bogdan ilie_selected works

Selected Works / Along and across the scalesIlie Bogdan Mircea ArchitectEuropean Masters in Urbanism

2Motivation.

My architectural experience made me understand the im-portance of context and the importance in reading and inter-preting it to provide an adapted answer to the problem. I be-came fascinated with the urban context and all its layers, the geographical landscapes, the cultural and political landscapes that through their interaction shape urban form and feed the spirit of the place. Giving answers on the scale of architecture by always looking at the greater context gave me a whole new appreciation for the field of urbanism that I decided to study in more depth by enrolling in a post-graduate masters.

The journey through the world of urbanism made me under-stand that for achieving a fine gradient in the complexity of de-sign one must always shift between scales. This in turn made me see the importance of the architectural scale while dealing with the larger contexts of urbanism. This document is a selection of works that go from territorial scale down to the scale of archi-tecture while at the same time each project illustrates the shift in scale as a tool for developing the design.

Being involved in an international masters and various work-shops has taught me the value of working in teams with peo-ple of different cultures, academic backgrounds and views. I believe that the contradictions that arose out of these differ-ences helped enrich our knowledge that in turn added value and complexity to the projects.

My objective is to be part of a team that is able to experiment and develop sustainable projects by identifying and untangling its composing layers and then feeding the conclusions into the design process. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Bogdan Ilie.

3100 LAKES / Using water as a tool for interweaving systematic landscapes.

RECONSIDERING THE VILLAGE IN THE (EXPANDING) CITY - TAIHU, BEIJINGS SOUTH- EASTERN FRINGE / Serve the City, Serve the Village.

ANTWERP NORTH: RE-VISITING THE MODERNIST CITY / Space of mediation: port and city

COLLECTIVE HOUSING / Identity Mosaic.

COMPETITION : ICOANEI 2-8 / Reinterpreting the deep courtyard.

ISOVER STUDENT COMPETITION 2009 / Passive office building.

PORTMANTEAU.RO / Taking the totalitarian city for a walk.

CONTENTS:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

pages: 04 - 21

pages: 22 - 35 pages: 36 - 45

pages: 46 - 57

pages: 58 - 65

pages: 66 - 73

pages: 74 - 77

41. 100 LAKES.Using water as a tool for interweaving systematic landscapes.

5Project type:Location:Scale:Supervisor:Tutor: Co-tutor:Common part team:Individual part:Date:

Thesis of Master in Urbanism and Strategic Planning, European Masters in Urbanism. Tirana - Durrs region, Albania.Territorial.Andr Loeckx (KU Leuven)Sotiria Kornaropoulou (51N4E)Freek Persyn (51N4E)Bogdan Ilie, Calin Lambrache, Tao Cai, Wei Lu, Zhongkai Zhou.Bogdan Ilie.February 2013 - June 2013.

6 3 Albania_100 lakes 4

TiranaDurres

Albania is a small but highly idiosyn-cratic country and its recent history is one of a series of ruptures: It has seen 6 different regimes from 1912 until 1992; it has remained largely iso-lated from the rest of the world during the second half of the 20th century; it has witnessed a violent transition to market economy after the collapse of the socialist regime, the impact of which is still perceptible today; it has been the only constitutionally athe-ist country to exist, resulting today in a rather secular attitude and a spirit of tolerance between a multitude of religions. Appropriately enough, even its (Indo-European) language is a branch in itself.

The 100 lakes studio attempts to at first instance capture these specifi-cities and take them aboard while dealing with its core questions: how can the (metropolitan) region of Ti-rana- Durres manage its increasing dynamic as a whole? How can it in-vest in an integrative urbanism that links housing needs with economical-ly and ecologically viable solutions? What meaning can the inherited and massive socialist infrastructure find to-day? How to develop again positive notions of collectivity?

100 LAKESUsing water as a tool for interweaving systemat-ic landscapes.

7Backyard of Southeastern Europe

Albania is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Kosovo to the northeast, Montenegro to the northwest,Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and south-east. Close to the sea, it has a long coast area on the Adriat-ic Sea to the west (less than 72km from Italy), and on the Ion-ian Sea to the southwest. The countrys population amounts to about 2,8 million people, 95% of Albanian ethnicity, in an area of approximately 28.000 km2; the official language is Albanian and there is a Muslim majority - a legacy of its cen-turies of Ottoman rule. Albania applied for European Union membership on 28 April 2009 and was officially recognized by the EU as a potential candidate country. Today the negotiation is ongoing

Strategic Position in Albania

Almost 1/3 of the total population (2/3 of urban population) are concen-trating in Tirana-Durres region now, and the progress of social-spatial trans-formation will be even accelerated compare with the other European cities for the next decades. Historically, these two significant cities--Tirana and Durres--have been the cultural and political centres for a long time and well-developed.Nowdays, due to the geographical position, as where the national capital and biggest port city locate, this metropolitan area offers more economic opportunities and social facilities to attract settlement from inner Albania.Future planned projects on European scale (ie. Corridor 8) may trigger fur-ther internal migration, representing at the same time an opportunity for further development of the area.

