Living
in a big city can be really asphyxiating, especially if you lived in the
countryside before you came in town. Coming from a little village near Annecy,
some days are tough when I’m in Grenoble. So I began to think about little
things that could help me appreciate this city. My wish for talking about DIY
urbanism was strengthened by the last class we had at University, when we
watched the short film « Do-It-Yourself Urban Design » by Gordon C.C.
Douglas, City & Community Video Abstract. Then, I made my own researches to
find some really cool projects around the world. I found three of them which
are really brilliant, and I decided to share them with you.
The first
project is an idea of the great Studio Roosegaarde, based in Netherland. It is
a bicycle path inspired by the work of Van Gogh : on the road, they encrusted
little stones that recharged by themselves during the day, with the power of
the sun, and then that glitters at night. They use fluorescente mosaics to make
this bicycle road a little more pleasant to ride on, and the result is splendid !
The
second project is also about light, because it’s a way that allows to create
energy, and especially light. The idea is named Pavegen System : it is
about small green squares also incrusted in the floor that produced green energy
when you walk on them. I think that it is a great idea to create green energy,
and it is also really playful ! They managed to make this system in
airport, school, streets… And it’s really great to find that those little but
really interesting ideas exist.
The last
project is more for a personal scale than for an entire city, but I wanted to
share it with you because it is an attractive idea for the ones who lives in
city and think they can’t have a garden even if they have a house. The idea is
called Garden Pool : as the title, it is as simple as a garden, in a pool !
It is Dennis McClung, a designer, that had this great idea. He thought of an
entire garden with chickens, vegetables, water with fishes, etc. under a
hothouse and designed by the pool itself.
I found
others great ideas, and I participated to some of them, like Incredible Edible
plans and their shared gardens in Annecy. I really think that the most
important thing in the development of a great city is to do small steps in
every neighborhood, and then, the city itself will develop automatically, but
with and by the poeple that live in it.
Ressources ;
- « Do-It-Yourself Urban
Design » City & Community Video Abstract :
- « Van Gogh bike path »
Studio Roosegaarde :
- Pavegen System :
- Garden Pool :
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