LOOSE ENDS
Urban Planning | Instructor: Prof. Arch. Sari Klaus
The city of Bat Yam is located on the Mediterranean coast, bordering on Rishon Lezion to the south, Holon to the east and Tel Aviv-Jaffa to the north. The Ayalon freeway passes along its eastern boundary, constituting a main route connecting the city to the national roads. Demographically, Bat Yam is made up of 54.2% of adults, 20.9% of children and 20% of the elderly. These days, the Municipality of Bat Yam has prioritized the integration of the elderly population into the city’s communal and cultural texture, investing efforts in enabling the local veteran population to be an active and integral part of urban life.
Integrating the elderly population in the urban life could raise the general quality of life in the city and create instructive and empowering collaborations within the community, laying the foundations for an innovative future that does not forget its past. An age-friendly city, as we see it, it is a city that offers a wide range of activities that set the elderly population, encouraging partnership among different sectors and access to diverse activities that contribute and improve the city life.
Main Routs
Commerce
Cultural Centers
Mirror connection between the city of Holon and the city of Bat Yam
Green Areas
Community Centers
Cultural Centers
Main traffic routes and city entrances
Analysis-Based Decisions and Principles
Looking at the city, we recognized that there is a disconnection between the main routes that creates a lack of continuity. The city of Bat Yam is surrounded by neighboring cities, opening the gate for commercial activity, cultural collaborations and tourism, which in the current reality has not really come to fruition. The analysis of the plan shows that although there are similar urban characteristics, such as common axes and points of interest, the interconnectedness of the cities is truncated. Therefore, we felt that the edges should be unraveled as a potential for a new connections to form.
Images
Delta pouring into the sea
Unstitched threads
Existing situation scheme
Planned situation scheme
Design principles for the elderly population
1. Gradual departure from home.
2. Extra activities and public buildings.
3. Identifying elements that help to orientate the space.
Urban Joint - Development of the neighborhood patio and integration of small public buildings for the elderly population.
Gradual departure from home scheme
Existing Enviroment
Existing Buildings
New Buildings
Lightweight Steel Constructions
Public Buildings and Movement System
Glass
Commercial Floors
Wood
Warehouses for Urban Rooftop Agriculture
Tree
Roofed Commercial Alleys
Pavement
Road
Wooden Deck
Green Area
Urban Agriculture
Model 1:500 (Not to scale) - Our Proposal
Public building - Small public buildings for the elderly population which offer spaces for activity and gatherings aimed at creating social interaction. They are identifiable elements found across the road that help direct human traffic to centers of interest. The additional public buildings meet the need for activity center near the residential areas.
Neighborhood Patio - An intimate space enclosed by residential
buildings and used as a meeting place. A large, open space may be threatening for the elderly population.The patio, on the other hand, offers a safe and cozy space and allows a gradual departure from the home to the public space and the main streets in the city.
The Culture’s Square - a wide square in a central location. The square is located near the Independence Avenue and surrounded by high-rise buildings and a cultural hall. It is a large public space that is an urban attraction and encourages encounters within the city population. The square creates a bow tie-shaped collection of inner courtyards surrounded by residential buildings.
Train Building - A new architectural typology that helps direct traffic along the avenue. It is a block that directs traffic from the main streets in the neighborhood to the beach, and delimits a quiet inner courtyard between the residential buildings on the other side of the avenue.
Sderot Haatzmaut - Sderot Haatzmaut is a major axis in the city, beginning at the city entrance and continuing to the sea. Today, the avenue is located between two roads, along which there are many crosswalks that interrupt pedestrian traffic and there are almost no businesses. We decided to connect the avenue to the streets in the neighborhood by separating the vehicle traffic from the pedestrian traffic and producing continuous pedestrian routes. We have also incorporated a commercial ground floor at the residential buildings along the avenue to increase its activity and strengthen it as a major center of interest in the city leading to one of the city's major attractions, the beach.
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1. Commercial Street - A central street linking the neighborhood to the boulevard, leading people to urban points of interest. We combined commerce with the existing buildings to create a mix of uses along the main street, and added more residential floors to densify the street and increase its activity.
2. Urban Agriculture - We combined agricultural activity on the rooftops of houses and land along the street in order to encourage cooperation among the community. The gardening, greenhouses and traffic system - elevators, stairs and bridges - uniquely shape the street in a way that makes it easier to orientate in the city.
3. Green Road - A quiet, pleasant and shady green avenue located in the heart of the neighborhood leading to the Independence Avenue. Scattered across it are intimate seating areas and entrances to several patios.
4. Alleys - Narrow alleys containing small scale commercial activity can be found between the residential buildings. The alleys shape the unique way that contributes to spatial orientation.