The diversity and porosity in urban design – works by Kees Christiaanse

Kees Christiaanse, Joanna Jabłońska

doi:10.37190/arc220311

Abstract

Contemporary urban design deals with numerous challenges ranging from providing an interactive and sustainable living environment to addressing social disparities and disruptive conditions, like the post-Covid condition or the energy transition. Architectural and public space quality should focus primarily on fostering community-building and social interaction. Another challenge poses the inability of government bodies and building legislation to keep up with the expedited innovations in mobility systems and construction and material technology by the private sector. In the work of Kees Christiaanse and his office KCAP, through projects like the GWL-housing project in Amsterdam, HafenCity in Hamburg, the Olympic Legacy in London and Jurong Lake District in Singapore, these challenges were synthesized in an inclusive way. This article is based on talks with the architect and urbanist and reveals specific design and procedural approaches to equip the urban fabric for today’s and future users’ needs.

Full article view is only available on bigger screens.

2022

3(71)

Kees Christiaanse*, Joanna Jabłońska**

The diversity and porosity in urban design – works by Kees Christiaanse

Introduction

In a conversation with Joanna Jabłońska, Professor

Kees Christiaanse states: Traditionally, urban design is

often considered by architects as an extension of architec-

tural design and by planners as a kind of socio-geograph-

ic and infrastructural science. Thereby, architects usual-

ly learn how to design, while planners are insuciently

trained in this manner. Maybe my contribution is that

I have reconciled these perspectives into one discipline, in

which the term “urban design” is very important. It com-

bines the intuitive and projective approach of architectur-

al design and the scientic perspective of evidence-based

research. Often, the intuitive side of designing is called

romantic. But it is rather a pragmatic outcome of obser-

vation and experience. The creation of conditions, which

stimulate social interaction and well-being, is based on

experience and research [1]–[3].

The aim of this article is to present the prole and work

of Kees Christiaanse, a Dutch architect and urban planner.

Particular emphasis is given to the designer’s views on

urban development in the post-pandemic era, in which the

key is sustainability on the one hand, and inclusivity and

the stimulation of social interaction on the other. The main

part of the paper is a discussion of the design and realisa-

tion of Hafen City in Hamburg, an iconic example of the

adaptation of post-industrial sites.

Kees Christiaanse curriculum vitae

Kees Christiaanse is an architect and urban designer

who worked in the Oce of Metropolitan Architecture

(OMA) in Rotterdam between 1980 and 1989, and from

1983 as a partner. Between 1993 and 1996 he served as an

artistic director of the Dutch State Architect’s Oce. In

1989 Kees Christiaanse became a founding partner of the

KCAP – Rotterdam, Zürich, Shanghai – an international

design rm, and he fulls this function until today. In the

years 1991–2003 he worked with the ASTOC Architects

and Planners in Cologne.

His teaching career started in 1987 with the assistant

po si tion at TUDelft (until 1989). In 1991 Kees Chris-

tiaanse was a Guest Professor at Berlage Institute and

between 1996 and 2003 a Professor of Architecture

and Urban Design at TUBerlin. Following 15 years, he

worked as a Professor of Architecture and Urban Design

at ETH Zürich and from 2008 to 2018, as a Programme

Leader at ETH Future Cities Laboratory Singapore (and

Principal Investigator of the module “Urban Design

Strategies and Resources”). From 2020 until today, Kees

* KCAP Rotterdam Zurich Shanghai Paris, Wasserwerkstrasse 129,

CH 8037 Zurich.

** ORCID: 0000-0002-8421-4342. Faculty of Architecture, Wrocław

University of Science and Technology, Poland, e-mail: joanna.jablonska@

pwr.edu.pl

DOI: 10.37190/arc220311

Published in open access. CC BY NC ND license

Design philosophy

This article is based on interviews with Kees Christiaanse conducted by Joanna Jabłońska in 2022.

106 Kees Christiaanse, Joanna Jabłońska

Christiaanse continues to be a Distinguished aliated

professor at TUMünchen. In 2009 he accepted the func-

tion of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam

(IABR) curator.

