Quality of Life- Human Movement

Hello everyone,

At the end of every semester, it is usual to write a Quality of Life blogpost for all the coolhunts I have written that semester. You might recognize the structure of my coolhunts by now. Due to the fact that this is a school assignment which is not highly interesting for you guys, I will continue this post in Dutch.

Quality of Life

Voor het beoordelen van de Quality of Life van de coolhunts uit het blok Human Movement, maak ik gebruik van het onderstaande model van Felce en Perry. Zij categoriseren de Quality of Life op vijf criteria: social wellbeing, physcial wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, material wellbeing en activity & development.

A walk through the city

Deze coolhunt gaat over twee aanpassingen in Parijs. De belangrijkste, drukste en gevaarlijkste kruispunten worden heringericht, zodat er meer ruimte komt voor fietsers en wandelaars. Ook hebben ze er een lightning network gecreëerd, door op alle straatverlichting een technologisch systeem te plaatsen die zorgt voor één groot licht netwerk.

Dit sluit goed aan bij fysiek welzijn, omdat de mensen gedurende de avond worden begeleid door het licht netwerk, waardoor zij zich veiliger gaan voelen in de stad. Ook zorgen de uitgebreide fiets- en wandelpaden voor de mogelijkheid om je meer te gaan bewegen, wat de gezondheid ten goede komt. Daarnaast past het ook bij materieel welzijn, aangezien het vervoer in de stad rustiger wordt en meer rust brengt, zodat er meer ruimte is voor het actieve voortbewegen in de buurt.

 Small homes & Small prices

Deze coolhunt gaat over het veranderen van de perceptie van huizen en woonomgeving. Alles wordt veel dynamischer en op kleinere schaal, waardoor de prijzen van appartementen en woningen omlaag kunnen. Er wordt meer gefocust op slimme technologie, eenvoud en lage kosten door minder waarde te hechten aan luxe, en je meer te focussen op de kleine dingen in het leven.

Dit past goed bij materieel welzijn, omdat men dus ook blij kan zijn met wat minder ruimte en luxe. Op deze manier ontwikkelt zich meer de kant van het genieten van het leven en wordt er minder waarde gehecht aan geld en status. Om die reden past het ook bij emotioneel welzijn, omdat men dus tevredenheid ontwikkelt en voldoening met minder materiaal en kapitaal.

 New York horizon

Deze coolhunt betreft een nieuwe indeling van het Central Park in New York. Er wordt een levendiger park aangelegd met meer natuur. Ook wordt de omheining een glazen wand, waardoor de natuur oneindig lijkt te zijn, midden in de drukke stad.

Dit sluit aan bij emotioneel welzijn, omdat men op deze manier de mogelijkheid krijgt om even te ontsnappen aan alle drukte en hectiek van de stad en zich even kan ontspannen in dit park. Dit is van invloed op een betere stemming. Ook is er een link te leggen met ontwikkelingen en activiteiten, omdat er in dit park de mogelijkheid is om aan sporten als mountainbiken, klimmen en wandelen te doen in je vrije tijd.

Furnished caves for the homeless

Deze coolhunt gaat over verschillende putten of kelders die worden ingericht als verschillende soorten kamers van een huis, denk hierbij aan een slaapkamer, woonkamer of keuken. Dit wordt gedaan om de daklozen het leven wat aangenamer te maken en hen ook een plekje te geven.

Dit past goed bij fysiek welzijn, omdat het een stukje veiligheid is wat hen geboden wordt op deze manier. Zij kunnen hier gebruik van maken wanneer nodig. Verder past het ook bij materieel welzijn, want op deze manier wordt er hen stabiliteit aangeboden en kunnen zij gebruik maken van spullen en ruimtes die zij zelf niet hadden. Ten slotte past het bij sociaal welzijn, omdat de daklozen betrokken worden bij de samenleving door hen ook te steunen, dit bevordert de cohesie.

 Calais: the jungle

Deze coolhunt gaat over Calais, een plaatsje waar een groot vluchtelingenkamp staat. Deze is in een opbloeiende fase doordat de mensen daar hebben gewerkt aan een plekje voor hunzelf. Ze zijn slim te werk gegaan en hebben hierdoor een duurzame plek ontwikkelt die ontpopt tot een echte stad.

