Architecture Activism 9783035608540, 9783035610239

Table of contents :
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
RELIEF AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Make it Right
Affordable Housing Namibia
Heimat2
Eckwerk Holzmarkt
ENERGY AUTONOMY
Solarkiosk
Holistic Living
HEALING ARCHITECTURE
Two Icu Rooms in Berlin
CULTURAL CAMPAIGNING
Platoon Kunsthalle
Art Cloud & Unity Flag
GRAFTIES Members of staff
About GRAFT
Illustration credits

Citation preview

GRAFT

ARCHITECTURE ACTIVISM WITH A FOREWORD BY CAMERON SINCLAIR BIRKHÄUSER BASEL

GRAFT PARTNERS Lars Krückeberg Wolfram Putz Thomas Willemeit Linda Stannieder TEXTS BY Nora Zerelli Christoph Korner Wolfram Putz Lars Krückeberg Thomas Willemeit LAYOUT, COVER DESIGN AND TYPESETTING www.proxi.me Reinhard Steger Christian Schärmer Ieva Sliziute Maria Martí Vigil PROJECT MANAGEMENT GRAFT Nora Zerelli, Berlin ILLUSTRATION EDITING GRAFT Yvonne Corinna Paul, Berlin EDITORIAL SUPERVISION AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT BIRKHÄUSER Henriette Mueller-Stahl, Berlin COPY EDITING Julian Reisenberger, Weimar

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the German National Library The German National Library lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in databases. For any kind of use, permission of the copyright owner must be obtained. This publication is also available as an e-book (ISBN PDF 978-3-0356-0854-0; ISBN EPUB 978-3-0356-0828-1). © 2016 Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, Basel P.O. Box 44, 4009 Basel, Switzerland Part of Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Printed on acid-free paper produced from chlorine-free pulp. TCF ' Printed in Germany ISBN 978-3-0356-1023-9

PRODUCTION Katja Jaeger, Berlin Paper: Hello fat matt, 135g Printing: DZA Druckerei zu Altenburg GmbH Kindly supported by KfW

987654321 www.birkhauser.com

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Foreword

8

by Cameron Sinclair

Introduction by Lars Krückeberg, Wolfram Putz, Thomas Willemeit

RELIEF AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING 14

MAKE IT RIGHT

112

Rebuilding the Lower 9 th Ward in New Orleans, USA, 2006–

58

AFFORDABLE HOUSING NAMIBIA

HEIMAT2 Dignified Housing Solutions for Refugees in Europe, Berlin, Germany, 2016–

130

Attack Ownership Barriers, Namibia, 2014–

ECKWERK HOLZMARKT Affordable Urban Living & Working, Berlin, Germany, 2014–

ENERGY AUTONOMY 142

SOLARKIOSK

190

Reducing Energy Poverty, Botswana, Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tansania, USA, Vietnam, 2009–

HOLISTIC LIVING Mobility Plus House, Berlin, Germany, 2013–2015

HEALING ARCHITECTURE 204

TWO ICU ROOMS IN BERLIN Linking Design and Healthcare in a Research Project, Berlin, Germany, 2011–2013

CULTURAL CAMPAIGNING 216

PLATOON KUNSTHALLE

228

Temporary Buildings and their Impact on the Built Environment, Seoul, South Korea / Berlin, Germany, 2009, 2012

236

GRAFTIES Members of staff

238

About GRAFT

ART CLOUD & UNITY FLAG Leading Campaigns for Change, Berlin, Germany, 2006, and diverse places, 2006

