Aldo van Eyck – The Playgrounds Playgrounds and the City Liane Lefaivre, ”Space, Place and Play – or the interstitial/cybernetic/polycentric urban model underlying van Eycks’s quasi-unknown but nevertheless, myriad postwar msterdam playgrounds”, (in Aldo van EyckEyck- The Playgrounds and the City City , Stedelijk Museu
Asterda, e!hi"ition catalogue, #$$#% The &utch architect architect Aldo van Eyck ('')*'% started started his career in '+ in -ost.ar tie Asterda .ith a large nu"er of -laygrounds (over $$ .ere "uilt until ')% in di/erent -laces in Asterda Asterda city0 city0 1e shared .ith any any artists of the tie the sae desire for a ne. -layful and inforal society0 The sites-eci2c -laygrounds -laygrounds .ere ade .ith si-le si-le eans and o"jects, fraes for cli"ing, a sand-it, a grou- of circular concrete "locks – o"jects that are not in theselves anything "ut an o-en function function to stiulate a child3s child3s iagination and and free oveents0 The increased increased interest in children children in art and culture .as .as -art of a uch "roader "roader social and cultural current current centered on the child0 child0
Durgerdammerdijk, northeast Amsterdam, 1955, 1957
Zeedijk, Amsterdam A msterdam -Centrum, 1955, 1 955, 1956
Working methods and theory
Eycks idea of design design to a given ur"an ur"an setting, rather than .orking .ith .ith -re* conceived assu-tions, has -arallells in other 2elds in -ost.ar tie in literature, cinea, -olitics, -hiloso-hy -hiloso-hy or science reacting on a -riori conce-ts and and a"stract -rinci-les of etha-hysics .hether they .ere researchers researchers in -hilosohy of ordinary ordinary language, e!istenstialists, -henoenologists or atheaticians, .hatever disagreeents,, they shared one thing4 they a--roached their -ro"les as disagreeents e"edded in real 5cirustances5, 5lived*in conditions5, 5 e!-erienced cases5, 5 iediate conte!ts5 or 5situations50 Eyck 6s strategy .as to stick to the general anti*esta"lishent 5 situational5 s-irit of the tie, es-ecially Sartre3s Sartre3s .ritings .ith categories 57othingness5 57othingness5 and 58eing5 to .hich van Eycks distinction s-ace and -lace can "e seen as a -arallell0 They "oth re"elled against the idea of grandiose, to-*do.n, authorative systes0 Eycks -laygrounds are one of the ost original contri"utions to architecture, ur"anis and art in -ost.ar tie0 1e is the "est -lace*aker -lace*aker ever .ith the -laygrounds "ut they have "een a secret during the #$$$th century .hen architecture architectur e -rofession .as not a"le to -ercieve the "ecause they .ere so iaterial0
Dijkstraat, Amsterdam centrum, 195
9an Eyck coined at that tie, aong other catch .ords that no. is standard in architectural discourse , the shocking distinction "et.een 5s-ace5 and 5-lace5 and the 5in"et.een5, the last one "orro.ed fro Martin 8u"er ( "ook 5: and Thou5, '#;%0 9an Eycks de2ntion on s-ace "ecae i-ortant to 1enri Lefev"re conce-t 5a"stract s-ace5, Marc Aug
oolhaas 5 junks-ace5 and 5 generic city50 (>oolhaas, #$$'4#'*+#,+;*?% (: a e!-loring ore of v Eyck3s thinking and conce-ts of the 5t.in -henoena5 the 5in*"et.een real5 , 5-lace and occasion 5 etc "elo.0% 1e changed the &utch citysca-e0 :n the early #$$$th century3s tendency to.ard a dissolition of these -laces and the rise of a ne. anonyous, sterile alternative s-ace only one kind of ur"an -lanning .as acce-ta"le 4 5to-*do.n5 -lanning0 C:AM (Congr@s :nternationeau! d3 Architecture Moderne5% used di/erent .ords for this kind of -lanning4 for instance Le Cor"usier 5la cit@ =adiuese5 1il"erseier 5 Brosstadt Arkitektur5 and v Eesten 5funktionele stad5
!e Cour"usier#s im$ersona% hand o&er his mode% 'or the Cit( )adieuse, 19*7 +to$ &an esteren#s $re.ar "ird#s eye &ie. o' Amsterdam, 19* +"e%o.
:n the afterath of # , the one ajor change that e/ected this 5to-*do.n5 thinking a"out cities .as to turn to-*do.n thinking on its head and ado-t an a--roch that .as 0 5ground*u-, 5dirty real5, 5 situational5 0 9an Eyck3s -laygrounds .as the 2rst real alternative to C:AM*style ur"an -lanning0 1e fored the grou- Tea Ten .ith the collegues Alison and Peter Sithson, Bian Carlo de Carlo , Schadrach oods, Beorge Candilis and Ale!is Dosic0 Eyck3s strategy is the strategy of the interstitial and the -olycentric as o--osed to the strategy of the aster-lan of C:AM0
/round-u$ $ost-.ar a$$roach to the city0 a$ .ith $%anned interstitia% $%aygrounds making a $o%ycentric net, 2ordaan district , Amsterdam
Playgrounds .as in the architect 1enri Lefev"re3s taste as he also shared the sae re"ellious, noncoforist, ground*u- thinking and -layed a crucial role in sha-ing architectural sensitivities the follo.ing #? years0 :n Critique de la Qiutidienne Lefev"re argued that the ordinary, forgotten, everyday areas on the -eriferi of the etro-olitan city .ere -riviliged -laces of -oetic e!-erience and social life0 :t .as -u"lished the sae year as v Eycks 2rst -layground '+ and have great siilarities in feeling0 hat v Eyck cae closest to, in his co"ining the to-*do.nand grund*u- odels, .as 7or"ert iener3s cy"ernetic theory of self*regulating organiss constantly adjusting theselves in res-onse to ne. in-uts and5learing fro5 their evolving conte!ts through feed"ack loo-s, through a -rocess called in"et.eening0 :n the -laygrounds this in"et.eening is highly co-le! , "ringing together di/erent -eo-le, "ut also di/erent foral canons and di/erent ur"an strategies0 There are any faces to this in"et.eening of to-*do.n and ground*u- thinking0 or instance in the foral co-ostional eleents in v Eyck3s -laygrounds that is a co"o of classical and anti*classical architectura fors , a hy"rid .ay0 Soe of the -laygrounds .ere classical soe anticlassical0 Like the one at Mendes da Costahof ado-ting the rigourous classical geoetry of rench foral garden and the -layground at SaFerstraat, siilar to Mondrian3s art.ork Diamond compositions0
endes da Costaho' "y & yck , 1957, 1963 and !iamond composition, ondrian, 1945 and aerstraat, $%ayground "y & yck, 1953, 1951
Another kind of foral -oetics at .ork in the -laygrounds .as an atte-t to e!-ress the genus loci , no atter ho. rough, irregular or un-olished0 The uniGeness .ith Asterda3s -laygrounds, co-ared to other cities, is that they are interstitial , inserted .ith the living fa"ric of the city0 Each has its o.n uniGue con2guration, .here only the site coes into -lay0 They are all sites-eci2c asyetrical, "lo"*like, contorted, fractured, "roken0 The searching for genus loci is al.ays associated .ith irregularity or roughness of real fors, originally fro the ')$$th centurie3s roantic oveent0 =eality has al.ays "een dirty and essy, 5dirty real50 9 Eyck .rote to the &irector of Pu"lic ork of Asterda '?' and declined to -rettify the "are 2re.alls surrounding the -laygrounds, -referring the 5-ositive5 as-ects of5-lastic5 reality of their roughness0 9 Eyck .as close friend .ith the artists Asger Dorn, Coreille och >aren A--el of the artist grou- Co"ra ('+*'?'%0 The &ijkstraat -layground('?+, -icture a"ove%4 concieved .ithin the conte!t of the site , it gives a frae to ur"an life0 As o--osed to -ost.ar onuents "y Piacsso, Moore etc , the -layground 5learns 5 fro its conte!t0 :t is one of the 2rst site* s-eci2c scul-tures of the -ost.ar -eriod0 :n density of eaning and i-act on the ur"an setting, it "rings to ind the ty-e of ur"an sculture that =ichard Serra, Daes Turell and Christo .ere to "uild, "ut #$ years later0 :n addition, it is one of fe. cases .here the sae .ork can "e t.o things* ur"anis and scul-ture, siultanelously 0 These .orks are reada"le in "oth registers0 They overla- co-letely0 The +th issue of agaHine Co"ra coincided .ith the Steduijk e!hi"ition of autun '+ devoted to the thee of childhood* another instance of ins-iration coing "otto*u- rather the to-*do.n0 :n ajor cultural role reversal the child "ecae a odel for the adult in the 5naif 5, child*like Art 8rut .orks "y Dean &u"u/et and Doan MirI, -ost.ar *e!-ressionists0