Dit sluit goed aan bij fysiek welzijn, omdat ze ten eerste zelf een plek hebben gecreëerd waar ze veilig kunnen leven, in tegenstelling tot hun geboorteland. De relaties onderling worden zo ook sterker, doordat er veel samenwerking heeft plaatsgevonden. Ze hebben elkaar er doorheen moeten slepen en elkaar moeten steunen, dit past goed bij sociaal welzijn. Ten slotte is de ontwikkeling van het vluchtelingenkamp een goed voorbeeld van materieel welzijn, omdat de mensen op deze manier stabiliteit in hun leven hebben gebracht en hun bezittingen weer langzaam op kunnen bouwen.

 

Tot de volgende keer,

Amy Melenboer ♥

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Sources:

• Quality of Life model – Felce & Perry (1995)

 

Calais: The jungle

As a trendwatcher I have been watching different cities for the theme ‘Sustainable cities’ which we are discussing this period. It is about the future city and the way current cities are developing, for instance in the way to make villages more endurable. After zooming in on some big, highly visited and progressive cities like New York, Paris and Milan, I will now write something about a less popular city: Calais.

What about Calais?

A huge refugee camp is located in port town Calais, to which many refugees from chiefly Afrika and the Middle East are escaping to. More than one thousand people flee into Calais on a yearly basis. Photographer Henk Wildschut has been following the situation in this camp since 2005. The camp, which is called ‘the jungle’ is heading forward, according to Wildschut. He saw how the people in the jungle are putting it forward by creating a real space to live. Therefore he created an exposition named ”Calais: from Jungle to City”. This exhibition points out the way the refugees are creating a transition in their life, by manufacturing a whole bearable city.

Why is this so refreshing?

First of all, it is a known-fact that the terroristic attacks of today have caused much anger, anxiety and grief. Due to such anxiety, many households and families are escaping to another country to receive more safety. The refugee camps are a clear-cut consequence of the terroristic expansion in the world.

Besides, I want to shout out to all refugees who are dealing with such an awful situation. In my eyes it is very powerful to build up a new life in these circumstances. This strong mentality is related to a combination of human movement and living. People are becoming self-sufficient and are taking control, since they realised that sometimes that’s the only thing you could do. In this case the refugees are making a move by turning the jungle into a real city, by creating their own living space.

Furthermore, the refugees show us a new perspective of the term ”sustainable”. It doesn’t mean that they build cities which contain recyclable items for instance, yet they manufacture a city which is endurable. It is not specifically the city which we conserve for a bit longer as the main goal, it is chiefly the people who want to live for a few more years. It is about surviving in the city of the future, by improving the area to create a city in which everybody can be a little more satisfied. This is also a great development for the quality of life for a whole new target group.

Future perspective

So, what will be next? Obviously, it depends on the amount of terrorism and the number of refugees who will get away from their country. However, I should say that the example of Calais gives me a positive vibe, while the whole situation is far from positive. In my opinion I think and hope that this ‘’vibe’’ will bring is further than we are today, since we all could use some advantageous transit.

If you became interested about the refugee camp in Calais and the exhibition of Henk Wildschut, you can watch the exposition at the Foam in Amsterdam until the fifth of June.

See you next time,

Amy Melenboer ♥

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Sources:

https://i-d.vice.com/nl/article/de-jungle-die-calais-heet

http://www.foam.org/nl/museum/programma/henk-wildschut

Furnished caves for the homeless

The life of a homeless person is not that pleasant and the circumstances of their life sometimes are abominable to see. Some homeless people are, for instance, living in a sewerage or in abandoned caves. Yet, the society often doesn’t give their full compassion and this is incompatible to the situation the homeless people are in to.

An opportunity

The Italian artist Biancoshock noticed these problems among the homeless based on a story from the capital city of Romania, in which 600+ people are living in sewerages. Due to such cruel situations, Biancoshock came up with a new project called ‘borderlife’. In this project he wants to help the homeless people by furnishing the abandoned caves in Milan and offering them some comfort. It’s the idea to create small, underground chambers which contain all different facilities. For example, he built a living room, a bathroom and a kitchen, all in the tiniest way.

