architectural solutions for urban housing

Architectural Solutions for Urban Housing

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

1.1 Introduction

2.1 Exploring the conflict between CIAM and Team X

2.2 Unite d’habitation

2.3 CIAM grid 1948

2.4 Urban re-identification 1953

2.5 Doorn Manifesto 1954

2.6 Dubrovnik, 1956

3.1 The Child and the City

3.2 Nagele Grid, 1956

3.3 The CIAM meeting of 1959

3.4 Municipal Orphanage 1955 – 60

3.5 Forum 1959 – 63

4.1 Urban Housing

4.2 Robin Hood Gardens 1966-72

4.3 Village Matteotti Housing Estate 1969 – 74

4.4 Spazio e Societa 1975 – 2000

4.5 Byker Redevelopment 1968 -81

5.1 Conclusion

6.1 Bibliography

6.2 Illustrations

Except where stated otherwise, this dissertation is based entirely on the authors own work

Dissertation contains 6,799 words excluding the contents, bibliography and illustration pages.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Alan Powers for giving me the space and opportunity to develop my own opinions of

the growing field of architecture. I would also like to thank my family and fiancé for their unwavering

support.

1.1 Introduction:

CIAM (Congres Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne) captured the spirit of the machine age but before

it had done too much damage to the urban environment and in particular urban housing, some younger

members began to question their architectural solutions. Under the leadership of Le Corbusier, CIAM’s

vision was of a utopia, a city which could provide the perfect life for its inhabitants. His vision inspired

hope but ultimately failed to create such a place and resulted instead in destroying places and memories

which are integral to a person’s identity.

Hugh slabs or towers of housing rising majestically and disdainfully above the old towns set in

sprawling parkland and totally divorced from the historic fabric.

Peter Popham

(The Experience of Modernism, R Gold, p. 5)

The younger members of CIAM believed that by erasing our historic fabric, we were also erasing our

identity. Le Corbusier’s vision lacked the sensitivity and recognition of historic value. The enormous

concrete slabs effectively wiped out any memory of previous existence in the areas which they occupied.

On a large scale the simplicity of modernism becomes dull and lifeless.

Historically town planning has always been an extension of architecture. The Roman architect Vitruvius

wrote 10 books on architecture, which extended into street, housing and city planning. In Britain after the

Second World War, urban planning came under the social democracy of the Labour government. The

state’s more active role in planning started with the Town and Country Planning Act, 1943. By 1939,

Forshaw and Abercrombie had already identified four major defects in their County Plan for London,

1) over crowding and out of date housing

2) inadequate and misdistribution of open spaces

3) the jumble of houses and industry compressed between road and rail communications

4) traffic congestion

One of the first solutions to the housing problems in London was the White City Housing Estate in

Hammersmith. It was recognized even a far back as 1936 that high rise housing solutions would need to

have more space around them due to the amount of people per acre.

White City Housing Estate, Hammersmith, 1936

Figure 1.1 Forshaw and Abercrombie, County of London Plan, 1939

‘It is possible for a city to have an ideal arrangement for its industry, commerce and transport, to

be equipped with magnificent public buildings and yet fail as a social community through lack of

suitable housing conditions for large numbers of its inhabitants’

Patrick Abercrombie

(Forshaw and Abercrombie, County of London Plan, 1943, p.74)

2.1 Exploring the Conflict between CIAM and Team X

In July 1933, the fourth CIAM meeting was on a cruise ship to Athens. The Ship set sail from Marseilles

and all of the participants had been requested to provide an analysis of cities from within there own

countries. After the ship landed in Athens the symposium continued on land. This select group provided

le Corbusier with all the information he needed to write a document that addressed the issues of a

modern city.

It was at the fifth CIAM meeting in 1937 that the term ‘La Chartre d’Athenes’ was first used and the

discussions revolved around information collected in Athens. The sixth meeting was cancelled and the

activities of CIAM ceased during the war. It was during this period that Le Corbusier wrote the ‘Athens

Charter’, which was eventually published in 1943. The document soon came to be regarded as a key

expression of CIAM’s town planning strategies.

The suburbs are often mere aggregations of shacks hardly worth the trouble of maintaining.

Flimsily constructed little houses, boarded houses, sheds thrown together out of the most

incongruous materials, the domain of poor creatures tossed about in an undisciplined way of life

– that is the suburb.

(Le Corbusier, the Athens charter, pp59-61)

As well as declaring the end of the suburb it also stated that technology made it possible to build high

buildings, which when widely spaced could create large areas of green open space and parklands. The

Athens charter is a 62 page document divided into 95 numbered clauses, each of which is given an

explanatory note.

