Designing Sustainable Cities: Manageable Approaches to Make Urban Spaces Better [23,5 x 19,5 ed.] 9783035622034, 9783035621983

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DESIGNING S

BIRKHÄUSER BASEL

MANAGEABLE APPROACHES TO MAKE URBAN SPACES BETTER

LE CITIES AB

A T I S N U

SIGRID BÜRSTMAYR / KARL STOCKER (EDS.)

“Design for sustainability is no longer a future ­prospect; it is already under way in thousands of projects around the world. These transformative actions are changing design itself.” ( T H A K A R A 2013)

FO R E W O R D

For some years now, we at the Institute of Design and Commu­nication of the FH JOANNEUM—University of Applied Sciences, in Graz have increasingly shifted our content-related orientation towards an under­standing of Design as a means to improve, repair and save the world. In this context, we have continuously integrated these topics into our curricula, we have planned and organized symposia, exhibitions and workshops, and published the anthology “Socio-Design. ­Relevant Projects: Designed for Society” in Birkhäuser. The confrontation with societal and social issues cannot take place without considering sustain­able design, environment and nature, therefore we promptly agreed to get to work on a new publication. When Istanbul became part of the UNESCO City of Design Network in 2017, this offered a good opportunity for the realization of an anthology featuring best practice examples of the use of Design for positive urban development from different UNESCO Design Cities. We managed to recruit three authors from Istanbul and one author each from Detroit, Mexico City, Puebla and Graz for collaboration in our anthology. Thus, a book was created that will hopefully attract inter­ national interest and will also serve as basis for further discussion about current and future Design strategies. Sigrid Bürstmayr, Karl Stocker

8 24 42 54 78

D E S I G N I N G T H E W O R L D FO R T H E B E T T E R

Sigrid Bürstmayr, Karl Stocker

I N C LU S I V E D E S I G N I N C O N T E M P O R A RY D E T R O I T

Paul Draus

U R B A N OA S E S . C A N C I T I E S O F T H E F U T U R E F U N C T I O N L I K E FO R E STS ?

Breathe Earth Collective

I N T E R I O R A R C H I T EC T U R E I N S U STA I N A B L E C I T I E S

Burçin Cem Arabacıoğlu

T H E P OT E N T I A L O F A LT E R N AT I V E A R C H I T EC T U R E FO R A N EC O LO G I C A L LY D R I V E N A N D S O C I A L LY E N G A G E D I STA N B U L

Ayşen Ciravoğlu

94 116 128 144

S U STA I N A B L E I STA N B U L : ST U D I E S FO R A N U R B A N D E S I G N G U I D E ; PA RT I C I PAT I O N — P O L I C Y— S C O P E

Çiğdem Polatoğlu M E X I C O C I T Y: N E W C O L L EC T I V E A P P R OAC H E S TO F I X A B R O K E N C I T Y

Paulina Cornejo Moreno Valle

D E S I G N FO R S U STA I N A B I L I T Y: Q U E ST I O N I N G O U R M AT E R I A L C U LT U R E

Sylwia Ulicka

BIOGRAPHIES

Designing the World for the Better

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Sigrid Bürstmayr, Karl Stocker

INTRODUCTION

Let us begin with a personal approach. We are very different from each other. One contributor is Sigrid Bürstmayr who works and teaches at the FH JOANNEUM—University of Applied Sciences, in Graz. Her ­professional interests and skills include product management, exhibition design, sustainable design and design activism. She has presented the results of her research at several conferences and universities, ­including recently in Seoul, Montreal, Wuhan, Istanbul and Mexico City. She is a designer. The other is Karl Stocker who was educated as a historian, but has for many years been the head of the Institute of Design & Communication at the FH JOANNEUM—University of Applied Sciences, in Graz. In 1989 he founded the exhibition agency BISDATO, which has been led by him ever since. Stocker is the author and publisher of ­numerous publications, as well as the director of research and exhibition projects. He is not a designer. As you can see, we are quite different: one is a woman, one is a man, one is younger, the other older, one comes from design, the other from humanities, one is a sustainable designer, one is a social designer, etc. So, what do we have in common? We both believe that design should be able to shape whole environments and processes, including ways of thinking and acting. Therefore, designers should try to change society and the world for the better, at least to some extent.

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A WORLD IN TRANSITION Our world is in the middle of an unprecedented period of change. Of course in the post-industrial consumer societies, materialism is still very popular. However, for several years now there have been clear indications of a shift in values among certain segments of the population. Above all, young people are aware of the negative impacts of our current economic model, and are discussing new approaches to the world: they are critical of the inequality which exists between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd world, they demand action against the increasing destruction of our environment, and they get involved with social initiatives as well as work to improve the world in their local areas. Already in the year 2000 Paul H. Ray and Sherry R. Anderson described the so-called LOHAS group of people (cf. RAY / ANDERSON 2000). LOHAS people value a lifestyle of health and sustainability, and are some of the consumers of organic and fair trade products. Other recent movements which are based on a fundamental change in values are DIY, Slow Food, Vegetarianism, Veganism and Pescetarianism. Zero Waste, plastic free, minimalism, micro housing and social engagement are all buzzwords which characterize this new way of thinking. In ­addition, concepts such as eco-friendly, biodegradable or products made out of trash, as well as packaging-free shops, etc., demonstrate the enormous spectrum these movements have now achieved. According to Manzini, we will in any case still live between two worlds for some time: “So today, we must expect to be living this turbulence for a long time, in a double world where two realities live together in conflict: the old ‘limitless’ world that does not acknowledge the ­plan­et’s limits, and another that recognizes these limits and experiments with ways of transforming them into opportunities.” (MANZINI 2015, 2f.) Manzini continues as follows: “Now these worlds look very dif­ ferent. The first is the dominant world, still the reference for many, that shapes the main economic and institutional structures and that draws from its history of success the conviction that its continuity in time is inevitable. The second, on the other hand, looks like a group of islands where people think and act in ways that are different. What the future of this archipelago of new microworlds will be like is as yet too early to tell. It may stay the same for a long time, or it may disappear, submerged by the sea of other unsustainable ways of being and doing these things. Or it may reveal itself to be the already visible part of a submerged continent: the new continent of sustainable civilization that will emerge from the transition.” (MANZINI 2015, 2f.)

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WHAT DESIGN CAN DO … However, what does this have to do with design? Nowadays the profession “designer” means a lot more than it meant 30, 20, or even 10 years ago, and includes a wide range of approaches, accesses and definitions. While designers used to simply create products or carry out graphic tasks, they have now become design strategists who are able to find creative solutions to the most diverse societal and ecological problems thanks to their different skills and interdisciplinary approach.

D E S I G N E R S H AV E TO B E R E S E A R C H E R S

In order to be a good designer, you have to do research. Research is the foundation of excellent design work. Designers have to use scientific methodologies, they have to detect the needs and emotions of the users, they have to consider the needs of society, they have to deal with the environmental contexts, and they also have to be aware of new technologies. Today, in the age of information overflow, the main approach to research is to bring structure, order and reduction to this jungle of information. Designers must decide which information and/or data is important.

D E S I G N E R S H AV E TO B E T E A M P L AY E R S

In order to carry out good projects, designers have to work in interdisciplinary teams. They need to be able to integrate people with different competencies and approaches to the world. These days ­design research also “takes place” very often in collaborative net­ works, and a high priority is placed on sharing. The so-called open source community, which shares software programs, instructions and ideas, is continually growing. In coworking spaces, know-how is shared along with work space. Startups—and not only those active in the design field—know that success is only possible through cooperation. In this way the common ground is brought to the fore and not the differences, and the result is rather amazing. Today “net culture”, viewed more broad­ ly as a term which characterizes digital relationships in a “culturally optimistic” way, no longer merely refers to the digital realm. Since especially the young creative scene, which comes together around projects and self-founded agencies, is often guided by these principles of the sharing economy.

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D E S I G N E R S H AV E TO B E STO RY T E L L E R S

The expert knowledge has to be filtered and reduced to narratable stories. Designers are virtual translators of complicated circumstances in that they transfer the information in easily digestible morsels. They have to decide which information is important to share. They have to contextualize this information and transform it into messages. Messages rule.

D E S I G N E R S H AV E TO B E V I S UA L C O M M U N I C ATO R S

The task is to transform these stories using a strong visual impact and approach. We live in a world dominated by pictures, ­graphics and icons (cf. BAUDRILLARD 1982, BÖHME 2016). Therefore, designers use aesthetic methods and languages as a powerful tool which helps them to understand the world. In general, designers know how to manage signs, symbols, images and moving pictures.

D E S I G N E R S H AV E TO B E S O C I O - D E S I G N E R S

50 years after Victor Papanek published his famous book Design for the Real World, it is clear that designers should take human needs into consideration, and use design as a tool in order to improve the ­lives of everyone. There are information design projects which support ­people after tsunamis and earthquakes. Graphic design is used in ­hospitals and schools, and it’s all about improving people’s lives through the use of visual methods. “The common factor linking them is service, and ­designers are engaged in a service profession in which the results of their work meet human needs.” (MANZINI 2015, Series Foreword) This kind of ‘social design’ concept appears to focus on the social element in a charitable-altruistic sense, but in our ‘socio-design’ approach the social element is used in a social-structural sense. ­‘Socio-Design’ goes far beyond the charitable-altruistic aspects. ­‘Socio-Design’ is therefore the blueprint and realization of the organization of forms of life for individual and group members of our s­ ociety. Socio-Designers do not just help and support people, they try to change society ­(cf. STOCKER 2017 16f.). Nowadays many designers engage in social initiatives. There are so many opportunities to improve people’s lives, starting in one’s private life, in the neighbor­hood, or in society in general.

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D E S I G N E R S H AV E TO B E S U STA I N A B L E D E S I G N E R S

In addition, a designer also has to focus on sustainable design aspects. But why is this so important? Why should we care about it? Because of course it all influences our health, our lives, our environment and our whole society. Ideally designers are involved from the beginning of the product development. They can have an influence on the choice of materials and the manufacturing process. And in many cases designers act as a link, connecting people from engineers all the way to the target group. There­fore designers have the power to exert a positive influence on the use of resources, as well as on waste prevention. Sustainable design solutions need creativity in order to in order to develop alternative approaches which respect the environment by using less energy and materials. Estimates indicate that in climate-­ damaging countries, climate-changing emissions have to be reduced by up to ­97 % per inhabitant in order to avoid a dangerous rise in temperature (cf. WALKER / GIARD 2013, 5f.). “The sheer scale of such reductions signifies a massive change in lifestyles—in the types of food we eat, the clothes we wear, the products we use, our modes of transportation, our frequency and extent of travel, our recreational activities and so on. If we maintain our present expectations and priorities and our current worldview, such changes will be seen solely as unwelcome deprivations.” (WALKER / GIARD 2013, 5f.) We have to start to accept these changes, and see them as a potential for positive development. This will in turn cause us to focus on the essential requirements for living, as well as the personal and social requirements. A reduction in traveling and products, and the renunciation of daily imported fruits and flowers will develop an awareness of people’s needs. (cf. WALKER / GIARD 2013, 5f.) “The mentality that consumerism and economic growth are cure-alls is one of the biggest obstacles to real sustainability, but any change seems impossible, unthinkable.” (THORPE 2012) The goal of sustainability is of course not new in the field of design. It is commonly believed that good designers always take the environment into consideration during their work. One need only think of Victor Papanek’s radio—built for Africa out of an old tin can. Stuart Walker described sustainable design in many publications—both as an author and a publisher (cf. WALKER / GIARD 2013, WALKER 2017, WALKER 2019). In particular, his handbook summarizes very well what designers should do in this regard, as well as what has already been done.

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The following are the guiding principles for sustainable design established by Shashank Metha (cf. METHA 2013, 343f.):

O Encourage use of local resources. O Incorporate ecological aspects of the region and environmentally friendly methods. O Utilize and develop available skills; avoid de-skilling. O Help generate new employment opportunities by designing for and encouraging production by the masses. O Create employment opportunities at people’s doorsteps through the constructive and creative utilization and engagement of human resources. O Design for product affordability by integrating the scope for product customization and adaptability; the product must be affordable for the local masses and markets. O Design for product optimization and refinement, process improvements, product quality and the addition of value. O Encourage decentralized fabrication/manu­ facturing methods. O Design for technology-intensive but low-capital investment solutions. O Design for product reparability, serviceability, reusability and recyclability. O Understand and respect local tradition, culture and the social fabric of the society. O Encourage services; integrate service components; create opportunities for self-employment.

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O Encourage cooperation/sharing and a collaborative approach. O Encourage a participatory approach to product development. O Work towards improving quality of life by adopting people-centric approaches. O Develop empathic, holistic and systematic understanding. O Use design as a catalyst to handhold the O entire process linking product development, production, marketing and distribution. O Take design expertise to the doorsteps of industries, crafts and social sectors, with a view to connecting the available/local skills and resources with the market/users. O Encourage local and indigenous innovation, enterprises and businesses. O Ensure integrated and continuous education and exposure to sustainability, nature and society. O Create a platform for the constant and contin­ uous interaction of industries and craft sectors with designers and experts.

THE FUTURE IS NOW: EXAMPLES OF WHERE DESIGN CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, MODELS OF THE FUTURE Downcycling

D E A L I N G W I T H R E S O U R C E S A N D WA ST E

Recycling

Upcycling

Braungart/McDonough hit the nail on the head by calling on ­designers to take responsibility. If products, houses and even cities had been developed in a more intelligent way, we would not have to worry about a waste problem or lack of resources—we could live in an affluent society (cf. BRAUNGART / MCDONOUGH 2013, 23). Materials such as glass, metal, paper and cardboard can be recycled and continuously reused. However, the material often loses quality, which highlights the fact that recycling often means to downcycle a material (cf. BRAUNGART / MCDONOUGH 2008, 20f.). The opposite process is upcycling, which is when waste material is used to create a new product with a higher quality and value than the original material. Upcycling gives an unwanted item a second life and a new purpose (cf. HIPCYCLE 2019). Well-known upcycling products currently on the market are the bags of the Swiss company Freitag, which are made from used truck tarps. A Detroit fashion designer developed a coat which can be transformed into a sleeping bag for homeless people. Among other materials it uses upcycled automotive insulation. The German company 2nd Flight deals with old fabrics from the sports industry, and uses ripped and perforated parachutes to create windproof and water-resistant jackets. Upcycling design is not a new topic, however it is now more upto-date due to the waste problem and the lack of resources. Upcycling seems to be a great opportunity to expand the life of a material/product, but in reality it is merely a band-aid solution which will not solve our waste problems, since how we use our resources, how we produce products, and how we consume is not future-oriented.

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TA K E M AT E R I A L O U T O F T H E C I T Y I N ST E A D O F G E T T I N G I T F R O M N AT U R E

Urban mining is another important topic which should be mentioned in the context of a social and sustainable way of living. Resources are not endless, and there are already shortages of some raw materials. Therefore we have to look for alternative solutions. Urban mining is one of them, which means extracting materials from cities instead of from mines. It looks at the unused materials in landfills, and the l­eft­over ­materials in buildings or under the streets. There are metals in and ­under our cities which are not being used anymore, especially iron from construction and copper from electric cables. There is enormous potential, especially in managing demolition sites and re-using materials right at the source (cf. URBANMINING 2019). The conventional mining of raw materials is associated with high financial costs, long transport distances from other continents, and mostly unfair working conditions. Therefore, the use of the city as a supplier of raw materials is essential for the future. Not only should the materials in buildings be used again, but also those in vehicles and any of the other products we already have (cf. SMARTCITYWIEN 2019). In Vienna about 4,500 kgs of iron, 340 kgs of aluminum, 200 kgs of copper, 40 kgs of zinc, and 210 kgs of lead is hidden under each inhab­itant (cf. SMARTCITYWIEN 2019). There are companies such as “BauKarussell” in Vienna, which offer reuse-oriented deconstruction as a service for building owners. Or there is the platform “Bauteilnetz” (cf. BAUTEILNETZ 2019) in Germany, which is an online shop for 2nd hand construction materials such as windows, bricks, tiles and wood. Reusing existing materials, products or even places is indis­ putable. For example the High Line in New York, a former railway track which was turned into a very popular public area for doing sports, having a coffee and bringing people together. This new area is also beautiful as well. According to the talk given by Stefan Sagmeister at the Istanbul Design Summit on March 2nd, 2019, one of the key factors is that the ­crime rate is very low, and consequently people feel comfortable there.

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C I R C U L A R D E S I G N I N ST E A D O F L I N E A R D E S I G N

Actually, it is all about designing for a closed loop. Inspired by nature, the circular economy concept is built on the idea that all of the materials are used in a circle. There is the biological cycle, in which 100 % of the materials return to nature, for example in the form of compost. Out of this, new materials and new biodegradable products can be created. During the technical cycle, products are disassembled and the raw materials are used to create a new product. Therefore, it has to be possible to separate the materials according to their different types ­­­­ (cf. BRAUNGART / MCDONOUGH 2008, 31). This concept will replace the linear economy, and when applied to all products and buildings it will get rid of all the waste. Furthermore, the circular design includes devel­opments for long-life, repairable, modular and dismountable prod­ucts. The creation of incentives for high customer product loyalty, as well as the use of local resources, local production and fair working conditions are the responsibility of designers—every action has an impact on the environment and society (cf. DESIGNAUSTRIA 2019, 2).

LINEAR ECONOMY

PRODUCE

USE

WASTE

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

PRODUCE

100 % BIOLOGICAL/ TECHNOLOGICAL CYCLE

USE

When speaking about sustainability we often use the terms “reduce”, “reuse” and “recycle”. Without a doubt the focus has to be on “reduce”. As mentioned above, the amount of waste can be influenced by various factors such as upcycling, the circular economy, sharing, repairing, recycling, etc. But let’s go one step further—the reduction of products in general. All of this can be summarized—as the Circular

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Design Guide puts it so well—with the following: “A radical, restorative, regenerative approach to business” (CIRCULAR DESIGN GUIDE 2019).

F E W E R B U T B E T T E R P R O D U C TS

From the perspective of people who grew up in a consumer society and have never experienced want, the question arises: Do we really need all these products? (We are aware that this question seems absurd to the approximately 40 million people in Mexico who suffer from hunger every day.) Although more than 70 % of American households own a drilling machine, a recent study reports that on average the machine is only in use for 13 minutes (cf. WELZER 2013). It doesn’t make any sense for everyone to own one, but due to the still dominant materialist culture and the promises of the consumer goods industry, the average European owns 10,000 possessions. On the one hand products are becoming more efficient and electronic goods now use less power. However, on the other hand in 2018 a lot of people still bought more and more products, and most of them were non-durable products. Cars are now more fuel efficient, but are becoming bigger and bigger. A trend towards more sustainable products can be seen, but unfortunately the execution of these products is becoming less sustainable. Sustainable or fair trade products are mostly bought online, and the logistic expenditure is increasing. Cus­ tomers want a fast delivery time, even same-day delivery, and often 2 or 3 shipments and returns are needed in order to get the right size or color of the desired product (cf. WELZER 2018, chap. 5). As a result of the immense waste problem and lack of resources, it is now possible to see numerous counter initiatives such as repair cafés, reuse centers, loan shops, second-hand shops and upcycling ­design, as well as initiatives such as open book shelves, no cost shops and swapping parties. It is up to consumers to decide which products they need or want to buy. This fact is now influencing the economy and forcing companies to rethink their products—including the manufacturing process, the choice of materials, and the ecological aspects (cf. MAATS 2016). In ­addition, companies now have to take the social aspect of their products into account, such as fair working conditions for their employees. Harald Welzer, a German sociologist and social psychologist, has been talking about the design of reduction, and is one of the pioneers in this field. His approach is transformation design, which is finding a

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solution by starting with the question of the need. Furthermore, it is about questioning the target. Maybe the solution is not a product, maybe it would be better to provide a new service, or even not act at all (cf. SOMMER / WELZER 2014, 114ff.). In any case, the meaningfulness of the product, design or purchase must be questioned, in addition to being aware of its impact on the environment and society (cf. DESIGN AUSTRIA 2019, 4f.). “Transformationsdesign setzt nicht bei Produkten an, sondern bei der kulturellen Produktion und Reproduktion”. (SOMMER / WELZER 2014, 115) The pre-consumer recycling method also uses a similar ­approach. This includes testing the market relevance of a product ­during the ­development phase. In the event of a negative assessment the prod­uct development phase is ended, and no valuable raw materials are wast­ed (cf. BARBERO / COZZO / TAMBORRINI 2012, 26ff.). During the last London marathon in 2019, for instance, there was a reduction of 200,000 plastic water bottles due to a startup idea of providing water in edible packaging (cf. OHOO 2019).

FOCUSING CITIES It is no coincidence that the case studies of the present publication are focused on cities. “The urban population is predicted to increase from 3.9 billion today, to nearly 7 billion by 2050, which means our cities are projected to almost double.” (IMAGINE 2018). By that year about 70 % of the world’s people will live in cities, which will lead to a lot of megacities (cf. SACHS 2018). So, how can we deal with this? According to the Danish urban planner Jan Gehl, we should create small-scale neighborhoods. This ­redesign will provide car-free public spaces which can be used as meet­ing points for relaxing and doing sports, and will transform streets into important areas for social interaction (cf. SACHS 2018). Or should we listen to Joseph Beuys? In 1982 the German artist Joseph Beuys was involved with the topic of changing cities, and the idea that every single person has an impact on their society. He completed a project for the Documenta 7 in Kassel which was called “7.000 Eichen – Stadtverwaldung statt Stadtverwaltung” (7,000 Oak Trees— City Forestation instead of City Administration) (cf. SACHS 2018). There are a lot of new challenges for the design industry, as well as for design education (cf. THORPE 2007). In light of this, perhaps we

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need to get a better grasp of sustainability design for cities: “We need to lead the way in redefining what urban life can mean. We need to expand the tool set, invent new models, increase our technological abilities, provide case studies and proofs-of-concepts, and ultimately, show positive evidence that bright green urbanism works so that these emerging cities can adopt it as they grow. The urban future demands trailblazers.” (WORLD CHANGING 2000, 24f.) Ultimately it is clear that green cities are economically competitive, as well as more innovative, healthier, and safer for their inhabitants. They are also more resistant to climate change (cf. WORLD CHANGING 2000, 24f.). “We won’t just live more virtuously in a bright green city, we’ll live better.” (WORLD CHANGING 2000, 24f.) In conclusion, an important aspect needs to be mentioned here. As Richard Florida writes in his new publication The New Urban Crisis, the ever widening gap between rich and poor represents a serious problem in terms of the evolution of cities. Florida states in O-Ton: “The only way to build pros­perous cities is to invest in people and empower communities” (cf. FLORIDA 2017, 185ff).

A SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLES This book focuses on Istanbul, as well as other UNESCO Cities of Design such as Detroit, Graz, Mexico City and Puebla. In essence, the articles demonstrate that designers should take sustainability and social issues into consideration during their work. Design should try to change society and the world for the better, at least to some extent. The article “Inclusive Design in Contemporary Detroit” was written by Paul Draus, a professor of sociology at the University of Michigan-­Dearborn, in Michigan, USA. Draus’s article focuses on the urban ­issues of ­poverty, race, inequality, drug abuse, crime and incarceration. Through two examples Draus demonstrates how design projects help to promote inclusion and sustainability. In the article “Urban Oases. Can Cities of the Future function like Forests?”, the Austrian Breathe Earth Collective demonstrates that a critical state has now been ­reached in architectural design and urban planning. Using the example of the Austrian pavilion designed for EXPO 2015 in Milan, as well as the following Breathe Earth Collective projects called “Airships”, they demonstrate how ­climate installations act as hybrids between “nature” and “technology” in order to showcase new models for urban spaces. In his article “Interior Architecture in Sustainable Cities”, Burçin Cem ­Arabacıoğlu, an architect and professor at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul, Turkey, quotes that the construction and ­interior

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design sectors account for a significant share of the resources used. Despite the large number of certification systems related to sustaina­bility in interior ­design, their realization is still severely lacking because they are too complex. Arabacıoğlu exemplifies his approach through the presentation of ­recent projects in Istanbul which have a sustainable perspective. In her article “The Potential of Alternative Architecture for an Ecologically Driven and Socially Engaged Istanbul”, Ayşen Ciravoğlu, a professor at the Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey, demonstrates the potentials and problems of ecological and social sustainability within the 16-million-person megapolis of Istanbul. A great emphasis is now being placed on the social and environmental aspects of architectural construction, demolition and disposal. Ciravoğlu shows how this city has reached its limits in terms of the ­environment and nature, but she ends optimistically by giving some examples of how new architectural thinking can improve the situation. In her article “Sustainable Istanbul: Studies for an Urban Design Guide; Participation—Policy—Scope”, Çiğdem Polatoğlu, a professor at the Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey, describes the ­ideas and desired impacts of the “Istanbul Urban Design Guide”. With its vision of a “Sustainable Istanbul”, the “Istanbul Urban Design ­Guide” aims to evaluate the current situation in the city, control its physical development, and establish and improve the future in a healthy way within the next 20 years. The article “Mexico City: New Collective Approaches to Fix a Broken City” was written by Paulina Cornejo Moreno Valle, the ­coordinator of the Social Design study program at the Centro de ­Diseño, ­Cine y Televisión in Mexico City, Mexico. Her article begins by focusing on the various and contradictory transformations of Mexico City during the past decades, and continues by describing recent changes to public spaces, social housing, public transport, and the water supply. In conclusion she provides examples of new ways of understanding reality. In her article “Design for Sustainability: Questioning our ­Material Culture”, Sylwia Ulicka, an international design researcher in Puebla, Mexico, explains that the desire to achieve sustainable develop­ment provides both the road map for the development of humanity, and the focal point of all global efforts. Ulicka describes the outcome of her collaboration with Mexican design students, in which she cre­at­ed “objects of discomfort” in order to provoke an intense discussion between the students. This discussion then led to some new points of view regarding Mexico’s social and environmental problems.

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F U T U R E P R O S P EC TS

These contributions not only demonstrate the intensity, but also the variations in the effectiveness of the efforts to create a more sustain­ able and socially equal future for the inhabitants of the various cities. The authors impressively describe how grassroots initiatives, as well as de­sign and cultural activists in all of these cities, are trying to make pending issues a subject of discussion, and how they sometimes—but not always—succeed in finding solutions. A strong commitment which can lead to answers as well as to failure manifests itself here. Therefore we should not merely rely on these activists if we want to “save the world”. Instead, everyone should be a part of this movement that will change the world. In any case we designers share a big responsibility, but we also have great opportunities—as described at the beginning. It is due to the modern age that the livelihood of mankind is massively threatened by climate change, a shortage of resources, global migration, etc. Friedrich von Borries, when making a reference to Harald Welzer (SOMMER / WELZER 2014), establishes that there are only two ways to escape from this state of “comprehensive devastation of the world by the ­prevailing system”, either “by disaster” or “by design”. The former means waiting until everything collapses, and then trying to build something new from the ruins; “by design” implies the preemptive transformation of the existing into something new through planned and targeted action. The present publication demonstrates how design can be used to “repair“ the environ­ ment and society in cities, as well as to create something new. All of the examples share a common idea of combining design expertise with knowl­ edge of and interest for the environment and society.  Yes, we believe in the motto “The power of design and creativity to transform society” of the “What Design Can Do” festival. And we are convinced that “money, governments and science can’t solve complex global issues on their own”. However, we don’t know whether the ­“fresh ideas, ­alternative strategies and provocative thoughts” of a critical ­design community will be enough to change the planet. (cf. WDCD 2019) This will ­hardly be possible without substantial measures. With its 17 sustainable ­development goals, the UN has taken a clear ­position on what needs to happen worldwide, and how the world should be trans­formed by 2030 (cf. SDG 2015). Nevertheless, we know that there are strong economic (and related political) interests which are ­currently blocking the substantial reforms that are necessary. This is why it all depends on collaboration—between politics, science, the economy, ­designers, activists and people—in order to find solutions and achieve and implement these goals in the near future.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

BARBERO / COZZO / TAMBORRINI 2012 = Barbero, Silvia/ Cozzo, Brunella/ Tamborrini, Paolo (2012) ecodesign. Umweltfreundliches für den Alltag, Potsdam: Ullmann Publishing BAUDRILLARD 1982 = Baudrillard, Jean (1982) Der symbolische Tausch und der Tod, München: Matthes & Seitz (Orig. 1976) BAUTEILNETZ 2019 = http://www.bauteilnetz.de/ [21/07/2019] BÖHME 2016 = Böhme, Gernot (2016) Ästhetischer Kapitalismus. Berlin: Suhrkamp BORRIES 2016 = von Borries, Friedrich (2016) Weltentwerfen. Eine politische Designtheorie. Berlin: Suhrkamp BRAUNGART / MCDONOUGH 2013 = Braungart, Michael/McDonough, William (2013) Intelligente Verschwendung. The Upcycle: Auf dem Weg in eine neue Überflussgesellschaft. München: Oekom Verlag BRAUNGART / MCDONOUGH 2008 = Braungart, Michael/ McDonough, William (2008) Die nächste industrielle Revolution. Die Cradle to Cradle-Community. Hamburg: Europäische Verlagsanstalt CIRCULAR DESIGN GUIDE 2019 = https://www.circulardesignguide.com/ [18/06/2019] DESIGNAUSTRIA 2019 = Designaustria / Institute of Design Research Vienna (2019) Qualitätsstandards für Circular Design. Gestaltungskriterien für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung HIPCYCLE 2019 = www.hipcycle.com [15/05/2019] FLORIDA 2017 = Florida, Richard (2017) The New Urban Crisis. How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality, Deep­­en­ing ­Segregation, and Failing the Middle Class-and What We Can Do About It. New York: Hachette Book Group IMAGINE 2018 = Imagine, Issue 2, Exploring the brave new world of shared living, SPACE10 & Urgent.Agency MAATS 2016 = Maats, Christiaan (2016) “How product design can change the world”, TEDxUniversity of Groningen Talk, in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqeA_psKn2E [21/07/2019] MANZINI 2015 = Manzini, Ezio (2015) Design, When Everybody Designs. Cambridge, London: MIT Press METHA 2013 = Metha, Shashank (2013) “Sustainability: Context and Design”, in: Stuart Walker, Jacques Giard (ed.), The Handbook of Design for Sustainability. London, New Delhi, New York, S ­ idney: Bloomsbury, 334–345 OHOO 2019 = Ohoo, in: https://www.notpla.com [21/07/2019] PAPANEK 2008 = Papanek, Victor (2008) Design für die reale Welt. Anleitung für eine humane Ökologie und sozialen Wandel. Vienna: Springer (Orig. 1973) RAY / ANDERSON 2000 = Ray, Paul H./ Anderson, Sherry R. (2000) The Cultural Creatives: How 50 million are changing the World. New York City: Harmony Books SACHS 2018 = Sachs, Angeli (ed.) (2018) Social Design. Partizipation und Empowerment, Museum für Gestaltung Zürich. Zürich: Lars Müller SMARTCITYWIEN 2019 = https://smartcity.wien.gv.at/site/urban-mining/ [18/06/2019] SOMMER / WELZER 2014 = Sommer, Bernd/ Welzer, Harald (2014) Transformationsdesign. Wege in eine zukunftsfähige Moderne. München: oekom verlag SDG 2015 = https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/ [18/06/2019] STOCKER 2017 = Stocker, Karl (2017) Sozio-Design / Socio-Design. Relevante Projekte: Entworfen für die Gesellschaft. Basel: Birkhäuser THAKARA 2013 = Thackara, John (2013) “Foreword”, in: Walker, Stuart/ Giard, Jacques (ed.), The Handbook of Design for Sustainability. London, New Delhi, New York, Sidney: Bloomsbury THORPE 2007 = Thorpe, Ann (2007) The Designers Atlas of Sustainability. Washington D.C.: Island Press THORPE 2012 = Thorpe, Ann (2012) Architecture & Design versus Consumerism: How Design Activism Confronts Growth. London: Routledge URBANMINING 2019 = https://urbanmining.at/infografik [17/06/2019] WALKER / GIARD 2013 = in: Walker, Stuart/ Giard, Jacques (ed.) (2013) The Handbook of Design for Sustainability. London, New Delhi, New York, Sidney: Bloomsbury WALKER 2017 = Walker, Stuart (2017) Design for Life. Creating Meaning in a Distracted World. New York: Routledge WALKER 2019 = Walker, Stuart (2019) Design Realities. Creativity, Nature and the Human Spirit. New York: Routledge WDCD 2019 = https://www.whatdesigncando.com/about-wdcd [17/06/2019] WELZER 2013 = Welzer, Harald (2013) Selbst denken: Eine Anleitung zum Widerstand. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer WELZER 2018 = Welzer, Harald (2018) Welzer wundert sich: Rückblicke auf die Zukunft von heute. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer WORLD CHANGING 2000 = Steffen, Alex (ed.) (2000) World Changing. A User’s Guide For The 21st Century. New York: Abrams

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Inclusive Design in Contemporary Detroit

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Paul Draus

This article looks at contemporary Detroit, Michigan (USA), at a time when the city seems to be on the verge of a wholesale reinvention. ­­I consider how the trauma of the city’s past is layered into both ­bodies and environments, partly as a product of Detroit’s design history; as well as how local neighborhood ecology reflects the necessities of survival and adaptation to these environments; and how future-­ oriented ­inclusive design processes may be confounded by this history of division, and the ­segmented landscape and wounded population it has ­produced. The model of inclusive design, recently adopted by the Detroit Design Core as a central piece of its City of Design Action Plan, represents an im­portant step in this direction. I contend that truly sustainable design must be conscious of the burden of trauma, ­cog­nizant of the local ecology, and welcome these dynamics of conflict and complexity into its processes and products. I briefly examine tensions between inclusion, sustainability and design through the lens of two place-based projects in contemporary Detroit; one located in a rapidly gentrifying area, the other in a heavily industrialized region of the city. One project seeks to honor the legacy of the 1932 Hunger March, a seminal but nearly forgotten event in the city’s labor history, while the other seeks to demonstrate the potential of upcycling and green energy to generate more inclusive local economies. Finally, I contend that the goal of sustainable and inclusive design may find its true test in the proposed development of the Joe Louis Greenway in Detroit.

