This concept presents a position and a potential framework towards the commissioning of Slow Street, an unexpected and ambitious civic engagement project for the residents in Kleine Veddel. The proposal of Slow (infra)structures is to establish a set of interventions adjacent to the construction of the new road of Magistrale 12 in Kleine Veddel. Slow Street will instill a process of slow uses and slow values in the form of spatial social infrastructure by engaging residents to interact with semi-permanent construction hoarding with embedded structures. This concept has been developed in response to the online public participation process (https://www.hamburg -port-authority.de/en/hafenentwicklung-2040) of the Harbour Development Plan 2040 (Draft) and it is hoped that it might also encourage collaboration across the large-scale masterplan development of Magistrale 12 for Hamburg and supplement longer term regeneration of future developments in the port area.
Reflective Regeneration
Infrastructural Plug-ins
Slow Urban Values
Durational Listening & Observing
Mapping Real Time
A key sustainability objective of Slow (infra)structure via Slow Street is in the logic of collective and co-creation. The spirit of collaborative design processes are undoubtedly one of the most necessary methods of designing in urban contexts. The idea that urban design is created exclusively by a professional design / technical team is a limited understanding of the complex reality of designing a project. Methods of collaboration in urban design projects are fundamental to reverse climate change and deal with problems generated by the exploitations of natural resources. In this sense the curatorial strategy seeks to reinforce collaborative practices that include relationships among humans and their environment. Slow Street allows space for attentiveness to what surrounds us by seeking simple and intuitive collaborative practices. By way of observing and listening through the structures, this practice aims to generate resilient attitudes that recognise the value of non-human life. This collaborative placemaking is centred on relationships built on interdependence and less on exploitation.
It is proposed that Slow (infra)structure via Slow Street should be developed according to the following sustainable recommendations:
— The reasonable lifetime of structures should be considered both in social and physical terms. Can the structures remain as permanent entities beyond physical hoarding presence?
— Structures should be developed through collaboration with existing communities or organisations within Kleine Veddel to ensure long-term ownership and maintenance for the structures
— The hoarding should be a modular, lightweight and load bearing system with an integrated design approach for the structures acoustic performance, branding and colour finish
— Materiality considerations in terms of durability, environmental impact, responsible sourcing, fabrication process, maintenance and lifecycle
Affording time in design to observe the changing conditions in the context of regeneration and housing considers the well-being of all people who will come in contact with the urban context through generations. The key principles of slowness proposed in this curatorial strategy aims to challenge the dominant professional model of the time-sensitive, fast-paced urban design, regeneration and housing industry by affording time to the understanding, reading, and use of a basic infrastructure by embedding structures of slow uses and values. Design that promotes an inherent slowness through listening and observing gives time to a community to adapt as contexts change. An awareness of time allows design to operate at a human level. This appreciation for time allows mindful exchanges to inform regeneration of new and existing infrastructures where design evolves to serve the needs of a community.
Slow Street - Slow (infra)structures are embedded into a timber hoarding to allow for listening and observing in the street for the duration of the construction phase of the new strategic road. Each structure would have instructions for use for residents and bi monthly workshops and groups dedicated to documenting and sharing what is collectively seen, felt, observed, and heard whilst existing on slow street. This establishes a form of exchange of the real time experience and evolution of slow street. The design method allows dialogue of the shared sensibility in developing a way to think and act together slowly weaving into urban transformation processes.
The following three structures propose different mediums for listening and observing in the street:
01 Listening Out (See Appendix 02a)
02 Looking In (See Appendix 02b)
03 Listening In / Looking Out (See Appendix 02c)
Kliene Veddel is framed by the port, railway tracks & motorways and has long been neglected by the City of Hamburg which only changed with the ‘leap across the elbe 2004’ project, an international building and garden show (Sheard, 2013). With the island of Wilhemsburg scarred by declining old industries and flood risks, this international building and garden show ambition was to tackle the economically deprived, socially fragmented and environmentally damaged area. The Veddel district has a history of migration and is home to a diverse population with residents with almost 50 different nationalities. This curatorial strategy is positioned within the residential area of Kleine Veddel adjacent to the proposed road of Magistrale 12: Amsinckstraße - Hannoversche Straße.
This curatorial strategy aims to confront the essence of speed along boundaries within this particular urban context by way of open live dialogue between existing residents and the new urban infrastructure. Design is focused through on dialogue within the relationship between entities to address complex urban issues by connecting citizens, experts and administrations through architectural projects. The new strategic road presents opportunities for connectivity in terms of movement and accessibility. Yet the reality of living alongside a transport corridor is an isolating boundary. By addressing this reality and integrating a slow form of cultural production along this boundary, the site at Kleine Veddel can make the leap across the River Elbe.
Modern society often overlooks the inherent slowness required for urban design. Generally speed is a measurement of progress in the built environment. This fast paced tendency is reflected in our lifestyles where ease of making practices are prioritised over giving space and time to allow for meaningful connections to develop. Slowness in urban design could reduce displacement and embed existing and future residents in a development for regeneration of an area.
