formal - informal
There is a myth that the formal city is utterly controlled, while the informal city is often romanticized for its complex nature. However, both the formal and the informal city have their limitations: A planned new town like Almere bears under-use of its infrastructures -the exclusive bus route is occupied only 5% of the time-, while Istanbul’s informal gecekondu suffers from over-use of public infrastructures.
responsive design
Can designers form a symbiosis between formality and informality; cease to control, and facilitate uncertainty?
Responsivity is the socio-spatial quality, mediating between the formal and the informal. It can be measured by the adaptability of space to user’s dynamic needs. Visions, negotiations and adaptations, urban regulations and flexibility of urban form influence the responsivity.
masterclass
Invited by INTI, 16 young professionals/students focus on the responsivity of urban space. On-site masterclasses will be held in Istanbul and Randstad’s informal and formal neighborhoods.
masterclass no1: design game in Wierden
29 september - 3 october 2008
Almere-Haven, Randstad, NL [more]
for the detailed Almere Haven program click [here]
theory
In Cedric Price’s Fun Palace [1960-1961] public had unprecedented control over their environment,
[go to the interactive theory blog]
istanbul - almere
Gulensu, the informal settlement of Istanbul in Maltepe and the planned new town of Almere-Haven in Almere are samples of this masterclass. Both were newly developed urban land during the mid seventies; overflows of a big city [migrants from Istanbul and Amsterdam] respectively. Thus, they share the same age. Their size and distance from centralities are the same. While economies, social and economical backgrounds at first glance seem different, agent’s need for responsivity remains constant both in emerged and planned regimes. [go to the interactive location blog]
mapping
Agents modify their surroundings in programmatic, symbolic and formal levels. These adaptations depend on social, political, economical and regulatory conditions. Masterclass participants will[more]
design game
In this game, agents behave freely under few simple design rules.[more]