240

Illustration credits

FORE WORD BY CAMERON SINCLAIR

Vous savez, c’est la vie qui a raison, l’architecte qui a tort. (“You know, it is life that is right and the architect who is wrong.”) Le Corbusier A TIME FOR ARCHITECTS TO LEAD We are not form makers, we are problem solvers. While one can point at a structure and critique its shape, material and form, it is far more relevant for us to understand how a building resolves the challenge of the brief within the context in which it sits and the effect it has on the community as a whole. With the rapid development of technology and materials we can build ever more complex shapes that pierce the sky. However, just because we can, doesn’t make our architecture better. Equating scale to impact pushes us into the domain of pop-tart design, and qualitative space must take precedent over quantitative design. This is not a debate about philosophy, this is a debate about design management. When we lead the process, this can define its outcome. This is not a call to arms but the voicing of a need for architects to reassume their rightful place as master builders. Leading the process of development instead of being hired to respond to it means we can allow aesthetics and ethics to work in harmony rather than as opposing forces. Our role needs to evolve into that of an outward-facing entrepreneur, and this means changing the way we lead our practices and more importantly work to change the perception of the profession in society.

6

“Architecture must contribute to society’s progress and ultimately to our individual and collective well-being.” Zaha Hadid THE RISE OF THE DESIGN ENTREPRENEUR AND THE HYBRID FIRM For the last two decades we have heard a steady drumbeat of young architects and designers who believe our role is beyond trying to shape a city through an economics-driven model. The ideal of social-centered design has grown across the globe, focused on improving how we live over what we live in. With few funding sources that value such skills, these outliers have had to embrace new ways of working, collaborating and financing. In the late 1990s and early 2000s we saw these designers working for and with NGOs. Organizations like Public Architecture, Architects Sans Frontières and Architecture for Humanity expanded greatly as they became an outlet for designers to give back. The biggest hurdle when work is done under the construct of a non-profit, is that it is seen as the “vague do-good-feel-good pursuit of ‘social justice’”1 when in reality designing for all means designing for all. The value proposition of social impact architecture is the design process – one that is driven by inclusion and thinks about the long-term investment that a development or building can achieve. Fortunately, with the rise of crowdfunding, social investment and progressive clients, hybrid firms like Kéré Architecture, Small Works, MASS Design, Elemental, Toyo Ito & Associates, Urban Think-Tank, Latent Design, GRAFT and Asante have evolved into for-purpose firms that have the capacity to take on both for-profit clients and pro-bono projects. With the projects presented in this book, GRAFT demonstrates that using professional skills for social good is inherent to the profession and that you can’t have differing standards of work for private clients on the one hand and for communities on the other. It is apparent that over the next two decades great challenges are up ahead all over the world. The combined effect of strained resources, climate change, migration and aging populations in industrialized countries means we need to completely rethink the entire living experience. We as architects need to resist the charge to create “smart cities” but look at developing shared communities, involving citizens in the way we will share our spaces, rethinking whether we need to own homes and how public space is defined. “All fine architectural values are human values, else not valuable.” Frank Lloyd Wright 1

Patrik Schumacher, January 2016

Cameron Sinclair is the co-founder of Architecture for Humanity, a charitable organization that developed architectural solutions to humanitarian crises and brought professional design and construction services to communities in need. He is the founder and principal designer for Small Works.

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INTRO DUC TION

BY LARS KRÜCKEBERG, WOLFRAM PUTZ, THOMAS WILLEMEIT

Bauhaus students combining joy and intention at a party in 1924 in Weimar

8

Since the origins of the profession, architects

ideas that could benefit society, redistribute profit

have been trained to analyze location, climate,

and serve collective goals often remain within

legal parameters, construction and technology,

the academic realm – and often never see the light

use patterns and lifespans, to understand history,

of day.

budget, social context and markets before elaborating their proposal, ideally also making

Ten years ago, when we were asked to help re-build

a contribution to a better world and formulating

New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, we saw how

their thesis on beauty. But architects are not free:

architects, over and above doing good work, could

they always depend on a “client”, work within the

really contribute to “the pursuit of happiness” in the

framework of a contract and a fee, and are “service

world. For us the answer was clear: not by waiting

providers” for someone else who defines the

for someone else to hire us.

goals and targets. This constellation limits the “idea of a better world” to what is possible

Since founding the Make It Right Foundation in

within the wishes of the contracting party, be they

New Orleans, initiated by our friend and highly

private or public clients.

