Is this Metaville?

A Project For Creative Play

By Jens Jorgen Thorsen in collaboration with Hoff and Ussing. Comments !on Carsten Hoff"s and # sanne Ussing"s new !roject for a collective city. $s this %&TA'$((& what the #it ationists dreamed of for ages) The realisation of the of the #it tionist"s thesis of *+,* that the city and !eo!le"s s rro ndings m st be rece!tive to !layf l creative activity. $s it the decisive crystallisation of the #it ationist desire for for the !eo!le themselves to control their s rro ndings and e-!eriment with them) $s this the collective city we have wished for) INITIAL THEORY City !lanners are nable to identify with the real needs of the local environment. They cannot beca se it is not a . estion of their own needs. This is why they m st base their theses on a sim lated standard family and by this !retence have created the /standard family/. This ty!ical family doesn"t e-ist and never has e-isted0 neither the Jensens0 the #venssons nor the Joneses. The major reason for the meagre !otentials of s rro ndings and of life in modern residential areas is that the individ al has no infl ence !on his own residence or !on the comm nal s rro ndings. %an is c t off from his s rro ndings0 even the local ones0 and is isolated from his fellow1man even in crowded cities. Peo!le are made hel!less by nsha2eable schemes in !ro!erty rights. $f we restore to !eo!le the right to !lan and control their local s rro ndings and the larger environs0 we will !rovide the basis for a great0 new birth of coo!eration0 liberation thro gh teamwor20 a !er!et al C314$TU#. 5e will sha!e a constant !arty o t of what was called everyday life. $f we wish to !rovide an escalation of all this0 we sho ld at the same time ca se a decline in its contraries. 5e need to diminish in order to create an escalation. 5& 5$(( 6$%$7$#H8Planning from above0 e.g. !lanning on behalf of others. 5& 5$(( &#CA(AT&8The !ossibility of everyone"s !artici!ation in the !lanning0 the occ !ants ta2eover of the !lanning. 5& 5$(( 6$%$7$#H8The res!onsibilities and a thority of owners and ho sing boards. 5& 5$(( &#CA(AT&8The res!onsibilities and a thority of the occ !ants0 the res!onsibilities and a thority of the occ !ants" district. 5& 5$(( 6$%$7$#H8 The monotony of high standards of materialism and the reign of mass !rod cts. 5& 5$(( &#CA(AT&8%aterials and b ilding techni. es which !rovide for fle-ibility and a wide range of choice in the areas of tility and !lanning. THE BASIC IDEA 1: THE TECHNOLOGY $n order to reach these goals0 we have created a basic !roced re which has two as!ects8 the one ! rely technical and the other concerned with develo!ing and evolving vario s forms of governing. 3n the technical level0 o r !lan is to !rovide a basic constr ction which the occ !ants themselves can contin e and com!lete as they see fit. The main idea is to erect a s2eleton0 a main str ct re0 a sort of landsca!e on which vario s sorts of constr ction can ta2e !lace. The s2eleton is two1 and three1story !latforms of concrete assembled from mod lar nits0 f lly or !artially man fact red0 de!ending on which method is chea!er at the moment. 3n these !latforms one can create a!artments0 instit tions0 sho!s0 !laygro nds0 wor2sho!s at liberty. Fle-ibility has been shered in by com!letely avoiding stable walls and by hori9ontal mod lar cond ction lines in the installation"s centre with variable connections. The high degree of re!etition0 combined with well1established b ilding methods0 !ermits chea! constr ction and in stages0 so that financing will not vary greatly between larger1 and smaller1scale

nits in the b ilding !rocess. Ho sing will fall into three categories8Category A8 a com!lete ho se. The occ !ant designs the ho se0 which is delivered f lly constr cted. Here there is little real chance of additional develo!ment other than joining and dividing0 and creating life0 and creating sheds and greenho ses on the terrace. Category B8 a !artially b ilt ho se. 5hat is delivered is a ro gh constr ction0 with facade and bathroom. The occ !ant com!letes the ho se himself. Category C8 is made by the occ !ant. He installs everything himself in the ro gh ho se. THE BASIC IDEA 2: DEMOCRACY The other basic !oint is occ !ant ta2eover of the control of the ho sing !roject at all levels. :overning has two as!ects; !rivate and comm nal. 3n the level of !rivate control the occ !ants decide how their ho ses sho ld loo2 and how they sho ld be b ilt and e. i!!ed0 what sort of constr ction materials sho ld be sed0 etc. 3n the comm nal level0 occ !ant democracy will grown in the most sim!le and nat ral way is it is allowed to echo the growth of the city. The occ !ants will create their s rro nding together and they will themselves organise the services to be !rovided. $t a!!ears li2e the str ct re of government we s ggest will be enable a form of organisation which is b ilt from the bottom !. 5e conceive of an initial !hase with the following gro !s8 :ro ! A8 #treet gro !s0 a!!ro-imately a *<< of them.The street gro !s consist of abo t *= to >< ho sing nits on both sides of a street. They are in charge of the common areas in the constr ctions aro nd stairs0 landings and indoors for active ! r!oses. :ro ! B8 Cell gro !s0 a!!ro-imately >= of them.The cell gro !s consist of from ?< to @< ho sing nits in a joint b ilding nit. They are in charge of vegetation within their nit0 a total of abo t =0<<< s. are metres which can be sed for anything from swimming !ools to animal . arters0 o!en1air theatres or roller coasters. :ro ! C8 7eighbo rhood gro !s0 a!!ro-imately = of them.The neighbo rhood gro !s consist of abo t A<< ho sing nits in the same geogra!hical nit of constr ction. They are in charge of the streets0 s. ares0 and the common gro nd of abo t =B of the ho sing area which contains n rsery schools0 2indergartens0 meeting rooms0 !laygro nds0 wor2sho!s0 etc. and decide how streets and s. ares sho ld be designed and tilised. :ro ! 68 (andsca!e :overnment.There will only be one.The landsca!e government consists of re!resentatives from all the neighbo rhoods. $t is in charge of nat re0 s!orts0 and entertainment. $t controls the entire ho sing area regarding the sale and rental of a!artments0 hotel o!eration0 rental of the larger stores and the o!eration of the instit tions of a more !ermanent and comm nal nat re li2e0 for e-am!le0 schools. A HOUSING LABORATORY By these means the !roject !ermits the occ !ants themselves to !artici!ate in the !lanning0 constr ction and day1to1day direction of their areas to the greatest degree. B t into the !roject is also b ilt the !ossibility of !roviding a laboratory where s!ecific ho sing e-!eriments can be made. $n this lab it will be !ossible to analy9e the e-!eriments0 as well as the whole b ilding !rocess as it !roceeds0 so that the direction and develo!ment of the !rocess can be changed if the occ !ants see fit and in accordance with the res lts. These analyses will contrib te to 2ee!ing the small stages in the blac2 and the ris2s connected with !o! lar ownershi! to a minim m. $nvestments in constr ction need only de!end !on mar2et demand0 and one can eliminate fa lty investment and the !ress res on small investors" b dgets which arise as a res lt of rental losses and em!ty a!artments.

The analyses from this lab0 combined with the e-!eriences and decisions of the occ !ants0 will !rovide the best fo ndation for change and im!rovement d ring the !rocess of b ilding this !roject.