Month: February 2013

Density in Madrid (3) Valdezarza

Valdezarza

Dens madrid-3- Valdezarza

2001: 104 dwellings per hectare

2013: 114 dwellings and 218 persons per hectare.

Valdezarza is a transition space separating the old slum of Tetuan from the detached residences to the west (Puerta de Hierro) and the northwest. The zone is crossed by the Sinesio Delgado Street (A-A-A, really an urban freeway with a buried section), separated from Tetuan by a corniche park (B), an open to the south towards the Dehesa de la Villa (C), one of the large western parks of Madrid. The barrio touches slightly the M30 beltway (D). Recent residential growth has been concentrated mainly around Valle de Mena street (E-E).

The area is far from homogeneous in morphological terms: to the east of Sinesio Delgado there is an older housing stock, with small housing blocks lacking generous separation spaces. To the west there is a predominant presence of housing compounds from the 1970s and 1980s, but the westernmost flanck already prefigurates an individual home landscape.

The most common range of dwelling area is 61 to 75 sq m

For a closer look, use google maps

Density in Madrid (2) Los Ángeles
An aerial view of Ciudad de los Angeles (source: planea madrid)

An aerial view of Ciudad de los Angeles, over the central park of the same name (source: planea madrid)

Dens madrid-2- Los Angeles

2001: 68 dwellings per hectare

2013: 72 dwellings, 166 people per hectare

Ciudad de Los Angeles is representative of the urban growth in southern Madrid during the boom economics of the 1960s and 1970s. The area grew due to employment in the automotive industries (A) and other industrial and military activities, taking advantage of its location by the trunk highway to Andalucia (B-B) and the presence of railways. More recently, the area has been subject to the presence of the M-40 orbital freeway (C-C). The central park (D) is the most relevant open space. The density of the Barrio is “artificially” low as compared to its built form, as the old industrial and military compounds, in many cases already vacant, are into the administrative boundary.

Recent growth has been testimonial as the area is not considered atractive on the metropolitan scene. The housing units have energy efficiency and material quality problems, so the area has been declared the first integral rehabilitation district in Madrid out of the historical core.

As earlier mentioned, density here can be misleading: not taking into acount the old industrial compounds, it would rise to some 120 dwellings per hectare, over that of Vigny- Musset in Grenoble sud (page 180 on Habitat-formes urbaines)

The most common dwelling size range in 2001 was 76 to 90 sq m.

Get a more detailed look at the area through google maps

Density in Madrid (1) Aravaca

This week the subject will be the density of the Madrid neighborhoods. The ones analyzed are scatered around the central city with diverse economic and social conditions, representing varying degrees of density. Housing density is taken from the 2001 housing census (in months the 2011 census will be available, but not yet…) and cadastral data for january 2013, and population density is taken from 2012 population counts (padrón de habitantes). The areas subject to study correspond to the administrative “barrios” of the municipality, which are not always the neighborhoods as felt by citizens.

Dens-Mad-0

The A6 freeway. Aravaca is to the right; on the background is central Madrid

The A6 freeway. Aravaca is to the right; on the background is central Madrid

Dens madrid-1-Aravaca

scale in meters

2001: 15 dwellings/ Hectare

2013: 27 dwellings, 44 persons per hectare

Aravaca is somehow defined by its recent evolution from an out-of-town area with some second homes from the beguining of the XXth century, due to its accesibility through the La Coruña road (today A6, A-A on the map) and the Castille road (C-C on the map), reinforced in the last decades by the M-40 orbital (B-B) and the upgrade of the rail line (H-H, with station on G); the Casa de Campo, a former royal hunting ground (F) also contributes to define the space. The original village (D) has some retail functions in a denser setting, but most the area is low density, and some landscape provisions, as green corridor around the Arroyo de Pozuelo (E) contribute.

In 2001 (last housing census) there was a density of 15 dwellings per hectare (or 6 per acre). Altough this is a different measurement, as here you have public spaces and sizeable freeways, this is the same density as that of Lotissement Cassino in Pessac (page 143 on Habitat-formes urbaines); as of 2013, according to cadastral data, this figure has risen to become closer to that of Cité-jardin du Chemin Vert, in Reims, according to page 126 of the same reference. According to the 2012 population counts, the 25.531 people living there meant 44 per hectare. It is one of the richest neighborhoods in Madrid, sharing border with Pozuelo de Alarcon, the municipality with the highest personal income in the region, and it is, due to its density and urban fabric, a paradise for cars…

The most common dwelling area range is over 180 sq m.

If you want to get a closer view, see the area on google maps.

