urban design

The Dead Square Nygaardsplassen (“Nygaard Square”) was once the backyard of a city block in Fredrikstad, Norway, surrounded by quaint townhouses. Between the houses were spaces teaming with life; children playing, livestock, and meeting places for friendly neighbours. During the 1970s many of these houses were demolished to make way for four-storey office buildings and an underground car park with Nygaardsplassen established on top. The office buildings featured an intricate, post-modern architectural style including arcades towards the new square. In urban terms, Nygaardsplassen was not a success and later adopted the nickname “The Dead Square”. Shopping Centre Zoning A new planning regulation for the square was agreed in 2012, outlining plans for a 4-6 storey shopping centre.

The urban rehabilitation of a place with the precarious characteristics found in Alto de Bomba, requires the design team’s daily immersion in the neighborhood, seeing and feeling the everyday life of the residents. That’s why, since the launch of the project, two groups of 10 interns have joined the team, one from M_EIA University, University Institute of Art, Technology and Culture and one from Jean Piaget University, in order to ensure the apprehension for future generations of architects and engineers.

At one point in its length, the Klar River that runs through the city of Karlstad splits to form a 300-meter-long cape; from the air it appears as the pointed beak of a bird. The cape is a powerful landscape, a place of considerable drama, and the site of Sandgrund Park (Sandgrundsparken).

The Commons Saladaeng is nestled in a vibrant Bangkok neighborhood called “Saladaeng” which means a red pavilion. The name came from the presence of a small red-gabled train station that stood distinctly in the middle of the rice field a hundred years ago as part of the first railway line of the country.

Cuyperspassage is the name of the new tunnel at Amsterdam Central Station that connects the city and the waters of the IJ-river. Since the end of 2015 it has been used by large numbers of cyclists, some 15,000 daily, and pedestrians 24 hours a day. This ‘slow traffic corridor’ was exactly what many users of the city felt was lacking. What once was by necessity a left or right turn is now, at long last, straight ahead. The tunnel is clad on one side by nearly 80,000 Delft Blue tiles: a true Dutch spectacle at a central spot in Amsterdam.

The Project is located at the El Tenayo Housing Unit area, in the Municipality of Tlalnepantla de Baz. The proposal consists of the rehabilitation of a large existing ridge, which worked as open public space. The intervention proposes a set of 9 squares, each measuring 20 x 20 m, which are arranged on the plot, following the existing topography. Each of the squares contains a specific program: a civic square with a flagpole, a tree-lined square, a square with children’s game infrastructure, a square with square benches, a multi-purpose triangular pavilion, a Skate Park, an outdoor gym, and two multipurpose courts with stands.