Eyck eans that the -ainter Dackson Pollock .as a treendous inJuence on architects at the tie0 Peggy Buggenhei e!hi"ited hi in her 9enicevilla0 A "road rethinking the conce-t of childhood took -lace in -ost.ar tie, in any cultural e!-ressions the child "ecae e-o.ered as never "efore, s-read into the social sciences ra-idly0 irst sign of change .as -erha-s the revolutionary The Common Sense Book o Ba!y and Child Care('+K% advocating e!treely li"eral , non*authorian a--roach to child*rearing0 This ne. -ost.ar i-ortance to children also sha-ed re-resentations of architecture and ur"anis to a certain e!tent0 >evin Lynch "ased uch of his research in the ?$3s on studying it and child dra.ing on The "mage o the City ('K$%0
omo !udens
Eycks -layground also reJected a dee-*seated cultural continuity in &utch culture4 kinders-ielen, 5children3s -lay5 , re-resented in readi"ly ur"an settings , is a to-os in 7etherlandish -ainting and 7orthern huanistic culture "ack to 'K$$th century0 The u"iGuity of children in &utch -ainting are not -utti or iortal children "ut real is another side of sae tradition4 children in -aintings -ut in to-ograh-ically eaningful settings, to.n hall vie. te!, to evoke the civic and -u"lic virtues to .hich the correctly "rought*u- child should "e led0 The -aintings are scenes fro the interior of the &utch ental .orld0 it 2lled a -ractical -ur-ose to instil re-u"lican values into children fro an early age and "ring the into the fold of the reality of civic life in "ourgeois society0 ost eFcent .ay to this learning -rocess .as in a -lay setting0 Cor van Eestern , old to-*do.n C:AM* functionalist, .ho hade ade no -rovisions for -laygrounds in his E!tensions Plan for Asterda of ';+, "ecae devoted ground* u- situationalist, actively dedicated to -lacing '?) 5 kleuters-eel-laatsjes5 or 5sall -laygrounds for the little ones5 in -ost .ar -rojects Slotereer0 As head of City &eveklo-ent for the city of Asterda after the.ar he radicallay changed his a--roach "ecause of the Asterda -laygrounds0ithout a"andoning the idea of to-*do.n -lanning, he "egan to 5learn5 fro -articularities and irregularities of left* over interstitial -laces in the e!isting fa"ric of the city and to .ork .ith the instead of overlooking the0 So .hat a young architect had started in '+ "ecae oFcial -olicy* every "lock that .anted .as eGui--ed .ith a -layground0 The solution of -laygrounds .as clearly linked in the ind of v Eyck to the issue of ur"an density0 :n the densely -o-ulated neigh"orhoods , the "est solution eerged to "e to set u- te-oraray, saller -laygrounds0 The -laygrounds "ecae a constant thee in his -lanning activities and e!-lains -ro"a"ly the Guality of life in these neigh"ourhoods0 1e also s-eci2ed the i-ortance of -laygrounds concieved as e-heeral and evolving rather than as 2!ed and static0 1e said they should "e included in a .ay that is not ore than te-orary0 ne ust ark the -laygrounds clearly in the interstitial s-ace that is intended for -lay0 or v Eyck chilhood .as the sae as the5ludic5 , the idea .as -art of the de"ate of the tie0 10 Lefev"re used the ar!isitic conce-t of alienation , to outline the thoery of 5everydayness5, le quoitidien, "uilt on the hu"le and re-etetive as-ects of life as o--osed to those as-ects of the .orld of -roduction or consu-tion0 Levfe"vre claied the 5right 5 to the city as a -lace of -leasure and enjoyent0 The city as the
locus of 5festival50 1is -ur-ose .as 5to o--ose everday life and re*organise it until it is as good as ne., its s-urious rationality and authority unasked and the antithesis "et.een the Guotidian and the estival5( Lefe"vre '$4#$?*#$K%0 8S8ut he held there .as ore to the -laygrounds than frivolity4 the -rofound "elief in the civilising function of -lay0 The 2rst ones .ere -laced very often in voids of Asterda .here the houses of de-orted De.s had stood0 illing the .ith life in the face of these facts .as a redeeing and thera-eutic act, a .ay of .eaving togehther once again the fa"ric of a devastated city, to overcoe the agony of the .ar through -lay0 Cy"ernetic, $artici$atory ur"anism
The -laygrounds arose .ithin a seihierachal, sei*anarchiac, highly -artici-atory -rocess involving any -eo-le over decades4 a cy"ernetic -rocess, ground*u-, to-* do.n, interrelating a ass of agents, each a crucial role, i-oss to disentangle fro each other* v Eyck only the ost .ell*kno.n "ecause ost vocal, ediagenic0 ithout the to- of the Pu"lic orks de-artent and the citiHens of Asterda and ore the -laygrounds .ould3nt have "een .hat they "ecae0All these -eo-le .ere all re"ells like v Eyck, and like hi .ith a cause0 :n all cy"ernetically de2ned -henoena there are diFculties to say a"out a oent .hen it all started0 There are chain reactions and coincidences0 7e!t to the conce-t of the situation that de2nes a ne. a--roach to architecture coes conce-t of changea"i%ity, transience0 Tie understood as -art of the aesthetic a--recitation of a .ork of art is linked to the ulti-le idea of vie.s and oveent0( a canonical "ook of odern architecture4Space# Time and Architecture, Biedion , '+'%0 or the -layground tie .as a conce-t de2ning a design -roduct as a .ork in $rogress or in $rocess 0 The city is therefore a te-oraray -henoenonans so .ere the interventions of the architect in it0 8o%ycentric net
The ost original and signi2cant as-ects of the -laygrounds is the net*like or .e"* like Guality they assue as a .hole0 They are as a constellation, a schee ade uof situationally arising units – the -laygrounds – "ound to tie, accident and circustance0 5The idea of the city as an o-en*ended -attern reoves the duality of interior and e!terior s-ace5 the $$ -laygrounds can "e seen like ondrians 5starry sky5 -aintings, in .hich he oved a.ay decidely fro classical closed , onocentric co-osition to.ards an o-en, anti*classical co-ositional strategy "ased on randoely distri"uted -olycentric gala!y of nodal -oints0 -laygrounds eerging in the cracks and interstices of the city and overlaid u-on the e!isting ur"an fa"ric are also forerunners of the interstitial a--roach of the city of >evin Lynch that he called 5knots of density5 .hich he -ro-osed to link through a -olycentred net50 Lynch and v Eyck shared the o--osition to the C:AMidea of a single central, onocentric 5heart of the city5 or 5 core50
