Fünf Höfe, Munchen, Germany…Courtyards concept in a modern shopping passage
Fünf höfe -five courtyards- is a renovated, new and modern shopping passage in Munich oldest district. While we were walking in the center, my friend showed me this modern building which is renewed recently – approxiametely 8 years ago-. Munich city center is full of both huge and small , decorated and Gothic, old and modern architectures. The blend of historic and contemporary architecture is so seamless that only at the entrances do the different styles become apparent. It provides diversity, complexity and attractiveness in the public spaces and streets. Therefore you never know the place which is more interesting. We entered into passage from Theatinerstraße where you see the modern facade of the shopping mall. But another day I walked in Fünf höfe from Kardinal-Faulhaber-Straße where you can not imagine such a modern place located in this old historical buildings. So in both of my visits to Fünf höfe I can not anticipate the style of the place.
Entrance on Theatinerstraße
Entrance on Kardinal-Faulhaber-Straße
Completed in 2003, the FÜNF HÖFE CityQuartier is a superb example of imaginative architecture that harmoniously blends old and new: a smorgasbord of shops, apartments, offices and artworks that complement and enhance each other.
The work of chief architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron of Basel, Switzerland, has made this network of passages and inner courtyards an absolute pleasure to stroll through. The landscape architect of the project is Burger + Tischer Landschaftsarchitekten.
In 1998 the HypoVereinsbank decided to move their offices elsewhere and transform the remaining buildings into a modern center for shopping, restaurants & cafes, art galleries, office space, and residential apartments too. The Fünf Höfe is comprised of passages and connected courtyards. Every section has its own character. The inner walls are made of steel and glass whilst the outside street facing walls are the original 19th century stone. The five courtyards are called Amirahof, Maffeihof, Perusahof, Portiahof, and Viscadihof.
Fünf höfe map
Hanging ivies in Salvatorpassage
The first thing affected me so much was the giant ivies hanging from the ceiling. You feel small footprint of nature in a built environment. It was really good and innovative idea. A touch to nature…Giant ivies are in Salvator passage which is the main axis of the block.
Prannerpassage has different character. In there, you feel like you are walking in an authentic passage in an old city street. It has vaulted ceiling and stores have small entrances and the exit of the passage is a small arc and gate. This part is more historical. It looks like passages connecting courtyards and shopping streets in Salzburg. But the modern touch in the passage is its celing covered with glass sequins that shimmer and sparkle, while shop windows project from the walls like glass display cases.
From Prannerpassage to Salvatorpassage
Portiahof
Portiahof -one of the courtyards- is another interesting part of the passage and presents a view of modern oasis. There is a cafe-restaurant in this courtyard and in front of it a water body seperated the walkways and cafe. Another attractiveness is water dropping into pool from ceiling. Restful place…
Portiahof
It was an interesting experience to stroll there and nice to see a good example of landscape architecture inside of the passage.
For more information visit the site.
Regenerative design practices in Huangpu river, Shanghai
In urban districts, the most impacted parts of the landscape are rivers, streams and their surroundings. These places are attractive for recreational uses and also potential places to settle. Wrong land uses such as high density residential uses, industrial and some commercial uses degenerate riverside habitats very quickly . Water is polluted and wildlife and the other habitat areas are destroyed because of these uses.
Greenways, green corridors, riverside parks and recreational arrangements can be created buffer zone to protect rivers from surrounding negativeness. The best landscape winner project, “‘Shanghai houtan park’” by Beijing-based practice turenscape, is a best solution with low maintenance design and tries to find a solution to create a better riverside through regenerative design strategies. This design is also promoted by judges of 2010 shanghai world expo as a solution that could be applied to many polluted waterfronts worldwide.
The first challenge was restoring the degraded environment. The site is a brownfield littered with industrial and construction debris. The water of Huangpu River is highly polluted and is considered unsafe for swimming and recreation and devoid of aquatic life.
The regeneration design challenge was to transform this degraded landscape into a living system that offer comprehensive ecological services included: food production, flood, water treatment, and habitat creation combined in an educational and aesthetic form. The second challenge was to improve flood control.
Carefully selected species of plants absorb a wide variety of pollutants from the water while man made cascades and terraces naturally oxygenate the river. The terraces enrich the landscape along the wetland by creating spaces that encourage visitors to enter the living system through the field’s corridors and experience the agricultural landscape and wetland firsthand. The paths absorb and pull people to circulate through the park.
The meandering boardwalk along the wetland creates a way in which the visitors can be submerged within the landscape. Creating a series of visually interesting vantage point, the project provides a refuge from the urban life, recreation, education, and research. built between the elevation of the water’s edge and the elevation of the city road 3-5 meters above, the terraces connect the people back to the river.
