes them feel responsible for it. In order for this to happen a group of people has to decide that this is ‘their’ space and take care of it.

Q: What are social responsibilities connected to?
A: Social responsibilities are connected to certain privileges. Give people privileges but let them do something in return

An example for dynamic change is a project in Haarlem, Reinaldapark, that Jan Konings initiated. The park was built on a former refuse-dump which caused old garbage to resurface. Therefore the municipality wants to clean up the park and is drawing up new development plans. During this transitional period Jan will use the park as an experimental platform to develop new ways of usage. On sight, he will build a working space pavilion where visitors can come to socialize and use building materials to create their own park environment. The municipality has decided to incorporate the most successful results in their master plan.

Community gathering in Reinlandpark

June 24 Round Table Discussion Gerrit Oorthuys

In this meeting Gerrit Oorthuys would like to share his historical expertise on Moscow and St.Petersburg with us. Gerrit will talk about how both cities developed and how you can divide Moscow in several layers of time and also will give us insight in important architectural places. For this he will show dia’s from his personal archive that he collected during several visits to Russia.

Gerrit Oorthuys (architect and historian), in the 80’s he taught at the TU Delft and Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. During the Khrushchev period, Gerrit was able to do research on Constructivist in the Russian archives. This resulted in several exhibitions, trips to Russia and further research. Together with Rem Koolhaas he did a research project on the work of Ivan Leonidov.* He was one of the founders of the chair collection at the Faculty of Architecture in Delft. (article and clip are in Dutch). His photo archive has collections from microrayons in Russia and the Bijlmer (a Dutch Micro Rayon), to constructivist buildings in Russia.

Round table discussion will take place this Wednesday, June 24! | 19:00 – 22:00 | Auditorium U | Faculty of Architecture in Delft. We will start a bit earlier as Gerrit would like to spend more time on sharing his expertise with us than to focus too much on the discussion.

* From: Lessons: Tupker-Risselada : a double portrait of Dutch architectural education, 1953/

June 22 Round Table Discussion Timo de Rijk and Jan Konings

What can urban planners, architects and designers learn from the Efteling (a Dutch themepark)?

‘A lot’, says Jan Konings, an industrial designer. ‘Because the Efteling knows exactly how to tie the visitor to the park. With musical mushrooms for example and Holle Bolle Gijs, a caricature trash bin ‘PAPIER HIER!’. These sort of simple attractions should be part of cities, says Konings, to freshen up the boring, monotonous and impersonal new suburbia.

The evening will centre around the margins that architect, planners and designers forget in public space. We will focus on new ways/methods to interpret public space, Jan Konings calls them ‘infiltrations’  in order to have a more dynamic collective space. Jan and Timo will show examples of micro urban projects that they conducted and plan to develop in the future.

Jan Konings is an industrial designer. He is co-founder of the office Ral2005, that specializes in design for public space. Previously he co-founded the office Schie 2.0 and together with Jurgen Bey he had the design office Konings.

Timo De Rijk is a design-historian at the Faculty of Industrial Design at the TU Delft. Next to that he is a guest-lecturer at the Design Academy Eindhoven. He is editor of the Dutch Design Annual and has published several other books such as ‘Under Cover’ (with Ed van Hinte) and ‘The World According to Concrete’ (editor).

The round table discussion will take place June 22, this Monday!!! | 19:30 – 22:00 | Auditorium U | Faculty of Architecture in Delft.

Before the meeting please think about intermediates that could stimulates the connection of:

- People with other people

- People with products

- People with public space

Images © copyright Jan Konings, Droog Design, RAL2005

June 18th Round Table Discussion Bart Goldhoorn and Axel Kilian

Hereby we would like to invite you for the coming round round table discussion this Thursday with Bart Goldhoorn and Axel Kilian. We will focusses on the question:
“How can architects and industrial designers adapt mass production and pref-fab techniques in order to design a sustainable collective living space?”

Bart Goldhoorn will talk about the Biennale project that he is currently preparing for September 2009. It will focus on the so-called Micro Rayon 2.0; new microrayons whereby architects use pre-fabrication and mass production techniques to create non standard buildings versus the existing principles of building a microrayon. Also he will show the condition, conflicts and possible additions for existing micro rayons in Russia.

