topos113

no 113
2020
to po s.
24 UNMUTE THE
SOUND OF MUTATION
– Eric Firley on planning
scenarios that maintain
relevance in the future –
a future possibly mutated
by climate change
urban
mutations
44 URBAN GROWTH
AND URBAN POVERTY
– Jimena Martignoni on
the fight of Buenos Aires
against urban poverty
and inequality
98 CONTAINER-
IZATION
– Charlie Clemoes on
the shipping container as
a driver of urban change

no 113
IZATION
Photo: Rafael Luna
COVER
THE MEGALOPOLIS OF SEOUL
BY RAFAEL LUNA
The mutation of a megalopolis: with nearly ten
million inhabitants, South Korea´s capital city of
Seoul is a megacity. During a period spanning
more than six centuries, Seoul has seen
tumultuous urban transformations due to drastic
social, economic, and political shifts. Read the
article of Rafael Luna on page 76.
urban
mutations
to po s.
2020
24 UNMUTE THE
SOUND OF MUTATION
– Eric Firley on planning
scenarios that maintain
relevance in the future –
a future possibly mutated
by climate change
4 URBAN GROWTH
AND URBAN POVERTY
– Jimena Martignoni on
the fight of Buenos Aires
against urban poverty
and inequality
98 CONTAINER-
– Charlie Clemoes on
the shipping container as
a driver of urban change
TOPOS E-PAPER: AVAIL-
ABLE FOR YOUR DESKTOP
For more information visit:
www.toposmagazine.com/epaper
Admittedly, dealing with the
topic of urban mutations is
anything but easy. And why
would we choose this topic
and call on numerous authors
and ask them to rack their
brains over it? Because we
want to talk about change,
about transformation, and we want to dig deeper. The
fact is, urban spaces are subject to constant change.
They grow, flourish and shrink; their layers overlap.
Crises, economic recessions and upturns, urbanisation
and climate change all transform the look of urban
spaces. By 2050 two-thirds of the world’s population
will live in cities. The consequences of urbanisation
are already visible everywhere, i.e. the struggle for
open space, for greenery, for resources, for a raison
d'être, for equality, and often simply the struggle for
survival. This is especially the case in megacities,
where borders, lines, spaces and entire areas are constantly
expanding and shifting in an uncontrolled and
intensive manner. In order to analyse these transformation
processes, we have put forth an analogy that is
somewhat daring, but which certainly has its qualities
as an object of discussion and analysis: We define the
city as a living organism; as an organism with its own
metabolism, an organism that moves, grows, changes
and breathes, in whose veins no blood flows but instead
water and electricity, etc., an organism which is
sometimes asleep, and sometimes wide awake. And if
mutation is by definition “...the spontaneous or deliberate
change of genetic material, i.e. the entire genetic
material of an organism,” and is also considered an
anomaly, then urban mutation could also be a departure
from the normal state, from the norm: the deliberate
or spontaneous change of the genetic material
of urban space. But what is the genetic material of a
city? If you look at it from the perspective of urban
morphology, the genetic code of a city is probably its
ground plan, its streets, parks, buildings and squares.
Like living organisms, cities are constantly renewing
ANJA KOLLER
Editor
a.koller@georg-media.de
their cells; these renewals are usually carried out according
to standards, but not always. At certain locations,
given the right conditions, certain changes in
the system may occur. And these changes, in turn,
have a transforming effect on those who have to live
with them. Climate change and associated extreme
weather events, air pollution, urban growth, economic
decline, economic aspirations, cultural influences,
inventions, the increasing polarisation between rich
and poor and health crisis all change the cell tissue of
urban spaces. It’s the architects, urban planners and
landscape architects, who, through their work, react
to these dynamics and changes by initiating transformation
processes themselves. It’s no coincidence that
this view of urban “growths” and “transformations”
also includes megacities and, ultimately, especially the
Global South. According to the UN, more than 10
million people live in each of the urban agglomerations
located there. And due to rapid urbanisation, 34
of the world’s 41 megacities are expected to be in the
Global South by 2030, and are the places where accelerated,
and to a certain extent uncontrolled, growth occurs.
This is where planners need to be innovative in
order to respond to the ecological, social and economic
challenges faced by inhabitants. Nevertheless, we also
look at the Western world, at the problem of air pollution
in Barcelona, at the effects of climate change in
Miami, at wildfire disasters in California, and at the
transformation of post-industrial landscapes.
Dear readers, the topic of urban mutations marks
the finale of 2020, indeed a very special year. My editorial
colleagues and I would like to take this opportunity
to thank you all. And speaking of changes: Be even
more critical than you already are and don’t forget: “If
we are unable to practice citymaking with hope and
inspiration for a humanist future, we might soon be
replaced by fully technocratic and data-centred alternatives
like Sidewalk Labs, which offer conflict-free
and consumer-driven solutions”, says Eric Firley in his
lead article. We are happy to concur with him on this.
Stay healthy, and all the best for the year to come.
topos 005

