Baukultur NRW was involved in the first Biennale of the Urban Landscape with a variety of program items and encouraged people to think about the design of urban spaces and the integration of the important functions of greenery.
Future needsbuilding culture
Baukultur NRW was involved in the first Biennale of the Urban Landscape with a wide range of program items: discussions and workshops, exhibitions, a Baukultur garden, international cooperations and the temporary urban development pavilion “a-circus”. Graduates of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf had erected this pavilion on the grounds of the Wissenschaftspark Gelsenkirchen during the course of the festival. At the Biennale, the “a-circus” pavilion clearly symbolized the transformative forces of the urban landscape. In the sense of its temporary nature, “a-circus” travels, always pitching its tent in a new environment, revealing a fantastic world there for a short time – and later moving on. It is a concrete place – albeit temporary – that became an exhibition space, a forum for dialogue as well as a laboratory for sustainable urban development at the Biennale.
Understanding green cities
A city consists not only of houses, but also of the diverse life in between. How do you plan and build for that? A just, livable and sustainable urban landscape is a question of design and thus an important concern of building culture. Addressing the issues involved is relevant to the future. In order for a green future to grow, the Baukultur garden became a symbol and a statement for (green) building culture in the context of the Biennale. Green in the city can achieve many things, and important for this is an active engagement with nature. Only through this can a common understanding of a green, just and livable city emerge. Baukultur NRW had built and planted the raised beds in a cooperation with Grünlabor Hugo; they stood for exchange and urban production at the Biennale. Herbs, salads and vegetables grew there and provided a framework for the current Baukultur debate around the green city.
In cooperation with the Royal Danish Embassy, Baukultur NRW also presented the exhibition “Liveable City” for the first time in Germany, which was developed in collaboration with the Danish Institute for Urban Planning. The exhibition presents 28 successful examples of architecture and urban planning from Denmark, deliberately taking a look at projects outside the largest cities.
Is the urban green becoming a care case?
Baukultur NRW also took a multifaceted look at the green and just city in the other program. In cooperation with Kubia e.V. and the Copenhagen-based architects Dominique & Serena, a workshop focused on the inclusive design of urban spaces and infrastructures for every generation.
In order for green to come into the city, it must be thought about at the very beginning of any project – before planning begins: in Phase 0 of urban design. Baukultur NRW also invited visitors to the “a-circus” pavilion to discuss this issue. On other days, the focus was on the health of city dwellers from the point of view of “The green in care” as well as from the perspective of nature: “Is the city green becoming a case of care?” In urban planning, trade-offs between costs and benefits are central elements, but what is the “benefit” of greenery in the city, what is its cost? Especially under the impact of climate change, these questions came further into the focus of the discussion.
Excursions to the green region
The “Baukultur vernetzt auf Tour” format of the Baukultur-Akteur:innen network made a stop in Gelsenkirchen during the Biennale and was dedicated to the landscape of the Metropole Ruhr. Participants explored the region with Urbane Künste Ruhr, photographer Tania Reinicke and Forststation NRW and focused on disused industrial plants, places of the future, green backyards and works of art along the Emscher and in former churches.
This biennial was about nothing less than “the question of how we can not only preserve the Ruhr region as lovable, but also shape it as a region worth living in,” formulated Peter Köddermann, Managing Director Program of Baukultur NRW
For a long time now, the greenery of our cities has no longer been just a pleasant accessory, but an essential component of urban spaces designed to be sustainable, healthy and climate-friendly. Baukultur NRW would like to encourage people to think about the design of urban spaces and the integration of the important functions of greenery and to negotiate these in concrete terms. Actors in planning, citizens and other stakeholders and interested parties must work together to develop sustainable urban spaces as places to live. With reference to the current climatic developments in the cities, the question of a new approach to green and green planning in the region also arises in building culture.