Due to climate change, rising temperatures lead to more extreme heat stress in urban areas. Last summer, there were poignant images of people looking for shade in cities. Trees are effective measures to provide shade and decrease the perceived temperature. However, trees cannot grow in healthy conditions due to the conflicting interests of the many functions and infrastructure in cities. Also time is a limiting factor; before trees are fully grown and can fulfil its various functions (shade, biodiversity, appearance), it takes not only physical space but also time. Alternative interventions, such as a pergola, can help increase urban resilience by reducing the negative impacts of climate change.Pergolas are known, for example, in more southern Europe cities. However, despite the described promising effects of the pergola in documents to reduce heat stress and provide shade, we barely see these structures in the Dutch public space. We all know the pergola as an esthetical piece in the backyard where it provides shade, privacy and contributes to well-being, but they are not widely used in the public realm.Next to that, there are few or no known preconditions for an urban pergola. The functions that an urban pergola can offer go beyond providing shade. The pergola might help reduce noise and pollution, provide a meeting place in a neighbourhood and support biodiversity. Since space is scarce in cities where many different interests come together, we want to explore the potential contribution of an urban pergola to different problems. Therefore, at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, we have worked on an urban pergola as a real 'boundary object' where we bring education, research, municipalities, and entrepreneurs across disciplines and sectors together to discuss the potential of such an object.For this workshop, we would like to show our first results of this interdisciplinary action research and continue answering the question: how can a pergola fit in the Dutch urban area? Therefore, we would like to explore the functions and forms of the urban pergola with stakeholders, such as municipalities, entrepreneurs, citizens, students, and researchers all from different disciplines. The desired outcome of this workshop is a joint proposal for implementing urban pergolas that can meet the versatile needs of cities and thereby make cities more liveable.
MULTIFILE
Students of the Minor 'Robotic Production and Circular Materials' designed and created a modular outdoor structure suitable for the Green Mile Initiative. The structure fills in one parking lot, along the streetside of the Stadhouderskade.In 2022, this street is one of the most polluted and dangerous street in Amsterdam. It is mainly a lot of asphalt, not beautiful, with little space for nature and mainly focused on moving traffic. We think this can be done differently.The ambition is to turn Stadhouderskade into 'The Green Mile'; a green, sustainable, safe, vital and future-proof street for people, animals and nature. A meaningful public space that invites you to walk, meet, play sports and experience nature.InitiatorsBecause users of the Stadhouderskade can only realize this 'ambition' by joining forces, a movement is being established. The Municipality of Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Heineken, De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Blendingbricks and UNStudio are taking the initiative for this movement.As part of the Minor 'Robotic Production and Circular Materials, a team of students and teachers designed and built a piece of street furniture, the size of one parking space, a conversation piece towards the greening of the Green Mile.
IMAGE
This booklet contains the analyses and designs that were produced by international teams of students, designers and researchers on the revitalization of public space in the district of Kerkrade – West (Limburg, the Netherlands) in December 2017 during the International Design Workshop (re)CYCLE LIMBURG 2. It was partially built on knowledge, experiences and ideas from the preceding workshop in December 2016. The outcomes of the workshop are mainly presented in the form of drawings, maps, schemes, collages, artistic impressions etc. Both workshops were framed in the interdisciplinary project Kerkrade-West of Zuyd UAS and its Research Centre for Smart Urban ReDesign (SURD).
DOCUMENT
Algemene doelstelling van dit project is tweeledig: enerzijds is het doel een methode te ontwikkelen om onderzoek te doen naar de toegevoegde waarde van begroeide stadspergola's voor de biodiversiteit en klimaatadaptatie. Anderzijds is het doel de samenwerking tussen practoraat en lectoraat te conretiseren. Voor dit onderzoek worden in de stad Utrecht drie stadspergola’s gebouwd. Deze dienen als onderzoeksobject en alternatieve interventie voor plekken waar behoefte is aan vergroening van de omgeving maar geen bomen geplaatst kunnen worden. Het practoraat Groene Leefbare Stad van Yuverta en het lectoraat Klimaatbestendige stad van de Hogeschool van Amsterdam zijn elkaar op het onderwerp van praktische vraagstukken over het vergroenen van de stad in de praktijk tegengekomen en zien in dit voorstel een mooie kans om hun expertises over respectievelijke biodiversiteitbevordering en het tegengaan van hittestress te combineren. De inhoudelijke hoofdvraag van deze aanvraag is: Welke methodes kunnen worden ontwikkeld om te onderzoeken hoe stadspergola’s als nature-based street furniture bijdragen aan de vergroening en daarmee de stedelijke biodiversiteit bevorderen en een verkoelende werking geven op plekken waar traditioneel groen niet geplaatst kan worden? We zullen methodieken om de biodiversiteit in en rond de pergola’s te monitoren verkennen. Aansluitend willen we de eerste bevindingen koppelen aan de uitkomsten van stadspergola’s als klimaatadaptatie maatregel door het meten van het verkoelende effect. Deze uitkomsten zullen worden gekoppeld aan een groter onderzoek naar ecosystem services waarmee de bijdragen van stadspergola’s aan stedelijke vergroening, sociale interactie en voordelen voor een gezonder en klimaatbestendig leefmilieu wordt onderzocht. Dit onderzoek wordt uitgevoerd door het practoraat Groene Leefbare Stad van Yuverta, het lectoraat Klimaatbestendige stad van de Hogeschool van Amsterdam, de gemeente Utrecht, Stadswerk, Hoefakker en Stichting Bouwloods. Studenten, docent-onderzoekers en diverse stakeholders pakken samen de onderzoeksactiviteiten op en delen opgedane kennis openbaar.