Kees Christiaanse is an author of many architectural

works, and selected examples are as follows: Housing

block K25, The Hague (1989), Housing blocks on Java Is-

land, Amsterdam (1998), Art Academy Rotterdam (1998),

Holzhafen, oces and apartments in Hamburg, Germany

1996(?), The Red Apple, residential high-rise with oces,

Rotterdam (2009), Starsh, an apartment tower in Hafen

City Hamburg, 2021. He is also an urban designer, and here

are selected works: Wijnhaven Island Rotterdam 1995,

Masterplan for housing festival, Hague (1987), Urban plan

for Lelystad South area of the Flevoland Vinex (1999),

HafenCity in Hamburg (winning proposal – 1999), 2012

Summer Olympic Legacy Masterplan [4], [5], Masterplan

for Jurong Lake District, Singapore’s new-highspeed rail-

way station quarter (2015–2018) (Figs. 1–14). Professor

is also a book author, of which examples are as listed:

Situation KCAP [6], The Potato Collection [7], Textbook

[3], The Grand Projet [8], The City as Loft [9], Open City

[10], Campus and the City [11], The Strip [12].

When asked about his inspirations, Christiaanse ex-

plains: I am both inspired by the dierent exponents of

modernism, and by the more rich predecessors and later

soft modernisms, like by Adolf Loos, Duiker, Schindler,

Neutra. In urban design Henry Sauvage, August Perret,

Berlage, Bruno Taut, Ildefonso Cerda… I have too many

idols. But I am especially inspired by people like Jane

Jacobs, Patrick Geddes… [1], [2].

The pandemic

In Professor Kees Christiaanse’s work, social interac-

tion constitutes a crucial pivot around which urban design

revolves. The recent pandemic had quite some impact on

human activities in urban spaces. The role of the home of-

ce became very important, which inuenced how people

moved around the city and related to their home environ-

ment. Since the pandemic awed and people did not com-

pletely return to their oces and schools, the discourse

of whether remote working and learning is ecient and

should partly stay is running, also taking into account the

psychological problems of lack of social encounter. We

estimate that it will remain a constant element in modern

working culture. At KCAP, his architecture rm, remote

working is planned to be max. 20–30% of regular work-

ing hours. To summarize, remote working will require

quality home-oce and co-working spaces in residential

neighbourhoods and parallel to that an increase in demand

for local daily care amenities. On the other hand, it will

change the size and organization of oces, schools and

other institutions as focused places of encounter.

Another aspect is Internet shopping, which generates

a fundamental change in the retail landscape. Large-scale

storage and distribution hubs in peripheral sites create new

centralities with outlet developments and entertainment.

These complexes inuence the position of city centres and

make them look for a viable programmatic alternative.

Meanwhile, the Internet has a far-reaching impact on

mobility systems. Innumerable apps allow access to a va-

riety of bike-and car-sharing systems, public transport and

other modes, which also oer multi-mode travel menus in

order to get as fast to a destination as possible. For exam-

ple, e-bikes bring more people on bicycles than before, es-

pecially in cities with intensely dierentiated topography.

These developments can be evaluated as positive.

However, they do not necessarily inuence the physical

urban neighbourhood in a signicant way, while peripher-

al sites, industrial compounds and shopping centres may

intensively transform by the impact of logistics and data

centres. On the contrary, the well-known concept of the

15-minutes city has become more important through the

pandemic, as people started to avoid public transporta-

tion and large centres, causing neighbourhood shops and

amenities to ourish [1], [2]. The third aspect of the pan-

demic is the consolidation of suburbanization and the use

of cars. While a part of people was able to enjoy already

existing services in their area, others started to use indi-

vidual transportation more often, avoiding personal con-

tact with larger groups. The car experienced a renaissance.

For the same reason, isolated houses in the suburbs sud-

denly became more popular. In the meantime, this phe-

nomenon has been “corrected” by the energy prices and

threatening shortage. Therefore, the trend towards more

compact and dense neighbourhoods and adequate public

transport services will hold on.

Today, social changes are often advancing faster than

politics and legislation. Until 15 years ago, mobility was

the territory of cities’ authorities, for example in construct-

ing a new tram line. Nowadays there are multiple private

and grassroots innovations in mobility systems, which

complement the public oer. The same situation can be

seen in the building regulations concerning sustainability

and zero-emission. Sustainable technology for district en-

ergy systems and self-suciency are available, but legis-

lation is lagging behind. In many countries, maybe except

Switzerland and Singapore, civil servants are underpaid

and tied up in bureaucracy, which causes a brain drain to-

wards private enterprises. This in turn has a slowing eect

on a dynamic and lean political decision-making and leg-

islation culture [1], [2].

Professional title

Before the introduction of the EU legislation, in

Switzer land and the Netherlands, the title “architect” was

not protected, meaning everybody was allowed to make

an architectural design and submit a building permit. On

the other hand, there were eective control mechanisms.

