Innsbruck [C4,C3,C2,C1]
>>>Reiseuni Report | Making of [Vol:III Workshop Cluster • Innsbruck]
(Workshops in chronological order)
design studio M1 ss2017 + reiseuni
urban + regional design
faculty of architecture
university of Innsbruck
www.urbanlab.info
A movement in the global and also national population becomes tangible. A desire for change is given, visible mainly in the political landscape. These varied circumstances require holistic approaches and concepts.
The Alps are significantly affected by the global climate change. Regular pinpointed snowfalls cannot be longer presumed. Tourist places help themselves with the use of snow machines on the Greenfield. But they only work at low temperatures and they are not at all environmentally. Tourist places need new ideas and additional focus depending on the potential of their specific location.
In parallel a demographic decline because of the rural exodus takes place in regions, valleys, small cities and communities of the alpine region.
The global standardization of many products and their working processes effects a loss of local value creation, of jobs, of exploiting specific potentials, of traditional and cultural aspects, in general of the authenticity of regions and cultures as well as the individuality.
Most of the energy flows in economic and/or planning respects culminate into the of course sensible densification of cities. Considering contemporary developments of cities and the resulting urban structures, it appears that many people want to settle on the outskirts to enjoy the urban atmosphere and as well the advantages of living close nature. Therefore: would it not make sense to implant a minimum of urban structures and infrastructures in rural regions in order to make a life there worthwhile? Regionalization can be an answer to globalization.
Spatial development of a region or landscape needs a new design for the living environment created for human beings in every respect. This includes affordable accommodations, work, the necessary infrastructure like shopping, education, health, culture, entertainment, sports and leisure, an innovative mobility, communication and an intact nature. Public safety, a working social system, integration and ecology present us significant challenges.
Cortina organised the World Ski Championship already in 1932 and 1941 as well as the Winter Olympic Games in 1956. And now Cortina got again the contract for the World Ski Championship in 2021.
Till 1970 the population increased to 8.500 inhabitants. Today there are living about 6.000 inhabitants in Cortina.
61 Years have passed since then. Cortina is still a noble ski resort, though the city has many problems with secondary residences. The residential population is displaced from foreign real estate buyers to the surrounding communities and a permanent price increasing takes place - similar as it happens in Kitzbühel and St. Moritz.
In the last decades Cortina has lost a little of its awareness level. The city is only seasonal enlivened, in the off season Cortina conveys a morbid but still nostalgic sophisticated atmosphere.
Cortina will use the World Ski Championship 2021 to restructure and to invest, concerning particular the sportive equipments.
Therefore the task is to develop and to design a liveable space for Cortina, creative new models of life for all residents and to show typical solution scenarios, which make Cortina grow at least up to 10.000 people. Another aim of the project is to design a sustainable environment that is responsible towards nature and social aspects. It also is important to think about a regional added value. Cortina should retain the status of a noble ski resort, but for the residents it is essential to offer a future-oriented liveable and economic attractive setting.
In future it makes sense and it is necessary, that events like Olympic Games, World Ski Championships, Capital of Culture, .... do not invest only selectively and limited in time, but use the challenge to create forward looking urban concepts based on global tendencies and problems.
The interventions of the projects should make Cortina to a central city in the Dolomites to relieve the bigger cities in the surrounding.
Good Luck!
Ulla Hell, Johannes Mitterdorfer, Maria Schneider
prof. arch. di dr. maria schneider
urban + regional design
faculty of architecture
university of innsbruck
technikerstrasse 13
a 6020 innsbruck
www.urbanlab.info
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agglomeration
design studio M1 ss2016
together with the reiseuni students
urban + regional design
faculty of architecture
university of Innsbruck
www.urbanlab.info
The logical consequence is to promote the urban density with a proposal of cost-efficient living spaces associated with a various mixture of utilization and generated jobs. This and the designing of the public space, which gain even more important concerning integration, are the future challenges.
Space in the alpine valleys is limited about the topography. Therefore the task is to design urban structures within the meaning of the cultural change on a hillside above Innsbruck giving landscape a particular emphasis.