Biblio (31) a dwelling per acre is 2,5 dwellings per hectare

biblio31-a

Sure, the title is a mere mathematical calculation, but it is relevant when you introduce three references with different measurement units. Three visions on the same problem, that of urban density, on two diferent spaces: France and the United States.

The first French study takes into acount 25 sites west of Paris as samples to introduce density conditions, from the individual house to the dense housing projects.It focuses on the built density, not the housing units density, but it provides an interesting view.

biblio 31-c

The second french study introduces a more developed measurement of different parameters, including the density in dwellings per hectareBiblio 31-b

The french study being more technical, the “visualizing density” project of the Lincoln Institute is a book by Julie Campoli and Alex S. MacLean with a more didactic vocation, which also has a serious background and rigurous development. In this case, you cannot download the full book, but the microsite has a lot of content and you cand download the first chapter if you register (free)

What to do on an acre (6)
Two euro- acres: upper image, Plaza de Platerías (A) and Plaza de la Quintana (B), lower image the New national Gallery in Berlin, close to the Sankt Matthaus church (C) and by the Postdamer Strasse (D)

Two euro- acres: upper image, Plaza de Platerías (A) and Plaza de la Quintana (B) in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and lower image the New national Gallery in Berlin, close to the Sankt Matthaus church (C) and by the Postdamer Strasse (D)

An acre can be an opened or a close surface, or something in between. The squares around the eastern flank of the Cathedral of Santiago are the result of a set of circunstances: a complex natural slope, the previous presence of a cemetery, the presence of monastic buildings… This makes for a set of spaces enclosed by strong institutions, which have grown in power throught time with a magnificent architecture, whose expresion has sometimes been baroque, and in other moments quite austere, with new proposals in the interiors like the fine project by BMJ for Casa da Conga.

Plaza de la Quintana from the North

Plaza de la Quintana from the North

In Berlin, on the other side, the combined surface of both Spanish squares is covered by … well, a square slab, supported on eight steel columns (the building has a larger basement, but it is scarcely visible from the outside, its presence resting on the upper part). The building, by the great master Mies Van der Rohe, is a space whose enclosure is defined first by the large slab itself, and also by a glass curtain on an inner position. There are no obstacles to view the outside and, for instance, Sankt Matthaus church, the Philarmonie or the Sony Plaza. When I visited the Galerie in 2011, it was empty but for a large cylindrical installation. The building is elegant in proportions, but so nude of ornament that any rust mark or any reminder of the complexity of reality is simply too apparent. Opose that to the Santiago squares, all with a granite which has suffered the passage of time. As in the case of the large ships carrying oil derricks, this a matter of a play of spaces and scale relations, in each case with a different result.

The Berlin Galerie as seen from Postdamer Strasse

The Berlin Galerie as seen from Postdamer Strasse

Platerías looking to the North

Platerías looking to the North

The Sankt Matthaus Church as seen from the Galerie

The Sankt Matthaus Church as seen from the Galerie

The outer skin of the Galerie. A clean architecture, with a slender yet imposing column... accompanied by an ashtray/bin (thank god, at least black)

The outer skin of the Galerie. A clean architecture, with a slender yet imposing column… accompanied by an ashtray/bin (thank god, at least black)

The northern part of Quintana

The northern part of Quintana

Your empty space to play with

Your empty space to play with

A view towards the east from Platerias

A view towards the east from Platerias

What to do on an acre (5)

The Chrysler Building, an image by David Shankbone on Wikipedia

The parcel on which the Chrysler Building sits is slightly under an acre. This building, the tallest in the world between 1930 and 1931, is one of the most interesting skyscrapers in New York. It was Chrysler corporation headquarters from 1930 up to the middle 1950s. It is the kind of building that can lead to long conversations among architects: they can think it is orgiastically decorative on a small structure (Le Corbusier and people like him), or that it is simply beautiful and elegant. As with all skyscrapers, it is more clearly visible from the distance; but as those built at that time, it has a wide base that gives an interesting transition to the street level.

The lot on which the Chrysler sits, on Lexington and 42nd street (the cadastral data of NYC reflect the lot with two different shapes, depending on the map you use)

The lot on which the Chrysler sits, on Lexington and 42nd street (the cadastral data of NYC reflect the lot with two different shapes, depending on the map you use)

What to do on an acre (4)
Callao Square and the adjacent Gran Via area measure a bit less than 5.000 sq m (over an acre, less than an hectare).

Callao Square and the adjacent Gran Via area measure a bit less than 5.000 sq m (over an acre, less than an hectare). The orange colored area corresponds to the part recently reclaimed for pedestrians.