Every city had an aesthetic committee and urban design

panels that evaluated design proposals. In contrast, in

counties like Germany, Poland, England, France or Bel-

gium, the title was always protected. An architect-in-spe

needs to have a recognized diploma, 2 years of practice

and pass an additional practical exam. Interestingly, the

quality of architecture in the respective countries does not

necessarily correspond with these requirements. The ar-

chitecture produced in Switzerland and the Netherlands

The diversity and porosity in urban design – works by Kees Christiaanse 107

belongs to the best in the world, while the urban design

culture in these countries is by far superior to that in oth-

er countries, where planning is often mistaken for urban

design. A rather liberal attitude towards the title of Archi-

tect with eective control mechanisms may therefore be

a European model for the future [1], [2], a model where

innovation and adaption to change are better integrated

into legislation.

In one of the interviews [13], Kees Christiaanse called

himself an ex-architect. Of course, he points out that

this is an understatement. Historically, the urban design

evolved from architecture, landscape architecture and civ-

il engineering. The dierence between planning and urban

design is that in the latter the design part is essential, while

planning is more a socio-geographic and scientic disci-

pline. Also, the urban project is best learned across scales,

beginning on the small form, developing towards larger

scales and complexity, and taking the human dimensions

as a point of departure. I was trained as an architect with

a minor in urban design – Christiaanse mentions – I start-

ed to design housing projects, which in the Netherlands

are relatively large scale; and soon turned into design-

ing quarters and consequently more complex urban pro-

jects [1], [2]. Concerning titles and education, it would

be recommendable that urban design education becomes

a stronger focus and professional curriculum in architec-

ture and planning education.

Urban development

During a long period, from the early planned cities in

Greece and Rome till the 18

century, urbanisation was

overseeable and rather compact, due to the slow speed of

transport and limited production facilities. Also, the level

of pollution, waste and emissions was limited due to the

exclusive availability of organic material.

As soon as the industrial revolution started and ma-

chines, mass production, railways, and electricity appeared

on the stage, urbanisation ran “out of control”. That mo-

ment was the real birth-moment of planning and urban de-

sign, accompanied by projects like Hausmann’s Paris, as

urbanisation started to backre against society. This pro-

cess was reinforced by the commodication of the car and

plastic materials after World War II, which caused mas-

sive suburbanization and sprawl, as well as masses of un-

processable waste and pollution. This was accompanied

by the professionalization and political focus on planning

in order to keep urbanization in control. It also showed the

Fig. 1. Friendly to the environment and car-free GWL-housing project in Amsterdam, design by KCAP (source: courtesy of KCAP)

Il. 1. Przyjazne środowisku i wolne od samochodów osiedle GWL w Amsterdamie, proj. KCAP (źródło: dzięki uprzejmości KCAP)

108 Kees Christiaanse, Joanna Jabłońska

need for central planning as a comprehensive framework

for the organization of the territory. In liberal countries,

where municipalities have substantial autonomy, there is

quite some competition in attracting residents and com-

panies to settle within their administrative boundaries. As

a result, large portions of land with residential and indus-

trial settlements are scattered across the territory without

adequate coordination.

Initially, this did not happen in the Netherlands, where

after World War II the government elaborated a spatial

program for the whole country, in which the relationship

between built and the non-built surface was investigated

and xed for dierent development scenarios. This poli-

cy, which was able to accommodate a growing population

(already 12 million people in the 1960s) and its housing

demand in a balanced way lasted until the end of the

1980s. This was also possible due to the modest size of

the Netherlands and the transparent social democratic cul-

ture. In the 1990’s, however, a far-reaching liberalization

took place, which abandoned central planning and provid-

ed individual municipalities with far-reaching planning

autonomy. Today the Netherlands population amounts to

over 17.2 million people [14], and the obvious damage of

recent urban sprawl is currently sparking debate about the

re-introduction of central planning.

A good example of a small country with an ecient

planning culture is Switzerland with a population of over

8.7 million people [14], where each highly independent

Fig. 2. An overview of HafenCity

– urban development

(source: courtesy of KCAP)

Il. 2. HafenCity

– widok z lotu ptaka

(źródło: dzięki uprzejmości KCAP)

Fig. 3. HafenCity

as an implementation of

the Compact City concept

(source: courtesy of KCAP)

Il. 3. HafenCity jako realizacja

idei „miasta kompaktowego”

(ang. Compact City)

(źródło: dzięki uprzejmości KCAP)

The diversity and porosity in urban design – works by Kees Christiaanse 109

Fig. 5. HafenCity during flooding period – anti-flood solutions

(source: courtesy of KCAP)

Il. 5. HafenCity podczas okresu zalewowego

– rozwiązania przeciwpowodziowe

(źródło: dzięki uprzejmości KCAP)

Fig. 4. HafenCity by KCAP and Arup (source: courtesy of KCAP)

