Architectural Design V-IX: New City Landscapes - Focal Points of Urban Densification (M. Brakebusch)

Abstract

The global phenomenon of rising temperatures as a result of climate change requires, based on local conditions, individual solutions for the increasingly heated and dense urban space. The heat reduction programs presented describe fields of action and approaches that are targeted at specific points and that remain at the political and administrative boundaries.

Objective

- Analyzing the landscape framework for the development of the city - Learning the basics of urban climate planning - Development of a specific vocabulary (concepts) in the field of landscape architecture - Developing an urban / landscape architecture project

Content

The world’s temperature is rising at an unprecedented rate due to climate change. This global phenomenon requires individual solutions based on local conditions in order to tackle the problems of density and heat in urban areas. Nevertheless, current heat reduction programmes describe fields of action and approaches that are selective and constrained by political and administrative boundaries. The federalisation of Switzerland, however, has led to a unified, national, urban settlement along the Swiss Central Plateau, the extent of which is dictated by the geomorphology of Switzerland and the mountain ranges of the Jura and the Alps that surround it. The three metropolitan areas of Geneva, Basel and Zurich extend from east to west, which, in addition to their dense urban development, also show the greatest calculated rise in temperature. In the design studio Neue Stadtlandschaften we will use cartographic and statistical surveys, digital and analogue, to explore the boundaries of the individual metropolitan areas in relation to their possible densification and cooling tendencies. In the coming autumn semester we will start our journey in the west with the metropolitan area of Zurich and continue in the spring semester with our second case-study: Basel. To begin, a three-week analysis will be carried out in groups. Experts will impart their knowledge and explain the tools they use, including the application of GIS programs, to understand the city’s climate. This will be followed by a synthesis workshop in which our findings will be spatially evaluated, aiming to locate and define areas for subsequent design and intervention. After the seminar week, each individual will determine more precisely the perimeter and scope for their own urban, landscape architectural design. The specialist vocabulary and knowledge imparted throughout the first phase will form the basis for discussion between students and teachers, allowing for productive discourse and formulation of ideas.

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