INTRODUCTION

FIGURE 1: Oakland Street Detroit Flag Mural

Before I begin an apology is needed, for I am neither a Designer nor a Detroiter, and my inclusion in this collection might imply that I am both. As my family name, roughly translated into German (draußen, or “outside”) might suggest, I am a perpetual outsider, which perhaps has something to do with my identity as a sociologist. Sociologists are, in a certain sense, perpetual strangers, a position first articulated by the great German-Jewish sociologist Georg Simmel. The story I am going to tell is a story of the city of Detroit, to which I have a very real devotion, but I cannot claim to be its representative. At best I can hope to speak for those people who make Detroit what it is: a city defined by hope and struggle.

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“It shall rise from the ashes” is the city’s apt slogan (FIGURE 1), but what this means can vary quite a lot depending on who you talk to.1 Today the question being asked is “The city shall rise, but for who?”. A recent photo essay from The New York Times was ­entitled: “Detroit was crumbling. Here’s how it’s Reviving.”2 This essay ­re­presents a new narrative of Detroit, and a very different one from the trope of decline which predominated just a few years ago. The latter is reflected on a TIME Magazine cover from 2009, bearing the dramatic heading “The Tragedy of Detroit”, and features a beautiful photograph of urban ruin by French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre.3 The “New Detroit” narrative is one of rebirth and redevelopment, but this process is being contested very actively on the grounds of social equity and racial inclusion. The sustainability of the city hinges directly on this question. Two other key issues facing the city are the provision of green public spaces, and the preservation of the wealth of spontaneous nature that Detroit’s history of trauma and division has paradoxically produced. In the pages that follow, I approach the field of design from the perspective of a sociologist engaged with urban issues of poverty, race, inequality, substance abuse, crime and incarceration. I then discuss two examples of design projects in Detroit with which I am directly involved, that illustrate some of the tensions between inclusion and sustaina­bility that reflect the city’s traumatized past, and its hopeful but ­uncertain future. Finally, I consider how Detroit’s current revitalization and stated commitment to inclusive design could make the city a model of sustaina­­­bility in both social and environmental terms—although this is far from guaranteed. One development project, the Joe Louis ­Greenway, ­promises to link all of these issues, but much depends on the design and implementation.

FIGURE 1

DETROIT’S OPEN WOUNDS

In the late summer of 2005 I moved to Detroit from D ­ ayton, Ohio, with my wife and my one-year-old son. Our little caravan of beings and belongings was accompanied by sweeping rains that ­re­p­re­­­­­sented the last gasps of Hurricane Katrina. During the subsequent days we witnessed the crisis unfolding in New Orleans through various news media, and this inevitably informed my thinking about Detroit— another majority—Black city with French roots—as I began to explore the neighborhoods and learn my way around. Two things immediately struck me about the city, as they have many others: the first was the

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1 Please see: http://www.dailydetroit.com/ 2016/08/18/detroits-motto-mean-anyway-stillrelevant-today/ 2 Please see: https://www.nytimes.com/ interactive/ 2018/04/30/us/detroitcome-back-budget.html 3 Please see: http://content.time.com/time/ covers/0,16641,20091005,00.html

sheer level of physical destruction and abandonment, making Detroit visually similar to a disaster or war zone; and second, the abundance of green space and growing things. On one of our first forays to the East Side I commented on this vegetative vitality, to a man who we randomly met on one of the streets located just off the Detroit River. He laughed and said, “Yes, Detroit has always been a green city.” His laughter was heartfelt and generous, and it was an early indication of another dimension of Detroit: its resilient, uplifting and inclusive humanity. As I immersed myself in both the literature and lived reality of structural inequality, I also tired of its dreary conclusions. Vicious cycles abounded and fed each other. It was a very old story, and Detroit provi­ded abundant evidence of how the winners made more money, while the losers lost what little they had left. In 2009 I published my first paper focused on Detroit. It was (I thought) an ambitious think piece entitled, “Substance abuse and slow-motion disasters: the case of Detroit”. It laid out a historical-theoretical case for how Detroit got to where it was in the early 2000s, and what role substance abuse epidemics played in that evolution. In the summer of 2012 I ­presen­t­ed on a panel of researchers at the American Sociological Association annual meetings in Denver, Colorado, which were focused on the topic of “Communities in Disaster.” My contribution was a paper-in-progress with the ambitious title, “We Don’t Have No Neighborhood: Advanced Marginality and the Utopian Future of Postindustrial Detroit”. This paper was based on my own early ethnographic research, carried out in one stubbornly persistent but struggling Detroit community. Two of the other presenters focused on New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina; another looked at post-civil war Sarajevo. The discussant, a disaster researcher from Colorado State ­University, identified several themes which were present in all of the papers: a movement from an event-centric to an effects-centric perspective on disasters; the idea that disasters may be viewed as opportunities for transformation, but also that they might be used to entrench old inequalities and produce new ones. She concluded by saying that there was a theme missing that she wanted to see, and that was the theme of possibility: she wanted to see “glimmers of hope”. My own paper had started with the idea of hope, expressed through Arcadian dreams of a flowering post-industrial Detroit, but had then run aground, as sociological research often does, on the reality of peoples’ daily lives, which were mostly hard and grim day-to-day survival stories. Through my engagement with various projects across the city, from urban agriculture and green energy on the East Side, to neighbor­ hood and green space development efforts on the West and ­Southwest

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sides, I began to think more about the ways in which creativity and ­dedication could leverage changes in local dynamics, and I started loo­k­ing for examples of how this might be done. This evolving interest, along with my own meandering journeys in Detroit, led me to the field of design. In the summer of 2017 I organized a small symposium in Detroit organized around the concept of Socio-Design, in collabora­tion with visitors from Graz, Austria, who were connected to the Creative Cities network. As a sociologist, I was first more interested in the ­“Socio” than the “Design”, but I found the word useful because it ­pointed in the direction of solutions, as opposed to the description and analysis of problems. Socio-Design exemplified the contention that well-­designed places, programs and practices can enhance local well-being and ­resilience. Projects such as the “Fort Street Bridge Park”, “­Dequindre Cut” and “Joe Louis Greenway”, for example, could be viewed as place-making efforts which not only seek to enhance Detroit residents’ access to recreational and shopping opportunities, but also attempt to promote social equity and inclusion. This concept is also linked to the idea of environmental justice: as a matter of equity, what role do places and processes play in compensating for the penalty of past harms, or accumulated historical trauma? Design represents the dream that there can be an escape, that ­redemption and transcendence are possible through imagination and ­effort. Like Daedalus of Greek mythology, the designer imagines that human beings can improve upon their situation, and even take flight, with the assistance of technological ingenuity. Of course the Daedalus myth also contains a warning: that humans should not seek to exceed the limits imposed by nature, that hubris has its consequences. The ­history of 20th century urban planning and design might be another illustration of that mythic story, as housing projects raised to the sky were dynamited back to rubble a decade later, and highways plowed through poor, mostly Black communities, wreaking havoc for decades to come. Today’s designers are definitely more modest in their claims, but even inclusive design, which is cognizant of past exclusion, is not without its problems. The buried scars of the city’s past trauma reassert themselves, and if unaddressed may contribute to their own perpetuation. I offer two examples of contem­ porary Detroit design projects that seek to address issues of sustainability and inclusion, but which also illustrate tensions present throughout the city. In the “Joe Louis Greenway”, an aspirational design project currently in development, I see a test case for the concept of inclusive design, as well as an analytical device for connecting neighborhood-specific projects in very different sections of the city, from the urban prairies of the Lower East Side to the industrial riverscapes of Southwest Detroit.

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CITIES AND THE DREAM OF DESIGN: A B R I E F I D I O SY N C R AT I C OV E R V I E W

John Rennie Short’s Alabaster Cities (cf. SHORT 2006) is a book about the design of cities, and especially the role of the federal govern­ ment in shaping the distinct form of contemporary American cities, characterized as they are by sprawl, racial segregation and political fragmentation. This was not only a design failure, but a kind of design crime. Jonathan Barnett, in his City Design: Modernist, Traditional, Green, and Systems Perspectives (cf. BARNETT 2011), likewise critiques the products of 20th century urban design: “The modernist vision of a city of towers linked by expressways has become in many places a city of traffic jams and difficult searches for parking space.” (p. 106). Barnett provides an overview of four different approaches/perspectives on city design: traditional, modernist, green and systems perspectives. In his discussion of systems perspectives Barnett cites Steven Johnson’s book Emergence (cf. JOHNSON 2001), providing a link to the field of ecology with its emphasis on complexity and collective intelligence. Matt Hern, in his Common Ground in a Liquid City: Essays in Defense of an Urban Future (cf. HERN 2010), also links urban design with ecology, using his home city of Vancouver as the main reference point. The term “liquid cities” refers to Castells’ concept of the city as a “space of flows”, defined by instantaneous movements of capital and information, as opposed to “spaces of places”, the much slower and concrete settings where most people actually live and breathe: “In a liquid era when people, goods and capital are sloshing all over the globe, we have to turn cities into comprehensible places that everyday people can actually inhabit” (p. 9). Regarding the theme of the theme of sustainability Hern contends that “An ecological and an ethical city is one and the same thing—we can’t have a ‘green’ city without reimagining our social institutions” (p. 17). He continues: Cities can be designed a lot better and vastly more ecologically. And Vancouver, as much as any city on the continent, has embraced some of the right kinds of planning priorities. In many ways, though, I think placing our faith in good design and master planning is exactly wrong. Maybe it’s a good place to start from, but really, that’s it. We’re dreaming if we believe that central planning and design is going to save us from urban sterility, car culture and unfettered capital. Urban flavor is a lot more than ‘good’ aesthetics (HERN 2010, p. 17). Hern sees everyday people as the real drivers of good places, and so he advocates a participatory process: “A participatory city—where all kinds of people are out creating the city socially, culturally and

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physically—is the unfolding of the city as the project of thousands and thousands of people” (p. 74). He talks about this as a kind of “stewing” process: “You can’t manufacture it. The flavor has to stew: let it come and let people build the city” (p. 80). Here we can see a potential convergence emerging between Hern’s grassroots urbanism and Barnett’s more professional approach: both of them speak in ecological terms, and both reference Christopher Alexander’s concept of ‘generated complexity’, or design by accretion. However, the planning process which Barnett describes is still professionally driven, with the public taking part near the very end. In Detroit we can see abundant examples of modernist “design crimes” and their legacy of trauma, as well as traces of traditional urbanism, grassroots emergence and ecological ­creativity. The big question is how contemporary urban designers, with their current embrace of inclusion, will confront that legacy and engage with those emergent realities in order to shape Detroit’s next century.

D E T R O I T ’ S D E S I G N ( E D) P R O B L E M

Throughout the history of cities design has been used to address social inequality, while also often reinforcing it. In American cities the designs of parks, housing projects and highways have all been viewed in contrasting ways, either as a means to reduce poverty, or as a means to isolate poor people. This conflicted legacy is contrasted with a current focus on “inclusive design” that emphasizes accessibility for all categories of people. In her book Mismatch (cf. HOLMES 2018), Kat Holmes argues that the template for social relations is actively shaped by the spaces, objects and systems which we encounter. How can sensibilities of design, informed by values of social justice and equity, shift the dynamics of cities at the local level? How does the aesthetic dimension of design both aid and hinder this effort? How can design efforts led by community residents serve as a counterforce to investor-driven redevelopment? The dream of inclusive, sustainable design is articulated in books such as SynergiCity (cf. KAPP AND ARMSTRONG 2012), an edited ­vo­lume subtitled “Reinventing the Postindustrial City” which reports on a series of projects intended to balance “competing economic, social, and political forces in which the result is greater than the sum of its parts”. “SynergiCity”, they write, “is more than merely a master plan proposal. It is a visionary concept for the wholesale redevelopment of the postindustrial city” (KAPP AND ARMSTRONG 2012, IXf.). They develop this idea of a win-win vision by highlighting the multiple overlapping priorities which are served by the types of design they advocate:

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Socially, redeveloping the postindustrial districts in ways that nurture creative contributions from all citizens can have the potential to reverse embedded cultural and educational inequalities, while at the same time providing environments for better economic production...postindustrial can be a convergence and a synergy of the innovation economy with the natural and humanmade resources of the existing built environment. (KAPP AND ARMSTRONG 2012, Xf.) One might read this statement a little more closely and ask the reasonable question: “How did these inequalities become embedded?” However, this requires recognizing the role of design in doing so. As stat­ed by David Maraniss (cf. MARANISS 2015) in his book about ­Detroit in the 1960s, “Detroit was being threatened by its own design and metal and fuel and movement, and also by the American dilemma of race” ­(MARANISS 2015, 92f.). Maraniss’ comment, and the rest of his narrative, points to a conclusion which others have shared—Detroit built its decline into the design of the city, perhaps unwittingly but nonetheless deliberately, with racism as a major influence, even if it wasn’t the sole driving force. As chronicled in Alabaster Cities (cf. SHORT 2006), central cities and the urban fabric which composed them were deliberate targets of design, planning and public policy throughout the second half of the 20th century. Focusing on Detroit, Short writes: The postwar master plan for the city, devised before the federal legislation, was for the destruction of low-income ‘blighted’ housing and the construction of middle-class housing. Slum clearance, it was hoped, would revitalize the urban core and hence increase the tax-­ revenue base. The 1949 Housing Act gave federal assistance to these plans. The bulldozer and the wrecking ball were used to knock down densely populated black neighborhoods. During one of the six schemes, the Gratiot redevelopment site on the city’s Lower East Side, 129 acres of land were condemned, and almost 2,000 families were evicted. The initial plans called for 3,600 units of public housing on the site, but by 1958 no housing was built… The end result was the ‘confinement of blacks to densely packed, run-down and overpriced housing’ ­ (SHORT 2006, 23f.). Across the urban United States neighborhoods designated as “slums”, regardless of their social cohesion or housing stock, were ­targeted for such wholesale redevelopment, which in turn entailed wholesale destruction of community infrastructure both physical and social. Highway construction took a similar path and in Short’s words, “exacerbated urban clearance” (SHORT 2006, 26f.). The federal government subsidized the process to the tune of billions of dollars per year.

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As Short states, “The postwar suburbs did not just happen” (SHORT 2006, 30f.), any more than did the impoverishment, social isolation and physical devastation of the inner city. They were in fact design features, and designers need to acknowledge this as they go to offer new visions of “wholesale redevelopment.” Given this history, it is entirely justified to approach the contemporary visions of designers to remake these cities with at least a dash of suspicion, in addition to a healthy dose of skepticism. Nowhere is this skepticism more evi­ dent than in Detroit, where community engagement meetings are often ­sidelined by discussions of the city’s racist past and the need for ­appro­pri­ation compensation to long-suffering residents. As expressed by Orlando Bailey in an online article posted on Model D Media: You cannot go into a neighborhood and plan to engage people around big, new, shiny things when trauma exists. Homes that have been demolished, schools closed, neighborhood institutions closed. When people get an opportunity to express themselves, you have to find a way to facilitate that in a productive way (cf. BAILEY 2018). Others view the current changes taking place in the city as a clear continuation of the tradition of segregation through design. According to Detroit minister and activist Bill Wylie-Kellerman (cf. WYLIE-KELLERMAN 2017), Detroit is being downsized and restructured geographically, as well as financially. The plug is being pulled on certain neighborhoods where poor black folks live (WYLIE-KELLERMAN 2017, 115f.). In a landscape as traumatized and contested as that of Detroit, designers clearly cannot be blind to this surrounding community context, and the underlying power relations which inform every discussion.

UNESCO AND THE DESIGN CORE VISION

With its selection as a UNESCO City of Design in December 2015, Detroit set out to build upon its rich legacy of industrial and architectural design. As the birthplace of the modern automotive industry (itself made possible by previous design-based industries such as ship-building and cast-iron stove manufacture), and its rich heritage of Albert Kahn buildings, Corrado Paraducci ornamentation, Marshall Fredericks sculptures, Harley Earl car bodies, the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) and numerous other treasures, Detroit certainly has much to offer the world. However, its present status as a city defined by poverty, population loss and municipal bankruptcy seems to cloud this vision. When making its application for UNESCO designation the Detroit Creative Corridor Center (DC3) chose to embrace the challenges of the 21st century, and use

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FIGURE 2

design as a mechanism to not only celebrate the past, but position the city for the future. This also meant confronting the social and economic challenges which the city faced, as well as adopting an inclusive ethic. Throughout five months in 2017, DC3 engaged in outreach to more than five hundred Detroiters in order to identify a set of three values which would “foster inclusive growth”: 1) diverse experiences; 2) collaborative relationships; and 3) accessible opportunities. In 2018, under the new, less cumbersome title “Design Core Detroit”, the group released an Action Plan (cf. DETROIT DESIGN CORE 2018). In addition, they began to implement their strategy for promoting inclusive design, or “design for all,” by creating a network of Design Partners throughout the city, and facilitating collaborative projects which cut across multiple dimensions of design, from landscape architecture to ornamental metalwork (FIGURE 2). At a Design Core workshop held at the College for Creative Stu­dies (CCS) in Detroit in September 2018, designer Kat Holmes described how “The spaces that we live in have design in them” and mismatches between designers and users are “the building block of ­exclusion.” Mismatch (cf. HOLMES 2018) is Holmes’ term for design that neglects the very people it would seek to serve, excluding all users who fall outside a narrowly defined norm, especially people of color, people of differing physical sizes and ability, age, and so on. To guide inclusive design, she proposes three basic principles: O Recognize exclusion O Learn from diversity O Solve for one, extend to many In her hometown of Oakland California, Holmes explained at the workshop, “we prided ourselves on diversity; diversity was built into my life, along with lots of other multiracial families.” In Detroit, she found a city with a lot of similarities to Oakland, with a majority Black population, a history of political militancy and issues of disinvestment, concentrated poverty, and abandonment which has been accompanied by accelerating gentrification and associated displacement. “Imagine you are a child born into a low-income family,” she proposed, “and you confront a city that looks like this one”, showing images of burned-out, boarded-up buildings and overgrown fields, “as opposed to this one”, showing pictures of the orderly, well-maintained parks of Ann Arbor, Michigan. “What life chances are you likely to have?” Following this, she asks, “How can a local environment modify the potentially disabling effects of identity or social position?”.

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These questions succinctly summarize both the challenge and the opportunity presented by Detroit: as a model of social and spatial exclusion, evident in its built environment and physical landscape as well as its social statistics, it also offers the greatest potential gains if such environmental enhancements are successful. In other words, it ­offers the possibility of testing the thesis: does good design make ­people’s lives better? In the next section, I consider three projects which have the potential to offer this opportunity, and discuss some ­ of the tensions evident in each of them.

A G R E E N R E F U G E I N T H E H E A RT O F I N D U ST RY: T H E FO RT ST R E E T B R I D G E PA R K

Around 2012 a small group of people began to meet regularly at my university. This group, representing administration staff and faculty, community organizations, labor unions and government agencies, met to discuss the possibility of redeveloping a small parcel of land next to the Rouge River into a transformative green space. The impetus for this conversation was the replacement of the historic Fort Street Bridge, which was the gathering site for protestors participating in the 1932 Hunger March in Detroit. The Hunger March (also known as the “Ford Massacre”), which took place on March 7, 1932 was a pivotal event in Detroit’s labor movement involving thousands of unemployed workers who sought to deliver a set of demands to the Ford Motor Company. Sixty people were injured by bullets fired into the crowd by Ford security and Dearborn police. Four men were killed that day, and another died a week later from his wounds.  While the marchers were disparaged as Communists in the press, the Hunger March catalyzed the organization of the United Auto Workers and the unionization of the Rouge Plant less than a decade later. Generations of Detroit citizens prospered during the following decades from the wages and benefits set up by those unions. The Hunger March also helped to bring about the creation of the famous Detroit Industry murals. Painted in 1933 at the Detroit Institute of Arts by known communist Diego Rivera, they were commissioned by Edsel Ford to help repair his company’s tarnished image in wake of the “Ford Massacre.” By the 1980s, however, the event had been largely forgotten. In addition to the establishment of a memorial honoring the Ford Hunger March, we sought to reimagine the relationship between community, industry and the natural environment in this region. Without the water and wood naturally abundant here, there would have been

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FIGURE 3

FIGURE 4

no settlement, no city, no industry, and likely no art. The contemporary idea of “ecosystem services”, used as a means to assign economic value to all the services that natural systems provide, might also be seen as a form of invisible labor.  Likewise, the work of women, the maintenance of households, the establishment of communities with their sustaining relationships of fellowship and spirituality, all served to maintain human life and return people to the factories every day. If our small property on the Rouge River could honor that history of struggle, celebrate human and natural resilience, and provide respite and reflection in this most unlikely of places, it would fulfill its promise. The park needed to bring these stories together in way that both honored the past and looked forward to the future. The harms of the past included the sacrifices of people and the environmental damage inflicted, both of which contributed directly to the city’s industrial might and the region’s prosperity, and needed to be acknowledged. However, the park also had to look forward to a rebalancing and a restoration, celebrating the resilience of labor and justice movements as well as the natural systems that have persisted in spite of intense pressures. As more partners came to the table including representatives of private industry, environmental organizations and local residents, the vision broadened to include a model installation of green infrastructure and accessibility for bicyclists, pedestrians and boaters. The core group, under the name of Fort-Rouge Gateway (FRoG) Partnership, launched an official fundraising campaign for the p ­ ro­ject (FIGURE 3) . The FRoG Partnership joined the Detroit Design in 2016 network in 2018, and the park’s landscape design earned awards and recognition for its synthesis of environmental, cultural, and ­recreational elements. In 2019, it was included as a key piece of a larger proposal, ultimately funded by the Ralph Wilson Foundation, which would connect bike trails and waterways in the city of Detroit, western Wayne ­County and downriver communities, effectively linking the region through green­ways designed to enhance mobility and access to recreational green space. The project has been featured in numerous local and national publications including a feature article in Landscape ­Architecture Magazine (cf. BARASH 2019). With support from the Detroit-Windsor Bridge Authority, FRoG has commissioned a central public sculpture that will unify the themes of labor, industry, ecology and community that are present in the park design; a synthesis of the city’s narrative of struggle with that of harmony (FIGURE 4). On one level, this transformative, placemaking project clearly illustrates the values of inclusive design. It was a product of intensive collaboration; the design seeks to create new opportunities for local

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residents, especially for recreation and mobility. As well, the park’s elements celebrate diverse experiences related to the use of the river, the evolution of industry, and the labor struggle. On the other hand there are unavoidable tensions built into the project. The entire surrounding community is designated as an environmental area of concern (AOC) by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), and struggles for environmental justice and against environmental racism are very active. The park project ­r­e­presents a collaboration between community, government and industry, and as such it is also inevitably defined by compromise. The construction of the park began in late 2019, after this chapter was written, so its potential to influence further environmental restoration, quality recrea­tion opportunities and enhanced green infrastructure along the heavily industrialized Rouge River remains to be seen. Its real success will be determined by the individuals and groups who use the park: from local fisher-folk to bicyclists, kayakers and workers on their lunch breaks. Nonetheless, the park represents an example of the fusion of values of inclusion and sustainability in design.

P O W E R TO T H E P EO P L E : THE PROMISE OF DETROIT WINDMILL

Detroit-based master metalworker Carlos Nielbock began building windmills in his backyard during the Great Recession, as a response to the combined economic and energy crisis and the turn towards sustainability in the city of Detroit. He was inspired by the vision, reflected in the Detroit Future City (DFC) Framework (cf. DETROIT FUTURE CITY 2012) and other planning efforts from this era, that sought to turn Detroit’s perceived deficits into assets. Many people confronting this problem have focused on the abundance of vacant or underutilized land. How­ ever, Nielbock looked at the city’s discarded materials, especially its metal assets and its human ingenuity. He saw discarded light poles, for example, as historic treasures thoughtlessly relegated to the waste stream. Outdated satellite dishes, ubiquitous in the urban environment, became incorporated into a visually striking and functional windmill design. What if every neighborhood or household could harvest the wind for energy while also taking these materials out of the scrap heap? He saw Detroit residents, unable to find work in the regular economy, turning their attention to dismantling buildings and selling the parts for cash to the numerous metal scrap dealers located throughout the city. What if these individuals could be re-trained to create useful objects out of the metal scrap that would otherwise be shipped overseas?

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FIGURE 5 & 6

4 Please see: https://knightfoundation.org/ grants/7815

These questions, and the interconnected themes of green ­energy, upcycling and skilled trades development, became the heart of ­Nielbock’s “CAN Art Wind Turbine Project”, later renamed the “Detroit Windmill Project”. The son of a German mother and an African American father, Nielbock spent the first twenty years of his life in Germany and learned his metalworking trade from Catholic monks, who he calls “the old guys, in the old days, with the old ways.” He was an enthusiastic proponent of the UNESCO Cities of Design network and participated in Design Month Graz in 2017. His windmill project, in partnership with Eastern Market, received a matching grant from the Knight Foundation4­ in late 2016. By the end of 2018, after months of fundraising to earn the match and continued research and development, two windmills had been installed in public locations within Detroit’s Eastern Market district (FIGURE 5). One of the windmills, located next to large vendor sheds on a high-traffic street, featured loudspeakers, WiFi and Bluetooth™ capability, and plugs for electronic devices. The other, located in the middle of an urban farm, was designed to simply produce off-grid power for localized use (FIGURE 6). At a community engagement session conducted in February 2019, representatives of communities and organizations from across Detroit shared ideas for potential uses of the windmills in their own neighborhoods or institutions. The opportunities included: to power homes using old car batteries charged by the windmill; to provide power for event infrastructure such as air compressors for bouncy houses, popcorn machines, and loudspeakers; and to provide power for localized security and wireless communications systems. The representatives also discussed how to make the devices more inclusive and accessible. Methods proposed included conducting windmill workshops throughout the city; creating cost-sharing options for communities; and developing a windmill-­based skilled trades curriculum and certificate that could be transferred to other job opportunities. This project represents another fusion of the values of sustainability and inclusion. Although the windmill project holds much promise, it remains plagued by issues that also affect other new entrants into the Detroit design space. As a small, family-run firm without a professional staff trained in nonprofit project management, CAN Art Handworks sometimes struggles to meet the criteria of funders while also managing a project from concept to implementation. Though the Knight Foundation matching grant was a big boost, raising the money for the match was also a major burden. The trials and errors of research and development, especially for the electrical system and electronic components that the design demanded, contributed to time delays and additional costs. Even

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after the initial installation, adjustments and modifications needed to be made and much of this cost was absorbed by CAN Art Handworks itself, using earnings from commercial work. Apart from these internal challenges, the external environment also presented obstacles. The improving economy of Detroit, while making an evident impact on the city’s physical and social landscape, tends to encourage participation by those with connections and capacity. African­ American owned businesses5 like CAN Art Handworks are especially sensitive to this economic exclusion in the “new Detroit.” Some reports have noted, for example, the “whitewashing” of the restaurant scene6 in a majority-Black city. Nonprofit funders and foundations are attempting to fill the gap by providing access to resources for capacity building, but this access often has its own costs in terms of money and effort. With projects launching around every corner and major companies entering the market, local entrepreneurs may begin to feel as though the new Detroit is leaving them behind. In one of my many conversations with him, Nielbock stated that he didn’t want to go in that “polarizing direction, of pitting one against the other. That’s how Detroit got to this point in the first place.” He added, “My protest is for inclusion. I must be included in any economy that’s going on in my community where there is billions of dollars of investment happening.”

C O N C LU S I O N : T H E O P P O RT U N I T Y A N D C H A L L E N G E O F T H E J O E LO U I S G R E E N WAY

The development of the Joe Louis G ­ reenway (JLG) is the outcome of years of advocacy by ­cyclists and others invested in a greener, less auto­ dependent city. This project will create a system of inter­connected greenways to connect the whole city (cf. MONDRY 2019) (FIGURE 7). ­As described by the Detroit Greenways Coalition, the JLG will be an inclusive, unifying project for the city: “When completed, it will provide a place for people of all abilities to safely walk, bike, and run while connecting ­neighborhoods, parks, schools, jobs, historic sites, commercial corridors and public transit.”7 Geographically and ­thematically, the JLG connects the FRoG and Windmill projects as the planned trail will originate at the riverfront, run through the Eastern Market district and circle the city, passing through the Fort Street Bridge area before completing a loop on the west riverfront.

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FIGURE 7

5 Please see: https://www.crainsdetroit.com/ node/756721/printable/print 6 Please see: https://www.citylab.com/life/ 2017/11/tunde-wey-detroits-whiteculinary-scene/542571/ 7 Please see: https://detroitgreenways.org/ joe-louis-greenway/

FIGURE 8

While some see this project as simply the creation of a bicycle and walking trail, others see the potential for a truly transformative ­intervention in Detroit’s neighborhoods (FIGURE 8). The oft-referenced model is New York City’s High Line, which has become an iconic urban park since its opening in 2009. The formerly abandoned rail lane, converted into a landscaped greenway above street level, is now a major tourist attraction and a ready-made template that other cities wish to emulate. However, it has also been roundly criticized regarding its ability to promote sustainability and inclusion. In terms of sustainability, while it emulates the wild urban ecology that previously occupied the rail line, it relies on costly inputs of water and soil to do so. Some have referred to this as “The High Line Problem” (cf. MARRIS 2017). Secondly, although the project promised a new green space in a densely inhabited city, the High Line also fanned the flames of gentrification and added to the problem of displacement. Kevin Loughran (cf. LOUGHRAN 2014) identifies it as a classic example of neoliberal public space, ostensibly intended for the general population but appealing especially to “tourists, wealthy white people, and the ‘creative class’” (p. 4).

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Like the High Line, Detroit’s Dequindre Cut Greenway (DCG) also opened to the public in 2009, with a half mile extension in 2016. DCG is part of the High Line Network and it resembles that project in some key respects; it retains elements from its industrial origins as a rail line, though it is submerged rather than elevated. In its wilder days, it was overgrown with urban vegetation and known as a haunt for graffiti taggers and the site of homeless encampments. It is now a well-cared for strip of green space that is designed to be inviting to everyone, and does indeed attract a widely varied population, especially on warm weekends during the spring, summer and fall (FIGURE 9). One of the red Detroit Windmills currently overlooks the greenway from its site inside an urban farm, at the Wilkins Street entrance, and a beer garden built from shipping containers operates a few hundred yards away. Needless to say, many residents and leaders consider it a great success and the JLG will build directly off this model, extending through a much larger territory. Once completed, the JLG will extend almost thirty linear miles. Named after world boxing champion Joe Louis, an African ­Ame­ri­­can icon and Detroit resident during the era of segregation, the JLG trail will traverse areas traumatized by that history and the upheavals that occurred along the way. These include the racial redlining of the 1930s8 and the block-by-block battles over housing integration that took place throughout the 1940s and 1950s, to the construction of freeway ramps and the disinvestment and abandonment of once thriving communities as well as the rebellion of 1967. It is therefore fitting to identify racial equity and economic inclusion as central goals of the JLG. This project offers the opportunity to greatly expand local access to green space and incorporate history, culture, ecological biodiversity, and ecosystem services. All of these themes can be tracked, and the inclusive goals espoused by the planners measured against the reality of what occurs. At the early engagement sessions which began in May of 2019, facilitators engaged residents from across the city on the greenway’s potential and their priorities for its outcomes (see FIGURE 7). When ­re­sponses were summarized, a few primary ones were noted, including “Jobs”, “Gathering Spaces”, “More Black Businesses”, and “Environmental Sustainability.” Similar to the other two projects discussed in this paper, the JLG clearly touches on multiple aspects of inclusion and sustainability. The success of these projects in achieving Design Core’s stated value of inclusive growth, evaluated over time, will be a critical measure of Detroit’s success in becoming “a better city for everyone.”

