HEERLEN,STRATEGIES THE NETHERLANDS | 7X600 | M.M.P.J. DINGENAAND | 0909816 PLACES | QUARTILE 1 & 2, 2015-2016 TABLE OF CONTEXT HEERLEN, AREA 8 & 9 | PART 1 1 BUILDING BLOCK 8A | PART 2 17 INTERVENTION | PART 3 43 BIBLIOGRAPHY | PART 4 57 FIG. 0: BUILDING BLOCK 8A IN A MAP OF HEERLEN (1:4000). HEERLEN, AREA 8 & 9 OVERVIEW The city of Heerlen is divided into clusters based on the existing main traffic structure. Area 8 and 9 are together a cluster that is situated in the south near the city centre of Heerlen. This area is surrounded by a couple of important roads, such as the Valkenburgerweg, the Kruisstraat, the Welterlaan, and the highway N281. This report contains an analysis that focusses on building block 8A that is highlighted in Figure 1. 1. 7X600 | STRATEGIES AND PLACES | 1 WELTERLAAN OUDE LINDESTRAAT HAMERSTRAAT BENZEN- VALKENBURGERWEG RADERWEG EUTERPELAAN KRUISSTRAAT BENZENRADERWEG OUDE LINDESTRAAT AMBACHTSSTRAAT DEKEN NICOLAYESTRAAT SCHOOLSTRAAT CORIOVALLUMSTRAAT FIG. 1: OVERVIEW AREA 8 & 9. HEERLEN, AREA 8 & 9 TRAFFIC LOGIC Figure 2 shows the current traffic system surrounding the cluster exists out of different streets. The Valkenburgerweg is an avenue between the Pancratiusplein and the city of Valkenburg. The Welterlaan transforms from the highway A79 that starts in Maastricht into an avenue. Between the Valkenburgerweg and the Welterlaan another avenue is situated called the Kruisstraat. Finally, the N281 highway starts in the junction Kerensheide and leads to other cities, such as Kerkrade and Aachen (Germany). The figure shows the possibilities to access the cluster by car, however, all streets are accessible for bicycles and pedestrians. The pedestrians even have more routes due to the fact of having alleys. All streets in this cluster have a speed limitation of 30 kilometres per hour and some of them are only accessible through one direction. 1. 7X600 | STRATEGIES AND PLACES | 3 OUDE LINDESTRAAT HAMERSTRAAT VALKENBURGERWEG BENZENRADERWEG OUDE LINDESTRAAT PEDESTRIAN PATHS SCHOOLSTRAAT STREETS CORIOVALLUMSTRAAT FIG. 2: TRAFFIC SYSTEM OF AREA 8 & 9 ACCESSIBLE BY CAR. HEERLEN, AREA 8 & 9 TRAFFIC LOGIC Entering the cluster through the Oude Lindestraat from the N281 highway (Fig.3) has the feeling of entering a park through the green surroundings and curvy road. This entrance will mainly be used by the employees of the pension fund that come from the highway. The entrance in Figure 4 through the Hamerstraat will be used by the inhabitants of this area, due to the residential buildings on both sides of the street. The street also have a difference in height level, which results in different heights in the roofs of the buildings. The Benzenraderweg (Fig. 5) is a narrow one-direction street with a speed-limitation of 30 km per hour. The old school of the mines is situated on the left side and residential buildings on the right. This street will be used by the inhabitants of these residential buildings. Figure 6 shows that The Oude Lindestraat can also be entered from the Kruisstraat. This side has other characteristics then the entrance from the highway, so is this street narrow with buildings on both sides. The building on the left is “Huis op de Linde” the former office building of architect F.P.J. Peutz. The street will be used by the inhabitants of these buildings. 1. 7X600 | STRATEGIES AND PLACES | 5 FIG. 3: OUDE LINDESTRAAT FROM THE N281 HIGHWAY. FIG. 4: HAMERSTRAAT FROM THE WELTERLAAN. FIG. 5: BENZENRADERWEG FROM THE KRUISSTRAAT. FIG. 6: OUDE LINDESTRAAT FROM THE KRUISSTRAAT. HEERLEN, AREA 8 & 9 TRAFFIC LOGIC The Schoolstraat (Fig. 7) is a narrow street one-direction street leading to the monumental school of crafts. Both sides of this streets has residential buildings with on one side parking lots. This street will be used by the inhabitants of this streets. Figure 8 shows that the entrance through the Coriovallumstraat can be entered from the Kruisstraat. The street has on left side classical residential buildings and on the right side both modern residential buildings as a office building. In the beginning of the street is even a small parking area for the visitors of the office building. Figure 9 and 10 shows that the Valkenburgerweg is an important connection towards the city centre of Heerlen since the Roman period. It is wider then the streets inside the cluster and has residential as office buildings on both sides. More towards the traffic node with the Euterpelaan the residential buildings will become higher and there will be green in the middle of the street due to the traffic node. Across the street a big park/ garden is situated, however, this green area is not visible through the difference in level of height. 1. 