2.2 Unite d’habitation

After the war France was suffering from an acute housing shortage. The government appointed Raoul

Dautry to be the minister in charge of reconstruction and planning. He was an enthusiast of le

Corbusier’s modern architecture and commissioned him to build a block of flats in Marseilles. Unite

d’habitation was an architectural solution to the housing shortage and was also an opportunity for Le

Corbusier to put into practice the ideas he had been working on.

Le Corbusier disliked the idea of green bands on the outskirts of towns and as an alternative proposed

‘vertical garden cities’. The building was considered a communal apartment block and included shops, a

nursery school, a gymnasium, a running track, a theatre and roof gardens. Included in the design was a

hotel which along with the other apartments is still in use today.

The block is raised from the ground by large supporting pillars, resulting in 90% of the ground space

being free. The ‘Unite’ is composed of 23 different types of living units and contains 337 apartments.

The raising of the structure from the ground seems to have no function, other than to be aesthetically

pleasing.

Figure 2.1 Unite d’habitation, Marseilles, 1945

Unite d’habitate is a practical way of understanding how the Athens charter in practice might take effect

(see figure 2.1). He saw the apartments in Marseilles as a standardised unit which could be evenly

spaced out in parkland. The circulation of automobiles and pedestrians would be segregated; the roads

for vehicles would be raised high from the ground or underground. The result of this would be that the

maximum ground space could be used as an uninterrupted park for pedestrians. All of the amenities

would be contained within the individual units.

Figure 2.2 ‘Standard size unit’ in a ‘green town’

Le Corbusier hated the street and this scheme reflected his feelings towards it. He believed it was from

an old tradition and no longer had a function that was viable.

It is the street of the pedestrian of a thousand years ago, it is a relic of the centuries: it is a non-

functioning, obsolete organ. The street wears us out. It is altogether disgusting! Why, then, does

it still exist?

(Le Corbusier, Moos, 1979, p196)

2.3 CIAM grid 1948

Figure 2.3 ASCORAL, CIAM grid 1948

1) Dwelling (green)

2) Working (red)

3) Cultivating the body and the mind (yellow)

4) Circulation (blue)

The grid was devised by ASCORAL under the leadership of Le Corbusier and presented at the seventh

CIAM meeting; the first assembly after the war. The theme of this conference was the Athens charter in

practice. The main objective of the meeting was to consider the ‘challenges that modern society poses for

urbanisation’ (Risselada, 2005). The Athens charter was simplified into four functions; each was given a

colour and placed on the ASCORA grid (see Figure 2.3). The purpose of this grid was to simplify the

analysis and understanding of urban planning in terms of the Athens Charter. The seventh and eighth

CIAM meetings were both about developing another document that would be a natural progression from

the Athens Charter.

The ‘CIAM Grid’ was also the precedent for future presentations within CIAM. The Guidelines for these

grids was defined by CIAM and were intended to be an aid in the analysis of various subjects and

designs. This system allowed other members of CIAM to make presentations in a way that could be

discussed and analysed.

The grid system opened up the way for the younger generation of CIAM to put forward their ideas. In

effect it gave them the freedom to challenge the leadership and strategy of Le Corbusier. The initial

feelings of the young Team 10 were expressed in their reaction to the eighth CIAM meeting in which they

wrote’

Man may readily identify himself with his own hearth, but not so easily within the town which he is

placed. ‘Belonging’ is a basic emotional need – its associations are of the simplest order. From

belonging and identity comes the enriching sense of neighbourliness. The short narrow street of

the slum succeeds where the spacious redevelopment frequently fails.

Team 10 response to the CIAM 8 report 1951

(Modern architecture, a critical history p.271)

This initial statement was later built into a comprehensive argument in the form of the ‘Urban Re-

identification Grid’ and responded to what they saw as a need for identity within the community.

2.4 Urban Re-identification 1953

Alison and Peter Smithson became members of MARS (Modern Architectural Research Society), the

English branch of CIAM in 1951 and almost from day one were seen as provocative. After the

architectural success of the Hunstanston School in Britain, the Smithsons began to identify the main

problems with the Athens Charter. These were illustrated to some degree with their ‘Urban Re-

identification Grid’ at the ninth congress of CIAM in 1953.

Figure 2.4 Urban Re-identification Grid

It was at this meeting that the Smithsons put forward their ideas of ‘human association’ in the form of a

project. Using a combination of photographs by Nigel Henderson (see figure 2.4) and the Golden Lane

project they put forward the working class streets of East London as potential inspiration for a new

architecture and urban design. It was here they presented their concept of ‘streets in the air’. The ‘street'

was a substantial component of the Smithson’s ideas and were intended to be used as part of a system,

designed to develop an urban pattern for a city based on ‘human association’.

Along with this grid they also presented there competition entry for the ‘Golden Lane Housing Scheme’.