Contents
THE BIG PICTURE
Page 8
OPINION
Page 10
TALENT VS. MASTERMIND
Page 12
CURATED PRODUCTS
Page 104
REFERENCE
Page 108
EDITOR’S PICK
Page 110
METROPOLIS EXPLAINED
Page 14
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR
THE PROJECT AIR/ARIA/AIRE
Page 30
COLLAGES OF ARCHITECTURE
Focusing on the complexity of city life by use of collages:
Klaus Theo Brenner’s new book City Life Collage
Page 18
UNEARTHING WATER
Making water more perceptible: Mexico City and the
need for architecture that presents water in a new context
Page 64
UNMUTE THE SOUND OF MUTATION
Eric Firley on planning scenarios that maintain relevance
in the future: How Miami tackles climate change
Page 24
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR
The impact of air pollution on city dwellers’ health:
The project Air/Aria/Aire and the case of Barcelona
Page 30
“THE PRODUCTION OF ... EQUITABLE AND
INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS”
Bianca Maria Rinaldi on the relevance of public green
spaces in growing and socially fragmented cities
Page 36
SHAPING THE GLOBAL SOUTH
Deden Rukmana on the need for including informal
spaces in planning scenarios in the Global South
Page 38
URBAN GROWTH AND URBAN POVERTY
The decades-long fight of the city of Buenos Aires against
urban poverty and inequality
Page 44
LEVERAGES TO LIVEABILITY
Urban activist Olamide Udoma-Ejorh on the challenges of
urban development in the megacity of Lagos
Page 52
FACTS & FIGURES
Page 56
MUTATION THROUGH REGENERATION
The case of Semarang, Java: examining local improvement
attempts as reactions to global trends of urban regeneration
Page 58
THE DIALECTIC OF TRANSFORMATION
AND PERMANENCE
On China’s rapid growth and the urban planning strategy
of modernizing its traditions
Page 70
INSULAR STRUCTURES
The megalopolis of Seoul: Analyzing urban mutations
based on the city’s typological subunits
Page 76
POSTMODERN PYROSCAPES
On the need for a future-proof fire culture in the
wildfire-shaken state of California
Page 82
“IT TAKES COURAGE TO USE A
LANDSCAPE AS IT IS”
In conversation with Tilman Latz on the challenges of the
transformation of post-industrial landscapes
Page 86
RELOCATING A CITY
About moving the arctic city of Kiruna, redefining values
and finding solutions for a world of constant change
Page 92
CONTAINERIZATION
Charlie Clemoes on the shipping container
as a driver of urban change
Page 98
CONTRIBUTORS
Page 102
ESCAPE PLAN
Page 112
EDGE CITY
Page 114
IMPRINT
Page 113
BUENOS AIRES: URBAN GROWTH
AND URBAN POVERTY
Page 44
Photos: Secretaría de Desarrollo Urbano, Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (below); Illustration: 300.000km/s (above)
006 topos ISSUE 113