respected client Brad Pitt, we have co-established

In a global economy in which maximum profit

strategies, and invented and realized energy

expectations determine the pattern of investment,

systems for low-cost housing in rural Africa

in which global networks of financing institutions

and elsewhere. We have tapped into material

and consultants have been trained to outsource

production, learned how to apply for grant money

foundations, participated in developing financial

responsibility, and in which nations and states are

and government R&D funds, developed ways of

facing global economic pressure, the conditions

working with impact investors, and initiated

for demonstrating solidarity are becoming more

start-ups that we continue to support through

and more difficult. The relationship between client

their advisory boards. We have grown used to

and architect is out of balance and the designer

risking both time and money, and even to

is all too often the servant of pragmatism and cold-

failing dramatically at times, but today we can

hearted considerations.

unequivocally say: if you don’t do it yourself and

Architects are no longer in the driver’s seat and

aren’t prepared to take the more arduous path

their ability to shape the development of society

to realize your big ideas – nobody will do it in your

has diminished accordingly. New, intelligent design

place. This is what this book is about.

9

Buckminster Fuller – Biosphere at Expo 67 in Montreal, mankind on „Spaceship Earth“

The experimental town Arcosanti by Paolo Soleri and others

Sam Mockbee – Yancey Chapel in Sawyerville, Hale County, Alabama, core of an idealized community

The discussion about the role and responsibility of

was without doubt more about design concerns

the architect is nothing new, though. Many see the

than social justice. Mies tried to keep the Bauhaus

Bauhaus movement, especially the revolutionary

out of politics as much as possible, but by 1931 the

time in Dessau (less than five years!), as a

pressure from the Nazi regime in Dessau was even

distinct point of origin – the “big bang” moment of

greater. He moved the Bauhaus to Berlin, a city

modernity. During this brief period, the question

of international cultural relevance, in the hope of

of the architect’s primary goal – to achieve beauty

saving its intellectual autonomy, but the school was

or social justice? – was hotly contested. Walter

finally closed by the Nazi regime only five months

Gropius wanted to liberate craftsmanship from

later. Independence and autonomy remained an

pure reproduction and historicism and at the

unfulfilled promise, and during the Nazi regime

same time aimed to reintroduce hand-crafted

the concept of dissociation of form and function

design to fully explore the promises of industrial

seemed like a self-deception of modernity.

mass production for social good. Gropius, who himself had designed and realized affordable

Walter Gropius’ intention to combine the fine arts

housing schemes, appointed the socialist Hannes

and the crafts, to graft them onto each other in

Meyer as his successor two years after moving

a single schooling principle, was revolutionary

to Dessau. From then on, following Meyer’s

and inspiring but also marked the beginning of

maxim of Volksbedarf statt Luxusbedarf (“the

a struggle that still persists today in the debate

needs of the people before the need for luxury”),

on the autonomy or dependency of architectural

the Bauhaus was primarily committed to purpose,

expression, as seen, for example, in the discussions

and industrialization was understood as a tool for

on the appointments of Venice Biennale directors

achieving greater good. Soon even Gropius feared

and Pritzker laureates in recent years.

Meyer would turn the Bauhaus into a communist institution rather than an architectural school and

But is “quality of architecture” versus “social and

in 1930 Meyer was replaced by Mies van der Rohe.

common benefit” really the right question? Must it

For the next two years, Mies’ motto “less is more”

be black or white? This dialectic may be a reason

10

Oscar Niemeyer – modular school building system, built 500 times

Álvaro Siza – Quinta de Malaguera, 1,200 homes... Alejandro Aravena – half-finished and finished houses

serviced by and attached to a system of aqueduct structures

Steven Holl – concept for improvements of informal settlements providing services and basic front structure for self-made homes

why our profession has become more specialized

through the principle of “more for less” was

and less influential. For GRAFT, the most relevant

Buckminster Fuller. In an effort to try and “make

architects of our time are those who do not ask

the world work”, he addressed some of the world’s

whether beauty or purpose are of higher priority

largest questions. The goal of his pioneering

but try to combine both in equal measure. And the

solutions was always to improve human life,

most inspiring architects? Those who have not

making him one of the key innovators of the 20 th

waited to be asked, but have taken the initiative

century. Harmony between urban development

themselves and created projects of high aesthetic

and nature was also the goal of the Italian-

quality for the common good.