The post-industrial design demonstrates a unique productive landscape evoking the memories of past and the future of the ecological civilization, paying homage to a new aesthetics based low maintenance and high performance landscapes.
For more information look at the project site.
The landscape loop, Andalsnes, Norway
Jaja architects have designed ‘the landscape loop’, an urban renewal plan which won the young firm a shared first prize in the idea competition for the development of Andalsnes in Norway. The proposal aims to generate a new master plan which incorporates the local landscape into the city.
Awarded for its’ concise concept and analytic approach, the project remains contextually relevant, while exploring the town’s potential. The development emphasizes, improves and connects the indigenous characteristics of Andalsnes into one coherent entity. The new urban spaces – divided into programs – wrap around the edges of the town, to create a loop, establishing natural connections between inner core and the landscape.
Surrounded by fjords and mountains, the small town of 3,000 locals, attracts thousands of tourists every summer. However, despite the flow of people and natural surroundings, the town itself remains a relatively monotonous place. Given that the majority of citizens live outside of the center, the town becomes deserted once shops and galleries have closed for the day. Tourists, who are arriving on cruise ships, often regard Andalsnes as a pit stop between their last journey and their next.
Intended as a means of re-introducing nature into the urban environment, the ‘loop’ acts as the city’s backdrop, providing locals and tourists with constant proximity to the surrounding landscape.
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| the loop/blue and green landscape (left), town center(center), network (right) |
The ‘blue landscape’ reacts to the fjords and mountainous surroundings of the town, located on the shores of the Romsdalsfjord close to where the isfjorden begins. The ‘green landscape’ encircles the southern part of the town, situated furthest away from the fjords. together, the loop defines the town center, framing its development and forming a coherent urban space, offering new recreational and cultural activities that encourage public life. New pedestrian and bike paths, in combination with the existing ones, create a complex system of connections to promote a more safe and healthy town.
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harbour front |
Fjord promenade is a part of the “blue landscape” of landscape loop. In existing situation this area was an abandoned place by inhabitants, but many locations where inhabitants can get closer to the water were planned in this project. Harbor front and Varde plaza are also parts of the blue landscape.
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| Varde Plaza |
The new ‘fjord bath and harbor park’ becomes an inviting place, situated between the water and the city. Here, industrial and natural landscapes merge together to give birth to a new urban space.
In a three layer complex, the ‘handletunet’ merges indoor and outdoor shopping complexes. On ground level, the shops are realized through small buildings, appropriate to the environmental scale surrounding it, while the levels below consist of more conventional indoor shopping areas.
Located near the train tracks, at the most southern edge of the development, the area uses old train cars and shipping containers into galleries, workshops and exhibition spaces.
(This article is adapted from designboom)
Restoring cities, Rehabilitating urban stream – Cheonggyecheon Stream, Seoul
Transforming decaying area and features into revitalized green spaces is the most popular and sustainable way in urban areas. In this point, urban design and functionality are important to create sustainable areas. Cheonggyecheon River is a good example of such projects. In the 1970s, it was considered a symbol of progress when the Cheonggyecheon River in Seoul, Korea, was covered and a road and elevated freeway were built above it. But by the year 2000, the Cheonggye area was considered the most congested and noisy part of Seoul, badly in need of revitalization, and people agreed that nothing could be done to improve the area as long as the road and freeway remained.
In the mid 1950s, the open sewer in the center of the city was also a major obstacle to the redevelopment of Seoul. At a time of extreme economic hardship, the only way of dealing with this problem was to put the stream underground.The stream was undergrounded in a four-stage construction project, beginning in 1955 and ending in 1977. An elevated freeway was built above most of the underground stream between 1967 and 1971; this freeway was four-lanes wide and over three miles (5,864 meters) long, and it ran above a conventional roadway.
But four decades after it was covered, the Cheonggyecheon area had become a shabby industrial area, filled with flea markets and tool, lighting, shoe, apparel, and used book stores. In 2003, as part of a vast urban renewal project, the highway was removed and the stream was recovered and turned into a beautiful 5.8 km urban park. Demolishing roads in favor of urban parks is a development project in sustainable world. The city says about the plan:
“Once the historical site is restored, Seoul will regain its 600-year history as the capital of Korea by turning itself into a city where the modern era is wonderfully amalgamated with tradition. The restored Cheonggyecheon area is expected to become Seoul’s major tourist attraction for both Korean and overseas tourists. The project will be focused on improving the environment both for living and business, and is expected to make a major contribution to realizing Seoul’s plan to become the financial and commercial hub in the East Asian region. The new look of Seoul is also expected to create a new hope for Seoul citizens.”
