The diving end of the pool is 25 meters wide b 20 meters long, with diving platforms cantilevered off pylon. Similar in appearance to the buttresses supporting the roof trusses, the pylon was constructed of poured-in-lace concrete in single pour. h platforms, located at the standard heights of three, five, 71/2 and 10 meters bv the water, are covered with resilient, nonslip surface. Coaches prefer to have all of the platform heights available, so that divers in training can gradually work their way u.
During training, devices called spargers are turned n undr the diving platform to add highly pressurized air to the water entering the pool. h effect is to disturb the waters surface, making it easier for divers to judge their distance from the pool. In addition, the air helps create cushion at the pools surface, lessening the possibility of injuries from missed maneuvers. Although spargers are not used during competition, divers still need to gauge the distance from the platform to the surface of the pool. accomplish this effect, tin jets located at the pools edge disrupt the water just enough to keep it from taking n mirror like appearance.
he success of the Goodwill Games Swimming and Diving Complex should b measured b not n1 its popularity with competing swimmers but also its acceptance b the general public. According to Nassau County Recreation and Parks Commissioner John . Kernan, three times as mn annual memberships as originally expected have been purchased sin the pool opened to the public.
Experimental community
Designed with great economy of means on a heavily polluted former industrial site, this social housing scheme in Geisenkirchen combines a surprisingly diverse and human mix of dwelling types and external spaces
In 1990 housing competition was held as part of the IBA Emscher Park, an ambitious programme to rehabilitate parts of the Ruhr. Half century ago this region was Germany's black country and centre for hv industry, but it is now n area of high unemployment and polluted wastelands. The brief called for around 250 dwellings and other social facilities n 7.5 hectare site at the edge of central Gelsenkirchen. Competitors were encouraged to adopt green strategy in terms both of healthy environment and low energy use. Graz-based Szyzkowitz-wski won first prize with complex and imaginative scheme most of which is now built. The integral kindergarten has bn in operation since 1996, and about two-thirds of the dwellings are occupied.
h project site had problems typical fr the area. Lying between residential streets and n old railway yard, it belonged for 80 years to Kuppersbusch, manufactures of vns and kithn furniture. his firm still exists in Gelsenkirchen, but moved out in 1984 to less restricted place. The careless and ignorant habits of early industry hd left the vacated ground so polluted that the soil had to b removed and replaced to depth of six meters. he Germans very much more conscious than other people about this: they fear that trees and plants will bring toxins and heavy metals to the surf to b absorbed b people and animals. three artificial hills were raised with imported soil. his landscaping gesture both strengthened the idea of linear park and elevated the ground above the most deeply-lodged pollution.
|
|
|
he artificial hills, already in l b the time of the competition, were the initial inspiration for Szyszkowitz-Kowalski's organic-looking site plan. By following the nw contour line with cranked lines of dwellings they produced three separate nlvs of varied size, each with n additional inner r. h subdivision reduced the mass of dwellings to manageable batches, while the broadening of the triangular site towards the south end gave each different relationship with the neighboring street. h northernmost enclave is only half present, opening its heart to the street, but the other two have urban sides mediating with the pattern of the surrounding streets and containing shops shared with the neighborhood.
The hearts of the three enclaves have protected social courts where gathering is intended at outdoor cafe tables and other social magnets. But the three are also linked by paths on each side of a newly created watercourse which forms the main spine of the development. Expanding between the two larger enclaves to form a long oval space with pointed ends, it is the green heart. All the surrounding buildings disgorge rainwater into a series of high-level aqueducts, which deliver their contents in turn via open chutes into the watercourse. The water flows on into the oval space, whose sunken floor becomes a temporary lake. This elaboration of the rainwater apparatus celebrates the green theme by reminding people that water is a precious asset; it recovers the memory of lost pre-industrial rivers and, as a symbol of purity, it also opposes the memory of pollution. The aqueducts around the central space give it much stronger definition, looking almost like a series of giant order columns supporting a thin entablature.
