Table of contents for N.109 in Topos

“If the whole world followed American consumption rates we would require 5.4 planets worth of materials.”KARL DAVIES It is the middle of the night: garish lights flood the streets, groups of people cross over from side to side in movements like waves. The night-time scene of vivid advertising, music and city dwellers out shopping or eating on the go presumably stands for urbanity and quality of life. They turn night into day. While some work and produce products, others acquire products and consume. We ourselves are part of this; we let ourselves be carried along and away with it. But the feeling of excitement can soon subside, making way for a sense of disquiet and exhaustion – until, at last, we come to realise the consequences of such consumer behaviour.…

There is a huge worldwide demand for both metals and minerals in order to keep up with urbanisation, digitalization and social and industrial development. Mining, which is associated with land use as well as resource consumption, is further linked to issues such as climate change and the destruction of landscapes. In turn, this not only raises the question on how far we can go regarding mining, but also suggests that a reevaluation of landscape itself on several levels is necessary. In the European Union, Sweden is one of the leading producers of iron ore, copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver. When it comes to mining uranium and vanadium, the focus is increasingly on the picturesque and scenic area of Oviken. Vanadium is an especially crucial component of rechargeable flow-batteries that…

32 million Overtourism: according to reports of “The Local” from Spain, Barcelona has a year-round population of under 2 million, but welcomes close to 32 million tourists a year. 1955 The world’s 1st enclosed shopping mall was opened in Luleå in northern Sweden in 1955 and was named Shopping; the region now claims the highest shopping center density in Europe. 5.4 planets If the whole world followed American consumption rates, we would require 5.4 planets worth of materials. The developing economy of India would require just 0,4 planets. (The Landscapes of Consumption – Karl Davies) 1.6 million The Great Pacific Garbage Island is located halfway between Hawaii and California. It covers an approximate surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers – an area three times the size of France. $200million…

Sociologist and author of the introductory article of the current issue of topos Steven Miles defines spaces for consumption as “paradoxical in nature. They offer the consumer a specific experience depending on the immediate topography of the environment which they occupy. They offer a degree of diversity and uniqueness that seduces the consumer into wholeheartedly embracing the opportunities that such spaces provide. The power of consumerism is indeed founded on this ability to entice the consumer through specific variations of space and place.”1 Such a remark, easily relatable to the evolution of shopping malls, fully applies to airports, which “are no longer spaces through which people pass, but rather where they spend time.”2 To make the waiting time for transit passengers as pleasant and interesting as possible, airports are becoming…

Following a commission to design a “tool for dialogue”, three Norwegian firms – design firm Snøhetta, aluminum supplier Hydro and Vestre, manufacturer of site furniture – have joined forces to create a “peace bench” for the Nobel Peace Center, titled the The Best Weapon. It was unveiled at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on Nelson Mandela Day, July 18th. As a symbol of diplomacy and dialogue, the peace bench pays tribute to the Nobel Peace Prize laureates and their efforts to bring people together to find effective solutions for peace. Designed as a partial circle that meets the ground at its lowest point, the gentle arc of the bench pulls those sitting on it closer together. The installation’s singular design gesture embodies an invitation to conversation. Engraved…

One image stood out immediately at this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition: Ghost Colony. What at first is merely suggested by the photo’s title, becomes apparent only on second glance. This is because the aesthetics of this black-and-white photograph are the first thing to fascinate the viewer. But if you take a closer look, you will see the cruelty that lies behind the subject matter – as a result of climate change and human intervention in nature. On one of his regular birding sorties to the Little Rann (desert) of Kutch – a salt marsh in Gujarat, India – the photographer Jayesh Joshi came across these nearly 50,000 faded nests of Lesser Flamingos. Salt pans normally provide a safe environment away from predators where the birds can feed…

topos: Mr. Bätzing, what do you think about when you travel in the Alps? BÄTZING: My main concern is that the Alps will only be consumed, that they are only seen as a consumer product. They will be used up and then simply thrown away. topos: That certainly sounds dramatic. As an expert, what do you see that remains hidden from us, who are perhaps only tourists and visitors to the Alps? BÄTZING: The Alps are an extreme habitat; they are a young, high mountain range, characterised by high elevations above sea level, steep slopes, an unstable geology, a short vegetation period and great volumes of runoff. These are all elements that have a dynamic effect on the landscape. Small changes are enough to cause a large impact, and this…

The enormity of Hudson Yards is best seen from aboard an aircraft, its buildings towering high, next to the river which gave this New York neighbourhood its name. The new high-rise complex forms a whole new skyline, the extent of which could be compared to the World Trade Center. Hudson Yards is more robust than the Empire State Building and, of course, exponentially taller than the old buildings in Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen. Despite its detached design, rather like a mini-Singapore, it changes the structure of the city. The largest urban development project in the USA since the Rockefeller Center dominates the entire West Side of Manhattan. Hudson Yards can be seen from the shipping piers in the north and Battery Park in the south, and anyone viewing them from…