The green space created middle of the city has been recreated as an urban park that bridges the gap and brings people together.Over 75% of the material torn down from the old highway was reused to construct the park and rehabilitate the stream. Now fish, bird and insects have made their way back into the urban river, and the area surrounding the park is about 3.6 deg C cooler than other parts of the city. In addition to the restoration project, Seoul has also implemented transportation planning, rerouting traffic through other corridors and adding more public transportation. As a result there has been a decrease in the number of vehicles entering the city and bus and subway use has increased.
Even though the city took away one of the major thoroughfares, they were able to redirect and decrease traffic through efficient planning and expanded public transportation. Sounds like an amazing renewal project with many, many benefits. This project is a good example for sustainable urban design and provide a model for populated urban center.
For more information about Cheonggyecheon River urban stream project visit the site.
Les Champs-Elysées se sont transformés en un grand jardin.
Les Champs-Elysées se transforment en un vrai champs.
It was an interesting event organized by French farmers on the Champs-Elysées . When I went to Paris two years ago to join a conference, it was the first time that I saw the Champs-Elysées and walk and shop in there. Before I went there, I was thinking about it as a great outdoor space covered by lots of cafés and restaurants. But when I reached, I confronted with a huge avenue occupied by cars. Although the sidewalks are wide enough, you can loose yourselves when you see the traffic. But last week Champs-Elysées had an interesting landscape and it was really great to see it with this green concept. The concept had served for another aim but it had also showed that streets are places for pedestrians and plant even if it is a main street in the central Paris.
De dimanche 23 Mai a lundi 24 Mai, il y avait un grand jardin aux Champs-Elysées.
Champs- Elysees as a highway
Champs Elysees as a farm
Plants, trees and flowers were brought in by lorry overnight to transform the avenue into a long green strip. It will serve as a showcase of farm production from sheep breeding to crop growing. Overnight, 8,000 plots of earth and 150,000 plants have been brought into central Paris, and on Sunday morning, from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Elysées is one vast green space. Falling food prices and increasing production costs have fueled one of the worst agricultural crises in decades. And this farm was created by farmers to draw attention to the agricultural crisis in France.
The team who transformed the Champs-Elysées into a strip of farmland plan to take the concept overseas. They want to organize this concept especially in New York and Istanbul with their farmers. I think “Vatan Caddesi”, which is the longest and widest avenue in the heart of the Historical Peninsula, can be convenient for these aims. In this case it might also remind us that we can use this street as a public space or a green strip.
Open Green Map – Best of Green
Green Map System promotes inclusive participation in sustainable development, engaging hundreds of communities in 55 countries in map making since 1995. Green Map projects provides practical guides for residents and tourists. It is a community based technique for describing the opportunities for sustainable living and showing patterns of green space. Mapmaking teams pair their adaptable tools and universal iconography with local knowledge and leadership as they chart green living, ecological, social and cultural resources. Each community’s map is unique product reflecting that place. They help to locate bike lanes, wildlife habitats, cultural sites.
Over 500 unique, vibrant Green Maps have published to date, and hundreds more have been created in classrooms and workshops by youth and adults.
Both the mapmaking process and the resulting Green Maps have tangible effects that:
- Strengthen local-global sustainability networks
- Expand the demand for healthier, greener choices
- Help successful initiatives spread to even more communities.
Open Green Map is revolutionizing Green Mapmaking, creating an interactive space for everyone to share their insights, images and impacts about local green sites of all kinds. It connects the booming ‘go local,’ green development and ecotourism movements, empowering widespread participation in critical local environment, climate and equity issues worldwide.
Open Green Map sustainability mapping platform has been selected by Treehugger.com for 2010′s Best of Green, under the topical categories of Travel + Nature and designated the Best Tool for Green Travelers!
Several Green Maps have been made as part of a University project, led both by professors and students.
Some study areas are:
Design
Environmental Geomatics and Geography
Community Engaged Research
Interdisciplinary Subjects
Landscape Architecture
Sustainable Civil Engineering
Sustainable Product Design
Urban Studies
Green Map System resourcefully supports local leadership and vibrant community development in hundreds of cities and towns through diverse locally created Green Maps, award-winning global Icons, multi-lingual websites and resources, regional support Hubs, and workshops and events. Among the most important is Green Map’s collaboratively developed mapmaking methodology. Open Green Map is an interactive social mapping resource that will reduce the technological and financial barriers to making and using Green Maps.
