Urban Acupuncture
Encyclopedia
Urban Acupuncture is an urban environmentalism theory
which combines urban design
with traditional Chinese medical theory of acupuncture
. This strategy
views cities as living, breathing organism
s and pinpoints areas in need of repair. Sustainable projects, then, serve as needles that revitalize the whole by healing the parts.
Traced to Finnish architect Marco Casagrande
, this school of thought eschews massive urban renewal projects in favour a of more localised and community approach that in an era of constrained budgets and limited resources, this pinpointed approach could democratically and cheaply offer a respite to urban dwellers.
Casagrande views cities as complex energy organisms in which different overlapping layers of energy flows are determining the actions of the citizens as well as the development of the city. By mixing environmentalism
and urban design Casagrande is developing methods of punctual manipulation of the urban energy flows in order to create an ecologically sustainable urban development towards the so-called 3rd Generation City (post industrial city). The theory is developed in the Tamkang University
of Taiwan
. Casagrande describes urban acupuncture as:
[a] cross-over architectural manipulation of the collective sensuous intellect of a city. City is viewed as multi-dimensional sensitive energy-organism, a living environment. Urban acupuncture aims into a touch with this nature.
Urban Acupuncture bears some similaries to the new urbanist concept of Tactical Urbanism. The idea focuses on local resources rather than capital-intensive municipal programs and promotes the idea of citizens installing and caring for interventions. These small changes, proponents claim, will boost community morale and catalyze revitalization. Boiled down to a simple statement, “urban acupuncture” means focusing on small, subtle, bottom-up interventions that harness and direct community energy in positive ways to heal urban blight and improve the cityscape. It’s meant as an alternative to large, top-down, mega-interventions that typically require heavy investments of municipal funds (which many cities at the moment simply don’t have) and the navigation of yards of bureaucratic red tape.
Jaime Lerner
, the former mayor of Curitiba
, suggests urban acupuncture as the future solution for contemporary urban issues; by focusing on very narrow pressure points in cities, we can initiate positive ripple effects for the greater society. Urban acupuncture reclaims the ownership of land to the public and emphasizes the importance of community development through small interventions in design of cities.It involves pinpointed interventions that can be accomplished quickly to release energy and create a positive ripple effect.
He described in 2007:
I believe that some medicinal “magic” can and should be applied to cities, as many are sick and some nearly terminal. As with the medicine needed in the interaction between doctor and patient, in urban planning it is also necessary to make the city react; to poke an area in such a way that it is able to help heal, improve, and create positive chain reactions. It is indispensable in revitalizing interventions to make the organism work in a different way.
In ecological restoration of industrial cities Urban Acupuncture can take form as spontaneous and often illegal urban farms and community gardens punctuating the more mechanical city and tuning it towards a more sustainable co-existence with the natural environment.
Urban Acupuncture areas can receive, treat and recycle the waste from the surrounding city acting as eco-valleys within the urban fabric. In River Urbanism the Urban Acupuncture areas can include underground storm-water reservoir
s and act as flood relief for the surrounding city as a sponge and they can act as biological filters purifying water originated from polluted rivers.
Theory
The English word theory was derived from a technical term in Ancient Greek philosophy. The word theoria, , meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", and referring to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action...
which combines urban design
Urban design
Urban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has...
with traditional Chinese medical theory of acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of solid, generally thin needles in the body....
. This strategy
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
views cities as living, breathing organism
Organism
In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole.An organism may either be unicellular or, as in the case of humans, comprise...
s and pinpoints areas in need of repair. Sustainable projects, then, serve as needles that revitalize the whole by healing the parts.
Traced to Finnish architect Marco Casagrande
Marco Casagrande
Marco Casagrande, , is a Finnish architect, environmental artist, architectural theorist, writer and professor of architecture. He graduated from Helsinki University of Technology department of architecture .- Early life :...