8iet ondrian, "omposition #o$%, 1917, /emeenetmuseum den aag
Eycks -laygrounds have historical signi2cance not only as individual design cases "ut also as alternatives to -re.ar C:AM -ractices as critical events o-ening a ne. .indo. onto ne. -otentials of -lace .here there had "een nothing "efore "ut a void and e-ty s-ace0 rancis Struven, senior lecturer in architecture theory at the Nniversity og Bhent, .rites in the sae "ook a"out vEyck3s .ork0 Eyck .as ore and ore convinced that it should "e regarded as the authentic "asis of the #$$$th century4 a ne. era of si-licity and clarity, a ne. culture in .hich the recurrent, tie*hallo.ed o--osites .ould "e reconciled in a cheerful .ay0 v Eyck recognised that architecture "y L Cour"usier and =ietveld had -layed a vital -art in the construction of that ne. culture, "ut that their o"session .ith standardisation and industrialisation had gradually alienated the fro the origin0 (KK% v Eyck therefore .anted to link architecture to its avant*garde roots again0 1e .as not like his collegues interested in carrying out functionalist achieveents to all kinds of "uilding -rojects on large*scale0 1e .anted to do e!-eriental research on the eleentary sources of architecture to e!-lore the -otential of architecture as a language ore in the light of the achieveents of the avantgarde0 1e thought the various e!-ressions of the avantgarde .ere "ased on sae fundaental intuition4 the idea o' re%ati&ity , .hich had "een anifest in art and science since the "eginning of the century0 This eant an o-ening u- a reality .here things no longer are su"ordinated to a central -rinci-le, "ut in re%ation to each other, a reality not doinated "y a 2!ed center, "ut .here all stand-oints are of eGual value0 This ade the .orld revealed as a co-le! , -olycentric ensa"le .here things are autonoous "ut intert.ined through -urely reci-rocal relations0 The relations are as i-ortant as the things teselves0 To e!-erient -ractically .ith non*hierarchical co-ositions in .hich di/erent things are related to one another on the "asis of eGuality, v Eyck had the -laygrounds in Asterda as his ideal 2eld of o-erations0 1is design for these sites are "ased on eleentary co-onents of visual language0 ro Mondrian he derived an syntactic insight into ho. di/erent things can "e "rought to eGuili"riu0 8ut he .as not satis2ed .ith -urely geoetric eleents .ithout association in that he .as ins-ired "y .ork of 8rancusi, Ar-, So-hie TOu"er in their synthesis of organic gro.th and crystalclear geoetry* this sho.s in the -layground furniture (as seen a"ove in the -laygrounds% that he develo-ed* archety-ical construcitions .ith -o.erful si-licity evoking di/erent associations0
&elie' rectangulaire, o$hie :u"er, 19*6, ;unstmuseum,
Sand-it solid yet soft, o-en "ody that could assue di/erent geoetric sha-es, circle, sGuare triangle a -olygon .ith inscri"ed circle or vv0 8eside there .ere often a nu"er of sall, solid eleents4 cylindric "locks of concrete K? c dia0 -laced in a ro.grou-, used as seats, to gather around or ju-ingstones 0 These .ere in contact .ith thin etal ones, tu"ular cli"ing "ars , high, in grou-s arking a s-ot or dearcated territories0 -lus a large etal arch in three segents .ith s-okes .ith conve! and concave sides could "e used for any things4 -assage, crossing, sto--ing -lace, gy a--aratus0All eleents .ere sta"le0
C%im"ing arch, =redrik endriks$%antsoen, Amsterdam->ud.est, 1959 and tones 'or jum$ing, Zaanho', $aarndammer"uurt
1e didn3t like to ake -ay o"jects like iaginary anials "ecause they don3t "elong to the city and shut do.n the iagination rather than activating it0 1e thought they ay "e fun in a fair "ut they are not suitea"le eleents of the city cause they are not real enough0 A -lay o"ject has to "e real like a "ench is real cause you can sit on it0 An alluiniu elefant is not real, it cannot .alk and is unnatural in the street 0 The -rial eleentary fors have un ur"an character and stiulate the iagination and are not tied to any function "ut evoke di/erent use and une?$ectedones0 hey o@er means 'or chi%dren to disco&er things 'or themse%&es
Eyck "rought the -lay o"jects together in constantly changing co-ositions each foring a s-eci2c res-onse to the given situation0 The neigh"oroud .ere consultated "y the Site Pre-aration de-0 of Nr"an &evelo-ent regarding the siHe , sha-e and conte!t of the uniGue site in Guestion "ut also regarding the often co-le! net.ork of underground -i-ing that had to reain accessi"le for aintenance0 Each of the aied at the achieveent of the sae "asic intention4 to relate the di/erent co-onents, sall and large, light and heavy, to one another as eGual eleents and there"y to articulate the given s-ace as a location .ith a character and a face of its o.n, a -lace in .hich the s-ace arked out "y the things is as i-ortant as the things theselves0 1o. did he achieve thisQ 1e introduced a focal -oint to create a 5soe.here5 and connect things to one another0 The focal -oint, usually arked "y sand-it, did not usually coincide .ith the geoetric center of the site0 :t .as al.ays out of aligneent .ith that center "ut never to the e!tend to lead attention out of the site 0 The result .as an assyetrical situation that .as "rought into dyanic eGuili"riu "y the -lacing of other eleents0 for e!a-le in the 2rst sand-it 8ertelan-lein ('+%the sand-it .as + north of center reinforced "y "enches0 A second s-ot .as arked art a distance diagonally in relation to this large for, '$ "y eters, "y three cli"ing fraes4 an arrangeent that created t.o o-en s-aces in the other diagonal direction0
udBuid, 197 , the rst $%ayground o' & yck
The Raanhof-layground ('+)%.ith + retangles in di/erent siHes .ithout a center , each rectangle .ith di/erent -lay situation, a circular sand-it, three cli"ing "ars, seven ju-ing stones and a rounda"out, in a -attern of four areas .hose -ositions .ere all in relation to one another0 The areas .ere arked "y four rectangular Joors of .hite concrete -aving stones that fored a strong contrast .ith the "ro.n "rick -aved surface of the sGuare0 Each of these four di/erent Joor surfaces .as -laced o/ center, arking a center of its o.n, and their connection .ith each other .ere in the centrifugal oveent that they co"ined to evoke0 :rres-ective of their di/erent siHes, they co"ined as eGual eleents in a sort of .indall*sail -attern0 n the "order areas accoodated "enches0 The ) trees indicated the noral a!ial lines of the location served to "ring out the degrees of non*alignent and o/* centredness ore clearly0
$%ayground Zaanho', $aarndammer"uurt, Amsterdam, >ud.est, 19
8%ayground at 2aco" hijsse$%ein 199-53
