The everchanging city: disconnecting and plugging in

Climate change also has its influence on the urban environment. The city is hotter, often dryer -but as a result also more prone to flooding at the same time- and an important source of pollution and emissions. Sustainable Urban Drainage systems, with a focus on improving infiltration of precipitation into the soil, storing rain water in bodies of water, creating more water to offset built-up areas, separating sewage from rain water flows and disconnecting rain pipes from the sewer. Other people are disconnecting from the grid, disabling the sewer connection, going without a gas supply or relying entirely on self-produced energy. As traffic is an important factor in tackling pollution and improve quality of life in the city, cycling and public transport are promoted, polluting -diesel- vehicles are barred from entering certain areas and vehicles are replaced by less polluting types. The electric car and the electric van are slowly taking off, as the infrastructure for plugging in lags behind.

Sustainable drainage systems have been pioneered in the Netherlands as it is understood that to build in a delta you need to create more water to balance the system. In some places surface water with variable levels was created in laying out new housing estates (on the left an example from Eindhoven from the 1980s). On high ground and on sandy or gravely soils an infiltration ditch suffices to store water after heavy rainfall and let it drain away into the ground slowly afterwards. In the middle an example from Veghel in an ecological housing estate. In the sustainable housing estate of Nw Monnikenhuizen in Arnhem all housing have rain pipes disconnected from the sewer. The water flows down from the roof into these rills and then onto the pavement into a water retention area (a pond after rain a depression in a field at other times).  

The Netherlands are also famous for the cycling infrastructure. I too cycle short and medium distances within the city. To promote cycling it is important there is enough places to park a bicycle. Solutions vary from bike racks (middle) to underground bicycle parking. Good cycle paths with safe crossings are also very important; on the right the Hovenring, an elevated roundabout for cyclists on the border of Eindhoven and Veldhoven. As most people own at least one bike (I have three, including my handy fold-away) bike sharing and bike hire schemes are not as prevalent as in the surrounding countries. These bike stations can be found in Belgium, England, France and Germany. On the left an example of the Metropolrad from Essen in the Ruhr Area.

Electric cars are still quite rare, but several governments have taken stapes to phase out combustion engines and facilitate a transition to electric vehicles. These don’t just include cars, but also trains (some still run on diesel), bicycles and transport vehicles like small vans for inner-city delivery. The biggest bottleneck for a roll out of electric transportation is the lack of charging points. Many local authorities are now including special places in their car parks and parking structures indicated by a sign (middle) where two cars can be charged from a single charging column (right). In other places home owners are given private chargers near their residence.

The urban landscape: designing with ensembles

Urban design is the design of towns and cities, streets and other urban spaces. Urban design is thus by definition concerned with creating -spatial or functional- ensembles. If the urban environment is merely a collection of accidental human interventions there is no design as such, as design implicates a conscious decision on the look and functioning and thus spatial arrangement of the component parts.  Even if urban design is only approached as the part of planning concerned with the physical form of the city, it is still all about creating ensembles. Urban design is about the complex relationship between all the elements of built and unbuilt space.

Designing with ensembles has a long history, it is actually what creates a sense of place and space within the city. Human intervention is most often at the basis of an urban environment; more often than not such an intervention is or develops into a spatial ensemble. The ensemble can also be functional to begin with, for instance the Paltz in Frankfurt, but grow into a spatial ensemble of buildings and places. This is visible in The Hague where a hunting lodge developed into the residence of the Counts of Holland, which in turn became the central meeting place of the States General of the Dutch Republic and is now the parliament building of the Netherlands. An ensemble of old and new residence and cathedral is at the heart of Bamberg, which started again as a Paltz. At the heart of the medieval city of Cologne the Roman Capitol Temple Complex was firstly reinvented as the seat of the Mayor of the Palace and later transformed into the Church and Convent of Mary (in the Capitol); each ensemble functionally and thus spatially different.