Although they never won the competition the scheme was a powerful tool in convincing CIAM to

reconsider the principles put forward in ‘la Chartre d’Athenes’. The four defining points of the ‘Urban- Re-

identification Grid’ were ‘House, Street, District and City’ these directly contradicted the four functions of

the CIAM grid. It was this presentation which laid the ground work in preparation for their statement on

‘Habitat’.

Around the same time, AD (Architectural Design magazine) 1953 – 75 was being used by the Smithsons

to develop their own opinions of the growing field of Architecture. It was in 1953 through this publication

that Alison Smithson first used the expression ‘New Brutalism’. She used the phrase to describe a small

house in Soho which they were working on. They defined ‘New Brutalism’ as architecture that was a

direct result of the way people lived and built.

Kenneth Frampton describes the design language of their ‘New Brutalism’ as having numerous

references to the British warehouses of the late 19 century. The Soho House was designed to be built in

brick, with exposed concrete lintels and unplastered interiors.

With ‘New Brutalism’ the Smithsons were effectively exploring how materials can bring life to a person by

connecting them to the place in which they live. The combination of materials is a true expression of the

new and old. The new construction retains the memories of the past in the same way a Team 10 plan

would be sensitive to the memories of a town. The Soho House is in fact the start of something much

bigger. An example is the ‘Robin Hood Gardens’ project in which the memory of London’s urban garden

is used.

Alison Smithson edited all the work in the magazine which related to CIAM and Team 10. In May 1960

the Smithsons used a special edition of the publication to give the new emerging organization a name,

‘CIAM Team 10’. It was also Alison Smithson who entitled the first meeting as ‘Team 10 on its own’ in the

July edition of that year.

Alison Smithson became the unofficial chronicler of the group through her publications about

Team 10, including the Team 10 Primer (1962, re-edition 1968).

(Van Den Heuve, http://www.team10online.org)

The two main papers which stated the intent of Team 10, ‘The Doorn Manifesto (1954)’ and ‘The Aim of

Team Ten (1962)’ were both edited by Alison Smithson. ‘Team 10 Primer’ was also compiled and edited

by Alison Smithson and first published as a book in 1968.

Alison and Peter Smithson met Aldo van Eyck at the ninth CIAM meeting. A & P Smithson Aldo Van

Eyck, Jaap Bakema, Giancarlo de Carlo, Georges Candilis and Shadrach Woods were all from the

younger generation of CIAM and later formed the core of ‘Team 10’.

2.5 Doorn Manifesto 1954

As a result of the ninth CIAM meeting there was a growing dissatisfaction within CIAM about using the

‘functional city’ as a tool for planning. As a group they were looking for a new direction and as a

consequence there were a number of interim meetings.

The manifesto on ‘habitat’ was compiled at an interim meeting by a small number of the younger CIAM

members including Aldo Van Eyck and Peter Smithson. This meeting in Doorn January 1954 was

attended by members who all had an affinity with the importance of ‘human associations’. Peter

Smithson used the ‘Valley Section’ to illustrate the areas which would need high density housing (see

figure 2.6). He borrowed this Section from the sociologically based diagram drawn by the Scottish town

planner Patrick Geddes.

Figure 2.6 Valley Section Diagram

Peter Smithson also used this diagram to illustrate the problems of circulation within the context of

community. He stated ‘any community must be internally convenient’ (habitat, Smithsons, 1954) and

therefore density must increase as population increases. i.e. (4) being least dense (1) being most dense.

His final point was that the solutions to urbanisation would be found in architectural invention rather than

in culture or social behaviour. This statement on ‘habitat’ was subsequently given the name ‘Doorn

Manifesto’ by Alison Smithson.

2.6 Dubrovnik, 1956

Figure 2.7 A & P Smithson, scale of association diagram

‘The whole problem of environment’ was the topic of the Tenth CIAM meeting in Dubrovnik. The

Smithsons presented a scroll and a set of panels representing five different dwelling types. A & P

Smithson had formulated a comprehensive proposal which revolved around the ‘scale of association

diagram’ (see figure 2.7). The idea was concerned with the different levels of ‘human association’ and

provided a framework for the issues of urbanisation to be solved.

The main concepts discussed in relation to the ‘scale of association’ were identity, cluster and mobility.

The movement between the house, street, district and city was described as mobility. Clusters were

defined as groups of houses on a street, and in turn the group streets formed within a district and so on.

The mobility available between these different associations generated different levels of identity, family,

neighbourhood, town etc. They were also trying to identify patterns of growth in order to facilitate

extension and renewal.

The tenth CIAM meeting was organised by Team 10 under the supervision of CIAM advisory board.

Thirty five grids were presented in total at this meeting seven of which were from members of Team 10.

The presentation made by the Smithsons, which broke the strict rules of the ASCORA grid, was put

forward as an example for a different type of presentation. Le Corbusier along with the other founding

members of CIAM never came to this meeting.

