global cities-tate modern

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GLOBAL CITIES Teachers notes Prepared by: Heather Whitely, Head of Learning Open House and Tate Modern’s Interpretation and Education Department Exhibition curators: Ricky Burdett & Sheena Wagstaff Consultant curators: Sarah Ichioka and November Paynter Sponsored by In association with Savills and Derwent london

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Global Cities-tate Modern

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  • GLOBAL CITIESTeachers notes

    Prepared by: Heather Whitely, Head of Learning Open House and Tate Moderns Interpretation and Education Department Exhibition curators: Ricky Burdett & Sheena WagstaffConsultant curators: Sarah Ichioka and November Paynter

    Sponsored by

    In association with Savills and Derwent london

  • 2CONTENTSGLOBAL CITIES

    INTRODUCTION 3

    SPEED 4

    SIZE 5

    DIVERSITY 7

    DENSITY 9

    FORM 10

    ARCHITECT IN FOCUS - ZAHA HADID 12

    ARCHITECT IN FOCUS - REM KOOLHAAS 14

    ARTIST IN FOCUS - NILS NORMAN 16

    ARTIST IN FOCUS - FRITZ HAEG 17

    Armin Linke Mexico City, Mexico, 1999Courtesy of Galleria Massimo de Carlo(front cover image)

  • 3INTRODUCTIONGLOBAL CITIES

    Our world is changing. Globalisation has shifted cultural specicities. It has transformed communication networks and has radically changed the population density, diversity and economy of our cities. At the same time, modern advances in science, technology and industry have signicantly inuenced the way we live, how long we live and where we live. 100 years ago, only 10% of the worlds population lived in cities. Today, this gure has risen to 50% and by 2050 it will rise to 75%. Understanding how this impending urban growth will impact upon people and the environment is critical. So too is the urgent need to understand how urban design and architecture address urban growth and inuence society at large. Architects, urban designers, theorists and artists all over the world are responding to the explosion of urbanism. Some are examining how we live and the effects of our urban environments. Many are imagining new forms of cities, which are socially democratic, promote social cohesion and which respond to the urgent need to create sustainable environments. The exhibition Global Cities takes a critical look at ten diverse cities from across the globe: Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo. These cities are explored through ve key themes: size, speed, density, form and diversity using geographical and socio-economic data gathered for the 10th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2006. Architectural projects, photographs, lms and videos are displayed alongside the data, offering subjective responses to the urban conditions of the ten cities and providing opportunities to question, challenge, and imagine alternative understandings and future realities. The images propose ways of encountering our own built environment and provide us with a lens to explore private worlds and hidden stories. Throughout the exhibition, London is used as a reference point within each of the thematic displays. Further to this, architects and artists have been commissioned to specically engage with and respond to Londons urban environment. Nigel Coates, Zaha Hadid & Patrik Schumacher, and OMA*AMO/Rem Koolhaas propose future visions of the city through architectural projects, while the installations of Fritz Haeg, Nils Norman and Richard Wentworth explore issues of sustainability and social inclusion in relation to London. This resource has been designed to support teachers exploration of the themes and ideas in Global Cities. It contains an introduction to the 5 themes of the exhibition and a range of discussion points and student activities for Key Stage 15. It is recommended that the discussion points and activities be used as starting points and adapted to suit students needs and abilities. Activities have been designed to extend thinking about citizenship, geography and the built environment.

    A supplementary resource has also been developed for young people aged 13 upwards. It provides practical activities to directly engage young people with Global Cities. This resource can be found at www.tate.org.uk/youngtate

  • 4FOR DISCUSSION1 Look at the map of population growth and identify which areas of the world are growing more rapidly than others. What is causing this growth?

    2 Why do you think cities are growing so quickly? What are some of the reasons people might move to cities? Why do you think it is important to predict the future growth and size of cities?

    3 Can you imagine what might happen if a city grows too quickly? What sort of issues do you think might arise for the new and existing city dwellers?

    SPEEDGLOBAL CITIES - SPEED

    The pace of urban change has never been faster and it is having a massive impact socially, economically and environmentally across the globe. Consequently, it has become vital to manage the scale and pace of change to ensure that cities become balanced and sustainable environments with positive social impacts.

    INTERESTING FACTSLondon: The worlds rst mega-city. It took 100 years to grow from a population of 1 million to 10 million in the 19th century.