The Grote Markt (Great Market) in Herentals with the medieval Lakenhal (Cloth hall) witch doubled up as a town hall. The market square is rather oblong in shape and should be understood as a widened street. The Cloth hall with carillon tower was built in the middle of this public space, at the point where two older routes cross. The situation was changed to create this functional and spatial ensemble.

Designing architectural ensembles was a preoccupation in Roman cities, where it was the norm that rulers would erect monuments, temples, arches, halls, peristyles around public squares and even public gardens to commemorate special events or notable people. This tradition also existed in other ancient cultures, for instance in, South America, Egypt and China. The city thus became a showcase of human history and aspiration made visible and translated into place. In contrast the urban ensembles in medieval cities were mostly functional, but did develop into places. One only has to think of the newly laid large market bordered by guild houses and a town hall with trading floor in Antwerp or the many beguinages (for instance the city within a city in Lierre) which contrast with the church freedoms that developed as separate island within cities like Munich, Ghent or Aix-le-Chapelle (Aachen). In the latter the buildings within the church freedom -which corresponds again with a roman site (a thermal bath complex) and grew out of the Paltz of Charlemagne. Medieval urban ensembles can be formal but often are informal and non-symmetrical.

This formal ensemble, inspired by classical architecture sits in the middle of the garden village Gelaardse Kat (Puss in Boots) in Uccle (Brussels). It is a mix of an urban square with cover walkways and a baroque palace courtyard. The rest of the garden village is distinctly informal with curved streets.

Following on from classical antiquity, the renaissance saw the conscious creation of urban ensembles in an effort to create a place. Architectural and philosophical theory even lead to the emergence of so-called ideal cities -always on a regular layout with a strict order and distribution of functions. Only a few such urban layouts were realised, mainly as a new settlement or in rebuilding one. Urban ensembles were conceived as spatial interventions shaped by the architecture. During the baroque and classicist eras urban ensembles relied heavily on architecture, symmetry and axial compositions. The spaces created are often so vast that they are no longer relatable for humans. This is especially the case in large residential cities, most notably newly-built ones like Ludwigsburg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Ludwigslust and Versailles. Baroque interventions in existing cities are insular and often strictly axial in character; only think of the papal improvements to Rome (new straight roads and new squares) or Bernini’s masterstroke St Peter Square.

The Neustadt of Darmstadt was created in the 18^th century after the fortifications of this residential capital had been decommissioned. It comprises of a grid of streets with several axial compositions. The first axis leads to the Luisenplatz (left). In the 19^th century the grid was expanded, the axis that starts at the Luisenplatz and culminates in the Ludwigskirche is from this period.

Axial ensembles would prove a lasting legacy as the various classicist new towns -often on a grid, but always with a central compositions of an axis between two specific points- show. Only think of the new town of Potsdam, de new town of Darmstadt or those in Berlin. An axial ensemble isn’t merely a clear line of sight across a site or an urban landscape, it needs a distinct beginning and end or it must be defined by the delineating of the edges along the line.  In the city axial compositions generally rely on a clear beginning and end with a road in between. Variations after about 1770 often lack a clear beginning and start at an open space like a (garden) square or park, but with a building or monument at the end. The space is also often laid out with green with rows of trees along the axis bordering a street, esplanade or canal. These axial compositions are everywhere, ranging from famous examples like the Eifel Tower at the end of the Champs de Mars and the Mall in Washington DC culminating in Capitol Hill. Axial ensembles are also used in more recent prestige projects, only think of La Defence a business district beyond the city limits of Paris proper. Sometimes architects chose to ignore an axis, as was done in Brussels in the European quarter, where each of the large office blocks creates its own spatial context thus denying the axis of the Rue de la Loi – Avenue Tervueren. The result is an informal grouping with badly defined public spaces (not a true ensemble, as the buildings were conceived and inserted in the context as singular entities with little regard for the surrounding buildings).

The cite-jardin Floreal in Brussels is a housing project with many informal ensembles according to Unwinesque planning principles. The buildings are often asymmetrical and sometimes symmetrical, but than always arranged in an informal asymmetrical way. The contrast of the unified design with neighbouring buildings is often quite distinct, making this garden village an urban landscape ensemble.

