Urban Change - Projetos Urbanos » Urbanism

Atlanta Beltline

Merten Nefs — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:37:56 +0000

Ryan Gravel is one of the few urban designers who is actually seeing his graduation project come true. In 1999 he presented a plan for re-use of the obsolete Amtrak rail tracks around Atlanta. With help of local communities and public partnerships the plan turned into a grassroots movement.
Today, Gravel still works on the project with design firm Perkins + Will, chosen by the Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

The Atlanta BeltLine at its core is the addition of a new 35 km transit system that connects to existing and proposed regional transit networks, linking riders to major activity centers and attractions. BeltLine transit will connect Atlanta neighborhoods, businesses and destinations and create a more accessible, affordable, sustainable and walkable city in the years to come. In total the Atlanta BeltLine will create more than 52 km of multi-use trails in a linear park that will connect 40 Atlanta parks. Along the park, new building development and other economic activities will take place.

Several kilometres of linear park have already been inaugurated. And to strengthen the recreational use of the corridor, a design competition called Playable Site is being held to develop a master plan for play at the Atlanta BeltLine.

Reonald Westerdijk, thanks for the tip.

Incubator projects Rotterdam

Merten Nefs — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:23:19 +0000

The municipality of Rotterdam doesn’t have a specific portal for incubator projects, the way Amsterdam does. However, several industrial buildings in the former port areas are being used by creative industries.
The artist collective De Fabriek occupied abandoned spaces in Delfshaven, Crooswijk and Spaanse Polder. Some, like Poortgebouw, are the result of squatting. Others, like Creative Factory, Creative Cube and Schieblock, have been negotiated with the owners by cultural groups. The neatly renovated units of for example the Schiecentrale attract more established young entrepreneurs, in search for well a designed post-industrial loft with a view. And the RDM wharf area is being transformed into the RDM campus, an area with several educational institutes and working space for start-up businesses.

In general, more scepticism exists with regard to incubator projects in Rotterdam. They usually take a longer time to get filled up by young creative professionals than in Amsterdam. On the other hand, the supply of empty industrial and office buildings near the centre is more generous. Despite this fact, creative industries in Rotterdam fear that none of these low-cost spaces will eventually remain.

Vacant NL

Merten Nefs — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:34:30 +0000

Vacant NL is the theme of the Dutch pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale 2010.

The blue urban landscape consists of styrofoam models of empty buildings in the Netherlands. Quite a lot altogether…

Incubator projects Amsterdam

Merten Nefs — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:39:26 +0000

Click here to open interactive map

The city of Amsterdam has quite some experience in organizing incubator projects, due to the local incubator policy (Broedplaatsenbeleid).
Incubator projects are basically contracts of temporary use of vacant buildings, between the owner (private, municipality, housing corporations etc.) and a cultural end-user (individual or group). Subsidies for these projects – available for both owner and end-user – are centrally managed by Bureau Broedplaatsen Amsterdam, following certain rules for building renovation, maximum rent and minimum rental period. Since 2000 this bureau is part of the municipality of Amsterdam and maintains close contact with owners, real estate investors, districts councils, cultural end-users, incubator groups, real estate brokers and banks.

Incubator project in former chewing gum factory – click here

Incubator project in former garage – click here

Bostheater Amsterdam

Merten Nefs — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:45:23 +0000

In 1985 a group of actors and their director, in need of a place to perform their plays, decided to bring new life to the abandoned open air theatre in Amsterdam. ´Bostheater´ lies at the southern edge of the city, not far from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, in the middle of a large suburban park from the 1960´s called Amsterdamse Bos.

When the weather is good, the theater is an enormous success. Hours before the show starts, many of the 1600 seats are already occupied by spectators who bring picnic baskets and bottles of wine. During the show, actors sometimes suddenly pause, when a roaring airplane bound for Schiphol airport flies over low. This doesn´t bother the theater so much anymore though, since the airport became main sponsor a couple of years ago.

The outdoor stage made of concrete supports various types of scenery, from gigantic wooden structures to piled maritime containers. Before and after the play, the stage functions as a bar.

Read more:
www.bostheater.nl

Marianne Kleijer, thanks for the tip.