Small, Compact and Resourceful Country Albania is a small, mountainous country in the Balkan pen-insula, but rich in natural and water resources with a long Adriatic and Ionian coastline. Having a general overview of the nature and infrastructure condition, it has several main rivers from east mountains, following the east-west low-land corridors, all the way going to the sea on the west-different types of landscape are presented in this small but resource-ful territory. All the big cities or towns are linked by roads or railway, Durres has the biggest and most significant port connecting Albania with the other countries by sea, The capital, Tirana, as the political and economic centre in the country, has the only international airport.

8Historical hydrology-related, agriculture-related and industry-related proj-

ects during the socialist period.

Durres-Vlora

Durres-Saranda

Adriatic Sea

Tirana

Tirana-AlbasanDurres-Deqin

Paskuqan(1983)

Topana(1978)

Shkalle(1971)

Berce(1970)

Cerkez(1970)

Kares(1981)

Sakoza(1982)

Gjokaj(1985)

Celeberzez(1976)Purezi(1971)

Allyjate(1975)

Sharge(1976)

Tapize(1981)

Shupal Kodner(1974)

Rine(1985)

Shupal(1976)

Zallherre-1(1973)

Tufine(1976)

Linze(1970)

Shtepaze(1975)

Lanabregas(1978)

Farke(1984)

Selita-2(1970)

Sauk(1982)

Selita(1973)

Sharre(1980)

Prrush(1978)

Gurre(1973)

Krraba(1972)

Zaranike-1(1973)

Zaranike-2(1975)

Mustafakoc(1975)

Alltate(1974)

P. Arave(1981)

Likesh(1986)

Xhafzotaj(1985)

Cizmeli(1982)

Pinet(1989)

Bozanxhias(1972)

Manskuri e Vogel(1970)

Veski(1972)

Vrap(1973)

Zelaji(1975)

Tarin(1962)

Rade nr2(1968)

Rade nr1(1966)

Bilalas(1966)

Berxull(1965)

Gjokaj-1(1967)

Karpen(1966)

Metalla e vjeter(1965)

Koxhas(1967)

Shtraze(1968)

Gjepalaj(1967)

Shkallenur(1969)

Pjeza(1967)

Romanat(1966)

Callekut(1963)

Manskuri(1969)

Arapaj(1966)

Spitalle nr1(1963)

Spitalle nr2(1968)

Rabjeke(1967)

Ishem(1968

Rov(1966)

Kashar(1963)

Ballaxhias(1969)

Peze Gjyslykonje(1967)

Vore

Sukth

Rrashbull

Budull

Kavaje

Durres

Kruje

"Enver" Mechanical plant

(1948)

"Partizani" plant

(1951-1955)

Shoe and Leather Processing Factory

(1947)

"Dinamo" Mechanical plant

(1962)

Valias Coal Mine

(1971-1975)

"Ali Kelmendi" Food Plant

(1956-1960)

"Misto Mame" Wood Plant

(1951-1955)

"Stalin" Textile Plant

(1951-1955)

Coal-Fired Power Plant

(1951-1955)

Glass Factory

(1956-1960)

Silicate Brick Factory

(1967)

Radio-television plant

(1966-1970)

Brick Factory

"Enver Hoxha" Shipyard

(1961-1965)

Durres Port

(1950)

Farmlan

d Tran

sformed by

Mars

hland

(1966-19

70)

Fish P

onds

(1966-19

70)

Plastic Factory

(1966-1970)

"Skndrbe" Brandy Distillery

(1961-1965)

Terrace Farmland

(Since1950)

SIE-Rubbers

(1951-1955)

U.M.B.

(1966-1970)

Mechanical Enterprise of Railroad

(1956-1960)

Paper Processing Plant

(1961-1965)

Glass Factory

(1966-1970)

Nail and Bolt Plant

(1961-1965)

Food Factory

(1956-1960)

Artistic Enterprise

(1976-1980)

Tiran-Durrs Railway

(1949)"Enver" Tractor Plant (old complex)

(1966-1970)

"Enver" Tractor Plant (new complex)

(1971-1975)

"Migjeni" Artistic Enterprise

(1976-1980)

Porcelain (new complex)

(1988-1989)

Porcelain (old complex)

(1956-1960)

Historical Context of the Lakes

0 6 12 18 243

Kilometers

Agriculture Projects

Man Made Lakes 1960-1969

Man Made Lakes 1970-1990

Man Made Lakes (without information)

Dams

Industry and Infrustracture Projects

National Road Network

Railway Lines and Stations

Main Industry Projects

Other Features

Urban Tissue

Topo Lines 100M

Topo Lines 200M

Nature Water System

Yellow Line

Irrigation System

Nomal Farmland System

Terrace Farmland System

Marsh Land Transformation

N

HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE LAKES

1. LANDSCAPE AS COLLECTIVE PROJECT

The impact of the socialist period on the territo-rial landscape.

In order to understand the present development in Tirana - Durres region, we should read the so-cial development and urban transformation in the specific period corresponding to the social-ist regime from 1944 to 1991, which transformed and shaped the current Albanian social-spatial structure to a large extent.