Il. 4. HafenCity, oprac. KCAP i Arup (źródło: dzięki uprzejmości KCAP)

canton (province) is obliged to create a comprehensive

Cantonal Zoning Plan, which meticulously xes the rela-

tion between built and unbuilt, agriculture, forest, industry,

nature, etc. All municipalities within the canton are obliged

to comply with the Cantonal Zoning Plan. Building zones

are precisely administered, which allows for controlling

the degree of densication and settlement. It is a very good

planning instrument. It poses a contrast to planning condi-

tions in countries like France or the USA, which are charac-

terized by extensive sprawl of suburban development,

alter-

nated by industrial wastelands and neglected city centres,

causing enormous mobility and sustainability problems.

In Paris, for instance, real estate is so expensive that the

majority of its working population has to live out of town.

Due to public transport insuciency and toll-roads costs,

they are forced to commute by car (often diesel) via pro-

vincial roads. This situation is very unsustainable and

leads to further sprawl. It creates “a trap” for some resi-

dents, like seniors, who become economically and social-

ly isolated [1], [2]. This trend caused the “yellow jacket”

protest movement to organize roadblocks.

HafenCity

HafenCity is the redevelopment of the former free har-

bour in front of Hamburg’s city centre (Figs. 2–12). The

competition for the project was won by Kees Christiaanse

and ASTOC and the project became a world benchmark

for waterfront re-development. It incorporates 157 ha of

land and contains when nished around 2.5 million m

GFA of mixed-use development, with 39% oces, 35%

residential units and 26% of social, commercial and cul-

tural amenities [15]. Kees Christiaanse introduces: Firstly,

the existing harbour basins provided an important ingre-

dient for the public space structure. Secondly, we identi-

ed the most important connecting lines of the site with

the surrounding context and the inner city. From this,

we created a street pattern, with waterfront promenades,

squares, and parks. Within this framework, we dened

building blocks with urban design guidelines and block

typologies. As HafenCity is so close to the city centre that

110 Kees Christiaanse, Joanna Jabłońska

Fig. 6. HafenCity – the concept of urban binding

(source: courtesy of KCAP)

Il. 6. HafenCity – koncepcja powiązań urbanitycznych

(źródło: dzięki uprzejmości KCAP)

Fig. 7. HafenCity – Facts & Figures graph

(source: courtesy of KCAP)

Il. 7. HafenCity – schemat przedstawiający najważniejsze dane

(źródło: dzięki uprzejmości KCAP)

Fig. 8. HafenCity – the quality of public space

(source: courtesy of KCAP)

Il. 8. HafenCity – jakość przestrzeni publicznych

(źródło: dzięki uprzejmości KCAP)

it will be a vital part of it, we concluded that the project

should have a great degree of diversity and porosity in

program, typologies and architectural expression in order

to extend the centre’s richness. The street and public space

patterns are rather logical and self-evident. The plot sizes

are functional and economical. The diversity and grain of

course also have a spatial and scale dimension [2]. The

main strength of this development is the combination of

a robust public space framework with key places in com-

bination with the urban design guidelines, which allows

for a great degree of exibility without losing a strong

conceptual vision. The HafenCity is an “archipelago”

of districts of distinct character, which at the same time

have a certain autonomy and are part of a larger organism

[1], [2] (Figs. 2, 3).

Sustainability

The project is compact with compact building foot-

prints, high-density and mixed-use. One central commer-

cial district, the Überseequarter is complemented by some

sub-centres. Daily care amenities and public transport

are all within walking distance. It has a high-quality pub-

lic transport system, consisting of a metro line, an urban

train station and bus lines. In terms of soft mobility, it has

its own car-and-bike-sharing system. In the course of its

20-year development, the car-parking norm was reduced

by 50% compared to 2003. About 50% of indoor parking

places must have a tube for electric chargers and a mini-

mum of 10% are designated for car sharing. This reduc-

tion was introduced step by step by the Hafencity Corpo-

ration. In the initial stages of the project, a reduction in car

trac was already foreseen. Consequently, the reduction

of parking spaces became a general policy. Gradually, this

was accepted by the developing community in Hafen City,

as it did not appear to be a big marketing problem. The

most important factor is the excellent public transport

connectivity with three metro stops and one S-Bahn sta-

tion, supplemented with park-and-ride systems. Today, it

is common sense in the HafenCity and begins to spread

across other sites in the city [1], [2], [15] (Fig. 4).