Next to this Axel Kilian will show his unorthodox design approach on architecture and design.
Axel Kilian currently is an Assistant Professor at the TU Delft and holds a PhD and SMArchS in Design and Computation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on Design Exploration in Architecture and Design based on computational models.

The round table discussion will take place This Thursday!!! | 19:30 – 22:00 | Auditorium U | the Faculty of Architecture in Delft.

Please try to read the Biennale text and the ’secret’ speech of Nikita Krushchev on pre-fabrication from December 7, 1954 and published in Project Russia #25

Images © copyright Project Russia originally from Soviet catalogues for building sector

Looking for Russian Participants

Dear interested,

Hereby we have posted a preliminary program and description of the workshop in Moscow.
It will take place from July 9 till July 16 and centered around selected Microrayon districts in Moscow.

We have limited place for 5 Russian architecture students and 5 Russian design students. Also interested professionals are invited to send a mail. To sign up for the workshop we ask you to send us one A4 containing selections from your portfolio with your name and contactinformation. English speaking is required! Please send the material and questions to info@futurefaculty.org (Deadline 20 June)

The images are an example of a micro-intervention by Sophie Panzer (architect). It was part of her graduation project at the TU Delft, that focussed on Microrayon districts in Kaliningrad.

Program and activities Moscow
• Explorative and observational research in the Microrayon
• Interviews with local residents and users of collective space
• Micro interventions through involving inhabitant of the Microrayon
• Developing ideas and concept designs based on exploration in the MicroRayon
• Round table discussions on collective space with experts from several disciplines
• Lectures on new approaches towards generating collective space and interaction
• Documenting process by using film and photography
• Public presentation and exhibiting work in Moscow

Summaries of recent activities of the round table discussion at the TU Delft will be updated soon on the blog. Interested to join this project mail to info@futurefaculty.org

April 15th, Meeting and Roundtable Discussion

Assignment 3: The Neighborhood Pt.2, April 22nd

In continuing our study of the neighborhood, we consider design interventions on the neighborhood scale. For your own neighborhood come up with some examples of interventions that could improve the quality of your neighborhood. These can be products, services, events, etc. Go crazy, there are no wrong answers!

Alternatively/additionally please give some examples of good and bad design interventions.

Reading

Boym, Svetlana. “Nostalgia, Moscow Style”. Harvard Design Magazine, 2001.

Geraci, John. “The Future of Our Cities: Open, Crowdsourced, and Participatory“, April 6th, 2009.

Related Links

Putting People First, Daily insights on user experience, experience design and people-centered innovation.

April 8th, Meeting and Roundtable Discussion

Here are the slides from yesterday’s meeting (especially for our remote participants and other curious people). We will put up the slides soon from Bastiaan’s talk.

Also here are some images of brutalist architecture for inspiration, from Claudia Muresan, one of our collaborators.

Suggested Reading

I was just thinking that it would be nice if we collect a bunch of readings/links that might be relevant/inspirational to our subject and discussions. Please feel free to add to this growing list.

Course on Soviet Politics and Society, 1917-1991 (there are nice suggested readings). I especially like Bitter Waters.

From literature:
The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov.
This is probably one of my favorite books of all time.

Invisible Cities – Italio Calvino

Crime and Punishment – Dostoevsky
Bastiaan mentioned the inner courtyard life yesterday, referencing this book

How much land does a man need? [pdf] – Tolstoy

From Yulia, PHD Seminar on Public Space:

Due to our start in April we missed an international interdisciplinary PhD seminar on a similar subject – “Public space”, held at Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft in March 2009. This seminar aimed to set up discussions towards the current transformation of public spaces. Regarding the themes and problems it touched we can learn a lot for our project on the transformation of communal space in Russian mass-housing environment. Papers online!

Assignment 2: The Neighborhood Pt.1, April 15nd

In thinking about what “the Collective” means, we will first examine our own neighbourhood situations. Please take either your current or home situation. What makes your neighbourhood a neighbourhood or not? What are the qualities it exhibits that make it a neighbourhood? Are these qualities good/bad/neutral? What are other qualities (tangible/intangible) that create neighbourhoods?

Some questions to think about:
- is a neighborhood necessary?
- how are neighborhoods different in urban and rural settings?
- what is the ideal neighborhood (please bring some pictures of ideal neighborhoods)?

Also, please read the Communist Manifesto in preparation for our discussion.