American architect Paolo Soleri, who in 1970 began constructing the experimental town of Arcosanti

One architect whom we especially admire, and

in Arizona to demonstrate the impact of smart

who worked for rich and poor, for big cities and the

urban development and environmental protection.

smallest communities, explained it very simply:

Although his idea of “arcology”, the combination

“I always like to repeat that architecture is not

of architecture and ecology, never became

important. Architecture is just a pretext. Important

mainstream, he influenced future generations,

is life and important is man. This remarkable being

ourselves included, with his utopian approach.

with soul and emotions, that is hungry for justice and beauty.” Oscar Niemeyer designed incredibly

In 1993, Sam Mockbee and his architecture

beautiful buildings for both the cultural elite as

students at Auburn University began designing

well as the uneducated layperson – and more often

and building homes and community buildings

than not because he wanted to, not because he

for disadvantaged communities in Hale County,

was paid for it.

Alabama. They named their movement Rural Studio, and it is still active today, years after Sam

Another outstanding architect, who early on

Mockbee’s death. Their inexpensive constructions

focused on environmental and social activism in

were made from reclaimed lumber and bricks,

architecture, striving for sustainable production

even hay, cardboard or old bottles and license

11

Francis Kéré – school in Burkina Faso, adobe construction under shading structure

Shigeru Ban – Paper Log House in Kobe, recycling of construction material for local climate conditions

Nina Maritz – Habitat Resource and Development Center (HRDC) in Windhoek, Namibia, prototypical buildings and test structures

Habitat Research Center

plates, making them sustainable and rooted in

be successively attached using the aqueduct as

local identities. Following in their footsteps, other

a structural component as well as a water and

initiatives and networks such as Architecture for

energy supply. The idea of the partly built house

Humanity and Habitat for Humanity have likewise

was picked up by Elemental and Alejandro Aravena,

practiced activism in the field of architecture.

who first proposed the concept of half-finished houses in Iquique, Chile, and then went on to build

Of the many public housing projects by Álvaro Siza,

a series of settlements that are well-known for their

his most famous and successful project is probably

potential to be extended and “completed” by the

his Quinta de Malagueira development in Évora,

homeowners themselves.

Portugal. His architectural approach included an additional layer of infrastructure that takes the

One aspect of contemporary architecture that is

form of “an elevated network of conduits that

becoming ever more apparent is the failure of the

distributes water and electricity (…) much in the

modernist idea of “one construction technology fits

manner of a miniature aqueduct” (Ellis Woodman,

all”. Since the 1970s, we have seen the renaissance

The Architectural Review, 27 January 2015).

of several regional construction methods and

The low-rise courtyard houses were built on a

building traditions, for example building with earth

low budget, publically subsidized, and became

and bamboo or with recycled materials such as

home to 1,200 families. Steven Holl proposes a

wastepaper or Cradle-to-Cradle certified materials.

similar strategy to address the problem of slums

Often, the aim of research and development into

and informal settlements all over the world.

alternative construction methods and materials

In his publication Anchoring (1989), Holl published

is to address needs at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP),

sketches of two parallel aqueducts providing

and is driven by the idea of combining social

water and energy supply for informal and self-

benefit and formal expression as we see it in the

made housing that also define a public space

work of Shigeru Ban, Francis Kéré, Nina Maritz and

between them. Individual shacks and houses can

many others.

