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Well, if you are going to try to build affordable housing quickly, such large projects are the way to go. At least in the sixties and seventies city planners in

by rob74 4y ago

Well, if you are going to try to build affordable housing quickly, such large projects are the way to go. At least in the sixties and seventies city planners in the "western world" tried to do it (with more or less success), today they're not even trying anymore. A more successful example is the former Munich Olympic Village (https://goo.gl/maps/1HTQWvGcRcoXAWvH6 https://goo.gl/maps/1HTQWvGcRcoXAWvH6). It's composed of 3 streets which are completely built over, so the cars at ground level are hidden from view and the pedestrians are walking in a completely pedestrian area at level 2 (I think). The buildings are also very linear and all look the same, but all apartments have huge south-facing terraces with lots of greenery (including shrubs or even trees). Public transport connection is also very good with a subway station nearby. Today the apartments are very sought after - wish they had built more projects like this. But if you look at more recent projects, like the "Messestadt Riem" (https://goo.gl/maps/tVrahc4uDFkijGCC9 https://goo.gl/maps/tVrahc4uDFkijGCC9), they are much more cramped and spread out over a larger surface, with squat buildings that look very interchangeable - not really better, I'm afraid.

euroderf 4y ago
> cars at ground level are hidden from view and the pedestrians are walking in a completely pedestrian area at level 2 (I think) Helsinki tries to do the same in an area called Merihaka. I don't like it. Feels "off". The lower (car+transit) level feels like the Morlocks in The Time Machine, or some other kind of sci-fi dystopia, and the upper level has weird entryways to the netherworld and no real grid of "streets" (or whatever) for locating buildings and also some trees (in big planters, one presumes) and how can you have healthy, respected trees that are more or less suspended in mid-air, disconnected from the Earth ?
usrusr 4y ago
Isn't that exactly was gp was asking about? Why shape a big project like one huge monolith, if you could also try to disguise the size? Munich Olympic Village is all about appearing human-scale despite its size, Corviale makes its hugeness the core of its identity.
More-nitors 4y ago
hm I thought they were to impress people... show off "we can build this in one-go" / "we can compensate/take this big-land from the owners in one-go" In construction, you have to have the timing right for the whole building in one-go... In land-ownership issue, you have to own the whole land / negotiate with/seize from with owners who own some of the land

by rob74 4y ago

euroderf 4y ago

> cars at ground level are hidden from view and the pedestrians are walking in a completely pedestrian area at level 2 (I think) Helsinki tries to do the same in an area called Merihaka. I don't like it. Feels "off". The lower (car+transit) level feels like the Morlocks in The Time Machine, or some other kind of sci-fi dystopia, and the upper level has weird entryways to the netherworld and no real grid of "streets" (or whatever) for locating buildings and also some trees (in big planters, one presumes) and how can you have healthy, respected trees that are more or less suspended in mid-air, disconnected from the Earth ?

usrusr 4y ago

Isn't that exactly was gp was asking about? Why shape a big project like one huge monolith, if you could also try to disguise the size? Munich Olympic Village is all about appearing human-scale despite its size, Corviale makes its hugeness the core of its identity.

More-nitors 4y ago

hm I thought they were to impress people... show off "we can build this in one-go" / "we can compensate/take this big-land from the owners in one-go" In construction, you have to have the timing right for the whole building in one-go... In land-ownership issue, you have to own the whole land / negotiate with/seize from with owners who own some of the land