Aerotropolis

Aerotropolis is a name of a book written by John D. Kasarda and Greg Lindsay, about the future of the urban development in the age of globalization. according to its authors, the airports will become the center of the future urban development. surrounded by ring of malls and hotels, followed by a ring of residential neighborhoods, the airport will no longer be a disturbing, polluting and a noisy element, but the city's heart - the reason for its existence. the importance of the airports, as an economy driver, in the 21st century can be compared with the highways in the 20th century, the railroads in the 19th century and with the seaports in the 18th century. the authors base their theory on the fact that the new mega-airports attract numerous industries as logistics, retail, telecommunications, hotels, entertainment, business and exhibition.

i still haven't read the book, but as a big airports fan, i find this theory quite interesting. the increasing number of passengers makes more and more travelers who spend time at the airports. the airport developers on the other side, which are aware of this huge economic potential, provide more and more services to 'ease' our waiting for the next flight. some airports, especially on long distance routs (Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt), became 'Airlines hub's for connection flights and provide so many services, that it could even be fun to be stuck there for few days.

few factors however, might effect this theory: the increasing price of air fuel causes each year heavy loses for the airline companies. with no alternative fuel sources, the flying fares might raise significantly in the next future and the number of the passengers will decline.

and one more point, if you want to enjoy and walk around the city center of Aerotropolis you actually need a ticket...

Transformers...

sometime the TV shows that we watch as kids influence too much our imagination. i also grew up watching the Transformers, but i guess i wasn't that impressed as the architects of this masterpiece. Tuntex Sky Tower is an 85 floors skyscraper in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. completed in 1997 and designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum.

Skyscraper and the city

the question is, why in a city that:

1. is a major capital city;

2. has more then 3 millions inhabitants;

3. has no historic high landmarks (e.g. the Eiffel tower) or a solid/dense historic center;

4. has no topographic problems or earthquake risks;

5. has a quite good public transportation system and infrastructure;

there are almost no skyscrapers?

Berlin has all (well, almost...we'll talk about it later) the parameters to allow high-rise buildings within the city, but it still has one of the most boring skylines.

by the end of the II world war, about 60% of the city was destroyed and it lost most of the historic urban tissue. during the division of Berlin between east and west, there was a different urban development in each part of the city. in east Berlin the planners were implementing the soviet urban development scheme, which included modular social housing (nice words to describe plattenbau ) and monumental roads that were way too wide for the traffic at that time. in west Berlin on the other hand, the urban development was less radical. most on the old urban structure was kept, but it was filled with concrete constructions which are typical to the west german post war development. and let's not forget the big spaces along the division wall that were just left empty.

and all this short introduction why? to explain why Berlin is actually the right city for high-rise buildings. one of the strong arguments against skyscrapers in the city centers (or within an existing urban tissue), is the traffic problems that they create due to the high number of users. the urban design heritage, especially in east Berlin, left numerous wide boulevards and Allees that could cope easily with that task, not mentioning the well organized public transportation system and the wide use of bicycles nowadays.

another advantage of Berlin, is the relatively big terrain availability within the city. either free lots (which are running out rapidly) or potentially reuse of land, as part of urban renewal program by replacing the low quality constructions that were built during the post war period.

the high-rise buildings are a challenge (good ones, not the cheap photoshop collage i did...), they are a 'must' considering the reduction of the open spaces, people love them (why? that's for another post...) so why not? the answer is demand! the population growth of the city doesn't create a housing crisis, the real-estate values are still not high enough to attract that kind of investment, there is no big demand for offices or for corporate headquarters (Berlin is not a business capital) and there will be always someone who will complain saying that Berlin is not like this or like that and that the global run-out of open spaces doesn't really bother him (even if he recycles the trash and eats bio...)

one of the renderings for the new development in Alexanderplatz, proposed by the architect Till Sattler. for other images visit this link.

The Big Wave

before the Tsunami became a 'trend' in the last couple of years, in 2004 on the shores of the indian ocean and most recently - few weeks ago in Japan, i believe that only few in the western hemisphere knew what this exotic japanese word means. since the information and the interest maybe, were a little bit limited, i was always wondering if the huge waves in Hawaii were some kind of Tsunami, that could also be fun and challenging for surfers...

however, i first knew about the 'big wave' (alias - Tsunami) many years ago, reading the book with the undisclosed title - The Big Wave. the book was written by Pearl S. Buck (winner of Nobel Prize for literature in 1938) and it tells the story of a japanese fisherman kid who had to face life after escaping a Tsunami that swept away his entire family and village.

the book, which is defined for young crowd, was fascinating (i was then in my japan-period) and it described the rural life and customs in the raising sun country.