OPINION
Sigrid Ehrmann
Environmental Planner & Landscape Architect
“WILL THE NEW
EUROPEAN BAU-
HAUS BE THE FIRST
STEP TO CREATING
SUSTAINABLE,
RESILIENT AND
EQUITABLE CITIES?”
“Good design can improve lives” is a catchphrase reminiscent of the influential
German design school Bauhaus founded by Walter Gropius in 1919, which last
year celebrated its 100th anniversary. With her appeal for a “new European
Green Deal aesthetic combining good design with sustainability”, European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the Commission’s plans
to revive the Bauhaus idea.
010 topos ISSUE 113

Opinion
The New European Bauhaus forms part of the
European Green Deal’s action plan that aims to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent
by 2030 and make Europe climate-neutral by
2050. It will be financed through the EU’s 750
billion-euro NextGenerationEU coronavirus recovery
plan. In her State of the Union address
Ursula von der Leyen called for a “Renovation
Wave” to help Europe move to a circular economy.
She stressed the importance of the project’s
environmental, economic and cultural aspects,
as well as the new Bauhaus’ role as “a co-creation
space where architects, artists, students, engineers,
designers work together to make that happen”.
With the announcement, the Commission
acknowledged two notable points. Firstly, the
idea of Baukultur – architecture and construction
as a cultural activity including its social, economic,
ecological and aesthetic dimension – and
its importance to society, which had been previously
recognised by European Ministers of Culture
in their Davos Declaration in 2018. And secondly,
the key role the construction industry
plays in emissions reduction and the creation of
sustainable and climate-neutral cities and communities.
Buildings account for around 40 per
cent of the EU’s energy consumption and 36 per
cent of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. With
its Renovation Wave strategy, the EU aims to improve
the energy performance of buildings
through stronger regulations and the use of innovative
materials, create green jobs and promote
neighbourhood-based approaches and affordable
housing. The New European Bauhaus
“is intended to be a bridge between the world of
science and technology and the world of art and
culture”. Many details of this vision of a 21 st century
Bauhaus remain hazy. A recently published
fact sheet describes the New European Bauhaus
as a forum for discussion, a space for art and culture,
an experimentation lab, a hub for global
networks and experts, and a contact point for
citizens. In the initial stages, five projects will be
created in different member states of the Union.
The second phase from 2023 onwards will seek
to establish projects and a network both inside
and outside Europe. These pilot projects will focus
on aspects such as natural building materials,
energy efficiency, mobility and digital innovation.
While a further exploration of natural and
sustainable materials as well as the principles of a
circular economy in architecture is commendable,
a lack of political will to enforce a green
transformation of the building sector is arguably
more problematic. Can the European Green
Deal lead to a change in policies and a muchneeded
reform of the construction industry – a
sector that is known to be slow to innovate?
Though the original Bauhaus might not provide
a model for ecological design, its holistic approach,
experimental and innovative character
and ideal of a socially responsible society could
point the way. Beyond its aesthetic, the Bauhaus
had an important political dimension. Its influence
on both architecture and society is still apparent
today. A New European Bauhaus that
draws on the collective spirit of its predecessor
and is based on co-creation and co-design might
be lead to broad engagement and build “a tomorrow
that is greener, more beautiful and humane”,
as suggested by von der Leyen. The New
European Bauhaus’ impact is supposed to reach
beyond Europe’s borders, as “Europe is to lead
the way in the twin green and digital transition”.
A dialogue between cities on a global level is desirable,
yet it needs to be a two-way conversation.
There is much we can learn from cities in the
Global South with regard to climate change adaptation,
community building, rapid urbanisation
and resilience. Good design can indeed improve
lives. During the current pandemic crisis,
the need for affordable high-quality housing and
accessible green public space has become evident.
We have to rethink how we build and inhabit
our cities. Whether the European Green
Deal and the New European Bauhaus can lead to
systemic change and fight climate change, as it
claims, remains to be seen. The EU’s credibility
has been undermined by the recent approval of a
new EU agricultural policy that critics claim will
worsen the climate crisis, while EU environment
ministers failed to strike a deal on its 2030 emissions
reduction target. What has become clear is
that to bring about systematic change and create
sustainable, resilient and equitable cities, architects
and urban designers need to be involved in
decision-making processes. Let’s hope that the
New European Bauhaus will be the first step.
SIGRID EHRMANN holds a diploma degree in
landscape architecture of the Technical University of
Berlin. She works as a freelance landscape architect,
environmental planner and writer. Based
in Barcelona, a city renowned for its architecture,
innovative urban transformations and creative
scene, she conducts research on a variety of topics,
ranging from climate change adaptation, green
infrastructure and urban strategies to detailed
landscape architecture and public space projects.
topos 011

