The Manhattan Airport Foundation

Posted on July 24, 2009 by Merten

The Manhattan Airport Foundation (TMAF) was founded to improve the access to air travel for the inhabitants of central New York. Today one passes several hours in traffic jams before reaching one of the distant airports (JFK, Newark and LaGuardia). Why wouldn´t Manhattan, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, deserve a central airport?

The question is, of course, where they would build it. No problem! There is a big rectangular plot of free space in the middle, 3,41 square kilometers in size, New York´s largest remaining undeveloped parcel of land. It is called Central Park. Most New Yorkers go about once a year to the park, while they need to go to the airport a lot more than that.

And what about the park? No need to worry, all green parts that can be saved, will remain in the middle of the airport layout. It is possible to donate money to the group and join them on Facebook and Twitter. Two design competitions are announced on the website, but you´ll have to be invited to be able compete. A joke? Could it ever become reality? Who knows…

More information:
http://manhattanairport.org
http://viajeaqui.abril.uol.com.br/blog/fim-icone… (in portuguese)

Detroit unreal estate agency

Posted on July 4, 2009 by Merten

The Detroit Unreal Estate Agency is an organization that monitors the public plans, personal and artistic initiatives and other events in the derelict area of central Detroit. It has American and Dutch integrants and sponsoring. It features many rundown buildings and vacant lots, role model neighborhoods of modernist planning, urban poetry and ‘un’real estate offered at the price of a mere $3432.12

http://detroitunrealestateagency.blogspot.com

“Detroit Unreal Estate Agency will produce, collect and inventory information on the ‘unreal estate’ of Detroit: that is, on the remarkable, distinct, characteristic or subjectively significant sites of urban culture. The project is aimed at new types of urban practices (architecturally, artistically, institutionally, everyday life, etc) that came into existence, creating a new value system in Detroit.
The project is an initiative by architects Andrew Herscher and Mireille Roddier, curator Femke Lutgerink and Partizan Publik’s Christian Ernsten and Joost Janmaat.
In collaboration with the Dutch Art Institute and the University of Michigan, generously funded by the Mondriaan Foundation.”

Abandoned Michigan Central station, 2004

Lot 13015 Back

Abandoned property

Russell Yard

Short documentary on the idealist neighborhood Lafayette Park, Detroit, designed by Mies van der Rohe and Hilberseimer

Zeche Zollverein revisited

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Merten

Zeche Zollverein is part of the greater regional plan Emscher Park for an obsolete industrial region in the German Ruhrgebiet. The plan is supposed to attract leisure functions, culture, innovative companies and design firms to the green postindustrial setting. The Zollverein project, with master plan by OMA, is still running with lack of funding. The design academy with a brand new building by SANAA went bankrupt for lack of students. On the one hand parts of the complex, such as the Kohlenwäsche and the public space in front of it, are being beautifully renovated for cultural events and museum use. On the other hand, most tourists seem to prefer the rundown parts of the Kokerei, dusty, rusty and derelict.

Map of the premises: the Coking Plant, Mining Shaft XII and Shaft 1/2/8

New walkways through the main railway yard of the coal mine

The Coking Plant (Kokerei)

Mining carts in the old workshop

Short video impression of the complex by Mark van der Schaaf (2006)

Read more:
www.projetosurbanos.com.br/2007/05/13/zollverein-essen-germany/

Building for Bouwkunde

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Merten

This week the results of the open ideas competition for the new architecture faculty of the TU Delft were presented. During the ceremony at the Nai in Rotterdam minister of culture and science Plasterk handed out the prizes. Liesbeth van der Pol, head of the jury, presented the 8 nominees. All projects are displayed in Nai Rotterdam (Gallery 3) from 15 march to 7 june 2009.

Projetos Urbanos was among the projects included in the so-called longlist of 50 projects in the second phase of the juration. In total 466 projects were evaluated.

Model of the old building, displayed at the Nai exhibition

Project: Educational Landscape
Architecture: Merten Nefs and Vanessa Grossman
Company: Projetos Urbanos
Year: 2008
Gross floor area: 60.000 square meters
Evaluation: jury selection for longlist

“The Bouwkunde site is located at the transitional space between the urban and rural zone of Delft. The project is conceived as superposition of both scales. The ground floor is treated as a patchwork of activities, which are distributed in parcels and can continuously be redistributed and appropriated by the Faculty’s users. These parcels are covered by a flexible greenhouse structure.
Three serving buildings emerge from this landscape channeling the flow of people, the way anthills do, towards the studios. These “anthills” are in their singular form a pile of earth and vegetation with excavated service chambers.
The studio slab and the office tower represent an important contribution to the existing skyline of the city.”

BK city

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Merten

After the dramatic loss of the TU Delft faculty of Architecture in a fire May 2008, the educational structure was kept together in tents at the campus´ sports fields. With incredible speed and creativity a new temporary faculty was improvised in the old university administration building at the Julianalaan. Already some people say it is actually better than the old building, although some activities are still ´homeless´ due to construction delays of certain spaces. In the meantime an ideas competition was launched for the future faculty of architecture.

Also see: post about the destruction of the old faculty in May 2008

The old administration building at the Julianalaan