Besides formal and axial ensembles, urban ensembles can also be informal or irregular. Such ensembles always feature an associated open space to appreciate the ensemble. These informal ensembles can be planned, but can also be the result of gradual development. Many of the famous city squares fall into this category, but also many beguinages. Informal and irregular ensembles were first planned in gardens and parks (the ferme ornée, or ornamental farm, often expanded into a picturesque village); only later with Historicism in architecture and Romanticism in the Arts did it become more prevalent in an urban context. Asymmetry is a feature of these buildings and urban ensembles. The building style can be Eclectic or Gothic revival, but also Art Deco, this is dependent on the place and the time of conception. Asymmetry and a picturesque appearance is also the main goal in vernacular architecture. Many of the housing projects that sprouted from the Garden City Movement centre on informal (sub)urban ensembles. These informal or irregular ensembles often revolve around a controlled progression of spaces to make a place.

The informal arrangement of small houses in the Tuinwijk Nijlen (a garden village) is highly controlled to make the most of the site and at the same time creating a unified design and a spatial configuration which differs from the surrounding urban sprawl.

Urban ensembles also work on a larger scale. I mentioned La Defence, which is part of the Axe Historique which starts at the Louvre, runs through the Tuileries Gardens, across the Place de la Concorde, through the Champs Elysees to the Grand Etoile with the Arc de Triomphe and then on via the Avenue Charles de Gaulle to the Grand Arche, a distance of around eight kilometres. Ensembles also play a role in the definition of the urban landscape; the component parts of this urban landscape each with distinct spatial or design characteristics could be viewed as ensembles. Such urban landscape ensembles are prerequisite for an urban environment that is legible and thus a collection of places. Without, the urban landscape becomes an amorphic mass, a jumble of elements with no reciprocal relation. Commercial and individual urban sprawl are examples.

The Tuinwijk De Bosuil is not a garden village, as the name ‘tuinwijk’ would suggest, but a modernist social housing estate comprised of large apartment buildings surrounded by low-rise apartment buildings and rows of family housing. It thus is very distinct from the surrounding urban landscape in this section of Deurne (Antwerp).

Urban landscape ensembles can be discernible on pattern, spatial configuration, building mass and architecture. Changes in pattern with the urban landscape are often best visible at the edges or on a map. Especially in combination with the other key characteristics pattern is legible as a discerning attribute. Spatial configuration is much more legible. An historic city core has a totally different spatial configuration to a modernist high-rise estate or to a garden village. Spatial configuration is especially important where the design is based on repetition of component parts, which provides a unifying expectation of the ensemble. Repetition can also include a set variation in building mass which is repeated in units.  Building mass can also be characteristic when there is a discernible difference in building mass between one area and the other. This works much better if the difference in building mass is also visible in the architecture. Differences in architecture revolve around style, details, materials and so on. Consciously designed urban landscape ensembles often have a single expression in the architecture, or the architecture of the component parts is a variation on a theme. Even urban landscape ensembles with contrasting architecture are possible, but there the building mass or spatial configuration has to be such that the buildings relate to one another and/or diverge from surrounding urban areas. Most contemporary interventions don’t strive to produce an ensemble, nor on a small scale or on the scale of the urban landscape.

The Moorlands Estate in Brixton (London) has a brutalist wall of apartments with low-rise housing behind it. Both in design, materials used and spatial configuration of building masses this estate differs from other modernist estates nearby (Loughborough Estate), older municipal housing estates and Victorian suburban housing. It is thus an urban landscape ensemble.