Think global, map local and visit the green map to join the activity
Car and the Environment – Little Green Man
See how our planet looks to an outsider when it comes to transportation and the environment. The debut episode of “Little Green Man” brings a sharper focus to BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill. A Mark Fiore political animation.
Growing Green – The Billion Tree Campaign
The Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign is a worldwide tree planting initiative facilitated by the United Nations Environment Programme. People, communities, businesses, industry, civil society organizations and governments are encouraged to enter tree planting pledges on-line . The campaign strongly encourages the planting of indigenous trees and trees that are appropriate to the local environment.
By the end of 2009, more than 7.4 billion trees had been planted under this campaign – by participants in 170 countries. The idea for the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign was inspired by Professor Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 2004 and founder of Kenya’s Green Belt Movement, which has planted more than 30 million trees in 12 African countries since 1977.
Today planted trees are 10,055,112,364 and the target is 12,000,000,000. You can see the numbers of the planted trees per country in the website and in google earth.
For further information yo can visit this site.
SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT AWARD, The nomination process is now opened.
BoThe Sustainable Transport Award is given to a city that has had a profound impact on enhancing the sustainability and livability of its community through innovative transportation strategies, while lessening the impact of climate change through reduced transportation greenhouse and air pollution emissions.
The Award recognizes the city or major jurisdiction that has made most significant progress during the year in:
- improving public transportation,
- improving non-motorized travel for bicyclists and pedestrians and public space,
- implementing traffic demand management programs to reduce private car use,
- reducing urban sprawl by linking transportation to development, and / or
- reducing transport related air pollution.
The Metrobus project of the Istanbul administration authority was recently given an award during the presentation of the Sustainable Transport Awards in Washington D.C. This award is presented to projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the quality of life in the inner areas of major cities worldwide. In its award citation the jury emphasised that Istanbul has played a pioneering role versus other, comparable major cities with its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) concept, which went into operation in 2007. The buses travel on their own roadways at an average speed of 40 km/h, and shorten the daily travel time from 1.5 hours to 40 minutes. Each day the BRT system carries more than 530,000 passengers, which means 70,000 to 80,000 fewer individual journeys in the dense city traffic of this major metropolis.
There are some other good examples which reflect this great innovation. It is meaningful to see those kinds of innovations in developing countries. The winner of 2007 is Guayquil, Ecuador, for 2006 it is Seoul, Korea and for 2005 it is Bogota, Colombia.
Guayaquil, Ecuador Under Mayor Jaime Nebot’s leadership, Metrovia, the new bus rapid transit system, opened its first 15 kilometers (9.3 miles), providing cleaner, higher quality service and reducing trip times in key travel corridors. Also, previously deteriorated public spaces, including Guayaquil’s waterfront and Santa Ana district, were refurbished to encourage pedestrian use and form an important part of the city’s resurgence. In addition, the city celebrated its first Car-Free Sunday in September 2006, closing streets to traffic and allowing thousands of residents to enjoy the city by walking and riding bicycles.
Seoul, Korea Under the leadership of Mayor Myung Bak Lee, a four-mile elevated highway that once covered the Cheonggyecheon River in the city center was replaced with a riverfront park, high quality walkways, and public squares. Exclusive median bus lanes were constructed along 36 miles of congested streets, and the city government is now planning additional bus lanes as part of a broader initiative to improve all aspects of the city’s bus system.
Bogotà, Colombia Under Mayor Enrique Penalosa for the TransMilenio bus rapid transit system, bicycle integration into mass transit, and redefining and reclaiming public space for its citizens.
You have until the 15th September to nominate a city on the online form available on the website of the Institute for Transportation and Development (ITDP)
The EcoMobility Alliance supports the initiative to recognize efforts of local governments that are implementing sustainable transportation policies. With most of the world living in cities and much transporation planned at the local level, cities play a crucial role in decreasing motorization and turning to EcoMobility models.
One person can save trees -Green project of Starbucks-
I just came across with a commercial created for Starbucks. It is a project called “green project” supporting to save trees. And the commercial really reflects the idea with an effective big picture of a tree.
Starbucks is encouraging everyone to switch from paper cups to reusable travel mugs. One day in March thousands of New Yorkers made the switch.
Starbucks passion for reducing cup waste did not start with the Green Project. Since 1985, they have offered a discount to customers who bring in a reusable travel mug and will continue doing so. This is just one of the ways they are fulfilling their commitment to environmental stewardship while they work towards a long-term goal of 100% reusable or recyclable cups by 2015.
This global movement is taking place in locations around the world including East China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, UK, Ireland, Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico.