During the 20-year development period, the circular

and sustainable requirements have been drastically sharp-

ened in terms of materials, grey energy, energy consump-

tion and emissions. Today all new buildings have to be

0-emission. HafenCity developed its own environmental

label “HafenCity Environment Label”, which clearly con-

tributed to the development of the German-wide sustain-

ability legislation. Rainwater management is a focus, as

well as green roofs, solar panels and last but not least dis-

trict heating. On the level of soft sustainability, buildings

have a exible ground oor to allow active street fronts

and specic grade-level programs are projected to foster

places of interaction and close-by amenities [1], [2].

The structural challenges

Flood protection was a challenge, as the main level of

the whole site needed to be elevated by 3.5 m, putting

existing buildings in a pit and creating a barrier to the city

Land areas (total: 127 ha)

Distribution of and areas

Retail, gastronomy

ground floor services

242.000 m

GFA

Academia, education,

culture, leisure and hotel

447.000 m

GFA

Distribution of building space

Total approx. 2.55 million m

GFA

(less Oberhafen neighborhood and DB tracks in HafenCity)

Privare open spaces 15.2 ha

publicly accessible

Privare open spaces 7.4 ha

not publicly accessible

32%

Building area

35.6 ha

24%

Public squares,

parks,

promenades

26,4 ha

14%

23%

Traffic areas

25,3 ha

35%

Residential

680.000 m

GFA

(approx. 7.500 units)

10%

16%

39%

Offices

1.000.000 m

GFA

The diversity and porosity in urban design – works by Kees Christiaanse 111

Fig. 9. Halbinsulaner Baugruppe in HafenCity

(source: courtesy of K. Christiaanse)

Il. 9. Budynek Halbinsulaner Baugruppe w HafenCity

(źródło: dzięki uprzejmości K. Christiaanse)

centre. It was solved by leaving a 6 m wide quay zone on

the original quay-level so that a stepped relation with the

water was generated. The 3.5 m height dierence incorpo-

rates parking garages under the buildings and gastronomy

along the quays. A second challenge was the road-network

planning legislation in the beginning, based on a high road

capacity for peak digestion for car trac. Some streets

were dimensioned very wide. In the meantime, some wide

streets may be narrowed in the future [1], [2] (Fig. 5).

Centre

No less challenging than the structure was Hafen

City’s centre, the Überseequartier, which contains a shop-

ping centre, cruise terminal, entertainment area, hotels,

etc. The development consortium went bankrupt during

the real estate crisis (2008) while the Überseequartier was

already halfunder construction. The project consisted of

an enhanced “centrality” with shops, hotels, gastrono my,

a movie theatre, a cruise terminal, etc. Instead of gra -

dually – block by block, like most of HafenCity, the Über-

see quartier was tendered as one comprehensive project,

with a large basement system for parking, delivery and

coaches for the cruise terminal. Nevertheless, the archi-

tectural and urban coherence and the porosity of the street

pattern on the street level were kept upright [1], [2].

Fortunately, in 2008, while the implemented part of

Über see quartier was already functioning and inhabited,

a new consortium was found to redevelop the residu-

al half of the project, the area on the waterfront. There

were a couple of workshops to establish a new plan for

the Überseequartier. Most of the blocks were planned as

mixed-use, and the rst and mezzanine levels were exi-

ble for diverse functions. The complex has a very sophis-

ticated 3-dimensional organization, by which the street

pattern continues on grade level, while under and over it

connecting routes between the commercial functions and

the cruise terminal are guaranteed, without interfering.

Fig. 10. Halbinsulaner Baugruppe in HafenCity – interior

(source: courtesy of K. Christiaanse)

Il. 10. Budynek Halbinsulaner Baugruppe w HafenCity – wnętrze

(źródło: dzięki uprzejmości K. Christiaanse)

Fig. 11. The tower in HafenCity, design of KCAP

(source: courtesy of K. Christiaanse)

Il. 11. Wieża w HafenCity, proj. KCAP

(źródło: dzięki uprzejmości K. Christiaanse)

112 Kees Christiaanse, Joanna Jabłońska

Fig. 12. Parc de La Villette the OMA design

(source: courtesy of K. Christiaanse)

Il. 12. Parc de La Villette proj. OMA

(źródło: dzięki uprzejmości K. Christiaanse)

Fig. 13. The overview of Lignite Mine in Most, Czechia

(source: courtesy of K. Christiaanse)

Il. 13. Widok ogólny kopalni węgla brunatnego

w miejscowości Most, Czechy (źródło: dzięki uprzejmości K. Christiaanse)

The result of the new southern Überseequartier was in the

end better than the design, which was abandoned in the

real estate crisis.

