LES 1
Kennistoets openvragen, online. 6-8 vragen (7 vragen volgens de ppt) + excursie
Toetsstof = de lessen
Elke week 1 model, dan de urbanism die daar toe leidt en daarna over vormen ofzo
Antwoorden zijn in principe engels, maar sommige nederlandse termen mogen wel
TOETS
5 or 6 questions (laatste vraag heeft meer en dus de meeste punten)
The fictional figure henkt, as described during the fist lessen travels from paris Texas to paris in France. Coming
from a county without an urbanistic tradition, with ‘the grid’ as the main urbanistic feature, his expectations of
the journey to Europe are high. When he came to Europe, the did unfortunately not see what he expected.
Give a description of his expectations of European urbanism and what the experience he had. Relate this story
to the essay ‘the generic city’.
Try to figure out relationships in de toetsstof.
INTRODUCTION
The different processes and developments which influence urban development are so much complex that they
have to be conceived in the form of a model.
Different models lead to different spatial strategies which lead to different forms of urbanism, from blueprint
to the spontenaous city.
The way these different models can be used is the core theme of this module
WHY MODELS
Uit de ppt:
- Everything is interconected
- Reality simply is TOO complex
- In order to understand anything we have to use a model
Eigen aantekeningen:
- Urbanism is about many things: zie ppt slide. Iedereen vind ook andere dingen belangrijk. Waar stopt
het veld van urbanism
- Designing a (slightly) better world for the future.
- You have the present situation and the future situation (technology, different demographics etc).
- Urbanism is like science
- There is always progression. The best way to start is to start over.
- We always start with the question: what is already there.
- It is complicated > how does it work > how do cities work? How can we even make sense of it?
- Urbanism is about many things: see ppt slide. Everyone thinks other things are important too. Where
does the field of urbanism stop?
1
,KOOLHAAS EXHIBITION CONTENT
You always design with a lot around you, not in a vacuum. You always
have to consider the environment, it's not just the background.
(The items on the slide) It's not a big deal in the moment, but later it
might be
Something about the gugenheim museum in Bilbao
EVERYTHING IS INTERCONECTED: EXAMPELS OF MODELS
Everything has a connection. Reality is too complex. That's why you have to work with models, to understand
how it works.
An example about the london subway system: you can make maps/models, but are they understandable? You
use the data, and entertain (transform) it so that it can be understood. You have to look at what info you really
need, the rest you leave out. The map shouldn't be too big, and you don't need to know the real distance
between stations is.
- PPT: He uses an example of the Londen Underground, they made a
model of it, so u can understand how it works (the map, is a model,
so it is logical to understand). A model is NOT a genuine
representation of reality. The modern subway-map works because it
DIFFERS from reality. Abstraction is not only SIMPLIFICATION but also
TRANSFORMATION
A model is a simplification and a transformation of reality
RANDSTAD
Example about the Randstad: albert Plesman is the inventor or discoverer of the randstad. How is that
possible? He was one of the first with an airplane > and from there he saw the location of the cities. Around
1920 or so. Around that time all big cities in europe started to get too big, therefore many cities had too much
distance to green. But in NL this is not so, there all cities are close to green. In london or tokio (the cities are
endless) it takes very long, in NL 15 min. The randstad is quite big, but also spatial because of the green in the
middle.
The randstad needs help because:.....
- Solution 1: (Snozzi) it's not finished yet, it's still missing a few places. Let's fill it up along the edge.
- Solution 2: it's about connecting the cities. They are not connected well enough.
Mobility/infrastructure needs to be improved
- Solution 3: all the cities in the randstad are districts of this randstad. We are going to burn them all (do
branding). Rotterdam is now the port etc.
- Solution 4: compare the randstad to NY, green heart
is central park. Idea of OMA: the identity of a
metropolis = the identity of the center. Due to a
multiplicity of centers, this unambiguity is missing in
the European center. De randstad heeft hulp nodig
want:…..
2
,You must always have a model, because otherwise you are left with a lot of solutions that may not be good
solutions at all. You have to think in 1 way, but you also have to realize that there is more.
The danger of using models: to conceive the model as reality. People think they are right but they are not
always right because they think too much in that model. We call that ivory-tower-urbanist (thinking too much
in your own world/truth???).
If you have a post-modern mindset you can't think of one solution, you always have several
Uit ppt: the danger of using models is to conceive the model AS reality: Ivory-tower-urbanist
THE CURRENT CONDITION
Impression about what is the current situation of urbanism, we will do so by example
Hank lives in paris, illanois (USA). He experiences it. An impression about how he
experiences urbanism in the current situation.