    Los Angeles: has grown horizontally rather than vertically. 10% of commuters use public transport. Only 10% of the city is allocated to green spaces.

    Shanghai: is growing 10% every year. There are over 3000 tall buildings in the city compared to 300 in the 1990s.

    Istanbul: Has grown 900% over the past 50 years and 27% in the last decade.

    ISTANBUL 17

    JOHANNESBURG 5

    MEXICO CITY 25

    SAO PAULO 25

    LOS ANGELES 9

    LONDON 1

    MUMBAI 42SHANGHAI 31

    TOKYO 3

    CAIRO 23

  • 5SIZEGLOBAL CITIES - SIZE

    As cities grow in size, their shape and character change to accommodate this. The world now consists of over twenty mega-regions containing more than ten million people and 450 city regions with more than one million residents. In some mega-cities such as Mexico City and Istanbul, the population growth has ruptured city boundaries, pushing sprawling urban growth horizontally. In other cities such as Cairo and Mumbai, populations live in high densities in small areas of land. It is argued that more compact cities, with strong infrastructure, are the most appropriate models for sustainability and urban growth.

    INTERESTING FACTSTokyo: is the largest city in the world. Its population has grown 606% in the past century and about 4% in the last decade. 80% of commuters use public transport to get to work.

    Mexico City: contributes to 22% of Mexicos national GDP, near to the 20% London contributes to the UK GDP.Public transport accounts for 79% of daily journeys, but 95% of road space is dominated by private cars.

    Sao Paulo: has grown 7,400% since 1900, during which period Londons population fell and is only now rising to achieve the same levels as less than a century ago.Sao Paulos underground rail system, begun in 1968, extends for 60 kilometres and supports a population of 18 million.

    London: has grown 10% over the last century. 43% of commuters use public transport to get to work. Londons Underground was founded more than a century ago, extends for 480 kilometres and supports a population of 7.5 million.

    CAIRO

    MUMBAI

    ISTANBUL

    MEXICO CITY

    JOHANNESBURG

    SHANGHAI

    LOS ANGELES

    SAO PAULO

    LONDON

    TOKYO

    1 QuickBird satellite image ofCairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg,

    Los Angeles, London, Mumbai, Mexico City, Shanghai, Sao Paulo and Tokyo

    DigitalGlobe distributed with exclusive right for Europe by Telespazio

    2 Naoya Hatakeyama 1958Born Japan, works Japan

    Tokyo / Mori Building 2003Gelatin silver print

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  • 6FOR DISCUSSION1 Look at the satellite views of the ten cities. What are some of the differences you can see in the pictures? What do these differences tell us?

    2 Cities have grown in size at different speeds throughout history. Why do you think Londons growth is slow and steady and Sao Paolos is rapid? Tokyo experienced a very high rate of growth in the past, which has signicantly slowed within the last decade. What could have caused this shift?

    3 Look at the artwork by Andreas Gursky, Scott Peterman and Hatakeyama Naoya. What do these images tell you about the size of the cities they are representing? What do they tell you about how people live in these cities?

    GLOBAL CITIES - SIZE

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    1 Andreas Gursky born 1955Born Germany, works GermanyLos Angeles 1999Framed C-print

    2 Scott Peterman born 1968Born USA, works USAEcataepec 2006C-print

  • 7DIVERSITYGLOBAL CITIES - DIVERSITY

    When we speak about diversity within a city, we are speaking about the degree of variety. Variations may exist in ethnicity, place of birth, spread of ages, income, education levels and employment sectors. Each city deals with these variations in different ways. Some cities actively seek to integrate different ethnic and socio-economic groups, others seek to segregate or dene spaces catering for the specic needs of a particular group.

    JOHANNESBURGPopulation: 73% Black African, 16% white, 6% mixed race and 4% Indian or Asian. Johannesburg has a history of racial segregation. During the Apartheid era (1948 1994) people were legally classied according to their race. Non-white people were oppressed. Since the apartheid, Johannesburg has grown 4% per year.

    Health: An HIV/AIDS epidemic is still prevalent in the city. Life expectancy is low. Only 4% of residents reach 65.

    Safety: There is a high rate of crime and a signicant lack of safe public transport.