Kong Fu Fighting

back to Hong Kong, the city was for decades the third largest motion picture industry in the world, after Bollywood and Hollywood. it developed into one of the three most important Chinese-speaking filmmaking centers of world (together with China and Taiwan), exporting movies and movie stars (Bruce Lee, Jacky Chan and Chow Yun Fat) worldwide. actually it would be better to define it as a Cantonese-speaking filmmaking center, which is quite different from the official language spoken in China - Mandarin. luckily, most of the Chinese diaspora, including the big Chinese communities in America, are decedents of Cantonese immigrants, which became a huge market for the Hong Kong cinema overseas.

Hong Kong movies are known primarily for its commercial action films, martial art fight scenes, motorcycle chases and sexy Asian women. The golden era of the industry was between the mid 80's (what else!) and the beginning of the 90's. In 1993, Hong Kong made a record 200 films.

my first experiences with the Hong Kong movies were somewhere in the late 70's (i was very young then, yes). one movie that i remember was a bizarre combination between King Kong and Tarzan - The Mighty Peking Man (1977) with a very 'convincing' Hong Kong downtown model as a set...

and of course there were the unforgettable Bruce Lee movies...

one recent movie is In The mood For Love (2000) that was nominated for the Palme d'Or in Cannes.

...and just to finish with the title theme...

Hong Kong Public Housing

few decades ago, before the "one country, two systems" era; before harbor city, times square, ifc and pacific place shopping malls, Hong Kong was experiencing some interesting events that shaped the urban development of the city. as a British colony since 1842, it couldn't avoid the 'must' monuments build for the local administration (governor house, courts, police station, etc.), some were destroyed during the economic boom of the 50's and replaced by new construction. actually Hong Kong as we know today was mostly shaped in those years, following two major events: the reconstruction of the colony after the Japanese occupation (until 1945) and the Chinese civil war who brought to the colony waves of refugees. private firms and corporation from Shanghai and Guangzhou, who wanted to avoid the communist rule in China, shifted their activity and Hong Kong started its rapid industrialization.

a massive slum fire on Christmas eve in 1953, who left an estimated 53.000 people homeless, marked the beginning of the public housing program with the construction of Shek Kip Mei Estate (1953) in order to cope with the growing influx of immigrants and the low conditions of housing. the first blocks in the Shek Kip Mei estate were of "H" shape consisting of two residential wings linked in the center with communal sanitary facilities. each block was 7 stories high and the apartments size was based on a calculation of 2.2 sqm for an adult and half that for every child under 12 (roughly 5.5 sqm for two parents and a kid...). 29 blocks were built origianly by the colonial government, some with the financial help of the UN, all of them except for one - block 41, were demolished during the past years and replaced by new constructions. today the estate contains 26 blocks with the official capacity of 13,900 inhabitants.

the Hong Kong Housing Authority (founded in 1973) and the Hong Kong Housing Society are the organs that develop public housing solutions for low-income residents in the city and it is estimated that nearly half of the population now live in some form of public housing.

Hong Kong

what a great post to open the year with - Hong Kong! although i visited Hong kong for only short time (2 days each time...), it is one of the few places that i could say to myself: i could definitely live here...Hong kong has it almost all. starting with the geographic conditions, it has sea, islands and mountains. it has a rich mixture of cultures with a touch of british heritage and energies which can be compared to New York. the quantity of the people in the streets, the shopping rush, the strong contrast between luxury and decadence, make you feel that life in Hong Kong is far from being relaxed. it is always on the move, work, shopping, out for dinner and later for a drink...like in New York, staying at home is absolutely not an alternative (i guess that the small apartments has also something to do with it).

the topographic conditions of the city challenged planners and engineers to find creative solutions to the mobility and the housing problems of the city, and they did it in a quite remarkable way. the huge investment in infrastructure, combined with the efficiency the people who run it, make everything work perfectly.

many famous international architects contributed to the dynamic skyline of the city. however, i think it should be seen as a whole and not for the detail. except for few big and interesting projects (such as HSBC of Foster or Bank of China by M. I. Pei) it is hard to notice the quality of architecture in this maze of construction. some of the new constructions are simply boring, but the diversity of the buildings, from shimmering glass and steel towers to gray tenement houses decorated with aircons is what makes it charming. the density of the construction on the existing narrow streets layout, creates many cozy corner and spaces, that could somehow remind of the mediterranean city. in some point you don't even notice how many floors are above you...