It is about his birthplace: typical american. He goes to europe (paris. Here he has
an idea about it. Urbanism originated here (from the older greeks). In the EU we
have a lot of people thinking about urbanism, we have a rich history in this. In the
US you don't have that, there you have pragmatism. He expects cities with
different identities, and many differences between them. His journey starts in
athens, austria, paris, amsterdam, back. In the ppt all pictures of that trip. But all
particular pictures of the same flats with electricity wires and so on. All the
pictures look the same. So what is going on? Everything is weirdly designed, and
poorly thought out. The pictures could have been taken anywhere. 90% of Europe
is like these pictures. not everything looks like you hear about in history books or
see in pictures. All the suburbs look the same.
When you see a postcard from Europe, every postcard is unique and has historical
buildings. But when u go to Europe you see all the same buildings. All the same
concrete flats and roads with the same signs and cars.
NL: Het gaat over zijn geboorteplaatst: typisch amerikaans. Hij gaat naar europa (parijs. Hier heeft hij een idee over. Urbanism is hier
ontstaan (vanuit de ouder grieken). In de EU hebben we heel veel mensen die denken over urbanism, wij hebben een rijke historie hierin.
In de VS heb je dat niet, daar heb je pragmatism. Hij verwacht steden met verschillende identiteiten, en veel verschillen tussen de steden.
Zijn reis start in athene, oostenrijk, parijs, amsterdam, terug. In de ppt allemaal foto’s van die reis. Maar allemaal bijzondere foto’s van
dezelfde flats met electriciteitsdraden enzo. Alle foto’s lijken hetzelfde. Dus wat is er aan de hand? Alles is raar ontworpen, en slecht over
na gedacht. De foto’s kunnen overal genomen zijn. 90% van Europa is als deze foto’s. niet alles ziet er uit zoals je hoort in de
geschiedenisboeken of ziet op plaatjes. Alle buitenwijken zien er hetzelfde uit.
3
, LES 1 DEEL 2
This lesson is about the book S,M,L,XL , the generic City and what ever happened to urbanism. 3 parts
1. Boek: S,M,L,XL > boek van Rem Koolhaas, O.M.A een boek over architectuur maar ook over al het
andere. It is about projects arranged according to scale and the condition of architecture today. It had
ideas about the contemporary city. Subjects: the impact of politics, context, the economy,
globalisation – the world.
GENERIC CITY
2: Generic City: een urbanism way to tackle the problem Hank had. De form van een manifest, een tekst over
hoe de dingen zijn.
The generic city = the ordinary city. A description about the current situation of cities and de discipline of
urbanism
Aantekeningen:
- 1.1 the generic city is like a contemporary airport: everywhere is the same. Er is geen verschil tussen
het vliegveld in Amsterdam, quatar en hongkong. Dit gebeurt ook met steden: je kan niet zien of je in
een buitenwijk bent van Brussel, of van Parijs, of van Berlijn. Het grote verschil in culturen zie je niet
terug in de urbanism.
- 3.3 – The generic city is like a fractal, an endless repetition of the same simple module. pieces of
urbanism are put together as ‘tapestries’. There is no hierarchy. Urban centers don’t function as a
centre, at most as a theme park of a museum. Het centrum van de stad is mooi, maar heeft niks te
maken met de plekken waar mensen echt leven en werken. Het centrum is een atractiepark of een
museum.
- 1.6 the generic city is a city freed from being held hostage by the centre, the straight jacket if identity
the city is nothing more than a reflection of the current needs and capacities. If she gets too old, she
grows. If she gets to old, she tears itself down. She is everywhere just as exiting or boring. She is
superficial like Hollywood, every Mondaymorning she can get a new identity. The biggest invention of
the generic city is to simply give up what doesn’t work. No history: everything new. No ideology, pure
pragmatism.
- 6.1 wat werkt kopiëren we, en wat niet werkt halen we weg/geven we op. Geen geschiedenis: alles
nieuw. Geen ideologie, pure pragmatism
- 6.15 als alles hetzelfde is, en we geen verschil zien, wat zijn we dan aan het doen? the generic city
means the definitive death of planning. Noting seems to matter. The generic city means the definitive
death of planning. Not because the generic city is not planned – there is a gigantic universe of
designers, planners, bureaucrats at work, but it makes no difference.