    1 Luis Arthur Leirao Vieira Favela Paraisopolis (swimming pools) 2005

    SAO PAULOPopulation: 66% of the population are under 20 years of age. There is signicant ethnic diversity including many direct and indirect descendants from Italy, Portugal, Japan, Spain & Lebanon. There are also many recent immigrants from Brazils poor north-east regions. Many of the wealthy residents live outside of the city centre. The areas experiencing the highest growth rate are those with the poorest infrastructure.

    Economy: Sao Paulo has prosperous economy compared with the rest of Brazil, however poverty and unemployment is high. There is great division between rich & poor.

    Safety: Crime rate is high.

    Education: In 2000, only 20% of 1114 year olds attended school on the outskirts of Sao Paulo state. To address this, the government have introduced an initiative to build 100 new schools of high-quality design, with simple prefabricated structures and durable materials.

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  • 8LONDONPopulation: 29% of Londons residents are from minority ethnic groups and over 300 languages are spoken across the city. International immigration has caused much of Londons recent growth counterbalancing the numbers of British-born households leaving the city.

    Economy: London has global importance as a nancial centre for international business. The size of its economy is similar to many national economies. However, there are strong extremes between wealth and poverty, with high levels of unemployment and deprivation in parts of the inner city.

    Safety: There is a higher crime rate in areas with greater deprivation and high population density.

    Education: The UK provides mandatory education to all school-aged children. In London, there is high proportion of young people who also participate in non-compulsory education or training.

    FOR DISCUSSION1 What sort of diversity do you think exists in your own community? Find out some interesting statistics about the diversity of your own neighbourhood by contacting your local council or searching on National Statistics online (www.statistics.gov.uk). Discuss the similarities and differences between the perceived and real diversity.

    2 Look at the photographs by Guy Tillim and the video by Francesco Jodice. What do you think the images reveal about the cities of Johannesburg and Sao Paulo? How are they similar or different to the statistics and facts provided?

    3 Think about some of the issues that affect people living in your neighourhood. Take photographs of the place where you live and try to capture some of the issues that are particular to your own environment. Compare them with the photographs and lms of other cities represented in the exhibition.

    GLOBAL CITIES - DIVERSITY

    1 Guy Tillim born 1962Born South Africa, works South AfricaJoburg 2004

    2 Francesco Jodice born 1967Born Italy, works ItalyCitytellers 2005Video with soundRunning time: 48 minutes

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  • 9FOR DISCUSSION1 View the lm Q2P, by Paromita Vohra. In Q2P, Vohra investigates and questions Mumbais aspiration to become a great cosmopolitan city. What are some of the major issues she uncovers in the town-planning projects? What do you think could be done to address these issues?

    2 Mumbai has nearly 7 times the population density of London. The population of London is set to grow by another 10% within the next 10 years. If you were a town planner or politician and had to make important decisions to cater for this future population growth, what would you right now do to make sure that the future population lived in a socially balanced and sustainable community?

    3 Do you live in an area where there is high-density? If you do, what do you like about it and what do you not like? If you dont, what would be different about living in a high-density area? What would be the advantages and disadvantages? Discuss the reasons why well-designed high-density living in more sustainable than low-density.

    DENSITY

    Population density is the number of people living within a given area. This is given as a value per square kilometre (eg. 8, 254/ km). Some cities like Cairo have an incredibly dense inner city with a contained urban boundary, while cities like Mexico City have a greater urban sprawl that is, people are dispersed over a greater area. The density of a city has a massive impact on the economy and environment. Consequently, planners and politicians make important decisions about the extent of urban boundaries and development. Dense and compact development allows for greater investment in centralised infrastructure, limits the amount of energy and materials used in the construction process and is more sustainable in the long term. More dispersed development requires additional infrastructure to support transport, and utility supplies such as water and electricity. Historically, high-density housing has been associated with poverty, however good design can produce sustainable and socially democratic urban living and can balance dense development with access to open space and good transportation.

    Residential densities:

    MEXICO CITY 5,800 people per kmCAIRO 36,500 people per kmMUMBAI 34,000 people per kmLONDON over 4,500 people per km

    1 Paromita Vohra born 1969Born India, works India

    Film still from Q2P 2006

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    GLOBAL CITIES - DENSITY

  • 10

    FORM

    The urban form of a city is shaped by geographical, historical, cultural, social and economic factors. Urban form is like the DNA of a city a footprint of human impact on the land.Cities or parts of cities may be conceived or formed as part of a masterplan. However, they may also contain areas that have grown informally and organically over time. Architects and planners try to improve cities by working with existing forms and making positive interventions that enhance the citys development.

