MA @ Kharkiv (Ukr)

Team member of Master program at the Kharkiv School of Architecture

Fulco Treffers is assigned the member of team for developing the Master education program at the Kharkiv School of Architecture. The aim is to reopen the MA program in September 2022 as a bridge to the professional practice. Due to the war, the deadline for starting this master program had to be postponed. The school wants to provide international knowledge and experience for national value and impact. Treffers is responsible for the design of the new educational concept and lessons program of the master program. This was decided after the experience in teaching in several studio projects and guest lectures at KhSA.

KhSA is founded by architect Oleg Drozdov. His aim is to boost the level of architecture education in Ukraine. It should focus on developing new work, as well as new architectural language and approach that would fit the challenges of our time.

The aim is to introduce a new generation of architects and urban planners who can take responsibility for the quality of space and societal challenges, using modern technology and new ideas. The program does not shy away from challenges, also tackling sociological, philosophical and ethical issues in order to elevate the architectural level.

Fulco Treffers is also tutor at studio projects in the bachelor program.

Commissioned by: Kharkiv School of Architecture
Period: from January 2022

Soledar, city perspective (Ukr)

Soledar, city strategy, landscape design

“The gift of salt” is het meaning of the name of Soledar, a small town in the East of Ukraine. For Izolyatsia, a cultural platform originally based in the city of Donetsk, this town reflects the situation of Ukraine as it is right now: a typical soviet town close to the occupied area. The war is only 30 km away. People are leaving because of the lack of work and cultural and social movement.

Question to 12N was: how do public spaces help to change the perspective of the city? 12N Urban Matters invited Mare as a specialist in public cultural venues. The result after a short time research and design project was an art installation and video of our work.

The aim is to make a connection between under and above ground; under the ground in the salt mines is a touristic and cultural world. We suggest to make the magic of downside visible upside by using lights and redefining public space. Developing the centrally located city park and a hill at the side of the town called Yurchina will turn this place upside down. By putting the down side up.

The central park has old stories to tell. It is now a transit route, mainly used to walk through as a nice or short way from one place to another. There are memories of how it once was. That’s the sentiment. The sense of being together, of care, needs a new imagination, a different language. We will put a new layer over the old, but the old will always remain visible. We can also add something new, a different view, a new perspective, that gives hope and fun.

The design is a zoning plan and relatively cheap solutions for improving the urban furniture, art objects and program, plants and trees, without removing everything that is already there. Plus, we propose to add a view tower in the centre of the Park. An extra tower, referring to the shape as the mine shafts, reusing old elements of the industrial parts. An old shape, a different form: a beacon of air and light. Connected to the other shafts in the city by colourful flags. Distinct from the other, asking to be climbed rather than descend.

Local vlogger Pavel made this video about it.

For: Izolyatsia cultural platform
Period: December 2021
With: Marjo van Schaik, Mare

Innovator Berlijnplein

Berlijnplein Utrecht _ Innovator, co-creator and circular expert

Berlijnplein. An area of 9000 m2, built in a circular manner, with a mix of outdoor and indoor spaces, special architecture, surprising installations, a diverse cultural program and workspaces for artists. A place where you can meet, wander and be surprised by art and design. A place where you can actively work and where there is always something different to do and experience.

In this project, Fulco Treffers can use all the experience he has gained over the years in participation and co-creation, area development, the art and culture sector, spatial design and circular construction. Collaboration, translation, connection, innovation, deepening: As account manager for innovation, Fulco represents a link in the project team between the various substantive goals and between the civil servants, market parties and cultural partners.

There is one overarching theme: The future of the city. Now that more and more people live and work in an urban environment, this is becoming an urgent theme. How do we keep our cities healthy and liveable? What is the role of technology? How will the social relations in the city of the future become? Who does the city actually belong to? A fascination for these kinds of questions about the future of the city is what connects all “residents” and visitors to Berlin Square. They will work together on it, from various fields and resources, such as the arts, design, technology, journalism, socio-cultural (youth) work and education.

