This is the second publication of the series “From work desks to work platforms” in which we share the strategies and tools that we have used doing remote-work even before the Coronavirus Pandemic. Here we present two of the nine tools we use. In the next posts we will share more.
File Sync, File Sharing, File Versioning: Dropbox
This is the first publication of a series in which we will share the strategies and tools that have worked for us in our experience with remote working. The next publications will which tools we use and how we use them.
How to work remotely without dropping the pencil.
Authors: Aleksandra Katasonova, Filippo Imberti, Thomas Stellmach
Graphics: Amr Elsayed
This document describes the remote work tool kit we use at TSPA. It is specifically the tools that work best for us (you’ll find some links to broader collections of solutions at the end of the text).
Public toilets in a city are relevant since they tackle a basic need. Everyone in a city, visitors, inhabitants, young and old will eventually have to use a restroom.
Currently, TSPA works together with Zebralog in the provision of a city-wide strategy for the provision of toilets in the city of Düsseldorf. This ongoing project has given us insight into the real impact of public toilets on the city and its residents and has taught us a range of new skills and methods for dealing with a large amount of unstructured data from various stakeholders.
To explain this in detail, our colleague Jan Cyganski shared some insights and learning outcomes in an interview.
The current stage of the project
So far, we finished the analysis of the existing toilets. We did a lot of GIS analysis using data from the city, such as toilet facilities and site visits. At this phase, the participation was already essential.
Data collection process
In the data collection, it was TSPA, different departments of the city -like the social department, the gardening department, the urban planning department, traffic department- and the district’s representatives who gave their input on missing locations.
We all delivered the inputs that our partners Zebralog managed, processed, and organised and we prepared the output.
Last week our team joined Bureau B+B in Amsterdam for an intensive design workshop.
Together, we developed the concept of our design proposal for Blankenburger Süden, a 120 hectares urban development on the north edge of Berlin.
The results of our collaboration provided ideas and images to develop a new structural and utilisation concept for the largest urban expansion site in the city.
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TSPA together with B+B has been selected as one of the teams that will form part of the cooperative workshop process in the development of Blankenburger Süden, Berlin largest urban expansion site. Starting in autumn 2019 and continuing until spring 2020, four teams will develop as many different test designs as possible for the planned new city district. The resulting ideas and images will be used to develop a new structural and utilisation concept (so-called “Alternative D”) for the south of Blankenburg.
Our team is happy to be part of a cooperative workshop process in which teams create the test designs simultaneously. The workshop process is the third building block of the so-called laboratory phase. The first two building blocks of the laboratory phase are “Sharpening key objectives” and “Clarifying framework settings”.
The area to which the sketches will be tested is of around 150 hectares. It extends from the former location of the Fachhochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (FHTW) in the north to the approx. 90 ha core area – formerly a Rieselfeld, today arable land – to the Heinersdorf industrial estate in the south. In addition, the test designs will focus on the connection to the neighbouring neighbourhoods.
Some of the topics we will be discussing critically and creatively are: uses and functions, urban planning, open spaces and ecology, mobility and transport, and interdependencies with the neighbourhoods.
We are very happy to exchange ideas in this workshop with our salted collegues:
YelowZ
bgmr Landschaftsarchitekten
UmbauStadt
MLA+
Fugmann Janotta und Partner
CITYFOERSTER
Felixx Landscape
The south of Blankenburger Süden development is a response to the housing shortage in the state of Berlin located in what is still considered “a phantom” of green grounds and one of Pankow’s most rural regions. The 90 hectare core area projects to accommodate 5,000 to 6,000 apartments.
“Four teams of planners with a focus on urban development and landscape architecture will take part in the cooperative, urban planning workshop procedure. These four teams were selected via an EU-wide award procedure” explains Katrin Dietl, spokeswoman for the Senate Department for Urban Development (Schubert, 2019;Berliner Morgenpost).
In response to the housing shortage in the state of Berlin, the last legislative period prompted the search for suitable locations for housing construction throughout the entire Berlin city area. In spring 2016, the choice fell not only on ten further locations but also on the state-owned properties in the south of Blankenburg.
When the test drafts are available in spring 2020 – they should be as varied as possible and deliver concrete ideas and pictures – a draft can be derived from them which the Berlin House of Representatives will finally vote on.
Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Wohne, “Blankenburger Süden Aktuelle Entwicklung” (2019)
Schubert, Thomas. “Ein „Klimawald“ für den Blankenburger Süden” ( 23.08.2019)
This 4th and 5th of November TSPA presented the current state of the city vision developing in the city of Chemnitz as part to Chemnitz-Strategie 2040 through workshops and meetings with the current project group and the city administration.