    ISTANBULIstanbul is a city that spans 1,839 km2. In order to accommodate a growing need for housing, squatter settlements called gecekondu (built overnight) have been constructed as make-shift shelters on the outer edges of the city. Gated residential developments in the city have appeared more recently.

    JOHANNESBURGDue to fear of crime and more freedom of housing choice in the post-apartheid era, many people have moved out to the suburbs, leaving an empty heart of the city. The nancial and economic centres are now located in suburban areas and shopping centres, hotels, businesses and residential complexes are contained behind security gates. Closeby, hundreds of thousands are living in the former apartheid ghettoes of Alexandra and Soweto. While conditions are poor, schools, shops and tarmacked streets have been introduced and the government have produced almost two million low-cost homes.

    1&2 Laurence Bonvin born 1967Born Switzerland, works SwitzerlandCOMMUNITY 2005-6On the Edges of Paradise

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    GLOBAL CITIES - FORM

  • 11

    FOR DISCUSSION1 Look at satellite maps of your own community and compare it to some of the global cities in the exhibition. What is the footprint or DNA of your community like? Look at the form of your neighbourhood from different viewpoints. How does this compare with the satellite view?

    2 Laurence Bonvin investigates the gated communities of Istanbul. She is interested in how the lives of the residents are separated from the rest of the city life and the natural surroundings. She is also concerned with the urban sprawl of Istanbul and how this can be represented through the landscape. Look at the Istanbul photographs of Laurence Bonvin. Describe the form of the landscape she represents. Compare the photographs with the satellite view of Istanbul (see Size). What is the relationship between the forms of the gated communities and the high-rise development in the background?

    3 Look at On the Edges of Paradise photographs. Does the architectural form of the buildings relate to the surrounding natural landscape? Explain. Describe why you think this type of architecture is or is not appropriate for cities with high populations?

    Triptychs:Laurence Bonvin born 1967

    Born Switzerland, works SwitzerlandCOMMUNITY 2005-6

    Istanbul Peripheral

    GLOBAL CITIES - FORM

    LONDONLondons organic urban form reects its architectural growth from the time of the Romans. Its unplanned form is also a reection of the severe destruction caused by the Great Fire of 1666 and the Second World War. The Thames constructs a natural divide between the city, and links through to the old port at the east side of the city, which until 2030 years ago remained derelict. Major regeneration is occurring in this part of London, coupled with the redevelopment of old industrial sites.

  • 12

    Zaha Hadid claims she doesnt do nice! As an architect, she is constantly challenging, stretching and extending the boundaries of architecture and urban design. She is continually engaged with the potential of spatial experimentation to create visionary urban landscapes.Zaha Hadid was born in Iraq and studied mathematics in Beirut before moving to England to pursue architectural studies at the Architectural Association (AA) in London. Following this, she joined the Ofce of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) with her AA professors Rem Koolhaas and Ella Zenghilis, and left to establish her own practice in 1980. In 2004, Zaha Hadid became the rst woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate the greatest honour to be paid to an architect. Her most inuential and important works include the Vitra Fire Station in Wolfsburg, Germany (1993), the Rosenthal Centre for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati (2003), the Phaeno Science Center in Weil am Rhein, Germany (2005) and The Peak project in Hong Kong (1983), which was unbuilt. Hadids work has never been conventional. She has a erce and somewhat uncompromising determination to realise her architectural vision. Consequently, many of her early works have never been built. Her rst building was realised in 1993 after spending many years experimenting, imagining and testing ideas. This type of practice is called paper architecture.

    ZAHA HADIDARCHITECT IN FOCUS - ZAHA HADID

    Hadid draws on diverse media to explore her ideas about architectural space. She uses painting, drawing, modelling and animation. Her paintings in particular are a key medium for investigating and expanding understandings of space that she feels have been limited through the discipline of architecture. Through painting she is able to experiment with movement and transformation in architecture. In the work produced for Global Cities, Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher have dened Londons Thames Gateway as an urban laboratory. As Europes largest urban regeneration projects, Hadid and Schumacher believe that Thames Gateway provides one of the most powerful opportunities to experiment with different forms of urbanism. Rather than applying standard planning tools, they assert that the design of such a mega-development should be approached with an architectural sensibility. Consequently form and space-making are of prime concern and the architectural elements of point, line, plane and volume are employed as types of urban elds. For example, point is represented as fields of villas, line as elds of towers, plane as elds of slabs and volume as elds of urban blocks.