Happy Holidays!

for all of you who bother to read, here for only for a short visit or comment, i wish Happy Holidays and amazing New Year! Buon Natale e Buon Anno! Schöne Feiertage und guten Rutsch! Feliz Navidad y próspero Año Nuevo! Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia! שנת 2011 מצוינת במיוחד

Chicago - the first school

sometimes disasters can become new opportunities. that was more or less the case of Chicago when in 1871 the Great Chicago Fire turned into ashes 18.000 structures, leaving one third of the population, at that time around 300,000, homeless. the reconstruction of the city though, was remarkable and after less then a year most of the visible signs of the destruction were erased. moreover, the Great Fire is a turning point in Chicago's early history as it symbolizes opportunity, renewal, and future promise. one decade after the Great Fire the city had more then one million inhabitants and it became a center of innovation for architecture and construction technologies.

by the end of the 19th century a group of active architects in the city started to define a new style of design which will later be known as the Chicago School. one of the most important features of the 'school', was the use of steel frame structure with usually masonry cladding. together with the invention of the elevator, it allowed the construction of the first skyscrapers. This new technology, while costly, had overwhelming advantages. It was almost fireproof, the thin curtain walls hung from the steel frame allowed for more interior rental space, new floors could be added easily; and since the exterior walls were no longer essential, they could be replaced by larger windows. sounds familiar? well, few years later this new technology was adopted by the Modernist movement in Europe and the 'free facade' became one of Le Corbusier's Five Points. however while in Europe the Modernist movement was against any ornaments on the facade, in the Chicago School some Neoclassical elements were used and the buildings were usually divided in three, according to the classical column order.

Architects whose names are associated with the Chicago School include Henry Hobson Richardson, Dankmar Adler, Daniel Burnham, William Holabird, William LeBaron Jenney, Martin Roche, John Root, Solon S. Beman, and Louis Sullivan.

Matias Bechtold

models of architectural projects are kind of problematic. although some of them are made with great talent (or a laser printer...)and few are really representing interesting projects, you mostly will not consider them as art pieces to hang in your living room. except maybe to the conceptual models you built during the study in the university, of which, you were of course, really proud. the reasons are many, they are too specific, not abstracted enough, strange format with a plexiglass cover etc. but there is one artist that gives all the model freaks (like me...) hope - Matias Bechtold.

Matias Bechtold is a german artist who lives and work in Berlin. he usually works with corrugated cardboard and it seems he knows every characteristic of this multi-layered, wavy structure material. By cutting it in extremely various and precise ways, he can realize both very small and very large structures. his utopian-dystopian urban visions are so rich in detail that the viewer can lose himself in them and forget that they are models. one of his works "Kreisstadt" (that i could absolutely hang in my living room...), is shown at the Neochocolate Gallery in Berlin. until 3.11.10

The Railzeppelin

when i was a kid, i used to be a big fan of train models, especially of the german firm Märklin. i used to collect all their catalogs since they were much cheaper then the real thing...one model however was really inspiring, an hybrid between a train and an airship - the Railzeppelin or the Schienenzeppelin.

the real experimental Railzeppelin was designed and developed by the German aircraft engineer Franz Kruckenberg in 1929 and it was powered by an aircraft engine with a huge airplane propeller located at the rear. it was built using an airship construction technology with aerodynamic shape and very light materials. the interior of the railcar was spartan and designed in Bauhaus style.
only one prototype was ever built and in 1931 it exceeded a velocity of 200 km/h for the first time. On 21 June 1931, the train set a new world railway speed record (which was kept until 1954) of 230 km/h on the Berlin–Hamburg line. due to many problems with the prototype and the disagreement between the railway company and the developer, the Railzeppelin never entered in service and in 1939 it was finally dismantled because its material was needed by the German army.
one of the reasons for the failure of the railzeppelin was the danger of using an open propeller in crowded railway stations. kind of a mixer...