In the socialist regime, state government gave the top priority to industry, especially the heavy industry, over the agriculture in order to achieve modernization and improve the social life and economy. Immediately, there are a large num-ber of large scale public projects launched for industry, agriculture and infrastructure construc-tion, like various factories, railway lines, housing units for the working class, bunkers for defence purposes, artificial lakes for irrigation as well as terraced hills/ drainage marshland for cultiva-tion etc., which were mainly realized through top-down policies from peoples state power (examples being the New Towns in 1960s, and Voluntary Work in 1970s). The sheer number of public projects during this specific period largely modified the face of cities and landscape alike.Today, big part of this volume of works is still pre-sent.

Part of the infrastructure is dilapidated (bunkers, factories), part is still operational (national roads, railway), part is operational but with the function changed (informal housing taking over factory buildings) and in some cases the infrastructure is operational but with a new definition are pend-ing (artificial lakes, where the original irrigation purpose is often no longer present). There exist already different studies.

Dealing with the potential of different infrastruc-ture parts, and the local opportunities they offer. This study will attempt to add a dimension: the continuous presence of these projects across the territory also presents a potential to develop al-ternative solutions on a larger scale. The rejected imposed collectivity of that period could perhaps indirectly help today, through its imprint in the ter-ritory, to find new and appropriate collective pro-jects.

9Historical industry-related projects.

Contemporary conditions of industry-related projects.

Archive images of collective industry-related projects.

Contemporary conditions of hydrology-related projects.

Archive images of collective hydrology-related projects.A

Contemporary conditions of agricultural-related projects.

Archive images of collective agricultural-related projects.

Historical hydrology-related projects. Historical agriculture-related projects.

10

N

0 6 12 18 243Kilometers

-

ing the two valleys provide the catchment areas and springs that in turn

feed the canal system. Due to the climate, with heavy rainfall in two of the

seasons, respectively autumn and winter, the water needed storing which

edge of the surrounding mountains.

WATER NETWORK

Reservoir catchment area

Reservoir

Collector river

River

Spring

Distribution canal

Drainage canal

Canal

Flooding areas

Water Network2. WATER: SYSTEMATIC LANDSCAPE

The water system that irrigates the agricultural territory of the Tirana Durrs region is organized along two river valleys, the Lan river valley that spreads from Tiana to the North West and the Erzeni river valley to the West. It was realized in steps, through voluntary work, across a time period of 20 years, starting from the early 1960s to the late 1980s, during the second half of the communist regime. It was designed to irrigate the land in these two valleys, making it feasi-ble for intensive agriculture. Approximately 100 dams were constructed in the region.

The system is organized according to water flow. The mountains framing the two valleys provide the catchment areas and springs that in turn feed the canal system. Due to the climate, with heavy rainfall in two of the seasons, respectively autumn and winter, the water needed storing which came in the form of 100 artificial lakes built by closing small valleys on the edge of the surrounding mountains.

The water system is a whole organized around the natural water flow, complemented by an ar-tificial system. The two work together to feed the agricultural lands.

The natural water system comprises of water providers like natural springs and the rivers that serve a double role, collecting and distributing water at the same time. The artificial water sys-tem has source components, like catchment areas and lakes, main distributors and antennas that feed the territory. The surplus water is then collected by the drainage system which flows into the rivers.

61 Albania_100 lakes 62

Reservoir

Catchment area

Drainage canal

Distribution canal

Collector river

Canal

Spring

Pump station

Sea

Taxonomy of water system

Taxonomy of water system.

11

Lakes.

The lakes are fed by springs and water collected from the catch-ment areas defined by the highest ridges framing them. They store the water and control its distribution necessary due to the seasonal fluctuations in precipitation. It is then released into the irrigation network or used for drinking water.

Canals.

The canal network spreads the water throughout the territory irri-gating the land. It works together with the rivers creating a system and it structures the water flow. Water enters the system through distribution canals that are in turn fed directly by the sources. The canals spread water in the territory while the drainage canals in-take the surplus water and feed it back into the system.

Rivers.

The rivers follow the topography and are integrated in the ca-nal network. Their natural role of drainage is thus accompanied by the role of distribution, feeding the system directly or through the main distribution canals. The water system links the rivers and gives a second direction to the water flow.

Urbanization growing on the edge of the Lakes. Urbanization growing along the canal structure. Urbanization growing along the river on the city fringe.


INFRASTRUCTURE-DRIVEN URBAN EXPANSION

3. INFRASTRUCTURE-DRIVEN URBAN EXPANSION

After the collapse of communist regime and ac-companied by the social structure shifting -free movement of people, inner/ outer migration trends and free market- economy as a driving force contributed in an important way to the ur-ban sprawl anyway caused by the lack of en-forceable regulations. Urban and infrastructure constructions during the last two decades repre-sent a rapid urbanization progress without clear hierarchy, gradually taking over the territory at the points of least resistance (mild topography) .

13


1991 2001 2013

Expansion of urban pattern

urban pattern_1991

urban pattern_2001

urban pattern_2013

mobility infrastructure

Urbanization growing along main infrastructure.

Pattern in post socialist urban development along the infrastructure networks following the terrain of least resistance.

Urbanization growing on the topography of least resistance. Wave of densification of the inner city.

14

Water sub-systems and administration.

Upon a closer analysis of the water system we can see that its composed of multiple sub-sys-tems. The independent managing of these sub-system is hampered by the administrative mis-match with the water system.

Diagram showing nodes and loss in water distribution.

Water resource in Albania. Water pollution in Albania.