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FIGURE 9

Detailed redlining maps of Detroit, including the data sheets explaining why each area was rated as it was, may be found at “Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America”, https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/ #loc=14/42.4180/-83.0901&opacity=0.8&sort= 71&city=detroit-mi&area=D13&adimage= 3/75/-120 (accessed on 5 November 2019)

8

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BARBERO / COZZO / TAMBORRINI 2012 = Barbero, Silvia/ Cozzo, Brunella/ Tamborrini, Paolo (2012) ecodesign. BAILEY 2018 = Bailey, Orlando “What is ‘true’ community engagement? Exploring the trendiest term in Detroit today”, Model D Media, 30 October 2018, https://www.modeldmedia.com/features/community-engagement-exploring-103018.aspx BARASH 2019 = Barash, F. Philip “Into Detroit’s Backwater”, Landscape Architecture Magazine 2019, pp. 112–125. BARNETT 2011 = Barnett, Jonathan (2011) City Design: Modernist, Traditional, Green, and Systems Perspectives. London: Routledge. DETROIT FUTURE CITY 2012 = Detroit Future City (DFC) “Detroit Future City Strategic Framework”, 2012, https://detroitfuturecity.com/strategic-framework/ DETROIT DESIGN CORE 2018 = Detroit Design Core “Detroit City of Design Action Plan”, 2018, https://designcore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/OG-Detroit_ActionPlan_Exo_180410_ final_web.pdf HERN 2010 = Hern, Matt (2010) Common Ground in a Liquid City: Essays in Defense of an Urban Future. Oakland: AK Press. HOLMES 2018 = Holmes, Kat (2018) Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design, Boston: MIT Press. JOHNSON 2001 = Johnson, Steven (2001) Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. New York: Penguin. KAPP AND ARMSTRONG 2015 = Kapp, Paul H. and Armstrong, Paul J. (eds), SynergiCity: Reinventing the Postindustrial City. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. LOUGHRAN 2014 = Loughran, Kevin (2014) “Parks for Profit: The High Line, Growth Machines, and the Uneven Development of Urban Public Spaces.” City & Community 13(1): 49–68. MARANISS 2015 = Maraniss, David (2015) Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story. New York: Simon & Schuster. MARRIS 2017= Marris, Emma “Urban Wilderness and the ‘High Line Problem’”, The last word on nothing, 1 May 2017, https://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2017/05/01/urban-wilderness-and-thehigh-line-problem/ MONDRY 2019 = Mondry, Aaron “The latest updates on the Joe Louis Greenway as the end of planning phase ­nears”, Curbed Detroit, 12 December 2019, https://detroit.curbed.com/ 2019/12/12/21013056/joe-louis-greenway-update-detroit-transit-biking SHORT 2006 = Short, John Rennie (2006) Alabaster Cities. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. WYLIE-KELLERMAN 2017 = Wylie-Kellerman, Bill (2017) Where the Water Goes Round. Eugene: Cascade.

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Urban Oases. Can Cities of the Future Function like Forests?

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Breathe Earth Collective

INTRODUCTION

1 Crutzen, Paul J./Stoermer, Eugene F. “The Anthropocene”, IGBP Newsletter, no. 41, May 2000, http://www.igbp.net/ dowload/18.316f1832132347017758000 1401/1376383088452/­NL41.pdf 2 Subramanian, Meera “Anthropocene Now: influential panel votes to recognize Earth’s new epoch”, Nature—International Journal of Science, 21 May 2019, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586019-01641-5 3 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Dynamics “World Population Prospects 2019”, https://population.un.org/wpp/Graphs/ Probabilistic/POP/TOT/900 (accessed in August 2019) 4 Campbell, B. M./Beare, D. J./Bennett, E. M./ Hall-Spencer, J. M./Ingram, J. S. I./Jaramillo F./Ortiz, R.,/Ramankutty, N./Sayer, J. A./ Shindell, D. “Agriculture production as a major driver of the Earth system exceed­ing planetary ­boundaries”, Ecology and Society, vol. 22, no. 4, 2017, art. 8, https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol22/ iss4/art8/ (accessed in August 2019) 5 Owen, James “Farming Claims Almost Half Earth’s Land, New Maps Show”, National Geographic, 9 December 2005, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/ news/2005/12/agriculture-food-crops-land/ (accessed in August 2019) 6 Greta Thunberg Facebook Profile, https://www.facebook.com/ gretathunbergsweden/ (accessed in August 2019)

For many decades our society has thrived in the relatively stable climatic conditions of the Holocene. Only in recent years has our impact extended to and beyond every part of this planet. The so-called Anthropocene is a new epoch in which no earthly entity, place, form, process, or system escapes the reach and influence of human activity1. The human being has become one of the most significant factors influencing the biological and atmospheric processes on Earth, and has changed the environment to such an extent that the planet’s future is at stake due to human use of resources and interventions in the biosphere’s cycles2. Man’s influence on the planet has become obvious, not least because since 1960 the human population has doubled to nearly seven billion people, and will increase to about 10 billion by 20503. The ­human being in itself does not represent a problem, it is rather the way in which humans act. In addition to the constantly increasing CO2 emissions in the atmosphere, and the atmospheric changes ­associated with them, the most serious human induced changes to the planet are probably urban sprawl and the massive use of land for agricultural production4. Almost 40 % of the non-ice-covered surface of our planet is now used to grow crop plants5. It is these changes in the use of our natural habitat, and above all greed for profit which are so radically endangering our planet and resulting in deficient ecosystems. Not least the young generation, who have found their figurehead in Greta Thunberg6, is becoming ever more aware that it needs to bring about a change in the way in which we live together on our planet if future generations are to find reasonably accept­able conditions for a healthy, sustainable and peaceful life together. The following text is an attempt to roughly outline the complex context of this global task in which urban planners, architects and designers must find their way. At the same time it is an attempt to sketch and initiate a strategy, since a plan for action is conceivable at ­a local level.

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U R B A N I Z AT I O N A N D I TS C H A L L E N G E S

It is widely predicted that urban agglomerations and cities will continue to grow in the future. As early as 2020, urbanization will result in more than 80 % of the world’s population living and working in cities and urban areas7. This process not only causes resource and service depletion in rural areas, but also results in stress and overcrowding in megacities, as can now be seen in Asia, Africa and Latin America, for instance. Even in Europe, this trend is now clearly visible in terms of withering rural regions and the parallel growth of urban settlements. Urbanization and climate change are the most serious challenges of our time, and they are forcing city planners, architects and policymakers to deal with the resulting problems and changes. ­ An intelligent and sustainable consolidation of our cities as an alternative to urban sprawl is therefore increasingly the focus of ­discussion, alongside a much-needed resource turnaround. In ­addition to the megacities, the so-called “second cities” are also subject to increasing development pressure due to still moderate land prices, as well as the prospect of even higher profits for in­ vestors. When facing the pressing issues caused by climate change, cities will have to develop new strategies about how to deal with urbanization and the growth of urban agglomerations and metropoli­ tan areas in an ecological way. Strategies now need to be devised in order to confront the issue of how existing urban spaces can be eco-socially restructured and improved for the coming centuries. One example of ongoing changes and potential spatial resources in the near future is the change from individual mobility to autonomous mobility. This shift will lead to discourse about how to reuse the large quantity of vehicle infrastructure as high-quality public space in which citizens should be involved.

A S H OTS P OTS , U R B A N A G G LO M E R AT I O N S AC C E L E R AT E C L I M AT E C H A N G E

The climate has changed noticeably in recent decades, and as an Alpine region Austria is particularly affected. By 2050 the mean temperature in Austria will have risen by 1.4°C relative to the ­period 1971–2000. Depending on how successfully we can implement climate protection measures, the average temperature increase may be as high as 2.3–4°C by the end of the century8. Due to their structural compaction and high degree of sealing, urban areas will be more

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United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division “World Urbanization Prospects 2018”, 2018, https://population.un.org/wup/CountryProfiles/ (accessed in August 2019) 8 cf. BMNT, 2016 7

i­ntensively affected by this trend. Due to the so-called urban heat island effect, which is caused by the aspects described above, the average temperature in Austrian cities will rise by a further 2°C in the future9. This development is already noticeable today. In 2018 there were 42 heat days in the center of Vienna, and in 2015 there were 46. During the reference period 1981–2010 there were an average of 21 heat days10. An increase in heat days and a lack of night cooling in urban structures represent an enormous health burden for all city dwellers, but particularly affect the elderly, the chronically ill, children and the socially weak. According to studies, in 2018 more people died from the aftermath of heat in Austria than in road accidents11. In the future the temperature in Vienna could rise to over 42°C in a hot summer. This means that the effects of a warming climate will be even more intense in very densely populated areas. As a result, even more energy will be used in these areas in order to cool living spaces to a tolerable level. However, this trend will ultimately only accelerate the fatal cycle of climate change. During the hot summer months buildings behave similarly to radiators, ­absorbing heat during the day and radiating it during the night. In these urban agglomerations the inhabitants are currently being exposed to more and more health dangers. Today we can already detect an increase in the mortality rate of people in urban centers as a result of permanent air pollution and overheating12. In order for cities and metropolitan areas to be able to maintain or improve their quality of life and prevent health deterioration in the future, it is necessary to counteract the overheating and air pollution at the city-system level with the involvement of all stakeholders and population groups.

C I T I E S A S A H Y B R I D O F A R C H I T EC T U R E , T EC H­N O­L­O GY A N D N AT U R E

cf. MA 22, CITY VIENNA, 2015 cf. ZAMG, 2018 11 cf. AGES 2018 and STATISTICS AUSTRIA 2018 12 See also, World Health Organization “How air pollution is destroying our health”, https://www.who.int/air-pollution/news-andevents/how-air-pollution-is-destroying-ourhealth (accessed in August 2019) 9

10

Strategies for dealing with climate change and its challenges therefore play a crucial role in the future of cities, both globally and locally. New methods of cooling, air-conditioning and im­pro­v­­­­­­ing the air quality in both older and newer cities must be developed in order to ­reduce the “urban heat islands effect”. The design and development of effective prototypes for “cooling architectures” and “climate-­ resilient open spaces” as flagship projects is therefore crucial in order to make ideas and visions palpable, as well as instigate public discourse. We should aim to redesign our cities in a way that will reduce the impact of climate change to zero, or even turn our cities

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into climate-­positive oases. Current trends in architecture and design are now developing in this direction. Recent research and new projects are starting to influence design in this precise field, in which the boundaries of architecture, ecology and technology are blurred. As a worldwide pioneer project the Austrian Pavilion Breathe Austria, designed by the Breathe Earth Collective (in collaboration with team.breathe.austria) for the EXPO 2015 in Milan, is one of these new projects which highlights this approach. The integration of a natural forest into the center of an architectural frame made this idea the focus of the design. The natural performance of the forest and its vegetation was enhanced with technical support in order to cool the interior of the pavilion by up to 8°C in comparison with the outside temperature. In addition, the ­approximately 560 m2 area of forest produced fresh oxygen and filtered CO2, which helped ­improve the air quality. The Austrian Pavilion13—one of the first large prototypes of our collectives—clearly demonstrates that a collaboration of nature, architecture and technology is a fantastic way to address and tackle the challenges we are facing today.

G LO B A L C H A N G E T H R O U G H ST R AT EG I E S W I T H LO C A L STA K E H O L D E R S

The challenges resulting from climate change are highly complex, and are interconnected both glo­bal­­ly and locally. The complexity involved cannot only be managed “top-down” by governments or state institutions, instead new strategies are ­required which activate each citizen as a stakeholder in communities, and empower citizens as “agents of change”. In order to be able to implement this change and bring about the necessary adaptations in many areas, a broad front must be involved ­including research, politics, culture, business and citizens. The Paris Climate Agreement, as well as the current

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13 “breathe.austria”, Austrian EXPO-Pavillon for the EXPO 2015 Milano, http://breatheaustria.at/ (accessed in August 2019)

14 See also, Satterthwaite, David (2016) “Is communtity-based adaptation suited to cities?”, International Institute for Environment and Development, https://www.iied.org/­communitybased-adaptation-suited-cities (accessed in August 2019)

worldwide student protests calling for action against climate change, make the issue visible in all of its socio-political range. Adapting to climate change and creating resilient communities and cities can only be achieved across disciplines through new forms of cooperation bet­ween many stakeholders. Transdisciplinary work, as well as the deve­l­ opment of awareness of the fact that the actions of each individual have an impact, create an essential basis in order to achieve long term solutions in local neighborhoods. In particular, micro and bottom-up strategies in the immediate living environments of citizens can lead to enormous positive impacts within a short period of time. In addition, prototypes and lighthouse projects educate people and enable them to build their own version, as well as take on the environmental work involved.14

ST R AT EG I E S FO R A T R A N S FO R M AT I O N IN URBAN DESIGN

One key aspect of the approach to these new challenges is particularly important: we shall not, like generations of city planners and politicians before us, simply plan and build new cities and neighborhoods on available open ­spaces. Even if they were completely self-sufficient and climate-neutral, we still wouldn’t solve the essential problem. Instead we have to devote ourselves very intensively to a sensitive ­transformation of existing cities in a cautious way, because this is equivalent to an operation on a living body. The challenge is to remodel the structures while ­preserving the individual properties, common good and cultural heritage. More and more participatory and cooperative development processes with many different stakeholders have recently been carried out very successfully. A strategy will only be successful if all of the affected parties are able to participate in the process, express their ideas and concerns, and

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ultimately be actively involved in reshaping their living space. Over the centuries cities have developed their own logic and heterogeneously developed structures, which have been revised and reinterpreted from generation to generation. The last major development of the modern era could be described as the triumph of the automobile, and as a result, the creation of the car city as a symbol of living space, which is subordinate to traffic15. This massive transformation of our cities is still taking place today. 90 % of our public spaces are traffic areas for motorized private transport, or even worse: par­k­ing lots. Parking lots are non-productive storage spaces in the middle of our cities and streets. Only now, when we are on the verge of seeing autonomous computer-controlled electric cars, which are ordered via app and released again, can the new mobility models of the future be grasped and visualized, and the car cities of the 1960s suddenly begin to appear obsolete. Intelligent systems are able to optimize traffic, and the individual vehicle could give way to widespread and networked car sharing. This could mean that up to 50 % of the urban area that is currently reserved for traffic could suddenly be made available and used differently. This enormous amount of space, which has been deprived of the presence of humans and nature since the modernism of the 1920s and the post-war modernism in urban planning, could finally be reclaimed as an area for productive use16. In addition there are brownfields and interstices which could also be taken into consideration. These spatial reserves, which are suddenly becoming obsolete, could therefore be transformed into public space. They could then become “climate-active spaces” in the middle of the city, which would help to moderate and reduce the impact of climate change. These spaces could be used as cooling units and storm water retention areas, or as space for bee hives, urban food production, waste heat greenhouses and air cleaners.

U R B A N FO R E STS A S A P R O D U C T I V E N E T W O R K O F U R B A N OA S E S

During the past few years there has also been a change in attitude, and more and more traffic areas are now being converted into parks or green spaces, and are therefore available to the public once again. However, it is important to not only use empty spaces as beautiful gardens and parks, but to also seize the opportunity to purposefully plan and use such areas as productive urban oases17.

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15 Reichow, Hans Bernhard (1959) Die autogerechte Stadt – Ein Weg aus dem Verkehrschaos. Ravensburg: Otto Maier Verlag 16 Pollak, Sabine “Die Zukunft der Stadt ist autofrei!”, Der Standard, 12 April 2019, https://www.derstandard.at/story/ 2000100988748/die-zukunft-der-stadt-istautofrei (accessed in August 2019) 17 See for example, Jeschaunig, Markus “Oasis No.8”, Agency in Biosphere, http://agencyinbiosphere.com/archives/project/ oasis-no-8 (accessed in August 2019)

These areas will then have a positive effect on the microclimate within their immediate environment: by cooling the ambient air through the natural effect of evapotranspiration, filtering pollutants and fine dust from the air, producing oxygen, binding carbon dioxide from the air, improving the quality of the air, etc. The major potential of activating these spatial reserves as urban oases is to develop them as a systemic network of green infrastructures, which will integrate specific local weather events and micro climatic conditions such as wind and air corridors. Through a network of many small and medium scale interventions, a real improvement of the entire urban climate could be achieved18. Innovative climate simulation programs will soon be developed, and will help to simulate urban spaces in three-dimensional models, in order to calculate the effects of green spaces and urban oases19. Greenpass certificate projects will become decision making tools for city planners and ­investors. In this way potential heat islands in cities can be completely transposed and optimized in order to produce positive effects on the urban climate, and simply become good neighbors. In addition to the climatic benefits, the expansion of green oases into the hardscape of cities will have a positive effect on biodiversity and help fauna, especially insects, birds and bees, to regain a population foothold in the city.

U R B A N OA S E S A N D S O C I A L D E S I G N

See also, Jeschaunig, Markus “urban oasis vienna”, Agency in Biosphere, http://agencyinbiosphere.com/archives/project/ urban-oasis-vienna (accessed in August 2019) 19 Greenpass, https://greenpass.io (accessed in August 2019) 20 See also, International Organization for ­Migration “World Migration Report 2015”, https://www.iom.int/world-migration-report2015 (accessed in August 2019) 18

A major challenge facing metropolitan areas is the influx of people with different cultural, social and religious backgrounds, who have moved to these cities for many different reasons. On the one hand there are migration flows from rural areas to cities, which are largely due to economic factors such as the opportunity for better jobs and living conditions20. On the other hand climatic changes or armed conflicts are forcing people to move

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to other parts of the world. These population flows are mainly into cities, where the migrating populations will have diverse options to start a new life. These demographic changes also pose new challenges for cities and their policies to support a sensitive and direct integration into the local society. Again, the model of urban oases as future “community hubs” could result in enormous opportunities21. For example in Medellin (Colombia), where many rural peasants are fleeing from war and enslavement following decades of civil war. They are moving to the safety of big cities, where they settle in the peripheral urban areas22. After arriving in a new city, people usually have to find any kind of work in order to earn a living for themselves and their families. The jobs they find are frequently underpaid, with long working hours and dangerous working conditions. Within this context it should be noted that the former inhabitants of rural areas often possess and bring with them an enormous knowledge of agriculture, as well as the handling of fauna and flora, the cultivation of plants and animals, etc. In social, self-governing communities, for example community kitchens, community gardens, clubs, etc., these people can easily share produce and help to grow it. New models of currency for produce sharing time could help establish new values in the communities, while at the same time harvest locally grown fruit and vegetables23. Community hubs of this kind, such as Grätzel­ oases and crossbrewer cafés which are sprouting up in some cities, have enormous potential as docking points for migrants. In a very subdued way urban community gardens, which cultivate fruit and vegetables and offer their products at small markets, or sell them through their own communal restaurant, create work, as well as new social networks and values24. At the same time these urban farms can be enhanced as productive oases for the urban climate, for instance through an agroforestry system, or drainage for storm water. Climate oases give rise to social networking opportunities for new businesses, which in turn also contributes to a healthier and more resilient climate.

B R E AT H E E A RT H C O L L EC T I V E A I R S H I P S — P R OTOT Y P E S

With the successful ­Austrian pavilion designed within the context of EXPO 2015 in ­Milan, the transdisciplinary Breathe Earth ­Collective25 began to work on these important issues, as well as one of the most prominent social, environmental and technological challenges of our time: the air and climate. As follow-up projects the

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21 See for example Ikea’s utopian urban gardening project by Tom Dixon, https://www.fastcompany.com/90353160/ heres-a-first-look-at-ikeas-utopian-urbangardening-project 22 See also, Echeverri, Alejandro “Slums are growing around the world—but a city in Colombia has a solution”, QUARTZ, 25 September 2018, https://qz.com/1381146/ slums-are-growing-around-the-world-but-acity-in-colombia-has-a-solution/ (accessed in August 2019) 23 See also, Schuler, Timothy A. “Free Markets”, Landscape Architecture Magazine, 5 March 2019, https://landscapearchitecturemagazine. org/2019/03/05/free-markets/ (accessed in August 2019) 24 See for example, Goritschnig, Andreas “Open Lab Reininghaus”, Studio AG, https://andreasgoritschnig.wordpress.com/ (accessed in August 2019) 25 Please see: www.breatheearth.net

Breathe Earth Collective implemented a series of climate installations under the name of “Airships”. These installations prototypically act as hybrids between “nature” and “technology” in order to showcase new models of urban spaces. In different Euro­pean cities such as Rome, Milan, Bordeaux and Vienna, these climate-positive and cooling micro architectures involved citizens, calling on them to reflect on the climate and city through a sensual learning ­journey. The visitors themselves become part of the interior climate performance simply by breathing (inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide), and experience the immersive environment which offers a rich sensorial experience and restorative atmosphere in contrast to busy urban environments. In addition to the social impacts and educational aspects of the projects, the ­“Urban Oasis” prototypes performed successfully, even in extreme urban heat islands. Each Airship (“Cultural Forest”, “Evapotree”, and “­Fountain of Air”) has its own characteristics, however they are all focused on the topic of air quality, natural cooling and oxygen production in an increasingly polluted urban environment. The visitors experience a natural forest habitat with their own senses. They do this sensually rather than rationally, and as a result reflect on complex global issues. The Airships demonstrate the synergetic action of nature (several hundred plants, water ponds) and technology (a compact, 5m-high geometry open to the sky, a climate-active membrane, fog nozzles and ventilators), and almost act as natural, climatic air conditioners. The vision is to spread these oases throughout cities, almost like new typologies for urban furnishing. The Breathe Earth Collective rely on sensorial experiences as a powerful means of communicating an important message: why it is important to integrate productive green technologies into future architecture and cities. Visitors learn and reflect on a deeper and more enduring level through a prompt, immersive and bodily experience.

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Another project with the title “Tröpferlbad 2.0, a coolspot network for Vienna”, is currently being developed with similar principles to those of the Airship. The objective of this research project is to complete two new prototypes of “coolspots”, which will provide a healthy and cool micro climate during heat waves, especially for ­vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly. The goal is to reduce the health risks in areas close to social infrastructures and housing ­estates, where children and elderly people live. Within the framework of the research and development project “Tröpferlbad 2.0”, two prototypes are being developed and implemented in Floridsdorf and Esterhazy Park in Vienna. The transdisciplinary project is being developed in cooperation with Green4Cities, the City of Vienna, and many other experts from the fields of sociology, financing and energy, as well as participation experts and local districts. In 2020 the Breathe Earth Collective will also launch a new initiative called “climate.culture”. This initiative will start with a pavilion in the center of Graz during the year of culture 202026. The pavilion will serve as an agora for anyone who wants to engage in climate culture, and help rebuild and design the infrastructure of the city. Several workshop formats are being developed here in order to foster new forms of collaboration with citizens, businesses and politicians, and to share knowledge and multiply ideas and principles in order to challenge climate change in general.

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Stadt Graz “Graz Kulturjahr 2020 – Kultur schafft urbane Zukunft”, 2019, https://www.graz.at/cms/beitrag/ 10314806/8952938/Graz_Kulturjahr_ Kultur_schafft_urbane_Zukunft.html (accessed in August 2019)

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A N E W O U T LO O K O N A R C H I T EC T U R E

In architectural design and urban planning, we have come to a point where our technological skills cannot progress any further without connecting our knowledge and capabilities with the nature of our planet. If we understand the city as an ­organism, we have to redesign the city of the future as an ecological, systemic body, which can actively contribute to the climate and the environment. Through systemic design, cities and architectures can change into proactive micro-biospheres, which will help deal with the effects of changing climatic conditions. This approach changes the notion of architecture itself. Architecture is no longer merely a passive shell that protects us from the weather. It has now become part of a living organism as an inter-connected system. In this sense we no longer understand sustainable architecture and urban ­design as ­zero-energy buildings, but rather as actively engaged systemic synergies of nature and technology, in which humans, technology and nature collaborate to perfect the climate.

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Interior Architecture in Sustainable Cities

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Burçin Cem Arabacıoğlu

INTRODUCTION

Beyazit State Library. Tabalioglu Architects, https://www.tabanlioglu.com, accessed on 22/07/2019. Caradonna, J. L. (2014). Sustainability: A History. Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199372409. 2 Hilgenkamp, K. (2005). Environmental Health: Ecological Perspectives. London: Jones & ­Bartlett. ISBN 978-0763723774. 1

When we look back at history, we see that the concept of ­sustainability is entirely new for humanity. Although many studies on sustainability have been carried out in recent times, it is still a concept that has not been sufficiently internalized by the majority of the world’s population. Although expert researchers and advanced professionals have discussed and developed solutions to it, there is still not enough consciousness in a large part of the society to provide the compelling power to live a sustainable life. Awareness of the concept of sustain­­­ ability remains very limited, and for most of the people who are aware of it, many solutions remain unknown. Throughout history, earlier societies have developed by using local resources when communication and transportation were not as widespread as today. From time to time they have overcome short­ ages of ­resources by migrating to other regions, or seizing new areas with ­resources through wars. With the expansion of transportation, it ­be­came possible to ship supplies between regions. Eventually, sufficient ­resources became available to support global shares and trade. This cycle contin­ued without much trouble until almost two centuries ago, when the world’s population was less than one billion1. The industrial revolution between the 18th and 19th centuries led to a massive increase in the use of fossil fuels, primarily coal, which was used to drive more efficient engines and then to generate ­elec­tric­ity. Modern health systems, developed through advances in medicine, have protected large populations from various diseases which led to death in the past2. However, because of these developments and the accompanying radical increase in the world’s population due to various ­reasons such as those mentioned above, the consumption of our world’s resources has gone beyond the limits of the cycle of natural regeneration. Nevertheless, humanity has been unable to recognize and define this problem until quite recently.

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In Herbert George Wells’ novel The Time Machine, one of the first examples of science fiction from 1895, the hero Time Explorer describes the world of tomorrow in the following manner after returning to the ­Victorian era from thousands of years in the future3 (p. 19): “The whole world will be clever, educated and will cooperate; everything will move faster and faster towards the subjugation of ­nature.” In the end, wisely and carefully we shall reorganize the balance of animal and plant life to suit our human needs. Even in this novel, which was written relatively recently and has a unique view for its era, we can see that the vision is still far removed from a sustainable approach and that the idea of subjugating nature by ­arranging it according to human needs is dominant. Peterson also stresses the same point in his book4 (p. 201): “It has not been long ­since the Earth seemed ­infinitely larger than the people who inhabited it. It was only in the late 1800s that the brilliant biologist Thomas ­Huxley (1825–95)—­staunch defender of Darwin and Aldous Huxley’s grandfather—told the British Parliament that it was literally impossible for mankind to exhaust the ­oceans. Their power of generation was simply too great, as far as he could determine, compared to even the most assiduous human predations. It’s been an even shorter fifty years since Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring ignited the environmental movement. Fifty years! That’s nothing! That’s not even ­yesterday. We’ve only just devel­oped the conceptual tools and technologies that allow us to understand the web of life, however imperfectly.” This perspective is obviously not sustainable and can be fatal to many species including humanity. Perhaps the following words by ­Canadian astrophysicist Hubert Reeves express the situation we are in best: “We are at war with nature. If we win, we will lose…” In the middle of the twentieth century, a growing environmental movement pointed to the fact that ecological costs are being paid for the resources currently used. By the end of the century, environmental prob­ lems had reached global dimensions5, 6. The energy crisis of the 1970s demonstrated the extent to which the current system is dependent on non-renewable energy resources. Recently, many living species have rapid­ ly become extinct through the loss and degradation of their ecosystems. We now know that with the increase in our human population, if our consumption of the world’s resources continues to grow, it is unlikely we will be able to talk about the existence of future generations for many other species, as well as humanity. While technology has evolved rapidly during this period7–10, manufacturers and designers have been using unsus­tain­able materials in large-scale production processes, and still continue to use them to a large extent. Except for the material waste resulting from their preference for ineffective methods, designs that are emotionally non-­

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3 Wells, H. G. and Cramer, M. A. (2012). H. G. Wells: Six Novels. Canterbury Classics; Lea Edition. ISBN 978-1607104964. 4 Peterson, J. B. (2018). 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. Random House Canada, p. 201, ISBN 978-0345816023. 5 Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D. L., Randers, J., Behrens III, W. (1972). The Limits to Growth. New York: Universe Books. ISBN 0876631650. 6 Turner, G.M. (2008). “A comparison of the Limits to Growth with 30 years of reality”. Global Environmental Change, 18 (3), 397–411, doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.05.001. 7 Arabacıoğlu, B. C., Aytis, S. (2016). “Information Communications Technology-Aided Inter­ active Space Design Process”. Megaron/Yildiz Technical University Faculty of Architecture E-Journal, 11.2, 282–290. 8 Arabacıoğlu, B. C. (2011). Interactive Space Design: The New Architectural Design Thinking by Using Intelligent Building Systems in Interior Spaces. VDM Publishing. 9 Arabacıoğlu, B. C. (2008). “‘Etkilesimli Mekan’ Tasarimi”, KMIM, 3, 43–51. 10 Arabacıoğlu, B. C. (2005). “Akilli bina sistemleri ile etkilesimli kisisellesebilir ic mekan kavrami ve gelecegin akilli ic mekan tasarimi sureci icin bir model onerisi”. Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Ph.D. thesis, Istanbul.

permanent have not encouraged people to find devotion, difference and narrative, and have adversely affected the sustainability of design by causing them to consume more frequently. Given these problems, it is imperative to identify sustainable solutions and related concepts and take constructive actions by defining strategies. As we will see in the following sections, research shows us that the construction industry and related sectors such as interior architecture have consumed a significant share of these resources directly or ­indirectly. In particular, the importance of interior design in terms of sustainable production methods and waste management can be better understood if one realizes that it is a branch that uses more resources by producing redesigned spaces much more frequently than other construction sectors. Within this reality, it is possible for the field of interior design to contribute to sustainable city systems through the various decisions which are made during the design process regarding the production of space and the life span of these areas, as well as through decisions which are taken at the end of the construction’s life span. The necessity of developing sustainable interior design indi­cates that essential updates will be required in the basic definitions and approach­es of the profession. In addition to these realities, we must consider that the vast majority of existing and newly constructed ­buildings in the world are still not designed by interior architects. They are mostly arranged by the owners or users, so it is evident that the ­understanding and implementation of general sustainable interior ­architecture principles in sustainable cities by the wider community ­rather than experts will be essential for achieving a sustainable life. Today, various certification systems assess the status of struc­tures in terms of sustainability. Although these certification systems define the main principles, their definitions can only be understood and applied by experts. The complexity of certification systems is confusing to most professionals and it is impossible for the general public, which still plays an important role in the organization of interiors, to understand the ­essence of the aims intended to be achieved in practice. The understanding of these principles by the general public will help increase the rate at which sustainable interiors are created in practice.

