{"id":760866,"date":"2024-10-24T07:34:24","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T06:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=760866"},"modified":"2024-10-24T09:04:49","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T08:04:49","slug":"its-time-for-architecture-to-make-space-for-nature-between-our-buildings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/its-time-for-architecture-to-make-space-for-nature-between-our-buildings","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time for architecture to make space for nature between our buildings"},"content":{"rendered":"

By planning for biodiversity in those in-between spaces, we can create happier places and help boost climate resilience. <\/span><\/p>\n

Many of these approaches recoup time-honoured strategies of bygone eras. Letting land soak up water rather than concreting over every bit of earth. Encouraging variety in planting rather than monocultures. Seeing value in the unfinished and the imperfect.<\/span><\/p>\n

The October issue of the AJ is out now, and in Culture there\u2019s a lovely discussion about \u2018cathedral thinking\u2019 \u2013 starting something you\u2019ll never see finished. \u2018It sounds scary; but if you relax into that idea, it opens possibilities,\u2019 says Vickie Hayward about the public art installations at Oxford University Development\u2019s Begbroke Innovation District. Planting evolves over time; gardens grow and adapt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of the excellent schemes showcased in this month\u2019s AJ put biodiversity and climate resilience at their core. They\u2019ve also made some bold moves: fewer buildings, for one. Earls Court<\/a> Development Company (ECDC) has given over 60 per cent of its entire site to open spaces. <\/span><\/p>\n

Architect Sharon Giffen, head of design at the ECDC and formerly of Foster + Partners, explains: \u2018We originally had five buildings proposed around [the existing 1962] Empress State Building. We removed the corner block, allowing the [other] buildings to breathe more, make the public space more generous and, most importantly, improve the microclimate.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

The reimagining of the Gascoigne Estate is at the heart of Barking and Dagenham Council\u2019s ambition to regenerate Barking as one of London\u2019s greenest, most affordable and sustainable neighbourhoods. White Arkitekter has developed a landscape-led scheme and the practice benefits from having an in-house landscape team. As Fran Williams writes: \u2018It has been able to work closely with its own landscape architects, initially for the placemaking strategy, so that both landscape and massing worked in tandem to combat any urban heating risk.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to working with water, rather than fighting it, Rotterdam offers a cornucopia of inspiration with its Seven City Projects<\/a> and a number of other climate-resilient schemes such as the Keilehaven Tidal Park, designed by De Urbanisten. <\/span><\/p>\n

This occupies a former industrial dock on the banks of the Maas River, transforming it into an ecologically valuable area that is ever-changing, as parts of the park are accessible only at low tide. This results in a dynamic public space, which both enhances biodiversity and offers visitors encounters with nature. <\/span><\/p>\n

Another scheme \u2013 the Benthemplein water square \u2013 is designed with a twofold strategy in mind: to create an attractive public space giving identity to a neighbourhood while providing storm water storage, all in one space.<\/span><\/p>\n

When everything in our climate seems more extreme \u2013 from drenching rainstorms to baking heatwaves \u2013 one answer to this human-caused emergency lies in a long-term focus on nature.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As De Ubanisten\u2019s founder, Dirk van Peijpe, says, \u2018immense differences\u2019 can be made from \u2018many small moves\u2019. It\u2019s time for architecture to give them space.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The October edition of the AJ is out now. Subscribers can read the digital edition here<\/a>, or copies of the printed magazine can be purchased\u00a0here<\/a>. An AJ subscription is better value \u2013\u00a0click here<\/a> to view our packages.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By planning for biodiversity in those in-between spaces, we can create happier places and help boost climate resilience. Many of these approaches recoup time-honoured strategies of bygone eras. Letting land soak up water rather than concreting over every bit of earth. Encouraging variety in planting rather than monocultures. Seeing value in the unfinished and the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2185,"featured_media":760874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[745],"tags":[101354,2886,101355,6211],"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s time for architecture to make space for nature between our buildings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The spaces between our buildings should be as important as the buildings themselves, says AJ editor Emily Booth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/its-time-for-architecture-to-make-space-for-nature-between-our-buildings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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