The program is intended for a wide target group; from families in Leidsche Rijn who stay there on a Sunday afternoon, young people from the area who are challenged to become makers themselves or to participate, to culture lovers from far beyond who attend a special event.

This story has now been elaborated and established as “Development Framework Berlin Square”. A large new theater was conceived in Leidsche Rijn center years ago. But now we work in a different, organic way. Form follows ambition. This is where the future of the city is made. With culture, with meeting, with building, with the neighborhood and with high-profile projects. And – not least – according to circular principles.

Website: www.berlijnpleinutrecht.nl
and as a booklet: Development Framework Berlin Square

Commissioned by: municipality of Utrecht, RAUM, DePlaatsmaker
In collaboration with: Copper8, Tender People, Bestwerk, Beeldstories
Pictures: Felice Hofhuizen (boven), Han Ernest (onder)

Tutor studio projects (Ukr)

Teaching at the Kharkiv School of Architecture

Fulco Treffers is involved as a tutor in studio design projects in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

In 2021 the 3rd year bachelor students were given intensive introduction in urban design in the context of a typical post-soviet city, Severodonetsk.
Assisted by Natalya Kozub.

In 2022 the 1st year bachelor students are working on the topice of ‘housing’. What means home? What is a place to reload? To feel free? Safe?
With Kateryna Herasechkina and Tetiana Lynnyk.

Fulco Treffers is also Head of MA at KhSA.

More information about the Kharkiv School of Architecture can be found here.

Period: From 2021
For: Kharkiv School of Architecture, Ukraine

Circular design

Circular architecture

In this house just at the border of Amsterdam there is a maximum innovation in new and reused materials, old technologies, biobased solutions and nature based design.
Here are some first pictures. More pics and text to follow.

Period: January 2020 – May 2021 (design and realisation)
With: Mark Luiken – Groenluik, Mario van der Linden, Huibert Spoorenberg.

Space-S, social co-creation

Space-S_Customer driven design in social housing _ Multiple award winning!

“What would you build here on Strijp-S? What kind of a program, shape? We have calculated that about 400 homes could be built. But how and in what way?

Woonbedrijf came to 12N Urban Matters with this question in 2012. It was an invitation to think about living on Strijp-S – a wasteland on Eindhoven’s largest transformation area. An area where former Philips factories and office buildings were transformed into “the cultural heart of Eindhoven”.

It was a question every designer craves for. But also a question that gnaws at conscience: I have always stated that a designer should approach large developments with restraint. Too many Dutch locations and landscapes have been ruined by uniformity, by building too much in the same style and at the same time. And now, what have I done…?

A second question quickly arose: do I really know what residents want? A house with a garden? A penthouse above the city? What else? And what if they can’t afford that? Isn’t it more differentiated than that?

Therefore, my answer to the corporation was that we must ask future residents what they want, in terms of how they want to live. We do this in existing neighborhoods. We could also do that in new constructions. So, my proposal was: 12N would rather like to design the process for this, than the building itself. Of course with the knowledge of urban and architectural design.

That led to a lot of educational moments. About designing. About theory and practice of involvement. About changes in organizations. But especially about living. That it is not just about a good floor plan, but about living in a broader sense: about neighbors, about renting, about safety and community, about the inside and the outside.

I wish a process like this for every resident, for every designer and for every commissioning party. It is, and was, worth gold.

Dynamics
It was never boring. Playing the saxophone to do a sound test with the residents. Taking a day trip up to and down from Paris in order to view example projects and to have a lot of conversations. Accomplishing deadlines because, despite all the meetings and conversations, the schedule had to be achieved. And camping a night on the construction site, at the initiative and invitation of the active core.

Fulco Treffers was able to use the full breadth of his experience as project leader of a large team of Woonbedrijf, Stam + De Koning and advisors. As an urban designer in the team at Urhahn. As a structural engineer in responding to proposals from architect Inbo and contractor Stam + De Koning. As a workshop developer and session leader at all meetings with residents.