    1 Zaha Hadid born 1950Born Iraq, works LondonPatrik Schumacher 1961Born Germany, works BritainForm Informing Urbanism - Parametric UrbanismMixed media

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    FOR DISCUSSION1 What do architects do? Do you think they can help change the world? How do you think they do this? What sort of architecture do you think would be good for society? What is the difference between architecture and urban design? Do you think architects have an important role to play in urban design?

    2 Look at Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumachers images and visions of Thames Gateway. What do you think about their ideas? If this project were actually built, would you like to live in this area? Why do you think they created a variety of forms within their urban plan? What could the different forms represent? Discuss how you could represent different functions of spaces and places through architecture and urban design.

    3 Look at the arrangement of space across the design. How do the open spaces relate to the buildings? Space that is within the public domain is called public realm. Discuss what the spaces within your own public realm are like and whether they are they similar or different to the spaces proposed by Hadid. Think about how different spaces make you feel. What spaces make you feel excited, peaceful, depressed, scared, energetic?

    4 Zaha Hadid has been described as a deconstructivist architect. What sort of architecture do you think a deconstructivist architect might create? Look at the architecture of Zaha Hadid and discuss the way the form of the buildings have been deconstructed and how the internal spaces have been organized.

    STUDENT ACTIVITIES1 Architects often think about how they will use points, lines, planes and volumes in different ways. Look at the work by Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher and nd the different ways they have used point, line, plane and volume in their design. Find some materials that could represent these concepts such as string or wire for line, sheets of paper for plane, and building blocks for volume. As a class group, plan a vision of your city by arranging the materials across the oor. Think about the order and design of your plan.

    2 Zaha Hadid often uses paintings to express her ideas about architecture and urbanism. Choose an area in your neighbourhood that you would like to regenerate. Think about how people use the spaces and how you could make them better. Use paintings and drawings to express how you would transform the spaces and the forms of your area.

    3 Rem Koolhaas is another deconstructivist architect. He and Zaha Hadid worked together early in their careers. The work of both these architects features in Global Cities. Compare and contrast their ideas, styles and methods for communicating their design concepts. Other deconstructivist architects include Daniel Libeskind, Bernard Tschumi and Peter Eisenman. Research these architects and discuss some of the common ideas between them. Write your own denition of deconstructivism.

    FURTHER READINGwww.zaha-hadid.com The ofcial studio website

    www.designmuseum.org/design/zaha-hadidAn exhibition of Zaha Hadids work will be on show at the Design Museum 29 June 31 October 2007.

    www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaha_HadidA summary of Hadids career and projects

    http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1890945,00.html I dont do nice The Guardian, Monday October 9, 2006

    www.architecturefoundation.org.uk/framesets/fp_361.htmlZaha Hadids design for the Architecture Foundations new building, located on Southwark Street behind Tate Modern.

    ARCHITECT IN FOCUS - ZAHA HADID

  • 14

    Rem Koolhaas is a pioneering gure in the world of architecture. He is an architect, urbanist and theorist. His ideas about architecture and cities are as inuential as his buildings. In fact his writings bought him fame before a single building was even completed.Born in the Netherlands, Koolhaas rst studied script-writing before embarking on a career in journalism. Following this, he studied at the Architectural Association (AA) in London between 1968 and 1972. In 1975, he set up the Ofce for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in London with Ella and Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp. Koolhaas has been the recipient of many architectural prizes including the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2000. His seminal books include Delirious New York (1978) and S, M, L, XL with Bruce Mau and Hans Werlemann (1995). While working at the Harvard Project on the City, he also published Mutations, The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping and The Great Leap Forward. In these publications, Koolhaas observes, records and proposes new ways of thinking about cities and explores a type of architecture that is humanist. He believes that writing helps expand architectural thinking and the possibilities of architecture and urbanism. In order to establish a balance between the practice of architectural making and architectural thinking, OMA founded a research arm called AMO. AMO is like the Siamese twin of OMA. It allows the intellectual exploration of architecture to run in parallel with the actual building of it. Some of the most important buildings to be designed by Koolhaas include Casa de Musica in Porto, Portugal (2005), Seattle Central Library, USA (2004), the Netherlands Embassy in Berlin (2005) and the Euralille masterplan in France (1994). Among other projects, OMA are currently designing the masterplan for White City in west inner London. The 43-acre site borders some of the wealthiest areas and most deprived estates in the city. The regeneration of this area includes a major shopping centre, housing and social facilities. The new design offers the possibility to stimulate interactions across the divide, to create a new employment hub, and a chance to re-animate a neglected site. The OMA*AMO contribution to Global Cities, explores the evolution of cities and the dilemmas they present. The project investigates the idea of the city as a resort, issues surrounding supervision in the public realm and ideas about how memories and histories are woven within new urban fabrics

