mapping urban potentials

Dear All,  Congratulations to all of you who completed the Mapping Urban Potentials course this semester! It has been a true pleasure to meet you and to have the opportunity to learn from so many perspectives.  I wish you all a Happy New Year, and you are highly welcome to stay in touch and informed here in this blog later on. 

Following the groupwork of mapping the site's visible and hidden values, observing the social life and giving a presentation about all the important findings, stories and details, Assignment #5 was the next level. The challenge was to think out 50 ideas that could be a possible solution to the problems spotted in Lake Feneketlen Park and Kosztolányi Dezső Sqr.

By ideating, the class was asked to draw as many as possible alternative solutions to one problem they were chosen, individually. This task proved itself to be difficult for everyone, because stepping out with dozens of individual solutions based on one single problem you stated, can really challenge your own mindset.

Urban garden, Activity path, Light architecture and many more smart ideas from Anna Lyth:

How to improve accessibility to the Park, displayed with high-class handwriting by Aline Lourenco:

48 outstanding ideas to the abandoned stage, organized neatly by Adrian Grimm:

Assignment #4

Assignment #4

Assignment #4

Assignment #4

Assignment #4

HISTORICAL FACTS: Lake Feneketlen Park

The lake was formed in 1877, when clay was removed from the site to supply a brick factory that was situated at nearby Kosztolányi Dezső tér. After that, the Lake remained untouched until the end of World War I., when the cistercians started to build the church in the opposite of Villányi street. They deposed the dug-out earth into the lake - this action caused significant rise in the water level, many basements of the surrounding houses got filled with water. The Lake and the park had to be arranged.

This assignment served to observe and illustrate the social life and the architectural-landscape architectural quality of the public space 'chain' of Kosztolányi Dezső Square and Lake Feneketlen Park in District XI. Budapest.

Google Maps view of the neighbourhood in District XI, Budapest.

Based upon a lecture about the history of the sites and a site visit, the students have been working in groups to complete a thorough observation. Each group had to

. give a functional layout of the sites . observe and map the social life and the usage . analyse the hierarchy of spaces, access, linkages . create a typology of materials, street furniture, surfaces and planting

The project site, including Lake Feneketlen Park and Kosztolányi Dezső Sqr.

They were asked to present a critical understanding of the spaces; referencing their work and mindset from the Assignment#3, doing the observations on site and discuss them with the team.

Each student individually had to submit drawings and photographs that illustrates the site.

This assignment aimed to sensitize the contributors on the public space issue: through watching 7 shortfilms the students got a colourful mix of recent history of public spaces. All the cities in the films are trying to tackle with the challenge how to make better places that are pleasant, safe, comfortable and interesting at the same time.

The task was to prepare a mindmap or stormboard or storyboard on one's thoughts regarding the films and present it to the class. Students had to ask themselves the following questions: 

What driving forces lead our cities to apply changes in public squares?