15

Administrative break up of systems

Following the break up of the centralized social system and governance the political power and responsibility has been passed on to a certain extent to the communes.

The territorial scale systems however due to their design made and maintained under cen-tral control and supervision are broken up. Their functionality still addresses the territorial level therefor there is a mismatch between operative scale and management.

Diagram showing population distribution and prognosis.

16

Urbanity

CONCLUSION: PROJECT AMBITIONS

Infrastructure Water system Agriculture Ecology

17

Water As A Tool for Interweaving Sys-tematic Landscapes

Around the main infrastructure spine connecting Tirana to Durres, the pure agricultural landscape that the water system was once created to irrigate is no longer there. An in-vestigation on how the water system can adapt to support, integrate and structure the hybrid mix of urban and agricultural landscape.

PROJECT PROPOSALS

A Territorial Waste Collector System

A hypothesis of use of the water system as a starting point for the im-plementation of a sustainable solid waste management, in response to the deficiencies of the current system in the Tirana-Durres region and the behavioural patterns as-sociated with it. A proposal for a gradual switch in behavior through an adaptive waste management model.

A Climate-Conditioning Landscape

An investigation of the role of land-scape interventions on the local and regional climate. A proposal for a resilient landscape and its manage-ment mode in the mountain range between Tirana and Durres. A focus on the commune of Vore as the in-tersection of an ecological and an urbanization corridor.

Fast trees, Slow trees

A proposal for the introduction of tree nurseries and cultivated forest as a single response to a twofold question: how to articulate an environmental preservation policy and how to en-hance the thinning local agricultural economy.

A Decentralized Energy Test Case

If the capacity for the generation of electricity on a local level would be used to steer future urban growth, how would the region transform? An analysis of the potential of the territory for the production of dif-fused energy and an investigation of its spatial impact.

Reading the territory in relation to its future challenges

The Tirana-Durres region is the strongest economic region of Albania considering geographical position and the dynamics created between the main harbor of Albania, Durres, and the political and administrative capital, Tirana. Due to these aspects it has attracted the major economical developments which in turn led to an increase in population whose trend shows no signs of slowing down.

At the same time the region has a rich as well as heavy heritage: a vast, monumental water system, radical in its shaping of the territory, reflecting past practices ecologically and socially unsustainable, is today seriously neglected, but technically recoverable.

The shift in administration models from a centralized one to an increasingly decentralized one along with the pressures induced by the growth of population materialized in a dispersed urban pattern that clashes with these territorial scale systems.

These tensions, along with the misinterpretation of what these systems stand for, manifest through their neglect, misuse and degradation.The developed proposals revolve around a search for new definitions for it that are ecologically economically and socially sound and in tune with the current reality of the territory: How can the presence of rich natural resources, like important pan-European wind corridors, water, forests, solar energy, inform a more rational pattern of urbanization?

How can the embedded energy of the territorial infrastructure monuments be harvested and how can their functionality help achieve a balance between the future pressure of urbanization and the race for economic development. How can their qualities and dynamics raise awareness of their potential and inform a more aware management model?

All five projects seek innovation on the border of urbanism and other disciplines. In full conscience of the missing competencies, this detour in less familiar fields of knowledge aims at providing an arguable hypothesis that opens up the scope of the study, to gradually return, enriched, to space-related dynamics and behaviours.

18

Two dynamics

The Tirana - Durrs highway is the hard-spine of development in the region. It links the main har-bor of Albania, Durrs , with the administrative capital Tirana creating a very strong dynamic between the two. It is also dubbed by the rail-road linking the two cities, and linking to the north of the country. The presence of these two very powerful elements and the relatively short distance between the two cities of only 37 km has induced, in the years after the collapse of the communist regime, a ribbon development to emerge along it.

In the past years agriculture in the region has been in decline while the demand for urbani-zation is on the rise due to the presence of the two major poles of attraction in Albania. This led to the occupation of many agricultural plots with urban developments in a dispersed pattern. Due to the switch in property rights that came with the fall of communism, the lands of the large cooperatives was transferred to individual owners . The structure of the plots created was dictated by the irrigation network which in turn influenced the pattern of the re-cent urban expansion.

The urbanization that is taking place along the Tirana - Durrs highway is influenced by these two dynamics.

It generates a strip where these two systematic landscapes are superimposed.

Urban development along the canal structure.

19

Linear centrality

Observing the development along the high-way we see that the mixed use urban expan-sion takes place along it creating a linear cen-trality while at the back the land use is more oriented to housing and agriculture.

This linear centrality generates a dynamic that breaks apart the two sides of the highway, es-pecially in depth. Overlaying this dynamic with the water structure we see that although dis-connected the two sides of the highway share the same subsystem.

The subsystems give transversality to the dy-namic of the highway and define distinct seg-ments with different characters.

Hybrid urban development along the high way.

The hybrid urban development at the base of Kashar lake next to Tirana.

20

Original functionality

The irrigation system was designed between the late 1960s and early 1980s to support the intensive agriculture in the planes. The rain water is retained in large artificial lakes and then fed to the agricul-ture lands through a network of canals.There is a main canal that runs on the highest slope and then distributes the water down in the valley through a series of antennas. The water is then col-lected by a collector canal that feeds it to the next subsystem.