G OA L S FO R AC H I E V I N G S U STA I N A B L E L I V I N G A N D D I M E N S I O N S O F S U STA I N A B I L I T Y

Although different approaches are still being debated, perhaps the concept of sustainability in its purest form can be defined as the process of maintaining change in a balanced environment where consumption

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of resources, direction of investments, technological development and institutional change are in harmony and develop the current and future potential to meet human needs11. Healthy ecosystems and environments are essential for the survival of people and other living things. In this context, sustainability can be defined as a socio-ecological process that pursues a common ideal. Therefore, sustainability is a process that can be achieved as a result of a stable and dynamic approach that is not limited to a specific time or place12. Sustainable development with cultural, technological, and political sub-sections is still a controversial phenomenon. Some researchers argue that development is unsustainable by the nature of the concept, that sustainable life is contradictory to industrialization, and therefore practitioners of philosophy face the difficulties of adapting to living in an increasingly industrial society with alternative norms, technologies or practices. Other researchers and communities are working on setting strategies and targets for sustainable development. In the Official Sustainable Development Agenda adopted by the United Nations in 2015, seventeen sustainable development goals are defined: ① Eliminating all forms of poverty ② Ending hunger ③ Healthy lives promoting the well-being of people of all ages ④ Providing inclusive and equal quality education and supporting lifelong learning ⑤ Providing gender equality ⑥ Ensuring the availability of clean water and sewage treatment for all ⑦ Providing affordable and reliable energy for all ⑧ Promoting full and efficient employment and decent jobs for all ⑨ Encouraging sustainable industrialization and promoting innovation ①⓪ Reducing inequality between countries ①① Making cities and human settlements safe, flexible and sustainable ①② Developing sustainable consumption and production models ①③ Taking urgent steps to deal with climate change and its effects ①④ Protecting the oceans, seas and using them in a sustainable manner ①⑤ Conserving and restoring terrestrial and marine ecosystems, stopping the loss of biodiversity by stopping desertification ①⑥ Establishing effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels which encourage societies offering justice for peaceful, inclusive people to achieve sustainable development ①⑦ Empowering a global partnership for sustainability by strength­ ening implementation tools

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Capra, F. (2015). “The systems view of life; a unifying conception of mind, matter, and life”. Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, 11 (2), 242–249. 12 Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel (2017). The Dilemma of Sustainability in the Age of Globalization: A Quest for a Paradigm of Development. New York: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-1498551397. 11

E N V IR ON M EN T

Livable

Equitable

AB

SOCIAL

N

LE

US TA I

S

Feasible

ECO N O M IC

THE DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY15

13 Da Costa Lobo, M. (2012). “The Green-Blue Humanized Space of Our Planet”. Green Age Approaches & Perspectives Towards Sustainability, 15–22. 14 Bott, H. (2012). “The Dimensions of Sustainability”. Green Age Approaches & Perspectives Towards Sustainability, 23–45. 15 Investing in the Bottom, https://medium.com/ @zeyu007/investing-in-the-bottom61b33aa4c70d, accessed on 22/07/2019. 16 Dhakal, K. P., Oh, J. S. (2011). “Integrating Sustainability into Highway Projects: Sustainability Indicators and Assessment Tool for Michigan Roads”. T&DI Congress 2011. American Society of Civil Engineers, 987–996, doi:10.1061/41167(398)94. ISBN 978-0784411674. 17 Magee, L., Scerri, A., James, P., Thom, James A., Padgham, L., Hickmott S., Deng, H., Cahill, F. (2013). “Reframing social sustainability ­reporting: Towards an engaged approach”. Environment, Development and Sustainability. 15 (1), 225–43, doi:10.1007/s10668-012-9384-2. 18 Redclift, Michael (2005). “Sustainable development (1987–2005): an oxymoron comes of age”. Sustainable Development (Submitted manuscript), 13 (4): 212–227, doi:10.1002/sd.281.

To achieve these goals, discussions continue to develop alternative approaches that address environmental issues by reducing the population, changing lifestyles and supporting technological research that reduces pollution and addresses other factors that have negative impacts on sustainability13. The dimensions of sustainability, which are used to address the different layers of sustainability associated with these objectives, were first identified in the 1987 Brundtland Report as environmental, social and economic14. These three dimensions are not independent of one another, and one cannot speak of one dimension without the others. The conditions that provide social and environmental dimensions are durable, the conditions that provide social and economic dimensions are fair, the conditions that provide environmental and economic aspects are livable, but the conditions that satisfy all three dimensions will make a sustainable system possible. Many standards have been put into practice by considering these dimensions in different areas. The dis­ciplines dealing with architectural design are in an inevitable ­dynam­ic relationship with the social and economic dimensions, although they more often interact with the environmental one. Sustainable development can be assumed to consist of balancing local and global efforts to meet basic human needs without destroying the natural environment. The aim of this development should be to ­improve the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems. The question then is how to represent the relationship between these needs and the environment. In this context, some sustainability experts draw attention to the existence of other layers in addition to the three dimensions mentioned above. Based on the fact that sustainability needs to address our future in the long term, it is argued that future generations should be considered among these dimensions and that resource utilization and economic dimensions can be included within the scope16. Sustainability also requires responsible and proactive decision ­mak­ing, as well as innovation that maintains the balance between ecolog­ical flexibility, economic prosperity, political justice, and cultural vitality in order to minimize negative impacts and provide a ­desirable planet for all species, now and in the future17. Redclift18 states that environmental justice is as significant as sustainable development. This perspective considers the dimensions as environmental circles within each other, respectively as the society, environ­ment and economy. However, sustainability inherently points to an ongoing task or an endless journey. Sustainability is, there­fore, a political process, so some definitions reveal common aims and

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­values19. This approach creates a more complex model of sustain­ ability that in­cludes the political dimension. Until recently, the economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability including economic development, social development and environmental protection, were used in connection with sustain­ able development. During the last ten years, together with these ­dis­cussions, the sustainability circle approach has been established with the addition of culture as the fourth dimension of sustainable ­development in line with the United Nations, UNESCO and Agenda 21. Circles of Sustainability, which are used by various organizations including the United Nations Cities Programme, are a method for under­standing, evaluating and managing projects for socially sustainable results. This method aims to empirically address the seemingly tricky problems of ecology, economy, politics, and culture and has been used to visualize the present situation for cities and urban settlements in a more straightforward manner20. The ecological, political, cultural and economic aspects that make up the main dimensions of the Circles of Sustainability are divided into seven sub-domains and constitute a more in-depth perspective. The ecological aspect is defined as the practices at the intersection between the natural and social environments, which are entangled with nature and include the sub-headings of built environment, materials/energy, water/air, flora/fauna, habitat/settlements, built-in form/ transportation, embodiment/sustenance, and emissions/waste. The political dimension is defined as practices related to fundamental social power problems such as organization, empowerment, legitimacy and regulation. The parameters of the matter go beyond traditional politics, including not only public and private administration issues, but also broader social relations in general. The political dimension includes the sub-topics of organization/governance, law/justice, communication/ criticism, representation/negotiation, security/accord, dialogue/reconciliation, and ethics/accountability. The cultural dimension is defined as practices, rhetoric and material expressions displaying the continuity and discontinuity of the social context in time. This dimension includes the sub-topics of identity/engagement, creativity/recreation, memory/ projection, belief/ideas, gender/age groups, enquiring/learning, and well-being/health. Finally, the economic dimension is defined as the practices and meanings related to the production, use and management of resources. It includes the sub-topics of production/resource, exchange/transfer, accounting/regulation, consumption/use, labor/ welfare, technology/infrastructure, and wealth/distribution.

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Milne, M. J., Kearins, K., Walton, S. (2006). “Creating Adventures in Wonderland: The Journey Metaphor and Environmental Sustain­ability”. Organization, 13 (6), 801–839, doi:10.1177/1350508406068506. 20 James, P., Magee, L., Scerri, A., Steger, M. B. (2015). Urban Sustainability in Theory and Practice: Circles of Sustainability. London: Routledge. 19

EC O N O M I C S

EC O LO GY

Production & Resourcing Exchange & Transfer Accounting & Regulation Consumption & Use Labour & Welfare Technology & Infrastructure Wealth & Distribution

Materials & Energy Water & Air Flora & Fauna Habitat & Food Place & Space Constructions & Settlements Emissions & Waste

POLITICS

C U LT U R E

Organization & Governance Law & Justice Communication & Movement Representation & Negotiation Security & Accord Dialogue & Reconciliation Ethics & Accountability

Engagement & Identity Recreation & Creativity Memory & Projection Belief & Meaning Gender & Generations Enquiry & Learning Health & Wellbeing

Vibrant Good Highly Satisfactory Satisfactory+

Satisfactory Satisfactory– Highly Unsatisfactory Bad Critical

CIRCLES OF SUSTAINABILITY21

L I F E I N A S U STA I N A B L E E N V I R O N M E N T

Circles of Sustainability, https://www.wikizeroo.org/index.php? q=aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnL3dpa2kvQ2lyY2xlc19vZl9dXN0YWluYWJpbGl0eQ, accessed ­on 30/07/2019. 22 Winter, M. (2007). Sustainable Living: For Home, Neighborhood and Community. Westsong Publishing. ISBN 978-0965900058. 23 Jegou, F., Scholl, G., Seyrig, A. (2013) That aims to reduce ones dependency upon society. Sustainable Street 2030, CORPUS Toolkit for Collaborative Scenario Building. 24 Kahle, L. R., Gurel-Atay, E. (Eds) (2014). Communicating Sustainability for the Green Economy. New York: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0765636805.CS1 25 Fritsch, A., Gallimore, P. (2007). Healing Appalachia: Sustainable Living Through Appropriate Technology. University Press of Kentucky, p. 2. ISBN 978-0813124315. Unknown retrieval date, revised: 25 July 2009.

A sustainable life is the application of sustainability to lifestyle choic­es and decisions. A full understanding of sustainable living re­quires an understanding of the approaches that need to be adapted to meet the current ecological, social, and economic needs of humanity without compromising these factors for future generations. A sus­tain­able life ­defines the lifestyle of an individual or society trying to reduce their use of the Earth’s natural resources, or the personal resources of individuals, or ­eco­logical and carbon footprints22–23. In this context, sustainable life philosophy closely follows the general principles of sustain­able development24. Sustain­able life can be described as living within the carrying capacity of natural ecosystems, defined by the economic, ecological, cultural and policy factors outlined in the Circles ­of Sustainability. Sustainable design and sustainable development are critical aspects of a sustainable life. ­Sustainable design includes the development of appropriate technol­ ogy that forms the basis of sustainable living practices25. Sustainable devel­opment, in turn, is the use of these technologies in infrastructure and therefore, the widespread use of sustainability in spatial design is inevitable. It should be noted that the transition to alternative technol­ ogies or models will only succeed if the resulting environment becomes an ­attractive alternative to local culture and is adopted, protected, and ­customized for multiple generations.

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T H E D E S I G N A N D T R A N S FO R M AT I O N O F C I T I E S FO R S U STA I N A B L E L I V I N G

If more than half of the world’s population is currently estimated to be living in cities and urban areas, it is clear that these large communities represent both challenges and opportunities for environmentally sensitive developers. Contrary to common belief, urban systems can be more environmentally sustainable than rural or suburban life26–27. Thanks to the close proximity of people and resources in urban areas, considerable energy savings are possible for resources such as trans­ portation, public transit, and food. The urban area with its denser structure increases the efficient transportation of people. Cities also benefit the economy by placing human capital in a relatively small geo­graphical area. Considering that human beings are social crea­ tures, the urban structures that encourage intense social interaction can offer significant contributions to social sustainability. There is not currently complete agreement on the definition of what a sustainable city is or what components should be included. In general, it can be assumed that a city must meet its current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and that it should be a settlement designed with a flexible living area for the current population. The uncertainty within this idea, on the other hand, leads to a wide variety of ways in which cities carry out the process of achieving sustainability. Sustainable cities are settled by people who are committed to minimizing inputs such as energy, water, food, and outputs including waste, heat, air pollution, carbon dioxide, methane, and water pollution. A sustainable city aims to create a lasting lifestyle in the four areas of ecology, economy, politics and culture defined in the Circles of Sustainability. Although this would describe an ideal state, a sustain­ able city should be able to create and maintain a lasting trust with the surrounding countryside and strengthen itself with renewable energy sources first. Theoretically, this balance can be achieved by creating the smallest possible ecological footprint for the city while pro­duc­ing the lowest possible amount of pollution27. Efficient use of land, the composting of organic materials and converting other waste into energy or recycling will ensure that the city’s overall impact on climate change is minimal.

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26 Population Reference Bureau “2018 World Population Data Sheet with Focus on Changing Age Structures”, 24 August 2018, https:// www.prb.org/2018-world-population-datasheet-with-focus-on-changing-age-structures, accessed on 18/04/2019. 27 United Nations (UN) (2017). World Population Prospects: Key Findings & Advance Tables. New York.

A P P R OAC H E S TO E N V I R O N M E N TA L A S S E S S M E N T I N I STA N B U L A N D S U STA I N A B L E C I T I E S A R O U N D T H E W O R L D

Bayraktaroglu, B. (2014). Surdurulebilir Bina Sertifika Sistemlerinin Olcutlerinin Belirlenmesinde Surdurulebilirligin Sosyal Boyutunun Etkisi: Turkiye icin Oneriler, Yildiz Technical University, Master’s Thesis. 29 Cevre Dostu Yesil Binalar Dernegi (CEDBIK), https://cedbik.org/tr/cedbik-cevre-dostu-yesilbinalar-dernegi-1-pg, accessed on 29/07/2019. 30 Turk Yesil Bina Sertifikasi Olusturuldu, http://www.arkitera.com/haber/19221/turk-­ yesil-bina-sertifikasi-olusturuldu, accessed on 29/07/2019. 28

As mentioned before, the environmental assessment of the structures constituting the whole is important when examining the sus­tainability of cities. However, in order for this assessment to be made in a measurable and comparable manner, the establishment of various standards for architecture and interior architecture fields is needed and has led to the emergence of certification systems. Multiple certification systems have been suggested and developed by sustain­a­ bility and green building councils in the member countries of the World Green Buildings Council (WGBC) around the world. These certification systems are generally designed to minimize adverse environ­ mental impacts such as the excessive use of natural resources and creation of environmental pollution, but have also been developed to cover the criteria for a broader scale of evaluation over time. It would be inaccurate to deliberate these certificates as building environmental assessment systems. By starting with buildings, the main aim is to enable manufacturers to develop more sensitive products and to pave the way for a radical change in all sectors to protect the world. Some countries have developed or are currently developing their own certification sys­ tems. Others use existing methods or country-specific adaptations. The first certification system was BREEAM, which was created in 1990 by the British Building Research Establishment (BRE Global). This certification system was followed by the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED, which was introduced in 1998 and is still widely used, as is BREEAM. These certification systems developed in the UK and United States were followed by the DGNB in Germany, GREEN STAR in Australia and CASBEE in Japan28. CEDBIK-House by Environment-­ Friendly Green Buildings Association (CEDBIK) and SEEB-TR by Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Building Application and Research Center (MSFAU-YUAM) have emerged as the architecture and interior architecture environmental assessment certification systems in Turkey.29–30 Istanbul based CEDBIK was founded in 2007 to ensure the construction sector in Turkey develops sustainable methods. CEDBIK ­organizes professional training, panels and conferences in order to raise ­public awareness and encourage the building sector to follow sustain­ able principles. The organization also works to develop and disseminate exemplary projects and working models to local governments, universities and the public/private sectors. CEDBIK has made important ­contributions in Turkey to an increased awareness of energy efficiency and green building issues. In June 2012, the Green Building ­Association

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was granted Full Council Status by the World Green Build­ings Council and is increasingly involved in efforts to build capacity in the green building movement. CEDBIK has assumed the role of active umbrella organization in the study of green building methods, and has also signed a contract with the USGBC to support LEED studies in Turkey. The orga­nization also promotes and organizes training sessions and ­conducts various awareness building activities to increase the ­green building practices of the certification system. CEDBIK is an ­active project ­part­n­­er of BUILD UPON, the largest international building ren­ovation cooperation project supported by Horizon 2020 call funds between 2015–2017, and organized six national workshops and par­tic­i­­­pated in several international project meetings during this time. The project presented the ideas of energy-efficient building renovation strategies to the ­ministries of national central management for the purpose of preparing the ­National ­Renovation Strategies, as well as preparing the Energy ­Efficiency Strat­egy Document and using it in relevant building renovation works. ­CEDBIK’s continuing research and studies in the field of green building have created new housing certificates to be implemented in accordance with the conditions of Turkey’s CEDBIK-House project system. Negotiations with the central and local administrations are also ongoing29. The National Green Building Certification System SEEB-TR, which has been developed with the support and contributions of different dis­ciplines, was established through the coordination of the Istanbul-based Building Application and Research Center (YUAM) within the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (MSFAU). SEEB-TR was first introduced at the Sustainable Energy Efficient Buildings Symposium held on 7–8 January 2014. SEEBER-TR was developed with the support of many university academics and non-governmental organizations, and following a careful examination of the most widely used certification systems. SEEB-TR was created to be the most locally appropriate green building certification system. With the development and dissemination of a National Green Building Certification System, the aim is to increase the energy efficiency in buildings, while the laboratory established within YUAM supports improvements in the energy efficiency of the existing building stock. SEEB-TR has identified five building groups (housing, schools, offices, hospitals, hotels) and three types of construction (new, renovated, existing) for a total of fifteen different certification groups. Each of the thirteen main criteria headings was supported by an optional six load sub-criteria, and the scoring system was dynamically adjustable accord­ing to the criteria. Criteria weights were adjusted in accordance with the scientific committee and sector studies, and a common result was accepted by universities, associations and the construction sector30.

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Logo CEDBIK29

Logo SEEB-TR31

Currently, the most commonly used certificate systems around the globe are BREEAM and LEED. The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) was the world’s first sustainable building evaluation and certification system developed by the UK National Scheme Operator (NSO), BRE Global, which began to be implemented in 199028. For more than two million buildings in over 80 countries, BREEAM has been used in a variety of formats, and is adapted to general, local conditions or developed as country-specific. Its aim is to evaluate the environmental impacts of buildings. BREEAM is the most widely known and used sustainable building evalu­ation and certification system in the world, which has been devel­ oping continuously since its establishment, adapting itself according to the conditions of the day32. BREEAM assessments are carried out by licensed evaluation specialists (BREEAM Assessor) of the Building ­Research Establishment (BRE Global)29. The BREEAM evaluation sys­tem uses various subcategories, and the evaluation process of each category is performed according to the structure being evaluated. These subcategories are:28,32 B R E E A M C O M M U N I T I E S I N T E R N AT I O N A L T EC H N I C A L STA N D A R D :

This category aims to incorporate sustainable design into the central planning of new communities or regeneration projects. BREEAM Communities International is a flexible and straightforward way to measure, document and improve the sustainability of large-scale development plans. Before procurement and the detailed building-level design and construction work begins, it provides a framework for supporting planners, local authorities, developers and investors throughout the primary planning process. The international standard for for BREEAM Communities can be used to assess and document the performance of medium to large scale developments, including new communities and renewal projects. C E EQ UA L A N D B R E E A M I N F R A ST R U C T U R E :

SEEB-TR, https://www.facebook.com/ seebtr/, accessed on 29/07/2019. 32 Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM), www.breeam.com, accessed on 10/04/2019. 31

In order to achieve better results regarding the sustainability of infrastructure, this category intends to encourage a new ­approach to infrastructure planning. It aims to combine CEEQUAL’s (Civil ­En­gi­neering Environmental Quality Assessment) legacy and follow-up ­record with BREEAM’s new approach.

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B R E E A M N E W C O N ST R U C T I O N T EC H N I C A L STA N D A R D S :

This category can be used to assess the design, construction, use and future insulation of new buildings, including the local, natural or human-made environment surrounding the building. The category can be used to evaluate most modern types of buildings, including new housing and extensions to existing buildings. For each building type, a simple frame is used that can be adapted depending on the type and location of the building. BREEAM IN USE:

This category offers an online international environmental assess­ment methodology for independent third-party assessment and certification of a building’s operating performance. This approach allows property investors, owners, managers, and occupants to make improvements in sustainability by examining a building’s operational efficiency, including how to effectively manage the activities of their buildings. The standard is used to evaluate all existing building types except houses according to nine environmental categories including energy, water, transportation, management, waste, pollution, health and well-being, land use, ecology and materials. R E F U R B I S H M E N T A N D F I T- O U T T EC H N I C A L STA N D A R D :

The BREEAM Refurbishment and Implementation Technical Standard allows real estate investors, developers and building owners to evaluate and mitigate environmental impacts during the design and completion of a renewal or implementation project. During the assessment and certification process, the exterior of the building reflects the performance of the building after improvements to the exterior shell, structure, primary services, local services or the interior design of the building. This category can be used to assess the refurbishment and appropriateness of most types and uses of existing buildings, including houses. The category includes specific assessment criteria for culturally-sensitive buildings that take into account the constraints of such projects. Alongside BREEAM, the world’s most recognized and applied sustainability evaluation and certification program, there is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and first implemented in 2000. The LEED system is continuously updated and new versions are devel­oped to reflect evolving conditions and needs. The ­evaluation

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s­ ystem is divided into eight main categories, and those ­titles other than Region­al Development and Housing cover other types of build­ings28. Within these main categories there are also various subcate­gories which dis­cuss the assessment process of the category selected by the structure to be evaluated. These subcategories are33: • BD+C Building Design and Construction: This category assesses new construction or significant renovations of core-shells, schools, retail space, accommodation space, data centers, warehouses, distri­ bution centers and health buildings. • ID+C Interior Design and Construction: This category assesses­ ­interior design projects with functions such as commercial, retail, and accommodation. • O+M Building Operations and Maintenance: This category targets existing retail and accommodation space, schools, data centers, warehouses, distribution centers and sustainable buildings that are under­going improvement work. • ND Neighborhood Development: The assessment for this category focuses on all stages of a redevelopment project from conceptual planning to construction, including new land development projects or residential, non-residential and mixed use. • House Design and Construction: This category evaluates single-family homes, low-rise multi-family or middle-story multi-family buildings. Although these certification systems contain many common points and are continually being influenced by each other, there are also points where the methods differ from each other. For example, about 3/4 of the content of BREEAM and LEED systems is similar. Although these two systems contain similar and sometimes identical categories, there are differences in terms of calculation methods. While LEED concludes by comparing a building to a certain standard, BREEAM makes a comparison-based assessment through annual consumption per capita. Similarly, due to local approaches there are cases where various issues are given more or less weight than other certification systems. If one compares LEED with BREEAM, it is worth noting that some issues can be addressed with more topics in comparison to the other system.

US Green Building Council (USGBC), ­ eadership in Energy and Environmental Design L (LEED), www.usgbc.org/leed, accessed on 10/04/2019.

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E X A M P L E S O F R EC E N T S U STA I N A B L E P R O J EC TS I N I STA N B U L

Designed by Istanbul based Erginoglu & Calislar Architects in 2016 for the Ozyegin University Cekmekoy Campus in Istanbul, “E-S LAB” was developed in light of new learning methods including collab­ orative, active, integrated and multi-disciplinary learning while a sustain­able design approach was taken into consideration. One of the determining factors of the main form of the building is the ventilation strategy. The “E-S LAB” design is dominated by conical glass wells that draw hot air up during the day. The optimized form of these cones uses the wind on the chimney to create negative pressure on the top of the cones, which creates air movement in the interior areas of the bottom of the cone. At night, the wind cones play an opposite role and become an inlet that pulls the cold night air down into the building to cool it34. The form of the building also serves as a funnel to collect rain and snow water and direct them to the pools on the ground floor. The collected water is then reused in the gray water system or mechanical ­cooling system. The area covered by the shade and the collection of excess water is the method of using rainwater efficiently for the land where the building is located. In addition, the reflective surfaces of the shade prevent a heat island and produce a cooling effect. Thanks to the high-performance building envelope and integrated solar shades, low energy emitting glass types are preferred. Controllable windows provide fresh air intake, cooling requirements and connection to the courtyard in order to make the most of natural lighting. Adaptable domestic plantings provide habitat for bees, insects and birds, and reduce rainwater wastage. Thanks to usage-based sensors, control lamps with sensors, which are adjusted according to the level of the outdoor lights, and integrated ­lighting in the laboratory benches are preferred34. Today, changing rules and methods, and decreasing energy sources are increasing the pressure on designers with the slogan of minimum ­energy-maximum efficiency in the product created. Because of this, energy savings in structures are more important than ever. When a flexible space approach is combined with effective energy usage, the efficiency that can be obtained from that space increases even further. Costs will increase when traditional thinking is applied, which requires a different space for each function. Successful examples from around the world were comprehensively examined for the “E-S LAB” program. These demonstrated that the dynamic function of a space increases by moving interior dividers, creating flexible workstations in a variety of locations, and bringing users together in various ways and providing

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E-S LAB34

34 Ozyegin University Cekmekoy Campus (2016). “E-S LAB Concept Book”. Erginoglu & Calislar Architects.

Workspace Meeting Area Social Area Fabrication Area Rentable Area Courtyard

961 m2 190 m2 874 m2 300 m2 1169 m2 549 m2

E-S LAB34

easy access to technology and networks. Some examples even provide for basic needs such as sleeping, eating and washing. Flexibility at the “E-S LAB” is provided with acoustic curtains. Since the meeting space can quickly transform into a workplace layout, these work areas can be rented to entrepreneurs in the sector as well. The flexibility in its social spaces makes the “E-S LAB” another center of attraction on the campus34. Another recent project in Istanbul is the LEED certified “HEP Istanbul”, located in Esenyurt, Istanbul, and established by Tekfen Real Estate with its emphasis on sustainability in design and construction. This project was ranked first in the Sustainable Building-Housing ­category of the Best Sustainable Applications Competition held within the scope of the 4th International Sustainable Buildings Symposium in the USA in 2019. The competition jury members were composed of

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Beyazit Library41

representatives of academic institutions from around the world, as well as representatives of NGOs and professional institutions. The jury members evaluated the projects by examining their place in city visions, comparing them with other global projects, and assessing their sustainability, promotion of effective and efficient work, environmental sensitivity, applicability, design, added value for the city and ­society, ­implementation patterns, partnership stakeholder structure and ­creation of new approaches35, 36. Designed according to the principle of environmental sustain­­­­a­bility, “HEP Istanbul” includes: water and energy saving systems, good indoor air quality, natural lighting, temperature and humidity control and waste management. “HEP Istanbul” received the Silver certification in the “LEED New Construction” category for eleven housing blocks, and the Gold certification in the “LEED for Homes” category for fourteen row

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35 Anadolu Ajansi (AA) “HEP Istanbul ‘En Iyi SurdurulebilirKonut’ projesi secildi”, 26 June 2019, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/sirkethaberleri/ gayrimenkul/hep-istanbul-en-iyi-­surdurulebilirkonut-projesi-secildi/651958, accessed on 22/07/2019. 36 HEP Istanbul, https://hepistanbul.com.tr, accessed on 22/07/2019.

Beyazit Library41

37 Wallpaper “Tabanlioglu Architects reveal works at the Beyazit Public Library in Istanbul”, 11 April 2016, http://www.wallpaper.com/ architecture/tabanlioglu-architects-­revealbeyazit-library-renovations-istanbul, accessed on 22/07/2019. 38 Wired “Settle Into 10 of the Most Beautiful Libraries on Earth”, 09 June 2016, https://www.wired.com/2016/09/settle-­10beautiful-libraries-earth, accessed on 22/07/2019.

blocks35, 36, and was the first project to receive a ­sustainability certificate of this kind. The restoration of the Beyazit State Library and Hand-Written Manuscripts Library by ­Tabanlioglu Architecture, based in Istanbul, revived the spirit of the space with modern infrastructure which compliments the historical texture, and increased the functionality of the structure and library services. An attitude of minimal intervention was maintained, especially during the restoration, where the additions to function and protection were added to the structure as ­today’s layer. Beyazit State Library II was built by Sultan ­ entury and completed in 1506. This building was orig­ Beyazit in the 16th c inally part of the oldest imperial mosque in the city and was repurposed through the ­transfor­mation of part of the Beyazit Mosque Complex in 1884. It then became the first library to be given the name of the Kütüphane-i ­Umumi-i Osmani. As a compilation library the building contains nearly a million documents, about half of which are books and 11,120 of which are manuscripts, and provides the technological infrastructure for the ­storage and display of rare books and manuscripts37, 38. When elements were added with new applications, the historic walls and floors were not damaged. Meanwhile the space inside the main shell, updated with a sharp but harmonious contrast of materials and details, strengthens the authentic aura of the library from the court­yard to the reading rooms. As part of the lighting design by ­Studio Dinnebier, the soft lighting at the edges of the raised floor, which follows the wall line and obscures mechanical and electrical systems, adds another dynamic to all of the spaces. In addition to the geometry in harmony with its environment, this creative lighting makes the spatial and historical qualities of the complex more emphasized and visible37, 38. One of the primary objectives of this project, which is in one of Istanbul’s most active urban ­spaces—Beyazit Square, (located in a district connected to the Divanyolu spine of the historic ­penin­sula), is to ensure that the outdoor space is once again used as a city square. The Küllük Kahvesi, long a venue for intellectual gatherings, has now been revived as an urban meeting place. The ­areas and structures that form the boundaries of the square have been included in this process of ­urban rehabilitation, and provide links to science, culture and ­literature, as well as the library, Sahaflar Book ­Bazaar and main campus of Istanbul University37, 38. In today’s world where the social, eco­nomic and environmental responsibilities of cities are ­increasing, the Beyazit Library,

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Beyazit Library41

which brings ­together literate people of all ages and social layers, is in demand. This is not only because of its ­structure, but also how the building preserves valuable information and town resource books. This project, ­which embraces the future while respecting knowledge, history and the environment, is a good ­example of collective consciousness and urban sustain­ability, especially in the social dimension which was ­recog­nized with various international awards39, 40. As can be seen from these exemplary projects in Istanbul, the environmental, social and eco­nomic dimensions of sus­tainability can be taken into ­account separately or as a whole. With the differing requirements and properties of individual projects, the priority and weight of each dimension of sustain­ability will vary.

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EUmiesaward 17 Winner—Beyazit State Library Renovation, https://miesarch.com/ work/3513, accessed on 22/07/2019. 40 World Architecture Festival 2016, New and Old Category Winner Beyazit State Library, https://www.worldarchitecturefestival. com/2016-category-winners, accessed on 22/07/2019. 41 Tabalioglu Architects, https://www.tabanlioglu.com, accessed on 22/07/2019. 39

S U B C AT EG O R I E S O F E N V I R O N M E N TA L A S S E S S M E N T F R O M T H E P E R S P EC T I V E O F T H E I N T E R I O R A R C H I T EC T U R E F I E L D

When one considers the most widely used environmental certification systems such as BREEAM and LEED, or other local and international certification systems from the field of interior architecture, it can be seen that these evaluations contain small differences in detail but are mostly concentrated under official titles. When designing, renovating or adapting interior spaces, professional designers, owners and users who take the sustainability criteria of these standards into consideration will make a significant contribution to the sustainable development of cities and increase their efficiency. In the BREEAM and LEED environmental assessment certification systems, it is remarkable that the criteria and contents which are important for interior architecture are concentrated under the categories of energy, materials, water, and health. The categories listed in the BREEAM environmental assessment certification system, which can be associated with the interior architecture field, are divided into the following subcategories:

E N E R GY

WAT E R

Energy efficiency Energy monitoring Energy efficient cold storage Energy efficient equipment Drying space

Water consumption Water monitoring Water leakage research and prevention Water efficient equipment

M AT E R I A L

HEALTH AND CONTENTMENT

Lifelong effects Responsible material resources Insulation Design for durability

Visual comfort Indoor air quality Thermal comfort Acoustic performance Secure access Risks Special area42

42 Ranasinghe, W.C., Hemakumara, G.P.T.S. (2018). “Spatial modelling of the householders’ perception and assessment of the potentiality to improve the urban green coverage in residential areas: A case study from Issadeen Town Matara, Sri Lanka”, Ruhuna Journal of Science, Vol. 9(1).