3.1 The Child and the City

At the same meeting in Dubrovnik 1956, Van Eyck also made two presentations supporting the

importance of ‘human association’.

Figure 3.1 Lost Identity Grids

The Lost Identity Grid (see figure 3.1) consisted of four panels and looks at the relationship between the

child and the city. Van Eyck designed and built nearly one thousand playgrounds during his life time. As

well as being places for children to play, they were also an intervention in the city which incorporated the

Team 10 ideas of growth, mobility, cluster and change. The playgrounds created something coherent

beyond the habitat of a family which enabled mobility and helped form clusters within the community. As

children connected in these places growth occurred to form groups outside the family units.

These panels directly relates to the ‘Urban Re-identification Grid’ presented by the Smithsons at the ninth

CIAM meeting. Van Eyck’s presentation is an interpretation of the house, street, district and city from a

child’s point of view. Van Eyck was also closely associated with a Dutch group of young painters and

poets called Cobra. The group Cobra was very active in the 1940s and had an affinity with the idea of

play as a creative and cultural force.

‘If childhood is a journey, let us see to it that the child does not travel by night’

(Van Eyck, In search of the Utopia of present p.56)

The experience of these playgrounds was considered by Van Eyck to be an essential part of a child’s

growth and sense of place within a community. The panels outlined the problems which faced the city

and illustrated design solutions in a poetic way. These solutions were low cost and offered immediate

improvements and moved the focus of architecture onto the children of the city. This change of

emphasis is consistent with my interpretations of ‘human scale’ as human importance.

‘Since man is both subject and object of architecture, it follows that its primary job is to provide

the former for the sake of the latter’

(Van Eyck, Projekten, 1948 - 61 p.89)

3.2 Nagele Grid, 1956

The second presentation Van Eyck made, involved the construction of the ‘Nagele Village’ in the

Netherlands, 1948. The village was sited on a large single stretch of reclaimed land. The hierarchy of

this design was concerned with an open centre rather than the institutionalised buildings used in a

traditional town plan. The houses are all positioned with an equivalent relationship to an open space.

The village also contains a dispersed composition of churches, shops and schools. Van Eycks ‘Nagele

village’ proposal was perceived at the time, understandably, as anti-establishment.

Figure 3.2 Plan for Nagele village

One of the arguments put across in the Nagele Grid was ‘defined and protective’. Van Eyck used a

plantation of trees to encircle the housing as protection from the windy weather. These trees also formed

an internal horizon which connects the housing with the open space in the centre.

Place is the appreciation of space; that is how I see it. If I say: space represents the appreciation

of it, my purpose is again to dethrone abstract properties to it academically. Now space-meaning

need not be pre-ordained or implicitly defined in the form. It is not merely what a space sets out to

effect in human terms, that gives it place value, but what it is able to gather and transmit.

Aldo Van Eyck

(Team 10 Primer p.94)

This project represents an important phase of Van Eyck’s thinking with respect to his shift from 'space

and time' to 'place and occasion'. It is a solid example of his meaning and the kind of architecture and

urban planning it would produce. In this apparent change of emphasis he is actually defining space and

place in real terms. He also believes that the emotional content of a space is considered to give it place

value. Architecture can be compared to a musical instrument, which is used to gather and transmit

feelings and emotions.

The most important aspect of the village is the people who live in it and their relationship to the each

other, which is in effect, governed by the open central space. The design was generated and then later,

defined by the generic form of the community. The wind breaks have a social and symbolic function

transforming the entire village into a centre without the traditional thinning out of public amenities into

housing.

We could when designing a building, decide that we are concerned primarily with the composition of light

space and materials, ignoring the site and working from a detached, artistic and structural viewpoint. Our

main constraint in this exercise would be the time in which we had to design and build. The resulting

spatial arrangements may be aesthetic and the spatial experiences may be exciting, dynamic etc. This

would be autonomous art, a pleasurable experience at most, with no relationship to anything but the

abstract notions of art and science. The hierarchy would be about the spatial experience rather than

human activities. From the start Van Eyck is involved in how a structure will work on an everyday basis

and it is from these roots the building grows. With this method of working he engages with the social

structure of the community and the building is consequently a natural extension.

3.3 The CIAM Meeting Of 1959

The end of CIAM was announced at the Otterlo meeting in 1959. Le Corbusier had already sent his

letter of resignation to tenth CIAM meeting at Dubrovnik along with letters from other founding members

of CIAM.

It is those who are now 40 years old, born around 1916 during wars and revolutions and those

then unborn, now twenty five years old, born around 1930 during the preparation for a new war

and amidst a profound economic, social, and political crisis, who thus find themselves in the

heart of the present period the only ones capable of feeling actual problems, personally,

profoundly, the goals to follow, the means to reach them, the pathetic urgency of the present

situation. They are in the know. Their predecessors no longer are, they are out, and they are no

longer subject to the direct impact of the situation.

