Reflection P4 Danny van Horsigh 1374540

Hybrid Studios ( Zuidplein)

Paul Vermeulen, Pierre Jennen, external examiner The main goal of the project was to ‘give back’ the centre of Rotterdam South, the so-called ‘Hart van Zuid’ around the Zuidplein shopping centre, to the people that live in the area. Presently, the area is dominated by large functions geared towards a greater region and attracts enormous amounts of commuters and other temporary visitors, while the local inhabitants are distanced to this area and avoid it because of this. The project aimed to ‘clear up’ the urban situation and give locals their own entry into the area and connecting it to the surrounding neighbourhoods, separating them from the busy areas occupied by the commuters which locals now avoid. Currently, several buildings are scattered around the area which causes disorientation, a low sense of safety and a lack of identity to which none of the wide range of different types of people in the surrounding area can relate.

The preliminary research was very practical. Instead of an extensive theoretical research, research was mostly done to the direct context of the project instead of applying theoretical visions. For example the actual counting of people and the analysing of people- movements in the area or the comparison of typologies in Rotterdam to determine a certain culture within the city. Because this project is solely vital to the population around the Hart van Zuid area, their needs had the priority in the research. In the result, the urban plan caters well towards the initial conditions set for the project; of which the streamlining of the urban situation and the separation of the local and the regional were the most important ones. By removing several key buildings from the area, which today are neglected and in a bad state, and strategically combining those functions into one new building cleverly placed in the area provided a clear urban set-up. The solution also clearly divides the local and regional domain both due to the design of the plan as well as the location of the different functions within the building. Lastly, it creates a clear connection from the neighbourhoods to the Hart van Zuid centre.

Initial vision However, because of the clear relation of the research and the final result, the things learned here and methods applied would not directly be applicable to another project. Also, the research clearly showed a wide range of different groups of people, all of which have their own culture and their own needs. While the final design gives a good answer to the urbanistic problems, I feel it fell short of the social problems. In the end, I ended up with a ‘regular’ building, and couldn’t adapt some of it’s functions, like the dwellings and the swimming pool, to the needs of these people.

The approach did lead to the design of a building that includes a plethora of different functions and a varied program. Naturally, the combination of these multiple functions into one building is a key part of the studio. Personally, I seemed to have put all functions next to each other and stacked them like a layered cake, in a very linear fashion and surrounded this collection of elements with a facade. Because the functions are all very different by nature, in my opinion this doesn’t set back the design. Most functions do not need to have a relationship to each other in any way.

design versus Dahliastraat design versus Walravenstraat design versus Blokweg “Patrimoniumhof”

Rotterdam Feyenoord: Bloemhof Rotterdam Feyenoord: Rotterdam Feyenoord: Hillesluis program: dwellings program: dwellings program: dwellings inner: dwellings/public & private garden inner: park/private garden inner: dwellings/public & private garden

design versus Churchillsingel design versus Pleinweg (2x) design versus Boergoensevliet “De Vliet”

Vlaardingen: Holy Rotterdam : Carnisse Rotterdam Charlois: Oud Charlois program: dwellings program: dwellings program: dwellings/church inner: private garden inner: private garden/storage inner: church & private garden

design versus Binnerotte design versus Lijnbaan design versus Hilledijk “Hofdame” “Lijnbaanhoven”

Rotterdam Centrum: Rotterdam Centrum: Rotterdam Feijenoord: program: dwellings program: dwellings program: dwellings inner: private garden inner: park/storage inner: public & private garden/playground

Excerpt of one of the main research themes showing research of precedents of the use of the same typology as the final design set into the project location. However, the studio also focusses for a large part on the integration of the building in the urban context. From the start, I think the approach to the urban design was well geared towards the results of the initial research, and towards the concluded ‘needs of the people’. It resulted in a fairly simple form. I admit though, that the idea of the form came before the argumentation. At a glance, the design seems like a large intervention within the city. It wasn’t until afterwards, when I found the argumentation to found the design choice. Naturally, the course of events should have been the other way around. The interaction of the program with the surrounding was always a priority, and the shape of the building and the placement of the functions were supposed to give incentives to other developments in the surrounding area, in particular the station area. This has partly worked out in the design. Elements in the form, like the shape and the building-line as well as the large gap all relate to an existing path in the city. The placements of the shops emphasise these. However, the nature of the design came with it’s problems too, because it creates an undefined space between it and the large shopping mall. I underestimated the importance of this space, as it took some time before I could have a satisfactory plan on this side of the building.

From the get-go, the design process was supposed to have a lot of integration between the urbanistic aspect and the architectural. As time moved by however, the focus was purely set towards the architectural element while the urbanistic has not really evolved anymore since halfway through the project. In effect, I did the two phases completely separately, instead of having this true integration of the fields. More elaborate study should have been done on certain aspects such as the shape of the inner court or the actual size of the building meaning width and height in relation to the program. During these initial studies, I could have worked more with models when this was recommended, when I personally found it more efficient to work from sketches. For example, at the start of the project we made a large model of the project site, and a sizeable area surrounding it. The purpose was to use this model to study the concept of the design, which I didn’t really do extensively. Instead, the sketches provided the basics for the design. While it worked out adequately, it is likely some problems could have been avoided if the model phase lasted a little longer. Due to the complexity and size of the project, I have made decisions on these things hastily or settled too soon on a certain solution to be able to shift my attention towards other aspects of the design. The final stages of the project consisted solely on the making of final products.