The architectural profession is a process that develops in several stages until the final product - the constructed space, building, neighborhood or city. The need for this process, like most human initiatives, originates with someone's dream.
Part one - about dreams
Your dream
Imagine your home or house?
Often the client (you) will tie this idea to something they have already seen and know or liked in a magazine, such as a residence with a garden planted with lavender, inspired by Coco Chanel's La Pause villa on the French Riviera.
A professional's dream
Hiring an architect, it surprisingly turns out that there are actually two dreams.
Because besides yours, there is another dream, that of the architect.
While you dream of a cosy Provençal family house with a courtyard, the architect dreams of creating a top project: an innovative typology of a black cylindrical house with a glass roof. On the one hand, to be nominated for the Miss van der Rohe awards, or at least to be reflected in DEZEEN, and on the other, to take a new step in the development of architecture.
"We must build for man in such a way that the architectural structure gives him the joy of being himself, so that he feels it to be an extension and complement of himself...", says Eileen Gray, an Irish modernist architect who worked in the first half of the 20th century. Words expressing the aspiration of the ambitious artist, (even the self-centred one), to contribute to the good of man.
The meeting of these two differently beautiful dreams defines the firstand in my opinion the most delicate and essential pre-project stage of the architectural process, in which the two dreams are clarified and synchronized.
This happens through conversations, discussion of reference examples and practices, conducting inquiries, until trust is built between commissioner and author, and a unified, desired dream-vision is achieved on both sides.
After the formulation of a common final goal, the elaboration of the architectural project begins, which is bound to specific responsibilities and standards.
Urban dreams
Now let's take a broader perspective.
In addition to the personal dreams described above, there is another larger dream...the dream of a better life in an urban environment.
The dream of a comfortable and beautiful "neighborhood", "village" or "city" is complex and consists of many diverse dreams: the dreams of the rich residents, the dreams of the poor residents, the dreams of the children, the elderly, the tourists, the dreams of the businesses, the dreams of the NGOs...etc.
But how do you transform these millions of wishes into one? How do they synchronize and arrive at an overall vision? And who does it?
Master Plan
The tool in planning is called a Master Plan. It decides the relationships between buildings and spaces and sets the guidelines for the future development of an area .
The Master Plan contains multi-layered information that has been gathered through observation, statistics, multidisciplinary research and also reflects the wishes of the people, through sociological surveys, meetings with relevant communities, questionnaires and workshops.
The Master Plans set the geometric framework (areas and heights) within which the individual elements (buildings, streets, parks and gardens) can be developed in subsequent design phases.
They are made for sites where a group of buildings with different functions and uses are planned: business centres, technology parks, campuses, group of buildings for urban areas, parks and for the whole city.
The contracting authority for this type of plans is the developer, and when the scale is larger and affects the city - the contracting authority is the local municipality.
In the City, the equivalent of the Master Plan is the 2009 Comprehensive Plan.
http://maps.sofproect.com/oup_sofia_cache/
One of the criticisms levelled at this document is that it is insufficiently communicative and is incomprehensible to the general public - residents and visitors. Another flaw is that it is two-dimensional.
It is common practice in cities around the world to present initiated plans to residents and visitors in a three-dimensional, accessible and attractive manner.
In Vienna, alongside the construction of the new Wien-Hauptbahnhof central station in 2014, a temporary exhibition pavilion, Bahnorama, was commissioned, where the project was presented in a pleasant and entertaining way with a contemporary design.
| Architects "Bahnorama" Photos: personal archive |
The highlight of the pavilion was the tower, from which panoramic views of the entire city could be seen and the execution of the project itself could be observed from above.
| Architects "Bahnorama" Photos: personal archive |
It's time for Sofia to be represented by more modern means. With a publicly accessible three-dimensional model, for a start, to reflect the existing situation and future plans.
Positive for Sofia
In recent years, criticism of the appearance and management of the city has generated the coming together of informal and formal organisations and individuals concerned with the urban environment, transport, ecology and accessibility, creating the opportunity to lobby, demand and work together for adequate development of the city.
The result is that several positive and strategic projects are currently under development in Sofia:
SofiaVision,Sofia Green Capital and SofiaCity for the People.
In all three initiatives, methodologies are being applied to communicate between the above urban visionaries and involve them in the process of improving the quality of life in the city.
All of them are also part of the common global aspiration to create a "sustainable city" where people can responsibly realise their dreams.
| Specialized training "Sofia - a city for the people", conducted by the Geel team on 29th and 30th March 2017 in Sofia Municipality. Photo: personal archive |
Therefore, I conclude this text with the well-established definition of sustainable development adopted in 1987 by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (UNWCD) in its "Brundland report: OUR COMMON FUTURE":
"...development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".
...and dreams!
Author:
Milena Fetvadjieva
Architect
Founder of URBANVIVA architectural studio
Co-founder of Fragment Association