Le Corbusier

(Frampton, Modern Architecture, p.271)

Figure 3.3 ‘BY US FOR US’

The ‘BY US FOR US’ diagram presented by Van (see figure3.3) Eyck at the Otterlo meeting in 1959

marks the succession of CIAM by Team 10. At this meeting Van Eyck also presented his design for the

municipal orphanage in Amsterdam.

3.4 Municipal Orphanage 1955 – 60

Figure 3.4 Municipal Orphanage Plan, Amsterdam, Aldo van Eyck

Van Eyck offered the orphanage in Amsterdam as a model for the city. All of the ideas implemented in

this project were meant to be interpreted as a blue print for the design of the urban environment. The

duality between architecture and urban design frustrated van Eyck and fuelled his struggle to find a way

of unifying them.

In the light of what the other creative fields have managed to evolve – a relaxed relative concept of

reality – what architects and urbanists have failed to do amounts to treason.

Aldo Van Eyck

(Van Eyck, Projekten 1948-1961 p.89)

The orphanage, which used to house just over 100 children, has from the outset a distinct feeling of

infinity due to the attention Van Eyck has paid to the articulation of numbers and their configuration. The

multiplication of the individual units is done in such a way that the identity of each unit is read as part of

the whole. Both the spatial dynamic and the circulation of these units are governed by diagonals. This

type of duality is called a twin phenomenon by Van Eyck. It is this sensitivity he feels is missing from the

city, in particular the sequences between spaces. He believes that irrespective of the function or area a

space occupies its relationship with other spaces and the whole needs to be addressed.

Like the ‘Nagele village’ the orphanage has been decentralized into a number of communal areas with

interconnecting internal streets. The residential units are arranged along these streets in a staggered

formation giving each of them individual outdoor spaces. He calls this sequence or journey between

places the ‘traffic space’. He is considers the places in between places, as places, resulting in the growth

or dispersion of a pattern. In this situation the design has evolved from the daily life patterns of the staff

and residents. It is this spatial continuity and his poly-centric ideas, which he says should be conceived

as a city.

Figure 3.5 Orphanage, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1960 to 1961

4.1 Architectural Solutions

In the summer of 1960 the group now called Team 10 held their first meeting in Bagnols-sur-Ceze, South

of France. Although Team 10 had formed a group now it wasn’t until 1961 that ‘The Aim of Team 10’ was

published in a special edition of AD. This was in response to the public dissatisfaction shown by the

founding members CIAM regarding its end. This aim as described later in the publication ‘Team 10

Primer’ was to provide the following;

‘Meaningful groupings of buildings, where each building is a live thing and a natural extension of

the others. Together they will make places where a man can realize what he wishes to be.’

Alison Smithson, 1962

(Smithson,Team 10 primer,p.3)

According to le Corbusier the street is a non-functioning relic of the past. For Team 10 the street brings

us from the past into the present. It is the pathways, in which the journey through a town’s spaces is

made possible. If we replace our towns with parkland and concrete slabs we will be erasing any memory

of the past. The past is an integral part of the present, both in the identity of a town and a person.

Memories are an important factor in living and a place can remind us where we have come from and who

we are today.

4.2 Robin Hood Gardens 1966-72

Figure 4.1 Robin Hood Gardens Plan

Team 10 believed social housing should be integrated into its environment rather than isolated as an

object within it. They preferred high density low rises and experimented with the tree height for a limit.

The only example of this kind of building by Alison and Peter Smithson is the Robin Hood Gardens,

located in Poplar, East London.

We can see Van Eyck’s ‘defined and protective’ idea in the Robin Hood Gardens scheme. The buildings

protect the central garden from noise and additional protection is given by a concrete fence angled in a

way to reflect the sound back into the street. A view from the pavement allows one to see the physical

manifestation of the Smithsons concept ‘streets in the air’ which, breaks up the composition while

providing a sense of human importance. There is some variation in the volume of spaces related to the

entrances and circulation which draws the eye into the building.

The Robin Hood Gardens were built around the idea and use of public gardens in London. The public

gardens in Hanover Square, Soho Square etc have a long history, and are very popular with local

Residents, businesses and tourists. The difference here is the garden use is restricted to the residents

only.

The buildings both have a very definitive beginning and end mainly due to the positioning of the site which

is dominated by traffic noise. They wanted to create a quiet garden which in turn would become an open

centre. Thus the two buildings are both positioned with a corresponding relationship to the open space

garden.

