Specific and general solutions
Interview with Jan De Vylder, Ghent (BE)
Why did you decide to participate in City Visions?
Well, if such a challenge pops up in your mailbox you think: yes, we might be ready to get involved in something like this. And I found the project particularly interesting because of the focus on mid-scale cities. When it comes to urban questions, only the huge cities were an issue for a long time. It was only about extremes. Now people are starting to consider in-between aspects as well, which, I think, is where real urbanity can be found. On the other hand, in our office we never consciously thought about whether we should deal with urban design. We don’t see a difference between architecture and urban planning. Apparently, however, we’re mainly perceived as architects from the outside. It’s not a distinction that I make, but I guess that the organizers of City Visions also thought that it might be interesting to have someone like us amongst the teams. That’s why we decided to accept the challenge.
Did you choose to do a project in Pilsen yourselves or was this city appointed to you?
It was appointed to us by the organizers of City Visions. All the teams work on two cities, and our other site is in Mechelen. I guess it’s evident that if there’s a city in your own country you should do it. But I’m very curious about Pilsen as well.
What’s your first impression of the site in Pilsen? It’s located along Tyrˇsova Street, and it’s generally perceived as an island in the traffic that should be connected to the city centre.
I like it because it’s very precise. It has precise borders, running along Tyrˇsova Street, the river Mze and the river Radbuza. On the other hand, there seem to be absolutely no ideas for this site yet. It’s only perceived as a barrier problem of some roads. And to be honest, I’m not so sure if that’s really a problem. Couldn’t one see its island-status as the particular identity of this site?
You don’t see the road as the problem of the site? That’s what all the officials from the city planning department mentioned as the main challenge. They would like to find a way to connect the site to the city centre and to the Northern suburbs.
No, I don’t think that’s the issue.
What’s the main challenge of this project in your opinion then?
Well, we already have some ideas. The most interesting thing for me now is to work on both projects together, the one in Mechelen and the one in Pilsen. I think that the aim of City Visions is to find ways how the mid-scale city in general can be approached. I don’t want to see this as only a question of arriving in Pilsen, looking at a site and trying to find a solution for it. This is an exercise in a larger-scale issue, namely how to approach the problem areas of mid-scale cities.
So you’re aiming at developing a more general strategy?
Yes, I hope we can find one. That’s more interesting for me than only to solve the problems of a small area of Pilsen or Mechelen. On the other hand, of course, we also want to be specific in our projects. It’s about combining both: developing a specific plan for a site which is at the same time general enough to be valid on a larger scale.
Interview by Anneke Bokern for City Visions Europe.