Background: 5th IABR
In 2010 Elma van Boxel and Kristian Koreman –founders of ZUS– were selected as co-curators of the fifth International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam 2012, the theme of which is ‘Making City’. The 5th IABR sets out to investigate the processes, mechanisms and instruments that influence the actual production of the city. The Rotterdam Central District was designated as a Testsite in which these new ways of city-making are put into praxis. Within the framework of the IABR the current status quo of the Rotterdam Central District (RCD) was investigated. This theoretical research has sprouted five strategies (Routing, Place making, Transformation, Densification, Local economy), which in turn led to specific interventions in the city. Although initiated through the IABR these interventions are aimed at an independent continuation long afterwards. The Luchtsingel is one of these projects, it is conceptualized through the Biennale but will eventually grow to be another part of the city.
Context
The current financial crisis has devastating consequences for building production in the Netherlands. In Rotterdam it has brought the development of the Central District (RCD) to a standstill. What used to be the lively heart of the city has become a run-down office boulevard with a tremendous vacancy rate (over 100.000m2) and an inhospitable ground level. The dominant large scale infrastructure (Weena, Hofplein, Schiekade and the railway) make the area even less inviting for pedestrians. It is a blind spot in the heart of the city. There are ambitious plans for the RCD, including 200 meter high towers and 400.000m2 of mixed-use program, but realization at this moment seems highly unlikely. The area, however, has long been neglected and is in desperate need of a new impulse.
Since 2006 ZUS has been trying to stimulate the debate about city development by means of a series of unsolicited projects. This attitude led, via the realization of the Dépendance and the Schieblock, to an encompassing strategy for the revitalization of the area. To kick-start the redevelopment ZUS initiated twenty-one (small scale) interventions connected with one continuous route: the Luchtsingel. The Luchtsingel is a temporary wooden bridge that will give the area back to pedestrians, connect the scarce cultural developments in the area and reconnect the city centre with the northern districts.
Redevelopment
The Luchtsingel will make the area accessible and more inviting. It will be part of a new route running from the central station through the Schieblock, over the Schiekade and the railway, straight to the north of Rotterdam. The north of the city is an upcoming area separated by the city’s main railway track. The Luchtsingel will link up these two parts of the city by landing on the roof of the Hofbogen (a new cultural hotspot, including a jazz club and artist studios). The result will be one clearly marked route creating coherence and legibility.
But the Luchtsingel will be more than a piece of infrastructure, it will be a catalyst of city development. It will function as the public backbone for further developments on, besides and under the bridge. Stitching together twenty-one self-initiated projects, it will not make only physical but also social connections. The creation of these twenty-one projects is an essential part of the project, they will include roof gardens, pop-up stores, a park, an open-air cinema, a beer garden, festival grounds, the transformation of vacant office space and a hostel.
The bridge is one of the first physical signs of the transformation of the RCD. It will grow out to be the central asset of the area. What the Erasmus bridge has done for the south of the city, the Luchtsingel will do for the centre and the northern districts.
New alliances
To work within the current economical context, however, new strategies for city development need to be found. Since both the municipality and commercial developers are at the moment incapable of large scale investments the logical alternative is a collaborative, small scale and incremental approach. As a result also the role of the architect needs to change. For the Luchtsingel ZUS acted not only as a designer but also as initiator and manager/coordinator.
The first step in the realization of the bridge was the formation of an alliance of stakeholders in the area. Inhabitants, global corporations, schools, small entrepreneurs, cultural institutions and the municipality were all actively involved in the planning process. Workshops and meetings were organized in order to find common ground and create a strong base for the project.
Crowd-funding
The investigations (within the context of the IABR) into alternative means of city making resulted in I We You Make Rotterdam; a platform for public initiated, crowd funded city development. It is a means of collecting ideas, stimulate participation and generating funds for the actual ‘making of the city’. The construction of the Luchtsingel is also realized through I We You Make Rotterdam and crowd-funding. Everyone (citizens as well as corporations) can contribute to the bridge. Participants pay a contribution in exchange for having their name (or another message) written on a plank, a section or a component of the bridge. It is an ideal way to pull resources in times of crisis and at the same time create a sense of ownership; strongly rooting the project within society.
‘City Initiative’
The cost of the bridge alone is estimated at approximately 500.000 euro. The development of the new program and public spaces, however, will cost much more. In order to speed up the process additional funding is required. In 2011 an opportunity arose in the form of the City Initiative.
In 2011 the municipality organized a new sort of competition. In order stimulate citizen participation with city planning, every inhabitant of Rotterdam was invited to enter a project that would in some way improve the quality of city life. The winner would be awarded with funds in order to realize the project. ZUS presented the Luchtsingel. A committee of professionals made a selection of five projects after which the inhabitants of Rotterdam could vote for their favorite initiative. After an intensive month-long campaign the Luchtsingel won with 48% of the popular vote.
Winning the competition was only possible through the fanatical support of the alliance of stakeholders initiated long before entering. Everybody freely contributed in their own way to the campaign by means of advertisements, social media or face-to-face promotion. The campaign for the City Initiative further illustrates the importance of strong public support and goodwill in the current economical reality.
The bridge itself will be built with the help of the public - co-funding is an important requisite for the City Initiative. Planks can still be bought through the website www.imakerotterdam.com. The names of the sponsors illustrate the commitment of all the people involved in the project and the city.
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