Messages beneath our feet

I tend to look around me and not so much at the ground. But sometimes this is a good idea as there are messages beneath our feet in embedded in the pavement. The happy faces ( on the left) were painted on pavement slabs in Twenthe and followed the preferred school route towards and from a primary school. These ladybirds are to be found in various places in the Netherlands. They mark the spot where "senseless" street violence has claimed the life of someone. The ladybird is a ferocious killer so it is a rather strange emblem against street violence, but is works well graphically. Also in the Netherlands these colourful feet painted on successive pavement slabs signify  a pedestrian route for school children. In this case the route towards a zebra crossing -that isn't in front of the school where it would make more sense- around the corner.

Siedlung Pottgiesserhof: simple apartment blocks set in green

 

A view along one of the orthogonal ensembles of apartment blocks that make up the Siedlung Pottgiesserhof. In this section all buildings have hipped roofs with dormers and balconies in a contrasting ochre colour that contrasts with the cream colour of the rest of the facades.

In another section - around the garden square- the buildings are most decorative with facades in roughcast and precast concrete details that serve as ornaments. The play of lines betrays an influence from Art Deco. The vertical arrangement of the windows is balanced by the concrete ledges that ad a horizontal accent to the facade.

The garden square itself is surrounded by pollarded plane trees an accommodates a large playground.

The housing behind the garden square are distinctly more vertical with the arrangement of the windows emphasised by the outlines stairwells (left). This statue of a Gänsereiter reminds us of the folk sport of goose pulling. In Germany the goose was dead before the "sportsman" riding a horse tried to pull off the greased head. In Anglo-Saxon countries the goose was alive making this a cruel rural pastime.

The blocks are placed at right angles. The facades follow the line of the street but don't create a distinct street space. Communal green space flows around the blocks in this open parcellation.

In other sections the buildings follow the street. The building section which is setback on the left side is a replacement wing. These have distinctly different architecture, but blend in well with the simple architecture of the original 1930s blocks.

In some places the communal space between two blocks has been planted as a communal garden for the residents. Here space no longer envelops the blocks but the garden boundaries create a sub-space within the housing estate.

All blocks have balconies (loggias in actual fact) on the side of the communal green space, here a garden (left).The front side is often very closed, although the original outlook would be different with wide green verges instead of cars lining the streets.

In this street the original intentions of the designers come through with blocks in three storeys separated from the central street by a wide green verge.

A close-up of one of the replacement blocks with the distinctive balconies on the street side instead of the original buildings that gave the loggias at the back. A row op long blocks with hipped roofs in blue and grey (on the right) line the central street that divides the different sections of this housing estate.

Another example of the orthogonal placement of the blocks in enveloping green space. Some apartment blocks follow the line of the streets others don't. The alternating orientation within the green space binds the estate together.

Siedlung Pottgiesserhof: practical apartments for Krupp employees

At the western edge of Frohnhausen a small hamlet known as Overrath once stood. Of this hamlet one historic farmhouse still stands on the grounds of a geriatric hospital. The name translates as the land cleared for cultivation (rath) at the other side (over), most likely on the other side of the Borbecker Mühlenbach as seen from Schönebeck. One of the four original farms of Overrath named Pottgiesserhof belonged to the Counts of Isenburg, the others to the Abbey of Essen and Werden respectively. Through marriage the farm is transferred to the Bäcker (=Baker) family in 1871. They sell of their entire holdings to the Krupp Firm in 1935.

The Friedrich Krupp AG has had plans drawn up whilst the sale is being discussed, so the first resident can move in in 1936. In total 288 dwellings are constructed in several buildings, all apartment blocks. The housing was purpose-built for Krupp-employees. The old farmhouse was torn down in 1937 and replaced by the club house Eigene Scholle.

The urban plan was very practical and made best use of the land available for housing by dividing up the housing estate into 3 sections separated by existing through roads. Each section -or neighbourhood- was designed by another architect. This means that this is one of the few examples of Krupp factory housing that can't be called ensemble architecture. The architecture is mostly angular like the basically orthogonal spatial distribution of the housing blocks. Only peculiarities in the site (shape or slope of the terrain) have lead to specific design solutions.

