Autumnal: planning ahead for spring

In the Netherlands top quality bulbs are cheap and easy to come by. It is no wonder then, that bulbs are an appreciated gift as well as an easy way to give any outdoor space - whether is be a large garden or a tiny balcony- an injection of colourful blooms. This does however take some planning and thinking ahead as the bulbs and corms need to be planted months in advance.

I was given some packets of bulbs, that are always sold here with a picture of what is held within. What I got was a packet each of daffodils and crocuses, both in deep yellow (shown left). The second gift was two trays of orange pansies -a favourite of mine- with a large bag of peony-flowered tulips that change colour from deep yellow to deep orange as the flowers age (in the middle). All bulbs have been planted in two high containers each type in a distinct layer. The tulips like to be planted deep; the daffodils were planted above; the smallest bulbs - the crocus- go on top. These were scattered amongst the pansies (right) and planted where they fell for a naturalistic bunched effect.  

Am Schmalen Rain, Gotha: a colourful, closed ensemble of social housing

The facade of the large apartment block on the road is an example of a mix of Dutch New Objectivity and German traditionalism. The grey concrete balconies and the red roof tiles contrast attractively with the bright blue facade.

Small details in the window treatment and the squared-off  protruding sections reveal a clear influence of Dutch 1920s modern architecture. The protruding sections serve as turrets an give the street frontage an exciting rhythm. The small front gardens edged by a hedge are communal and mainly representative.

The terraced housing next to the apartment block also have a blue colour, but in a lighter hue. Seen from inside the estate Am Schmalen Rain the housing all looks vernacular in design, but in a then modern colourful style that is also known from Onkel Toms Hütte in Berlin. Also note the square protruding front door surrounds.

The housing has light hues of the main colours from the spectrum with blue, green, yellow, pink and (orangey) red. The colours on the window shutters are always matching those of the facade. The coloured blocks of housing are used to great effect as this example of a street leading up to the central square clearly shows. The awnings over the front doors are a recent addition.

The streets that lead to the central public space -originally the location of the amenities- pass underneath imposing gate buildings with a characteristic pointed arch. The facades of these buildings have a bright orangey red colour signalling their importance in the spatial ensemble of this housing estate.

From the neighbouring allotments a narrow path between privet hedges gives access to the central square (left). The rounded turrets in the corners of the buildings on the square are also visible from this side. Most of the architecture is symmetrical which adds to the formality of the ensemble. This character sets it apart from the planned visual variety of examples (1,2,3) of early vernacular Garden City Movement architecture.

At the centre of the central public space a large building on arched galleries dominates the space. This used to be the central focus of the estate in a functional sense as it housed an office of the Building Coop, a guesthouse an 3 shops. Spatially it remains the central focus of Am Schmalen Rain. Again the building is symmetrical in design.

At either end of the central Geschwister-Scholl-Platz two symmetrical sets of L-shaped housed in red  close off the space. A privet hedge defines a front garden. In the corner a round tower links the two separate blocks creating an L-shape. Between them a path leads either to the allotment complex or the path along the Ratsrinne. These buildings with a red facade also clearly show the reinstated window shutters  banded white and a matching pink colour.

The red Gate buildings contrast with the adjoining long terraces in yellow with colour blocking in green around the doors to emphasize the entrances and provide rhythm in the otherwise simple long facades that stand lengthways on the central square.

These blocks of flats with bedsits were added. Again the green of the shutters provides interest. Also these buildings are squared off. The way the different colours provided a calculated sense of variety and visual interest is clear from view across the estate (on the right).

From the back the length of the yellow terraced housing on the square is clearly visible. Small dormers provide the rhythm here. The semicircular hedge surrounds a playground and the trees emphasise the shape even further. This creates a sense op space within this housing ensemble. The window shutters are white and green.