The Karwendel is part of the Tyrolese limestone Alps and is situated in the north of Innsbruck. There is already a district (Hungerburg, 868 m above sea level). The Hungerburg is accessed via the Höhenstrasse and the Hungerburgbahn”, a funicular designed by Zaha Hadid. From the Hungerburgbahn you can go by foot or with a cable car to the Seegrube (1.900 m above sea level), where you have a great panoramic view to the Inn valley. The hillside from Innsbruck to the Hungerburg has been developed in particular along the road and will get more dense in future as well as the Hungerburg. Between the Hungerburg and the Seegrube there are some “Almen” and less houses.
The task is to develop on a designated hillside to the north of the Hungerburg a new dense car- free urban quarter. It is important to observe the topography and to design and build nature- orientated. The access should happen through cable cars, escalators or any else that you like, the delivery is necessary to ensure. A major topic is the public space, which should be used for services and as meeting place and recreation area for young and old. A very important aspect is to think about future-oriented living and to develop new living spaces for all generations and different nationalities. You have to think about new living arrangements and to design them.
All considerations should be done under the aspects of ecology, economy and sociology.
The programme can be seen in the attached timetable.
(Workshops in chronological order)
2017-05-08 WS07 [C4] Innsbruck, Austria
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| www.urbanlab.info |
transforming cortina
city lab
design studio M1 ss2017 + reiseuni
urban + regional design
faculty of architecture
university of Innsbruck
www.urbanlab.info
Introduction
We are living in times of migration, overageing, increasing unemployment and poverty, a global climate change, economic crisis, religious and culture conflicts. Globalization embraces everybody’s life with all its positive but also negative aspects we all have to be aware of.A movement in the global and also national population becomes tangible. A desire for change is given, visible mainly in the political landscape. These varied circumstances require holistic approaches and concepts.
The Alps are significantly affected by the global climate change. Regular pinpointed snowfalls cannot be longer presumed. Tourist places help themselves with the use of snow machines on the Greenfield. But they only work at low temperatures and they are not at all environmentally. Tourist places need new ideas and additional focus depending on the potential of their specific location.
In parallel a demographic decline because of the rural exodus takes place in regions, valleys, small cities and communities of the alpine region.
The global standardization of many products and their working processes effects a loss of local value creation, of jobs, of exploiting specific potentials, of traditional and cultural aspects, in general of the authenticity of regions and cultures as well as the individuality.
Most of the energy flows in economic and/or planning respects culminate into the of course sensible densification of cities. Considering contemporary developments of cities and the resulting urban structures, it appears that many people want to settle on the outskirts to enjoy the urban atmosphere and as well the advantages of living close nature. Therefore: would it not make sense to implant a minimum of urban structures and infrastructures in rural regions in order to make a life there worthwhile? Regionalization can be an answer to globalization.
Spatial development of a region or landscape needs a new design for the living environment created for human beings in every respect. This includes affordable accommodations, work, the necessary infrastructure like shopping, education, health, culture, entertainment, sports and leisure, an innovative mobility, communication and an intact nature. Public safety, a working social system, integration and ecology present us significant challenges.
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| 2017-05-09_WS07 Innsbruck Day-One – Professors + Students of Innsbruck + Class-04 at Drei Zinnen Nature Park, Toblach, Photo: Maria Schneider |
Location
At the end of the 19th century Cortina d'Ampezzo became known as a noble tourist spot in the Dolomites. During the 1st world war Cortina lost this privilege status. After the 2nd world war Cortina recovers again as a noble ski resort.Cortina organised the World Ski Championship already in 1932 and 1941 as well as the Winter Olympic Games in 1956. And now Cortina got again the contract for the World Ski Championship in 2021.
Till 1970 the population increased to 8.500 inhabitants. Today there are living about 6.000 inhabitants in Cortina.
61 Years have passed since then. Cortina is still a noble ski resort, though the city has many problems with secondary residences. The residential population is displaced from foreign real estate buyers to the surrounding communities and a permanent price increasing takes place - similar as it happens in Kitzbühel and St. Moritz.
In the last decades Cortina has lost a little of its awareness level. The city is only seasonal enlivened, in the off season Cortina conveys a morbid but still nostalgic sophisticated atmosphere.
Cortina will use the World Ski Championship 2021 to restructure and to invest, concerning particular the sportive equipments.