There was clearly no overall plan nor communication between architects or attunement of design details. The overall impression of the buildings is simple and thus in keeping with the spatial plan. In some instances -for instance around the entrances- some decorative detailing has been used. These details betray a Jugendstil design aesthetic which fits the 1930s. The decorative elements of other Krupp housing are absent here.

A small section of the housing was devastated during WW2 and rebuilt almost after original plans in 1947. From 1954 the city of Essen is responsible for the social housing and the apartments have been renovated and improved several times since. Most notably the coal furnaces have been replaces by a central gas boiler. Two small dwellings were combined into 1 larger new apartment in the 1990s and sold off to the residents.

The Siedlung Pottgiesserhof comprises of three parts (A, B and C) that all show characteristics of New Objectivism. Each section was designed by a different architect. The hatched section are blocks that were rebuilt in the 1940s. Of the hamlet Overrath only the Grotehof (1) remains. It stands on the grounds of a geriatric hospital (2). Directly adjacent a primary school (3) was built. A large sports park (4) was created out of the remaining arable land of the hamlet. Directly north of the housing estate the station of Essen-Frohnhausen (5) provides direct transport links. On the edge of the older speculative housing en the housing estate large garden square (6) was created planted with trees and shrubs. A large playground has been incorporated in the layout.

GLOW 2015, Nature and Architecture

2015 sees the tenth edition of GLOW, light in art and architecture. For eight days the city of Eindhoven is all about light art with the city as the stage for several installations. The theme for this anniversary year: Nature and Architecture. This theme harks back to the first edition and also revisits the city's parks along the Dommel river.

Below the GLOW Cafe the nominees for the Foederer Talent Award are showing their work. The best entry was by Elleke de Vries who designed these lighting cubes that light up when the two magnets on the back complete the circuit with the metal wall (left). The title work 'Nature & Architecture' by Noralie explores the impact of vegetation on the way we perceive the built environment by projecting gardens on facades (middle). Ninety oversized flowers crafted from empty water bottles that have been cut up grace the edge of the Anne Frank Gardens (Anne Frankplantsoen). This installation 'Giant Dandelions' was created by Olivia d'Aboville.

Works by Luminarie De Cagna have proven very popular in the past years. So this year a reprise of their Cathedral of Light under the titel 'Il Giardino Incanto' on the square in front of City Hall. Impressive it certainly is, but why that awful carnival music?  

The work 'Interstices in a synaptic space' stole my heart. This installation by Afterlight brings a plane piece of graffiti to life with great effectiveness changing the flat surface into a moving and changing 3D sculpture. In one word: amazing!

A large light installation by Har Hollands adorns the dome of this shopping centre, celebrating the completion of its renovation. Like rain the light drops down (left). The French artist-duo Atsara are fascinated by the interaction of light and space. Creating ephemeral installations that capture changing perceptions 'Moïra' was like a cloud dispersing and reflecting light (middle). Afterlight also created an installation based on Extreme Ultra Violet laser technology used in the production of computer chips. This installation 'Lithographic World' takes inspiration from one of the ASML machines with the laser light refraction within a sphere.

'Dia de Muertes', an projection of skulls by Projektil explores the Mexican tradition of decorating ancestral skulls at All Souls Day (left). Another installation in the Anne Frank Gardens was 'Horizontal Interference' by the Polish duo Malejka and Slugocki. It comprises of horizontal wires linking mature trees in the park which light up in several colours when lit in a special way (middle), thus transforming nature. Transforming nature was also the basis of 'Pleasant Places' by Quayola. Celebrating Van Gogh the artist captured the current landscapes of the Provence and transmutes them into the palette of Vincent by means of digital manipulation.

Séverine Fontaine celebrated the light bulb in the work 'Incandescence' which showed the once most produced types of incandescent bulb by Philips with the cap base E27 taking centre stage in a coordinated show of light and sound (left) along the river in the Dommel Gardens (Dommelplantsoen). In the Stadswandelpark (City Promenade Park) the primal glow of fire was demonstrated in an installation called 'Large Fire Tornado' by Ivo Schoofs that created a towering flame 12 metres high. Further along the same park 'Inside Out: The Cathedral' by Forum InterArt plays with the reversal of indoor and outdoor space by lighting the former formal drive of a demolished mansion. The bluish light reflecting of the underside of the oak leaves created a natural cathedral space which was enhanced by fitting music.