“The city is dead, we may leave the theater”
4
Kennistoets openvragen, online. 6-8 vragen (7 vragen volgens de ppt) + excursie
Toetsstof = de lessen
Elke week 1 model, dan de urbanism die daar toe leidt en daarna over vormen ofzo
Antwoorden zijn in principe engels, maar sommige nederlandse termen mogen wel
TOETS
5 or 6 questions (laatste vraag heeft meer en dus de meeste punten)
The fictional figure henkt, as described during the fist lessen travels from paris Texas to paris in France. Coming
from a county without an urbanistic tradition, with ‘the grid’ as the main urbanistic feature, his expectations of
the journey to Europe are high. When he came to Europe, the did unfortunately not see what he expected.
Give a description of his expectations of European urbanism and what the experience he had. Relate this story
to the essay ‘the generic city’.
Try to figure out relationships in de toetsstof.
INTRODUCTION
The different processes and developments which influence urban development are so much complex that they
have to be conceived in the form of a model.
Different models lead to different spatial strategies which lead to different forms of urbanism, from blueprint
to the spontenaous city.
The way these different models can be used is the core theme of this module
WHY MODELS
Uit de ppt:
- Everything is interconected
- Reality simply is TOO complex
- In order to understand anything we have to use a model
Eigen aantekeningen:
- Urbanism is about many things: zie ppt slide. Iedereen vind ook andere dingen belangrijk. Waar stopt
het veld van urbanism
- Designing a (slightly) better world for the future.
- You have the present situation and the future situation (technology, different demographics etc).
- Urbanism is like science
- There is always progression. The best way to start is to start over.
- We always start with the question: what is already there.
- It is complicated > how does it work > how do cities work? How can we even make sense of it?
- Urbanism is about many things: see ppt slide. Everyone thinks other things are important too. Where
does the field of urbanism stop?
1
,KOOLHAAS EXHIBITION CONTENT
You always design with a lot around you, not in a vacuum. You always
have to consider the environment, it's not just the background.
(The items on the slide) It's not a big deal in the moment, but later it
might be
Something about the gugenheim museum in Bilbao
EVERYTHING IS INTERCONECTED: EXAMPELS OF MODELS
Everything has a connection. Reality is too complex. That's why you have to work with models, to understand
how it works.
An example about the london subway system: you can make maps/models, but are they understandable? You
use the data, and entertain (transform) it so that it can be understood. You have to look at what info you really
need, the rest you leave out. The map shouldn't be too big, and you don't need to know the real distance
between stations is.
- PPT: He uses an example of the Londen Underground, they made a
model of it, so u can understand how it works (the map, is a model,
so it is logical to understand). A model is NOT a genuine
representation of reality. The modern subway-map works because it
DIFFERS from reality. Abstraction is not only SIMPLIFICATION but also
TRANSFORMATION
A model is a simplification and a transformation of reality
RANDSTAD
Example about the Randstad: albert Plesman is the inventor or discoverer of the randstad. How is that
possible? He was one of the first with an airplane > and from there he saw the location of the cities. Around
1920 or so. Around that time all big cities in europe started to get too big, therefore many cities had too much
distance to green. But in NL this is not so, there all cities are close to green. In london or tokio (the cities are
endless) it takes very long, in NL 15 min. The randstad is quite big, but also spatial because of the green in the
middle.
The randstad needs help because:.....
- Solution 1: (Snozzi) it's not finished yet, it's still missing a few places. Let's fill it up along the edge.
- Solution 2: it's about connecting the cities. They are not connected well enough.
Mobility/infrastructure needs to be improved
- Solution 3: all the cities in the randstad are districts of this randstad. We are going to burn them all (do
branding). Rotterdam is now the port etc.
- Solution 4: compare the randstad to NY, green heart
is central park. Idea of OMA: the identity of a
metropolis = the identity of the center. Due to a
multiplicity of centers, this unambiguity is missing in
the European center. De randstad heeft hulp nodig
want:…..
2
,You must always have a model, because otherwise you are left with a lot of solutions that may not be good
solutions at all. You have to think in 1 way, but you also have to realize that there is more.
The danger of using models: to conceive the model as reality. People think they are right but they are not
always right because they think too much in that model. We call that ivory-tower-urbanist (thinking too much
in your own world/truth???).
If you have a post-modern mindset you can't think of one solution, you always have several
Uit ppt: the danger of using models is to conceive the model AS reality: Ivory-tower-urbanist
THE CURRENT CONDITION
Impression about what is the current situation of urbanism, we will do so by example
Hank lives in paris, illanois (USA). He experiences it. An impression about how he
experiences urbanism in the current situation.