Project Objective
Our aim is not to effect only selective measures but to develop a holistic programme for the future of Cortina and to change it to a competitive location, which could serve as a lighthouse project for other places with similar starting points.Therefore the task is to develop and to design a liveable space for Cortina, creative new models of life for all residents and to show typical solution scenarios, which make Cortina grow at least up to 10.000 people. Another aim of the project is to design a sustainable environment that is responsible towards nature and social aspects. It also is important to think about a regional added value. Cortina should retain the status of a noble ski resort, but for the residents it is essential to offer a future-oriented liveable and economic attractive setting.
In future it makes sense and it is necessary, that events like Olympic Games, World Ski Championships, Capital of Culture, .... do not invest only selectively and limited in time, but use the challenge to create forward looking urban concepts based on global tendencies and problems.
The interventions of the projects should make Cortina to a central city in the Dolomites to relieve the bigger cities in the surrounding.
Formalities
Correction of sketches, plans, etc. will be made only on paper. Models, videos, simulations etc. can be used during corrections and presentations. Layout for midterm, final presentation and for the brochure will be announced later.Good Luck!
Ulla Hell, Johannes Mitterdorfer, Maria Schneider
prof. arch. di dr. maria schneider
urban + regional design
faculty of architecture
university of innsbruck
technikerstrasse 13
a 6020 innsbruck
www.urbanlab.info
[Programme: Univ.-Prof. Arch. DI Dr. Maria Schneider, 2017-05-01]
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2016-05-09 WS07 [C3] Innsbruck, Austria
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| www.urbanlab.info |
agglomeration
city lab
design studio M1 ss2016
together with the reiseuni students
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| 2016-06-16 WS07 Innsbruck – About the Workshop |
faculty of architecture
university of Innsbruck
www.urbanlab.info
Introduction
Alpine Regions have a strong tendency to a rural depopulation. In parallel cities are growing very fast. They are expanding to their borders and they transform more and more to urban landscapes. Because of the market crises and the increasing number of refugees many people are not able to afford habitation. The immigrants cause a mix of cultures. Integration is in the forefront of our thinking than ever before. Inevitable the urban setting, the country and the landscape are changing.The logical consequence is to promote the urban density with a proposal of cost-efficient living spaces associated with a various mixture of utilization and generated jobs. This and the designing of the public space, which gain even more important concerning integration, are the future challenges.
Space in the alpine valleys is limited about the topography. Therefore the task is to design urban structures within the meaning of the cultural change on a hillside above Innsbruck giving landscape a particular emphasis.
Task
In the north and in the south mountains surround the Inn valley as well as Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol (574 m above sea level). The valley is already densely populated.The Karwendel is part of the Tyrolese limestone Alps and is situated in the north of Innsbruck. There is already a district (Hungerburg, 868 m above sea level). The Hungerburg is accessed via the Höhenstrasse and the Hungerburgbahn”, a funicular designed by Zaha Hadid. From the Hungerburgbahn you can go by foot or with a cable car to the Seegrube (1.900 m above sea level), where you have a great panoramic view to the Inn valley. The hillside from Innsbruck to the Hungerburg has been developed in particular along the road and will get more dense in future as well as the Hungerburg. Between the Hungerburg and the Seegrube there are some “Almen” and less houses.
The task is to develop on a designated hillside to the north of the Hungerburg a new dense car- free urban quarter. It is important to observe the topography and to design and build nature- orientated. The access should happen through cable cars, escalators or any else that you like, the delivery is necessary to ensure. A major topic is the public space, which should be used for services and as meeting place and recreation area for young and old. A very important aspect is to think about future-oriented living and to develop new living spaces for all generations and different nationalities. You have to think about new living arrangements and to design them.
All considerations should be done under the aspects of ecology, economy and sociology.
Process
The workshop runs from the 9th of May to the 10th of June at the institute of urban + regional design at the faculty of architecture and a programme is fixed. The six international students work together with the students of Innsbruck, who did in March and April some preparatory works (model, first ideas, ...). On the 9th of May 10 groups in each case two students will present their works and the international students can choose, with whom they want to work.The programme can be seen in the attached timetable.
Good luck!