12

T AR G ST TIN AC TALST OP KIN G

With this publication we would like to thank all our

Thank you, Henriette Mueller-Stahl, for your

colleagues who inspired us by contributing work

excellent advice and thoughtful guidance.

for people in need, rather than for the purpose of

Thanks to Proxi for inspiring us to rethink not

being published in magazines. We would like to

only graphics but the way we do books in general.

see many more of these hidden champions being

Many thanks also to Christoph Korner for his

honored in public. It is not a professional practice

contributions to the MIR chapter and to Linda

one has to specialize in, but a view on life that

Stannieder, our new partner in Brandlab and the

addresses the architectural needs in every one

Heimat2 initiative.

of us. Inspiration comes in all forms and from all professions. Activism is by nature the fusion of

This publication would not have been possible

disciplines and talents from all aspects of the task

without the help of the KfW Kreditanstalt für

at hand – a grafting of worlds.

Wiederaufbau – thank you for your kind support, especially Jenny Scharrer and Michael Jainzik.

We also want to express our gratitude to all who have contributed to making this book. First and

We are blessed to work with a fantastic team of

foremost to Nora Zerelli, who helped tremendously

more than 80 architects from all over the world.

by generating content, writing texts and

Your input, team spirit and dedication to make this

orchestrating the whole process. Many thanks to

world a better place have been making us happy

Yvonne Corinna Paul for her great support.

and proud every single day since we started GRAFT.

IF YOU WANT TO GO FAST, GO ALONE.

IF YOU WANT TO GO FAR, GO TOGETHER.

MAKE IT RIGHT

ARCHITECTURE ACTIVISM — MAKE IT RIGHT

ARCHITECTURE ACTIVISM — MAKE IT RIGHT

17

+ + + H U R R I C A N E K AT R I N A , W H I C H H I T T H E G U L F C O A S T I N 2 0 0 5 , WA S O N E O F T H E D E A

REBUILDING THE LOWER 9TH WARD IN NEW ORLEANS GLOBAL WARMING OR JUST FATE? On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall at the Gulf Coast, just outside New Orleans. It turned out to be the fifth deadliest hurricane in the history of the United States and the most costly natural disaster in the world so far. The main destruction in the city was not caused by the hurricane itself, but by countless breaches in the old levees of the city, the failure of flood pump systems and the ensuing catastrophic flooding in large parts of New Orleans. Nowhere was the devastation greater than in the Lower 9th Ward. It is an area below sea level and was separated from the adjacent Industrial Canal by a levee that was too old to keep the rising waters out. The breach was so large that an entire barge, the ING 4727, was swept by floodwaters into the neighborhood, leveling anything that stood in its path. The Lower 9th Ward ended up being almost completely destroyed, its population forced out of their neighborhood and displaced. Six months after the catastrophe, it was the last part of the city still under a curfew. The residents were officially allowed to come in during daylight hours to recover some of their possessions, but in reality most of them had left town and were staying with relatives, waiting for the time when they would be allowed to return. In 2006, a year after Katrina, basic utilities and services had still not been restored, making it impossible for residents to return and start rebuilding the neighborhood. Was it bad luck or a man-made problem?

ARCHITECTURE ACTIVISM — MAKE IT RIGHT

D L I E S T H U R R I C A N E S I N T H E U S , A N D T H E C O S T L I E S T D I S A S T E R I N T H E W O R L D S O FA R . KATRINA’S PATH AND RAINFALL DIAGRAM Areas affected by the storm: Bahamas, South Florida, Cuba, Louisiana (especially Greater New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida Panhandle, most of North America 1˝

3˝

5˝

7˝

10˝

15˝

DIASPORA Victims of Hurricane Katrina have addressed themselves for assistance to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from all over the country and from every state. FEMA has counted the astonishing number of 1.36 million individual filings. Some came from far-away states like Alaska or Hawaii, others arrived from Puerto Rico. Number of refugees Katrina spread across the USA 10,000 5,000 1,000 100 10

19

T HE E N T IR E D IS T R IC T OF T HE L O W E R 9 T H WA R D IN NE W OR L E A NS L IE S BE L O W DEPTH OF FLOODING 0–2´

2–4´

4–6´

6–10´

over 10´

DURATION OF FLOODING 23–29 days

7–22 days

1–6 days

HOMES WITH PERMISSION