Emptiness of urban space
This project was carried out within an International Workshop at Wilhelmsburg district which is located in Hamburg, Germany. Wilhelmsburg is a suburb where different nationalities and cultures live together and coexist. They are mostly inmigrant people from Arabic countries and there are some that do not speak German language between them. During this multi-disciplinary Workshop (with architects, urban planners and landscape designers) alternative solutions were developed to integrate the public space, which is mainly abandoned due to life changes and needs.
The emptiness of urban spaces
We chose a public space with a specific use, “hanging clothing”, which actually was unused. Why do the citizens not use this public space?
The aim of our experiment is to confirm that an urban space with a specific function can perform different activities without changing its “nature” which is in this case “hanging” clothes.
The first experiment was a symbolic performance of the original function of this space. A laundry made of paper was hanged out and the following conclusions came up.
Firstly, the weather in Hamburg does not fit well with an outdoor function. On one hand, the wind makes the hanging of the laundry difficult and it could fly away from the place. On the other hand, the frequent rain during the whole year and the high dampness of Wilhelmsburg, create a wet atmosphere which does not make the clothing dry soon enough.
Secondly, there are social and local context parameters, which make the public area an unsecure and unfriendly space. The hanging racks are far away from the residential areas, thus it is very difficult to have any control of their own laundry. The residents fear that their laundry is going to be stolen.
Due to this, it is not functional, and therefore useless.
From this previous experiment, it is suggested that the function of this space should be regenerated by performing an optional activity. The alternative function should reactivate the area to bring up community benefits.
The alternative experiment: temporary activity to reactivate the public space.
We organizad an exhibition made of drawings and letters from Wilhelsmburg inhabitants about likes and dislikes concerning the local context.
The date and time of this exhibition was decided by our team, as well as the arrangement of all the performance at the site. Besides, several notes announcing this exhibition were displayed within the area in order to catch up the citizens attention. In this way, the 23rd of August all the works were hanged out at the place showing the local exhibition for some hours. As a result, it was very satisfactory since an useless space was provided with an optional use/function. According to this, new spatial possibilities came up to Wilhelmsburg by introducing social and community solutions.
Summing up the experience, a permanent experiment was arranged at the same place. Our proposal brought up a fixed activity to solve the inconvenient problem related to the specific urban space.
The final proposal was to set plants hanging from these urban furniture. This is a hanging garden which all the local inhabitants that live in Wilhelmsburg will enjoy.
The emptiness of urban spaces
We chose a public space with a specific use, “hanging clothing”, which actually was unused. Why do the citizens not use this public space?
The aim of our experiment is to confirm that an urban space with a specific function can perform different activities without changing its “nature” which is in this case “hanging” clothes.
The first experiment was a symbolic performance of the original function of this space. A laundry made of paper was hanged out and the following conclusions came up.
Firstly, the weather in Hamburg does not fit well with an outdoor function. On one hand, the wind makes the hanging of the laundry difficult and it could fly away from the place. On the other hand, the frequent rain during the whole year and the high dampness of Wilhelmsburg, create a wet atmosphere which does not make the clothing dry soon enough.
Secondly, there are social and local context parameters, which make the public area an unsecure and unfriendly space. The hanging racks are far away from the residential areas, thus it is very difficult to have any control of their own laundry. The residents fear that their laundry is going to be stolen.
Due to this, it is not functional, and therefore useless.
From this previous experiment, it is suggested that the function of this space should be regenerated by performing an optional activity. The alternative function should reactivate the area to bring up community benefits.
The alternative experiment: temporary activity to reactivate the public space.
We organizad an exhibition made of drawings and letters from Wilhelsmburg inhabitants about likes and dislikes concerning the local context.
The date and time of this exhibition was decided by our team, as well as the arrangement of all the performance at the site. Besides, several notes announcing this exhibition were displayed within the area in order to catch up the citizens attention. In this way, the 23rd of August all the works were hanged out at the place showing the local exhibition for some hours. As a result, it was very satisfactory since an useless space was provided with an optional use/function. According to this, new spatial possibilities came up to Wilhelmsburg by introducing social and community solutions.
Summing up the experience, a permanent experiment was arranged at the same place. Our proposal brought up a fixed activity to solve the inconvenient problem related to the specific urban space.
The final proposal was to set plants hanging from these urban furniture. This is a hanging garden which all the local inhabitants that live in Wilhelmsburg will enjoy.
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