The urban landscape: traditionalism versus modernism

The style of architecture, both in new developments and existing urban areas, can stir great emotions. Often people make a distinction between traditionalism and modernism. Under traditionalist architecture a vast array of architectural styles are included, varying from historic styles (gothic, baroque and classicism) and historicist styles (revival styles and some examples of post-modernism) to traditionalist styles (vernacular architecture, Arts and Crafts and 20^th-century traditionalist design). When people talk about modernism or modern architecture they generally mean post-war International Style Modernism, but this style is much broader ranging from, Art Nouveau, Jugendstil and Secession via Art Deco to Functionalism, Nieuwe Bouwen, New Objectivity and Bauhaus and to Cubist, Constructivist and Expressionist architecture. To make a distinction between architecture with ornament (as historic or traditional) and without (as modern) is a gross misrepresentation; likewise a distinction based on materials -plaster and concrete versus brick and wood- doesn’t help to distinguish between the traditional and the modern. The distinction between traditional and modern is at its core a distinction between a focus on the past and tradition, and a focus on renewal, technological advancement and the future.

Some typical examples of Historicism from London. On the right a mansion in Neoclassical style, complete with narrow columns. Columns, with ornate capitals, can also flank an entrance (left). The ornate housing in Dutch revival style (middle) combining baroque German architecture with Dutch gables.

The revival styles so typical of Historicism dominates many 19^th century urban quarters. In historic cities these developments encircle the older urban core (unless there is a river or body of water on one side). Building height varies according to local building laws, but are typically 4 to 5 storeys in height with closed frontage along the roads. These revival styles were often used to discern between functionality and status of the buildings, e.g. Neoclassicism for a court house, Gothic revival for the town hall, Byzantine revival for a church, Neo-Baroque for a hotel. Many of the buildings from this period don’t adhere strictly to a single style but are an architectural mashup of elements knowns as Eclecticism. Most housing was built in this Eclectic style. The appearance of such eclectic building can vary greatly dependant on the country or region. Some postmodern buildings are also eclectic as they cite elements of several styles. Artistic architecture like that of Gaudi and Hundertwasser is also eclectic.

A typical residential street in a 19^th-century commercial development with that typical Victorian architecture that is eclectic in essence. Here brick is combined with moulded stone ornaments, bay windows and triangular gable ends in an ornamental mashup.

Traditionalist architecture is associated by many with Arts and Crafts, although some of the exponent of that movement were actually modern in intention. Traditionalism should be seen as a reaction against industrialisation and mass production of goods and (building) components and focusses on traditional artisanal production and often emulates the look and feel of this by semi-industrial means. Most vernacular architecture is traditionalist in nature, taking inspiration from historic local architecture or even examples from further afield. Vernacular architecture became the style of choice for the Garden City Movement, although beyond Britain the architecture is often more progressive or even modernist.

A typical vernacular building with -fake- half-timbering on the protruding storey supported by a window bay (left) as can be found in many developments that were built as part of the Garden City Movement. This street in Breda (middle) in Dutch Traditionalist style is much more austere, as was deemed fitting in the 1950s. Since the 1990s, but especially after 2000 developers have returned to vernacular and traditionalist architecture for residential buildings as this (right) cottage-type house that references West-Frisian farms illustrates.

As a reaction to the many revival styles, Traditionalism appears in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Germany right at the end of the nineteenth century. As such this style is contemporary to Jugendstil and early Modernism. From the 1920 Traditionalism shifts towards “honest architecture” as a reaction to Functionalism and Expressionism with brickwork, minimal decorations and natural materials (no visible concrete or steel). This type of Traditionalism that would last until the end of the 1950s is closely linked to Rationalism. The style was embraced mainly by conservative politicians. New Urbanism has lead to a -limited- resurgence of traditionalist architecture; albeit merely traditional in outward appearance, as the construction and internal workings are thoroughly modern.

New Urbanism has focussed on creating places -which is positive- and this has often been translated by architects and developers as a return to traditionalism. On the left some original historic houses in Geertruidenberg, a former fortified city. On the right the new houses built in a traditionalist style, in a large development adjacent to the old city, which also feature Spout Gables.

Modernism has its roots in some strains of Neoclassicism and Biedermeier. Biedermeier -essentially a Neoclassical style- focussed mainly on functionality, clean lines, minimal ornamentation and the spatial character of the architectural intervention. The interiors of this period are often more decorative and far less austere. Yet the train of thought started with Biedermeier evolved into both Jugendstil - Art Nouveau and Functionalist Modernism. The Art Nouveau / New Art Movement started in the late 19^th century and was concerned with combining a more intuitive poetic approach to design with technological advances. Jugendstil is the German variant. Some Arts and Crafts is in essence New Art. After 1915 the style was superseded by the Art Deco, a fully modern style that embraced industrial design and translated this into decorative architecture.  