Todays functionality

Today the water still flows through the system in the same way, according to topography.The urban development uses the antennas for sew-age outlet so the pollution caused by it is then car-ried to the agriculture enclaves that use the same water for irrigation. This creates tension between the two.

Proposal for future functionality of the water system

The proposed adaptation of the water system ad-dresses the new urban character and the future urban expansion by providing drinking water. It bal-ances the tensions between the built and the en-claves of agriculture by cleaning the water before it reaches the ladder through a sequence of con-structed wetlands.

21

Enhancing the character and functionality / The deep highway

The existing functions show a highly mixed character that the proposal tries to preserve and enhance through the addition of a larger array of new programs and by reorganizing the relationships between plots in order to create new public spaces and networks for soft traffic that can sustain the new facilities. At the same time the proposal intends to add a new dimension to the linear development along the highway by adding a second layer of development in depth. This layer intends to take advantage of the agricultural landscape as part of the urban environment.

Existing flow of the Kashar subsystem.

Proposed flow of the Kashar subsystem.

Retail / Services

Retail

Adding density, adding programs such as a campus and making agriculture part of the urban landscape.

Housing Light industries

22

Existing landscape, mixed but not integrated

The existing systematic landscapes,the water system with the supported agriculture and the highway with attached urbanization generate a mixed use landscape with high poten-tial and qualities but strong ten-sions.

These tensions arise on the one hand from the fight for space along the highway and on the other hand from the inadequate use of the water subsystem as sewage outlet.The map shows the land use and orientation of the existing build-ings emphasizing their depend-ency on the high way and the secondary roads radiating from it.

The bidirectional water flow through the irrigation system and its relationship with the ur-ban layer gives an overview to the extent to which the agricul-tural lands are influenced by the formers pollution.

23

Interweaving the systematic landscapes

The proposed water system, with the Kashar reservoir as a drinking water source, enables a high density of development to take place inside it. Its existing struc-ture along with the status of the land use with urbanized, to be urbanized and not in use plots, can inform the strategic spaces where the new development is to take place. At the same time the presence of large produc-tive agriculture plots, that give quality to the landscape, along with the water flow through the system can inform on the strate-gic positioning of the wetlands.These two dynamics given by the proposed water system cre-ate a platform for clustering de-velopment.

The new density takes advan-tage of the agricultural land-scape as part of the urbanized environment.

The public programs plugged in the depth of the highway cre-ate deep public spaces, in re-lationship with the agricultural landscape. At the same time their positioning on both sides of the highway enable transversal connections, that are enforced both on a functional level, by the water system, and on a spa-cial level.

24

2.RECONSIDERING THE VILLAGE IN THE (EXPANDING) CITY - TAIHU, BEIJINGS SOUTH-EASTERN FRINGE.Serve the City|Serve the Village, PRO Landscape (Protective and Productive Landscape).

25

Project type:Location:Scale:Supervisor:Team Serve the City|Serve the Village:Team PRO Landscape:Date:

Academic Project, Master in Urbanism and Strategic Planning, European Masters in Urbanism. Taihu, Beijing, China.Regional.Kelly Shannon, Viviana dAuria.

Bogdan Ilie, Cai Tao, Francesca Vergani Batanero, Inga Bolik, Liesbeth Hautekiet, Lu Wei, Mieke Moerman, Thomas Willemse.Bogdan Ilie, Lu WeiFebruary 2012 - June 2012.

26

City Area, 1996

City Area, 1992

City Area, 1988

City Area, 1975

City Area, 2002

(Source: Master Plan of Beijing 2002 2020)

The title Serve the City|Serve the Village displays a shift in Maos slogan from 1944.

As Taihu is located on the fringe of Beijing, a vastly growing metropo-lis, the area is destined to become part of the city fabric. In order to keep the identity of Taihu, which consists out of a clear contrast between dense traditional villages and open fields defined by an irrigating canal system, Taihu has to serve the city by becoming a valuable asset to it.

To have an answer to how to serve Beijing, we looked at some of its main problems. The city produces a huge amount of garbage, has very polluted water infrastructure flowing through the site, is clouded by heavily polluted air, amongst the highest in China, and has an exploding population in desperate need for new housing.

In this sense, a vision for a future Taihu is developed which, while serving the city with new spatial quality, new work opportunities, in-troducing recreational use and re-qualifying the traditional village housing with more diversity and services, therefore also serves the village and the people of Taihu.

What new housing typologies can be developed to respond to new densities and new forms of living in the rapidly evolving urban condi-tion? How can the re - conceptualizing of the public realm lead to new interplays of programs, interior and exterior and the manipula-tion of topography and rethinking of the notion of the street? How can infrastructure developments be choreographed to create new landscapes in the new village(s) in such expanding cities that attain dimensions of a territorial scale? In short, isnt it time, given such ex-tent of engulfing urbanization, to rethink by design the relation terri-tory - landscape, the mixing of scales village - neighbourhood - city - territory, infrastructure - landscape, individual - collective (private-public), city-nature, etc.?

1940s: MAOS FAMOUS POLITICAL SLOGAN

2012: A NEW VISION FOR TAIHU

RECONSIDERING THE VILLAGE IN THE (EXPANDING) CITY - TAIHU, BEIJINGS SOUTH-EASTERN FRINGE.Serve the City|Serve the Village.