    REM KOOLHAAS

    FOR DISCUSSION1 Rem Koolhaas once declared that the idea of architecture and the city was outdated and was now replaced by the idea of Bigness. What do you think he means by this? Can you think of a place that feels big? What makes it feel big? Do you think cities should feel big? Explain.

    2 Look at the Dilemmas in the Evolution of the City project by OMA*AMO. The architects have suggested that the issue of supervision is a need and desire within society. Think about some of the public spaces where you live. Are there issues about supervision and safety? What are they? How have OMA*AMO considered the issue of supervision in their project?

    3 Rem Koolhaas is interested in constructing unusual architectural forms. Some of them are quite difcult to build. Discuss the different ways that buildings can be constructed and the different materials that can be used. Find some images of Koolhaas buildings and discuss how the structure (the skeleton of the building) could be holding the building together.

    1 OMA*AMO/Rem KoolhasDilemmas in the Evolution of the City 2007

    ARCHITECT IN FOCUS - REM KOOLHAAS

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  • 15

    STUDENT ACTIVITIES1 Rem Koolhaas believes that writing and drawing both extend thinking about architecture. Imagine that you are creating a new city. Write about what your city would be like. Think about what it would look like and how it would feel to walk the streets. Draw your ideas to help explain.

    2 In your neighbourhood, do you have old buildings and new buildings? As things get old, they become a memory of another time. Go on an exploration of your neighbourhood and collect memories of old parts of your built environment by making rubbings and drawings of different parts of buildings. You might also like to make rubbings and drawings of new buildings to compare and contrast.

    3 The great American architect Louis Sullivan, considered to be the father of modernism, gave rise to the famous architectural principle form follows function. This was an idea that many early twentieth century architects applied to design. Rem Koolhaas challenged the idea that the form of architecture should relate to its function. Instead he suggested that buildings should contain unpredictable functions such as hospital units for the homeless in the Seattle Public Library (this idea was never accepted). If you were redesigning your own local library, what surprising functions would you introduce to the building? Draw a plan to map out the arrangement of the rooms and spaces inside your library. Construct a 3-dimensional cardboard model that expresses your ideas for the form of your building.

    4 Find photographs of other buildings designed by Koolhaas. Do his buildings look like the buildings on your street? How are they similar or different? Look at pictures of some of the spaces inside his buildings. Describe what they are like. Do the spaces on the inside look like the outside of the building? What is similar or different about them?

    5 Imagine that you are an architectural journalist. Find an interesting building in your own community and take photographs of it, looking for fascinating features and details. Write an article about the building describing why it is remarkable. Describe its form and function, structure, use of materials and design ideas. You might also like to do some research to nd out who designed it and when it was built.

    FURTHER READINGwww.oma.euThe ofcial OMA*AMO website. This also contains further details and images of the White City regeneration project in London

    www.volumeproject.org/a magazine co-founded by Koolhaas, Mark Wigley

    www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.07/koolhaas.html From Bauhaus to Koolhaas, Wired, Issue 4.07, July 1996, Katerina Heron

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rem_KoolhaasA summary of Koolhaas career and projects

    www.images.google.comA good database of images of work by Rem Koolhaas

    4 Do you think that an architect must have buildings constructed to be an architect? Explain your ideas. Some of Rem Koolhaas early works were not built. Would you describe these unbuilt works as architecture? If not, what would you call them? Why do you think architects might design buildings that cant or wont be built?

    5 In the Global Cities project, OMA*AMO explore some of the potential and existing problems in cities. What problems exist in your own community? What kind of problems might exist across cities like London? What could be done to address some of these problems? How could you help to change your own community or city now and in the future?