Daco" Thijsse-lein '+*?$ .as "ased on di/erent co-ostional techniGues4 relation of the di/erent eleents "y eans of a!es0 1e decide to lay out the northern half as a -u"lic garden and the southern -art as a fully -aved sGuare and to 2t a liited nu"er of relatively sall eleents into the .hole surface0 1e -lanted ro.s of trees to reduce the sGuare0 The regular -ositioning of the trees reinforced a latent geoetry of a!es that deterined the -osition of the -lay o"jects and the "enches0 This concerned not the a!ial lines of the tree trunks theselves "ut the interval "ete.een the0 These lines related the s-ace "et.een the trees to the focal -oints of 2ve s-ots .hich .ere arked "y round "rick surfaces contrasting .ith .hite concrete -aving stones of the sGuare0 Aldo v Eyck, The Child# the City and the Artist# #$$) These are his o.n .ritings fro 'K#, "ut they .ere not -u"lished until #$$) -osthuously0 :n the "ook he resued ost of the thees he had develo-ed u- to 'K#0 A i! of theory, -oetry and anifestation-rotest against authoritan culture and a -assionate s-eech for reality unveiled "y avant*garde art and science, his vie. of relativity and its inter-retation in ters of architecture, the conce-t of the in* "et.een real, the reci-rocal identi2cation of house and city, the tie diension in architecture and ur"anis, that is, a revaluation of the architecture legacies of the -ast including the -riitive cultures0 The .ritings sho. a ost original architectural theory .hich -layed a seinal role in the second half of #$$$th century0 v Eyck took an uncoon critical attitude to C:AM and the -revailing functionalis0 1e develo-ed in .riting and .ork an authentically odern and huane architecture0 The architecture of the tie .as thoughtless in a eu-horic -rocess .hile he conducted ore of a fundaental reJection on architecture, revitaliHing it and -ut it "ack onto its avangarde*roots
.hich it seeed to have lost0 Through -ersonal contacts .ith any of the leading artists of the avantgarde fro Cu"is to &adais, Constuctivis to Surrealis he realiHed that these oveents had co-onents fro the sae culture oveent that "rought to light a ne. .orld*vie. or even ne. reality – a culture of gladness and "rightness, .hich he sa. as his life*task to i-leent in the 2eld of architecture0 1e introduced ne. notions into architectural thinking4 identity, the in*"et.een, -lace and occasion, reci-rocity and t.in -henoena, .hich o-ened ne. structural insights into -otential Gualities of the "uilt environent0 1is .ritings .ere a strong inJuence on the euro-ean and aerican architectural discourses0 1e had diFculities in 2nding a -u"lisher .hich ade hi .rite articles and let the anuscri-t circulate in any -hotoco-ies0 :ts ai is to develo- a truly conte-orary and huan conce-t of architecture and ur"anis "ased on the achieveents of conte-orary thinking in art and science0 At the sae tie it is eant as a counteraction to the dominant technocratic $%anning that tends to disintegrate e!isting cities .hile -roducing alienating ones0 1e does not discuss the thee in linear .ay "ut fro each other3s vie.-oints – a dialectic unfolding the5con2gurative disci-line5, a ne. a--roach aied at the develo-ent of genuine conte-orary ur"an structures0 This .as the synthesis of his reJection on architecture and ur"anis0:tfored the theoretical "asis of a ne. architectural oveent4 the &utch structuralis .ith architects such as Piet 8lo, Doo- van Stigt and 1eran 1ertH"erger0 v Eyck starts .ith the child vie.ing it as the -aragon of fresh huan -otential, as the -er-etual and al.ays ne. return of eleentary huan faculties4 iagination and creativity0ith T0S Eliot he sees the child as a sy"ol of origin .hich includes its end, as a -roise of a full huan e!istence0 1e -ro-oses this as a criteria for true ur"anity0 Cities are only huan if designed for children 4 ( )' they are not meant 'or children they are not meant 'or citi*ens either$ )' they are not meant 'or citi*ens- ourselves- they are not citi es(
:agination .hich reveals itself through the child, is an essential huan ca-acity, it is a -rereGuisite for the develo-ent of "oth art and science0 1e akes an introduction to the #$$$th cent0 avant*garde through stateents "y -roinent -ioneers fro CeHanne to >andinsky, Mondrian to 8reton* all give a di/erent account on their -articular e!-lorations into the 5ne. reality50 Then v Eyck unfolds his o.n vision of that reality in rearka"le essays0 1e states that .hat all these -oineers had in coon .as that they "urst the "arriers of rationalis4 (they tore down the barriers all right, those between outer and inner reality, between ob+ect and sub+ect, mass and space, between head, heart and abdomen between what can be ascertained by the limited senses and the vaster reality only imagination can graspthey have le't us with an e.panded universe, have succeded in detecting its rytm, tracing its outline$(
:n Einsteins theory of relativity this 5vaster reality5 -roves to "e the unity of s-ace, tie, atter and energy – no longer referring to se-arate entities "ut are the fundaental s-ace*tie continuu0hen iagination gains access to this, reality is -ercived as a dynaic Ju!, as a co-le! of interacting energies0 This ne. vie. o-ened u- .onderful -ers-ectives0The -ercieved energy has not an intrinsic center "ut consists through reci-rocal relations0 Eleenatry o--osites that "elong
toghether0 7ature is no longer seen as an 5o"jective5 reality e!ternal to the su"ject0 Su"jectivity is -art of the energies of the s-ace*tie continuu0Matter and ind are of the sae nature and interact0 The su"ject is assigned an essential role in the actualiHation of the ne. reality4 the su"ject -enetrates s-ace and tie, o-ens the to ake the accessi"le to the huan ind0 Eyck e!-lores the i-lications of these insights and investigates the interre%ations "et.een su"ject, s$ace and time 0 1e e!-lores ho. tie and s-ace can "e entered or 5interioriHed5 and the conseGuences in the 2eld of architecture0 Starting .ith investigating ho. relations take -lace, fro Martin 8u"ers -hiloso-hy of dialogue , he concieves of a relation as an 5in*"et.een5, a -lace .here di/erent things can eet and unite or .here ”the common ground .here conEicting $o%arities can again "ecome the t.in $henomena”
Martin 8u"er3s $estalt ge%ordene &%ischen' van Eyck -oints out that 8u"er does not consider the in*"et.een to "e a akeshift construction "et.een t.o utually e!clusive alternatives* individualis and collectivis* "ut as the -lace .here das echte Dritte (the true Third%, the fundaental huan reality consisting of "oth individuality and counity*5one an and another an, an and his fello. an5* can Jourish0(The real third is a real dialogue# a real em!race) a real duel !et%een people) And it is crucial the (the real third is not something happening to one person or another person separately in a neutral %orld containing all things# !ut something that happens !et%een !oth in a dimension only accessi!le to !oth) *n the other side o the su!+ective# on this side o the o!+ective# on the narro% !orderline %here you and " meet lies the in-!et%een realm)( (fro Aldo van Eyck –The Shape o ,elativity , 0Struven, ')%
he t.in $henoma , an original conce-t of van Eycks, stes fro the insights that