September 1961

back after a long summer break and a great september in Berlin, here is something dedicated to that month... 'Come September' is a romantic comedy film directed by Robert Mulligan in 1961, starring by Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida. the story about the American millionaire who arrives for his annual vacation at his luxurious Italian villa and has to face the love games of his long-time girlfriend, might not be so sophisticated but never the less it gives a chance to see Italy and Milan in its glorious times, the 60's...

Stalinist ambition

Stalinist architecture is the term typically applied to the years between 1933 (the date of the final competition for the design of the Palace of the Soviets) and 1955 (when the Academy of Architecture was abolished). In the 1930's and 1940's the architecture represents a return to conservatism and reflected several different styles including neo- renaissance, classicism, and constructivism (although Stalin itself rejected it).

in the Soviet policy of rationalization of the country, all cities were built according to a general development plan. in order to underline the power of the state and the collectivism, Stalin desired to make cities made of 'super buildings', therefore the development was generally limited to urban planning, public buildings, luxurious residential buildings and selected infrastructure projects like the Moscow and Leningrad Metro.

the construction technology was simple brick masonry covered with rich decorated stucco (mostly in the early years) or decorated ceramic tiles. it relied on a huge labor power and a very slow building progress so by the end of the second world war, when a deep housing crisis was striking all over Europe, this inefficiency was one of the reasons for the decline of the Stalinist architecture in the future. however, with the soviet occupation and control after the war, Stalinist buildings are decorating almost every capital in the former east-block, sometime mixed with local influences like in Yerevan.

the post war years of the Stalinist style are also characterized with high-rise buildings and skyscrapers ambitions. some important projects are within the 'seven sisters', a name given to a group of skyscrapers in Moscow built between 1947 and 1953. some say they are influenced by the architecture of the municipal building in New York which made a strong impression on Stalin.

A Solution, maybe...

something bad is happening in Jerusalem in the last couple of years. as mentioned in my previous post about the city, political inspirations are threatening to bring the city and the region on a verge of explosion.

some facts: in 2008 the population of the city was 774.000 inhabitants (the biggest in Israel). of which around 478.000 are Jews, 261.000 are Muslims and the rest are Christians or nonreligious 35.000.

by the end of the British Mandate in 1947, the UN Partition Plan recommended the creation of an international area that include Jerusalem and Bethlehem - corpus separatum under the administration of the UN. the 1948 war between Israel and the Arabs brought instead to the devision of the city between west (Israeli) and East (Jordanian). in 1967 Israel occupied the west bank and east Jerusalem declaring the reunification of the city. unlike the west bank, east Jerusalem was annexed to Israel, so it is actually under Israeli law. although it is officially the Capital City of Israel, it is not recognized as one by the rest of the world and there are no embassies in the city.

the urban development of the city under the Israeli law is different for the two populations, while the jewish population gets new construction of neighborhoods and infrastructure, in the west and in the east parts, the arab quarters of the city are lacking any urban planing and they have an 'organic' urban development with no infrastructure.

the political inspirations makes thing even more complicated. since 1967 the Israeli governments encouraged the construction of new jewish neighborhoods in the annexed area of the city in order to establish the reunification of the city. the separation between the populations however was kept and there is hardly no interaction. any try to apply the Israeli construction law in the arab quarters (mainly for demolition of buildings with no permits) gets a strong international protest, since the UN doesn't recognize the annexation of the east part of the city by Israel. in the last couple of years, right wing extremests in Israel, are trying to buy or get properties inside the arab quarters in order to fail any future talks on the devision of the city based on neighborhoods or quarters. their aim is to create a strong opposition in the Israeli society against any withdrawal in case of agreement.

based on these conditions, plus the fact that it is an economically poor city, the future is grim. as far as i and many others who hold a pragmatic political view can see, there is no escape from a peaceful division of the city between Jews and Arabs. the 'Holy Basin' which includes the Old City and the adjacent areas of common interest (Mt. Zion and Mt. of olives) should have a separate common administration (corpus separatum...) possibly with international supervision, which will guarantee a free access to everyone. the city will only earn from this challenging situation, it will allow a sane urban development, free of political influence and will enhance its cultural richness. due to the separated populations and the topography, the division is already there, someone just has to be brave enough to give it names before the Nothing begins to consume the Ivory tower (the never ending story)...