Ulla Hell, Johannes Mitterdorfer, Maria Schneider
[Programme: Univ.-Prof. Arch. DI Dr. Maria Elisabeth Schneider, 2016-04-21]
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Class-02: 23.04 – 01.06.2012 Workshop 4 at Innsbruck [INN]
at Institute of Urban and Regional Planning
BetreuerInnen:
Task
Reconstruction of an alpine village
On the example of Obertilliach: What can urban thinking architects propose in rural regions, which are threatened by emigration, to enable an equilibrated economical, cultural and social life on the standard and height of our time – by maintaining the natural and scenic qualities? Which steps can contribute that the young ones do not want to move away as a matter of principles but rather bring into the region their energy and knowledge in order to participate from there to the global social discussion? How can architecture contribute to a positive communication between the members of different generations?
Introduction
Since approximately three decades Europe finds itself in a fundamental process of change. The social conditions are shifting, people are getting older and the classical image of „the family“ is pushed to the background. In parallel social competences and responsibilities are getting less important through the growth of wealth. Globalization conditions a mixture of religions and nationalities and therefore a loss of ethnic and traditional values. Ecologic factors in order to protect the environment have to be pushed forward. Future prospects predict that many people will not be able to afford their actual standard of living.
Climate change, exploding costs of energy and the obligation to achieve the Kyoto Protocol, which was decided at the 11th of December 1997 are questions of the energy conservation and central themes of our society. Energy production or energy efficiency as simple topic is not enough. We have to react immediately, the PEAK-‐ Oil is getting closer very fast, climate change happens; the consequences of the actual economic crises are quite unpredictable at the moment.
Globally as well as regionally we observe a strong tendency towards a rural depopulation, in parallel is happening an urban depopulation: people benefit on one hand from the urban infrastructures and atmospheres but on the other hand they are seeking their house with garden in the middle of nature. The consequences are a sprawl in the peripheries of the cities (Speckguertel), traffic intense agglomerations and so-called “Zwischenstaedte” (“In-between-cities”, Thomas Sieverts), which lead to an immense use of land and to a high traffic volume on one hand and to a formations of ghettos on the other.
Many regions are confronted with changing local and global basic conditions. Far too often developments in economy, society and ecology are not recognized in time. Through political, economic and private interests such developments become a huge potential of conflicts and are often corrected only punctually. Holistic and sustainable solutions are not worked out and realized. Only if a region is flexible enough to adapt to the constant changing social, political and ecological parameters a positive development can take place.
Even though those problems are evident and known enough, in spatial development systematic and holistic solutions can be barely found. Settlements, cities, regions and countries have to face those developments and assume sustainable responsibilities.
We are therefore invited to work out and realize future innovative scenarios for an affordable social and ecologic living environment- for urban but as well rural areas.
A constructive and innovative approach against the endless growing cities is the regionalization, the reactivation and revival of selected regions, depending on the potential of the location. Holistic concepts for infrastructure, mobility, building in and with nature and the use of regenerative energies are needed as well as a value creation in the region itself. A second approach is an interdisciplinary collaboration and cooperation of different professionals (architects, urban and landscape planners, engineers, sociologists, geographers, etc.) with politics, economy and universities. Last but not least a planning and implementation in terms of “Regional Governance” in the spatial development is needed as well as an awareness raising of the stakeholders.
Programme
23.04.
11.00 Welcome at the Institute of Urban design and Regional Planning (3rd floor) Introduction of the project
Introduction of oneself Installation of the working place in the seminar room HSB7, Ground Floor in the Building of the Department of Civil Engineering Sciences. Welcome party
Workshop Obertilliach
24.04.
Going to Obertilliach
Departure Innsbruck Station at 7 a.m. Accommodation Hotel Andreas
Meeting Point at Hotel Andreas (There we have a seminar room, where the lectures will be hold and where you can work) Welcome Mayor Matthias Scherer. Lecture Hannes Mitterdorfer
Tour through Obertilliach with Josef Lugger, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tourism, Obertilliach, CEO of the Hotel Unterwöger, Obertilliach Lecture Hansjörg Viertler / Hans Schmieder Dinner
25.04.
Departure Villgratental Tour through Villgratental with Hans Schett Sightseeing factory of sheep wool, .... Work Reflection meeting (thoughts and first ideas) grouping. Dinner
26.04.