By inviting Rutger Büch and Stefan Herwich to the project team, knowledge about customer-driven working and the use of social media was strengthened. Such strategic knowledge is now used in other projects and cities.

Customer-driven goes beyond customer-oriented
We are familiar with the customer-driven approach: the customer comes first, we listen carefully, communicate well. 12N Urban Matters went a few steps further at SPACE-S by actually giving the customer a leading role. Why don’t we apply that in a new construction project as well?

We are proud of the result. There’s no slowdown, but rather an acceleration in comparison to regular. There’s no budget overrun. There have been various awards and nominations, and hundreds of national lectures have been given. But above all: there is a group of residents with a beautiful place to live.

The design: from the outside in
Everything was different from the start. Even before an architect was picked, future residents had discussed their wishes for their new living space and environment. This change in procedures required a continuous flexible attitude of the Woonbedrijf staff, who kept a clear goal in mind and had to rely on the process.

Completed
In December 2016 the first units of Space S were ready to be occupied. The train is rolling, the final design choices for the common areas are made and the residents’ association has been strengthened. 12N has transferred knowledge and experience with workshops and excursions to the residents and employees of Woonbedrijf.

The role of 12N Urban Matters is over. The project was completed, and the project has begun.

Download the project book here: SPACE-S _ 12N

Commissioned by: Woonbedrijf
Period: 2013-2017

Awards:

Vanenburg Award 2014 (corporation prize)
Dirk Roosenburg Prize 2017 jury prize, best building in Eindhoven
Dirk Roosenburg Prize 2017, public prize, best building in Eindhoven
Best building of 2018, in the Livability & Social Cohesion category, by Bond Nederlandse Architecten (BNA)
Best building of 2018, public vote, organized by BNA in collaboration with Volkskrant
European Collaborative Housing Award 2019, First prize for the best social housing project in Europe
World Habitat Silver Award United Nations

www.space-s.nl
www.facebook.com/space040

Museum design Mariupol (Ukr)

MaMy Mariupol Museum_Port of memories

Memories are hidden in the soul of the building. Some of these memories reflect good times: the residential era and the gymnasium episode. Some reflect bad times: the shootings, the war, the ruins.

The architecture in this plan recognizes, acknowledges and honours the past, ánd reaches for the future. Both the traditional and progressive minded citizens relate to the building as if it’s theirs. The old façades along the public streets will be kept, renovated and updated with large windows. A new contemporary building arises behind the old wall and brings in a new era. It is made of concrete columns and floors, and wooden framed glass. The double façades represents the tension and the collaboration between old and new, closed and open, private and public.

The stone walls will partly be covered by wooden panels. All Mariupol residents will be asked for their memories in diaries, small text books or post cards. Hundreds, thousands of memories about the city, the bombing or daily life will be collected during a project that will be organized around the entire city. All these memories will be burnt on wooden panels and become part of the collective soul of the place. The panels will be placed on the exterior of parts of the old wall, with the text or drawing to the backside. Like personal secrets to store. Only one key word out of each memory will be written at the front side share the collective feeling.

The building connects activities, people, spaces. From outside to inside. From floor to floor, room to room. With many opportunities to sit, talk and reflect. New memories will be collected in a public art installation in the vertical void. The coffee bar (-1) and the restaurant (top floor) mark the endpoints.

The floorplan is open, spatial and flexible to cover different kinds of events, even at the same time. The building will show new perspectives through art, programs, meetings, events and architecture. In all possible ways the architecture and interior design invites to feel welcome and to participate.

The entrance, elevators and stairs are situated to create a very flexible floorplan and simple routes for the program now and in the future. The outside kiosk with a shop, coffee and tickets counter is an option to improve the quality of public space and marks the museum seen from Teatral’na Square.

The artist residency is organized on the first floor with its own entrance and staircase. To accentuate their presence and energy of the artists their main place to meet and work is situated inside the old foot bridge at the back. Yearly an artist can be asked to change the exterior look and feel of the old bridge.