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The categories in the LEED environmental assessment certification system, which can be associated with the interior architecture field, are divided into the following subcategories:

E N E R GY A N D AT M O S P H E R E

WAT E R E F F I C I E N C Y

Optimizing energy efficiency Building-level energy metering Advanced energy meter

Reducing indoor water use Building level water metering Water meter

M AT E R I A L A N D R E S O U R C E S

I N D O O R E N V I R O N M E N TA L Q UA L I T Y

Storage and recycling Construction and demolition waste management planning Reducing the impact of a building during its life span Environmental product declarations Raw material sources Material contents Construction and demolition waste management

Minimum indoor air quality efficiency Environmental tobacco smoke control Improved indoor air quality strategies Low emissive material Construction indoor air quality management plan Indoor air quality assessment Thermal comfort Interior lighting Daylight Qualified images28

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Tuglu Karsli, U. (2013). “Integrating sustainability in interior design studio”, 4th International Conference on New Horizons in Education. Procedia—Social Behavioral Sciences, 106, 1532–1539. 44 Cole, R. (1996). Guide de l’architecture pour la conception d’immeubles de bureaux en function du development durable. Canada: Travaux Publics et Services Gouvernementaux. 45 Morhayim, L. (2003). Evaluation of ecologic architectural design concept within the example of tall buildings in Istanbul. Istanbul: Yildiz Technical University, Master’s Thesis. 43

Although these contents differ in detail, they have in essence similar goals towards establishing a sustainable living space in the organization of internal space and related interventions. For example, looking at the energy subcategories of both certification systems, one realizes that the common aim is to select resources, monitor and use passive measures to ensure the efficient use of energy and resources. Similarly, when the subcategories related to water use are compared, it is understood that the main objective is to increase efficiency by reduc­ing unnecessary usage and to monitor water use. Moreover, it is clear that in both certification systems the content related to the use of ­materials and resources not only deals with the construction life process, but the entire lifespan of these materials, and the aim is to ­choose materials and resources that can be reused as much as possible. If we remember that the main objective of the evaluation criteria in these certification subcategories and sub-contents is to live in a sus­ tainable environment by recognizing the environmental impacts of the interior life cycle and by significantly reducing or eliminating its adverse effects on the environment, it is evident that taking these criteria into consideration not only for certification purposes, but in all professional and amateur interior design and renovation, will make a significant contribution towards true sustainability for both users and cities. From this point of view, when we look at the subcategories of energy, materials, water, and health, it would be useful to evaluate the most critical aspects for sustainability in an interior design organization. Regarding the energy subcategory, the goal is to save energy by increasing energy efficiency and giving priority to renewable energy sources first43. For this purpose, in the lighting of interior designs it will be useful to create designs containing passive measures such as the light shelf and light color selections that deliver the best indoor light from the openings. It will also be important to choose equipment that is energy saving, efficient during use, long lasting and that creates as little harmful waste as possible when disposed of43, 44. The inclusion of natural light in a direct way, especially in hot climates and during the summer, may cause overheating, and the incorporation of passive solar controllers into the design will minimize energy losses for cooling. The installation of proper heat insulation will increase the initial investment cost, but will provide significant reductions in heating-cooling expenses during the life cycle of the building. Adjustable windows, air vents and interior installations which allow adequate natural ventilation will also reduce the cooling demands and energy costs43, 45. Ensuring that the energy used in all these processes is traceable will also make a significant contribution towards sustainability.

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In reference to the subcategory of material, a flexible design, waste reduction, environmentally friendly materials, and equipment selection can create a significant contribution towards the conservation of materials43. Of course, using interior materials with the least amount of material possible, and creating interior space with the least use of material will create the most beneficial solution for the environment. When choosing furniture, it is important to choose pieces that are reusable, flexible, modular, demountable, expandable, long-­lasting, durable and low-maintenance, since these choices will eliminate ­unnecessary material consumption, save energy and significantly ­reduce the amount of waste by allowing interior architectural designs that do not require new furniture during transformations in the structure’s life-cycle43, 46, 47. The use of environmentally friendly materials means that, if possible, the materials come from local, sustainable sources and can be monitored through their documentation. If possible, materials that minimize waste production by means of recycling or ­up-cycling methods are preferred48. Even though most of the world’s surface is covered with water, clean water resources equal only a fraction of this volume. Therefore, the proper management of water resources is a key aspect in terms of achieving sustainability, and the subcategories related to efficient water use for interior architectural designs have great significance. ­Interior water protection measures include the re-use of rainwater or grey ­water in various areas of the building through filtering and the selection of water saving equipment such as a pressurized reservoir, waterless urinals and photocell taps43, 44. Of course the subcategory of health is the last category, and is indispensable for the sustainability of living areas. This subcategory not only aims to improve indoor air quality and the use of non-hazardous materials, but also attempts to enhance contentment through thermal, visual and acoustic comfort43. Adjustable windows that can be controlled by users will also contribute to the provision of fresh air and regulate thermal comfort. The use of sensors to maintain the interior environment at 21°C and 50% relative humidity will also reduce energy consumption and create proper conditions for comfort43. The incorporation of solar control elements will minimize unwanted glare while maximizing the benefits of natural light. The design of flexible artificial lighting elements that permits changes to orientation and level will increase energy efficiency while contributing positively to visual comfort. To ensure acoustic comfort, the use of sound absorbent materials to control unwanted noise between interior and exterior spaces and from instal­ lation elements, as well as correct sound insulation to control the

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46 Lehman Smith, D. (2003). Building type basics for Office buildings, interior architecture. New York: John Wiley&Sons. 47 Elias Ozkan, S. T. (1994). “Dismantling and demolition of buildings”. TMMOB Chamber of Architects, Ankara Branch Bulletin, 12, 38–41. 48 Hayles, C. S. (2015). “Environmentally sustainable interior design: A snapshot of current supply of demand for green, sustainable or Fair-Trade products for interior design practice”. International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 4, 100–108.

transmission of unwanted noise in interior spaces will make a positive contribution to acoustic comfort. When selecting materials for interior design, it is crucial to avoid contaminants such as zinc, lead, formalde­ hyde, glass fibers, mineral fibers and asbestos fibers that may ad­versely affect interior air quality or otherwise harm the health of users43, 49. When we examine the contents of all these sustainability sub-­ categories, it is perceived that their criteria are not only the requirements of the interior design experts in the design and application process, but also the conditions that must be provided by the end users, if necessary, through minor interventions. Considering the driving forces of the emergence of environmental assessment certification systems, it is better to comprehend that the aim is not to obtain a certificate for a building, but rather to design and implement the building through sustainable and ecological processes to become the right actor in a sustainable city. As mentioned at the beginning of the section, if the majority of indoor spaces that have been changed frequently during the life cycles of buildings around the world are still not organized by professional interior architects, but instead by owners or users, we will not achieve sustainability. Sustainable cities cannot exist without the knowledge and implementation of sustainability principles by all users of interior space. Therefore, it is essential for professionals and academics to take responsibility for not only designing sustainable interiors, but making sustainability principles and methods known and understandable to all end users.

49 Ersoy, H. (1994). “Structural biology, human beings, structure and environment”. Yapi, 146, 56–60.

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The Potential of Alternative Architecture for an Ecologically Driven and Socially Engaged Istanbul 78

Ayşen Ciravoğlu

INTRODUCTION

After housing civilizations for more than 8,000 years, Istanbul has now spread across 5,461 km2 of land, and ended up with 16 million inhabitants. Istanbul is currently the world’s 4th most populated city, after Shanghai, Beijing and Karachi. In addition to achieving its current densely populated urban form, over the years the city has expanded up to the limits of its natural thresholds. This article explores the potential opportunities and challenges of both ecological and social sustainability in this densely populated megapolis, as well as how architecture can play a role in achieving these goals. The first part of this article looks at recent facts about the climate crisis. It then explores some key concepts of human-nature relationships as a foundation for this research. Afterwards, it briefly talks about current social and environmental challenges which Istanbul is expected to face in the near future, due to the environmental crisis. In the following section, this article focuses on social and environmental aspects of the construct/demolish/dispose act. In conclusion, opportunities which may be open to new architectural thinking are explored, while new examples and ideas are highlighted at the same time.

R EC E N T FAC TS A B O U T T H E C L I M AT E C R I S I S

Worldwide protests for the sake of the planet. https://www.pexels.com/photo/women-holdinga-planet-over-profit-sign-2559749/

Recent data about the climate crisis can be found in the comprehensive research of Prof. Jem Bendell, under the title Deep ­Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy, which was pub­ lished as an occasional paper in 2018, after being initially rejected by a peer-reviewed scientific journal. In his article, in addition to presenting the most recent data about climate change and its worldwide effects, Bendell claims that we are very close to an ecologically induced social collapse. As this is an argument which needs to be taken seriously, I will first quote parts of Bendell’s research which bring together a lot of scientific evidence from various institutes and scientists, in order to ­clarify the issue of where we currently stand. According to the research conducted by Bendell (2018), the simple evidence of a global ambient temperature rise is indisputable. Seventeen of the 18 warmest years ever recorded during the last 136

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years have all occurred since 2001, and average global temperatures have in­creased by 0.9°C since 1880 (NASA/GISS, 2018 as cited in Bendel, 2018). However, the most shocking warming has taken place in the Arctic, where the 2016 land surface temperature was 2°C above the 1981–2010 average, breaking the previous records of 2007, 2011 and 2015 by 0.8°C, and therefore representing a 3.5°C increase since recording began in 1900 (Aaron-Morrison et al., 2017 as cited in Bendel, 2018). The warming of the Arctic has begun to desta­bilize winds in the higher atmosphere, specifically the jet stream and the north­ ern polar vortex, leading to extreme movements of warmer air north into the ­Arctic, and colder air to the south. At one point in ­early 2018, temperature record­ ings from the Arctic were 20°C above the average for that date (Watts, 2018, as cited in Bendel, 2018). The warming Arctic has led to a dramatic loss in sea ice, the average ­September extent of which has been decreasing at a rate of 13.2 % per decade since 1980, so that over twothirds of the ice cover has now disappeared (NSIDC/NASA, 2018, as cited in Bendel, 2018). In 2017 sea ice volume was at the lowest it has ever been, continuing a consis­tent downward trend (Kahn, 2017, as cited in Bendel, 2018). Given a reduction in the reflection of the sun’s rays from the surface of white ice, an ice-free ­Arctic is predicted to increase warming globally by a substantial amount. Peter Wadhams ­believes an ice-free Arctic will occur one ­summer in the next few years, and that it will likely increase by 50 % the warming caused by the CO2 produced by human activity (Wadhams, 2016, as cited in Bendel, 2018). In addition, the sea level is rising due to non-linear increases in the melting of land-based ice. About half of the world’s coral reefs have died during the last 30 years due to a plethora of reasons, although higher water temper­ atures and acidification due to higher CO2 concentrations in ocean water are key (Phys.org, 2018, as cited in Bendel, 2018). During the ten years prior to 2016, the Atlantic Ocean soaked up 50 % more carbon dioxide than it had the previous decade, measurably speeding up the acidification of the ocean (Woosley et al., 2016, as cited in Bendel, 2018). ­Acidification degrades the base of the marine food web, thereby reducing the ability of fish populations to reproduce themselves across the globe (Britten et al., 2015 as cited in Bendel, 2018). ­Meanwhile, warming oceans are already reducing the population size of some

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Screenshot of a frame of a Climate spiral Data visualization of Earth’s Arctic sea ice volume from 1979 to 2017. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:201705_Climate_spiral_-_Arctic_ sea_ice_volume_-_screenshot_circa_ May_2017_-_Ed_Hawkins.png#/media/ File:201705_Climate_spiral_-_Arctic_sea_ ice_volume_-_screenshot_circa_May_2017_-_ Ed_Hawkins.png

fish species (Aaron-­Morrison et al., 2017, as cited in Bendel, 2018). Compounding these threats to human nutrition, in some regions we are ­witnessing an exponential rise in the spread of mosquito and tick-­borne viruses as ­temperatures become more conducive to them (ECJCR, 2018, as cited in Bendel, 2018). The current models suggest an increase in storm number and strength (Herring et al., 2018, as cited in Bendel, 2018). They also predict a decline in standard agriculture, includ­ ing the compromis­ing of the mass production of grains in the northern hemisphere, as well as ­intermittent disruption to rice production in the tropics (Bendel, 2018). According to Bendel (2018), due to the recent data presented above, environmental scientists are now describing our current era as the sixth mass extinction event in the history of planet Earth, with this one caused by us. Bendell (2018) claims that the evidence before us indi­cates that we are in for disruptive and uncontrollable levels of cli­mate change, which will bring starvation, destruction, migration, disease and war. He therefore underlines the argument that we need to expand our work on “sustainability” in order to consider how communities, countries and humanity can adapt to the coming crisis. His argument, namely deep adaptation, is based on the opinion that we seem not to be able to prevent the unfolding ecological crisis, but that we have to be prepared for and furthermore be able to prevent the following social consequences. Nevertheless, it is disturbing to hear climate change researchers say that we are now in a situation where we cannot return to the stable past. The topic of how we, as designers, will be able to deal with the consequences is an important challenge that we have to take into account. I will now leave this discussion here, to follow up in the forthcoming sections. But first, let us recall the foundations of the architectural discipline which have paved the way for the current state of climate collapse.

FO U N D AT I O N S : N AT U R E-A R C H I T EC T U R E R E L AT I O N S

It is a well-known fact that most of us have a very deep fear of nature. Heidegger (1971) states that our notion of “room” derives from the ancient Germanic word rum, meaning a clearing in the forest, and indeed civilization and the culture of cities can in a sense be regarded as the conquest of the primeval forest. Building upon this fact we can state that all architecture, in a sense, is a conquest of the natural world by humanity. The simplest stone wall, the crudest wooden fence dis­ turbs what we conventionally call the balance of nature. Now for the

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first time we have to face the fact that the act of building walls will soon change the planet to such an extent that human life may be threatened (Davey, 1998). In a similar way, Slessor (2002) also thinks that the act of building has largely been seen as a way to live apart from the environment and dominate nature. Simpson (1997) also believes that architecture has always been concerned with the definition of space, inside and outside, while excluding and reducing natural fluctuations in an ever more convenient way, so that ultimately the occupant can be blissfully unaware of the surrounding environment. This seamless, uninterrupted, flowing architecture of convenience has not only alienated humanity from nature, it has also articulated the alienation of one social group from another. This insulation from the process of nature, as well as the social and environmental consequences of our lifestyle, is at the very core of unsustainability. And yet this insulation is precisely what most architecture is about. An example of the nature-human relationship through architecture can be provided by an interview with Shiguri Ban (1997). Ban, when discussing the Farnsworth House of Mies van der Rohe, ­states that the house is perfectly transparent; however, the transparency is like a masonry wall which is covered with fixed glass. It is visually transparent, but physically one cannot pass through it. This distinction between human beings and nature is the basis of the architectural problems which we are currently faced with. What is ironic is that this argument can be seen to be more valid in the recent conception of ecological architecture, in terms of energy-oriented ecological designs which control; engineering indoor areas therefore seems to be a top priority which leads to more limited access to the outdoors, which is thought to be compensated by transparent facades. In his book entitled Biophilia, Edward O. Wilson (1984, as cited in Jarzombek, 2003) talks about the closeness which people feel to nature through genetic roots. The concept of biophilia is that humans try to establish bonds with other species in their subconsciousness. Accord­ing to Stairs, what Wilson (as cited in Stairs, 1997) reminds us is that the brain evolved in a biocentric world, not a machine regulated world. The biophilia hypothesis suggests that when human beings ­remove themselves from the natural environment, the biophilic learn­ ing rules are not replaced by modern versions equally well-adapted to artifacts. In other words, the fear of snakes and high places has yet to be superceded by the fear of motor vehicles and firearms (Stairs, 1997). There­fore, we have to rethink architecture’s role in terms of enriching biophilia. How can architecture reverse the tradition of separating humans from nature, and therefore the biophilic processes? Can the new conceptions of the term ecology lead to a different way of thinking?

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Farnswoth house, Mies van der Rohe Photo by Victor Grigas—Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index. php?curid=42288798

There is no real consensus on whether ecology is a science or a philosophy, even though the term “ecology” was coined in the mid-­­ 19th century by Ernst Haechel in order to refer to a new sub-branch of biology concerned with the relationship between living organisms and their surroundings. For him it had social and political implications as well. In the 20th century ecological science can be roughly divided into two main phases. During the period up to about 1960, it was based on the idea of homeostasis and ecological balance. The concept of the eco­ system was developed by Tansley, Odum and others. This concept has been de­scribed as the “ecology of the machine age”, and is still based largely on the mechanistic beliefs of 19th century science. By contrast, the new ecology which developed from the 1970s onwards rejected the idea of nature as a balanced system, and instead emphasized the disequilib­rium of natural systems. Linked as it was with chaos and complexity theory, it revolutionized the concept of nature, which was now seen to consist of unpredictable, dynamic, evolving and self-adaptive systems (Madge, 1997). Taking the peculiarities of nature into account, ­Kurokawa (1998) promotes and pursues the idea of using principles of life as the basis for key concepts of architectural design. Concepts such as metabolism, ecology, metabolic cycles, recycling, mutation, metamorphosis, information, intermediate space, diversity, ambiva­lence, ambiguity and symbiosis were all selected for their strategic value. These are the most important principles of living organisms. According to the architect, if the value of life lies in diversity, so the shift towards infor­ mation as the paradigm leads to a diversification of values. Accord­ing to Kurokawa (1998), today’s global concern for the environment and ecology, as well as the coexistence of human beings with nature, learn­ing from the wisdom of nature, and the symbiosis of nature and ­scientific technology of reason with feeling, are all manifestations of a shift in values accompanying the transition to an Age of Life principle. In Prometheus of the Everyday, Ezio Manzini (1995, as cited in Stairs, 1997) invokes Bateson’s idea of an ecology of the artificial in order to emphasize the difference between nature’s nonpurposive evolution, and culture’s purposive change. In a later essay Manzini (1995, as cited in Stairs, 1997) states the following: “Faced with the evidence of the interconnectedness of the environmental, economic and socio-­ cultural crises, it becomes increasingly clear that the scenario of the ‘re-design of what exists’ is not sufficient for the discovery of true solutions.” This idea is important, since today we generally find architectural practices which simply rename what has already been done, calling it ecological, green or sustainable. According to Stairs (1997), and similar to the Inuit ideology which Papanek refers to in his work, the future role

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of design will be to create culture as a sustainable part of the natural world. We need to rediscover Mumford’s biotechnic, or life-centered technology, and apply it to design thinking. And we must never equate entropic or closed models with creatures for whom evolution is the only acceptable model. The development of monolithic, hierarchical technologies, where virtuality is the ideal goal, should be recognized as inimical to our humanity.

N AT U R E- H U M A N R E L AT I O N S A N D A R C H I T EC T U R E I N I STA N B U L

Building upon the ideas presented in the first two chapters of this article, it is now necessary to decide where Istanbul stands in ­relation to the aforementioned theories. Unlike other major cities around the globe, Istanbul has always been a world city. In fact, Istanbul was an imperial capital for more than fifteen hundred years, and for most of its imperial history, its location made it the largest permanent marketplace between India and Western Europe (Keyder, 1999). As Christian Norberg Schulz has stated, the great cities of the past were located on natural communication routes such as rivers, at points which offered both physical protection and a characteristic identity (genius loci). In a few cases, both of these demands were satisfied. In Istanbul, paths from the east, west, north and south meet at a point of incomparable beauty. Istanbul has always been an ideal site for the encounter of different cultures, and according to the most recent archeological excavations, it has a known history which extends back 8,500 years. Due to its resources and unique geography, Istanbul has always been a desirable place to live. This fact has ­obvious­ly led to an increase in population, which has in turn made it difficult to control issues such as access to clean water, the construction of illegal housing, deforestation and transportation demands. For this reason, Istanbul has always been subject to social and environmental problems. In Istanbul we are currently witnessing growth and urban sprawl in every possible direction, to a previously unseen extent. This type of situation eventually leads to social segregation. As a result, the city is no longer a public realm which is shared by all of its citizens, but rather becomes a cluster of settlements divided by social/cultural groups who cannot come together. As a metropolis, Istanbul sustains its growth through a constant increase in population, resulting from migration to the city. Within this new order, where urban development policies are not designed for “public interests”, and urban development strategies are created according to the

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Enclosing and privatization of nature: resort with swimming pools facing the sea Photo by Vincent Riva, https://www.pexels.com/ photo/resort-with-swimming-pools-facingthe-sea-2333913/

Privatization of nature, Tangerang Indonesia Photo by Tom Fisk, https://www.pexels.com/ photo/minecraft-game-application-2283489/

speculative demands of a free market economy, urban space becomes fragmented and “privatized”. As a result, the city is no longer a public realm shared by all its citizens, but is rather a sum of divided private spaces which are only accessed by an elite group. In this way the public sphere of the city also dissolves and disappears (Bilsel, 2009). Considering the current problems facing the city, interpreting how climate change will affect Istanbul is a difficult task, as we are aware that the environmental changes we are facing are all inter­twined and difficult to predict. However, it is obvious that Istanbul, with its dense settlement, is not resilient in the face of natural disasters. We see evidence of this with every heavy rainfall and storm: Istanbul currently experiences flooding from every severe rainfall. In addition we should also point out that the city is vulnerable to earthquakes. The North ­Anatolian fault is located very close to the city, and the last time the Istanbul area experienced a major earthquake was in 1766. Experts therefore claim that a large earthquake will happen very soon. On the other hand, migration has always been an issue in Istanbul. As it is a city which offers job opportunities, Istanbul has always been subject to migration and an increase in population. These days however, ­Turkey and therefore Istanbul have to deal with migration due to a war in a neigh­ boring country. These are the risks which the city is currently fac­ing. However, with its long ­coastline Istanbul will be one of the major cities ­affected by a rise in sea level in the near future. In ­addition, due to the increasing needs of the high number of inhabitants, as well as a decrease in suitable arable land as a result of climate change, access to ­clean water and food will also be problems in the future. Due to the limits of this article, it is not possible to provide an extensive description of the ­current state of Istanbul from a social and ­environmental ­perspective, and predict what will happen once the climate crisis has reached its state of social collapse. Therefore, in this article I do not wish to describe all of the social and environmental ­problems which the city is facing due to climate change; but rather build­ing upon the relationship of humanity and nature through architecture, I would like to focus on the problematic act of construct/­demolish/dispose, which I believe is currently the most important issue in terms of environmental and social consequences.

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S O C I A L A N D E N V I R O N M E N TA L A S P EC TS O F “ C O N ST R U C T/ DEMOLISH/DISPOSE”

Architecture has always been an important factor in the material economy. Architectural practice embodies the harvest or extraction, manufacturing, transportation and disposal of materials. If this process takes place in a linear economy, it is not hard to predict the ­harmful effects on the environment. This process generally results in the harvest or extraction of new materials, as well as huge amounts of ­waste. However, when this process takes place in a circular economy, the harm­ful effects on the physical environment diminish through the processes of recycling, upcycling and downcycling. In regards to architectural practice, the choice of system is unfortunately often not the architect’s decision alone, but is rather part of obsolete planning which only aims to sell new products in the name of economic development. Despite the fact that for centuries buildings were constructed using the components of previous buildings, which had either been demolished by natural causes or due to the desires of society, today we are living in an era quite the opposite. In the past, new buildings were at least situated on the foundations of previous buildings. In recent ­times however, even wars and natural disasters are viewed as a means to renew the existing building stock, and increase the value of land and buildings. Kırbaş Akyürek (2019) therefore asks why buildings are often demolished on a massive scale as a result of sweeping decisions which are made on an urban scale, while the individual physical aging times of the buildings vary. Buildings can become physically obsolete in terms of their structural features and functions, and typologies may change over time. However, architecture is stubborn about its existence. Structures cannot be thrown away, cannot be taken out of sight, and cannot be ­easily removed from their context. But planned obsolescence can produce ideological, political, cultural and economic reasons to break this resistance of structures (Kırbaş Akyürek, 2019). According to Kendir Beraha (2019), concrete structures which are believed to be out of date for various reasons are rapidly transform­ ing into excavation waste, especially in countries where large-scale urban transformation processes are taking place. In addition to the subject of construction, this type of transformation brings up the issue of demolition, as well as the dilemma of what to do with post-­demolition materials which are serious ecological factors. The excavation waste ­which is extending the coastline with its endless filling areas in coastal cities is changing the geography by creating modern tumuli in the inner regions (Kendir Beraha, 2019).

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Construct/demolish/dispose Photo by Francesco Paggiaro, https://www.pexels.com/ @paggiarofrancesco

Demolished AKM building before its lifetime ends

Urban agriculture in Istanbul, Kuzguncuk Bostanı Photo by John Lubbock, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ index.php?curid=58444549

According to Sert (2019), the modern city of Istanbul is the prod­uct of a layer of “excavation-filling”, which is a combination of ­stitched, layered and tangled traces in the landscape throughout ­history. However, especially due to the socio-ecological crisis triggered by the earthquake threat following the 1999 Marmara ­Earthquake, Law no. 6306 on the transformation of areas at risk of disaster is to be strengthened by turn­ing the urban processes into an excavation-filling activity (Sert, 2019). What is interesting is that the earthquake was viewed as an instrument in this demolish/construct/ dispose/construct activity under the name of urban transformation. However, the map of earthquake risk areas does not fully correspond to the urban renewal areas. The era of highly controversial mega-­ projects, which is still continuing at the present time, is inseparably linked to the urbanization of nature, the transformation of the shores, and in particular the creation of infill areas. This process can be seen as a solution to the high cost of transporting and disposing of the post-demolition materials, which are the byproduct of the massive urban transformation initiatives (Sert, 2019). However, viewing buildings as objects with a limited relevance leads to the bad habit which ­consumer society has of dominating the constructed environment, preventing buildings both from being ­evaluated as part of a process, and from being ­retained as a wealth of knowledge which should be taken care of, and passed on to future generations. Demolition, waste and transformation become part of a vicious circle, which goes from the wasting of objects in the short term to the wasting of places in the long term, as long as they are not perceived as natural processes of urban life. In an era in which the shelf life of buildings is continuously short­ ened and natural resources are constantly wasted, one cannot stop thinking about what will remain for tomorrow. Will the archaeologists of the ­future see undeveloped and futuristic buildings rising from waste which has made the natural environment unrecog­niz­able and almost uninhabitable, or some type of hybrid environment which combines both the constructed environment and nature, ­while providing clues to past objects and buildings ­(Kendir Beraha, 2019)?

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T H E P OT E N T I A L O F A LT E R N AT I V E A R C H I T EC T U R A L “ T H I N K I N G ” FO R A S U STA I N A B L E I STA N B U L

In light of the recent facts about the climate crisis, and building upon the problematic relationship of nature and humans through build­ ings, while evaluating the current state of Istanbul with its problems and never-ending linear economy of construct/demolish/dispose, how can designers help create a sustainable city? Is this a possibility, or just a myth in a city which is home to 16 million people? In this final section I present the possibilities of the role of architecture as an alternative way of thinking. All of the examples contain the notion of social integration, as well as an ecological response to current and future environmental problems. On the other hand, climate change and its environmental and ­social consequences is at our doorstep. This is definite. I still believe that nations have to find ways to prevent this from happening. But until the solutions to stop or reverse the change are established, we have to also think about how to prevent the social and environmental consequences of this new era, namely the “Anthropocene”.

ST R E N GT H E N I N G U N P L A N N E D U R B A N S PAC E S

The geography of our society has traditionally never had a ­distinct division between public and private land. As the distinction between ­public and private had still not been clearly made, in most ­parts of Istanbul urban space has been self-organized. In a general ­sense, the multicultural nature of the city has not led to a fulfillment of the spatial needs of social encounters, i.e. construction of public spaces. This is because public/ private dichotomy has always been prob­lematic in this geography. It is most evident in the Turkish word for “public” (kamu), which is associated with the government. Moreover, since in Istanbul land registry was not com­pleted until the end of the 1930s, historically speaking, it was also not ­possible to talk about the boundaries between public and private life. ­Instead we can talk about a complicated living and spatial formation ­which ­includes different levels of private and public in the house, courtyard and ­street, etc. Building on the legacy of the Ottomans, we can see usage of public spaces beginning in the 18th century. However, these spaces were not viewed as spaces for everyone, but rather as spaces for no one (­Tanyeli, 2005). This unusual situation led to the disciplining of the public space, either through architectural elements, or through the enablement of family activities such as a picnic, a common activity today in Istanbul.

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Over the years this self-organization of the city has also resulted in unplanned urban situations and encounters. However, undefined and vague public/private spaces could now be used for the potential devel­ opment of alternative solutions. In the following section of this article, examples of informal urban interventions, guerilla architecture, street sellers, urban farming, and alternative usage of streets, parks and ­green spaces in Istanbul will be evaluated, taking into consideration the social and architectural facets of the subject, along with the idea that this action is a strong response to both the interventions led by the admin­ istration during the process of construct/demolish/dispose, and the upcoming environmental crisis.

U R B A N FA R M I N G A S A N I N ST R U M E N T O F S O C I A L A N D EC O LO G I C A L E N G A G E M E N T

Urban agriculture in Istanbul, Kuzguncuk Bostanı Photo by John Lubbock, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ index.php?curid=58444549

Urban farming has been a part of Istanbul since the beginning of civilization. This tradition can be seen in the form of vegetable gardens throughout the city. While some of these gardens are still protected and used, other lost ones have been recorded in the names of streets or parks. The most well-known urban farming dates back to Byzantine times. Today there are many establishments which seem to sustain this memory, and try to contribute to both an environmentally and socially sustainable future. The “Bostan Stories” (Bostan Hikayeleri) Project has created an on-line archive by collecting stories about the formation of different types of urban farming on a web page. In the “Bostan Stories”, tales of four different types of urban gardens and urban farming are shared. These include Tarlataban, or university farming, Kuzguncuk Bostanı, a neighborhood urban garden, Roma Bostanı, a community garden, and Yedikule Bostanları, an urban farming practice. Their common feature is that they were formed during either the field defense process against construction permits for open space in the city, the commercialization and privatization of public space, or the loss of the existing green space and gardens (Özsel Akipek, 2019). These actions, which are initiated by the community itself, can be seen as a constructive/alternative way to reverse the current and mostly institutionalized process of construct/ demolish/dispose. In addition to producing cheap and healthy food, these gardens, which were established with the concept of community gardens or urban gardens, have been designed to bring people together in common areas of the city: to farm collectively and share in the ­harvest,

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and there­fore to sustain a collective lifestyle and question the ­production-consumption cycles driven by life in the city. People who experience this, or are aware of these experiences, will question the resources which provide nutrients in the city, where the waste goes, the cleanliness of the soil, water and air, the medicine recommended for ­health, the materials from which clothes are produced, the environment in which a person lives and works, and the source of all of the objects used in a city, and will become able to create alternatives. However, is it possible to talk about the architecture of urban gardens and urban farming? It is possible to create such gardens through the upcycling of wooden pallets, as well as various objects such as used car tires or simple wooden structures. However, according to Özsel Akipek (2019) the work does not stop there. An appropriate architectural approach can enable such gardens to become more visible by adding positive value to these areas. It can also help them be accepted as sustainable landscape elements, as well as urban design and urban furniture in the world of design and planning, and add such uses to public spaces, which are increasingly faced with a loss of meaning (Özsel Akipek, 2019). However, what is more important is that these areas, in addition to their social influence as places of integration and sharing, are some of the only spaces in Istanbul which may be able to help heal the wounds of both natural disasters and environmental and social collapse due to an environmental crisis.

EC O - S O C I A L R EG E N E R AT I O N I N A N E XC AVAT E D “ H O L E ” O F I STA N B U L

Kartal quarry, an excavaled “hole” of Istanbul

There are obviously many practices and projects which are work­ ing to reverse the consequences of damage to natural areas. However, another possible response to a construct/demolish/dispose action is an educational project. During the 2018–2019 spring semester, a graduate studio at Yıldız Technical University focused on the eco-social regener­ ation of a quarry in the Kartal district of Istanbul. This attempt was significant in terms of the location which was used to search for alternatives to the construction of “big” buildings/architecture. This design experiment found a way to locate itself outside of the construct/demolish/ dispose arena. It presents an example of design which plays a role in the ecological regen­eration of the earth, while also providing a response to the social problems of the area. Here the regenerative role of design and designers provides the key to reversing the current situation and upcom­ing conditions.

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C O N C LU S I O N

With its dense population, limited resources and vulnerability to climate change, Istanbul, like other world cities, is currently at risk of an increase in environmental and social problems. From a different perspective however, with its rich values, chaos, coexistence and youth, Istanbul also has the potential to reverse the current trends and events. Obviously, the municipality’s decisions in regards to the city and the citizens’ creative responses to both social and environmental problems are of great importance. However, architecture also plays an important role here, as it has the potential to be a link in the construct/demolish/ dispose process. Or it may use its power to enhance social bonds and restore ecologically damaged areas, thereby regenerating what has been damaged and creating a potential out of problems. These days we not only have to think about design and construction, but also ­focus our architectural discussions on the regeneration of ecological and social systems, as well as on concepts such as de-growth, upcycling, ­resilience, restoration and regeneration. We must acknowledge the growing importance of approaching the design of the constructed environment with a new type of creativity, other than only to produce form. In this sense it is not wrong to argue that the role of the architect will become working as a mediator among different actors such as society, ecosystems and living spaces, and that the architectural service/action will become a research process. To sum up, in addition to being part of a continuous construction process, architecture has the potential to discover alternative paths of thought in order to enhance both ecol­ ogy and society. The examples presented above are only a small part of the overall attempts, and our role is to enrich, enlarge and disseminate them. There is so little time left, and therefore we must act swiftly!