The site plan provides a rich mix of spaces from the definitively urban on one side through the central garden-like treatment to the relatively wild linear park on the other. Changes of level across the section are also exploited, both with the central valley for the rainwater and with the steps rising into the surrounding hills. By spreading them about in different ways it parks a surprising number of cars without resorting to underground arrangements, and without producing the impression that vehicles dominate. It also assembles a rich social mix. Flats are both rented and owner-occupied, and vary in size from single persons to large families. There is sheltered accommodation for old people. Some 15 shops are included to animate the urban side, and those which opened early are doing well. Children's playgrounds are scattered through the development, and the kindergarten takes the triangular north end of the Site. The heart of each enclave includes shared elements such as meeting rooms and bookable guest-bedrooms for visitors.
The dynamic geometry of the plan cleverly conceals the fact that the housing is economically built largely with straight buildings between standard parallel party walls. With rooms looking out to back and front, the middle band of each block carries kitchens and bathrooms, allowing economical service runs from a central duct crossing the party walls. All this is good rational Modernist practice, but the architects do not just switch over to auto-pilot. They humanize and individualize with a series of variations. A typical block is cranked in fire middle and has skewed ends: the middle is opened at ground level to absorb a few car spaces, while the ends are exploited by flats with special comer rooms. Second, every other unit is allowed to rise a storey, with the central ones going up two storeys. This makes tower-like projections stressing the rhythm of the party walls, and brings each block to a crescendo. Third, flats can also vary in length. Keeping to the same back line, they step in and out on the entrance front, producing a series of semi-enclosed areas for entrance porches and balconies. Finally, dwellings can be small or large, flats or maisonettes, so there are endless variations to be played with different combinations of rooms and floors, which express themselves externally in many entrance arrangements, the upper ones via external stairs with generous canopies. The whole operates like a well-played fugue, maintaining the rhythm for economy's sake but turning every given difference to account.
|
|
|
The kindergarten occupies a kind of protective hollow at the northern end of the site. Its chevron plan seems unorthodox, but echoes the landscaping of the artificial hills and works well socially. A diagonal route across the site begins with the entrance and emerges in the enclosed playground opposite. In between, the five group-rooms and other facilities fold off diagonally to each side. The entrance seems sunk, set between two earth banks which cover the flanking buildings, but the group rooms are covered with curved corrugated metal roofs, giving a strong rhythmic pattern to the whole. Each group has its own external play space enclosed by a projecting retaining wall. Outdoor spaces are sheltered from the wind and have relatively short views. They can only be entered through the building, and the combination of high earth banks and long transition through the toplit central hall makes the children feel protected from the outside world.
The IBA organizers wanted to use local contractors, so six different firms were involved in the construction, each given a different group of buildings. The architects report that control of detail is more difficult than in Austria and architects are generally less respected, while regulations are tighter. There was apparently some desire on the part of the contractors each to differentiate its building group with variations of detail and colour, but if this happened it is not very noticeable. The architects' general policy of rough masonry and in-situ concrete rendered or plastered has helped to cover up differences in technique and quality, and the windows used are standard types, chosen for economy and long-term reliability. In the end the signature elements turn out to be the galvanized steelwork for the entrance canopies, rainwater system and greenhouse-like living-room windows at ground floor level, and these are quite enough to give the scheme a distinctive character. The intended colours were there from the start, but refined during the design development and construction period. Michael Szyszkowitz stresses how important it is that they work under many conditions of day- and sunlight.
Like all housing schemes, final judgments on success must await several years of habitation, but it is already clear that despite the size of the development there is no problem of scale. There could easily be; but the architects have shown great skill in breaking down the whole into manageable parts and playing so many variations on what is basically an economical system. The inhabitants will gain a more 1ively environment and better social connections, and bearing this in mind, it is sad that Szyszkowhitz-Kowalski no longer have housing work in their home city of Graz. Political changes meant that the Modell Steirmark housing programme (AR October 1995, p.6) was dropped, and the architects who worked for it are now blacklisted. Those currently in power claim that housing shouldn't be a playground for architectural experiments, without realizing the extent to which ways of life, building technologies and communications are changing. Nowadays a new housing development is always an experiment.