, this school of thought eschews massive urban renewal projects in favour a of more localised and community approach that in an era of constrained budgets and limited resources, this pinpointed approach could democratically and cheaply offer a respite to urban dwellers.
Casagrande views cities as complex energy organisms in which different overlapping layers of energy flows are determining the actions of the citizens as well as the development of the city. By mixing environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
and urban design Casagrande is developing methods of punctual manipulation of the urban energy flows in order to create an ecologically sustainable urban development towards the so-called 3rd Generation City (post industrial city). The theory is developed in the Tamkang University
Tamkang University
Tamkang University is a private Taiwanese university located in Tamsui District, New Taipei City. Founded in 1950 as a junior college of English literature, the college has expanded into a full university with 11 colleges today....
of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Casagrande describes urban acupuncture as:
[a] cross-over architectural manipulation of the collective sensuous intellect of a city. City is viewed as multi-dimensional sensitive energy-organism, a living environment. Urban acupuncture aims into a touch with this nature.
Urban Acupuncture bears some similaries to the new urbanist concept of Tactical Urbanism. The idea focuses on local resources rather than capital-intensive municipal programs and promotes the idea of citizens installing and caring for interventions. These small changes, proponents claim, will boost community morale and catalyze revitalization. Boiled down to a simple statement, “urban acupuncture” means focusing on small, subtle, bottom-up interventions that harness and direct community energy in positive ways to heal urban blight and improve the cityscape. It’s meant as an alternative to large, top-down, mega-interventions that typically require heavy investments of municipal funds (which many cities at the moment simply don’t have) and the navigation of yards of bureaucratic red tape.
Jaime Lerner
Jaime Lerner
Jaime Lerner was governor of the state of Paraná, in southern Brazil. He is renowned as an architect and urban planner, having been mayor of Curitiba, capital of Paraná, three times...
, the former mayor of Curitiba
Curitiba
Curitiba is the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is the largest city with the biggest economy of both Paraná and southern Brazil. The population of Curitiba numbers approximately 1.75 million people and the latest GDP figures for the city surpass US$61 billion according to...
, suggests urban acupuncture as the future solution for contemporary urban issues; by focusing on very narrow pressure points in cities, we can initiate positive ripple effects for the greater society. Urban acupuncture reclaims the ownership of land to the public and emphasizes the importance of community development through small interventions in design of cities.It involves pinpointed interventions that can be accomplished quickly to release energy and create a positive ripple effect.
He described in 2007:
I believe that some medicinal “magic” can and should be applied to cities, as many are sick and some nearly terminal. As with the medicine needed in the interaction between doctor and patient, in urban planning it is also necessary to make the city react; to poke an area in such a way that it is able to help heal, improve, and create positive chain reactions. It is indispensable in revitalizing interventions to make the organism work in a different way.
In ecological restoration of industrial cities Urban Acupuncture can take form as spontaneous and often illegal urban farms and community gardens punctuating the more mechanical city and tuning it towards a more sustainable co-existence with the natural environment.
Urban Acupuncture areas can receive, treat and recycle the waste from the surrounding city acting as eco-valleys within the urban fabric. In River Urbanism the Urban Acupuncture areas can include underground storm-water reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
s and act as flood relief for the surrounding city as a sponge and they can act as biological filters purifying water originated from polluted rivers.
See also
- Landscape urbanismLandscape urbanismLandscape Urbanism is a theory of urbanism arguing that landscape, rather than architecture, is more capable of organizing the city and enhancing the urban experience. Landscape Urbanism has emerged as a theory in the last fifteen years...
- Ecological UrbanismEcological urbanismThe ecological urbanism project draws from ecology to inspire an urbanism that is more socially inclusive and sensitive to the environment, as well as less ideologically driven, than conventional “green” or sustainable urbanism...
- Urban designUrban designUrban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has...
- Urban planningUrban planningUrban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
External links
- ar2com talks with Marco Casagrande about his architecture, urban acupuncture, teaching and real and unreal spaces, Mar 2010