7X600 | STRATEGIES AND PLACES | 7 FIG. 7: SCHOOLSTRAAT FROM THE KRUISSTRAAT. FIG. 8: CORIOVALLUMSTRAAT FROM THE KRUISSTRAAT. FIG. 9: VALKENBURGERWEG FROM THE KRUISSTRAAT. FIG. 10: VALKENBURGERWEG FROM THE TRAFFIC NODE WITH IN THE LEFT THE EUTERPELAAN. HEERLEN, AREA 8 & 9 NOTION OF EXPERIENCE LOGIC As can be seen in Figure 11, a map of Heerlen in 1938, most buildings blocks are closed. In the south of the map the cluster and building block 8A can be recognized by Jan Stuyts’s monumental school of crafts. This cluster was on the border of the city near to the river Geleenbeek. Important differences compared to the state of the art are the constructed highways, the improved density, the bigger scale, and the more open building blocks. 1. 7X600 | STRATEGIES AND PLACES | 9 FIG. 11: MAP OF HEERLEN IN 1938. HEERLEN, AREA 8 & 9 NOTION OF EXPERIENCE LOGIC On 2 February 1939 the Welterlaan (Fig. 12) was a paved road with on both sides greenery and no houses, which means that this was not part of the city centre. Through it appearance, however, the Welterlaan was a important entrance of the city back in the 1930’s. Today the Welterlaan has a formal and grey character with houses on both sides. Figure 13 shows that the traffic node between the Kruisstraat, Coriovallumstraat, and Schoolstraat was in March 1971 a important traffic node. The building in the middle of the photo and the building on the right in the Coriovallumstraat were also used for commerce in that time. In the back of the photo the shopping center ‘t Loon can be recognized. As can be seen the state in 1971 differs not much from the state of the art except for the roundabout. Figure 14 shows that in March 1979 the building Huis op de Linde was already built by the design of F.P.J. Peutz. In front of this building, however, was a small parking, which is not present in the state of the art. The right side of Oude Lindestraat was also used for parking as in the current state. The Burgemeester de Kesselplein had in February 1979 also a park in front of the school of crafts shown in Figure 15. The school of crafts can be seen in the left side with cars parked in front of it. The park is less green by the lack of trees and feels less public then the park currently is. The buildings around the Burgemeester de Kesselplein nearly changed through the period of time. 1. 7X600 | STRATEGIES AND PLACES | 11 FIG. 12: WELTERLAAN ON FEBRUARY 2, 1939. FIG. 13: TRAFFIC NODE BETWEEN THE KRUISSTRAAT, CORIOVALLUMSTRAAT, SCHOOLSTRAAT IN MARCH 1971. FIG. 14: THE OUDE LINDESTRAAT WITH ON THE LEFT THE FIG. 15: BURGEMEESTER DE KESSELPLEIN WITH THE HUIS OP DE LINDE IN MARCH, 1979. SCHOOL OF CRAFTS ON THE LEFT IN FEBRUARY 1979. HEERLEN, AREA 8 & 9 NOTION OF EXPERIENCE LOGIC The building in the Benzenraderweg (Fig. 16) was designed as the school of the mines. Currently the building still exists and still houses the educational function. The street in front of the school is wide and grey with parking spaces along it, currently this street is a narrow one-direction street with a speed limitation and has more greenery along this side of the street. As can be seen in Figure 17 that the school of crafts is aligned in the axis starting in the Tempsplein, which, in combination with its height, shows the importance of the building. The exact date of the photo is unknown, however, it should be taken before 1970; the start of the construction of the pension fund office building. The lack of cars in the streets is another noticeable fact. Figure 18 shows that the construction of the pension fund office building started on 16 January 1970. The surroundings are green and the people look happy. The people have their arms crossed and look satisfied to the start of the construction. After the construction was completed, the green surroundings were used as a playground for children (Fig. 19), mostly for the children of the employees. Different playground equipments can be seen in the back of this picture. This photo, taken on 2 July 1977, shows seven children of the same age that pose for the cameraman. However, in the current situation there is no playground anymore. 1. 7X600 | STRATEGIES AND PLACES | 13 FIG. 16: THE SCHOOL OF THE MINES IN THE FIG. 17: TEMPSPLEIN WITH IN THE BACK THE SCHOOL OF BENZENRADERWEG, DATE UNKNOWN. CRAFTS, DATE UNKNOWN. FIG. 18: START OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PENSION FIG. 19: CHILDREN PLAYGROUND NEAR THE PENSION FUND OFFICE BUILDING ON JANUARY 16, 1970. FUND OFFICE BUILDING ON JULY 2, 1977. HEERLEN, AREA 8 & 9 TYPOMORPHOLOGY Typomorphology makes distinctions between the next six options: • City block as urban ‘surface filling’/ ‘continuous’ texture; • Ribbon development as (suburban) linear texture; • Garden city block as element of urban texture; • Garden city block as element of suburban texture; • Train track related built elements; • Highway related built elements.