Social issues

As already discussed, one of the signicant aspects of

the urban framework is to create conditions for social in-

teraction on dierent levels. Usually, a sense of urbanity

establishes itself over time and is hard to achieve in a plan

from scratch (Fig. 6).

Within the urban design framework, functions can set-

tle according to a certain mix, on the one hand following

market demand, on the other hand, pre-programmed by

HafenCity in order to arrive at the right initial balance.

In HafenCity there are 39% oces, 35% residential func-

tions and the rest is commercial, cultural and educational.

Within the housing programme, about 30% is reserved for

aordable housing (Fig. 7). An important share is reserved

for the so-called building collectives, projects which are

initiated and nanced by their users. For example, there is

a “Peninsula House”, where architects and designers live

with their families, while their studios are integrated into

the building; there is a musicians’ house, where people

share soundproof rehearsal rooms and there is a “reli-

gious house”, where people live together with an integrat-

ed worship chapel and guest rooms. However, there are

no stand-alone churches. In western and central Europe

there is more need for new programmes for abandoned

post-sacral buildings rather than for new ones. While

converting sacral buildings into cultural programmes is

publicly and architecturally acceptable, converting them

into supermarkets or food corners is considered a de-sa-

cralisation and disruption of historical substance. KCAP

has realized two projects, where a former church with -

nancial problems due to a reduced number of churchgoers

and lack of maintenance, was demolished and replaced

by a smaller church combined with housing. The hous-

ing revenues pay for the maintenance of the church. Such

things happen more often, e.g. in Wrocław an old church

with a monastery was turned into the Museum of Archi-

tecture [1], [2].

In order to safeguard the quality of the projects, a so-

called “option tender” was introduced. A developing par-

ty, who wins a tender or competition, will get an option

on the sale of the land. The sale is only executed after

the developer hands in the building permit. In such a way,

HafenCity will be sure that the project will denitely be

constructed and the quality requirements met [1], [2].

Another aspect of contemporary urban planning is to

avoid the growing disparity between the wealthy and the

poor, as well as ethnic dierent people. Urban design is

basically also about providing shelter and basic needs.

A sustainable, compact city with sucient mixed-use,

good and aordable public transport and a proper urban

density stimulate interaction and are benecial for social,

cultural and economic development [1], [2] (Figs. 8–11).

Selected other works

Parc de la Villette

The other project that the Professor is in favour of is

Parc de la Villette project with OMA (1982, selected from

almost 500 competitors) [16], [17], where the team dened

principles that are used today. The elaborated area was

a big park with a science museum, a music conservatory,

gardens of a planetarium and other large-scale elements.

The competition program was “thick as a telephone book”,

but it was impossible to work with it. So the team decided

to create program types with ve large concentric plots for

museums, theatres and other public functions distributed

around the area. The next element was around 50 themat-

ic gardens put into a space and form. Then there were re-

petitive spatial pieces (about 200) like kiosks, toilets, and

bike-sharing stations, distributed mathematically on a plot.

OMA created a digital-like system for those elements, yet

at that time computers were not used. These programs’ dis-

tributions were superimposed on top of one another, and

the result formed a complex plan – reminding construc-

The diversity and porosity in urban design – works by Kees Christiaanse 113

tivist painting. For the Professor, it was a groundbreaking

insight that for a large-scale urban project there cannot

be too much detail but a strong public space framework,

a powerful vision with features and qualities, with a degree

of exibility (Fig. 12). The idea is applied in the HafenCity.

The Ore mountains

Currently, in Czechia KCAP advises, together with the

Czech rm ONPlan, a team which develops a redevelop-

ment strategy and feasibility study for a large lignite mine

at the foot of the Ore mountains along the German border.

This includes a regional urban design and landscape vi-

sion, new development studies on former industrial sites,

green energy transition concepts and stakeholder man-

agement. It is highly interesting and actual because it is

about repairing a violated landscape into a responsible,

climate-friendly human environment and an urgent con-

tribution to the energy transition (Figs. 13, 14).

Conclusion

It is hard for an architect to work on urban-scale topics.

The architect is used to working on a nite assignment

within the constraints of his own good taste, while the ur-

ban designer is the coordinator of society’s collective “bad

taste” – this is dicult to accept for many architects and

it requires a dierent attitude. An urban designer must be

aware that he is only a small cogwheel in the machine and

needs a political and stakeholder-oriented mindset. Urban

design is a small, but very important coordinating agent in

the eld of urbanization forces. Therefore it is commend-

able that master planning culture and education should be

given more attention. The Master Planner or Urban De-

signer should remain the solid captain until the ship is in

a safe haven, while politicians and civil servants are con-

tinuously exchanged during the planning process [1], [2].