urban mutations
Collages of
Architecture
Is it possible or even reasonable to deliberate on architecture without
paying attention to the surroundings, to the space architecture
is embedded in? Klaus Theo Brenner, German architect, would
definitely deny this notion. He sees himself in the tradition of the
Italian architect and designer Vittorio Gregotti, and therefore,
when talking about architecture always includes urban space. For
him, architecture is always connected to the urban realm and interrelated
with the urbanites. In his recent book “City Life Collage”
Brenner focuses on the complexity, vibrance and diversity of city
life by use of collages that he created between 1990 and 2019. He
creates highly aesthetic, colorful, sometimes nostalgic, sometimes
alienated, even mutated images that tell stories about the cities we
currently inhabit and about the cities’ past, always shimmering
through. Just as cities are constituted by different layers, transforming
the urban realm’s structure and surface over time,
Brenner builds layer upon layer to create a plethora of palimpsests
to give the beholder of the collages an idea of both the mutability
and consistency of urban space.
ANJA KOLLER
Collages: Klaus Theo Brenner
018 topos ISSUE 113

“The collaged view of the urban space suddenly allows us to see utilitarian everyday space and artificial architecture side by side, at different stages of their
execution, without the fiction of a pseudo-space leading us astray. In doing so, the collage deliberately disrupts our customary way of looking at things: it is an
experimental representation of elements that cannot normally be seen together at the same time, despite being interrelated.”
Taken from the paragraph“The essence of architectural space – Flatland and Aleph” by Jan Büchsenschuß from the book “City Life Collage”
topos 019

030 topos ISSUE 113

urban mutations
The city of Barcelona
consistently breaches
EU rules on nitrogen
dioxide values and has
been referred to the
Court of Justice
because of poor air
quality.
Barcelona redrawn by air
pollution, 2020: Using
Barcelona as a case
study, the project Air/
Aria/Aire analyses data
sets to showcase the
impact air pollution has
on the city (below).
A
Breath
When it comes to air pollution, cities are fighting a permanent pandemic. In light of the
magnitude of the problem, Barcelona architect and curator Olga Subirós recognised the
urgency of addressing the climate crisis and public health emergency from an urbanistic
point of view. Using Barcelona as a case study, the project Air/Aria/Aire analyses data sets
to showcase the impact of air pollution from the urban scale down to the street level. An
exhibition about Air/Aria/Aire, curated by Olga Subirós, will be presented at the
International Architecture Exhibition 2021 in Venice, exploring the notion of air as a common
good that is vital to people’s health and striving to respond to the Biennale’s theme of
‘How will we live together?’ – an even more vital question in times of coronavirus.
SIGRID EHRMANN
Photo: Illustration 300.000km/s; Jon Tugores (above)
of
Fresh Air
topos 031

urban mutations
Informal settlements
such as Jakarta are
frequently located
around, or in the vicinity
of, exclusive residential
high-rises in inner-city
areas or gated
communities in urban
peripheral areas.
038 topos ISSUE 113

Shaping the Global South
Decades of massive population growth and rural-to-urban migration have accelerated
urbanization in the Global South and produced cities of unprecedented size and density.
By 2030 developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are projected to
be home to 34 out of the world’s 41 megacities. Developing these “urban fields” and
turning them into livable and sustainable areas of habitation involves complex undertakings
the significance of which extends the borders of individual countries. Deden
Rukmana, editor of The Routledge Handbook of Planning Megacities in the Global
South, describes the challenges that lie ahead and presents innovative urban development
and planning initiatives. He focuses especially on informal spaces, which are the
largest physical feature of cities throughout the Global South.
DEDEN RUKMANA
Photo: Deden Rukmana
topos 039

