Scarcity and Creativity in the built Environment

Contemporary global socio-economic conditions and climate change pose an uncertainty regarding future development of the built environment. It is urgent to shift towards more resilient strategies for the urban development where an investigation into retrofitting the existing inhabited landscape is central. New spatial connections and programs at the level of the building, the block, the neighborhood and on the level of the city can be identified, and alternative approaches can challenge the unfruitful processes of the past decade.

Mapping recent developments adds to our understanding of the challenges we face and the urgency to rethink the decision making processes and management of the manmade environment.

A BRIEF IN PROGRESS

The case of the Reykjavik Capital Area (RCA), illustrates how the global economic climate in a boom can produce severe challenges for mobility, resource flows and habitation on the local level in a developed western society. The deadlock of rapid transformation (2000-2008), with the emergence of partly fragmented urban landscapes represents a burden for the environment and the people.

Endurhönnun Höfuðborgarsvæðisins

Þetta plagg er verkefnislýsing í vinnslu (síðast endurskoðað og þýtt á íslensku í mars 2013) og sem notað hefur verið í vinnusmiðjur:

Haustið 2011 í samvinnu við arkitektadeild LHÍ

Haustið 2012 í samvinnu við skipulagsdeild Lbhí og EMU (European Postgraduate Master of Urbanism)

Afraksturinn úr vinnusmiðjunum verður til sýnis í Hannesarholti á Hönnunarmars 2013

Hörgull og sköpun í útjaðri Reykjavíkur

Hannesarholt
Grundarstígur 10

15/03 15:30 – 15/03 18:30
16/03 13:30 – 16/03 17:00
17/03 13:30 – 17/03 17:00

Hnattrænar breytingar í fjármálaheimi og veðurfari valda óvissu um hönnun hins byggða umhverfis. Gæti góð hönnun borgar og húsakosts verndað íbúana fyrir sviptingum á fjármálamörkuðum jafnt sem fyrir veðri og vindum? Það ríður á endurskoðun á því hvernig hönnun getur gert byggt umhverfi seigara til að anna búsetu þegar aðstæður breytast. Ný samhengi rýmis og starfsemi má finna í byggingum, reitum, hverfum og borg. Kasta verður á glæ geldum starfsaðferðum sem sköpuðu fjölmörg vandamál fyrir höfuðborgarsvæðið og íbúa þess fyrir hrunið og þróa nýjar í staðinn.
Ógöngur í hraðri umhverfingu umhverfisins (2002-2008) birtast í brotakenndu borgarlandslagi sem er íþyngjandi fyrir vistkerfið. Það veldur ójöfnuði meðal fólksins, skuldum og háum viðhaldskostnaði.
Hin nýju hverfi (aðallega íbúðarhverfi) sem voru í byggingu síðustu 6 árin fyrir hrun eru u.þ.b. 25% af fótspori borgarinnar, og eru þau aðallega staðsett á jaðri borgarinnar þar sem hún svo skýrt mætir náttúruöflunum.

COMPETITION OR COOPERATION

The problems after the financial crash are inestricably intertwined with the organisation of the built environment in the RCA in the prelude to the climax. The new disposition of the city can be traced to competition between the 7 municipalities in the capital area. The “local agenda” of each municipality was to attract more taxpayers: Inhabitants and companies. If the companies were could not decide the location and the shaping of the built environment around their business in one municipality, they would move their business to the next one. The households suffer for inconvinient environment which could have, had there been political will, been well designed and resilient in the crisis.
In the anticipation of new parliament elections we ask if which of the 20 agencies running for the election (including only 2 women in their leadership) have political will to contribute to the environment coming under control instead of the plans and thus the peoples lives will continue to be determined by random market forces.
Published by DV on March 8th 2013.

SAMKEPPNI EÐA SAMVINNA

Vandamál hrunsins eru órjúfanlega tengd skipulagningu og mótun hins byggða umhverfis á höfuðborgarsvæðinu í aðdragandanum.

A blessing or a curse? Investment in Iceland and the built environment.

In Iceland, there is a general belief reflected in ruling politics (the left is still in power when this is written in March 2013 and all points to the right taking over in a couple of months) that foreign investment will solve the financial problems of the country. Seen through our lens of the built environment however it seems that this might on the contrary deepen the economic problems and the crisis of the urban landscape.

The article was published in Fréttablaðið on December 12th 2012 and was posted by central bloggers in Iceland. It generated  extensive discussions and “foreign investment in the built environment” was by the end of the year selected by the jokers as “the deal of the year” (guess for whom?).

FJÁRFESTINGAR Á ÍSLANDI

Fjöldi Íslendinga sem lengi hafa búið í útlöndum hefur keypt sér íbúðir á Íslandi á hagstæðum kjörum eftir hrunið. Þetta gerir fólk með íslenskum krónum sem það fær á enn lægra gengi en gengur og gerist hjá Seðlabankanum, sem með þessu trixi auðveldar erlenda fjárfestingu.

The rise and fall of Reykjavík?