The name MaMy stands for Mariupol Museum. A modern name for the new institute, with a wink to MoMa (New York) or MMMA (Moscow). But also referring to the Russian and Ukrainian word for ‘mother’, the one who has known you all your life and keeps your memories and secrets, and the one we can always talk to.

Contribution to the architecture competition in Mariupol “Port of Cultures”. With 49 entries from 21 countries.

Download the design

In collaboration with: Egor Shtefan en Hannah Pikovska
Period: January 2020

Park house Severodonetsk (Ukr)

Severodonetsk_Park and cultural venue

12N was invited as the chief designer of a park design and a public building. The design for a multifunctional city park (2 ha) containing a public building for meeting, culture and work. The aim of the design is to show the local stakeholders the potential of the area in order to generate support and finances for its realization.

The park is a “forgotten” area in the center of Severodonetsk, a city close to the Russian border and the war zone. Severodonetsk was designed through consistent application of socialist principles, but has, in recent decades, deteriorated considerably in maintenance and management. The former sports fields are now vacant sand and mud, but have the potential to be a pearl in the chain of public facilities in the city.

In a short time, a team of colleagues from Tbilisi (Georgia) and Severodonetsk (Ukraine) worked on participation, park design, and the design of a multifunctional cultural location. Fulco Treffers was responsible for the overall design of the park and the building. Colleagues from Georgia were primarily responsible for participation, demand specification and organization. The colleagues from Severodonetsk worked on the 3D model and the landscaping.

Residents from the city were invited, through seven sessions, to think about the functionality of the 2-hectare park. The input has led to a diversity of possible indoor and outdoor activities for the park. A choice has been made to divide the park into a number of zones, each with its own character suited for different target groups. This creates a soft separation between quieter and more dynamic areas, between open zones that can be filled in freely and those which could be pre-planned. Cultural events are organized from and near the park building, where indoor activities also take place. There is a strong relationship between building and park in material, greenery, form and use of color.

The design of the building takes into account a compact base that is technically easy to solve, providing a cost-efficient layout. Due to the roof shape and glass part, the building stands out from the gray Soviet architecture, which was rang out as an important signal throughout the participation sessions. Within the strong orthogonal structure of the city, the park provides a new, poetic soft addition to the urban fabric. Due to the relatively low labor costs, choice of material, plants and trees, play equipment and management and maintenance have been taken into account.

Commissioned by: USAID and Severodonetsk Municipality
Period: February – March 2020

Landscape design RAUM

RAUM Utrecht _ Landscape design

RAUM – a new cultural institution in a young neighborhood. A new culture cluster. An addition to the heart of Leidsche Rijn. On top of the A2. It is a cultural institution that does not want to determine its own future, but rather wishes to do so with the neighborhood, with artists, with stakeholders in the city.

The appearance of the outdoor space at RAUM (approx. 4000 m2) was in dire need of renewal. In fact, the area looked like a wasteland festival site where the rain puddles, garbage cans and parked cars dominated the view for most of the year. There was an important desire for creating a place suitable for larger events which would also invite use even without prior program or organization. All of that on a budget appropriate for a design period of approximately five years.

By applying large wooden frames in the area and paths of concrete plates with intermediate greenery, the area can be used on three levels. The green areas give rise to small encounters, possibly several at the same time. The frames divide the area into a central square with four adjacent zones. Between the frames are planes where larger objects or activities can take place. And, due to the transparent nature of the frames, the entire area can also be used for a single, grand event.

The design is based on the circular idea. Materials that were already present on the site (clinkers, gravel and concrete plates) were reused. New objects were made, as much as possible, from bio-based material. Dismountable and therefore re-locatable and adaptable, they can be used in case more permanent buildings on the location are realized in a few years’ time.

See this video for an impression of the area.

Commissioned by: RAUM
In collaboration with: LaBolleur, Donkergroen, Venividimultiplex and 100% FAT