As said the renovation is not quite finished yet (2016). On the left one of the units in a side terrace that was subdivided into two flats and is now being reinstated as  a single family house. The Dutch dormers are a feature of these houses. The Ratsrinne is a narrow stream (Rinne means furrow or gully) that gave its name to the estate.

A street that has been renovated with a section that comes forward and is higher in a different colour breaking up the length of the terraced housing, but also enables the architects to match the gentle curve of the street. It would me even better if all the privet hedges in the front gardens were to be replanted!

Am Schmalen Rain, Gotha: an isolated ensemble by a building cooperative

This horse shoe shaped garden village is an excellent example of the 1920s German Genossenschaftswohnungsbau (cooperative house building) that was influenced by the Garden City Movement. Baugenossenschaften (building cooperatives) predate the Garden City Movement (and served as an inspiration). The first of these cooperatives was founded in 1867 in Prussia with the aim of providing affordable housing for its members. The financial crash at the end of the nineteenth century meant that most wouldn't survive for very long. The model of housing provision by means of building cooperatives picked up again after 1905 and especially after 1918 in de German-speaking world.

In 1909 the Gothaer Baugenossenschaft für Beamte und Arbeiter der Eisenbahnverwaltung (Gotha Building Cooperative for Officials and Workers of the Railway Company) was founded. In the same year a plot of land was acquired south of the railway tracks and the so-called Alte Kolonie (Old Colony) was built along a few cul-de-sacs. Between 1909 and 1926 the number of houses was expanded by building westwards in small developments of a few blocks each spread along new streets that followed or connected to former country lanes.

After an urban expansion plan was drawn up for the city of Gotha in 1923, urban expansion became less haphazard and separate development were align within an overarching spatial plan. The southern edge of the city was designated as suitable for development, so in 1925 the local council and the Supervisory Board of the Building Cooperative agreed a new housing development here. This next development was aimed at a broader range of people than merely railway employees.

The housing estate was designed by the architects Richard Neuland, Bruno Tamme and the Regierungsbaumeister (Governmental Architect) Pfitzmann. The estate was named Am Schmalen Rain after a fieldname that indicated the position along a narrow border ditch, which still runs along the edge today as the Ratsrinne. The designers were asked to consider the exceptional situation of a quiet urban border area, to create a good arrangement of traffic conditions for a housing development of 150 to 200 units with a "centre area" and stores for the supply of local residents, and also take into account the garden city idea. This last condition refers more to the German Garden City (a garden village combined with allotments and amenities) than to the true Garden City (which was basically a suburban satellite between city and countryside).

The executives involved made significant changes to the first plan and decided that all three architects should design a section of the estate to avoid monotony. In the first budget for the new housing estate 161 housing units, 3 business premises, 1 restaurant and an office for the manager of the cooperative were included. For the build only local contractors and workers were employed. Construction started in 1926 and the topping out ceremony for the first houses was held in 1927. After this -to make savings- the number of housing units was first raised to 190 and later to 202. Initially apartment blocks were added to the scheme. Housing originally intended as terraced housing was additionally split in 2 apartments. This resulted in a total of 269 housing units (in 1935). This meant that in the houses originally built as family housing the two inserted apartment tenants had to share the bathroom. The estate held 12 bedsits, 146 one bedroom flats, 95 two bedroom flats, 15 three bedroom houses and 1 four bedroom house.

The estate  Am Schmalen Rain was developed as an ensemble around a series of public spaces (streets, a large square -S- and a small park with playground -P). The buildings envelop the public, shared, space and also dominates the streetscape. At the centre the community block (C) that once housed the amenities. To the west a large allotment (A) was built for the residents. On the east the narrow stream Ratsrinne (R)  is the Schmaler Rain that gave its name to the neighboring field and thus to the housing estate. Typical for 1920s examples are the gate buildings and arched gateways (G).