So, why is it emerging?

The homeless are dependent of others most of time, and that’s what makes them vulnerable. It is not easy for a homeless person to step out of the circulation of trouble where they are jammed in. For that reason, they need the possibility to rely on the help of the common humanity.

The trends sharing economy and the open world explain why such initiatives like ‘borderlife’ from Biancoshock are emerging. We live in a world where we should be thriftier about the pieces we possess, since we are told that the world is gradually running out of important substances and materials. Besides, we also should open up and create new spaces for the people who don’t have that much. If we can change our current perception of the buildings we have, then we could create new spaces for a whole other goal. For instance in the way we can re-use the abandoned caves by building little chambers in it. In this way we can share the skills we have with another person who is needy; an artist who likes to design and therefore furnishes caves in Milan to help homeless people. This is a great opportunity for both groups.

Development

If the society keep up with sharing and implementing such cordiality into our lives, then it would be possible that it has an impact on the current values of the people. It can cause incremental changes in the individual lifestyle we have today, by changing it into a more society-based lifestyle. It might be a huge statement, but I think that this can lead us to the end of the individual era and slowly creating a new world in which the focus is on everybody, at the same time.

‘If some problems can not be avoided, make them comfortable’ – Biancoshock

See you next time,

Amy Melenboer ♥

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Sources:

http://www.occhidellaguerra.it/quei-ragazzini-fantasma-che-vivono-nelle-fogne/

http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/nl/blog/een-kunstenaar-maakt-putten-in-milaan-wat-bewoonbaarder-voor-daklozen?utm_source=tcpfbned

http://www.biancoshock.com/borderlife.html

 

 

New York Horizon

The city life in New York City is often a hectic and chaotic one, due to the large amount of inhabitants and busy roads. New York is therefore called the city that never sleeps, and with a little imagine you will understand what that means for the people over there. New York is full of skyscrapers which indicates their busy urban lives. However, the solution is near and it contents a surprising component.

A new Central Park

Yitan Sun and Jianshi Wu proposed a design for the 2016 Skyscraper Competition which is judged by the Evolo magazine, and they actually won the first price. Their design contents a new central park, wherein the bedrock is being revealed and central park is being reduced. Besides, the soil from central park will be re-used by adding it into the new Central Park and thus creates a lively landscape. This new landscape offers a great abundance of activities as biking, climbing and swimming. In addition, the new central park will be surrounded by a 1000 feet tall and 100 feet wide glass wall which reflects the nature of the park and creates the illusion that the nature is never-ending, middle in the busy urban lifestyle.

Other designs who proposed for the 2016 Skyscraper Competition:

Why does this appear?

It is a certainty that this new design creates a balance between the urban life and the nature we know in New York. The fact that this design intertwines the two different environments into a megastructure is related to the society’s need for some experience. A large amount of disciplines in the society are much more connected to the other ones, what results in products and services which are a bit out of context. Therefore, the strangest inventions are now valuable to the customers. The society wants more and the slogan ‘the bigger, the better’ identifies this need. A normal park with a few seats and a lawn doesn’t match with the preferences any more, there should be more, and technology plays a huge part. This design of the New York Horizon breaks with the current perception of the large-scale skyscrapers.

Furthermore, the inhabitants from New York need a space to escape when the urban life is getting too complicated. The desire to search for simplicity and clean, natural surroundings can be concluded from the trend ‘wonderlust’. The acceptation of the small things in life is very important in this trend, which we also see in the part when citizens want to escape from the city and its high-pressure standardization.  The landscape offers you a moment of nature, a moment of release, a moment for yourself and especially a moment to wonder what in life is most valuable.

Future

When the landscape and city combine in the future, the dynamism will increase immediately. In this manner, the traditional perception may change and the spaces we know today are in a deep connection with each other in the headland. The vision will change, since Yitan Sun and Jianshi Wu are creating new spaces in this world, by re-using the nature and implementing it into a new, creative mega structure. I think that if this will set through, there will be a lack of space to escape to in the future.  The landscape is a place to relax, to make up your mind and to enjoy the nature. However, if the urban life and the nature are so closely connected and dynamism is the new standard, what will there be left of the real nature? In that case, there will be a need to invent new ways to escape the busy life.