Professor summarises the conversation with the fol-

lowing statement: At the same time, urban design is un-

believably interesting, because it requires working with

unpredictable factors and the need to foresee transforma-

tion over time, without knowing what society will be like

[2]. These words reect his passion for urban design in

which public spaces play a crucial role in building social

interactions and providing a place for living, learning and

meeting others. His philosophy of diversity and porosity

allows these values to develop and harness thousands of

factors that aect a nal project. It is a background for

developments like HafenCity, which is highly successful

but most of all, so well received all by its residents.

Fig. 14. The framework for the redevelopment of Lignite Mine in Most, Czechia

(source: courtesy of KCAP)

Il. 14. Założenia ramowe renowacji kopalni węgla brunatnego w miejscowości Most, Czechy

(źródło: dzięki uprzejmości KCAP)

CURRENT STATE

water ﬂows

settlements

roads

railways and sidings

railway station

site of Jezeří castle cultural

monument

environment

water bodies

renewable energy landscape

cultural landscape with combined agricultural and

forest land

near natural landscape formed by spontaneous

succession

woodlands

greenhouse areas as a part of agricultural reclamation

active landscape connections

proposed landscape connections

watercourses returned to their natural riverbeds

newly-created lake in the ČSA quarry area

society

development potential for existing

settlements

small settlements within the landscape

(farms, hunting lodges, ..)

new ofﬁces and facilities for science

and

research

recreation and tourism areas

economy

new railway station

connections for pedestrians and cyclists

local access connections

road connections between settlements

industrial areas

areas intended exclusively for photovoltaic

power plants

areas intended for the location of photovoltaic

plants in combination with other uses

approximate location of the upper reservoir

of the pumped-storage hydro power plant

approximate location of the technical

facilities of the pumped-storage hydro power plant

developing the potential of the Jezeří castle

top-level architectural intervention – landmark

above the lake

New Komořany passive energy settlement

development of Horní Jiřetín – Dolní Jiřetín

development of Vysoká Pec – Podhořany

lake-side recreational facilities

Komořany hi-tech zone

Centrum business and industrial zone

greenhouse agriculture

New Komořany science and research centre

ﬂoating photovoltaic power plant on the lake

pumped-storage hydro power plant

new Class III roads

PROPOSAL

SELECTED PROJECTS

The concept presented here covers the three pillars of

sustainable development:

social

economic

environmental

The public and business spheres, with signiﬁcant

involvement from civil society, will have to work together to

fulﬁl them.

7/2021

CONCEPTUAL FRAMWORK

FOR REDEVELOPMENT

OF THE ČSA QUARRY

AFTER ITS RECLAMATION

Sev.en Energy Group, which has been conducting mining activities in

the ČSA lignite quarry, will cease mining in this site. The reclamation of

the quarry has been carried out continuously establishing new natural

landscape. In connection with the transition from conventional energy

sources to renewable energy, the Sev. en Energy Group is preparing an

integrated project for the ČSA quarry area, the principle objectives of

which are:

» creation of a new landscape with lake on the quarry site,

» generation and storage of energy from renewable energy sources,

» construction of a zero-carbon settlement,

» establishment of facilities for hi-tech industry, science and research.

The Sev.en Energy Group is aware that when considering such a

large area, which is at the beginning of a new phase in its use, it is

necessary to think in a broader context. This concept therefore looks

at the development of the area as a whole in order to create an initial

framework for sustainable development of the locality, which has the

potential to significantly contribute to the region‘s restructuring and to

strengthen its attractiveness as a place that offers high quality of life

and well-paid jobs in dynamically developing sectors of the new economy.

We believe that the Conceptual Framework will become a valid basis for

establishing a broadly shared and accepted vision for the development

of the ČSA quarry area and will contribute to cooperation of all area

stakeholders.

114 Kees Christiaanse, Joanna Jabłońska

Abstract

The diversity and porosity in urban design – works by Kees Christiaanse

Contemporary urban design deals with numerous challenges ranging from providing an interactive and sustainable living environment to address-

ing social disparities and disruptive conditions, like the post-Covid condition or the energy transition. Architectural and public space quality should

focus primarily on fostering community-building and social interaction. Another challenge poses the inability of government bodies and building

legislation to keep up with the expedited innovations in mobility systems and construction and material technology by the private sector. In the work

of Kees Christiaanse and his oce KCAP, through projects like the GWL-housing project in Amsterdam, HafenCity in Hamburg, the Olympic Leg-

acy in London and Jurong Lake District in Singapore, these challenges were synthesized in an inclusive way. This article is based on talks with the

architect and urbanist and reveals specic design and procedural approaches to equip the urban fabric for today’s and future users’ needs.