urban mutations
One of the poorest
unplanned settlements
in the southern part of
Buenos Aires, prior its
partial revitalisation:
the large building,
abandoned for decades,
was demolished and
replaced by the new
structure of the Social
Development Ministry.
Urban
Growth
Cities are growing and so is urban poverty. The 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development determined that ending poverty
should be the Sustainable Development Goal #1. The City of
Buenos Aires has been fighting against the urban poverty and
inequality that it is confronted with for almost a century. The exploration
of historic disparities between the city’s northern and
southern areas, social behavior and apparently unchangeable
urban stigmata has led to ideas and possible ways to develop a
more equitable urban planning model that also tackles poverty.
JIMENA MARTIGNONI
and urban
Poverty
Photo: Secretaría de Desarrollo Urbano, Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires.
044 topos ISSUE 113

topos 045

urban mutations
Leverages
A more inclusive, liveable and sustainable Lagos – is that
possible? The ever-growing Nigerian capital has had to
deal with manifold social, political, infrastructural and
environmental challenges that hamper an urban development
benefitting first and foremost the people. Urban activist
and director of the Lagos Urban Development Initiative
(LUDI), Olamide Udoma-Ejorh, implements smallscale
community-based projects as a leverage towards liveability,
inclusivity and sustainability. For topos, she takes a
critical look both at the Lagos State Development Plan
(LSDP) 2012–2025 aimed at turning Lagos into Africa’s
model megacity and the projects that come with it.
OLAMIDE UDOMA-EJORH
to
Liveability
052 topos ISSUE 113

Photo: By Jacobchikaike1 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=88697548 - image has been transformed - horizontally flipped
The rapidity of
population growth in
Lagos, Nigeria creates
adverse effects at many
levels, such as at the
level of public
transportation and
traffic congestion.
topos 053

Mutation
through
Regeneration
FELICITAS HILLMANN, WIWANDARI HANDAYANI
AND BINTANG SEPTIARANI
Photos: Felicitas Hillmann
058 topos ISSUE 112

The glocalisation of planning has led to the
phenomenon that planning concepts are
copied all over the world. Tools that are used
in the Global North are implemented in the
Global South and vice versa. The field of
urban regeneration is no exception: it has
become a matter of “planned glocal mutation”.
By identifying and examining local
development and improvement attempts as
reactions to global trends of regeneration
strategies, three urban development projects in
Semarang, Java offer related insight. The main
question is, what role does the mobilization
and participation of the local population play
in establishing successful urban regeneration
programs?
Urban regeneration:
The improvement of
marginalized urban
neighborhoods in
Semarang is comprised
of various regeneration
schemes designed to
reconcile the needs of
the resident population
with the integration of
the city into global
circular flows and
modern urban planning
experiences.
topos 059

urban mutations
The apartment block is a
typological urban insulae
that is repeatedly
employed to produce the
contemporary
megalopolis. The images
show the development of
examples in Seongsu.
Insular
With nearly ten million inhabitants, South Korea’s capital
city of Seoul is a megacity. During a period spanning
more than six centuries, Seoul has seen tumultuous urban
transformations due to drastic social, economic, and
political shifts. Observing the transformation processes
Seoul went through while trying to find an appropriate
definition of the related mechanisms of urban growth,
analyzing urban mutations based on the city’s typological
subunits offers insight. These subunits can be read as
“insulae”, with reference to the housing blocks of ancient
Rome. This peculiar formation provides a contemporary
reading of urban morphology as a typologically expanding
megastructure.
RAFAEL LUNA
Structures
Photo:Rafael Luna
076 topos ISSUE 113