In Kiel near Antwerp several large Art Deco blocks were built in the 1920s and ‘30s. These sculptural volumes rely on cubist shapeliness combined with almost graphic outlines and accents. This is modern and decorative architecture.

Modernism in architecture and design stemmed from changing attitudes and revolutionary changes in poetry and music. The aesthetic was heavily influenced by art, especially graphic design and painting. This is evident in The Style (in Dutch: De Stijl), in Futurism and in Cubism. Modernism starts around 1900 in the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Germany with expressive experiments and buildings stripped of all ornament but treated as a sculptural mass. This fits with the contemporary tendency in art toward abstraction. Modern architecture revolves around the use of new construction methods, new materials and serial production. The use of concrete and steel for the construction of buildings, even when they have an exterior in a traditionalist or even historicist style makes it modern architecture. Also the treatment of building masses in some Jugendstil – Secession buildings pre-empts cubist architecture.

Viennese Secession was a modernist break away from historicism and classicism in the Arts. The construction methods are modern and the decor ranges from Avant Garde to naturalistic. Secession is the variant of Jugendstil in Vienna. In the middle the beautiful Secession Exhibition Hall (completed in 1898) by Olbrich. On the left Mojolikahaus (1899), an apartment building named for the majolica tiles with floral decorations that adorn the facade. It was designed by Otto Wagner. The Austrian Postal Savings Bank (1906) is another example of his work. This building uses reinforced structural concrete and has a facade made up of square marble panels attached to the structure with metal bolts that form a regular decorative pattern.

Modernism as a movement starts with the Deutscher Werkbund, founded by Hermann Muthesius in 1907. As a distinct and self-aware style of architecture and design, Modernism presents itself in many guises from about 1915 in Germany, Austria and The Low Countries. Apart from some experimental and individual exponents of Modernism, the style gravitated around a cubist treatment of building mass and was known in the Netherlands and Germany as Nieuwe Bouwen / Neues Bauen -the new (way of) building. In English these buildings are known as New Objectivity, Bauhaus or International Modern; all are however specific strains of the style. Modernism is characterised by a focus on transparency, light, air and space within and around buildings. The closed urban block was replaced by the open block and housing in parallel rows (strokenbouw or Zeilenbau).  Other characteristics are functionality (the architecture is determined by the materials used and way these combine within a construction), symmetry and repetition, use of colour as an organic expression of shape, improvement of housing (and through that improvement in quality of living) and the separation of functions but a mix of housing types and thus of social classes.

Two moderns buildings in the International Style by Renaat Braem. These buildings form a modernist extension to the Tuinwijk Boterlaar in Deurne (Antwerp). The first houses of this social housing development were completed in 1957. The tentative approach of Braem, so eloquently shown in his pavilion, shines through in these blocks.

For practical reasons the distinction between traditional and modern works, as long as we add the historic architecture category. Despite Postmodernism -which I see as an eclectic exponent of modernism- contemporary architecture still is either modern or traditional in approach. The use of new materials and the exploration of the possibilities of new constructions for a different design and aesthetic so typical of many award-winning architecture is still modernist in its core. In contrast there is also a tendency towards retro-styles where classic Dutch Gables, 1930 architecture or Art Deco are references for new buildings. True historicism isn’t often found, except for some Postmodern architecture that incorporates historic element to create a certain visual effect (for instance the Inverdan Project in Zaandam). Some classic modern architecture is also being reinvented as contemporary architecture. This is sometimes known as New-Modernist architecture.

Two examples of New-Modernism. On the left a colourful and cubist redevelopment of a former sink estate. The colours were chosen to reference the many Moroccan residents that (used to) live here, before gentrification by redevelopment. This shapely house in brick (right) clearly references early modernist examples that explored curtain glass walls to connect inside and out.