the -olarities -ercieved in s-ace*tie continuu (such as su"ject and o"ject, inner and outer reality, sall and large, o-en and close, -art and .hole% are not conJicting, utually e!clusive entities "ut distinctive co-onents, t.o co-leentary halves of one and the sae entity and a true entity is al.ays t.ofold0 The in*"et.een is not to "e considered a negligi"le argin "ut as i-ortant as the reconciled o--osites theselves0 (1eraclitus% 8eing the oent .here contrary tendencies come into "a%ance, it constututes a s$ace %%ed .ith am"i&a%ence, and so s-ace corres-onds to the a"ivalent nature of an0 The in*"et.een is 5s-ace in the iage of an5, a -lace that like an, 5 "reathes in and out50 (Close to 1eraclitus idea of t.o utually e!clusive conditions that siultaneously eet in every -art of life as sho.n in all his fragents "ut es-ecially in fragent #K sho. that they eet in a -lace , the living huan "eing as the -lace , as the i-ortant s-ace in*"et.een, see y .e"site htt$0FF...sti%%a%i&eeuFeng*htm % The t.in -henoena and the in*"et.een consitute van Eyck3s ost eleentary for of the non*hierarchical, reci-rocal relation0 They are the -riary aterial of his architectural -oetics and lie at the root of his orginial conce-t of ur"an coherence, his a!i4 ( house is like a small city i' it’s to be a real house- a city a large house i' it is to be a real city ($
The utual identi2cation of house and city evokes the unfolding of any other t.in -henoena such as unity*diversity, large*sall, far*near, si-licity* co-le!ity0 Architecture should inter.eave the into a tissue of reconciled -olarities, an ur"an fa"ric that constitutes a "uilt 5counterfor5 for the social t.in -henoenon of individual* collective0 :n such an ur"an fa"ric the ild gears of reci-rocity .ill create a -leasant cliate to a an in "alance0 The e-tiness and onotony of current odern -lanning .ill "e out of the Guestion0 The in*"et.een .ill e!tend into a .hole real, 5an articulated in*"et.een real5 that contains the
huan ind throughtout the .hole fa"ric to ake an feel at hoe .hereever he goes0 :n this sense v Eyck de2ned architecture as5 "uilt hoe*coing50The ne. relativistic conscience also i-lies thinking of tie5in the iage of an50 Tie should also "e 5interioriHed5 to "ecoe accessi"le to the huan su"ject0 van Eyck therefore "orro.s the notion o' duration fro 8ergson0 &uration is the lived through tie 5 %hen man eperiences and participates ully # %hen his associative a%areness charges and etends perception rendering it transparent and proound through memory and antcipation)( in duration the -resent is not e-heeral instant
"ut a tie*s-an .here -ast and future erge, an in*"et.een .here yesterday and toorro. eet0 Through duration tie "ecoes accessi"le and gains an interior .here the su"ject feels at hoe, .here it e!-eriences 5a sense of "eing 6-resent3 .ithin the -resent50 :t is .ith this kind of tie that s-ace should "e charged in order to "e a real -lace0 8%ace in order to "e a s$ace .here man 'ee%s at home must a%so inc%ude duration, not on%y a s$ace that intermediates "et.een here and there "ut causes a simu%taneous consciousness o' $ast and 'uture- a s$ace %ike man himse%' is im"ued .ith memory and antici$ation-only then can it attain huan
eaning and can "ecoe a -lace .ith a s-eci2c identity0 van Eyck also .anted to re&a%uate the rythm o' the natura% cyc%es- day and night, the seasons, ages o' man 1e o--osed the usual design -ractice that sees natural -henoena as a hindrance and seeks to eliininate their e/ects, and he advocates the develo-ent of a ne. sensi"ility for the eaning and the Gualities they i-ly0 (the time has come to take rain as rain, wind as wind, snow as snow, coldness as coldness, night as night, and make something o' them 'or the benet o' the citi*ien( 0 1e .anted architecture to e!-loit the -ostive -otential of these -henoena in order to recieve eaningful -laces
The interioriHation of tie o-ens u- to a ne. -ers-ective on history and culture, a uch ore constructive attitude than the then -revailing0 v Eyck, ins-ired "y anthro-logist =uth 8enedict, .as one of the 2rst oderns to concieve the -ast as a collective eory, in the relativistic continuu, 5 a gathering "ody of e!-erience50 This e!-erience .ill "e all the richer .hen it uses a"road range of cultural sources, .hen the ind o-ens to a diversity of visual values, eastern, .estern etc0 regarded as distinct fraes of reference, .ith o.n standards "ut of eGual validity0 he Gmage o' >urse%&es
Eyck says he is concerned .ith ; realities 4*the chi%d, the city , the artist – it ay -rove -ossi"le to o-en the ind a little further to the reality of each one taking the other t.o as a ediu in each case4 To "egin .ith the city in order to co-rehend the artist "rings us face to face .ith the child* ourselves0 To "egin .ith the child to understand the city "rings us face to face .ith the artist* ourselves too0 and ;4 To "egin .ith the artist in order to understand the child "rings us to the city0* ourselves again0 Each can "e identi2ed "y the other0 e encounter ourselves each tie0 We cannot concie&e o' ci&i%iBation today i' .e .ithdra. the chi%d H ourse%&es H 'rom its "ui%t counter'orm0 the city And .e cannot coe to ters
.ith the city if .e cut ourselves a.ay fro the force that huaniHe the4iagination, and there is no iagination .ithout the artist 0 The hoe of the three sy"ols the child, the city , the artist is the in*"et.een real0 van Eyck understand the childhood as a sy"ol u-on .hich cities could rest again, a sy"ol fro .hich it could regenerate0
The discovery of childhood is a sign of shifting accent fro an to life, fro reason to iagination0 :t eans that children are gradually "eing ackno.ledge as children and childhood as a full*Jedged for of life, an integral -art of society, -hysically indis-ensa"le and s-ritually ins-iring0 Most i-ortantly it indirectly reinforces our conviction that .ithout the constructive force of iagination .e cannot solve the -ro"les facing us today0 This eans that the re*entry of creativity on the scene of everyday life0 Conte-orary artists are the 2rst ones to recieve ins-iration fro the child0 the relation child and art is vital, "oth .ays0 The child .ill rediscover the city and vv0 unless "oth child and artist are given the -lace they diserve the society .ill reain the sterile construction it is today0 v Eycks says if decay and disintegration .ere -ro-ortionally counteracted "y constructive e/ort, if coon sense took iagination3s hand, cities .ould -erha-s still re-resent a -ostivt irror of society3s as-irations and needs0 hat the child needs is .hat .e need*just that4-laces .here .e can 8E .hat .e really A=E4 children unto ourselves, fro "irth to death soe.here0 To esta"lish soe.here is the task for architects0 +'rom a $oem "y & yck ( Provide something 'or the human child more permanent than snow- i' perhaps less abundant$(
Care% Iisser, 0wo 1irds, 1957
The Story of a Another :dea has its roots in the soil of a great idea, the idea the =iot carries4 relativity0 (The culture o particular orm is approaching its end# the culture o determined relations has !egun)( Piet Mondrian '; in Plastic Art and Pure Plastic Art 0
(.ie is a continous transormation and the ne% culture is one o pure relations)( Piet
Mondrain '; (Simplicity is not a goal in art !ut one reaches simplicity in spite o onesel# !y approaching the real sense o things)( Constantin 8rancusi '; (/hether matter or mind# reality appears as continous change) "t !ecomes or dissolves# it is never something 0nished)( 1enri 8ergson '+?