This article questions the logic of a new masterplan which is being designed for Reykjavík and presented in spring 2013. The politicians claim they are implementing sustainable plans for the city learning the lessons from the crisis. However, this article suggests that the problems posed in the built environment, by the bubble and the subsequent crash, are ignored and the old city and the green structures of Reykjavík are in danger of damage by the new plans. The article was published for scibe by one of a couple and certainly the most widely read architecture blog in Iceland. The blog generated lively discussions in the city. Thanks to Hilmar Þór Björnsson, the blogging architect for the publishing.

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HRUN Í FRJÁLSU FALLI?

Óskandi hefði verið að nýtt aðalskipulag tæki sannfærandi á misheppnaðri skipulagsstefnu síðan fyrir 1970 sem magnaðist að áhrifum síðu stuárin fyrir hrun og til hverrar má rekja mörg aðalvandamál, einstaklinga, ríkis og sveitarfélaga þessa dagana.

Þetta virðist því miður ekki vera að ganga eftir þótt svo sé látið í veðri vaka. Rök ráðamanna með (eða án?) fulltingis fagfólks í stjórnsýslunni eru einföld, en ósannfærandi:

The Public Discourse and Urbanism

This article published in Fréttablaðið problematizes democracy in the current planning processes and discusses how methods in architectural education, sketching up and discussing alternative  futures, might be a useful tool after the financial meltdown.

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Samæðan um skipulagsmál

Næstum öll pólitík verður sýnileg í umhverfinu og mótar líf okkar um síðir. Afar lítið fer þó fyrir gagnrýninni opinberri samræðu um skipulagsmál á Íslandi miðað við aðra málaflokka, t.d. fjármál eða bókmenntir, og endar hún fljótt í skotgrafahernaði. Ástæðu má helsta nefna að engar heilar akademískar stöður eru til handa arkitektum og skipulagsfræðingum og þau sem ættu að hafa kunnáttu og aðstöðu til að stjórna umræðunni hafa sem oftast marga hatta.

Steering the Urban Development

The presentation of new urban plans Reykjavík after the crash express dissociation to the developments in the boom, and there seem to be many new ideas about how to increase public involvement in the processes. However, the actual plans open up many questions: To which degree are the new developments a legacy of the past? How much public involvement is really welcomed by the authoroties? Are neighborhoods that were badly hit by the crisis worse or better off with ‘new’ policies? And: Does the scale of the plans affect how willing the authorities to involve the public in decisionmaking. (The article was published in the Fréttablaðið daily paper and triggered a response from politicians that are currently responsible for the developments).

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Fagna ber nýlegum pistli ráðamanns hjá Reykjavíkurborg um góð tengsl borgar og sjávar. Gott ef Geirsgata verður gerð að borgargötu og bílum þannig verði gert minna hátt undir höfði í borgarmyndinni. Tilvísun í skala gamla bæjarins fyrir nýbyggingar, og endurnýting gamalla bygginga í miðbænum er til fyrirmyndar.

Greinin kallar þó fram áleitnar spurningar.

Íslenski Bærinn (The Icelandic Farmhouse) – a seminar

When resource managemenet in Iceland is questioned and new trajectories suggested, the discussions pretty much quiets when somebody says: “well, we don’t want to go back to the turf huts, do we?”

Thus scibe-Reykajvík is proud to have had the honour of organizing the 1st seminar held at the brand new Flói Exhibition Hall, at  the Íslenski Bærinn (the Icelandic Farmhouse).

The seminar gathered researchers and practitioners in a serach for design strategies for a more resilient environment after the crash. Among many great lectures, the climax of the day was Hannes Lárusson’s account: the lessons of the Icelandic traditional farmhouse:

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We are very greatful to Hannes and Kristín for hosting the event at this wonderful  place they have dedicated countless hours to developing and conserving for the last 20 years.

The floor of the exhibition hall is paved with the leftovers of the crash, cut-offs from kitchen countertops of decorative stone material shipped from exotic locations around the world showing off superfluous lifestyles of the homes. This residue material would otherwise have been discharged into a land fill.

Guiding Models

An opening lecture at a scibe workshop in Reykjavík September 15th 2012

Panel Discussion

 

At the Nordic House in Reykjavík, September 24th 2012, marking the end of an intensive SCIBE workshop hosted by LBHÍ.

Workshop 2 – 2012

SCIBE – Reykjavík organized a 10 days workshop in September 2012. The Master of planning department of the Agricultural University of Iceland, under the leadership of Ass. Professor Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir, hosted the workshop, and the European Postmaster of Urbanism participated with an exellent class of students, professor Sybrandt Tjallingii, professor Paola Vigano and dr. Emanuel Giannotti. Icelandic students that are studying at the Agricultural University and students that have done Masters thesis of the RCA participated. Dr. Giambattista Zaccariotto and Arna Mathiesen from Scibe-Reykjavík were responsible for the (as it seemed at one point romantic) vision of the workshop and all the practicalities of bringing together the best of local and global knowledge for a creative process of learning. We are very pleased with the results and we will publish materials from the workshop in the near future.

A part of the group horseriding on the outskirts of the Reykjavík Capital Area.