unit-code
Urban acupuncture is an alternative to conventional development processes. It represents an adaptable framework for urban renewal, in which highly focused and targeted initiatives help to regenerate neglected spaces, incrementally deploy urban strategies or consolidate the social infrastructure of a city. It is about seeing the city from a human perspective, engaging with the need of diverse communities and individuals to make the city more connected, inclusive and equitable.
This year Unit 1 travelled to Bilbao in Spain. This city, the largest in the province of Biscay, has a rich industrial history which is evident in its urban layout. The site for this year is Zorrotzaurre Island on the River Nervión. It was first formed as a peninsula during the 1950s and 1960s when a canal was built to facilitate navigation in the estuary of Bilbao. The site has a myriad of existing industrial buildings, many of them unused, with open space in between offering opportunities for urban acupuncture. A masterplan designed by Zaha Hadid was approved in 2012; it aimed to renew the neighbourhood with residential and business uses while demolishing most of the existing building stock.
The students began the year with a warm-up group project to propose an inhabited cycle and pedestrian bridge on Zorrotzaurre Island. The collectively designed buildings each provided a public amenity integrated with the bridge that caters for the health and wellbeing of the existing residents on the mainland; it also serves as a local catalyst for development of the island.
For their final project, students proposed schemes that interface thoughtfully with the existing buildings and the space around the island, aligned with the philosophy of urban acupuncture. They were asked to make a critical choice of whether or not to accept some of the masterplan proposal into their scheme. The detailed programmatic brief and agenda for the final project was developed by each student and includes a mix of community uses interlinked with the concept of care.