topos 077

“It takes courage to use a landscape as it is”
When industrial landscapes have fulfilled their purpose, are no longer needed, a process begins that goes to the very
substance of things. Not only places, but also people are robbed of their identity; economic, social, societal changes are
inevitable. Where do you start as a planner? How do you set a transformation process in motion? Do you build on what
is still there? Do you break away from it? How much radicalism is needed to transform landscapes in such a way that
a new identity is possible, but the past does not disappear? topos spoke with Tilman Latz, a German architect, urban
planner and landscape architect, about the right way to deal with industrial legacies, about the dangers of the Bilbao
effect and about the great heritage of Duisburg-Nord.
INTERVIEW: ANJA KOLLER
topos: Mr. Latz, one of your areas of expertise is the transformation of post-industrial
landscapes. What does transformation mean to you?
TILMAN LATZ: For some people, transformation is any kind of change. For us,
transformation is something that very much takes on a given situation or at
least tries to do so. In order for something new to emerge, i.e. for the transformation
process to be set in motion, one must deal with the existing. And we
don't only look at what is visible, what is there, but also at the invisible. We look
at thoughts, hopes, clichés that people have in their heads, at the history of a
place, which often has to do with what is visible. We then place this construct in
a new context of meaning.
topos: What happens to the places, the landscapes, and the people until places
are transformed, until you as a planner create a new framework of meaning?
LATZ: A region builds up an industry and suddenly the structures that are so
important for the people there are empty and apparently without any further
meaning – despite the fact that they provided work to many generations and
that billions were invested and earned there. Industrial landscapes, for example,
are per se always subject to constant change so that they can keep up with new
technologies and remain competitive. If this will to change is not there or is no
longer possible due to external circumstances, then decline is inevitable: we observed
this in many industrial areas in eastern Germany, for example – after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the plants there were hopelessly outgunned in the global
competition. This process is the same all over the world: industrial plants are
shut down, thousands of people lose their jobs. In other words, nothing positive
is associated with what is there; on the contrary, there is frustration and a feeling
of worthlessness. And this is exactly what you have to confront as a planner.
You can take these issues very far: depending on which culture you are dealing
with, you have to handle different hardships and effects – both in terms of people
and the landscape. And I am convinced that you can work with that.
topos: Give us an example – in which project is this process-based and exploratory
element particularly evident? Different phases take place here: shock, perhaps
even a kind of “catatonia”, realisation, recognition, self-discovery, reorientation...
LATZ: Our example is Duisburg-Nord. In the mid-1970s there was a worldwide
steel crisis. Production at the Meiderich steelworks was cut back. The last shift
ended in 1985. That was hard for the people there. The special situation at the
time was – and this is of course still relatively specific to Germany – that social
and economic hardships were cushioned by subsidy systems. This is often not
the case in other countries. Generally speaking, people in Germany tried to
keep the industry running as long as possible. After all, when an important
plant is closed, others will follow; chain reactions are set in motion. That’s why
the shut-down process was carried out slowly and, above all, gradually, by closing
one part of a plant after another. A “cautious” approach was adopted. And
this cushioning on the part of the politicians conveyed an incredible stability
despite all the problems, but above all it also provided the time to deal with
what the process really entailed and to think about alternatives. The planners –
above all my father Peter – still had a lot to work with during the process of
transforming the steelworks into a landscape park. And that was precisely one
of the reasons why the IBA Emscher Park, i.e. the International Building Exhibition
under the leadership of Karl Ganser, a ten-year modernisation programme
by the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia to overcome the
structural crisis in the northern Ruhr area – was so successful.
topos: Then it really depends on the culture of the respective country how to deal
with a transformation process...What are differences and what are similarities?
LATZ: In many countries, people don't take the time to deal intensively with the
object. Often the process is carried out hastily and plants are immediately shut
down, sometimes even demolished. In Germany, people discuss what happens
when identity is lost, because that is viewed as a drastic consequence. But of
course there are similarities beyond all cultural differences, and these are the societal
wounds that the closing down of a plant entails, the stories people tell
about a place, the bond they feel with it. Historically, industrial plants in the
Western industrialised countries were usually an integral part of the city centre
– at least until the Second World War, and thus roughly until the car gained importance
in the 1960s and 1970s. This is where life took place; often the town
hall was right next door. And exactly this was, and still is, an opportunity for
086 topos ISSUE 113