For a time, Callao square in Madrid was included in the Guiness Book of Records as the most used sidewalk in the world. It is located at the confluence of the Gran Vía (E-E), the large avenue opened through central Madrid at the begining of the XXth century, and the Preciados (C) and Carmen (D) streets, two narrow links to the Puerta del Sol that were pedestrianised years ago and configure the clearest retail core of Madrid. The whole area is marked by architecture from the 1910s to the 1960s, with scenic elements in Edificio Capitol (A) and what is today the FNAC (B). Not unlike Times Square, albeit on a different scale, Gran Vía concentrates the theaters with the large musicals and many cinemas (which tend to dissapear to the benefit of peripheral multiplexes), as well as a significant retail basis.

In 2009-2010 the whole square and an adjacent street are pedestrianised, removing what was basically bus stops. The newly reclaimed space has gained prominence as a location for non-permanent elements linked to retail promotion.

The Gran Vía as seen from the Corte Inglés in Callao, with the Capitol building (A on the map). The façade on the left defines the western Callao limit
The Gran Vía as seen from the Corte Inglés in Callao, with the Capitol building (A on the map). The façade on the left defines the western Callao limit
The newly pedestrianised square

The newly pedestrianised square

What to do on an acre (3)

The Dockwise Swan: a ship with an almost 1 acre platform to transport other ships. Dockwise image

This is a post with two parts, and the first belongs to the realm of the sheer joy of finding, as a boy, that you have your big toy truck, that can carry all your toys, and is hughe in size. Dockwise is a Dutch company that specialises in “creating superior value by realizing the inconceivable” in the heavy lift industry (most of the time for the oil industry). They do a thing that, having lived by a busy seaport for most of my life, I have seen sometimes: moving enormous objects from continent to continent. The Swan has a length of 180,96 meters and a deck space of 126,6×31,66 meters (almost an acre).

But lets recognise it, I’m a metric man, so I prefer the Blue Marlin, whose deck space is 178,20×63 meters (1,1 hectares). Or why not the Vanguard, with even more space (just see this video to feel how some 3.000 tons barges can be stacked as tetra bricks).

The Blue Marlin underway. Dockwise image

There are many things here that go beyond the sheer child joy, to enter the realm of the architecture and engineering. The first thing is how ingenuous the whole idea of these ships is: no crane would lift such heavy lifts, so instead the ship inmerses partially as to get under the load, and then rises to take it aboard. The second one is the relevance of the scale among elements in a composition as to transmit different ideas. Take, for instance, a US supercarrier: they are longer and wider than most of these ships, and they also have on board big heavy objects, but the airplanes seem, by comparaison, like small toy cars on your toy truck. These ships seem much bigger due to the size of the loads. They are definitely italian baroque…

I wonder what Aldo Rossi would have done with that instead of his Teatro del Mondo…but I would perharps prefer to see Archigram.

Anyway, you can also load you own aircraft carrier on top of the Blue Marlin (here loading the new HMAS Canberra for a Spain- Australia route)… Image taken from Juan Carlos Díaz Lorenzo’s Blog 

What to do on an acre (2)

Timessquare2010

 

Times Square is one of the central spaces of New York, the place in which the new year is celebrated, and also a sizeable theatrical district. The site is the crossing of Broadway and the 7th Avenue; Broadway is a diagonal on the Manhattan grid, an interesting thing usually in terms of traffic, but the angle with the avenues is so small that it seems its real interest is more reduced (this is just a tourist view…).

In 2009 the Mayor of New York decides, as an experiment, to pedestrianise the areas of Times Square on which Broadway ran. Given the initial geometry, these surfaces are small (the 4 elements represented on the map are not even an acre). But the potential for pedestrian use, among other things to put public chairs as in Parisian gardens, has proved enormous. These surfaces have been repaved with a special design resulting from a competition, and the provisional has become permanent.

It is interesting to browse the Times Square District Management Association website, a Bussiness Improvement District grouping the retailers and other bussinesses in the area, which among other things publishes statistics on the use of the public space, including pedestrian use, interesting data on a space that is not only a metropolitan hub but also a powerful tourism magnet.

Timessquare

What to do on an acre (1)

MADEL1

An acre is 1/640 of a sq mile, or for those using the decimal metric system, 4.046,8 sq m. It is a concession to my English speaking readers to use such a unit, so convenient to them.

As not to force to much the concession, my first examples are in Paris: an empty acre (place Dapuhine, see on http://binged.it/12AK5LG) and a full one (La Madeleine, http://binged.it/WF7MNJ). So, on an acre you can have a charming small square or an imposing neoclassical temple.

DAUPH-1