Unfortunately unlike the Nagele village designed by Van Eyck there are no internal horizons to connect

the two facades with the garden. If the internal streets had been on the garden side the buildings would

have had visual lines connecting them to the open space. This would have reinforced the protective

nature of both buildings as well. With the ‘streets’ placed on the road side of the buildings, it leaves the

circulation of the occupants exposed to the noise of traffic.

The Golden Lane project, which had been such a powerful tool in the early days of Team 10, was re-

worked into the Robin Hood Gardens scheme. The Smithsons set out to prove that high density and tight

restrictions on budget would not necessarily result in a lower standard of living. Although both the

schemes include the ‘streets in the air’ concept, the architectural hierarchies are quite different. Golden

Lane is based on the idea of multiplicity. The building block was intended to be used as an element in a

super structure (see figure 2.4 and 4.3).

Figure 2.4 Golden lane housing plan 1952, Works and Projects, p.36

The golden lane housing plan as it would be in as a super structure

Figure 4.3 Golden Lane City, Works and Projects, p.35

The site (Robin Hood Gardens) has therefore been organised to create a ‘stress-free’ central zone

protected from the noise and pressures of the surrounding roads by the buildings themselves.

Vidotto

(Smithson, Works and projects p.122)

Robin Hood Gardens is a good solution to urban housing which is about protecting the historic memories

of London. The Smithsons have focused on the London garden to maintain the historic fabric of the site.

At a glance the building could be disregarded as another modernist disaster, but on analysis one realizes

that the intentions and resulting effect is quite different.

Figure 4.2 ‘Streets in the air’ a view from Robin Hood Gardens

The circulation on the south side receives the sun and connects with the skyline. The scheme when

compared to most of the housing solutions for London is actually very successful. It retains the memory

of a feature in London that is widely appreciated, the urban garden. Its geometry is about human

circulation; the hierarchy of spaces begins with the access points and follows the pedestrian streets. For

me this confirms the intention of providing a housing solution which is about the people who will be living

in the building.

4.3 Village Matteotti Housing Estate 1969 – 74

The Village Matteotti Housing Estate in Italy, designed by Giancarlo De Carlo is another human based

solution to high density housing. The estate was commissioned by the Italian National Steel Corporation

in 1969 as a housing development for steel workers and their families.

From the outset De Carlo wanted the future residents to be involved in the design process. He set up an

exhibition of alternative housing designs intended to persuade the residents that low rise, high density

housing would be the idea solution. He formulated a number of design principles which included

separating the pedestrian and vehicle traffic and individual outdoor spaces for every dwelling. After

discussions with the residences it was also decide that every home would have a direct entrance from the

street.

On this point we should be very clear, and therefore it is indispensable first of all to clarify the

basic differences between planning ‘for’ the users and planning ‘with’ the users

Giancarlo De Carlo

(Giancarlo De Carlo, 1992 p.211)

This quote defines the basic difference between the Smithsons, Giancarlo de Carlo and Ralph Erskine.

The Smithsons plan ‘for’ the users, Erskine and De Carlo plan ‘with’ the users. De Carlo sets up a dialog

with future users using an exhibition and Erskiine sets up an open office in Byker to connect with the

individuals who have been allocated housing.

Planning ‘with’ the users is a psychological tool used by some designers to stay in touch with the future

residents, while they are designing. The actual input users have on the future housing in minimal, it is the

architect who designs the building. The most important point is that the building is focused on the user.

This can be done in a number of different ways as illustrated by the examples I have used.

Figure 4.3 Village Matteotti Housing Estate plan

In Matteotti De Carlo uses similar strategies to the ones Van Eyck has used in the Municipal Orphanage.

De Carlo has used a three dimensional network of circulation and amenities to decentralize the hierarchy

of spaces. All of the individual homes relate to the whole through the circulation and the dispersion of

amenities. The pedestrian circulation is made up of two systems, the first is on ground level and the

second runs along the tops of garages and interconnects the adjoining blocks with bridges (figure 4.5).

De Carlo’s circulation is an interesting interpretation of the Smithsons idea of ‘streets in the air’.

Figure 4.5 View of the pedestrian bridge

The mathematics of the individual units is based on five main prototypes, which each have three

variations. Each of these is laid out in three different ways, thus providing 45 distinct types of apartment.

The resulting pattern means that the identity of each unit is read as part of the whole. This system is very

similar to the multiplication Aldo van Eyck uses in the Amsterdam Orphanage.

Figure 4.4 View of the street

4.4 Spazio e Societá (1975 – 2000)

At this point it is worth noting that De Carlo took over the Italian version of the French journal Espaces et

Sociétés. He established the magazine under the Italian name of Spazio e Societá (Space & Society).

Spazio e Societá was a journal about architecture in use on a daily basis. De Carlo’s strategy was to use

the community as an integral part of the design process. His magazine was about the way everyday

people used architecture and written in a way that everyday people could read it.