Jui&ering A"so%utes H the theory o' re%ati&ity
S-ace, tie, atter and energy are no longer i-regna"le a"solutes echanically related in an o"jective .orld e!terior to the ind, for science has at last stri--ed the of the arour that safeguarded each fro the other0 :t is u- to the ind to thro. o/ its heavy arour no. and it3s true to say that the antagonistic isolation of these notions cannot "e "roken until it does, for until then .ill each of the o-en the door to the other and "ecoe ultilaterally -erea"le0 Thanks to soe sensitive en that actually cast the .eight of deterinis aside that the door.ays to relativity .ere discovered in the 2rst -lace0 e have on the one hand therefore four alien notions facing an e!cluded ind, and on the other a continuu of a single notion incor-orating the ind0 undaentally these constitute # utterly irreconcila"le attitudes4 the forer is e!clusive, a viscious circle the latter is inclusive, a s-iral0 hat is i-ortant is that in the actuality of daily e!istence s-ace , tie atter and energy .here they aintain their validity as + se-arate interrelated notions the ild gears of reci-rocity u-set the static hierarchy .ithin .hich all 5things5 are strati2ed at the e!-ense of their real identity, -rofoundly a/ecting our a--reciation of the, of their ultilateral eaning of the s-ace "et.een and around the, and of te-oral e!-erence0 v Eyck is concerned .ith the mutua% conce$t .hich led to not only the revolution of s-ace, tie, atter and energy in the scienti2c .orld "ut also to an analougous revolution of any other isolated, i-regna"le and antagonistic notions in the .orld of art and other creative 2elds001e uses the .ord relativity to cover the totality of this utual conce-tattitude "eyond the Einsteinian connotation0 The "lending of the ind .ith .hat is still generally su--osed to e!ist irres-ectively of it* an o"jective e!terior .orld i-ervious (tOt, ogenotrOnglig% to the i-ulse of conce-t* has interioriHed the latter0 Man3s trou"lesoe 5su"jectivity5 no longer trou"les the 5o"jectivity5 ofreality0The contrariety of su"ject and o"ject is itigated0At ost su"jectivity can no. only "e identi2ed as a degree of o"jectivity and vv0The old schis art* science is gone – v Eyck .ishes this .ere understood(+% 9 Eyck3s critiHies the lack of ful2lling the insights of his forerunners in .hat he called the =iot4 in s-ite of the fact that in -ainting , scu-lture, -oetry and usic, tie , s-ace and energy have "een interioriHed in t ers of the huan su"ject, the utual attitude .hich conditioned this great change has "een successfully e!-ressed in every creative ediu, s-ace and tie are still a--roached as e!terioriHed a"solutes, es-ecially "y architects and -lanners0 The i-act of their revaluation has "een generally "oth ar"itrary and su-er2cial, e/ective -riarly in the foral sense, that is aesthetically0 Soe i-lications .ere regiented into a set of rigid -rinci-les straight a.ay and e!tended into "uilt for0 8ut in this .ay the i-lications .ere ishandled and deJated and reduced once ore to the level of a"solutes, "ecoing
sterile and lose all aFnity to the great s-iritual diension to .hich they once "elonged0 Architects fail to o-en their inds to other than aesthetic i-lications, ostly derived .holesale fro -ainting and scu-lture (constructivis, su-reatis, neo*-lasticis and 8auhaus3s derivatives% , or social i-lications sentientaliHed0 Architects are still una.are of the -rofounder i-lications of relativity .hich alone can i-art full and lasting content to a revaluation of s-ace and tie in ters of architecture4 he eans those i-lications that have e!tended the horiHon of an3s inner .orld0 Architects still tend to reain antagonistic in iagination and to those regions of reality that lie "eyond the sco-e of the liited senses and thus elude the coarse esh of rational estiation0 The i-onera"le (det o"erOkneliga% is taken for Guicksand, so they ste- on hard rock "ut fail to understand .hy such hard rock gives .ay (ge efter% as it al.ays does0 They are attracted to the dress "ut not the to the "ody of a great idea ( they are .ary of the agician as he actually e /ects transforation, and attracted "y the juggler "ecause he erely a/ects it0 % They Jirt .ith soe of the iss that see to the co-rehensi"le e!cluding those that shed light on the real of -oetic association and the real -er-le!ities of the ind, the inner .orld0 They turn to technology lika scholl"oys, hail aterial -rogress .ith naive con2dence and fall into the tra- of eclecticis0 The handful architects involved in the Breat =iot tore do.n the stiUing "arriers, layed lo. hitherto i-regna"le a"solutues and unasked the .ornout hierarchies that -ro- (stVttat% the society0 (+)% 1e -oints out the necessity of giving each articulated -lace a fuller e!-erience -otential in ters of intellectual and eotional association, recollection, antici-ation and intrinsic ultieaning for these alone can i-art de-th to visual e!-erience and render the i-act of architecture truly calediosco-ic00 :n this architectually trans-osed reality an .ill -erha-s again discover hiself standing face to face .ith hiself in a ore feasa"le environent0 This .ill also e/ect the conce-t of the -ast and .hat an has develo-ed for hiself fro age to age and -lace to -lace for tie has aGuired de-th and .ith tie s-ace 0 $ast, $resent and 'uture shou%d hence'or.ard "e reci$roca%%y acti&e in the mind 0 he Gn-ccasion, a home 'or the .in 8henomena
v Eyck follo.s Martin 8u"er4 individualis sees an only in relation to hiself, .hilst collectivis fails to see an at all0 8oth conce-tions gre. out of the sae huan situation , "oth lead to frustration, isolation and des-air0 7etiher leads to the totality of an for only "et.een real -eo-le can there "e real associations0 8oth are eGually a"stract and hence unreal0 The fundaental reality of an is one an to another an* an and his fello. en0 Modern individualis is an iaginary structure, thats .hy it fails0 There is only one reality "et.een real -ersons , .hat 8u"er calls ”the rea% third” .hich is not a te-orary su"stitute "ut the rea% "earer o' that $asses "et.een rea% $ersons0 the real third is a real dialogue, a real e"race , a real duel "et.een real -eo-le0 This real third ha--ens "et.een t.o -ersonss in a diension only accessi"le to "oth, not to one -erson or another -erson se-arately and in a neutral .orld (1on the narro% !ordeline %here you and " meet lies the in!et%een realm)(
This v Eycks says leads hi to the doorste$ conce$t4 as long as .e kee"alancing "et.een false alternatives( collectivis and individualiss% like a tightro-e dancer shifting side.ays along a thin .ire in a void .e shall continue to iss the ark0 8ut he eans the doorste- sy"ol(fro the conce-t of entrance (neither inside nor out, -u"lic nor -rivate%, it "ecoes his "asic s-atial eta-hor and evoked the 5in"et.een5 real % is rich enough to sustain a kind of archietcture and -lanning in general .hich is certaintly ore valid than the kind .e have got used to during the last ;$ years ( that is';$*'K$%0 1e eans architecture has to e!tend the 5narro. "orderline5, -ersuade it to loointo an articulated in*"et.een real0 Architecture3s jo" is to -rovide this in*"et.een real "y eans of construction, that is to -rovide, fro house to city scale, a "unch o' rea% $%aces 'or rea% $eo$%e and rea% things 0 :n*"et.een a.areness is essential, to detect associative eanings siultaneously0 0The eaning of every real articulated in*"et.een -lace is essentially a ulti-le one, .e .ill have to ake it do that – our target is ulti-le eaning in counter"alance0 >ur natura% anity to.ard the Gn-"et.een