Today, on October 7 TSPA and Berim discuss the Eco-City Wonosobo concept with the city team on Central Java. The ambition is to integrate a green-blue network, waste-to-energy-systems, a better and more walkable street network, improved water management with rain gardens plus a sustainable economy district. Way to go!
On the 24th of January 2019, our dear colleague and Premio Berlino 2018 winner Valentina Travaglino shared her story of working with TSPA for the last 4 months. Presented at the Italian Institute of Culture (Istituto Italiano di Cultura Berlino), she shared her experiences and presented a status update of her work within TSPA.
Premio Berlino has been awarded for the second time to young architects for the excellence in their work. The program allows two Italian architects, who excel in the reuse and urban regeneration of urban spaces, to spend 6 months working within an architecture or urban planning office in Berlin. This program is funded by the Italian Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs.
TSPA feels honored that Valentina chose our office to spend 6 months working and collaborating on certain projects, such as the Impulse.Berlin project and the currently developing project of the three cities (Alto Molúcuè, Gurué and Milange) in Mozambique. During her presentation she shared her time approach and findings on what kind of challenges Mozambique faces and will face in the future and the research she has carried out. The presentations at the Italian Institute were free to the public and we were happy to see that the evening was well attended.
Want to follow Valentina Travaglino and her work at TSPA? Premio Berlino has set a final presentation of the six month period in March 2019, which is also accessible to the public. The final presentation of Valentina’s time at TSPA will be held at the Aedes Metropolitan Laboratory, so keep an eye on this website for when the actual date has been set!
Updates will also be shared via our TSPA Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
The municipal planning department of Berlin – the Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Umwelt – has commissioned a consortium led by TSPA to develop a comprehensive plan for the the Berlin’s provision with public rest rooms.
The project is intriguing, much more than we understood in the very first moment: How would a Toilet next to Berghain look like, in comparison with one at Brandenburg gate? What is the relation between Toilets and public advertisement in this city? What are new ecological approaches, and what do rest rooms have to do with tourism, safety, culture and public space in general?
We are looking forward to work with the colleagues at Zebralog and the Technical University of Berlin!
Die Versorgung mit öffentlich zugänglichen Toiletten beeinflusst nicht unerheblich wie wir uns in der Stadt bewegen. Dies ist insbesondere für die Jüngeren und Älteren, für Behinderte und für Touristen und Besucher der Stadt relevant. Es wird nicht nur darum gehen, dass die Versorgung sichergestellt wird, sondern auch in welcher Qualität. Um dies sicherzustellen, schlagen wir sechs Schwerpunktthemen – Wirtschaftlichkeit, Gestalterische Qualität, Sicherheit, Inklusion, Hygiene, Umweltfreundlichkeit – vor, die uns zu einem ganzheitlichen und nachhaltigen Konzept führen werden. Dazu haben wir ein interdisziplinäres Team zusammengestellt:
TSPA ist als Hauptauftragnehmer Ansprechpartner des Senats und übernimmt die Projektkoordination. TSPA trägt internationale Erfahrung im Bereich strategischer Stadtentwicklung und der Gestaltung öffentlichen Raums bei.
Ein Konzept für Berlins öffentliche Toiletten bedarf eines öffentlichen Prozesses. Zebralog wird den konstruktiven Dialog mit relevanten Interessengruppen herstellen und die Beteiligungs- und Werkstattverfahren gestalten.
Prof. Barjenbruch mit der Abteilung Siedlungswasserwirtschaft der TU Berlin ist herausragender Experte für Siedlungswasserverwertung sowie Technologien und Wirtschaftlichkeit der Toilettensysteme.
Diesem Kernteam stellen wir Experten an die Seite, die uns zu den Themen Inklusion und Tourismus beraten werden: Prof.in Dr. Bettina Möllring berät uns in Fragen soziokultureller und Genderaspekte, Dipl. Ing., Dipl. Slaw. Anna Haase trägt ihre Erfahrung im Bereich des Tourismus, kulturhistorischer Aspekte öffentlicher Toiletten und Ihre langjährige Ortskenntnis bei.
Unser Team ist ein Berliner Team, das gleichzeitig über globale Erfahrung verfügt und erfahren in der interdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit ist. Das erlaubt uns auch die Außenperspektive einzunehmen und Berlin im weltweiten Vergleich zu verstehen.
