Soft City

Abstract

Due to the strong increase in densification in cities worldwide and the takeover of infrastructure, the public domains in the city often lose their intrinsic tranquility. In a bustling working city like Rotterdam, the public quiet and social places are under pressure. The focus of this graduation plan lies on the urban neighborhoods Bospolder and Tussendijken, characterized by many different nationalities, ages and backgrounds, which often causes mutual misunderstanding and frustration among residents. From the field analysis and research it emerged that there is a lack of quiet social meeting places in the neighborhood. In this graduation plan a distinction is made between the hard and the Soft City. The Soft City is characterized by soft architecture that invites its users to appropriate the space and in this way enters into a relationship with its users. The hard city shows itself in the entire planned city; the almost inhuman city. The focus of the graduation research and design is on the 'Soft City': a changeable intermedia between people and architecture. The addition of a new soft elements, based on the idea of 'the Soft City', could strengthen the identity, peace and connection amongst citizens of the districts and thus offer a solution to the mutual misunderstanding, feelings of insecurity and frustration among residents. The design assignment will result in three interventions of public quiet meeting places at different scale levels in the urban fabric of Bospolder/Tussendijken.