alking "arefeet on a "each "y the ocean , .ater gliding land.ards and sea.ards4 you feel reconciled in a .ay you .ouldn3t feel if there .as a forced dialogue "et.een you and either of these great -henoena0 :n this in*"et.een real "et.een ocean and land soething ha--ens that is Guite di/erent fro the sailor3s nostalgia0 There is no yearning for the alternative, no esca-e fro one into the other0 Kou coincide .ith "oth "ecause their coincidence is you 0 nothing .rong .ith saloir3s nostalgia as long .e realiHe he al.ays .ants to go hoe "oth .ays0 What .e need is to "e at home .here&er .e are 0 As long hoe is al.ays else.here, there .ill "e no Guestion of ”"e%onging” e .ill not "e -artici-ating "ut eavesdro--ing (tjuvlyssna%0 Architecture need do no more than assist man#s ”homecoming”0 9an Eyck likes to identify architecture .ith .hatever it can e/ect in huan ters and likes to see it as constructed counter'orm o' $er$etua% homecoming0 S-eaking of a house or city as a "unch of -laces he i-lies that you cannot leave a real -lace .ithout entering another if it3s a real "unch, de-arture ust ean entry0 A ome 'or .in 8henomena The %ay up and the %ay do%n is one and the same thing) (fragent K$, 1eraclitus%
9 Eyck3s strong critiGue of odern architectureur"anis 4 7ot long ago the inds of en oved along a deterinistic groove, the Euclidian groove0 Then soe -ainters , -oets, -hilos-hers and scientists ju-ed o/ the groove and ru""ed the deterinistic -atina o/ the surface of reality and sa. .onderful things (Picasso, >lee, Mondrian, 8rancusi to Doyce, Le Cour"usier , SchVn"erg, 8ergson, Einstein0% They e!-anded the universe, the inside and outside universe0
thers have e!-anded reality "ut not architects .ho have contracted reality and sidetracked the issue of conte-orary creativity0 hile conte-oraray art, science and -hiloso-hy have for half a century reconciled s-lit -olarities through reci-rocal thinking, tearing do.n stiJing "arriers "et.een the, architecture and ur"anis es-ecially has drifted a.ay, -arado!ially indu%ging in ar"itrary a$$%ication o' .hat is essentia%%y anti-deterministic and so increasing thickness of the deterinistic -atina society cherises and defends0 The non*euclidian idea is conte-orary to all our diFculties4 social and -olitical, econoic and s-iritual0 e have failed to see that it alone can solve the and it3s tragic0 1eran 1ertH"erger, "orn on ';# in Asterda , can "e considered, along .ith Aldo van Eyck, as the inJuence "ehind the &utch structuralist oveent of the 'K$s0 1e "elieved that the architect3s role .as not to -rovide a co-lete solution, "ut to -rovide a s-atial frae.ork to "e eventually 2lled in "y the users0 Aong 1ertH"erger3s "est kno.n "uildings are the Montessori school in &elft ('KK–$% and the adinistration "uilding for the Central 8eheer :nsurance Co-any "uilding in A-eldoorn ('$–#%0 (iki-edia #$'+*'#*'K% 1erann 1ertH"erger , Space and .earning# #$$), in .hich his theories on the learning city and the -oint of de-arture in children3s need of s-ace are interesting0 8%ay s$ace
S-ace to -lay, undesignated or arginal s-ace, should "e -resent as an evident Guality of every residential setting and of the -u"lic doain as a .hole, as evident as children theselves0 :t is i-ossi"le to iagine children only could develo- their -lays in the allocated -laces .ith -laying eGui-ent .hich is a -lace set a-art fro everything else in our daily living environent0 Everything is narro.ed do.n to one -articular -ur-ose as a sign of getting things in order, for functionality and eFciency,the ultiate conseGuence is then that each thing is only suited to that one liited task0This is a .ay of consolidating and agnifying the distinction .hat is good for youngsters, adults and old -eo-le0 The -u"lic real is in this .ay s-lit in so any fragents, .ith se-arate -ur-oses0 Playgrounds and eGui-ent ay "e "etter than nothing, "ut the single*-ur-ose design is liiting, they give no incentive to "e used other.ise0 Aldo v Eyck3s designed -laygrounds co-osed fro "asic eleents do 2re the iagination0 These are outstanding e!a-les and increase the dou"ts on such facilities0 EGui-ent for one -ur-ose only -resu--oses its users to "e -assive consuers to "e satis2ed0 8ut daily life de-ends entirely u-on vast nu"ers of single*-ur-ose facilities0 e should constantly Guestion .hether .e are to continue on autoatic -ilot this .ay or at soe -oint "e a"le to decide things for ourselves0 ne has to see the di/erence "et.een an a--liance or a--aratus, and an instruent0 or directed to.ards a given -ur-ose functions as an a--aratus, and .here for and -rograe are utually evocative the a--aratus itself "ecoes an instruent0 An a--aratus .orks for .hich it is -rograed, that is .hich it is e!-ected of it, no less "ut also no ore0 8y -ressing the right "uttons the e!-ected results are o"tained, the sae for everyone, al.ays the sae0 A usical instruent contains as any -ossi"ilities of usage as uses to .hich it is -ut4 an instruent ust "e -layed0 :t is u- to the -layer to dra. .hat he can fro it .ithin the liits of his a"ility0Thus the instruent and the -layer reveal to each other their res-ective a"ilities to co-leent and ful2ll one another0or as
an instruent o/ers the sco-e for each -erson to do .hat he has ost at heart and a"ove all to do it in his o.n .ay0or things to -ossess the Guality of an instruent they ust "e inter-reta"le in ore than one .ay, ena"ling the to acce-t , and reject, ulti-le uses and ulti-le eanings not everyone sees the sae or gets the sae out of the0So there needs to "e a argin, roo for a .ealth of e!-eriences contingent in the -erson, their o"jective and the situation at hand0 :f .e .ere to "uild such -lay s-ace into everything .e designed, .e could easily free the city fro its tenacious ono functional constriction, .hich is increasing "ecause of the fear of losing control0 So it3s a"out the s-ace3s a"ility to "e 5-layed5 as an i-licit Guality of the city, in other .ords a"out ore inforal 5roo5 "et.een foral designations0 e 2nd s-ace for discovery and learning .here things are not governed "y clarity, such as in only -artially de2ned or undesigned conte!ts0 And this is .ithout even considering o"scure s-ots, a"andoned "uildings, forgotten corners, alley.ays, "uildings fallen into disuse .hose original eaning is lost to us0 :t akes a "ig di/erence .hat kind of neigh"orhood you gre. u- in, .hether the environent .as rife .ith stiuli or e!-eriences "ut also .hether there .ere intriguing ites in the streets and on the houses that occu-ied you, -uHHled you or o-ened your eyes to soething0 Play s-ace is found aong .hat is oFcial and functionally necessary, aong the esta"lished eaning of s-eci2ed functions0 7eigh"orhoods that are rich in a--eal and associations are the ones full of s-ecial -laces, co-ses, trees to cli", .ater, .alls or relics of forer ties and .here "uildings on the street have eleents .ith -lay -otential such as -orches , "ays and corners0 Everyone has their o.n e!a-les and eories fro childhood, and these ay "e of lifelong inJuence0 (1ertH"erger, #$$)4##K*##% he !earning City
