INTERSECTION FIELDS III: Michiel Brinkman vs. Peter and Alison Smithson

This article is part of “Intersections Fields”, a series curated by Hidden Architecture where we publish the casual connections between projects from different architects and periods of history that we find when we are researching to produce this journal . Este artículo forma parte de “Intersections Fields”, una serie comisariada por Hidden Architecture donde publicamos las conexiones casuales entre proyectos de distintos arquitectos y periodos de la historia que hemos ido encontrando durante la investigacion para producir esta revista. The concept ‘Streets on the Sky' had an intense development during the XX Century, including its height during the 1950s, the decay during the 70s and the revival at the end of the century. However, although the relation between housing and neighborhood is part of the history of traditional architecture, there is a project where this concept is individualized and proposed in novel form in a built project: The Spangen quarter in Rotterdam, designed in 1918 by the architect J.A. Brinksman's. The access to the houses is through a one kilometer long gallery and a width between two and three meters. The gallery is located in the courtyard of the building and its is a private a circulation. However, it was the first moment in the history of architecture where it is created an elevated transitional space between the street and the housing. In 1946, Le Corbusier designs the Unite de Habitation in Marseille. Although this project has a strong influence of the Narkofim of Moisei Ginzburg, designed in Moscow in 1928, it connects the elevated commercial areas, the hotel and the public facilities through a gallery. The gallery is interior, but it has several openings to the landscapes. El concepto ‘Streets on the Sky' ha tenido un intenso desarrollo durante el siglo XX, incluyendo su apogeo en los años 50, su decadencia en los 70 y el resurgimiento a final de siglo.