    ARCHITECT IN FOCUS - REM KOOLHAAS

  • 16

    Nils Norman is an artist who combines wit and humour with urban politics, economic and ecological issues. He believes that art plays an important role in urban regeneration and uses it as a powerful tool for imagining how cities could be used. His quirky creations offer alternative visions for urban living and often call for direct participation and public engagement.One of Normans most important works is The Geocruiser, a type of eco-bus and mobile public sculpture. The vehicle itself contains a greenhouse, a library, a reading room and information centre for visitors to explore topics such as sustainable design, city gentrication and urbanism. It also contains its own solar-powered photocopier and laptop as well as a wormery which is used to recycle organic waste and create compost for the greenhouse plants. Norman toured The Geocruiser through Europe and the UK using it as a mobile propaganda machine. The tour included a stop at Peckham Library for the South London Gallery as part of Open House London annual event in 2001. For Global Cities, Norman has borrowed three pieces of street furniture; a lamppost, a street sign and a bus shelter, and attached them with signage. The signage appears like customised advertising, but acts as commentary and critique on ecological issues, urban planning and architecture. In addition to the commentary is a proposal for a future garden made entirely of cacti and arid plants as a response to global-warming. Norman currently lives and works in London. He has exhibited internationally and writes, teaches and collaborates with other artists, architects and designers. Norman is currently working with Nicholas Hare Architects on a school playground project for the new Golden Lane Campus in East London.

    FOR DISCUSSION1 Look at Bus Shelter 2015; Be Creative or die; ill-Logo by Nils Norman. What ideas can you see expressed in this artwork? If you took away all the words in this artwork, what would the effect be? Why do you think he has used words within his art? Can you think of other ways he could have communicated these ideas?Norman has borrowed some pieces of street furniture to make this work. Why do you think he chose to do this? Why do you think he didnt just make the furniture himself? Discuss the environmental impact of manufacturing and the energy required to produce new materials and products.

    2 Found objects are also used in the art of Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Tony Cragg and Richard Wentworth. Explore the work of these artists and discuss why they may have used found objects. Do you think these reasons are similar or different to Nils Norman?

    3 Norman is interested in making and exhibiting his work in alternative spaces such as the street, the playground and the park. Why do you think he prefers to display his art in outdoor spaces rather than inside a gallery? Do you think you he would engage with a different kind of audience on the street? Explain. Normans work The Geocruiser is a functioning coach. Would you experience the coach in a different way if it were parked inside a gallery rather than on the street? Thinking about the context of the work would you experience installation or performance art differently if it was shown on the side of the street? How does the location of the object or experience dene peoples interpretations of it?

    4 Robert Smithson is a strong inuence in the work of Nils Norman. Smithson became one of the pioneering artists to develop the art form known as earthworks or land art which involved manipulating the earths surface in order to construct compositions on the land. He was also concerned with the ideas of decay, renewal and the urban sprawl. Identify and discuss some of the inuences of Smithson in the work of Nils Norman. Smithson was also interested in overlapping disciplines such as architecture, geology and science-ction. What are some of the disciplines that Norman merges?

    NILS NORMAN

    FURTHER READINGhttp://artforum.com/index.php?pn=interview&id=2281Interview with Nils Norman, Utopia Now: The Art of Nils Norman, Artforum, Jennifer Allen

    http://www.bureau-k.de/ivc/2002_geocruiser_02.phpInstitute of Visual Culture, Cambridge: The Geocruiser, background and links to related projects

    http://thincities.t.gov.uk/projects/artist.php?id=12A fantasy map of the Piccadilly line created by Nils Norman

    1 Nils Norman born 1966Born UK, lectures in Europe and the USBus Shelter 2015, Be Creative or Die; ill-Logo

    ARCHITECT IN FOCUS - NILS NORMAN

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    Fritz Haeg is an American-based architect, artist and educator whose practice is concerned with unifying qualities of particular places with human needs and desires. He founded the Fritz Haeg Studio in 1995, followed later by Gardenlab and the Sundown Schoolhouse an alternative educational environment.For Global Cities, Haeg has created an Edible Estate on a triangular lawn close to Tate Modern. Edible Estates is a Gardenlab project that challenges ideas about the use of front lawns, and explores the possibilities of private spaces and relationships between communities and their environments. The project began in 2005 as a scheme to replace American front lawns with edible landscapes, using the garden as a metaphor and a laboratory. For the Tate project, Haeg investigates how the lawn in England has changed over time and how lawns in inner London differ from those in Los Angeles. The site is located at the junction of Lancaster and Webber Streets, in one of Londons least green areas. Haeg worked in collaboration with Bankside Open Spaces Trust and the community of Brookwood House to plant a garden composed entirely of edible plants. Haeg is interested in the impact of small-scale gestures. He maintains that architects do not have to create monuments to advance change in the world. Rather, a simple act such as planting your own food can create a powerful way to engage people with the by-products of their daily life and promote a greater understanding of the connectedness between gardens and the planet.