29

LEGENDSERVE THE CITY/ SERVE THE VILLAGEVISION

1000m

1. purification step



canal system

rivers

original ponds

protective forest

domesticated forest

fodder crops

chinese herbs

treenursery

village

industry

high rise development

new neighborhoods

landfill/ garbagehill

soil phytoremediation

vegetables

medow in the Forest

recreational turf

orchard

GARBAGE HILLS

GARBAGE HILLS

GARBAGE HILLS

GARBAGE HILLS

GARBAGE HILLS

GARBAGE HILLS

GARBAGE HILLS

GARBAGE HILLS

wind corridor

Turning these problems into something valuable led us to a reversion of the NIMBY idea (not in my backyard) to a WIMBY concept: welcome in my backyard.

Welcome garbage, we shall mold you into fascinating land-fill art. Let the dirty water flow, purified sewage water will pro-vide us with a wet Taihu once again. An embracing forest will clean the polluted air and at the same time provide the area with protection, recon-verting the agricultural patterns into wind corridors and a pro-ductive landscape. Providing new residential housing follows the demand, without destroy-ing the existing clustered fabric and its connection with the in-termediate landscape.Vision map showing the interweaving of the 4 strategic projects, the trash mountain, the clusters, the water cleaning machine and the pro-landscape.

30 In taking the garbage of Beijing and creating topography in a flat area.

31Clustering the existing villages and the new densities along edges defined by the canal structure.

32Water cleaning machine with its components and the shades of blue and green showing the quality of the water. The cleaning process takes place along the water flow from the northwest to the south east.

33The PRO-Landscape with its components, the protective forests, organized along the northwest of the site and the clusters to protect from the winter dominant winds bringing pollution and dust from Bei-jing. The productive wind corridors that channel the southeast dominant wind coming from the countryside with fresh air. And the productive landscape creating an economic platform for the villagers.

34 Diagrams illustrating the relationship between the different crops and the treatment level of the polluted water and at the same time showing the relationship between the density and height of the forests in relationship to their proximity to the clusters. Established relationships and continuities between the spaces within the PRO landscape and the spaces inside the clusters.

35Conceptual sections illustrating the movement from the meadow in the protective forest along the forest in the main street reaching the forest in the heart of the cluster. The continuity establishes an interweaving between the landscape and the urban fabric. The edge of a cluster, showing the meeting between it and the productive landscape and the continuation of public amenities.

CONTINUITY OF THE DOMESTIC FOREST / MEADOW IN THE FOREST.MEADOWS IN THE ORCHARD.

FOREST IN THE VILLAGE.

FOREST IN THE STREET.

36 Prosperity map inspired by the old Chinese folding maps showing the harmonious relationship between city and countryside. In this case showing the transition from the meadow in the forest through the water cleaning ponds to the forest in the cluster.

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3.ANTWERP NORTH: RE-VISITING THE MODERNIST CITY.Space of mediation: port and city.

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Project type:Location:Scale:Supervisor:Team:Date:

Academic Project, Master in Urbanism and Strategic Planning, European Masters in Urbanism. Luchtbal, Antwerp, Belgium.Urban.Laura Vescina, Kathleen Van de Werf, Tom Broes. Bogdan Ilie, Claudia Lucia Rojas, Himadri Das, Jilian Nyakane.September 2011 - January 2012.

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The project is seen as a strategy for creating spaces of media-tion between the Port and the city. The city of Antwerp is no stranger to this idea. The Port and the City have engaged each other in this debate since the last 5-6 centuries.

The project at Luchtbal is special as it investigates the possibility to develop such an urban function in an area which is charac-terized by large warehouses and flows of infrastructure.

The Park proposal comes from the synthesis of many ideas, important among them are a master plan to develop buffers around the reservations that have been taken up by the port. At the location of Luchtbal, there is however no space for such a buffer. The park in this location is a logical conclusion to con-tinue the buffer plan. The nature of functions in the park is deter-mined by a reading of a sequence of public spaces in the city.The project proposes to develop a park with sports and cultural facilities to give this place its own identity in the city as well as fulfill the ports proposal to create buffers between itself and urban areas.

This is the model for the future spaces of Mediation. The Luchtbal Housing is densified in order to capitalize on its new identity as well as its access to infrastructure. The densification is implemented through low-rise high density buildings that al-low the modernist blocks to stay prominent and a reminder of the past. The water front is developed as a public space at the southern end of the park.

ANTWERP NORTH: RE-VISITING THE MODERNIST CITYSpace of mediation: port and city

Rediscovering the landscapes of the port.

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1200Luchtbal: Marsh Lands to the North

1940Luchtbal: The Modernist Enclave,the future of Antwerp

1970Luchtbal Caught between the growth of the Harbour and the City

1970-1990Growth of the Harbour on the West and theCity at Eilandje

Since 1999 every port area in Flanders has to draw up a Strategic Plan and a Land Use Plan that guarantee maximum protection of the sur-rounding residential areas, build up the eco-logical infrastructure inside and outside the port area, the associated nature compensation measures, and make efficient use of space.Haven Natuurlijker is a collaborative project in which the Port Authority is setting up an ecologi-cal infrastructure network within the port area.