Visiting of special places (hamlets or Maria Luggau, etc.) Work
Departure: Obertilliach Busstop (Bus 4416) Arrival: Sillian Station. Departure: Sillian Station. Arrival: Innsbruck Station
27.04.-01.05.
Work
02.05.
Excursion Ötztal (Sölden, Ober-‐ und Hochgurgl)
Lectures Arnold Klotz and Wolfgang Andexlinger Review (compulsary attendance) Presentation: Visualization of the 1. Ideas (poster) Detailed definition of the assignment (groups)
04.05.-07.05.
Work
08.05.
Lectures Hell and Honold and Schneider
Review (possibility)
09.05.
Work
10.05.
Lecture Bart Lootsma
Review (compulsary attendance) Presentation of the projects – ideas, implementation, design (poster)
11.05.-15.05.
Work
16.05.
Midterm (Plakat) Guests: Dagmar, Machne, Holger, Mutschlechner, Lootsma, Klotz, ...)
17.05.-21.05.
Work
22.05.
Review (compulsary attendance) (PP or poster)
23.05.
Work
24.05.
Review (compulsary attendance) (PP)
25.05.-30.05.
Work
31.05.
Final Presentation (PP as well as poster, maybe a model) Hand over of CD (PP inclusive poster and maybe photos of the model)
Final party
Charges
Hotel -‐ Gasthof Andreas – Accommodation with breakfast and dinner – free Trips in East Tyrol (Villgraten, etc.) – Transportation is free Train and Bus “Innsbruck – Obertilliach” – you have to pay (You have to be early enough at the station in Innsbruck or you buy the tickets the day before. I think it is possible to buy the tickets from Innsbruck to Obertilliach and back at the railway station in Innsbruck, Meeting Point is in Obertilliach) Excursion with the bus to Ötztal – transportation is free
Information
East Tyrol
Geographically spoken, the region of East Tyrol may be seen as a kind of island. The inner alpine region of East Tyrol is far removed from the great alpine transit routes and all great flows of tourists pass it by. Even if the situation is less dramatic than in some regions of the French and Italian Alps, some villages and towns could rightly be seen as lacking in infrastructure. The population is shrinking due to emigration. Despite certain structural weaknesses, East Tyrol is a functioning agricultural region dominated by sustainable tourism and a decent level of economic strength in the fields of small and medium-‐sized businesses in the area of Lienz. East Tyrol certainly does not have any tourist hubs like Kitzbühel, Sölden, or Ischgl in North Tyrol, nor such a highly-‐developed agriculture as South Tyrol with its expansive apple and wine cultivations. Even if East Tyrol is a culturally highly developed region, some developments come to these regions somewhat late or can be observed to a lesser degree, which is doubtless due to its geographical situation. That is why the region has its own (agri)cultural landscapes, its somewhat idiosyncratic village and town structures and its very own ways of life steeped in tradition.
Regionalization
Regionalization as term is not used very often. „Region“ is also note to be defined by quantitative definitions.”Regions” could be seen as territorially or politically informed areas or as culturally or religiously informed areas and therefore we have many different regions in the world, which all have their characters. Those characters have to be maintained and have to be brought to an updated ecological, technical and technological standard in order to give society the chance to find an identification and a potential of creating its living environment.
The term regionalization has to be seen from its positive side. It offers the opportunity to develop a qualitative living space through holistic concepts. Development needs time – no problem: regionalization is like globalization a process related action.
Obertilliach General data | Historical Background | History etc.:
>>>Programme at ASG-Archive
Lecturers:
Arch. Di Ulla Hell
p l a s m a studio
london/ beijing/ bolzano
Arch. DI Reinhard Honold
6020 innsbruck, fürstenweg 142
Univ.-‐Prof. Arch. DI Dr. Maria Schneider
director of studies of the faculty institute of urban and regional planning
department of architecture . university of innsbruck
a 6020 innsbruck
technikerstrasse 13
[Programme: Univ.-‐Prof. Arch. DI Dr. Maria Schneider
director of studies of the faculty institute of urban and regional planning]
director of studies of the faculty institute of urban and regional planning]
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ARCHITEKTUR.STUDIUM.GENERALE
Class-01: Workshop 5 - ALPINE ARCHITECTURE at Innsbruck [INN] 06.06.2011 - 15.07.2011
at University of Innsbruck
Institut für Städtebau und Raumplanung
Maria Schneider | o.Univ.-Prof. DI Arch. Dr., dean of studies, architect and town planner;
Wolfgang Andexlinger | Ass.-Prof. DI Dr., architecture and theory (yean, network for research studies);
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| 2011-07-13 WS5 Innsbruck Final-Works Class-01 |
Topic
ALPINE ARCHITECTURE
Lecturers
• Institute of Urban design and Regional Planning, Innsbruck:
Intro
Obergurgl as a living organism, an urban self-sufficient system. Designed to trigger a change of view regarding social matters as well as handling our resources; creating awareness for the production of drinking water, food and energy on regional, national and international grounds.
