- Site-specific cases
The uncertainty of the contemporary life-condition impels us to find more and better solutions for the future of our cities. Long-term masterplan and mega-construction are the undisputed protagonists of these regeneration processes. While architecture and its experts are expected to provide technical and formal solutions, it remains as a fundamental necessity of this discipline not to forget that forms are inhabited by lives.
In my project, architecture is seen as a way of reading between the lines of cities’ complex textures. Within the regeneration of Binckhorst industrial area, in the city of The Hague, I initiated Laboratory 309, a multidisciplinary space for the analysis of the site’s anthropological context. The purpose was to act sensitively in the in-between space of a regeneration in progress, to follow life beyond form, in its multiple layers, and to stay open for the unexpected. Would you imagine a brood of wild chickens becoming the trigger for public discussion?
The heterogeneous social texture of Binckhorst - the last industrial area in the city of The Hague, NL. Drawing of the site with a specific focus on the various communities I have got it touch with.
Life in-between two old factories. Binckhorst is going towards an over-planning situation, locals find there ways to make the space liveable.
I have keenly explored the whole area and produced lots of maps, drawing and diagrams. The collection of the soft data happened through site specific interactions.
An example of a diagram I made. It analyses the flow of people and their relations with several activities. The flow of workers is the most remarkable; Binckhorst is used day and night by those who are shift-workers. Consequently, the flow of customers remains sizeable. The flow of people that lives Binckhorst is various. The average price for a dwelling in Binckhorst is becoming prohibitively expensive and it will hardly be affordable for the middle class worker.
Around a brood of wild chickens there is a whole community united. Together with some locals, I organised ‘Chickens United Festival’, an occasion where we have discussed about their future. Chickens in Binckhorst stand as last pillars of how the area used to be. After the Festival the AD a local newspaper published an article about the event.
