The Commons

Participatory urban neighborhood

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    Global finalist entry 2015 - The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood

    The open areas allow for adaptable programming and use of the shared spaces.

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    Global finalist entry 2015 - The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood

    Urban situations colonize the area, acting as objects and keeping the area alive at any time of the day.

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    Global finalist entry 2015 - The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood

    Pedestrian friendly environment: distances are measured in minutes, important facilities are reachable within a 3 minute walk.

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    Project entry 2014 Europe – The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria

    Liquid city: Instead of a predesigned urban tissue, a controlled growth process is proposed. The initial grid of gardens is the support of the urban, which will develop in time through small-scale gradual appropriations. The result will be a liquid city that works as a complete urban configuration in all stages of consolidation, satisfying the current societal needs, but is also able to adapt itself to any contextual change or future necessities.

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    Project entry 2014 Europe – The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria

    Eco-city: Sustainable urban development of a piece of the city. We use the green open space as a support of the buildings, and not vice versa. Land consumption is minimized in favor of green space, keeping a respectful attitude towards the existing landscape as well as the environment, but always without losing compactness and density. Diversity of actors and investment capacities are represented here, generating a multi-scalar intervention.

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    Project entry 2014 Europe – The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria

    The Commons (GartenSTADT) vs City Block: we look for a human and local scale based district.

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    Project entry 2014 Europe – The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria

    Porosity, not only in the urban fabric, but also in the low ecological footprint.

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    Project entry 2014 Europe – The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria

    Flexibility, which guarantees social and economic balance, where everyone can find what they need.

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    Project entry 2014 Europe – The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria

    1. Garden south orientated; 2. Keep the existing trees; 3. Growing housing; 4. Northern wind protection.

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    Project entry 2014 Europe – The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria

    Game-board: Democratic urbanism, in which different actors and needs can take place.

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    Project entry 2014 Europe – The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria

    Diversity of urban scenarios is possible in the common space, thanks to urban-post-it appropriation.

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    Project entry 2014 Europe – The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria

    Pedestrian area based on alternative mobility. Peripheral road traffic, minimized transport demand.

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    Project entry 2014 Europe – The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria

    Allmende: collective, reprogrammable, low-maintenance open space for the community.

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    Holcim Awards 2014 Europe ceremony, Moscow, Russia

    Presentation of the Holcim Awards Bronze 2014 Europe for “The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria” (l-r): Jury representative, Arno Brandlhuber, brandlhuber+, Berlin, Germany; project authors Enrique Arenas, Luis Palacios and Luis Basabe, Arenas Basabe Palacios arquitectos, Madrid, Spain; Josef Nowak, Managing Director Holcim Vienna; Feliciano Gonzales, CEO Holcim Spain; Urs Fankhauser, Holcim Area Manager Western Europe; and Luis Cacho, Chief Counselor for Economics, Embassy of Spain in Moscow.

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    Holcim Awards 2014 Europe ceremony, Moscow, Russia

    Winners of the Holcim Awards 2014 Europe main prizes (l-r): Luis Basabe and Luis Palacios (Bronze); Gilles Delalex (Silver); Francisco Leiva, Lucia Pierro and Marco Scarpinato (Gold); and Enrique Arenas (Bronze).

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    Holcim Awards 2014 Europe ceremony, Moscow, Russia

    Luis Palacios Labrador, Arenas Basabe Palacios arquitectos, Spain, member of the Holcim Awards Bronze winning team for “The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria”.

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    Holcim Awards Europe 2014 media breakfast

    Holcim Awards Bronze 2014 Europe winner Luis Palacios. The winning team presented an urban plan that uses framework of gardens for the project’s physical and social development: The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria.

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    Project entry 2014 Europe – The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria

    Luis Basabe Montalvo, Enrique Arenas Laorga, and Luis Palacios Labrador.

  • Awards Bronze 2014–2015 Europe

This masterplan for a 10-hectare sustainable urban neighborhood applies democratic principles of governance, communication, and participation. The brownfield site redevelopment creates a continuous grid of gardens upon which the various occupants place structures from stand-alone houses to multi-family apartment buildings. The physical and social development has low environmental impact and creates a porous fabric that enables collective space while furthering ownership capacity-building.

By Luis Basabe Montalvo, Luis Palacios Labrador, Enrique Arenas Laorga - Arenas Basabe Palacios arquitectos, Madrid, Spain and

Ideas: Urban Requalification

This masterplan for a 10-hectare sustainable urban neighborhood applies democratic principles of governance, communication, and participation. The brownfield site redevelopment creates a continuous grid of gardens upon which the various occupants place structures from stand-alone houses to multi-family apartment buildings.

The physical and social development has low environmental impact and creates a porous fabric that enables collective space while furthering ownership capacity-building.

The Commons

Project authors

  • Feature interview – The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria
    Luis Basabe Montalvo

    Arenas Basabe Palacios arquitectos

    Spain

  • Holcim Awards 2014 Europe ceremony, Moscow, Russia
    Luis Palacios Labrador

    Arenas Basabe Palacios arquitectos

    Spain

  • Feature interview – Enrique Arenas Laorga
    Enrique Arenas Laorga

    Arenas Basabe Palacios arquitectos

    Spain

  • Thomas Proksch

    Land in Sicht Landschaftsarchitektur

    Austria

  • AK
    Andreas Käfer

    Traffix Verkehrsplanung

    Austria

  • RK
    Robert Korab

    Raum & Kommunikation

    Austria

  • CS
    Christian Seethaler

    Mascha & Seethaler ZT

    Austria

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