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Ban, S. (1997). “Conversation: Paper Tube Architecture, Sustainability and Responsible Citizenship”, A + U: Architecture and Urbanism, 320 (5), 132–142. Beldell, J. (2018). “Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy”, IFLAS Occasional Paper 2, https://www.lifeworth.com/deepadaptation.pdf, accessed on 06 September 2019. Bilsel, C. (2009). Yeni Dünya Düzeninde Çözülen Kentler Ve Kamusal Alan: Istanbul’da Merkezkaç Kentsel ­Dinamikler ve Kamusal Mekan Üzerine Gözlemler. http://kendineaitbiroda.wordpress.com/ 2009/08/01/yeni-dunya-duzeninde-cozulen-kentler-ve-kamusal-alan-istanbulda-merkezkackentsel-dinamikler-ve-kamusal-mekan-uzerine-gozlemler-yazar-cana-bilsel, accessed on 20 July 2013. Davey, P. (1998). “A Moral Issue”, Architectural Review, 203(1214), 4–5. Heidegger, M. (1971). “Building, Dwelling, Thinking”, in Hofsdater, A. (Ed.) Poetry, Language and Thought. New York: Harper & Row, pp. 143–162. Jarzombek, M. (2003). “Sustainability and Architecture: Between Fuzzy Systems and Wicked Problems”, Blueprints 21/1, National Building Museum, pp. 6–9. Kendir Beraha, E. (2019). “Sürdürülebilir Yıkım Teknolojileri ya da Mimarlıkta Ölümden Sonra Yaşam Var mı?”, in Ciravoğlu, A. (Ed.). Ters Köşe Ekoloji. Istanbul: Puna Yayın, pp. 62–71. Keyder, Ç. (1999). “The Setting”, in Keyder, Ç., (Ed.) Istanbul Between the Global and the Local. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., USA. Kırbaş Akyürek, B. (2019). “Planlı Eskitilen Mimarlık: Yap, Yık, At”, in Ciravoğlu, A. (Ed.). Ters Köşe Ekoloji. Istanbul: Puna Yayın, pp. 48–61. Kurokawa, K. (1998). “From the Eco-City to the Eco-Media City”, A + U: Architecture and Urbanism, 333, 3–31. Madge, P. (1997). “Ecological Design: A New Critique”, Design Issues, 13, 44–54. Özsel Akipek, F. (2019). “Kent Bahçelerinden Fab-Lab Ağlarına”, in Ciravoğlu, A. (Ed.). Ters Köşe Ekoloji. Istanbul: Puna Yayın, pp. 124–133. Sert, E. (2019). “Hafriyat Lojistiğinden Kıyılara: Dolgu Alanlarının Kentsel Politik Ekolojisi”, in Ciravoğlu, A. (Ed.). Ters Köşe Ekoloji. Istanbul: Puna Yayın, pp. 72–81. Simpson, R. (1997). “The Logic of Ecology in Architecture”, A + U: Architecture and Urbanism, 320 (5), 124–131. Stairs, D. (1997). “Biophilia and Technophilia: Examining the Nature/Culture Split in Design Theory”, Design Issues, 13, 37–44. Tanyeli, U. (2005). “Kamusal Mekan-Özel Mekan: Türkiye’de Bir Kavram Çiftinin Icadı”, Genişleyen Dünyada Sanat, Kent ve Siyaset: 9. Uluslararası Istanbul Bienali’nden Metinler, Istanbul Kültür Sanat Vakfı, Istanbul, pp. 199–209.

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INTRODUCTION

From the Historic Peninsula to Galata, old sections of Istanbul.

Istanbul has been an example for many cities around the world for centuries. With its unique natural richness and as a bridge between two continents, Istanbul has a privileged position that is unique in the world. The city resides at the center of old world Asia, Africa and ­Europe. Istanbul also serves as a model for Turkish cities within our ­national borders and plays a pioneering role in innovative, contemporary and technological developments. However, the city has suffered from urban deterioration during the development process due to improper planning decisions. In particular, it has been affected by intense internal migration and recent external migration. The basic need of the inhabitants is shelter. For this purpose, the city should offer its users high quality residences. In order for Istanbul to have a high quality of urban life, livable open public spaces with economic, social, environmental, individual and ­social health benefits will be required. However, these benefits will only be possible and meaningful with the participation of residents in the ­urban process. With the vision of “Sustainable Istanbul”, under the patronage of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), Department of Studies and ­Projects, and the Directorate of Urban Design, the “Istanbul Urban Design Guide” was prepared in order to evaluate the current situation, control the physical development of the city and improve and establish the future in a healthy way. This guide sets forth new planning and design principles for the city which emphasize access for everyone to the urban open spaces of Istanbul, sustainable transport­ ation and energy conservation within the legal administrative structure for the next 20 years. According to general estimates, seven out of ten people will live in cities by 2050 (UN-Habitat 2015). Although the rate of development may vary depending on changing realities, during this process, inade­ quate city policies create negative spatial distributions by affecting the structure of people and their actions and creating problems such as social segregation, collapsed areas and insufficient access to basic living space. Today, especially in large cities, it is necessary to manage the crowds and resources because of ever increasing population pressure and to provide equal opportunities for living space to everyone.

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Considering recent developments in the global environment, Istanbul, as one of the world’s metropolises, needs some basic tools to enrich its urban development with local experiences and maintain this at an international level. Urban design guides have come to the fore as urban implementation and control tools for directing spatial development, creating a holistic approach to the planning/design relationship and increasing the quality of living spaces. In addition to other urban planning tools, urban design guidelines will provide significant benefits during the planning, implementation and evaluation stages of new projects by supporting the existing planning system. Studies on the creation of an Urban Design Guide (UDG) began with some preliminary questions, such as: O Can we develop a new approach to urban design in Istanbul? O How can we use a UDG to advance Istanbul to the top of the global city classifications? O How should a UDG be implemented in terms of its legal infra­­­­­­s­tructure on a local-national scale and through a planning system? O How should a UDG advance sustainability (through application— supervision—management) for city planning?

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New finance and office district of the city, Maslak region.

ISTANBUL URBAN DESIGN GUIDE: V I S I O N : To develop a livable Istanbul while considering public interests

regarding the main axis of sustainability. A I M : To demonstrate the principles of urban design for a high quality of

life, and a secure, inclusive, healthy and sustainable Istanbul.

O B J EC T I V E S O F T H E I STA N B U L U R B A N D E S I G N G U I D E W I T H I N T H E C O N T E X T O F I TS V I S I O N A N D P U R P O S E :

O O O O

Support local and national experience with international principles Create a framework to be accepted at the international level Determine the appropriate urban design guide model for Istanbul Raise awareness in central, regional and local governments

It is known that public spaces provide substantial economic, ­social, environmental and human health benefits. From this perspective, it is emphasized that public life is the “locomotive” of urban design (Gehl, in Budds D., 2016). Public spaces: O Are suitable areas for promoting social cohesion/interaction and building social capital O Are venues for determining economic competition and investment decisions and reflecting economic changes O Have a direct impact on local energy use and are an environmental resource O Are an important contribution to the livability of urban areas and to the health and well-being of local people (Carmona, 2008). The next chapter describes the activities the activities and research undertaken for the Istanbul Urban Design Guide (IUDG) in terms of three main themes: PARTICIPATION (the role of actors involved in the project), POLICY (the legal background of the project) and SCOPE (the contents of the Guide). The IUDG project has been formalized into five steps which contain these three main themes (TABLE 1).

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TABLE 1. The phases of the project (IUDG Team report)

ADVISORS

2 . P H A S E : A N A LYS I S A N D R E P O RT I N G

COORDINATORS

METROPOLITAN PLANNING

1. PHASE: RESEARCH

O Guide Implementation Models in Turkey and the World O Regulations O Standards O Vision–Determining Purpose O Scale, Scope and Details of the Guide O Standards, Screenings, Design Language O Application Process and Management O Relationships with Upper and Lower Scale Plans

O Urban Planning System to be examined within the scope of the City Planning System,­ Legislation and Model O Benchmarking O UDG Management, Implementation and Control prepared in Turkey to be examined O Comparative Report 3 . P H A S E : C R E AT I N G M O D E L V E C O N T E N T

O Sections, Sub-Sections, Details O Alternative Methods O Approach of Advice on Implementation, Auditing, Service Quality Measurement Models, Legal, Managerial Structure, etc. O Establishment of the Sub-Headings of the Model adopted by the Administration (Application/ Control/Usage-related Issues) O Adopting the Opinions of the Institution O Workshops 4. PHASE: WRITING THE GUIDE 5. PHASE: PRINTING AND PUBLISHING

O Book Printing O E-Book O Publication, Announcement and Promotion

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1. PARTICIPATION 1.1 P R E PA R AT I O N O F T H E U R B A N D E S I G N G U I D E A N D STA K E H O L D E R I N VO LV E M E N T

National and local authorities, non-government organizations (NGOs), planning and/or design professionals, institutions and citizens of Istanbul were the participants in this project at different levels. The preparation process of the guide took three years. However, before this guide, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) began to prepare for an Urban Design Guide for Istanbul at the Presidency level in the 1990s. A comprehensive work team was created for the project, and in 1992, a two-part guidebook was prepared and submitted. Although this guide was not widely distributed, it has influenced several urban design projects and various regulations. This first guide was prepared as a scientific handbook, without the participation of local citizens or civic institutions. Nevertheless, over time it was realized that besides scientific and academic support, the participation of all actors related to this subject was required. During the creation of the new guide, the actors contribut­ed a variety of content at different levels. The chronological ­order of the studies, content, methods and findings is as follows: O O O O O O

2013–2014 Istanbul Greater City UDG Studies 2015 Search Conference 2015 Benchmarking 2016 Common Mind Meeting 2016 Citizen Evaluations 2015–2017 Study Group (team) Meetings

20 1 3 – 2 0 1 4 I STA N B U L G R E AT E R C I T Y U D G ST U D I E S :

A draft study on urban design guidelines for large cities in Turkey was prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning, who was asked to develop a report on this subject, as a first initiative at a national level. The proposals from the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning were reviewed by the IMM Department of Studies and Projects, which had already been working on the Istanbul Urban Design Guide, and the Directorate of Urban Design, which had already made progress on their own guide.

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2015 S E A R C H C O N F E R E N C E

With the Search Conference, opinions were formed on why an urban design guide is necessary, what it should cover, how to transmit information, how to supervise and how to ensure continuity. For these purposes, two main meeting topics were discussed through the use of six questions: 1. Definition and Scope of the Guide ① How can the guide be appropriate for the physical, social and cultural structure of the city? ② What should the design guide objectives and principles be? ③ What should the methods be for applying the design guide recommendations? 2. Design and Criteria of the Guide ① Which design issues should the guide focus on? ② Which criteria should be used to determine the selection and design of urban furniture? ③ How can quality management be ensured and which methods should be used? Conference Participant Profile Seventy people attended the meeting. Particular attention was paid to ensuring that the participants represented all possible sectors of the city, as follows: ① ISTANBUL METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY: senior management representatives, Dept. of Construction Affairs, Dept. of Studies and Projects, Dept. of Technical Services, Directorate of Urban Design, ­Directorate of Superstructure Projects, Directorate of Infrastructure ­Services, Directorate of Construction Works, representatives of the ­Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, and local municipalities; ② IMM subsidiaries: Iston, Bimtas, Istanbul Culture office, Istanbul ­Design office, Space management office, etc.; ③ Universities represented: Yildiz Technical University, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Foundation University, Istanbul ­Technical University, Atilim University; ④ NGOs: Chamber of Landscape Architecture, Chamber of City ­Planners, Group Architects and Engineers, the Spinal Cord Paralytics ­Association of Turkey, Society of Industrial Designers; ⑤ Design and architecture studios: Arman Design, GAD Architecture, ŞANAL Architecture, etc.

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Representatives of Spinal Cord Paralytics ­Association of Turkey. (Professional Life ­Institute, 2015)

Conference Method The IUDG Search Conference consisted of two parts. Following the opening remarks, three presentations were made by the IMM Urban Design Consultant, a representative of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, and a sample research presentation. In the second part of the conference, within the context of the conference theme, the two main topics and six questions described above were discussed by the participants in groups. The discussions took place at nine different “round tables” in three separate halls. The subcategories of each main topic were given to the participants at the beginning of the group activities in order to facilitate the discussions. Each group discussed the main topic with its questions as well as r­ elated issues evoked by the questions. The working groups determined the ­method by which they could express themselves freely, and developed conclusions by question order or by discussing the main subject as a whole. Conference Groups Group distributions were determined in advance by the meeting moderators in order to have participants representing a variety of occupations and specialties at each table to contribute different ideas. Six questions regarding two main topics were simultaneously discussed and reported in nine different groups.

S E A R C H C O N F E R E N C E R E P O RT:

Working Groups. (Professional Life Institute, 2015)

The report was developed based on the output of the working groups and the written notes of the group participants, which were forwarded to the main moderator by each participating group. The conference results were prepared as a booklet and shared with both the participants and all units of the IMM. The conference conclusions were decisive, since they were the first social data collected for the IUDG preparation team. The following four main recommendations provided direct input to the IUDG: ① A Participatory Guide It was emphasized that a guide should be prepared that addresses the needs of all city residents. This guide, which would be prepared with broad participation, should be understandable to all users through the use of a common language. ② Smart and Green Istanbul Particular emphasis was placed on the importance of meeting the city’s energy needs in an affordable, adaptable and sustainable way,

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especially in public spaces (as well as on private property). ③ Inclusive Guide Create a safe and friendly city for everyone, especially the disabled, women, children, and the elderly. ④ Legal Background It was discussed that there is a need for legal arrangements in order to ensure the guide is applicable, sustainable and above all comprehensible. 2015 B E N C H M A R K I N G

In 2015, several members of the UDG team were invited by the Paris Urbanism Agency (Apur) of the Paris Municipality to visit Paris and attend a briefing given by the Director of Apur. The visit was especially focused on the city squares, however the topics of supervision, maintenance, management systems and design and practice processes were of particular interest to us. 2016 C O M M O N M I N D M E E T I N G

The Common Mind Meeting was held to develop a more focused and framed urban design guide. At this meeting, seven different stakeholder groups discussed and produced ideas on the basic principles, vision, mission and model of the urban design guide with various techniques and development from the framework of sustainability. T H E P R O F I L E O F T H E PA RT I C I PA N TS

The conference was attended by academics from various universities, representatives of units of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality related to urban design, IMM affiliate companies, relevant ministries, district municipalities, the private sector, various foundations, associations and chamber representatives. A total of eighty participants from these seven different stakeholder groups took part in the conference. METHOD

All of the participants’ views on the Urban Design Guide were obtained using appropriate techniques such as brainstorming, free ­lectern, PEST Analysis (Political, Economic, Social, Technological ­factors) and other group work. In this conference, a total of four sessions were held in which the participants strove to be free from the influence of prejudices, all ideas were listened to, and efforts were made to find a common way forward in regards to each subject.

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O O O O

The sessions were as follows: Session 1. Environmental analysis and trends Session 2. Strategic purpose and goal analysis Session 3. Analysis of the existing situation Session 4. Preparation, application and Management Procedure Analysis

Session 1. Environmental analysis and trends In the first session of the Urban Design Guide Common Mind Conference, the brainstorming technique, which is a continuous quality improvement tool, was implemented, supporting innovative ideas, moti­ vating team employees, and making inferences about producing too many ideas and analyzing processes in a short time. Within the scope of this applied technique, the participants were asked to express their ideas on “The Predictions of Trends and Changes Related to Urban Design Guidelines” and “Basic Conceptual Principles of Urban Design Guidelines”. During this session of Urban Design Guidelines stakeholders, an environment was created in which each participant had a say and could express their opinions clearly. As a result of this session, 135 different ideas, opinions and determinations were expressed in written and oral forms. Session 2. Strategic purpose and goal analysis During the second session, both Strategic Objectives and Target Analysis were carried out to determine the strategic objectives and related targets of the Urban Design Guide model proposed for Istanbul together with suggestions regarding the vision, goals and future of the city. In order to implement this method, six groups of stakeholders from the Common Mind Conference were established, and care was taken to include participants from a variety of sectors in each group. The groups were asked to determine the strategic objectives and related ­objectives of the Urban Design Guide model in a general and specific manner ­according to the outcomes of the previous session. Session 3. Analysis of the existing situation The subject of the third session was “Analysis of the Current Situation”. In this session, the PEST Analysis technique was used to reveal current environmental and non-environmental factors that will influence Istanbul’s long-term plans for urban design. The institutions, organizations and units participating in the session were identified and the participants in each similar community were divided into separate groups. A total of six separate groups emerged. Within the scope of

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the session, the participants of each group were asked to express their opinions on current political, economic, socio-cultural and technological factors influencing urban design. Post-session results from each group were presented to all of the participants by the group spokespersons. Session 4. Preparation, application and Management Procedure Analysis The topic of the fourth session, which was held within the scope of the Urban Design Guide Workshop, was “Process Analysis”. The participants were grouped into different configurations from the previous session. In this final session, groups were asked to answer the question “What is the role of stakeholders in the preparation, implementation, supervision and management of the Urban Design Guide?”. At the end of the session, the feedback was presented by the spokespersons from each group. C I T I Z E N E VA LUAT I O N S

In addition to the described meetings, various citizen questionnaires were conducted on the nature of the use of urban public spaces, especially public squares. Citizens were interviewed in 13 different districts within Istanbul, and approximately 5,000 people’s opinions on existing urban areas were evaluated. The survey participants were also asked about what they desire for the future. The findings were very inspiring, and helped to develop an approach towards answering the many questions created at the beginning of the project.



ST U DY G R O U P ( T E A M ) M E E T I N G S

The IUDG team had countless meetings to research, prepare, apply, evaluate and organize all the literature reviews, technical trips, conferences, questionnaires, legal issues and authors. TABLE 1 shows the studies which were recorded, reported to the IMM and submitted at the end of each stage of the project. The IUDG team also gave numerous seminars to introduce the UDG system to local administrations and high level administrative groups. The team was made up of three parts which were connected through the Coordinator.

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I STA N BU L ME T ROPO L I TAN M U NI C I PAL I T Y (IM M)

C O ORD IN ATOR (2 VICE C OO RD IN ATORS)

B I M TAŞ (T H E D EV E LO P E R R EP R ES ENT I NG IM M )

D EPART M ENT O F ST U D I ES AND P R OJECTS

D I R ECTO R AT E O F U RBA N D ES I G N B U R EAU

P R I VAT E U R B AN D ES I GN B U R EAU

M ET R O P O L I TA N

AU T H O R S

U NI V ER S I T I ES

TABLE 2. The IUDG Team

1. 2 . E VA LUAT I O N O F T H E M E E T I N G S , C O N F E R E N C E S A N D Q U E ST I O N N A I R E S

TABLE 3. The principles of the Sustainable Istanbul Urban Design Guide

The public evaluations (surveys and interviews) and literature reviews were decisive regarding the principles for an Istanbul Urban Design Guide. 24 principles were determined in reference to the main concept of “sustainability” (TABLE 3). The principles were classified into 4 groups: ① The UDG management and practice principles are defined as ­integrative, transparent, participatory, innovative and economic; ② Design for All principles: accessible, protective, inclusive, egalitarian and secure; ③ Quality of life principles: green, image, quality, clean, aesthetical, ­eligible and continuous; ④ Space character and organization principles: lively, diverse, identity, flexible, dynamic, attractive and authentic.

1. Innovative

2. Economic

3. Protective

4. Green

5. Inclusive

6. Attractive

7. Quality

8. Aesthetical

9. Authentic

10. Dynamic

11. Secure

12. Egalitarian

13. Participatory

14. Continuous

15. Transparent

16. Identity

17. Accessible

18. Diverse

19. Flexible

20. Image

21. Eligible

22. Lively

23. Integrative

24. Clean

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2. POLICY The necessity and applicability of urban design guidelines should be supported by laws and regulations. When we look at different planning approaches and legal mechanisms around the world, we can see that both central and local governments use planning and design together to provide high quality urban spaces. Plans alone are not sufficient in the urban design process. Control and direction and urban design control tools are used together with plans, such as design regulations, design briefs and design guides. In Turkey, development plans that are in force consist of two-­ dimensional arrangements that help identify the land uses, density quantification of relevant standards and access arrangements. Due to the inadequacy of the planning system and differing priorities, there are no urban design tools and design controls to address the interventions. However, in some cities urban design guides have been prepared for ­implementation on different scales. The “Spatial Plans Implementation Regulation”, which provides legal support to urban design guidelines, was published in June 2014. Since then, activities have gained momentum. Preparation for Urban Design Guides has started with the work team established within the IGM, Department of Studies and Projects and the Directorate of ­Urban Design. This has become a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary p ­ roject with broad participation over time. In 2018, a specially prepared “­ Istanbul Building Legislation” was accepted and published. Both regulations create a prerequisite for preparing urban design guidelines for urban design projects. This makes urban design guides a priority as well as zoning plans, which together are a powerful tool. In addition, the law authorizes local authorities to prepare, implement and execute these guidelines.

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B U I L D I N G L EG I S L AT I O N R EG U L AT I O N O N T H E C O N ST R U C T I O N S O F S PAT I A L P L A N S L EG I S L AT I O N FO R B O S P H O R U S A R E A

L EG I S L AT I O N FO R C OA STA L A R E A S

L EG I S L AT I O N O N T H E E STA B L I S H M E N T AND DUTIES OF THE GENERAL D I R EC TO R AT E O F I S K I ( I STA N B U L WAT E R A N D S E WA G E A D M I N I ST R AT I O N )

B U I L D I N G * R EG U L AT I O N S ON PLANNED AREAS

L EG I S L AT I O N O N T H E P R OT EC T I O N O F C U LT U R A L A N D N AT U R A L A S S E TS

Legislation on the Conservation and Maintenance of Degraded Historical and Cultural Immovable Property

L EG I S L AT I O N O N T H E T R A N S FO R M AT I O N O F D I S A ST E R- R I S K A R E A S

R EG U L AT I O N S O N T H E D E S I G N , A N D C O N ST R U C T I O N O F B I C YC L E L A N E S , B I C YC L E STAT I O N S A N D B I C YC L E PA R K I N G O N U R B A N R OA D S

L EG I S L AT I O N O N T H E D I S A B L E D TABLE 4. Legal structure of Istanbul UDG (IUDG Team report)

*Istanbul Building Legislation published in 2018

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2.1. E VA LUAT I O N O F P O L I C Y R E V I E W S

The approach for the Istanbul UDG was formalized through public evaluations, existing government legal infrastructure (local administrations and central government), strategy and vision plans and a literature review. The decisions were: O Determining VISION and SCOPE regarding sustainability; O Mutual conformity between legislation and the guide; O Creating a SUPERVISION, MONITORING and MANAGEMENT SYSTEM; O Forming a HOLISTIC APPROACH: O PARTICIPATORY (must be transparent, accessible and versatile in a digital environment). O PRESENTATION AND INSTRUCTION of the guide should be given to relevant institutions and individuals. O LEGAL, TECHNOLOGICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY of the guide must be ensured. These fundamental decisions influenced the general approach to the preparation of the Istanbul UDG.

TABLE 5. General approach for preparation of the IUDG (IUDG Team presentation)

VI SI O N / AI M S / STR ATEGI E S LEGIS L AT I ON

C ONFORM I T Y

ACTO R S

P RE S E NTAT I O N RE M ARKS

H O L I STI C

PARTI CI PATO RY

ACCE SSI B L E

TR AN SPAR E N T

VE R SATI L E

SUSTAI N AB L E

S U P E RV I S I ON— M O N I TO R I N G— M AN AGE M E N T

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UR B AN DE SI GN GU IDE

I NST RU CT I ON

Research conducted while preparing the Istanbul Urban Design Guide, an examination of examples from Turkey and around the world, and stakeholder engagement and principled strategic plans all indicated that the UDG, which was prepared for one of the world’s leading ­metropolises, should have a dynamic and interactive structure both during its preparation stages and for its intended use. In recent years, one can see that the regulatory (plan-based) approach of our national and regional/local planning legislation has ­begun to be transformed into a flexible (project-based) approach through legal arrangements and projects that enable innovative implementation specific to what is happening on the ground. In this context, a hybrid method was chosen for the UDG as an appropriate vehicle for planning approaches and design for Istanbul, and the model was developed through it. The UDG Model is designed on two axes. The first axis of the UDG is the preparation process for the guide, and consists of the following: O O O O

Techniques and tools The relationship between planning approaches and the design relations Various actors Participation studies have been conducted, and the basis for the Istanbul UDG model has been established by examining technical, legal and international examples.

In light of all of the research and evaluations, as well as legal structure and data obtained from world experiences, studies on “Creating a Valid and a Sustainable UDG Model” for Istanbul were started. This constitutes the second axis of the study. The initial and guiding data of the second axis is the “vision”, “purpose” and “principles” for Istanbul. These parameters were compiled from the strategy documents of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and central government. Table 6 shows the two axes of the UDG, as well as the development stages and scope. A third component is the management system of the guide; an Urban Design Evaluation Commission was proposed to oversee the process.

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T EC H N I Q U E A N D TO O L S

• Research of Urban Design Guide Concepts • Sample search and evaluation from the world • Sample search and evaluation from Turkey

P L A N N I N G A P P R OAC H E S A N D D E S I G N R E L AT I O N S

Flexible

Hybrid*

Descriptive

*Hybrid planning/design system is suitable for Turkey’s planning system after some revisions.

AC TO R S

Professionals, Politicians, NGOs, Universities, local Municipalities, Stakeholders, Citizens, etc.

PA RT I C I PAT I O N

• Search Conference • Common Mind Workshop

TABLE 6. The Model Proposal for Istanbul UDG (UDG, 2017, Book 1, pp. 56–57)

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URBAN DESIGN GUIDE (UDG)

VISION

AIM

PRINCIPLES

SCOPE

THEMES

MANAGEMENT OF THE GUIDE

A livable Istanbul that develops on the main axis of sustainability while takingthe public interest into consideration. To provide the principles of urban design for a safe, inclusive, healthyand sustainable Istanbul with high quality of life. Innovative

Economic

Green

Flexible

Inclusive

Transparent

Quality

Image

Participatory

Eligible

Constant

Identity

Accessibility

Authentic

Interactive

Egalitarian

Protective

Dynamic

Attractive

Diverse

Secure

Lively

Aesthetic

Clean

URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN

• Principle Approach for Istanbul • Legal Framework, Management of Supervision • Sustainability and Energy Efficient Design • Social Life • Design for all

APPLICATION

U R B A N S PAC E S

• Public and Green Areas • Coastal Areas • Squares • Avenues and Streets

SUPERVISION

C O M P O N E N TS O F U R B A N S PAC E

• Urban Furniture • Lighting • Colour • Acoustic Comfort and Planning • Landscape Design (Green Elements, Surface Materials)

DEVELOPMENT

U R B A N D E S I G N E VA LUAT I O N C O M M I S S I O N

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3. SCOPE The Istanbul Urban Design Guide consists of two books, the chapters of which address urban design issues ranging from macro to micro scales. These chapters were written by 24 authors from three of the leading state universities in Turkey: the Istanbul Technical University, Yıldız Technical University and Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. There is an introduction by the Coordinator and Urban Design Bureau which explains the UDG model, as well as a section written by the Vice Coordinator on the continuity and sustainability of the UDG. B O O K 1: With the title “Urban Planning and Design”, this guide-

line was created in light of the principles explained, as well as how it was developed through the use of a particular system. Its contents include macro-scale urban planning and design issues in Istanbul, the legal stage of the implementation phase of the guide and its relationship with social life. The basic principles laid down in these chapters guide each chapter. The first book, which is based on the sustainability principles of the Istanbul UDG’s two important issues, sustainability and energy efficient design, provides the overall framework for design for all. Chapter 1. Under the title “Urban Planning and Design”, the following themes are included: Principle Approach for Istanbul, Legal Framework, Management and Supervision, Sustainability and Energy ­Efficient Design, Social Life, Transportation Planning, and Design for All. B O O K 2 consists of two chapters:

Chapter 2. Titled “Urban Spaces”, this chapter includes the following themes: Public and Green Areas, Coastal Areas, Squares, ­Avenues and Streets, Streetscape Design, Conservation in Historic ­Areas and Urban Design. Chapter 3. With the title “Components of Urban Space”, this chapter explains the following themes: Urban Furniture, Lighting, Color, Acoustic Comfort and Planning, Landscape Design, Green Elements and Surface Materials. A N N E X B O O K . This section consists of checklists for Quality of

Life in Urban Space-Design criteria, while providing various evaluation principles. The number of checklists can be increased as needed, and the suitability of the proposed projects to the Istanbul UDG will be evaluated during the auditing process.

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In conclusion, the principles and design criteria used to develop the Istanbul Urban Design Guide took into consideration the fast formation, change and development process of this metropolis, as well as the dynamism of the components that shape its environment. This guide will therefore contribute to the development of a city with a high quality of life by responding to the changes that people require from economic, cultural and sociological aspects. This guide is an important tool for improving the existing legal framework, while providing many opportunities at the same time. By offering an integrated approach to planning and building a sustainable city, the guide aims to achieve the following: O Increase social awareness; O Develop participation in decision-making processes; O Enable local governments to bring their experience to the international level.

AC K N O W L E D G E M E N TS

As the author of this article and the General Coordinator of this project from 2015 to 2017, I would like to express my gratitude to the team involved in all aspects of the project for their devoted work: Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality—Department of Studies and Projects, Directorate of Urban Design, Metropolitan Planning & Design Center (BIMTAŞ), Metropole Urban Design and City Planning Architecture and Engineering Ltd., and Infoloji Institutional Consultancy Services Ltd., as well as the authors from from the Istanbul Technical University, Yıldız Technical University and Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Vice Coordinators, ­Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilek Yıldız and Assist. Prof. Dr. Melike Orhan.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

New finance and office district of the city, Maslak region.

Budds, D. (2016). 5 Rules for Designing Great Cities, From Denmark’s Star Urbanist, www.fastcodesign.com, 25/10/2016. Carmona, M., Magalhaes, C., Hammond, L. (2008). Public Space: the Management Dimension. New York: Routledge. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, BIMTAS (2016). “Report of Urban Areas Management System—Site Search (Questionnaire on satisfaction level and future forecasting on squares of Istanbul)”, Supervisor: Organik Ltd., Istanbul. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (2015). Report Book of Search Conference, Moderator and Supervisor: Professional Life Institute, Advisor: Çiğdem Polatoğlu, Sapanca. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (2016). Report Book of Common Mind Meeting, Moderator and Supervisor: Infoloji Institutional Consultancy Services Ltd., Istanbul. Metropole Urban Design Bureau (2017). “Conceptual Frame and Basic Principles”, Sustainable Istanbul Urban Design Guide BOOK 1, Polatoğlu, Ç. (Ed.), Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Istanbul, March 2017, pp. 56–57 (in Turkish), ISBN 978-6059507066 (1.c). Polatoğlu, Ç. (2017). “Objective and Goals”, Sustainable Istanbul Urban Design Guide BOOK 1, Polatoğlu, Ç. (Ed.), Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Istanbul, March 2017, pp. 15–25 (in Turkish), ISBN 978-6059507066 (1.c). UN Habitat (2015). International Guidelines on Urban and Territorial Planning, HS Number: HS/059/15E, Nairobi.

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Paulina Cornejo Moreno Valle

The broken city lives in the rituals and practices of planners, engineers, and developers. It lives in law and code, and in concrete and asphalt. It lives in our own habits, too. Those of us who care about the living city are going to have to fight for it in the streets, in the halls of government, in the legal and social codes that guide us, and in the ways we move and live and think […] Urban activists are taking design—and their­ future—into their own hands. (Charles Montgomery)

Parque La Mexicana 1 The UN defines megacities as conurba­tions with more than 10 million inhabitants. A ranking in 2018 revealed that Mexico City was the world’s fourth largest megacity (out of 33), with a population of 21,581,000.

Mexico City is overwhelmed, and is overwhelming us. With a resident population of 8.7 million, and an additional 14 million people living in the wider conurbation, this entire metropolitan zone (known as the ZMVM) is now home to more than 22 million people1—and comprises a vast territory of innumerable challenges and opportunities in diverse and changing contexts. The ZMVM is broken and fragmented. Solving its complex and multifaceted problems calls for a paradigm shift: it is no longer ­acceptable for authorities to take a top-down approach from a ­single perspective, prioritizing private interests over those of society as a whole; nor for ­citizens to continue thinking that their well-being is solely the government’s responsibility; nor for designers and city planners to keep working in silos; nor for self-serving individuals to disregard the environmental and social consequences of their actions. The design of our city, like so many others, has been shaped by private interests, a lack of vision, and reactive planning. How­ ever, in recent years evidence suggests that the authorities, experts, academia, private-sector actors and citizens—urban activists—are negotiating and renegotiating ways to create and co-design a city for everyone. New relationships are developing in order to redefine urban life as a place where context, people, the environment, and well-being take center stage, and where essential issues such as water, public space, mobility and housing are beginning to be approached from new angles.