Even if this sounded like a futuristic scenario, it’s a fact that on a long term urban life as we know it will not be able to endure in its current state. Radical rethinking will be required to solve the problem of food and energy supply of our global metropolises. Another emerging issue is mobility – caused by rural migration and overpopulation. Big cities have become fragile systems due to their continuous dependence on food and energy supply. It’s rather ironic that this system represents the backbone of nowadays societies.
The logical response to this would be a self-sufficient city in a mountain region to display those visions could be implemented even in hostile regions. Normal cities could adapt to this concept quite easily – like an alpine city – this proves to be an alternative to the „mission to Mars“.
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber raised the following questions regarding this topic:
1. Do you believe that you are better off than your grandparents?
2. Do you believe that your grandchildren will be better of than you?
Definition of the Project
The 21st century will be the urban century. In about 10 years three of five people worldwide will live in cities. This involves, that the cities become more and more crowded and the regions always more empty.
A constructive and innovative approach against the endless growing city is the regionalization, the revival of selected regions, depending on the potentials of the location. Here are infrastructures, mobility, building in nature, the use of renewable energy and added value locally the important facts.
So the challenge of the workshop in Innsbruck is to build a new innovative, self-sufficient and sustainable “Smart City” in the Alps, at the end of the Ötztal in about 2.500 meter.
How you do this
The first week you have to think about how the new city will work. You have to build groups and choose one of the topics, we worked out for you. You have to do concrete analyses and to devise statements concerning. Together we go for an excursion through the mountains and we arranged some lectures for you.
In the second week we have a workshop in Obergurgl (4 Days). First you have to present the outputs of your work from the last week. Then we will have discussions and you have to define your part of work for building a new city (in groups or lonely). In Obergurgl it is also possible to analyse the landscape and to visit the location for the new city.
The next weeks you have to work. Some of the tutors are always reachable for corrections.
In the fourth week you have an official review, where you present your concept.
In the sixth week you have the final presentation.
Topics for the first week
Water & waste management
While the world's population tripled in the 20th century, the use of renewable water resources has grown six-fold. Within the next fifty years, the world population will increase by another 40 to 50 %. This population growth - coupled with industrialization and urbanization - will result in an increasing demand for water and will have serious consequences on the environment.
Already there is more waste water generated and dispersed today than at any other time in the history of our planet: more than one out of six people lack access to safe drinking water, namely 1.1 billion people, and more than two out of six lack adequate sanitation, namely 2.6 billion people (Estimation for 2002, by the WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2004).
High levels of water use cause social, environmental and economic problems. 3900 children die every day from water borne diseases (WHO 2004). One must know that these figures represent only people with very poor conditions. In reality, these figures should be much higher. On the environmental side, high consumption places stress on rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers and may require dams and flooding with serious ecological impacts. As well, the discharge of polluted water once it has been used damages aquatic ecosystems. On the economic side, high levels of water use require ever-increasing and expensive investments in water system infrastructure needed to gather, deliver and dispose of water (dams, reservoirs, water treatment facilities, distribution networks and sewage treatment).
source: http://www.environmentalindicators.com/htdocs/indicators/6wate.htm, http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/index.php?id=25
Ecology & Society
There can be no „ecological thinking“ that does not place human social destiny at the heart of our posture toward our environmental context. We may well learn over the next years that cities, even megacities, actually represent dramatically efficient ecological solutions, but this fact alone does not make them sustainable, especially if the forces of social invention remain trapped in tyrannies that only ecological thinking in an ecumenical scale can free us from. For ecological thinking too has its counterfeit and debased forms, and many “sustainability” discourses remain more oppressive than liberatory, more stifling than inventive, and it would be a great peril if we were to continue to assume that these to areas of approach, and especially their methods and presuppositions, are necessarily complementary.