4.5 Byker Redevelopment (1968 -81)

In 1968 Ralph Erskine began designing the Byker Housing Estate in Newcastle upon Tyne. The

regeneration was part of an effort to rebuild a largely derelict neighbourhood. This process had the

added complication of co-ordinating the demolishing of old buildings with the construction of new ones.

Like De Carlo, Erskine also believed in participation from the future residents early in the design process.

He set up a studio in the area so as to build up a relationship with the local community. Erskine was

interested in the branch of sociology that is concerned with studying the relationships between human

groups and their physical and social environments. He put this study into practice by having an open

door policy with respect to the neighbourhood residents who were welcome to come in with their

comments and criticisms. After a family was assigned an apartment they were also invited to the office to

discuss the interior layout, finishes and the general plan of the area. Erskine used all of this information

to inform his final design for the district and individual homes.

Figure 4.6 Entrance from the main road

The Byker housing forms a wall to protect the residents from the noise of a busy road situated along the

edge of the site (see figure 4.6). The windows are small and the walls are high to reduce the amount of

noise which is allowed to penetrate into the apartments, communal path ways and green areas. Within

this wall the individual apartments form a complex pattern. The arrangement of the communal areas and

housing is similar to Van Eyck’s ‘Nagele village’. There are a number of open green areas which form

focal points for the corresponding housing. In consistency with Van Eyck’s ideas, Eskine uses the

internal walkways, galleries and bridges to visually and figuratively connect with the open spaces.

Erskine has used the internal street circulation to create communities within the community. The Byker

neighbourhood is in effect made up of family units grouped together within the larger group of Byker. This

is a model example of how to use the ‘human association’ strategy to solve urban housing issues.

Figure 4.7 View from one of the courtyards inside Byker

Ralph Erskine was a member of the Team 10 who effectively addressed these issues of urban growth in

his Byker redevelopment scheme in Newcastle. Although he was not as involved in the generation of

ideas emerging from Team 10, he has put into practice some of the ideas and theory which they spun.

Figure 4.8 Byker Housing Estate Plan

At the time Byker was the largest housing complex in Britain and one of the largest in Europe. It had more

than 2,000 houses and flats, shops and a church, all shielded from the roar of the motorways and the

bitter wind from the North Sea by the cliff face of the 10-storey Byker Wall.

The estate also became a listed building in 2003 and part of the cultural heritage of the north-east.

5.1 Conclusion

Figure 5.1 African Village

This African village (see figure 5.1) is a good way to illustrate what is lost in Le Corbusiers philosophy

regarding urban housing. If we look at the spaces we can see they have a complexity in sizes and

shapes. We would know the chief’s hut because it would have a slightly bigger space around it. There is

a growth and dispersion of space. The difference between what Le Corbusier proposed and the village

according to the Peter Smithson is that the village has a sense of belonging and identity. The spaces

inside Le Corbusiers standardised unit would be artistically composed, although the outside spaces and

repetition would be bland.

It is widely assumed that Le Corbusier’s vision of a perfect city is an analogy to inspire hope. Although it

does perform this function, Le Corbusier’s utopia is set out quite specifically in the Athens charter.

Proposing the death of the street can hardly be seen as an analogy, it is quite precise. Ending the

suburb, could be interpret as improving the suburb, but again he is quite clear about his feelings. He

regarded the suburb as one of the greatest evils of the century (Gold, p.75).

Team 10, have a reasonable and sensitive approach to urban housing and town planning. On the surface

all of the strategies used by the various members and participants of Team 10 are different. Van Eyck

looks at the activities of intended participants to generate the generic form of a place and consequently

builds a counter form. Eskine’s approach is to study human groups, their relationship to the environment

and design a building based on all the information he has gathered. De Carlo is taking a more involved

interest in the everyday use of a building and believes in a continual interaction with the user during the

design process. De Carlo is concerned with breaking the barriers which exist between architects, builders

and clients. The Smithsons defined ‘New Brutalism’ as architecture which responded to the way in which

people lived and built. Architecture as defined by Team 10 in 1962 is to create living buildings which are

a natural extension of each other.

At the centre of all these different approaches is Alison and Peter Smithson’s recognition of the sensitivity

required to produce architecture of value. The ‘scale of human association’ is at the heart of this

argument. Le Corbusier acknowledges his inability to understand what is expected of him in his letter of

resignation from CIAM. His vision of utopia, love and enthusiasm for architecture inspired hope and the

international platform which he created was passed on to the younger members of CIAM.

The discussions and debates which arose consequential developed human based strategies for creating

architectural solutions. More importantly these architects have all questioned the purpose of architecture

and the role of the architect. The result is a reservoir of information regarding the creation of relevant

architecture. The design strategies which have been created though this process are still unresolved in

the studio today. In my opinion the heavy handed autonomous compositions of Le Corbusier are still

dominating the discussions of space, light and materiality.