Key words: Kees Christiaanse, HafenCity, urban design, city planning

Streszczenie

Różnorodność i porowatość w projektowaniu urbanistycznym – projekty Keesa Christiaanse

We współczesnym projektowaniu urbanistycznym uwzględnia się liczne kwestie – od zapewnienia interaktywnego i zrównoważonego środo-

wiska życia po rozwiązywanie problemów społecznych i łagodzenie destrukcyjnych uwarunkowań, tj. stan po pandemii czy konieczność szybkiej

transformacji energetycznej. Co więcej, związaną z tymi zagadnieniami jakość architektury i przestrzeni publicznej powinno wspierać budowanie

społeczności i interakcji międzyludzkich. Kolejnym wyzwaniem, któremu musi sprostać urbanista, jest opieszałość organów rządowych i prawa

budowlanego w nadążaniu za szybkimi innowacjami w systemach mobilności, technologii budowlanej i materiałowej, stymulowane przez sektor

prywatny. W pracach Keesa Christiaanse i jego biura KCAP, takich jak GWL-housing project w Amsterdamie, HafenCity w Hamburgu, Olympic

Legacy w Londynie i Jurong Lake District w Singapurze wyzwania te zostały syntetycznie i inkluzywnie rozwiązane. Artykuł powstał na podstawie

rozmów z architektem i urbanistą – Keesem Christiaanse i prezentuje autorskie podejście projektowe i proceduralne służące dostosowaniu tkanki

miejskiej do potrzeb dzisiejszych i przyszłych użytkowników.

Słowa kluczowe: Kees Christiaanse, HafenCity, projektowanie urbanistyczne, planowanie miast

References

[1] Christiaanse K., Jabłonska J., Online interview from June 20

, 2022

[own digital notes: 20.06.2022].

[2] Christiaanse K., Jabłonska J., Online interview from June 27

, 2022

[video recording: 27.06.2022].

[3] Christiaanse K., Textbook. Collected texts on the build environment

1900–2018, J. Bridger (ed.), nai010 publishers, Rotterdam 2018.

[4] Kees Christiaanse, “Reading Oce” 1953, https://readingoce.

com/kees-christiaanse [accessed: 30.06.2022].

[5] Kees Christiaanse, Edx 2022, https://www.edx.org/bio/kees-chris-

tiaanse [accessed: 30.06.2022].

[6] Situation: KCAP Architects & Planners: Kees Christiaanse, Han

van den Born, Ruurd Gietma and Irma van Oort, nai010 publishers,

Rotterdam 2006.

[7] Christiaanse K., Züger M., The Potato Plan Collection: 40 Cities

through the Lens of Patrick Abercrombie, nai010 publishers, Rot-

terdam 2018.

[8] The Grand Projet: Understanding the Making and Impact of Urban

Megaprojects, K. Christiaanse, A. Gasco, N. Hanakata (eds.), nai010

uitgevers/publishers, Rotterdam 2019.

[9] City as Loft: Adaptive Reuse as a Resource for Sustainable Urban

Development, M. Baum, K. Christiaanse (eds.), gta publishers, Zu-

rich 2013.

[10] Open City: Designing Coexistence. Catalogue Architecture Bien-

nale Rotterdam, T. Rieniets, J. Sigler, K. Christiaanse (eds.), Sun

Architecture, Amstedam 2009.

[11] Campus and the City: Urban Design for the Knowlege Society,

K. Hoeger, K. Christiaanse (eds.), gta Verlag, Zurich 2007.

[12] Strip: 1.5 Kilometres of Urban Housing in The Hague, S. Holl,

J.L. Mateo, MVRDV, W. Arets, K. Christiaanse, Atelier Ciriani,

Geurts & Schulze, Hariri & Hariri, K. Oosterhuis, Neutelings Rie-

dijk, F. van Dongen, A. Zaaier, B. Tschumi (eds.), NAi Publishers,

[n.p.] 2003.

[13] Christiaanse K., What is architecture?, YouTube movie 2019,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5nNNfbh-Bk [accessed:

30.06.2022].

[14] Worldometer 2022, https://www.worldometers.info [accessed:

11.07.2022].

[15] https://www.hafencity.com/en [accessed: 14.07.2022].

[16]

Parc de la Villette, https://www.oma.com/projects/parc-de-la- villette

[accessed: 18.07.2022].

[17] Architectuul, Parc de la Villette. Paris, France, https://architectuul.

com/architecture/parc-de-la-villette [accessed: 18.07.2022].