    FOR DISCUSSION1 Would you dene Fritz Haegs Edible Estates as architecture, art or something else? What is the difference between art and architecture? Many artists throughout history have explored architectural ideas in their work. This includes Dutch De Stijl artists such as Piet Mondrian and Gerrit Reitveld, Bauhaus artists such as Lszl Moholy-Nagy, Minimalist artists such as Sol LeWitt and Richard Serra, performance artists such as Gordon Matta-Clark and contemporary sculptors such as Rachel Whiteread. Choose one or two of these artists to explore and discuss some of the architectural ideas investigated through their work.

    2 What materials have been used to make Edible Estates? Why did the artist choose to use these materials? Is it important that Haeg chose to create a living garden, rather than a sculpture of a garden? Why? Some architects use organic (living) materials to express their architectural design ideas. Jean Nouvel used a variety of plants to clad part of the front faade of the Muse du quai Branly in Paris (2006). Look at photographs of the Vegetal Wall www.paris-photos.org/museum-quai-branly.php and discuss why you think Nouvel used plants as a feature within this design.

    3 Fritz Haeg describes his garden as a laboratory. How is a garden like a laboratory? What might you explore or discover in a garden? Laboratories are often related to science. What scientic ideas could be investigated in the Edible Estates?

    4 Look at green spaces and non-green spaces in your community. How are the spaces being used? Are there any spaces that are not being used effectively? How could you improve them?

    5 Haeg suggests that small actions can create strong impacts. Think about how your own actions at home and school affect the environment. What actions are positive for the environment and what actions are negative? What small actions can you take to help improve the environment? How could your whole community become involved in contributing to change?

    FRITZ HAEGARCHITECT IN FOCUS - FRITZ HAEG

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    STUDENT ACTIVITIES1 Find an area in your school that could be transformed into an edible garden. Do some research to nd out what types of plants would grow well in the climate where you live, what type of soil you might need and when it would be best to plant the garden.

    2 Decide how you will use the produce that is grown. Can the canteen use it for school lunches? Could it be sold to parents to raise money for school activities? Could you use it for cooking classes in the school? How will you dispose of any unused produce, weeds and cuttings from your garden? Work as a class to develop a strategic plan for how you will use the garden. Do some calculations before and after the garden has been grown to nd out if the carbon footprint of your school has changed.

    3 Draw designs for your garden. What will the shape of the garden be? How will you arrange the plants? Think about how you could give some form to your garden by creating interesting structures for climbing plants to grow over. Make a model of your ideas to help you think about the 3-dimensional structure of your garden and visualise the layout.

    4 Environmental artists such as Andy Goldsworthy and Richard Long also use nature as a source of inspiration and a backdrop for expressing their ideas about the environment. Their outdoor sculptures maintain sensitivity to the landscape and explore particular characteristics of the site in which they are located. Find examples of works by Andy Goldsworthy, Richard Long and other environmental artists and investigate the ways in which their work responds to the landscape. Find a site within your school grounds or your local community and create a site-specic sculpture that expresses a relationship with its context.

    FURTHER READINGwww.fritzhaeg.comThe ofcial studio website

    http://archinect.com/features/article.php?id=50581_0_23_0_MFritz Haeg: Small Revolutions, Archinect, January 29, 2007

    www.indexmagazine.com/interviews/fritz_haeg.shtmlAn interview with Fritz Haeg, Index Magazine, Ariana Speyer, 2004

    www.kidsgardening.comA helpful resource on gardening

    Land Securities is committed to working with local communities and helping to educate the next generation and is delighted to be sponsoring this education pack on Global Cities. For more information visit www.landsecurities.com

    ARCHITECT IN FOCUS - FRITZ HAEG

    1 Fritz HaegBorn and works USAEdible Estates regional prototype garden #4, London UK 2007Image: Heiko Prigge

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