It is about his birthplace: typical american. He goes to europe (paris. Here he has
an idea about it. Urbanism originated here (from the older greeks). In the EU we
have a lot of people thinking about urbanism, we have a rich history in this. In the
US you don't have that, there you have pragmatism. He expects cities with
different identities, and many differences between them. His journey starts in
athens, austria, paris, amsterdam, back. In the ppt all pictures of that trip. But all
particular pictures of the same flats with electricity wires and so on. All the
pictures look the same. So what is going on? Everything is weirdly designed, and
poorly thought out. The pictures could have been taken anywhere. 90% of Europe
is like these pictures. not everything looks like you hear about in history books or
see in pictures. All the suburbs look the same.
When you see a postcard from Europe, every postcard is unique and has historical
buildings. But when u go to Europe you see all the same buildings. All the same
concrete flats and roads with the same signs and cars.
NL: Het gaat over zijn geboorteplaatst: typisch amerikaans. Hij gaat naar europa (parijs. Hier heeft hij een idee over. Urbanism is hier
ontstaan (vanuit de ouder grieken). In de EU hebben we heel veel mensen die denken over urbanism, wij hebben een rijke historie hierin.
In de VS heb je dat niet, daar heb je pragmatism. Hij verwacht steden met verschillende identiteiten, en veel verschillen tussen de steden.
Zijn reis start in athene, oostenrijk, parijs, amsterdam, terug. In de ppt allemaal foto’s van die reis. Maar allemaal bijzondere foto’s van
dezelfde flats met electriciteitsdraden enzo. Alle foto’s lijken hetzelfde. Dus wat is er aan de hand? Alles is raar ontworpen, en slecht over
na gedacht. De foto’s kunnen overal genomen zijn. 90% van Europa is als deze foto’s. niet alles ziet er uit zoals je hoort in de
geschiedenisboeken of ziet op plaatjes. Alle buitenwijken zien er hetzelfde uit.
3
, LES 1 DEEL 2
This lesson is about the book S,M,L,XL , the generic City and what ever happened to urbanism. 3 parts
1. Boek: S,M,L,XL > boek van Rem Koolhaas, O.M.A een boek over architectuur maar ook over al het
andere. It is about projects arranged according to scale and the condition of architecture today. It had
ideas about the contemporary city. Subjects: the impact of politics, context, the economy,
globalisation – the world.
GENERIC CITY
2: Generic City: een urbanism way to tackle the problem Hank had. De form van een manifest, een tekst over
hoe de dingen zijn.
The generic city = the ordinary city. A description about the current situation of cities and de discipline of
urbanism
Aantekeningen:
- 1.1 the generic city is like a contemporary airport: everywhere is the same. Er is geen verschil tussen
het vliegveld in Amsterdam, quatar en hongkong. Dit gebeurt ook met steden: je kan niet zien of je in
een buitenwijk bent van Brussel, of van Parijs, of van Berlijn. Het grote verschil in culturen zie je niet
terug in de urbanism.
- 3.3 – The generic city is like a fractal, an endless repetition of the same simple module. pieces of
urbanism are put together as ‘tapestries’. There is no hierarchy. Urban centers don’t function as a
centre, at most as a theme park of a museum. Het centrum van de stad is mooi, maar heeft niks te
maken met de plekken waar mensen echt leven en werken. Het centrum is een atractiepark of een
museum.
- 1.6 the generic city is a city freed from being held hostage by the centre, the straight jacket if identity
the city is nothing more than a reflection of the current needs and capacities. If she gets too old, she
grows. If she gets to old, she tears itself down. She is everywhere just as exiting or boring. She is
superficial like Hollywood, every Mondaymorning she can get a new identity. The biggest invention of
the generic city is to simply give up what doesn’t work. No history: everything new. No ideology, pure
pragmatism.
- 6.1 wat werkt kopiëren we, en wat niet werkt halen we weg/geven we op. Geen geschiedenis: alles
nieuw. Geen ideologie, pure pragmatism
- 6.15 als alles hetzelfde is, en we geen verschil zien, wat zijn we dan aan het doen? the generic city
means the definitive death of planning. Noting seems to matter. The generic city means the definitive
death of planning. Not because the generic city is not planned – there is a gigantic universe of
designers, planners, bureaucrats at work, but it makes no difference.
“The city is dead, we may leave the theater”
4