Due to financial difficulties during the 1930s the estate was never expanded further south, as was originally intended. Although called Gartenstadt Am Schmalen Rain, this estate isn't a collection of semidetached cottages along road planted with fruit trees as most people would typify a garden village. Am Schmalen Rain is a good example of the very German translation of Garden City Ideas into a specific more closed version that combines terraced housing, apartments and amenities. Such spatial ensembles are similar to the Gartenhof complexes that are completely comprised of flats. They should be typified as halfway between suburban and urban. There are many examples in Germany and Austria. The more urban 1920s-30s housing complexes in the Netherlands also follow this German model. Space for gardening was set aside by planners and developed as allotments. Allotment complexes still form an integral part of the German urban landscape. The complex has -almost entirely- been renovated with the bright colours of the facades, window shutters and the family housing of the terraces reinstated. The residents are very proud of their lovely historic housing estate and were keen to point out the improvements made and share their knowledge of the history of this place. Well worth a visit when one is travelling to for instance Weimar!

GLOW Eindhoven 2016: City and Science

This year's instalment of the light festival GLOW comprises of a theme translated into two distinct but overlapping routes: City and Science. The city route focuses mainly on the town centre, whilst the science route is located on the TU/e campus. In the past few editions the GLOW and GLOW Next events were held in separate locations, now they have been combined as part of either route. Due to the massive overcrowding in the past two years the route has been lengthened and two separate loops were created. This also means that projects are further apart! GLOW 2016 comprises of 29 light art projects and installations, of which 12 are part of GLOW NEXT.

The project "Luminus" -within GLOW NEXT- was created by the student association CHEOPS in collaboration with Lucid and comprises of a tangle of light tubes that react to touch and change hue accordingly. "Lithographic World" -shown on the right- by Afterlight is a reprise of an earlier installation.

Also part of GLOW NEXT is a project by the students of St Lucas Academy for the Arts called "In another LIght" with a clever use of lighting to change the perception of the image that we see. An thus how we view the people around us. In keeping with this message is the project "Just because you are a character, doesn't mean you have character" by Ivo Schoofs. This installation translates kinetic energy into a changing shape and changing light colours (right).

Created by the Technical University Eindhoven (TU/e), the GLOW NEXT project "Intermedia" explores the interaction between people and technology by projecting moving shapes on large screens with people on both sides influencing the image created. The shapes range from lines to basic geometric shapes (left) and outlines (middle). Wouter Brave created "Lumière Tango" on the TU/e campus. The 48 light beams perform a choreography and dance through the air.

The Belgian artist Tom de Kyvere explores the relationship between the mind and reality in his installation "Cortex Machine". A web of wires strung between the trees create ever more connections (middle) which create small blue pulses that accumulate in a large conduit that lead up the KPN Building (left) in an enormous burst. Several stops are incorporated into each route. Here the Glow Cafe behind Philips Lighting on the Lichtplein (Square of Lights).

Three students of Electrical Engineering at the Fontys University of Applied Science created a large installation dubbed "Tunnel of Light". It was originally conceived as part of their course work. This interactive installation is now part of GLOW NEXT. The lights change as people move through the installation creating amazing effects inside and out.

"Step into the Light" can be seen from afar (left) as the beams of light cut through the night sky over Eindhoven. Michel Suk created a 4 metre high circular installation (middle) projecting light upwards with each beam producing a fascinating interplay of light and rhythm, resulting in often spectacular patterns drawn in the sky above your head once inside the circle (right).

Each year the Church of Saint Catharine in the historic heart of the city is the backdrop for a spectacular projection which combines light effects and sounds (music).In the Hieronymus Bosch Year the projection celebrated this noted medieval artist (left). The most interesting project of this year's edition was undoubtedly "Flux Apparition - Moving through perception and illusion". For this project Dynamo (a music venue) collaborated with 250K, Eyesupply and The Art of Light to create an installation that explores how the digital world is closing in on reality blending analogue (a dancer) and digital (a 3D holographic projection). Amazing!