Nampula is Mozambique’s second largest urban centre and considered the ‘capital’ of northern region. It is also one of the economically most dynamic cities of the country due to its location in the centre of Nampula Province – the most populous and prosperous of Mozambique – in the heartland of highly productive agricultural areas, at the cross roads between the East-West Nacala Development Corridor linking land-locked Malawi and Zambia to the port of Nacala, and the North-South corridor linking Tanzania with the rest of Mozambique. Due to these facts Nampula has been growing rapidly from 53,970 inhabitants in 1970, to 158,099 in 1980 and 306,074 in 1997; it is now estimated that the population of the is around 600,000 inhabitants, showing an annual growth of over 5%, which puts a tremendous pressure on urban land, infrastructure and municipal services. At the same time the surrounding District of Nampula is the fastest growing in Nampula Province. This explosive urban growth has been and continues to be mainly unplanned, so that more than 80% of the population live in high density squatter settlements with appalling housing, environmental and living conditions and generally deprived of the most basic infrastructure and services, and is potentially preventing successful investment projects if no proper territorial planning strategy is thought through.
Since 2008 the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) has been supporting the municipality and district of Nampula, together the Faculty of Architecture and Physical Planning (FAPF) at the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) and with the financial support of Cities Alliance, in preparing a city-wide slum upgrading plan (CWSUP) and a city development strategy (CDS) which covers the surrounding Nampula District to cater for the urban growth in the medium to long term, hence preventing the formation of new slums in the peri-urban areas and providing more favourable conditions for investment.
On November 12th, Thomas Stellmach of TSPA will lead a workshop with stakeholders from communities, the private sector and the local government of Nampula to validate the priority projects of the City Development Strategy Framework. The report is set to be released in early 2017.
TSPA participated in the Opportunity Space design-build competition organised by the a Van Alen institute. The task was challenging multidisciplinary teams to propose a temporary, mobile structure that will support economic opportunity and social inclusion in Malmö, Sweden.
Our entry OPPO is an inflatable, helium filled balloon of translucent polyurethane, in the shape of a torus. Due to its lighter-than-air nature, it can float in the night sky of Malmö. During the day, when events take place, Oppo is lowered to the ground, and serves as a meeting space. The simplicity and visibility of the object are the reason to visit the site.
British Council Ukraine and the Goethe-Institut, in partnership with CANactions, launched a programme to identify, support and implement innovative urban development projects that seek to reinvigorate post-industrial, mid-sized cities across the Ukraine through the cultural and creative industries. The programme recognises the importance of supporting communities which are working together to address common urban issues.
TSPA, as German partner, supported one of the two winners during the implementation of their proposal in Konstyantinivka (Ukraine).
During the week from April 3 to 9 TSPA led the team through some of the most known Berlin participatory practices and discussed possible scenarios of the intervention.
Take a look at the programme and the visit outcome!
In September 2016, urban coop berlin, together with TSPA, drafted policy recommendations for an affordable housing strategy in Berlin. The key recommendations are:
• to issue state equity capital guarantees for low-income households to allow them to join housing cooperatives
• to allocate state-owned land to housing associations using leasehold laws
See our full policy recommendations paper Cooperatives for long-term affordable housing (pdf, German).
Last week, the coalition agreement of the newly elected Berlin Government has been released, fully including our policy recommendations in the governance programme. An important first step for a more equitable housing market is achieved:
“Wohnen ist für uns ein Grundrecht. Wir erkennen die innerstädtischen Verdrängungsprozesse als Herausforderung und wissen um die Sorgen der Menschen, sich im prosperierenden Berlin ihre Wohnungen nicht mehr leisten zu können. Ein Schwerpunkt der rot-rot-grünen Koalition ist deshalb die Sicherung und die zusätzliche Schaffung von bezahlbaren Wohnungen. Diese wichtige Aufgabe werden primär unsere landeseigenen Wohnungsbaugesellschaften, aber auch Genossenschaften und innovative Wohnprojekte leisten. Private Bauvorhaben müssen zukünftig eine höhere Sozialrendite durch Schaffung von neuen bezahlbaren Wohnungen, Kita- und Schulplätzen sowie Grünflächen als Ausgleich für zusätzliche Versiegelung leisten.”
“Flächen für den Wohnungsbau sollen an landeseigene Wohnungsbaugesellschaften, Genossenschaften, soziale Bauträger wie auch Baugruppen vergeben werden. Die Kriterien werden so ausgestaltet, dass der Anteil von Wohnungen mit Mietpreis- und Belegungsbindung 30% bis 50% der Wohnfläche beträgt. Durch eine kleinteilige Parzellierung von Flächen, transparente Verfahren und Konzeptvergaben in Erbbaurecht soll ein niederschwelliger Zugang zu Liegenschaften für gemeinwohlorientierte Nutzergruppen und Träger sowie Genossenschaften gesichert werden.”