What do you think; how will the society escape their busy, urban life in the future?

See you next time,

Amy Melenboer ♥

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Sources:

http://www.designboom.com/architecture/central-park-1000-foot-glass-walls-new-york-horizon-yitan-sun-jianshi-wu-evolo-skyscraper-competition-03-25-2016/

http://www.evolo.us/competition/new-york-horizon/

 

Small homes & small prices

Currently, the diversity of the home industry has been developing new ways of living, due to some changes in the society. In this post I will point out a variety of examples, who all share the same intention: the fact that small homes are upcoming which costs way less money.

What is it like?

One of the examples is the yurt, which is related to the tiny-house movement. This movement is based in the USA but now also finds its first followers in the Netherlands. You don’t have to pay mortgage for such a tiny house and it also includes a much smaller footprint. The difference between a yurt and recreational houses like a mobile home or a holiday home is the fact that one is allowed to live in these yurts or tiny houses permanently.

Another sample is an idea of Kasita, a designing firm, who invented tiny homes which can move from place to place. The homes are exactly the same size and set up with small technology. All facilities are included, only in a clever way. It is the tendency to begin in Austin in 2016. This link will explain how homes like these can move from a place to another: ://www.facebook.com/CollectiveEvolutionPage/videos/1887653478127712/

 

Alejandro Aravena

The last signal is from Architect Alejandro Aravena, who won a Pritzker Price by offering  free designs for small homes.These designs are based on a low budget, which means that these houses can be rented for moderate prices. His intention of offering these design is related to the prospect that in 2025 1.6 billion people will live in unsafe housing.

 

The reasons behind the story

In former times, there was also thought of a house for exchanged students which is called ‘space boxes’. These models of homes are a kind of harbinger for the current tiny homes for reasonable prices. The overall factor of the tiny houses is the occasion that money is sometimes not that important to people anymore, or people don’t make that much money. As a result of the descent in the house market and the economic crisis, it is hard to pay the amount of money which is asked. There is less cash in circulation due to these happenings. Therefore it is necessary to live in a smaller house.

However, for some people money is not significant any more. This can be concluded due to a combination of the trends individualization and sustainability, which both enclose a longer period of time. The need for the freedom of an individual to operate the way he or she likes is growing. The perception of freedom changes, and money happens not to be an issue. The open world and the internet brought us more knowledge about every topic we can think of, such as a sustainable way of living. The main point is, that the individual of today wants to live their own way, because knowledge taught us there’s more freedom in life when you seem to care more about the environment than about products and belongings.

Technology also had an impact on houses, especially the designing part. Homes can be built in a more efficient way than before, because technology invented new ways of implementing facilities into our homes. Just like mobile phones and computers, technology can increase by inventing smaller gadgets with the same (or even more) options than a previous one. Houses become smaller, however the technology part becomes bigger.

Future perspective

So, smaller houses for smaller prices. It seems very logic and not that special, nevertheless there is more to discover. If this will continue, it will have an impact on the environment. The footprint of many houses will be smaller, the amount of empty houses will reduce and the term ‘less is more’ will be an environmental slogan.

If people have the opportunity to simply change their homes any time they want, why want to travel all around the world a few times a year? In that case, we will have less travellers, so less traffic and less co2 emissions. At the same time, it is exactly the opposite of globalization. People do not longer want to travel all around the world, but want to stay at their own comfortable places. Are we going back to former times, in which we felt safe in our own country with our own species? We will see…

See you next time,

Amy Melenboer ♥

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Sources:

://www.facebook.com/CollectiveEvolutionPage/videos/1887653478127712/

http://www.ed.nl/regio/eindhoven/spaceboxen-op-tu-e-1.2140712

http://www.nrc.nl/next/2016/01/04/liever-een-yurt-1574418

http://www.techinsider.io/alejandro-aravena-publishes-home-designs-for-free-online-2016-4