1553Luchtbal: Polders along the road going North

1884Luchtbal: Dykes and Polders

1900Luchtbal: Northern Lands

Retrospective of city-port dialectic.

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PROGRAM

GREEN SPACES IN THE CITY Nature of functions proposed in the park is based on the se-quence of green spaces that exist in the city today.By this way the park provides local facilities for the surround-ings neigbourhoods (Lucthbal).

But at the same time the program keeps the essence of the place providing facilities at the city level. Certain Large build-ings like the Metropolis Mall, its Parking as well as the GM Build-ing are retained. The Park is developed with Cultural andSports as the main functions

SOFT CONNECTION

GREEN SINGEL GREEN RIVER + SOFT SPINE Space for mobility infrastructure also comprises of a broad roadside landscape, can indeed play a crucial role in terms of green space shortages, local public facilities, ecological con-nections, city climate, housing development, etc.

WATERFRONT

MASTER PLAN RIVERFRONT ANTWERPMotivated by the claim of recovering a water front for the city, as well as the report over the variation of the water level the normal daily tide spans from zero up to 5,00m EILANDJE Former port area in the north of Antwerp. This neighbourhood entirely surrounded by docks is being transforming gradually into a lively and livable district on the water, with a mix of liv-ing, working and cultural and commercial facilities.

43Existing tissue. Proposal tissue. Existing rail road tracks.

44 Green connections within the landscape. Main paths along the rail tracks. Reprogramming of existing buildings.

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Aerial perspective of proposal.

Section A-A.

Section B-B.

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AA

Proposal plan.

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BB

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4.COLLECTIVE HOUSING EXERCISE. Identity mosaic.

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Project type:Location:Scale:Supervisor:Team:Date:

Undergraduate Project in Architecture. Bucharest, Romania.Urban Intervention.Mac Popescu, Drago Perju, tefan Simion, Vladimir Vinea. Alexandru Muntean, Bogdan Ilie.January 2007 - June 2007.

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COLLECTIVE HOUSING EXERCISE. Identity mosaic. The site is located in a currently messed part of the city near the north railway station, the main station of Bucharest. The context is a mixture of traditional urban fabric, rundown and mostly inhabited. A university campus on one side and on the other side the commu-nist mono functional developments from the modernist systematization of the late 70s.

The site is to be developed in tandem with the new north-south corridor of the city that is planned to come along its eastern edge leading to a shift in the character of the area.

Some of the project objectives are: creating a mixed use building, expressing the individu-ality of each dwelling and setting a contact between the building and the future context.

The building complex has 4 main compo-nents: the apartments (in a wide range of sizes), the commercial area at street level, the students dormitories on the terraces and the inner courtyard with the playgrounds.

The commercial area and the playground are public, thus opened to the surrounding community while the inner courtyard has a semi public character.

Site in 1927 prior to the systematization. Buildings that define the corners of the urban island. Site for the planned north-south corridor.

Site plan, images on the bottom relate to the positions marked on the plan.

51The irregularities of the facades (the in and out movement of the modules) are meant to create terraces and also to create a sense of identity as a reaction to the common apartments built in the communist age with the same functional module stacked one on top of the other. The hybrid character of the project is also in line with the concept of having functional mixity as a reaction to the dormitory developments of the communist systematization.

53Axonometric view showing the mix of dwellings raging from studios and 2 rooms and 3 room duplex apartments. Detailed section.

54 3 bedroom duplex apartment axonometric view and plans.

552 bedroom apartment axonometric view and plans.

56 Ground floor plan with commercial spaces.

571st floor plan.

58 Interior facade.

Boulevard facade.

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5.COMPETITION: ICOANEI 2-8.Reinterpreting the deep courtyard.

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Project type:Location:Scale:Team:Date:

Postgraduate Competition in Architecture. Bucharest, Romania.Urban Intervention.Alexandru Hoffman, Bogdan Ilie, Cristian Deac.March 2011 - April 2011.

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COMPETITION: ICOANEI 2-8.Reinterpreting the deep courtyard.

The theme of the competition was to design a hybrid building with imposed functions, like a conference hall, commercial areas and luxury apartments on a site lo-cated across the street from a monument of Romanian art-nouveaux architecture that houses a high-school. It is also located in an area that is protected with respect to its architectural patrimony.

We set out to firstly understand the historical development of the area. We noticed that there is a very strong link be-tween how the urban tissue in this case was structured and the evolution of regulations imposed. The tissue in ques-tion started from large plots with isolated dwellings in the premodern history of the city. After the regulations of the 1850s that made building along the street compulsory along with an increase in population a new type of tissue emerges. Its comb like structure comes from a very spe-cific way of dwelling that required an in-between space before reaching the door of your home. This space mate-rialized in the form of deep long courtyards. These spaces actually give the quality of the area by creating a trans-parency of the urban tissue. This was one of the aspects that we kept in the project by providing such a space and organizing all the public functions around it.

At the same time the competition enforced the preser-vation of the corner facade. Like many other cases this kind of imposition leads to examples of buildings like the ones below where there is no real dialogue between the preexisting building and the new one. What we tried to do is provide an alternative through actually enforcing the presence of the corner facade by housing the apart-ments in its oversized roof and giving it a stronger image.