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T H E R I G H T TO T H E C I T Y

The year 2018 was a momentous one for ­Mexico’s capital: its official name was changed from Distrito Federal to Ciudad de México, or simply the CDMX, marking its new status as the country’s 32nd state. This transition implied the creation of the city’s first political constitution, drawn up after an open (online and in-person) collaboration which ­included the input of citizens’ proposals. This constitution, published in 2018, recognizes rights such as social inclusion, same-sex marriage, digital access, legalization of medical cannabis, and animal protection. Particularly relevant is the right to the city, enshrining full and fair access to public spaces, social inclusion and citizen participation.2 In other words, this document recognizes human rights in urban life, an area often threatened by poor planning, exclusion, and the segregation of vulner­ able social groups. The right to the city has established a core legal framework for every inhabitant’s quality of life. However, urban reality and frequent contradictions in the decision-making of public bodies demonstrate the need to develop ways of strengthening this agenda and facilitating appropriate regulation. The extent of its impact will depend on the factors of time, political will, and social organization.

Mexico City view

B E T W E E N T H E P U B L I C A N D P R I VAT E S PAC E

What defines a character of a city is its public space, not its private space. What defines the value of the private assets of the space are not the assets by themselves but the common assets. The value of the public good affects the value of the private good. We need to show every day that public spaces are an ­asset to a city. (Joan Clos i Matheu, UN-HABITAT) The CDMX is a complex and changing system which has undergone various and contradictory

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2 Article 12 of the Constitution stipulates that the CDMX guarantees “the full and fair use and enjoyment of the city, based on the principles of social justice, democracy, participation, equality, sustainability, respect of cultural diversity, nature, and the environment.” It also considers that “the right to the city is a collective right that ensures the full exercise of human rights, the city’s social role, its demo­ cratic management, and ensures territorial justice, social inclusion, and the equitable distribution of public goods.”

transformations over the past decade. We can cite the obvious example of the spatial connection ­between public and private spaces, and the constant tensions and negotiations between the two: public spaces seem to be becoming increasingly private, and vice versa. Over the last ten years, local authorities have clearly made progress in coordinating the work of civil society and private citizens, as well as in promoting and creating public spaces. Here it is worth noting that private capital is increasingly being used to finance and develop projects (insufficiently ­funded from other sources), and this is helping to create places for everyone’s benefit. Nevertheless, the creation of new public spaces pales in comparison to the rampant increase in the number of shopping malls built over the same period. Official statistics show that between 2006 and 2018 a total of 108 new shopping malls were built, and many of these have caused problems for their local communities: devastation of the natural environment, insufficient parking, water-supply shortages, landscape blight, mobility problems, waste generation, and even damage to surrounding infrastructure.

P U B L I C S PAC E : N E W H O R I Z O N S

3 According to official statistics, 66 % of the total area of the CDMX (PAOT, 2009) is green, and approximately half of that area corresponds to conservation land: protected areas such as ravines, farmland, or urban woodland. The devastation of these areas results from uncontrolled and improvised growth, housing developments through corrupt schemes, realestate speculation, and informal settlements. 4 The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 12 square meters of green space per person in cities. Official figures reveal an unequal distribution of accessible green spaces in the CDMX, with accessible areas ranging from 7.02 to 41.51 square meters per person, depending on the borough (PAOT). 5 Chapultepec Park won the 2019 International Large Urban Parks Gold Award.

Green areas are essential for public life. ­According to official statistics, 66 % of the CDMX is green (almost half of this area is conservation land).3 However, for the city’s almost nine million inhabitants there is insufficient and unequal access to green infrastructure.4 This can be explained by the fact that while some parts of the city have many high value green areas such as Chapultepec Park (an urban park measuring almost seven square kilometers),5 other parts of the metropolis suffer a severe shortage of even modestly-sized recreational spaces. Aware of these lacks and needs, the local government set up a local public space authority (AEP) in 2008, which remained in operation for ten years

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despite changes in governments, thanks to its continuity and results. Its initiatives and implementation of more than 90 projects have helped to improve the public life of the city, and include developments on various scales, located mainly in central urban areas. A particular success was the complete renovation of the Plaza de la República, the site of the Monumento a la Revolución Mexicana (MRM). This iconic space had been abandoned for decades, and its recovery represented a milestone, opening up new horizons for potential public space projects through collaborations with the private sector (the concession to use a private operator to manage the MRM has proven to be highly successful). The positive impact of this space has spread throughout various cultural, economic and social spheres, and has brought about the gradual recovery of the area, so far without showing any signs of gentrification. Other AEP initiatives which have helped to change the ­phys­­­­iog­nomy and use of spaces in the city—focusing on new design strategies—­include pedestrianization projects and street repairs, the introduction of safe road crossings, the installation of parking meters, and the creation of ­plazas, parks and pocket parks. Although these mini-parks were initially implemented by the AEP as a way to make the most of and recover residual urban spaces at a low-cost,6 this model has since been replicated by other ­local author­ities. However, the proliferation of these parks has not always been a positive development, since many of them end up being abandoned, or used instead for illicit ­activities. This example demonstrates that you cannot impose designs through a top-down approach, and that it is hazardous to ignore the context and particMonumento a la ipative processes involving local residents when Revolución Mexicana creating ­projects for the community. (Photo by Enrique Noriega) The AEP has certainly played a vital role in generating physical spaces, as well as opening up the conversation to help channel efforts and increase people’s awareness of public space. At the same time, the citizens have become more active and empowered by organizing themselves to protect public spaces, and block developments which jeopardize such amenities by their merely speculative or commercial nature. In 2015 an organized group of citizens, led by designers and architects, who were concerned about the construction of the Corredor Cultural Chapultepec (nicknamed Shopultepec by the scheme’s detractors), demanded a public consultation and filed a lawsuit to challenge the development, which was eventually blocked. The ­project

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Pedestrian crossing downtown Mexico City

6 This is one area in which the AEP has come up short. In 2013 it announced the creation of 154 new pocket parks, but only 25 had been created by 2018—the year the author­ ity ­ceased to exist. It is remarkable that, as of 2019, the local government still lacks a comprehensive list of the city’s pocket parks, although Congress has requested a register and a report on the maintenance programs in place.

Ecoducto Río de la Piedad

The Ecoducto Río de la Piedad’s construction was led by the Cuatro al Cubo citizen platform, which sought to increase people’s understand­ ing of the water resources in the Cuenca de México (Mexico’s closed hydrographic basin) through a systematic approach and various tactical urbanism strategies.

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would have given a private developer a 40-year concession to an area in the middle of a busy avenue, severing connections between adjacent neighborhoods, under the pretext of increasing local mobil­ ity, creating recreational spaces, and improving pedestrian safety. ­Although the need for an intervention in this area has been identified, this experience has shown that any plan must prioritize urban regeneration (instead of private interests), and ensure transparency in the decision-making process. A remarkable example of collective participation and the creation of new public space is the Ecoducto Río de la Piedad, a 1.6 km linear park on the central reservation of a stretch of road built over a ­concrete-encased river. Inaugurated in late 2017, this new public area was promoted by a series of activities including “Picnics on the ­River,” workshops and open discussion groups on participative design involving organizations, design experts, activists and local residents. Implemented in collaboration with the city authorities, the park offers a recreational space while also educating people about water culture and providing an environmental service to the city.7

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Parque La Mexicana—also opened towards the end of 2017— has been the most emblematic collaboration between the private sector, government and civil society in recent years. This 28-hectare space was created on the site of a former sand quarry, in an area which has now become one of the city’s fastest-growing residential and corporate real estate markets.8 This project required years of negotiations between local authorities, real estate developers (keen to urbanize the property for the construction of 5,000 homes), and local residents who opposed them. Eventually a public-private trust was set up, which enabled a park to be created on 70 % of the land, in exchange for leaving the remaining 30 % to be developed into a complex of luxury apartments.9 Almost two years later, La Mexicana has become one of Mexico City’s most attractive, inclusive and complete parks, ­offering a recreational space for the western part of the metropolis.

Parque La Mexicana

A C I T Y FO R C A R S

Mexico City and its greater metropolitan area have been designed to privilege the use of private cars. According to a report published in 2019 (IMCO), the number of vehicles in Mexico City increased from 2.6 to 11.4 million in less than three decades (1995–2017), while the average speed fell by a sixth, to 6.42 km/h during rush hour. This exponential increase in the number of vehicles—and the resulting road congestion—is partly a result of urban mobility (and housing) policies, which for decades have given priority to car use through the development of elevated road infrastructure, tunnels and expressways. Meanwhile public transport has remained an afterthought. ­Despite recent projects such as the tren suburbano, a new metro line, and the expansion of the system of dedicated public transport corridors, such as the Metrobus and Mexibus Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems, progress in this area is still insufficient. Much remains to be done to promote mixed-mode commuting, transport maintenance, new cycle paths, and the development of safe pedestrian infrastructure. Faced

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8 Santa Fe is a business and residential district which gives priority to car users, as well as real estate and business interests (there are no sidewalks or public transport networks). Construction on this former landfill site began in the mid-1980s, creating high-rise, high-end developments in sharp contrast to the severely marginalized nearby areas in the west of the city. 9 To date controversy still surrounds this deal, ­given the suspicious nature of the irregularities, as well as a lack of transparency in the agreements reached between the government and the real estate developers involved in the project.

10 In 2019 the CDMX government announced an investment initiative which should modernize the entire Mexico City metro network, in order to increase capacity and provide transportation to over six million passengers a day. 11 In 2007 Mexico City launched the Ciclovía project, a cycle path along the Paseo de la Reforma, in order to encourage the use of bicycles. ECOBICI, Latin America’s first bike-share scheme, was launched in 2010 with automated stations and 1,114 bicycles, and the system has grown gradually ever since. The current municipal government (2018–2024) recently ­announced the goal of having bicycles account for 3 % of all journeys in the city. It intends to achieve this by extending the cycle-path network to 600 km—an expansion of 215 % over this period—and increasing the number of ECOBICIS from 6,000 in 2018 to 10,000 by 2024. 12 Figures for abandoned housing in Mexico are equivocal: the official 2010 census ­(INEGI) reported five million abandoned ­homes across Mexico, approximately 35 to 40 % of which corresponded to workers who had defaulted on their mortgage loans; in 2015 another source (Estado Actual de la Vivienda en México) reported the much lower number of 200,000.

with a lack of alternatives, 74.1 % of the population (6.09 million people) are forced to use unsafe and low-capacity public transport in vehicles between 20 and 30 years old. Mexico City’s metro system, which once set a global standard, is now overstretched and on the verge of collapse. With 195 stations and a total length of 226.5 km, the metro transports 5.2 million people every day, and suffers from saturation, obsolescence, flooding and insecurity.10 The prioritization of mobility in private cars has proven to be ­expensive for citizens (whether they are car owners or not), who are forced to spend much of their day commuting: some stuck in their vehicles, ­others traveling in badly connected and/or poor-quality public transport. An equation which apparently results in direct benefits for road infrastructure developers, car dealerships and car manufacturers. Only 1.4 % of the overall journeys are made by bicycle. However, in some parts of the city this number has increased during the past ­decade; new infrastructure has been built11 and new bike-share systems introduced. Nevertheless, much work remains to be done in order to design solutions which can connect the network of cycle paths, and repair sections which have suffered as a result of fragmented and changing public policies. In general the initiatives have proven to be insufficient, although this is in proportion to the amount which has been invested. Despite some improvements in sustainable mobility, and in common with the contrast between the number of new public spaces versus the proliferation of shopping malls, these advances are negligible in comparison to the enormous investment in vehicular and elevated road infrastructure (mainly operated with tolls), which seeks to improve transit times for private vehicles, with questionable results.

(A)SOCIAL HOUSING

Since the year 2000 Mexico’s social housing policy has focused on developing large housing complexes, with a tendency towards constructions in the city’s outskirts. This trend has triggered a real estate boom, which has not factored in the real needs of potential occupants: access to services, transport, size, quality of materials, security, distance from workplaces and schools, etc. Within a decade many of these homes have already been abandoned, and this remains an ongoing problem.12 Analysis has revealed that this situation is mainly due to the high costs of commuting, as well as productivity loss. A series of initiatives carried out in 2015 to remodel and renovate these housing developments and their surrounding areas, seeking to

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put the homes back on the market, also proved to be largely unsuccessful. Instead of being a force for integration, Mexico’s current social housing model has tended to reinforce processes of expulsion, exclusion and precariousness for its inhabitants. In this regard, existing information reveals the need (and obligation) to link mobility and housing, because the further away people live from their workplaces, the more traffic increases, productivity drops, and quality of life deteriorates. We find the same result if we consider the multidimensionality of associated variables. In the words of architect Ortiz Flores (2008): “mass housing developments that disregard the city and its consequences, not only in financial terms but also in their effect on the land, environment, society, culture, and politics, are unable to contribute to the construction of ­inclusive, democratic, habitable, and sustainable cities.”

R A I N WAT E R : P R O B L E M O R S O LU T I O N ?

Water supply is a critical issue for the CDMX, since 70 % of this vital resource is extracted from an aquifer beneath the city, while the remaining 30 % needs to be brought in from other water resource regions (and pumped up to 2,400 meters above sea level). Over the course of the twentieth century, the city’s demographic explosion and sprawling growth entailed large-scale engineering projects for water supply and drainage. This also led to a radical change in the surroundings, the construction of culverts, and the substitution of watercourses by large avenues. Despite vast investments, estimates suggest that on a daily basis more than one million people suffer from a precarious water supply in Mexico City. The lack of an integral and regenerative approach to this resource places citizens at risk of water shortages and floods. This worsening situation raises doubts about the sustainability of a model in which rivers are polluted and encased in concrete, protected natural areas are cemented over, and the aquifer is over-exploited without ­receiving enough water to replenish it (which in turn causes subsidence in the city). Paradoxically, rainfall almost always poses more of a problem than a solution. The city is experiencing a water crisis, yet it does not seem to have implemented the necessary mechanisms to reverse this situation. In this regard academia, experts and citizens have organized important campaigns and projects to regenerate the Valley of Mexico’s hydrographic basin and rescue its rivers (of which only 45 remain as open watercourses). Over time the government has gradually (although

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i­ntermittently) supported some of these initiatives, and contributed ­towards creating a water culture. Some important recent projects in this area are changing how we relate to water, enabled by a creative and citizen-led innovation ecosystem. The aforementioned Parque Lineal Ecoducto, apart from generating 1.6 km of new public space, also incorporates a bioremediation system to recover wastewater from the covered-over Río de la Piedad; biodigesters and artificial wetlands are then used to treat and clean the water. Another major project is Isla Urbana and its rainwater harvesting system, which was designed for Mexican homes. Based on a people-­ centered approach and local needs, this initiative has been scalable: in collaboration with the city government a joint project has been launched to install, over the course of 2019, an individual system in 10,000 homes suffering from a severely precarious water supply.13 The goal is to install 100,000 systems by 2024, making this the world’s largest recorded rainwater harvesting program for single-family dwellings in urban areas. Other water-related initiatives include the use of gardens and permeable paving as highly effective ways of helping to recharge ­aquifers with rainfall and prevent flooding (Mexico City has an average annual precipitation of 700 mm). Located in residual spaces, as well as on sports pitches and sidewalks, these interventions are still limited. However they have set a precedent which, similarly to Isla Urbana, could (and should) have an impact on the design of public policies.14

N E W WAYS O F U N D E R STA N D I N G R E A L I T Y

The local and the everyday are the theater of life for human b ­ eings, but they are also the open construction site in which this theater is ­constantly rebuilt and adapted, and sometimes radically transformed. (Ezio Manzini, Politics of the Everyday)

The project has evolved and adapted to ­ ifferent urban and rural contexts since it d ­began in 2009. It also includes training courses and methodologies focused on ­helping people adopt the technology. The harvesting system provides enough water ­for six to eight months in urban areas, and ­sometimes even all year round in rural zones. 14 An estimated 80 % of the rainwater which falls in the CDMX ends up evaporating or entering the drainage system; only 11 % infiltrates into the aquifers. 13

Our city is beset with design problems. It has been planned using a top-down, fragmented approach, and in a way that for decades has often overlooked the environment and the needs of the inhabitants by instead giving priority to private interests, which has in turn spawned new ­social problems. Its composition has been governed by the imposition of one-size-fits-all urban ideas, which have led to the development of gray infrastructure and pharaonic road projects that cause divisions instead of achieving their goal of making connections. Mexico City has been held hostage by the insatiable appetite of real-estate developers, and it suffers from a myriad of everyday problems: segregation, social

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f­ ragmentation, the destruction and disappearance of conservation land, the over-exploitation of aquifers, poorly conceived housing policies, a lack of services, traffic congestion and urban sprawl. The city is broken, there is no question about it. Therefore we must redefine our approach and avoid repeating past strategies that imposed unidirectional ­solutions to tackle these challenges. Faced with this situation academia and civil society are now playing a more central role, and this is gradually having an effect on public life and the government itself. Despite the city’s complexity and adverse conditions, or rather as a result of them, we have observed the appearance of a constellation of citizen-led, social and sustainable innovation initiatives which, although ostensibly low-profile and disconnected, have catalyzed some changes. Collective farms, parks and plazas of all sizes, sustainable mobility initiatives, rainwater harvesting systems, and public-private sports facilities are just some of the many projects which reveal new forms of organization and collective design, or what Ezio Manzini defines as “design intelligence” in order to benefit society. Within this context we should also mention the role of academic institutions in terms of the education of changemakers, such as CENTRO ­University’s Social Design Hub, which promotes new ways of understanding realities, training creative professionals to become more aware of people, contexts, and their potential to have a positive impact.15 Although the citizens of Mexico City are not yet close to ­becoming a collective, balanced and constant force, we have reason to believe that we are on the cusp of a gradual paradigm shift. The ways of thinking about—and making—the city are no longer being left ­exclusively in the hands of government authorities and expert planners. Citizens, authorities, academia and the private sector all have a shared responsibility to ­re­define and design (locally and on an everyday basis) a common urban project—one which is more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. A new project which avoids repeating the errors of the past, and proposes new ways of understanding and finding integral solutions to the real problems which we face today.

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CENTRO is a higher education institution focused on the professionalization of creativity, and located in a LEED Platinum Certified building. Its Social Design Hub supports ­people-centered, context-based, and sustain­ able research and design through cross-­ curricular, collaborative projects. In 2018 the Hub became Mexico’s first DESIS Lab ­(Design for Social Innovation and ­Sustainability), participating in the reflection and analysis of practices related to collaborative city-­making. As part of its research, and along with the Design Futures Program, it has devel­oped a collective working methodology which ­combines the right to the city with circular economy principles in order to explore possible and probable futures.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adler, D. “Do We Have a Right to the City?”, JACOBIN, 6 October 2015, https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/10/ ­mexico-city-df-right-to-the-city-harvey-gentrification-real-estate-corruption/ Almazán, J. “CDMX modernizará Metro con 40 mil mdp”. MILENIO, 9 September 2019, https://www.milenio.com/politica/ comunidad/metro-cdmx-modernizaran-stc-40-mil-mdp Altamirano, C. “Chapultepec, la avenida que divide a los ciudadanos de la capital mexicana”, El Pais América, 15 December 2015, https://elpais.com/internacional/2015/12/03/mexico/1449166999_552056.html Anduaga, E. (2017) El Derecho a la Ciudad en la Constitución de la Ciudad de México. Una propuesta de interpretación. Instituto de Investigaciones Parlamentarias, http://aldf.gob.mx/archivo-097a88fcf1c98a0290a78755a98128ec.pdf Autoridad del Espacio Público, www.aep.cdmx.gob Bello, A. “La CDMX extenderá la red de ciclovías y construirá biciestacionamientos”, Expansión, 26 April 2019, https://politica.expansion.mx/cdmx/2019/04/26/la-cdmx-extendera-la-red-de-ciclovias-y-construira-biciestacionamientos Bolaños, A. “Piden a Seduvi informe sobre los parques de bolsillo creados en la capital”, La Jornada, 4 July 2019, https://www.jornada.com.mx/2019/07/04/capital/033n1cap Centro de diseño, cine y television, http://www.centro.edu.mx Checa-Artasu, M. “Las áreas verdes en la Ciudad de México. Las diversas escalas de una geografía urbana”, Biblio 3W, Uni­versitat de Barcelona, vol. XXI, no. 1.159, 15 May 2016, http://www.ub.edu/geocrit/b3w-1159.pdf Ciudad de México (2017) Constitución Política de la Ciudad de México, http://www.infodf.org.mx/documentospdf/­ constitucion_cdmx/Constitucion_%20Politica_CDMX.pdf Consejo Nacional de Evaluación de la Política de Desarrollo Social (2018) Estudio Diagnóstico del derecho a la vivienda digna y decorosa, https://www.coneval.org.mx/Evaluacion/IEPSM/Documents/Derechos_Sociales/Estudio_Diag_Vivienda_2018.pdf Cuatro al Cubo, http://cuatroalcubo.com/ Dixon, S., Irshad, H., Pankrats, D.M., Bornstein, J. “The 2019 Deloitte City Mobility Index”, Deloitte Insights, 2019, https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/future-of-mobility/deloitte-urban-mobility-index-for-cities.html#endnote-sup-3 El Poder del Consumidor “Encuesta Origen-Destino 2017 revela los vacíos de las poíticas públicas en cuanto a movilidad y transporte en la zona metropolitana del Valle de México”, 22 February 2018, https://elpoderdelconsumidor.org/2018/02/­ la-encuesta-origen-destino-2017-revela-los-vacios-las-politicas-publicas-cuanto-movilidad-transporte-la-zonametropolitana-del-valle-mexico/ Flores, O. “10 conclusiones preliminares del transporte en la ZMVM”, Animal Político, 26 February 2018, https://www.animalpolitico.com/blogueros-ciudad-posible/2018/02/26/10-conclusiones-preliminares-del-transporte-la-zmvm/ García Morales, V. “La Ciudad de México pionera en el Derecho a la Ciudad: ¿dura lex, sed lex?”, Nexos, 19 July 2018, https://labrujula.nexos.com.mx/?p=1973 Hernandez, A. “A la Mexicana”, Arquine, 26 February 2018, https://www.arquine.com/a-la-mexicana/ IMCO (2019) El costo de la congestión, vida y recursos perdidos, https://imco.org.mx/wp-content/­uploads/2019/ 09/20190909_Costo-de-la-congestio%CC%81n-Presentacio%CC%81n-IMCO.pdf IMCO (2019) Indice de Movilidad Urbana: Barrios mejor conectados para ciudades más incluyentes, https://imco.org.mx/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/I%CC%81ndice-de-Movilidad-Urbana_Documento.pdf Infonavit “Atlas del Abandono de Vivienda”, 2015, https://infonavit.janium.net/janium/Documentos/67994.pdf Isla Urbana, www.islaurbana.org Lara, J.A., Estrada, G., Zentella, J.C., Guevara, A. “Los costos de la expansión urbana: aproximación a partir de un modelo de precios hedónicos en la Zona Metropolitana del Valle de México”, COLMEX, 2017, https://estudiosdemograficosyurbanos.colmex.mx/index.php/edu/article/view/1615/1672 Manzini, E. (2015). Design, When Everybody Designs (R. Coad, Trans.), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press Manzini, E. (2019). Politics of the Everyday (Designing in the Bad Times). Great Britain: Bloomsbury Moreno, M. “El espacio público de siglo XXI en la Ciudad de México”, Nexos, 10 May 2016, https://labrujula.nexos.com.mx/?p=810 Ortiz Flores, E. “Hacia ciudades incluyentes, democráticas, habitables y sustentables: papel de la producción social y la gestión participativa del hábitat y la vivienda”, 52do. Congreso Mundial de Planificación y Vivienda de la IFHP, October 2008, https://spp-pr.org/oct2012/old/images/documents/ifhp/plenarias/Hacia%20Ciudades%20incluyentes%20...%20Arq.%20 Enrique%20Ortiz.pdf Procuraduría Ambiental y ordenamiento territorial (PAOT) “Presente y futuro de las áreas verdes y del arbolado de la Ciudad de México”, December 2010, http://centro.paot.org.mx/documentos/paot/libro_areas_verdes.pdf Procuraduría Ambiental y ordenamiento territorial (PAOT) “El Suelo de Conservación del Distrito Federal”, n/d, http://www.paot.org.mx/centro/programas/suelo-corena.pdf SEMOVI “Movilidad en bicicleta 2019”, Gobierno de la Ciudad de México, Secretaría de Movildiad, 2019, https://semovi.cdmx.gob.mx/storage/app/media/Movilidad%20en%20Bicicleta%202019.pdf SAC “La Mexicana”, Gobierno de la Ciudad de México, SEDUVI, http://seduvi.proyectosurbanos.cdmx.gob.mx/cetram/ sac_la_mexicana.html Sosa, I., Velasco “Podrían jardines captar 70% de lluvia”, Reforma, 28 February 2019, https://www.reforma.com/aplicaciones/articulo/default.aspx?id=1620136 World Urban Parks, https://wup.imiscloud.com/

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“A human–made artifact is symbolic of the worldview held by the society in which it is created.” ( S . WA L K E R )

Nowadays, the desire to achieve sustainable development provides both the road map for the development of humanity, and the focal point of all global efforts. Within these policies, designers are also defining their way of contributing to the creation of more sustainable ways of living. Theories and frameworks are emerging around the globe in order to understand and identify the role of design and its approach towards achieving sustainable development. There are a number of solutions based on eco-efficiency principles. These are essentially based on the idea that our technological development can solve, among other issues, the problems of overconsumption of ­natural resources and waste management.

EC O - E F F I C I E N C Y FO R A S U STA I N A B L E F U T U R E 1 The first official definition of sustainable development can be found in the Our Common Future Report, also called the Brundtland ­Report after Harlem Brundtland, the report chairman who wrote in the introduction: “When the terms of reference of our Commission were originally discussed in 1982, there were those who wanted their considerations to be limited to ‘environmental issues’ only. This would have been a serious mistake. The environ­ment does not exist as a sphere ­separate from human actions, ambitions, and needs, and attempts to defend it in isolation from human concerns have given the very word ­“environment” a connotation of ­negativity in some political circles.” Brundtland, G.H. “Our Common Future”, Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, United Nations, 1987, p. 13.

As a starting point, the short story of design for ­sustainability can be made even shorter. In 1987, the Brundtland Commission ­emph­a­sized the need for a social as well as environmental approach to ­sustainable development, where an inseparable link unites the protection of the environment and natural resources with the needs and ­priorities of humanity. The authors concluded that a redefinition of economic growth was necessary, taking into consideration social and environmental factors.1 In 1992, the urgent need to adopt more forceful international measures to protect the environment led to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development known as the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This conference established a new framework for international agreements on the environment, with

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the aim of protecting its integrity at a global level. The Rio Declaration and Agenda 21 proposed a global consensus on cooperation in the area of sustainable development and the environment. At the Earth Summit, Professor M. Munasinghe presented his work entitled Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development2, in which he proposed a triangular model of sustainable development. According to Munasinghe, sustainable development required a balance and an integrative analysis between economic, social and environmental aspects. This idea was developed and made more popular by the economist John Elkington in his book Cannibals with Forks3, in which he defined a tool for measuring the performance of companies, expressed not only in terms of the economic dimension (bottom line), but also in terms of social and environmental dimensions, i.e. the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). This tool aims to maximize the economic gain and environmental responsibility of companies, while minimizing or eliminating environmental damage. This is accomplished through the social responsibility of the company, aimed at anyone who is directly or indirectly influenced by its actions. The popularization of the triangular model of sustainable development witnessed the emergence of the concept of eco-efficiency. This was found to be highly appropriate for global and national politics that sought to tackle the environmental crises while advocating for unlimited economic growth. This is because, in theory, the eco-efficiency approach adds more value to goods and services by reducing the use of ­resources and decreasing the level of environmental pollution. Thus, the concept of eco-efficiency, or the idea of producing “more using less” in order to satisfy the needs of all without overexploiting natural resources, became a paradigm. The term was launched by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)4 in the 2000s with the argument that, from an economic point of view, the ecological awareness expressed in the idea of eco-efficiency represented a viable opportunity on the road to sustainable development. The WBCSD ­argued that eco-efficiency allows a company to increase its economic benefits through the development of methods that reduce environmental impacts. The concept of eco-efficiency was touted as a new business model for the private sector which could be used to implement the recommendations of Agenda 21. Since then, the idea of ecological efficiency in the processes of production and selection of materials has prevailed in the discourse on environmental responsibility within design and industry. The famous concept of the three Rs, reduce, reuse and recycle, is an example of how popular eco-efficiency has become among designers who are trying to reduce the consumption of natural resources and energy use. In the end this concept expresses the ­preference for

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2 Munasinghe, M. “Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development”, World Bank Environmental Papers, no. 3., 1993 ³ Elkington, J. (1998) Cannibals with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business (The Conscientious Commerce Series), Gabriola Island, BC ; Stony Creek, CT: New Society Publishers. 4 Lehni, M. (2000). Eco-Efficiency. Creating More Value with Less Impact. Geneva, Switzerland : WBCSD

Cooper, T. “Beyond recycling: The longer life option”, The New Economics Foundation, no. 1–22, November 1994, p. 9. 6 Carbon Dioxide emissions in 1970: 14788798.3 kt, and in 2010: 33516380 kt. Source: The World Bank (2016, January 05); retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/ indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.KT 7 World Wide Fund For Nature (2012). Living Planet Report, Environmental Conservation, vol. 26. 8 World Wide Fund For Nature (2012) Living Planet Report, Environmental Conservation, vol. 26. 5

recycled materials, and thus the reduction of waste. The ideas of recycling and ecological responsibility, based on eco-efficiency and ­recycling, have been embraced and promoted by the business world. International corporations have recognized the validity of the triangular model of sustainable development. Since 1999, we have seen the emergence of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) which was the first global benchmark for monitoring the financial performance of large publicly traded companies that embrace the concept of sustainability, based on an analysis of economic, environmental and social ­factors. Its objective is to evaluate the performance of the 2,500 ­largest companies listed on the Dow Jones Global Index in order to identify leaders in sustainable development. By now the largest companies in the world have all adopted social and environmental responsibility policies. Some of these companies have developed their own sustainability evaluation criteria, while others follow the indicators provided by the DJSI and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Although the concept of eco-efficiency has been heavily promoted by the business world, it has not generated the expected environmental results. Indeed, as early as 1994 Tim Cooper5 indicated that the rate of plastic waste recycling was approximately one percent. The difficulty in separating different types of plastic raises the cost of recycled plastic above the cost of its raw materials. Tim Cooper’s evidence raises questions regarding the ability of recycling processes to serve as viable tools for the preservation of the environment. Instead, he advocates for solutions based on a change in consumption patterns and the durability of manufactured goods. In other words, there is evidence that the environmental benefits of technological improvements, which are core components of the eco-efficiency approach, have been overshadowed by a global increase in consumption. Carbon dioxide emissions continue to grow, both in absolute value and per capita. ­According to statistics from the World Bank, carbon dioxide emissions increased by 55.8 % between 1970 and 20106 while global biodiversity decreased by 30 % between 1970 and 2008 according to the Living Planet Index7. The growth of both global population and consumption are the two main causes of this loss. In its 2012 report, the World Wide Fund For Nature indicated that the demand for natural ­resources ­doubled between 1966 and 2010, and that humanity is ­using the ­equivalent of a planet and a half to develop its activities. It is e ­ stimated that in the year 2050, the equivalent of three planets will be needed to meet the demands of projected development. In addition, high-income countries have an ecological footprint five times greater than that of low-income countries8.

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Therefore, one cause for concern is the current lack of in-depth analyses of the true causes of unsustainability in the contemporary world. The most common approaches, i.e. the Triple Bottom Line and eco-efficiency solutions, do not question the idea of unlimited economic growth. Instead, these approaches assume that the ever increasing consumption of goods and services is the means by which further development occurs, rather than a problem which is undermining the entire global ecosystem that our economies depend on. It appears that collectively, designers are struggling with the fact that design is currently linked to ever increasing productivity, which it is now clear ­cannot form the basis of sustainable development. In the end, the current aim is to endlessly increase economic growth on a planet with finite resources, which simply does not make sense.