“Die Koalition unterstützt stadtweit Modellprojekte, wie am Falkenhagener Feld und am Kottbusser Tor angedacht, für selbstverwaltete Mietergenossenschaften. Außerdem sollen Genossenschaftsgründungen aus der Bewohnerschaft sowie Ankäufe von privaten Sozialwohnungen durch Bewohnergenossenschaften gefördert und unterstützt werden.”
“Um das Wohnungsangebot für Haushalte mit geringen und mittleren Einkommen zu erweitern, sollen die Genossenschaften durch Wohnraumförderung, die Bereitstellung von Grundstücken und Kooperationen beim kommunalen Vorkaufsrecht stärker unterstützt werden. Die Koalition will erreichen, dass auch Transferleistungsbeziehende in Genossenschaften aufgenommen werden können und gewährleistet die Übernahme der Genossenschaftsanteile durch die Jobcenter. Für Haushalte mit geringem Einkommen wird ein Darlehens- bzw. Bürgschaftsprogramm geprüft. Die Koalition wird die Neugründung von Genossenschaften unterstützen. “
“Vergabe von landeseigenen Flächen für den Wohnungsbau, überwiegend an die städtischen Wohnungsbaugesellschaften und zudem an Genossenschaften, andere gemeinwohlorientierte Träger und Baugruppen in Erbpacht … Unterstützung von innovativen und generationenübergreifenden Wohnformen”
“Die Koalition wird die Beratung von Unternehmungen der solidarischen und genossenschaftlichen Ökonomie stärken und in der Wirtschaftsverwaltung institutionell verankern, damit diese die Förderprogramme des Landes besser nutzen können.”
Full coalition agreement (pdf, German).
TSPA started to work on a major development in Krasnoyarsk, third largest city in Siberia, together with proektdevelopment. The 1300 ha site right on the city edge and surrounded by stunning forests, mountains and wild taiga, will develop into a green mixed use neighbourhood that reflects the demand for more sustainable living models in the capital of the Krasnoyarsk region.
The inception workshop with Monolith Holding takes place in the week from 20 June 2016, and we are excited work with an ambitious team in such a stunning environment!
TSPA’s workshop at Kiev’s CANactions School for Urban Studies in Kiev reimagined a former industrial area as a creative cluster. The motto of the workshop — ‘from research to proposal’ — turned out to be very real: The site’s owner was sufficiently impressed by the results that he committed to continue the cooperation and to jointly develop the student’s ideas further to turn them into reality.
Have a look at the workshop results here [pdf, 44MB]. Update: the workshop results will be released publicly on 18 December.
Read more about the workshop in the press here [Ukrainian: Пространство для творчества и развития должно быть комфортным] and here [Ukrainian: В Киеве состоялся совместный воркшоп школы CANactions и Арт-завода Платформа].
Many thanks to the Goethe Institute for support and to the CANactions team for organising, and especially to the participants for their great work!
We have completed the strategic masterplan for the new heart of Naberezhnye Chelny. See the project!. Construction will commence in 2016.
UN Habitat is the United Nations programme which aims to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all. For almost 40 years, UN-Habitat has worked worldwide, focusing on building a brighter future for villages, towns, and cities of all sizes.
Thomas (TSPA) has supported UN-Habitat since 2012, developing planning strategies for sustainable urban development and organizing workshops for planning professionals and city leaders in Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines and Rwanda. See some of his work in Kenya and Rwanda featured in the document.
TSPA has been selected by Talan to design 73 ha of mixed and dense city in the heart of Naberezhnye Chelny in the western part of Russia. The city is one of the largest planned towns in the world related to vehicle production: the Kamaz plant itself is the largest vehicle factory in the world.
We are looking forward to work on the assignment together with our colleagues at Novaya Zemlya in Moscow, Happold Cities and Topotek1 in Berlin.
The results of our contribution as part of INTI’s density syndicate will be displayed at the Density Syndicate conference in Cape Town on November 3, 2014.
We have developed a sustainable densification strategy based on the existing mixed and vibrant qualities along the Voortrekker road corridor. Find the full project presentation here.
Together with InD and BGMR, we’ll present our project ‘Netzwertstadt’, a strategic vision for the development of the Ruhrgebiet in Duisburg-Nord on 16 and 17 October as part of the 3rd future forum of the RVR.
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