King’s Cross was and continues to be London’s poster boy for urban regeneration. Driven by the long- term vision to create “a part of London, a layered, eclectic piece of the city” on the 27-hectare former industrial railway site, property developer Argent has shown tenacity in building over time by drawing on the UK’s meticulous architectural talent to design award- winning buildings and spaces, thereby attracting commercial anchor tenants to this growing area on the fringe of the city centre. Construction on the groundscraper that will soon house 7,000 Google employees is well underway, an impressive achievement despite the uncertainties of Brexit. Big brother and gentrification? This summer, the owners of King’s Cross found themselves in the crossfire of the press when it was revealed that between 2016 and 2018…

The shoreline of the Biggesee in Sondern was completely redesigned. The primary aim was to minimise the barrier effect caused by the railway line through this village of 500 residents located in the Sauerland region, to provide a better connection to the lake and to significantly improve the quality of time spent there. This is because the village has the only lakeside railway station in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the central gateway to this tourist region around the Biggesee and Listersee lakes and permits the direct transfer from regional trains to excursion ships. Among other features, the Berlin-based landscape architecture firm A24 added a double lakeside boardwalk along the rails, thus eliminating the barrier effect of the railway line. The lakeside boardwalk now serves as the connective element for the…

The past 40 years have seen a peculiar typology of contemporary parks spread across Japan, gaining enormous popularity: the flower park. It is difficult to define this typology precisely, as the characteristics of these places vary from case to case. Mostly they may be identified as a hybrid between a thematic park and a botanical garden. They share a common focus in that they are designed to emphasise flowering plants. The parks’ chief attraction are flowers and blossoms exhibited in a variety of ways, the botanical compositions being arranged on the basis of the flowers’ hues, colours, shapes and dimensions. The popularity of flower parks Whether public or private, these parks often have a didactic purpose. The collections of ornamentals are grouped according to their species; the plants on display…

There is trouble ahead in consumer paradise. Trouble, or rather, a sense of loss. The Merlion has to go. The 37-metre-high statue on Singapore's Sentosa Island will soon be torn down. Its offerings – a viewing deck on the ninth storey, another viewing gallery on its head, several shops – closed in October. The towering figure has to make way for an extended new thoroughfare, the Sentosa Sensoryscape project, which is supposed to be finished by 2022. The project is part of a major rejuvenation initiative aimed at connecting Sentosa with neighbouring Pulau Brani and increasing the frantic spatial entertainment experience that Sentosa essentially already is. The island, one could argue, is more than just an urban theme park, i.e. it is really the stupefying spiritual centre of global entertainment…

ERIC FIRLEY: I recently wrote a paper with a lawyer from Berlin, focusing on how to provide publicly accessible space through the private sector, on property that remains private. We have a lot of that, private gardens or malls being the most obvious examples. It’s probably the case also for many of your projects. Would you say that this legal distinction has an impact on your work? ADRIAAN GEUZE: Yes, it is a big issue but, by the same token, the client knows who we are. They know we fight for public accessibility, they understand our passion. We focus on delivering spaces that are open to all types of user groups. If that is restricted, why would we make a design? EF: But do you think that the private legal…

Whether a square or park is actively used, and whether people enjoy spending time there, essentially depends on the design and the right choice of equipment - furniture, lighting and play features. Popular public spaces are, in turn, a basic prerequisite for social interaction and thus for lively cities, as they enable encounters between all social classes and interactions between people of all ages. Deliberately placed street furniture that is integrated into an overall conceptual design helps to open up new spaces, breathe new life into neglected areas and highlight important places. People are happy to pause for a moment, communicate, eat or drink something during lunch or after work, or simply let the sun shine on their face on quality benches or chairs that lend themselves to shaping the…

Terrace Fausti Piazza Vittorio Veneto, 15 www.tizianafausti.com/it/terrazafausti.html GombitHotel, Via Borgo Palazzo, 27 www.giopimargi.eu Lucia di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti www.youtube.com/watchv=WhbWZwTDNRc LUCIA NUSINER graduated in Agricultural Science at the Minoprio Foundation and completed post-graduate studies in ‘Healing Gardens’ at Milan Agricultural University. At GPT she designs private gardens, swimming pools and public green areas. She gives courses in garden design and received the Gold Medal and Honorary Awards for a Social Garden in Moscow. September is the best time to visit the Northern Italian city of Bergamo. During the “Landscape Festival – I Maestri del Paesaggio”, the Piazza Vecchia in the Città Alta as well as as many other spaces in the town are turned into gardens. There are green events not only for professionals, such as the most important “International Meeting…