We especially must not make the mistake of believing that one can detach the “human” and the “natural” from the aesthetic and still maintain that we have met the challenge of ecological thinking and ecological praxis. Similarly, it must not be assumed that by “human” we are referring to same set of qualities and potentials that are traditionally associated with these terms.
source: Kwinter, S., Notes on the Third Ecology, in: Ecological Urbanism, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Lars Müller Publishers, 2010, p. 103
Mobility
A typical automobile weights twenty times as much as its driver. A comfortable chair occupies only about 1m², while a parked car generally uses up 20m² of valuable urban real estate. Furthermore, it is parked about 80 percent of the time – not only taking up space that could be put to better usee but also costing money, consuming materials, and embodying energy. Although urban speed limits are usually set at 50 km/h, and its engineered for a top speed of more than 130 km/h and a range of around 500-700 km. And of course it is powered by gasoline – a rapidly diminishing, nonrenewable resource that arrives through increasingly problematic supply chains and emits greenhouse gases from the tailpipe.
We need to argue that we have to make radical changes. We have to take this moment of economic and energy-crises as an opportunity to reinvent urban personal mobility from the ground up. We can and we should create systems that provide very high levels of mobility service while minimizing energy consumption and supporting a large-scale shift to clean, renewable, and more local energy sources.
source: Mitchell, W.J. Sustainable Urban Mobility through Light Electric Vehicles, in: Ecological Urbanism, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Lars Müller Publishers, 2010, p. 382-397
Architecture & Material
Ecological urbanism means different things to different people, but at its essence it represents the challenge of establishing a new order in architecture in which there is harmony between people, the buildings the s inhabits, the cities they construct, and the natural environment in which they live. By contrast, construction approaches used currently are designed to create buildings that function largely in isolation and utilize resources in highly inefficient ways, which can ravage the local environment. We must therefore confront this challenge head-on if we are to sustain the natural resources and quality of life required for fruitful survival of our species. Yet it is unlikely that new applications of existing building materials and construction approaches will satisfy this goal.
source: Ingber, D.E., Bioinspired Adaptive Architecture and Sustainability, in: Ecological Urbanism, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Lars Müller Publishers, 2010, p. 382-397
Energy
We investigate strategies and policies to address climate change. We develop scenarios of how to accomplish the necessary reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for achieving long-term climate protection. We focus on the transition pathways of the energy system (coal, gas, oil, nuclear, wind, solar, biomass, geothermal; including carbon capture and storage) and the land use system (agricultural production for food and biofuels) from a carbon based to a low-carbon economy. We examine these pathways in the context of globalization and economic growth. We also analyze policy instruments (emission caps and emission permit trading, taxes and subsidies, feed-in-tariffs etc.) of implementing the necessary mitigation measures at the national and international level. We embed our research into a wider sustainability context including the relationship of mitigation and adaptation, land use, resource use, and general socio-economic development.
source: Ottmar Edenhofer, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research http://www.pik-potsdam.de/research/research-domains/sustainable-solutions
Nature
Irresistible forces are drawing vast populations into the cities. There, in the busy centres of the great towns, life is lived at high pressure —at such pressure that men are continually compelled to seek rest and refreshment, either in suburban home life, or in frequent flights to the country, the mountains, or the sea. It is to meet this want that millions of dollars are spent upon public country parks, and other millions upon country-seats and seaside-seats, summer hotels, and summer cottage neighbourhoods; while, near the cities, the same want causes the region of detached and gardened houses to continually expand. This modern crowding into cities results in a counter invasion of the country; and it is just here that the special modern need of an art and profession of landscape gardening is first felt. How can we add roads, and many or large buildings to natural landscape, without destroying the very thing in search of which we left the city? How shall we establish ourselves as conveniently as may be, and at the same time preserve all the charms of the scene we have chosen to dwell in? How may we rightly work to bring more and more beauty into that scene?
