Infrastruktururbanismus Symposium

A section for the review of conferences and exhibits is a regular feature of Landscape Journal. The opinions and ideas expressed in the reviews are those of the reviewers and do not necessarily represent the views of the Journal’s editors or the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture. Suggestions for conferences, exhibits, and other events to be reviewed are always welcome, as are comments regarding the reviews published. All correspondence should be sent to the conference review editor:

• Alan Tate, LJ Conference Review Editor

  Head, Department of Landscape Architecture

  Room 201, John A. Russell Building

  University of Manitoba

  Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2 Canada

  tatea@cc.umanitoba.ca

Cities contain lost, accidental, and “shadow” spaces surrounding and within infrastructure—the edge of freeways, under bridges, along train tracks, etc. These often un-designed spaces tend to lack definition and vision. A goal for the In-frastruktururbanismus Symposium was to recognize the realities and possibilities of these peripheral places as public spaces within the modern urban context, all while moving beyond mere beautification strategies.

Infrastruktururbanismus was a top-notch event, complete with excellent dinners, a beautiful city, and an engaging program. The conference was organized by Thomas Hauck and Volker Kleinekort from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Public Space at the Technical University Munich. Twenty-nine speakers included an international and multi-disciplinary mix of academics and practitioners. This dynamic group of participants elevated discussions and analysis to valuable areas outside the comforts of landscape architecture. The symposium was organized along three key sessions: Informal Infrastruktururbanismus; Infrastrukturur-banismus and Context; and Infrastruktururbanismus and Infrastructural Landscape.

The first panel, “Informal Infrastruktururbanismus,” included a range of presentations tackling the informal and everyday infrastructural landscapes of the planned and unplanned city. Matteo D’Ambrose (University IUAV of Venice) started the session with a visual tour of the “prosaic landscape,” the incidental space along modern high capacity infrastructure (particularly the highway). He presented this through the photography and imagery of famous artists, designers, and researchers, such as Kevin Lynch, Peter Blake, Robert Venturi, and Robert Smithson. D’Ambrose argued that these large archives of imagery are still relevant for landscape architects as a means to address the landscapes of everyday life.

Karen Franck (New Jersey Institute of Technology) presented four user-defined public urban spaces occupying the edges of formal infrastructure: A Christmas tree seller’s sidewalk in New York City; a women’s dance troop under a highway overpass in Beijing; a traffic island in Berkeley, California; and a homeless encampment under an abandoned highway exit ramp in Providence, Rhode Island. Franck argued that we must recognize the value of such “loose” spaces in cities where open space is increasingly privatized.

Arguably the most controversial presentation of the symposium was from Maren Harnack and Martin Kohler (Hafen-City, Universität Hamburg) on the “as found” in regard to elevated highways. They made an argument for, and extended an invitation to, their organization, “The German Association for Saving Elevated Highways.”

Christof Göbel presented a contrasting perspective, (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM)—Azcapotzalco, Mexico City) with a valuable analysis of the Segundo Piso elevated highway in Mexico City. Although he called it a “relic of modernism” and sees expanding transit as a more practical option, he also showed how the elevated highway still has an allure for many residents.

Christian Werthmann (Harvard University) gave a compelling call to action in his presentation, “Squatting on Infrastructure—the Challenge of Informal Urbanism,” which outlined his graduate students’ studio work in one Brazilian favela. Werthmann pointed out that the vast majority of landscape architects work in the developed, formal world. However, the informal cities of the developing world are where the greatest growth will be in the coming decades. Thus, it is imperative for landscape architects to be a key discipline in informal city development. Werthmann also noted that landscape architects’ skill sets and operations need to be adapted to work in these areas.

The second panel of the symposium, “Infrastruktururbanismus and Context,” mostly focused on projects with infrastructure strategies in response to changing urban realities. Jae-Sung Chon (University of Manitoba) examined the road infrastructures in the works of Team X and Metabolists (from post-war Japan). In particular, he called for the re-examining of road “shadow spaces” in a spatial discourse that moves beyond the functionalism of roads and toward alternative interpretations and stories.

Susannah Drake (dlandstudio, Brooklyn, New York) presented three of her firm’s cutting-edge projects in New York City. All three elevate landscape architecture to the driving force of infrastructure and urbanism. The projects were: SpongePark in Brooklyn; The Brooklyn Queens Expressway reconnection study; and their submission to MoMA’s Rising Currents exhibition, “Lower Manhattan: a New Urban Ground.”¹

Tobias Goevert (London Development Agency, Design for London) presented a broad examination of the development of the infrastructure and “in-between” spaces at Lon-don’s Royal Docks. He gave compelling and practical examples of how these spaces can become lasting, valued public spaces, despite the complex development process of such projects.

Thorsten Schauz (Stadtidee, Dortmund, Germany) took us to the sprawling Ruhr region in Germany to examine a variety of successful, yet very different, residential projects juxtaposed with infrastructure. This region shows that a range of design and planning possibilities can be successful when integrated with site-specific land and community requirements.

The final panel of the symposium, “Infrastruktururbanismus and Infrastructural Landscape,” addressed the metropolitan scale, integrating spaces, places, and landscapes with infrastructure in what is often understood as “landscape urbanism.” Although most of the cases in this panel were in Western Europe, they all brought attention to the fact that large infrastructural landscapes are the reality, spatially and experientially, in most urban areas.

Eduardo Rico (Ove Arup and Partners, London) gave an engaging lecture on landscape urbanism projects, including: Ronda ring road in Barcelona; Parc de la Trinitat in Barcelona; and a transport interchange in Hoenheim Nord, Strasbourg, France.

Stefanie Anna Bremer and Henrik Sander (orange edge, Gelsenkirchen, Germany) brought as back to Germany’s Ruhr region, giving analysis and examples of design interventions along the Autobahn A40. They showed how a highway can become a spatial narrative for a region, not simply a non-spatial connection.

Other presentations in the final panel included Maarten Van Acker’s (University of Leuven) analysis of the historic complex urbanism intertwined with Antwerp’s ring road; Panos Mantziaras’s (Ecole nationale supérieure d’archiecture Paris-Malaquais) study of 10 proposals for the future of the greater Paris area; and Alessandra De Cesaris’s (University of Rome) new strategies for Rome’s ring road, the Grande Raccordo Anulare, that integrate the concepts of parkway, infrastructure, and public space.

The Infrastruktururbanismus Symposium brought together a range of thinkers bridging different theories, disciplines, and practices. The common thread throughout the symposium was the value of the interstitial and the infrastructural—particularly at the intersection of landscape, public space, and infrastructure. It was inspiring to see so many presentations and discussions tackle current and emerging urban landscape realities.