Last post: on my way again…

It has been five years since I’ve started this blog. I’ve enjoyed it, even though I started without a clear idea on what this blog should be about; I simply started posting stuff that interested me. After a few years several separate strands became apparent. Some of these strands turned out to be key in the context of this blog. In my journeys crossing the urban landscape, I noted remarkable differences in the approach of housing, especially within the Garden City Movement and Modernism, which are often understood or presented to be uniform in approach. There are however marked differences between Germany and associated countries and the Anglo-Saxon inspired approach. This is not often brought to the fore. What has become clear is that the specific type of architecture doesn’t create a good urban design or a place, it is all about the spatial characteristics and the use of ensembles. Good architecture does enhance good spatial design.

Some of the blogposts of the past 5 years were concerned with the blog itself; obviously the first post and this last post and in addition the retrospectives (1, 2, 3, 4) and the festive greetings (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

Snail in the City knows some key strands. The urban pattern has been one of my interests since university. I’ve included posts on urban morphology, i.e. the city plan, the historic development of the water cities Antwerp (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and Utrecht (1, 2, 3), a topology of water cities, twin cities, Saxon Borg towns, beguinages, types of mining colonies of the Ruhr Area, factory villages in Eindhoven, the residential city Ludwigsburg, the military town of Leopoldsburg, the industrial town of Genk, the mining town of Neukirchen-Vluyn, Antwerp pleasances, post-war densification in Antwerp, reading the city map and planned versus organic urban growth.

Distinctive features of the urban pattern were a separate focus within the urban pattern; these include iconic urban ensembles (1, 2, 3), axial interventions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), street grids (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), cultural forums (1, 2, 3), water cities, twin cities (1, 2, 3, 4), fortified cities, Borg towns (1, 2) and the Mulhouse Quadrangle.  

The urban landscape and urban development also came up several times in posts about the city landscape, the influence of the landscape on development in Almelo, polders (1, 2, 3), market towns, water cities, new towns and redevelopment of former industrial areas (1, 2). The effects of industrialisation were also discussed: Le Sillon Industriel, the industrialisation of Germany, mining in the Ruhr Area, collieries of the Ruhr Area, mining in Belgium and the Netherlands, industrialisation of the Campine, the rapid suburbanisation linked to metropolitan railways (in Metro-land), the textile towns of Twenthe, urban renewal and sustainable urban development and eco-urbanism (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

The changing ideas in urban planning and design is yet another strand of this blog. These changing ideas are presented in many publications, some of which were discussed I a section called bookworming (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). Also some areas show these changing ideas very well: Luchtbal (1, 2, 3, 4), New Addington. The most important movements that shaped the urban landscape had to be included: model dwellings companies, paternalist factory housing in Mulhouse and Essen, mining colonies (Ruhr Area), model villages, company housing, the garden city movement in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands , municipal housing in Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Vienna, planning urban expansion (with the modernist AUP and Amsterdam as examples), functionalism in planning, CIAM planning in the Bijlmermeer, new urbanism and eco-urbanism (including the GEN Initiative, interventions for a more sustainable future and hydrologically neutral development). Unwinesque spatial design on Sitte-esque artistic principles -so central to the garden city movement- is a specific form of designing with ensembles. That this can also be used in a modernist idiom was explained for Betondorp in Amsterdam. I’ve explained how the now prevailing fractured approach in urban design has come to be and shared my thoughts on how to combat this by looking at the city as an urban landscape and designing urban ensembles within a context (or situationalism).

Planned housing is another strand. The range here is very wide and includes several types of housing: courts beguinage (1, 2, 3, 4), philanthropic and model housing (1, 2, 3), workers colony in Mulhouse and the Campine, mining colonies in Belgium (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) in Germany (1, 2, 3, 4) and in the Netherlands (1, 2, 3), factory housing (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), company housing (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), metroland, gartenhof (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), garden cities, garden suburbs (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), Grosssiedlung (1, 2, 3, 4), garden villages (1, 2), Gartenstadt (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), tuindorp (1, 2, 3, 4), tuinwijk (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), municipal housing (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), housing estates (1, 2,), new towns (1, 2), suburban satellites and redevelopment (1, 2). 

As one moves at slow pace through the urban landscape one can be more observant. My eye is quickly drawn towards small artistic expressions, either deliberate or impromptu. In the middle one of the mind mazes that grace the walls near the station at Pinner, northwest London. These mind mazs were part of an art project. At either side a more spontaneous expression with stencilling. On the left a funny image commenting on traffic congestion (=Stau) in Frankfurt and on the right another German stencil, used as a tag. This one spray can is much nicer than the scribbles often seen.

Wandering through the urban landscape as I do, I was struck by many things that sometimes surprise me, sometimes disgust me and at times make me stop for a while to have a second glance or better look. The streetscape provided many impressions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), as did transport (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14), colourful window boxes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), public art (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), art exhibitions and events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

Many styles of architecture ranging from historic to traditional and modern were discussed and clarified with pictures. Many of the pictures illustrate projects that were discussed. The architecture presented includes examples of both historic (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), historicist-revival (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12), vernacular (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41), early modern and functionalist (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), traditionalist (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), decorative-modern (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12), expressive-modern (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), modernist (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), brutalist (1, 2), post-modern and retro (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), contemporary-modern (1, 2, 3) and ecological (1, 2, 3). 

Nature in and around the city also kept coming up in many different guises. This could be the changing seasons covering spring (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16), summer (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), autumn (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16) and winter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), urban nature (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15), or the urban animal (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13). I love plants and like to delight in blossoms (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and urban greenery provided by parks and public garden (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) and private gardens (1, 2, 3, 4).

Besides impressions of nature, I’ve posted some other impressions of the urban landscape (1, 2, 3, 4), buildings (1, 2, 3), housing expos (1, 2, 3), events (1, 2, 3, 4)  and specific cities (1, 2, 3, 4, 5,  6, 7, 8, 9, 10).

This will be my last blogpost. In the following months I will be updating cross-references and I will try to correct spelling errors. It has been a pleasure sharing some of my thoughts and interests with you, but it is now time to focus on other things!

This large sculpture (8,5 metres high) stands behind the main station of Eindhoven where two main thoroughfares meet near the TU/e university campus. I’ve liked this artwork by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen since it was unveiled in 2000 as these “Flying Pins” capture movement in a still object at the heart of the city, best viewed whilst waiting for the traffic lights to turn green and you go on your way again...