e ust attend ore to the children as a grou- and ake ore s-ace for this grouthat is dynaic and inGuiring and not al.ays in ste-0 8SAs 9 Eyck in 'K# .rote in (The Child# the City and the Artist( that the unsuita"ility of the odern city for children calls into Guestion its suita"ility for everyone0 :t is children that lay "are the fundaental un2tness of an order and layout largely grounded in -olitical and econoic interests and therefore -riarily o--ortunist "y nature0 :f .e .ant a city that o-ens our eyes and contri"utes to develo-ing and activating -eo-le instead of staking everything on a eek, sooth*running, settled life .e had "etter take young -eo-le and their needs as a yardstick for -u"lic s-ace0 The city for children is a "etter de-arture*-oint for the city for everyone0 To understand .hat children ay e!-ect of the city as their environent, .e ust look at .hat .e ake through their eyes0There ay "e di/erences "et.een young and old, "ig and sall, "ut 5the .ord of the child5 is the sae .orld as that of adults0 There is no clear age "oundary "et.een child and adult, they are the sae anial, de-endent on each other0The adult is already -resent in the child and everything you acGuire as a child .ill guide and -ursue you as an adult07or is there a s-ecial easure for children nor scale0 e all live in the sae .orld and have to cli" the sae stairs0 So children3s needs are illustrative of everyone else3s0 hat is good for children is good for every"ody0 Wou never sto- a"sor"ing ne. e!-eriences0 The Learning City akes no distinction "et.een children and gro.n*u-s0 Learning is like eating and drinking and .e all do that, only children are often greedier and tend to drink in everything they hear and see0 All the i-ressions they
get, e!-eriences they have and info they acGuire are i-orted into the e!isting order of the "rain0 they have to "e incor-orated into the child3s failiar .orld, e!-anding and con2ring it to get a "etter gras- of the .orld at large0 :f the "rain as an internal city is an i-ression of the e!ternal city, then the ideal e!ternal city should have a richly varied environent4 a city that is no.here dull, dry or "leak, nor heretically de2ned and ultra safe , "ut rather a -lace .here you have to hold your ground and .atch your ste-0 f course there are negative e!-eriences to "e had in the city, living there eans "eing autoatically e!-osed to these, "ut all the ore reason to counter the .ith a "road front0 A city is a learning City .hen it arouses our curiosity, dra.s us in, a -lace .here discoveries are to "e ade, that invites associations, stiulates thinking0 The Learning City is a ne. -aradig .hich states that the adinistrators A7& designers of odern cities should focus ore fully on other criteria .hen giving sha-e to s-ace08S :t3s not just a"out -urchasing -o.er and consuer activity, "ut ore the contri"ution -u"lic s-ace akes to our develo-ent and to an understanding of the .orld and of each other3s otives and actions0 To this end, the criteria for designing that s-ace have to "ecoe less concerned .ith the short–ter, less hedonistic, less consu-tion driven and less self*centered0 ver tie, odern residential areas are "ecoing increasingly doinated "y rela!ation, solitude and safety and o"sessed .ith green s-ace0 There is little there to stiulate the ind, es-ecially for children0 hen learning goes "eyond a -rocess of ada-ting children to the .orld of gro.n*u-s and .hen all the things .e e!-erience -assively and actively "ecoe a for of learning(.hen develo-ent since the Age of the Enlightenent has "een seen as the universal otor of life%, the distinction "et.een children and adults in ters of the city is reduced to nil0 Even so, children are ore vulnera"le, less a"le to see their .ay there and less a"le to stand u- for their needs and interests0 :nstead of the current set u- .here children are e!-ected to ada-t to the criteria of their elders, .e could take the reverse situation0 The s-ace in a city .hen tailored to its young -eo-le gives that city a 2rer "asis fro .hich to -roceed, eGui--ed as it is for a -eranent learning -rocess for all inha"itants4 a Learning City0 The idea of education -eranent (learning for life% dislodges learning fro the liitations of a 2!ed school curriculu for a -articular age grou-0 This elevates ental develo-ent to a universal thee, the daily -ractice .e all deal .ith, regardless of age0This not only unhitches (haka av% learning fro iaturity and o-ens u- the school to all ages "ut -resu--oses an a.areness of the fundaental "oundlessness of learning and of continuous develo-ent0 ith learning no longer liited "y age or tie, logically your entire living s-ace as learning s-ace "ecoes the s-atial eGuivalent of an education -eranent0 And .hat .e earlier called the -u"lic real is no. e!-anded into a -u"lic learning real0 This 5instructive city5 akes our surroundings as a .hole su"servient to the develo-ent of everyone "y consistently giving -riority to the goal of leraning0 e can regard the city as a large school in .hich is e"edded all kno.ledge and understanding that has ade this counity .hat it is and .ith all the links and energies to "est ful2ll any a"ition -resent0 As long as its siHe kee-s it legi"le, its inha"itants and visitors can generally 2nd their .ay around .ell enough and are failiar .ith the relevant addresses and signals0 A city irrors the .orld you are essentially failiar .ith and you kno. .here there are things to learn or acGuire as .ell as .here not to go0
The ore you take on "oard , the ore you can handle0 Children gro. u- in a reasona"le easy*to*read .orld they can naturally ake their o.n0 nce that .orld gro.s "igger detachent and alienation sets in0 Then you have to kee- control over an ever*e!-anding 2eld of attention, .hich is the learning -rocess0 7or does that 2eld e!-and only in ters of surface area "ut also in de-th0 Wou also have to get at .hat is "ehind .hat you are seeing on the surface0 e should therefore ake everything in such a .ay that it is ore e!-licit, e!-laining itself instead of holding "ack0 :f things are to "ecoe failiar they ust ake it clear .hy they are as they are and ho. they got that .ay0 This is to -revent their history "eing erased, for the si-le reason that things get re-laced "y others that are ne.er, "etter, "igger0 or it is history that akes clear .hy things are as they are and .hat role they once -layed and that their for .as not arrived to at rando 1istory also akes us a.are that things kee- changing, (#;%.hy this is so and .hether this really is an i-roveent0 Menaing is stored in the eleents constituting the city, in their "ricks, their architecture and in the -lace they occu-y0 These togehter, along .ith .ritings, iages and usic co-rise a collective eory that contri"utes to a collective a.areness and so .ill ultiately lead to social cohesion0 eelings, occurrences and -eo-le are retained and -reserved as eories not just in onuents "ut in -laces, rando o"jects, "uildings or -arts of "uildings0 The Learning City is in fact all a"out articulating these eories and aking the transissi"le and a"le to "e read as the a- of a counity3s eory0 All those .ho sha-e the city have to realiHe "efore anything else that it could all "e uch ore trans-arent and easier to get at0 A city "ecoes instructive "y giving visi"ility to its -ast, its current situation and its intentions, to sho. .hat it has going for it0 hether visitor or resident, young or old, you should "e a"le to read its history -ast and -resent and the achieveent and values that o"tain there no. and done in the -ast, noting their -resence, "ecoing a.are of the, failiariHing yourself .ith the0 :t concerns the .idest iagina"le range of -otentials, e!-eriences, associations and social contacts0 :f learning to "ridge the di/erences "et.een -eo-le and "et.een grou-s is increasingly an issue inside schools(alongside reading, .riting and aritheics% , it should o"tain also outside the .hen 2tting out the -u"lic doain00 8y this is eant not just to -lay s-aces and s-orts 2elds4 the .ay schools are transforing into a congloerate of -laces should "e e!tended into the -u"lic doain0 Pu"lic s-ace should "e ore of a traFc Jo. area4 social coherence (saanhXllning% can only "e heightened "y enhancing the ca-acity of social s-ace0 7ot decreasing "ut increasing the nu"er of -laces encouraging social relations can do uch to diinish antisocial "ehavior0 =egretta"ly odern cities have a lot less to o/er here than ost older ones .hich not only have ore variety "ut are uch ore accoodating and hos-ita"le0 (:de4#;?*#;% (-ictures .ill "e -u"lished soon%