Slow street is a pedestrianised street with the edge bounded by hoarding to the live construction site for the new strategic road. Hoarding is defined as a temporary structure of solid construction erected around the perimeter of construction sites in a public place to shield them from view, prevent unauthorised access and display marketing advertisements. The repurposing of the temporal nature of hoarding to a semi-permanent structure aims to give the street a resilient quality. The hoarding becomes a structure for listening and observing in the street for the duration of the construction. Listening and looking bays are built into the hoarding in forms of windows/shutters and sound mirrors/perforations allowing interaction with the construction site and the adjacent area. Affording time to the street by listening and observing through and with the structure. Upon completion of the construction site as the hoarding function is no longer required, these structures that are now embedded in the community can remain. This residual structure slowly builds a durational resilience for communities living alongside regeneration projects to form social infrastructure.
The port of Hamburg on the River Elbe is the largest seaport in Germany and the third busiest port in Europe occupying 10% of the City of Hamburg's land area. The port area of 74 hectares is administered by the Hamburg Port Authority (Hamburg Port Authority, 2021). The port has a mix of land uses consisting of container, cargo and passenger port terminals, logistics centres, manufacturing industries and former workers housing. The port of Hamburg is subject to its own governance and planning laws and is preparing the Harbour Development Plan 2040 (Draft) working alongside the Ministry of Economic and Innovation. Within the draft port development plan, the planning features that are the subject of this curatorial strategy are; ‘Space Strategy’ looking at public space and land strategy and ‘Harbour and City’ focusing on accessibility and connectivity with the port and surrounding areas. A participation process associated with the draft development plan seeks to integrate the public via an online platform into the creation process of drawing up the new port development plan through interactive online dialogue. This curatorial strategy aspires to contribute to this participation process.
Regeneration and housing design is shaped by many contexts from regulation to governance to finance and professional roles as well as users through which designs are experienced. Design methods are often executed by built environment practitioners against a series of pressured deadlines within time-sensitive frameworks. Time within these design methods are commonly measured from a speed perspective. This requirement for speed in urban design is often a measurement of success, ignoring the slower tempos necessary for human means of collective engagement and existence as cities grow and develop. Time is a critical component when designing across different scales in sustaining existing communities and generating new communities.
Architecture and urban design cannot be formulated on executing a pre-established plan but by embracing the dynamic nature of design. The value of giving time to a process that can be fed and enhanced by multiple perspectives is the purpose of this curatorial strategy.
We need a critical approach for the way we design, build and use our infrastructure. Regeneration projects need to maintain community support and involvement by investing in multipurpose and citizen friendly structures that meet the needs of a community rather than provide a basic service. Extensive citizen input can be a driving force to complete an infrastructure project rather than a purpose driven approach. A process of balancing the contrasting existing community and new infrastructure by allowing durational involvement charges a regenerative synergy. The structure should also reflect the culture and materials connected to their immediate context and particularly people who inhabit the area by giving time to put place back into infrastructure. The potential for infrastructure to have an additional function of shaping urban form by embedding spatial form underpins the thinking behind Slow Street in attempting to create new layers of local identity.
A series of innovative mapping exercises have been undertaken through an observing and listening process to gather the atmosphere of the surrounding port context. The process of capturing port data within time frames informs various measurements of slowness operating across the urban environment. Mapping real time conversations is very vital in the objective of this curatorial strategy. Slow mapping places emphasis on the sensory experience through the attentive collection of information.
The strategy of Slow Street can be re-appropriated across various site and area conditions. These (infra)structural plug-ins could be applied to elements within the port before they have reached the end of their economic functioning lifetime. For example the Hamburg port hoists or shipyard lifts could be repurposed as social infrastructure before dismantling. By embedding these (infra)structures in advance of non working port infrastructure, this allows time for connection and celebration of the port's current use. The concept of slow approach is not to replace a functioning infrastructure at the end of its lifespan but to plant the slow structure within it, thus rooting a form of slow regeneration.
The City of Hamburg is inextricably linked with the Port of Hamburg by virtue of dependency on the quantity of goods imported and exported and movement of people on a daily basis. The port activities are colourful, theatrical and lively and for the most part proximity and interaction are invisible and inaccessible. Magistrale 12 is the large-scale masterplan development for Hamburg. The masterplan seeks to make the ‘artery of the city’ fit for the future by providing a strategic action plan for the city as a whole. Twelve main strategic corridors (magistrals) have been identified to link Hamburg to its hinterland. In addition to the masterplan for these main routes, objectives underpinning the strategy include; urban development and cityscape, mobility, public space, climate, blue-green infrastructure, urban living & working, participation, control and organisation.
The port faces a large-scale masterplan development and this scale of urbanisation brings about challenges such as over-consumption of resources, increased pollution and pressures to existing infrastructure. Alongside this, the increase in private and corporate owned urban developments has altered the scale and character of the city. Global capital flowing into urban developments has contributed to transnational corporate buying of buildings and land. Corporate homogenisation of urban development leads to the de-nationalising of urban space which negatively impacts disadvantaged sections of urban populations.
Slow Street attempts to recognize the challenges and opportunities brought about by rapid urban regeneration and development at a local level and proposes social infrastructure that supports existing and new communities.