T H E LO ST M E A N I N G O F M AT E R I A L C U LT U R E

Recent decades have seen the emergence of various proposals for a design culture, design theory, and design approach. There is social design, activism design, design for social innovation, design for repair, design for disassembly, co-design, collaborative or participatory design, green design, meta-design, eco-design, slow design, design for emotional durability, humanitarian design, user-centered design, experience design, cross-cultural design, and gender design, to name but a few of these theories. All of these are defined design positions, although some have more developed methodologies, such as user-centered design, whilst others are more akin to statements of disapproval. All of these proposals can be linked to the three pillars of sustainable development. Nonetheless, some are more focused on environmental responsibility or the social impact of design, whilst others focus on the pursuit of economic viability. However, only a few of these proposals question the very raison d’être of the three-dimensional paradigm: economic viability of design, its contribution to social equity, and the ecological stability of production systems. In his book Design Activism, Fuad-Luke expands the definition of the Triple Bottom Line’s three pillars by adding one representing institutional policies and strategies in the middle9. In another publication10, ­Fuad-Luke organizes all current design approaches according to their relation with the actual paradigm. There are design approaches that function either within the paradigm, on the periphery, or outside of it. ­Fuad-Luke’s established hierarchy provides a clear understanding of the differences among the design approaches with respect to the core ­problem of unsustainable consumption patterns.

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9 Fuad-Luke, A. (2009) Design Activism: Beautiful Strangeness for a Sustainable World, London: Earthscan, p. 25. 10 Fuad-Luke, A. (2013) Design Activism: Challenging the Paradigm by Dissensus, Consensus, and Transitional Practices, in Walker, Stuart/Giard, Jacques/Walker, Helen (eds.) The Handbook of Design for Sustainability. London: Bloomsbury, pp. 466–487.

11 Critical Design is a proposal that emerged in the late nineties in the United Kingdom. The term was coined by the designer and professor at the Royal College of Art, Anthony Dunne, in his book Hertzian Tales. This book uses a ­fictional design scenario to question assumptions about the performance of technological objects in everyday life (Dunne, Anthony (2005) Hertzian Tales. Electronic Products, Aesthetic Experience, and Critical Design. Cambridge: MIT Press). 12 Speculative Design practices tend to focus on the social, economic, and political consequences of science and technology—­ particularly the ways in which design activities ­domesticate new technologies into the ­quotidian experiences of everyday life (Dunne, A./Raby, F. (2014) Speculative Everything: ­Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. ­Cambridge. MA: MIT Press; Tharp, B./Tharp, S. (2019) Discursive Design: Critical, Speculative, and Alternative Things. Cambridge. MA: MIT Press). Stuart Walker described this design method as objects that show “what they really are and what they actually do. […] They invite the viewer to see ubiquitous technological products from a fresh angle, and in so doing to reflect upon them and their effects, as a precursor to building a more benign, more empathetic notion of material culture”. Those are the objects that based on critical inquiry and creative practice are meant to inform additional practice and further inquiry (Walker, S. (2014) Designing Sustainability. Making radical changes in a material world, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group London and New York, p. 42). 13 Radical Design is a historical discursive design movement, formed in Italy between the 1960s and 1970s, linked to Archizoom Associati or Memphis groups. Originally, it also focused on social, political and cultural issues through the creation of utopian projects in order to reposition the meaning of Modernism and question consumerism (Fuad-Luke, Alastair (2009) Design Activism: Beautiful Strangeness for a Sustainable World. London: Earthscan, p. 209.) More recently, Walker uses this term when presenting his speculative or unmasked objects, stressing its role in questioning the current socio-economic paradigm and associated aesthetics. 14 Walker, S. (2006) Sustainable by Design. ­Explorations in the Theory and Practice. ­London: Earthscan, pp. 131–136. 15 Walker, S. (2006) Sustainable by Design. ­Explorations in the Theory and Practice. ­London: Earthscan, p. 173.

At the first level are the less radical actions that operate within the existing paradigm, which are centered on social capital and ­represented by proposals such as co-design, social design, participative design, design for repair, or user-centered design. Here, we understand social capital as the connections between and within social groups that encourage citizen participation, generate trust, create mutual support, establish standards, contribute to community health and facilitate individual or collective reciprocal actions. At a second level there are the initiatives which do not completely conform to the existing paradigm. These design methods tend to concentrate on human capital, and include slow design, eco-design, gender design and design for social innovation. With these methods, human capital is the physical, intellectual, and emotional abilities of each person. What is really interesting from the behavioral point of view of design is that there is a third level that is external to the current paradigm, known as discursive design. This is characterized by a set of activities that aim to inspire reflection upon substantive socio-cultural discourses, as opposed to utility or aesthetics. These include approaches such as critical design11, speculative design12 or radical design13 whose proposals focus on the redefinition of our well-being and are clearly disconnected from the current economic system. These movements question our social, economic and cultural structures and systems, with the aim of challenging traditional public perception of them. Their main function is to question the established way of producing, using and disposing of objects, while promoting alternative paths towards well-being. For example, the “unmasked objects” designed by Walker14 question our current aesthetics through the prism of sustainability. These are artifacts designed from local materials with crafted elements that reflect the characteristics of the culture, mixed with industrially produced components that are reused and re-contextualized by the designer. These objects are not economically viable, but they question the profound preference that we have for shiny, brand new and completely incomprehensible electronics such as our mobile phones or tablets. The other example are “ephemeral objects”, of which the best one is a Potato Candlestick: three forks stuck into a half potato to fulfill the function of a candle holder. It is “assembled quickly from common items found in the home, used, and then disassembled”15. This item works and fulfills the desired functions, but it challenges our aesthetics, our idea of acquired goods, and even the role of a designer in the achievement of sustainable consumption patterns. In other words, as designers, we could be missing the counterproposal to the omnipresent Triple Bottom Line. The option I would

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choose is the Quadruple Bottom Line of Sustainability (QBL)16 formulated by Walker, where he defines the four elements that make up the definition of material culture: practical meaning, social meaning, personal meaning, and economic means. It focuses on a sustainable material culture as opposed to the wider and more general concept of sustainable development, and can therefore be much more useful for designers. The practical meaning of material culture is defined as ­basic needs, divided into the areas of food, housing, clothing and healthy living which justify concern for the environment. The social meaning refers to ethical values such as a broad sense of justice, peace, compassion and charity. This meaning can also be linked to concepts such as democracy, civil rights and human rights. The personal meaning of material culture responds to higher needs, related to the spiritual and transcendent part of human nature, but not necessarily to religion or faith. This meaning focuses on simplicity, integrity, introspection, truth, self-knowledge and freedom of thought. Therefore, the personal meaning is a platform for one’s sense of self. Contrary to the Elkington model, in which the economy represents the third pillar of sustainable development (together with the social and environmental ones), in QBL economic considerations play a different role. They are a “pragmatic membrane” that allows interrelation between the meanings. Economic issues are not an objective ­themselves, but are considered a useful means for achieving the QBL. The “third level approaches” and theoretical proposal of the ­Quadruple Bottom Line demonstrate that the counter-narrative proposes a more behavioral approach to design and sustainability in which the relation between the user and the object is analyzed from an emotional point of view. In this approach, the consideration of ethical values is reflected in the form of the object; and enabling, challenging and searching for meaning are all important. In this context, there is a place within the design framework for objects that are not primarily focused on functional eco-efficiency or the Triple Bottom Line.

A VO I C E O F R E F L EC T I O N A N D P R OV O C AT I O N

The rapid development of technology and the race for continuous economic growth in a society immersed in consumption is causing a continuous trivialization of our material culture. Design understood only as a problem-solving activity does not allow for a deepening of the ­intrinsic value of the artifacts. That is, their ability to encourage reflection and internal growth in the users.

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16 Walker, S. (2011) The Spirit of Design. Objects, Environment and Meaning. New York: Routledge, pp. 125–141.

Intrinsic value refers to the intimate and the essential. This value encompasses the spiritual concerns of the individuals involved in the life of the object, making reference to the subjective cultural aspects and the local contextualization of the object. It takes into account the worldview that influences individuals (designers, consumers and producers) involved in the design process as well as the definition of the value proposal and the form of the artifact17. Put simply, we can talk about the intrinsic value of design if the object you have in your hand and the knowledge you have about the way it was produced, the way it is used as well as how it can be disposed do not cause ethical discomfort. This is even truer if the object makes you feel like you are doing something good. Intrinsic value in design can be defined as a question focused activity where objects also serve as a symbolic platform for human dimensions and represent the meaning and worldview of the individuals. Due to the unsatisfying results of design approaches based purely on eco-efficiency, past decades have seen increased interest in alternative approaches to the design of material objects. This may be driven by a reflexive response to the increasingly narrow set of objectives associated with user-centered design, which primarily serves to increase ­consumption rates. This movement may also be propelled by the profound and human search for meaning in our artifacts or it could be caused by a very human need to protest. Whatever the reasons, “third level approaches” of discursive design are becoming an important part of a current panorama of design methods.

O B J EC TS O F D I S C O M FO RT

17 Ulicka, S. (2017) Cultura material sostenible y los valores en el proceso de diseño (Doctoral dissertation), p. 92, http://hdl.handle.net/2445/117583

It is becoming ever more apparent that we need to completely re-evaluate the way we think and talk about design, and that there is a need to assign a profoundly new meaning to our material culture: that is, sustainability. The question is how can we get there? What is the method, what are the tools? What shall we study? What shall we teach? These are common questions in the design community and as we have seen, there is a whole range of design approaches that are ­attempting to find the answers. During the past seven years of my collaboration with design students in Mexico, we were able to develop a project which helped us make the current design paradigm evident, and that obliged us to analyze the context. Originally it was designed as a short exercise for theoretical courses dedicated to design, which was usually presented at the end of a semester. The results provoked an intense discussion between my

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students and some new points of view emerged regarding the social and environmental problems of Mexico. Thus, throughout the years this project has evolved as an unofficial collection of critiques made by my students with reference to their own context. These critiques are based on their ethical considerations, their doubts about the role of design, and certain statistics from Mexico, all presented as an artifact. Radical design, critical design and speculative design: these ­design forms combine theoretical inquiry with the creative design process. This combination gives these forms strength as an educational exercise on the one hand, and a critique of unsustainable culture on the other. With our project, one more approach has been added to the list which is the Mexican version called objetos incomodos (objects of discomfort). This approach is a critical inquiry which results in expressive artifacts which have neither a commercial nor pragmatic nature. These objects pay tribute to the many diverse forms of design whilst also ­offering some additional features: O They are radical because they confront the current paradigm in a provocative way by challenging social norms, cultural heritage, aesthetics and the perception of beauty. O They are critical of current patterns of consumption, new technologies, and the social, cultural, and environmental consequences of these. O They are speculative, since they contemplate scenarios18 of possible, though not preferable, futures. O They are the result of design-based practice and are completely based in the context of Mexican cities or Mexico as a whole. O They play with the absurd and the irrational in order to provoke a discussion. O They use the basic language of product design in order to challenge the current user’s perspective. O In the end, they are “uncomfortable” because they cause discomfort to the spectator by making them reflect on the current state of art. We cannot talk about sustainable design without questioning the status quo. However, to do so we need to fully understand the context we are working in as designers. Nowadays, with increasingly faster ways of working, young designers can easily misunderstand their surroundings and lose the links between the elements that comprise the cultural system of a society. As designers though, it is crucial to be able to see the whole picture and at the same time notice the small details, cherish them, understand their background and translate them into the new material culture.

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18 Scenario is a set of circumstances or constraints that occur when a person interacts with a system. Creating scenarios helps designers to not only analyze the user’s experience, but to speculate on future eventualities and are thus used as a common tool in discursive modes of design.

Four selected objetos incomodos are presented below. The ­remainder can be found at objetosincomodos.com. All of these objects were proposed by my students, who usually worked in pairs or groups of three. I did not have my students work individually, because without someone to discuss ideas with, the project does not evolve. The students also compiled information about each subject from their preferred sources. I have edited these descriptions in order to ­explain the context to non-Mexican readers.

SAN+TERÍA Ana Karen Noriega & Marianne Carrasco ITESM Campus Puebla Course: Theories in Design 2015

19 Márquez, G. “Iglesia, Historia y Sociedad. El origen de los santos patronos”, Libre por Convicción Independiente de Hidalgo, 6 October 2011, https://www.elindependientedehidalgo.com.mx/ hemeroteca/2011/10/34889

In Latin America, the cult of the patron saint was synonymous with spiritual, social, political and economic domination, because it implanted a pattern of dominant values so that the indigenous towns were integrated into the hegemony of the Hispanic Crown. The patron saint’s influence is a result of the missionary work of the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians. Today, no one would dare doubt the vitality that the patron saints still have in Mexico. This is one of the foundations of current Catholicism in the country19. In 2013, over 79 % of Mexicans declared themselves Catholic. Although the Catholic Church prohibits the worship of unrecognized

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saints, it is estimated that around five million Mexicans venerate Santa Muerte for the amount of miracles and favors received20. As the students concluded, some of the saints are treated as if they could replace medical treatments or the effort of maintaining a healthy lifestyle ­(San Juan Bautista). San Antonio influences dating success and finding a husband21, whilst San Malverde is a kind of Mexican Robin Hood who can assist with issues of violence. This project examines Mexicans’ strong belief that their lives are controlled and influenced by saints, and that a prayer could be a remedy for any kind of failure. It discusses the widespread belief that your fate does not really depend on you and how this creates a “transfer of responsibilities” where an individual does not feel they have the power to change anything and thus does not really feel responsible. It is a very individual-based critique of a very personal concern. The “blind faith” is deeply rooted in the culture of Mexico and that is why this project is such a powerful provocation of a common practice.

20 Milenio “12 millones rinden culto a la Santa Muerte en América”, Vanguardia, 8 August 2014, https://vanguardia.com.mx/ 12millonesrindencultoalasantamuerteenamerica-

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21 Reyes, N. “Tres nalgadas a San Antonio para encontrar pareja”, El Universal, 13 June 2019, https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/ mochilazo-en-el-tiempo/tres-nalgadas-sanantonio-para-encontrar-pareja

HUGO: THE HUGGING PILLOW Valeria Alanís Valois & Ma. Alejandra Sarmiento Casas ITESM Campus Puebla Course: Theories in Design 2015 This is a project about social isolation due to the excessive use of new communication technologies. A Facebook survey found that the first thing 80 % of young cell phone owners do before getting out of bed in the morning is check their phone. Research conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International indicated that 42 % of young cellphone users (18 to 29 year old) said their partners had been distracted by their phones, and 18 % had argued over the amount of time their partner was spending online. On average we receive 1 message every 7 minutes, and the average user checks their device 110 times a day22. However, the students did not find these exact statistics in ­Mexican smartphone users. We know that in Latin America in 2014, 109.5 million smartphones were sold.23 In Mexico, more than one smartphone was sold per second during 201524. It has been stated that in Mexico, which has over 119,530,000 citizens, there are ­approximately 122,800,000 active cellular numbers. That means there are more phones in ­Mexico

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22 Chonchuir, S. “Always turned on: the negative impact technology has on relationships”, Irish Examiner, 4 May 2014, https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ healthandlife/relationships/alwaysturned-on-the-negative-impact-technologyhas-on-relationships-267185.html 23 Álvarez, R. “Un crecimiento imparable de smartphones en México reporta 52.6 millones de dispositivos en 2014”, Xataka, 21 February 2015, https://www.xataka.com.mx/ celulares-y-smartphones/un-crecimientoimparable-de-smartphones-en-mexicoreporta-52-6-millones-de-dispositivos-en-2014 24 Hernández, A. “Se vende un smartphone por segundo. datos a 2015 en México”, Excelsior, 17 December 2015, https://www.excelsior.com. mx/hacker/2016/02/17/1075686

than people, and on average we are interrupted every 7 minutes. Therefore, the ability to concentrate is compromised and inter-human ­relations have moved from physical surroundings to virtual ones. As the students observed, in doing so we are losing opportunities for simple physical contact such as a hug. Thus, the object they designed for this project is a pillow with arms. That is, a pillow you can use while still checking your phone. The project questions our current social behavior and it does so through the basic product design language. Furthermore, it challenges the user-centered design paradigm that is focused on solving a user’s problems without questioning the cause of the problem.

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CASA DE CAMPAÑA Julian Tapia & Gerardo Peláez ITESM Campus Puebla Course: Futurology in Design 2018 This is a tent made of materials from the ads of political campaigns for the 2018 presidential election in Mexico. As the students describe it, using the selected materials for the design allows for “reducing” the amount of waste generated by political campaigns and “helps” those in need after the earthquake of September 7th 2018, through the “reusing” of materials.

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25 Aristegui Noticias “En 2018, partidos ­recibirán del INE 6,788 millones de pesos”, 18 August 2017, https://aristeguinoticias. com/1808/mexico/en-2018-partidosrecibiran-­del-ine-6788-millones-de-pesos/ 26 Político MX “Dinero asignado a partidos en 2017 es casi la mitad del Fonden”, 26 September 2017, https://politico.mx/central-electoral/ elecciones-2018/dinero-asignado-partidosen-2017-es-casi-la-mitad-del-fonden/ 27 Hernández, L. “Campañas políticas dejan basura para 80 años en la CDMX”, Excelsior, 29 June 2018, https://www.excelsior.com.mx/ comunidad/campanas-politicas-dejan-basurapara-80-anos-en-la-cdmx/1248863 28 Villegas, P “Mexico Earthquake, Strongest in a Century, Kills Dozens”, The New York Times, 8 September 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/ 2017/09/08/world/americas/mexicoearthquake.html 29 Nájar, A. “Sismo 2017 en México”, BBC News Mundo, 19 September 2018, https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-americalatina-45544734

In 2018 alone, the political parties in Mexico spent over 6,788,000,000 MXN25 which they received from public funds for their ­ordinary and campaign expenses. This is the equivalent of 317,105,292 EUR, while the minimum salary in Mexico in 2017 was about 99 EUR per month. This money was spent on over 12,000,000 billboards (mostly made of plastic sheeting), flyers, internet advertisements, promotional jackets, shirts, caps and lunch boxes, musical bands, and other entertainment events such as wrestling shows.26 In 2012, the waste generated as a result of campaign expenditures was estimated to be around 177,000 tons. In 2015 total campaign waste was estimated at 42,500 tons, while in 2018 the number was about 17,000 tons27. The 7th of September 2018 witnessed one of the largest earthquakes in the history of Mexico with a magnitude of 8.2, which resulted in thousands of people losing their homes, schools and belongings,28 and at least 369 people losing their lives29. After the earthquake, there was a civic proposal for the parties to help with the reconstruction of the most damaged states (Chiapas and Oaxaca) by donating approximately 20 % of their campaign budget. The answer was that it was not possible because it would be a “diversion of resources” (Ana Lilia Herrera, PRI) or that the “law does not permit it” (Angélica de la Peña, PRD). Most of the money received by the parties is spent on advertising, where the estimated amount of waste created is 2,500 tons. Having ana­lyzed and presented the absurd and unequal extent of this expenditure, the students decided to design the “Casa de Campaña”, a tent made of posters from the campaign. It is worth noting that in Spanish, “casa de campana” is a play on words; on the one hand it literally means a tent, and on the other, the house where the campaign is performed. Is this project an absurd proposal? Possibly, but it questions the very essence of the Mexican democracy and puts forward the idea of recycling or reusing as a response to overconsumption. The project was regarded as a provocative and controversial proposal which initiated a discussion about the public funding of political parties. In the end, this was the most important purpose of the project.

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COUNTER SPRAY Rodolfo Tornero & Gerardo Bejarano ITESM Campus Puebla Course: Futurology in Design 2019 Femicide is a term for gender-based hate crime, broadly defined as the intentional killing of women or girls because they are females. On average, 7 women are murdered in Mexico every 24 hours. The Director of the UN Agency for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women in Mexico has reported that femicide violence manifests itself in the context of a continuous aggression that is practiced against women ­every day in a systematic way in both public and private spaces.30 In 2018 alone there were at least 834 officially recorded cases of femicide. Femicide in Mexico increased by 104 % within three years ­between 2015 and 2018. During the same period, female murders that are not counted as femicides, because they do not have an explicit ­gender component, grew by over 50 %, amounting to 2,746 female ­murders in 2018 alone.31 The law in Mexico states that a murder can only qualify as a femi­cide under the following conditions: the victim shows signs of sexual violence; has been inflicted with degrading injuries or mutilations; there is a background or record of any type of violence against the ­victim; data exists that establishes there were threats related to the criminal act, harassment, or injury; the victim has been held in isolation; or the body of the victim is exposed or displayed in a public place. No matter how brutal the violence against women is, the law in the state of Puebla dictates that the use of gas or pepper spray incurs the crime of carrying a prohibited weapon and is punishable by arrest.32 Therefore, the only legal way to protect yourself as a woman is to fight the attacker with your bare hands, which due to the physical condition of women, is a losing battle. Essentially, in order to legally defend yourself as a woman you first need to be bitten or injured. For this reason, the students proposed a spray bottle for their project that will make you bleed before you can use it.

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30 Villa y Caña, P. “ONU: en México se cometen siete feminicidios al día”, El Universal, 30 April 2019, https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/ seguridad/onu-en-mexico-se-cometen-sietefeminicidios-al-dia 31 Milenio “2 víctimas cada día; entidades con más feminicidios en 2018”, 20 May 2019, https://www.milenio.com/mileniotv/policia/ 834-feminicidios-en-mexico-en-2018 32 Rodríguez, D. “¿Es legal que las mujeres mexicanas usen gas pimienta para protegerse de un ataque?”, EL PAÍS, 11 April 2019, https://verne.elpais.com/verne/2018/03/23/ mexico/1521841565_605654.html

S O, S H O U L D W E ST I L L D I S C U S S T H E R O L E O F D E S I G N I N S U STA I N A B L E D E V E LO P M E N T ?

In general terms, a bright future for mankind is somewhat questionable. Although much is said on a global level and some things are done, the statistics are not optimistic. However, at least since the publication of the Limits to Growth Report in 197233, we have known of the dangers and bleak prognosis for the Earth’s future if the current patterns of resource exploitation and population growth are maintained. There is no global master plan for a transition to sustainable patterns of consumption and development. Moreover, in day-to-day practice, any discourse about design and sustainability usually ends in a difficult and uncomfortable discussion about global issues, which are often hard to grasp and complex to localize and apply. More often than not, the conclusion arrived at is that this is a matter of politics, education, or in very general terms, ­culture. Our Western material culture, disconnected from the principles of sustainable development, is lacking a broad perspective regarding the links between the various elements within the system of consumption. These gaps allow us to ignore the relationship between patterns of consumption and their consequences. Is such a broad problem an issue of design? I firmly believe that it is. In the end, our designs are expressions and testimonials of our world­view, of how we think about the world and what we value in it. I hope that the new generation of designers will use the power of provo­cation and protest. In particular, the discursive and developmental phases of design must be continued and used in the process of paradigm change. We need these counter-narratives for a current paradigm of consumption if we wish to survive as a civilization.

33 Meadows, Donella H. et al. (1972) Limits to Growth. A report for The Club of Rome’s ­Project on the Predicament of Mankind. New York: Universe Books.

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Biographies

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Contributors

S I G R I D B Ü R ST M AY R

Sigrid Bürstmayr, Mag. (FH), M.A., works and teaches at the FH JOANNEUM—University of Applied Sciences in Graz, Austria. Her professional interests and skills include product management, exhibition design, sustainable design and design activism. She has presented the results of her research at several conferences and universities, ­including recently in Seoul, Montreal, Wuhan, Istanbul and Mexico City. Sigrid’s meetings with designers, activists, creative people and managers around the world keep her quite optimistic. Everywhere you go, creative people are discussing the same question: How can we change the world? Sigrid believes that design should be able to shape whole environments and processes, including ways of thinking and acting. According to her, designers should try to change society and the world for the better, at least a little bit.

K A R L STO C K E R

Karl Stocker, Ph.D., is a historian and the head of the Institute of Design & Communication at the FH JOANNEUM—University of Applied Sciences in Graz, Austria. In 1989 he founded the exhibition design agency BISDATO, which produces concepts, content and spatial design for cultural-historical exhibitions and museums. His professional and academic interests include design & theory, design & society, ­exhibition design and socio design. He has presented the ­results of his research at several conferences, symposia and universities around the world. Karl Stocker is the author and publisher of numerous publications; his most recent project was Socio-Design. ­Relevant Projects: Designed for Society (Birkhäuser 2017).

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B U R Ç I N C E M A R A B AC I O Ğ LU

Burçin Cem Arabacıoğlu is an architect and a professor at the Department of Interior Architecture of the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul, where he has been a faculty member since 2002. He completed his PhD in the Interior Architecture Program, and his under­ graduate studies in the Architecture Program at Mimar Sinan University. His research interests lie in the area of digital architecture and design, and range from interactive space design with smart buildings, to spatial analysis with a focus on improving design quality. In ­recent years he has focused on better performance analysis techniques for ­interior design and architecture education with the help of digital media. Burçin has served on international review boards, as well as the editorial boards of university journals. He has also served as the editorial secretary of Tasarım+Kuram, the journal of the Faculty of Architecture at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. He is currently the Interior Design Studio Educational Coordinator, as well as a member of the Academic Evaluation and Quality Development Commission and ­Quality Assurance Commission at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. Burçin is the recipient of several awards from national and international professional architectural competitions, as well as the ­“YTONG Award of Merit” for his undergraduate academic performance.

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T H E B R E AT H E . E A RT H .C O L L EC T I V E

The breathe.earth.collective works in a transdisciplinary way, with a focus on non-hierarchical networking in order to complete highly complex tasks with designers and specialists across the boundaries of disciplines. In addition to collaborating in the breathe.earth.collective, all of the team members carry out individual practices in different fields, and on different scales. We formed the breathe.earth.collective in order to research and generate solutions for how to unite the constructed environment with the concept of nature. For this reason we intend to explore new issues in order to deal with the globally vital nourishment of the air and climate. The collective includes: Karlheinz Boiger, Hohensinn Architektur, Graz Lisa Maria Enzenhofer, ecosphere institute, Graz, Linz Andreas Goritschnig, Studio AG, Graz Markus Jeschaunig, Agency in Biosphere, Graz Bernhard König, ecosphere institute, Graz

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AYŞ E N C I R AVO Ğ LU

Ayşen Ciravoğlu completed her bachelor’s degree at the Faculty of Architecture of Yıldız Technical University in 1998. She finished her master’s degree in 2001, and graduated from the Building Science Programme of the Institute of Science at Istanbul Technical University, with a thesis entitled “On Workshop-Studio Coherence in Architectural Design Education”. In 2006 she completed a PhD in the Building Planning and Research Programme of the Institute of Science at Yıldız ­T­echnical University with her research entitled “An Alternative ­Approach Towards the Idea of Sustainability and Architecture Interaction: Impact of ‘Place’ on Environmental Awareness”. At the moment Ayşen Ciravoğlu is working at YTU as an Associate Professor for Education and Research of Architectural Design Theories and Methods. She is currently tutoring architectural studios of several levels, as well as conducting courses on building theories and sustainable architecture for both graduate and undergraduate programs. In 2002 Ayşen Ciravoğlu won an EAAE (European Association for Architectural Education) Prize for her article entitled “On Formal and Informal Studies in Architectural Design Education”. She is currently on the editorial boards of both the Mimarlık and mimar.ist journals issued by the Chamber of Architects of Turkey. She has also been a ­member of the executive boards of MIMED (Association for Architectural Education), MIV (Foundation of Architecture), the Istanbul Branch of the Chamber of Architects of Turkey, and ICUS (International ­Centre for Urban Studies). Nationally and internationally Ayşen ­Ciravoğlu ­organizes and takes part in many formal and informal ­activities ­concerning architecture, design and cities. Her publications mainly ­focus on ­architectural education, sustainable architecture, ­architectural design, ­environmental issues, and architectural critiques.

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PAU L I N A C O R N E J O M O R E N O VA L L E

Paulina Cornejo Moreno Valle completed a BA in Art History at the Universidad de Barcelona, and an MA in Design Studies at ­CENTRO University. Since 2014 she has been the head of CENTRO’s Social ­Design Hub, a cross-cutting area of the university which focuses on the creation of added social value through design. Paulina Cornejo Moreno Valle is the author and editor of “Unfolding: Education and Design for Social Innovation” (CENTRO, 2019), as well as the community building toolkit “100 Tácticas Creativas para la Seguridad Ciudadana” (National Crime Prevention Center, 2012). She is a university professor, a guest editor for specialist magazines, and the author of articles for diverse ­academic publications on the topics of public space and citizenship, community building, and design for social innovation.

PAU L D R AU S

Paul Draus is a sociologist and ethnographic researcher in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at the University of MichiganDearborn. From 1992 until 2000, Draus was a public health field worker specializing in tuberculosis control, first in New York City and then in Chicago. He earned his PhD from Loyola University Chicago in 2001, and he is the author of Consumed in the City: Observing Tuberculosis at Century’s End (Temple University Press, 2004), which was based on his dissertation research. Paul Draus has published extensively on health behaviors and social contexts related to substance abuse in both rural and urban areas. His most recent research focuses on the relationship between neighborhood landscape change, redevelopment strategies, and marginalized populations in Detroit. He began working on Detroit-based design projects in 2010, and has participated as a Detroit Design Core Partner since 2018.



Biographies

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Ç I Ğ D E M P O L ATO Ğ LU

Çiğdem Polatoğlu was born in 1964, and completed her initial post-secondary education at the Faculty of Architecture of Mimar Sinan University. She later started her academic career as a research assistant at the Department of Architecture of Yıldız Technical University. Çiğdem Polatoğlu completed her master’s degree at the Istanbul Technical University in 1987, and also received her PhD from the same university in 1994 with a thesis entitled “An Approach to New Building Designs in Historical Environments; A Method for Istanbul”. Çiğdem ­Polatoğlu has taught at the TU/e (The Netherlands), the Brno Technology University (Czech Republic), and the Università degli Studi di Firenze (Italy) on behalf of the LLP-Erasmus Teaching Staff Mobility program in 2007, 2008 and 2009. She was also a member of an ERASMUS ­Intensive Program which ran between 2010 and 2013, entitled “Cultural Layers of Public Space”. Çiğdem Polatoğlu is currently a full-time professor at the Yıldız Technical University. During her 33 years at the university she has ­performed numerous administrative duties, and published over 100 ­articles and papers. Between 2013 and 2019 she was a consultant for the ­Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, and coordinated the Istanbul Urban Design Guide project. Since 2017 she has been a consultant for the UNESCO City of Design Istanbul, and since 2018 she has also been the chair of INTBAU Turkey. In November 2017 she was appointed Head of the Architectural Department at Yıldız Technical University.

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S Y LW I A U L I C K A

Sylwia Ulicka is a designer, researcher and lecturer with international work experience, specializing in product design for sustainability and material culture. She is a founder of culturamaterial.org, and a co-founder of the consulting company sector11.mx, the digital platform Parian.mx, and the non-profit young designers’ organization Cazuela.info. She is currently living and working in Puebla, Mexico. Sylwia Ulicka has lectured on the topics of sustainability, inno­ vation, design and creative industries at various symposiums and conferences in Mexico and Europe. She is focused on social impact projects, the development of strategies for design, and the definition of sustainable material culture. Her current work studies the behavioral values of design for sustainability, while envisioning the possibilities for neo-craft product design. She received her PhD in Design for Sustainability from the ­University of Barcelona, in Spain. Since 2012 she has been working at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, where she has been active in the departments of Architecture and Industrial Design, as well as Business and Management.

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Editors: Sigrid Bürstmayr and Karl Stocker, Institute of Design & Communication, FH JOANNEUM—University of Applied Sciences Graz, Austria Translation: Giulia Messeri and Tristan Jeffrey, IT-Prato Copy Editing: Giulia Messeri and Tristan Jeffrey, IT-Prato Proofreading: Giulia Messeri and Tristan Jeffrey, IT-Prato Cover and Graphic Design: Verena Michelitsch, US-New York Design Assistant: Wen Wang, US-New York Acquisitions Editor: David Marold, Birkhäuser Verlag, AT-Vienna Content and Production Editor: Angelika Gaal, Birkhäuser Verlag, AT-Vienna Printing: Gugler GmbH, AT-Melk

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020934141 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. All images by the author unless otherwise stated. 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. ISBN 978-3-0356-2198-3 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-0356-2203-4

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