The building of convenient and beautiful structures is thus but a part of the art of architecture. The arranging of these structures in streets, in neighbourhoods, on sea-coasts, in the valleys of the hills, the careful adjustment of the structure to its site and its landscape, the devising of ways and roads so that they may be either impressive through order and formality, or charming through their subordination to natural conditions, the development of appropriate beauty in the surroundings of buildings, whether by adding terraces and avenues or by enhancing natural beauty—all this is, or ought to be, at least one half of the art and profession of architecture.
source: Charles William Eliot (1834-1926), „Landscape Architect“, ISBN 1-55849-212-7,1999
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area, the labor, capital and land resources, and the economic agents that socially participate in the production, exchange, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area. A given economy is the end result of a process that involves its technological evolution, history and social organization, as well as its geography, natural resource endowment, and ecology, as main factors. These factors give context, content, and set the conditions and parameters in which an economy functions.
All professions, occupations, economic agents or economic activities, contribute to the economy. Consumption, saving, and investment are core variable components in the economy and determine market equilibrium.
An economic system is composed of people and institutions, including their relationships to productive resources, such as through the convention of property. Examples of contemporary economic systems include capitalist systems, socialist systems, and mixed economies. "Economic systems" is the economics category that includes the study of respective systems.
An economic ideology distinguishes itself from economic theory in being normative rather than just explanatory in its approach. It expresses a perspective on the way an economy should be run and to what end, where as the aim of economic theories is to create accurate explanatory models.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Communication Tools
There are many different types of communication that we use every day. We use a variety of communication tools for work and with our family and friends.
As much as there are different ways of communicating, there are also different kinds of communication tools.
When we consider style and purpose of communication we can divide it into two groups, formal communication and informal communication. Formal communication includes all forms of formal exchanges of information (business communication, corporate communication, …). The informal communication is the opposite. It is a form of casual conversation and exchange of communication.
Other types of communication are the vertical and horizontal communication. The definition of vertical communication is the flow of information both downward and upward through the organizational chain of command. Horizontal communication is the information exchange between departments or functional units as means of coordinating their activities.
All these types of communication are used through out the world to exchange and understand information.
What you have to know
Statement
"The city historically constructed is no longer lived and is no longer understood practically. It is only an object of cultural consumption for tourists, for aestheticism, avid for spectacles and the picturesque. Even for those who seek to understand it with warmth, it is gone. Yet, the urban remains in a state of dispersed and alienated actuality, as kernel and virtuality. What the eyes and analysis perceive on the ground can at best pass for the shadow of the future object in the light of a rinsing sun. It is impossible to envisage the reconstitution of the old city, only the construction of a new one on new foundations, on another scale and in other conditions, in other society. The prescription is: there cannot be a going back (towards the traditional city), nor a headlong flight, towards a colossal and shapeless agglomeration. In other words, for what concerns the city the object of science is not given. The past, the present, the possible cannot be separated. What is being studied is a virtual object, which though studies, which calls for new approaches."
Henri Lefebvre, 1968
source: Mostafavi, M., Why Ecological Urbanism? Why Now?, in: Ecological Urbanism, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Lars Müller Publishers, 2010, p. 23
Smart City
Urban performance currently depends not only on the city's endowment of hard infrastructure ('physical capital'), but also, and increasingly so, on the availability and quality of knowledge communication and social infrastructure ('intellectual and social capital'). The latter form of capital is decisive for urban competitiveness. It is against this background that the concept of the "smart city" has been introduced as a strategic device to encompass modern urban production factors in a common framework and to highlight the growing importance of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), social and environmental capital in profiling the competitiveness of cities.[1] The significance of these two assets - social and environmental capital - itself goes a long way to distinguish smart cities from their more technology-laden counterparts, drawing a clear line between them and what goes under the name of either digital or intelligent cities
Smart cities can be identified (and ranked) along six main axes or dimensions.[2] These axes are: a smart economy; smart mobility; a smart environment; smart people; smart living; and, finally, smart governance. These six axes connect with traditional regional and neoclassical theories of urban growth and development. In particular, the axes are based - respectively - on theories of regional competitiveness, transport and ICT economics, natural resources, human and social capital, quality of life, and participation of citizens in the governance of cities.
[Workshop Programme: Univ.-Prof. DI Dr. Maria Schneider]