‘There are in the country beautiful vistas, lordly parks, violetescent woods, fresh air, sounds of rippling water; but too often one sees those threatening words, “Trespassers will be prosecuted”’ Sir Ebenezer Howard, Garden Cities of Tomorrow pg. 5
These words reminded me of the beginning of the Belfast lecture. I know relatively little about the history of Belfast, only that it has a history of sectarian conflict.
Howard's quote above holds a similar contrasting quality to that of David Brett's who spoke for the first part of the lecture, giving an atmospheric depiction of Belfast, traditional in his use of a white board and marker pen. Geographical lines were layered whilst describing its physical terrain, its beauty, its historical background and how the linen industry formed around the river banks. I'm not quite sure when these descriptive tones changed to those of unease. Perhaps it was when a hypothetical walker was suddenly faced with an angry farmer claiming they were trespassing. Yes, that's probably the relevance of the quote.
Before long the dialogue settled on the hostile environment of the scarred city: the transformation of previous straight grid road systems into cul-de-sacs to prevent the number of drive-through shootings, the peace lines...'Fragmented regional governance creates fragmented peace'...perhaps this is why it was said, 'the nature of cities is something we have no control over.' I'm not sure what this sentence was alluding to. Is it an explanation of what has happened historically in Belfast through consequence of differing religions? Is it in relation to the organic growth of settlement surrounding the river and the linen industry therewith? Or the fragmented government's lack of control? Is it because the peace walls sporadically appeared overnight? All of the above perhaps.
And a sprinkling of Heidegger: Existential space vs Metric space, if we didn't have enough to think about...
The second half of the lecture was a little more practical in its depiction of Belfast. Mark Hackett from Hackett Hall McKnight is co-founder of the campaigning group Forum for Alternative Belfast.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jun/03/public-inquiry-mark-hackett
The loss the city has experienced was evident, especially in the mappings of used and unused buildings, and the complete lack of pedestrian connection between north and south. A car dependent city, too unsafe to walk. The housing conditions looked dire, 3 meter wide living rooms, sometimes not even that. Mixed used developments that people were proud of housed car parks on the ground flour, inbetween a network of cold concrete walls. Government masterplanners turning their backs on peace walls...it was evident that a 'start again' is needed in Belfast.
What FORUM appears to be doing looks like a good start. I especially liked the barber shop boys, and thinking of ways to inspire community confidence - to trust design confidence - to build commercial confidence. The summer school has started to encourage people who have a common interest in helping to do it themselves.
Additional words form Fran Balaam, Michael Corr and Lara Gibson emphasised this need to inspire confidence in residents to want more from their city. I suppose this endeavour holds similarities to the efforts of the biennial in Liverpool, sparking interest in the community through art and architecture and public events to get people excited and involved.
Ideas of unity within the city were posed by the ending panel. Unity through language? Or would this create divided cultural quarters? Linguistic differences creating new barriers? According to Patrick Lynch, 'Good walls make good neighbours...' should we be looking to the 'contrade' of Sienna and its competitive Palio as precedents? The football crowds of Rome? All cities need a bit of good and bad...in this case I think not. Connections in the city are a good thing sometimes.
These words reminded me of the beginning of the Belfast lecture. I know relatively little about the history of Belfast, only that it has a history of sectarian conflict.
Howard's quote above holds a similar contrasting quality to that of David Brett's who spoke for the first part of the lecture, giving an atmospheric depiction of Belfast, traditional in his use of a white board and marker pen. Geographical lines were layered whilst describing its physical terrain, its beauty, its historical background and how the linen industry formed around the river banks. I'm not quite sure when these descriptive tones changed to those of unease. Perhaps it was when a hypothetical walker was suddenly faced with an angry farmer claiming they were trespassing. Yes, that's probably the relevance of the quote.
Before long the dialogue settled on the hostile environment of the scarred city: the transformation of previous straight grid road systems into cul-de-sacs to prevent the number of drive-through shootings, the peace lines...'Fragmented regional governance creates fragmented peace'...perhaps this is why it was said, 'the nature of cities is something we have no control over.' I'm not sure what this sentence was alluding to. Is it an explanation of what has happened historically in Belfast through consequence of differing religions? Is it in relation to the organic growth of settlement surrounding the river and the linen industry therewith? Or the fragmented government's lack of control? Is it because the peace walls sporadically appeared overnight? All of the above perhaps.
And a sprinkling of Heidegger: Existential space vs Metric space, if we didn't have enough to think about...
The second half of the lecture was a little more practical in its depiction of Belfast. Mark Hackett from Hackett Hall McKnight is co-founder of the campaigning group Forum for Alternative Belfast.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jun/03/public-inquiry-mark-hackett
The loss the city has experienced was evident, especially in the mappings of used and unused buildings, and the complete lack of pedestrian connection between north and south. A car dependent city, too unsafe to walk. The housing conditions looked dire, 3 meter wide living rooms, sometimes not even that. Mixed used developments that people were proud of housed car parks on the ground flour, inbetween a network of cold concrete walls. Government masterplanners turning their backs on peace walls...it was evident that a 'start again' is needed in Belfast.
What FORUM appears to be doing looks like a good start. I especially liked the barber shop boys, and thinking of ways to inspire community confidence - to trust design confidence - to build commercial confidence. The summer school has started to encourage people who have a common interest in helping to do it themselves.
Additional words form Fran Balaam, Michael Corr and Lara Gibson emphasised this need to inspire confidence in residents to want more from their city. I suppose this endeavour holds similarities to the efforts of the biennial in Liverpool, sparking interest in the community through art and architecture and public events to get people excited and involved.
Ideas of unity within the city were posed by the ending panel. Unity through language? Or would this create divided cultural quarters? Linguistic differences creating new barriers? According to Patrick Lynch, 'Good walls make good neighbours...' should we be looking to the 'contrade' of Sienna and its competitive Palio as precedents? The football crowds of Rome? All cities need a bit of good and bad...in this case I think not. Connections in the city are a good thing sometimes.
What do you think after having been? Was it what you thought it would be? I'll ask myself the question too.
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