Contemporary general approach when dealing with the imposed keeping of an old facade. The current state of the site with the corner facade.

Site plan.

Premodern urban tissue separated in layers, plots and built fabric. The city at this time presents itself as an amorphous mix-ture of buildings, gardens and agricultural lands. The majority of the constructions are 1 story isolated dwellings. The 1850s regulations and the growth in population lead to a new kind of tissue. The regulations were aimed at monumentalizing the public domain and imposed the construction in a continuous front. This abrupt change met a reaction that materialized in the deep courtyard as a buffer between the public space and the private quarters of the residence.

1852 p1900q1980The deep courtyard is very specific to many old neighbour-hoods of Bucharest creating a patriar-chal atmosphere and articulating the transitions between public and private spaces.

With the change in program of the dwellings to commer-cial or services the courtyards changed their character be-coming dilatations of the pub-lic space.

63Program diagrams.

Perspective from the crossroad showing the existing facade with the proposal.

Diagram showing the space available on the site and the urban tissue around it.

Defining the spaces. Aligning to the existing tis-sue and adding the density with the volumes that the new programs require.

Defining the deep courtyard with a dilatation that creates centrality in its depth and organises the public functions.

64 Ground floor plan, public facilities organized along the deep courtyard and around the dilatation in its depth.

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Underground floor 1. Underground floor 2. 1st floor.

4th floor. 3rd floor. 2nd floor.

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Section.

Main facade with the entrance to the conference hall in the background.

67Perspective with the access to the deep courtyard. Conference hall.

Public space in the dilatation of the deep courtyard in the depth of the plot.

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6. ISOVER STUDENT COMPETITION 2009.Energetically sustainable office building.

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Undergraduate Competition in Architecture. Bucharest, Romania.Urban Intervention.Alexandru Muntean, Bogdan Ilie, Dan Andrean.March 2009 - April 2009.

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ISOVER STUDENT COMPETITION 2009.Passive office building. The project is the result of an international compe-tition launched by ISOVER. The theme was to real-ize an office building that was energetically sustain-able. This meant taking into consideration all the parameters of insulation in the context of Bucharest with dramatic shifts of temperature between sum-mer and winter.

The choosing of the site was left at the choice of the students. This made us try to find a spot that would also satisfy our desire to realize a building that would also be sustainable in the urban context of the city.

The site chosen was a 12 by 12 meter area be-tween two modernist blocks that define the north-south axis of the city in the vicinity of the centre very well connected to public transportation. The spot had been left empty due to formal reasonings to break the rigid rhythm of the concrete block slabs that define the axis to the south of the centre. The choice was made also in context in which the of-fice building developments in the city were hap-pening mostly in low rise areas creating scale con-flicts. Thus our quest was to find an alternative to this general attitude by showing that you can resolve all the programs asked by the theme in such a con-fined area. At the same time the boulevard chan-nels the dominant north wind allowing for it to serve as a sustainable energy source.

Contemporary office building developments. Archive image with the boulevard and the modernist blocks defin-ing its perimeter.

Contemporary conditions of the site. Dominant wind channelled by the boulevard be-tween two wide spaces within the city.

Site plan with transport nodes.

71Perspective with main facade with the entrance from the boulevard. Office space interior.

Ground floor show-room interior.

72 Main facade with wind turbines. Section, the east-west orientation of the building allows for natural ventilation.

73Section with heat pump functional scheme. Perspective / section showing the spaces inside the building.

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1st floor, customer area

Ground floor, lobby. 2nd floor, large meeting room. 6th floor, office space and meeting room.

3rd, 4th, 5th floor, office space 7th floor, general management and meeting room

75Detailed section. Construction details.

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7.PORTMANTEAU.ROTaking the totalitarian city for a walk.

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Online application. Virtual space. -Bogdan Ilie, Dan Achim.December 2012 - January 2013.

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PORTMANTEAU.ROTaking the totalitarian city for a walk. The project started from the passion shared by two childhood friends for their city. The city in question is Bucharest, a city of contrasts, struggling to find its iden-tity. One of the things that shape this identity is its socialist past that turned wild and furious on the structure of the city by implementing a megalomaniac pro-ject designed as the beginning of a new city, growing from the heart of the old that would establish a new order aligned with the communist ideals. The name of the ensemble was Socialist Victory. To achieve this new axis stretching from the east to the west of the city a sur-face equivalent to the surface of Venice had to be demolished to make room. Crowning this grotesque monumentality is the House of the People, now the Palace of the Parliament, the second largest building in the world.

The development emphasizes the presence of this building by cutting the old city and creating new hierarchies by hiding the inherited urban landscape of the city, with churches defining the higher topography by hiding them behind a mantle of blocks. The message is that there is no more room for religion, there can be only one supreme belief, communism.

Our concept started from a simple question, O.k! Its big, but just how big? and because we are specialized in different disciplines, architecture/urbanism and computer engineering, we set out to find a way of visualizing it.

An area at the edge of the Peoples Palace development before and after. Pages from the ZEPPELIN architecture magazine nr. 113.

79Pages from the ZEPPELIN architecture magazine nr. 113.

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Ilie Bogdan [email protected] 0486.87.33.57Avenue DAuderghem 149, 1040 Brussels.

Thank you for your consideration.