We make circulation and programmatic models illustrating the proposed experience of the users. This is

all presented in terms of the context and how the building is made accessible. We explain the

importance of the surroundings and the views which are available from various positions within the

building and outside. But we don’t consider the importance of the building for the community or the effect

it will have on the place. If the space around a building grows bigger than any other space in the urban

environment, it will become a centre. A new centre which doesn’t acknowledge the historic fabric of a

place will essentially destroy the memories of a place and consequentially its identity.

Too often there is an artistic sensitivity, but no sensitivity towards the people who live in a place,

immediately and historically. The result is autonomous art, a three dimensional sculpture with little or no

meaning, which is consequently given a programme.

Many people fail to see the contradictions in le Corbusiers architecture, his work is about function, yet

composition always dominates. On a larger scale even this dominating feature is compromised, only to

become bland and repetitive. When the geometry of a site reflects the needs of the users it generates a

place. A Place has a meaning and significance; it is not just a monument to the efforts of science and

art. Understanding how humans associate is the key to building places of value according to Team 10.

6.1 Bibliography

Le Corbusier, Oeuvre complète. 1934-1938, London, Thames and Hudson, 1966

Le Corbusier, Oeuvre complète. 1938-1946, London, Thames and Hudson, 1966

Aldo Van Eyck, Projekten, 1948 – 1961, Groningen, Johan van de Beek, 1981

Aldo Van Eyck, Projekten, 1962 – 1976, Groningen, Johan van de Beek, 1983

Rudi Fuchs, Aldo van Eyck: the playgrounds and the city, Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, 2002

Kenneth Frampton, Modern Architecture: A Critical History, London, Thames and Hudson, 1992

John R. Gold, The Experience of Modernism, London, E & FN Spon, 1997

Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel, Team 10 in search of a Utopia of the present, Rotterdam, Nai

Publishers, 2005

Jean Jenger, Le Corbusier Architect of a New Age, London, Thames and Hudson, 1996

Royston Laudau, New Directions in British Architecture, London, Studio Vista, 1968

Lewis Mumford, The City in History, London, Martin Secker and Warburg Ltd, 1963

S. Von Moos, Le Corbusier: Elements of a Synthesis, Cambridge, MIT Press, 1979

Alison Smithson [edited by], Team 10 Meetings, New York, Rizzoli, 1991

Alison Smithson [edited], Team 10 Primer, London, Studio Vista, 1968.

Alison and Peter Smithson, Without Rhetoric, an architectural aesthetic, London, Latimer New

Dimensions, 1973.

Alison Smithson [Documents compiled by], The Emergence of Team 10 out of C.I.A.M., London,

Architectural Association, 1982

Catherine Spellman and Karl Unglaub, Peter Smithson: conversations with students, New York, Princeton

Architectural Press, 2005

Nigel Taylor, Urban Planning and Theory since 1945, London, SAGE Publications, 1998

Marco Vidotto, Alison + Peter Smithson Works and Projects, Barcelona, Gustavo Gili, 1997

Benedict Zucchi, Giancarlo De Carlo, London, Butterworth Architecture, 1992

6.2 Illustrations

Figure 1.1 Forshaw and Abercrombie, County of London Plan, London, Macmillan, 1944, Plate XXVII

Figure 2.1 Le Corbusier, Oeuvre complète. 1938-1946, London, Thames and Hudson, 1966 p.176

Figure 2.2 Le Corbusier, Oeuvre. 1938-1946, London, Thames and Hudson, 1966, p.176

Figure 2.3, Max Risselada and Dirk van der Heuvel, In search of a Utopia of the present, 2005, p.19

Figure 2.4, Max Risselada and Dirk van der Heuvel, In search of a Utopia, 2005, p.31

Figure 2.5, Vidotto, Works and Projects, 1997, p.37

Figure 2.6, Spellman, Conversations with students, p.38




Figure 3.3, Aldo Van Eyck, http://www.team10online.org/

Figure 3.4, Van Eyck, Projekten 1948 - 61, 1981, p.53,

Figure 3.5, Van Eyck, Projekten 1948 - 61, 1981, p.71

Figure 4.1, Vidotto, Works and Projects, 1997, p.123





Figure 4.6, Photograph by McPherson 2005

Figure 4.7, Photograph by McPherson 2005

Figure 4.8, Max Risselada and Dirk van der Heuvel, In search of a Utopia, 2005, p. 224

Figure 5.1, http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/info/images/autumn2002/villagescene.jpg

Front and back cover, Max Risselada and Dirk van der Heuvel, In search of a Utopia, 2005, p.224,

p.59, p.220, p.123

http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/info/images/autumn2002/villagescene.jpg