urban mutations
Architect, Landscape
Architect and Urban
Planner Tilman Latz.
VITA
TLMAN LATZ – is partner and design director of Latz + Partner. He studied landscape
architecture at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna and at
the University of Kassel, where he graduated in 1993. He studied architecture at the Architectural
Association in London and at the University of Kassel, where he completed
his studies in 1997 with a diploma in architecture. Subsequently, he worked as a project
manager for Jourda Architectes Paris, as a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania
in Philadelphia and as a guest professor at the University of Kassel. One of his areas
of expertise is the transformation of post-industrial landscapes.
Photo: Latz + Partner
many facilities, because at the moment of their closure they still have a significance
in the urban environment that should not be underestimated. Their privileged
status in the urban fabric is also the basis for the restructuring process of
a region or city towards a new use, towards a change. However, that very same
aspect, the circumstance that the entire infrastructure of a city is geared towards
these industrial sites, brings new challenges for us planners in the process of
transformation. For this reason, infrastructure also needs to be rethought. In
the Ruhr area, this has usually worked well because it emerged almost entirely
from these new industrial cities. And as a result, many former industrial plants
there could become new urban, central locations.
topos: How to find the right lever to identify a new use? When does a conversion
work, when does it not work? There are projects in other countries, such
as the USA, where an approach other than conversion was adopted, where decommissioned
facilities were not put to a new use. Instead, the planners partially
caved in to the investors’ desires, however without the success hoped for.
LATZ: Speaking for the Ruhr area, I can say that conversion was possible and
met with success because many actors actively supported it from the early 1990s
onwards. And it was always a matter of finding a new identity. When something
is lost, when those structures that make up the character of a region or city are
no longer effective, new ideas, new models, a new self-image are needed. All of
this can best be achieved through active conversion. The USA has indeed usually
dealt with the issue differently. This can be seen – and I find this a very sad
example – in the Bethlehem Steel plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. A steelworks
covering an area of over a thousand hectares, which is truly unique in my
opinion, but which for me is emblematic of how industrial culture is treated in
the USA. The design and planning such a site requires are often left to private
investors. In England, unfortunately, the situation is similar, as the discussion
about preserving the Redcar Blast Furnace in Middlesbrough shows. Several
generations of students dealt with the Bethlehem Steel site, among them my father
Peter and I when we were teaching in Philadelphia in different years. Over
the years, various architects and planners developed some really interesting
concepts of what a change of use after the closure in 1995 could look like. In the
end, however, only the central blast furnace was left standing, everything around
it was demolished, levelled and turned into a banal business park, including
even a casino, I think. Such a utilisation concept, if you even want to call it that,
is disappointing in my opinion, for the fascinating buildings were fenced in and
remained inaccessible. Only a footbridge allows a certain proximity to this fascinating
monster. You can only look at it from the outside, but – unlike in Duisburg-Nord
– you can’t experience it in a new context, touch it or even climb up it.
topos: Didn't the planners deal with the place and its history?
LATZ: Maybe they did, but apparently that didn't interest the investors. And in
the end, as an architect or landscape architect, you often end up saying, “well, I’ll
just do it somehow”. That’s bitter, but that’s how it works. In addition, cities in
the US often have very little opportunity to influence the process because they
lack the finances. In countries like Germany, you could place the property under
a preservation order, but then the planner is no longer the planner, but the
conservationist, which of course does have its justification. But when this happens,
there is often a lack of understanding for public space, a lack of ideas for a
new use. At Bethlehem Steel, they subjected everything to one goal; they levelled
as much of the space as possible, since the whole thing had to be financed. By
contrast, we at Latz + Partner don't perceive such a facility primarily as a building,
we take in the entire site, viewing it as one landscape. In my opinion, it must
be done in this way because industry zones, especially heavy industry, are machines
where the surrounding landscape, the infrastructure, is absolutely essential,
not only for storing materials, but also to enable the machine to function in
the first place. This is quite different from business park areas consisting of service
facilities, such as DHL or Amazon distribution centres. If the whole is understood
as one coherent landscape, an incredibly exciting space can emerge, in
which business, culture, ecology and housing are all possible to a relevant extent.
In addition, such an approach would enable much more attractive spatial and
functional possibilities, which would have a more lasting effect on a location
than most new planning proposals could ever generate. However, as already
mentioned, all of this depends on the funding made available and of course also
on the willingness or the possibility to embrace such an exciting radicalism.
topos 087