Leftover spaces are neglected and obsolete spaces within the city. As they are temporarily unoccupied by defined urban functions, leftover spaces provide unique “interstitial conditions” that open for wild species as well as different informal social activities, offering crucial complements to the formal and defined urban spaces. In this context, the design of leftover spaces poses a paradox between the practice of design that projects a set of definitions onto the site, and the indeterminacy of leftover spaces that opens for appropriation and interpretation. By recognizing this paradox within the design of leftover spaces, this thesis strives to explore open-ended design approaches that engage leftover spaces without losing their essential qualities of indeterminacy. Three case studies—Valby Smedestræde 2 in Copenhagen, Le Jardin Du Tiers-Paysage [the Garden of the Third Landscape] in Saint-Nazaire, and the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden in London are scrutinized with a uniform framework consisting of four lenses: the morphological, social, ecological and material lens. The plan, the section, the perspective and axonometric drawings are used as tools to examine the cases and further, to represent the results of reading through each lens. The study delivers four general modi operandi—disclosing, selecting, founding, and sustaining—for engaging with the interstitial condition of leftover spaces. This thesis further invites for an exploration on the role of “gardeners”, nurtures and balances diverse social and ecological practices in the on-going transformation of the site.@en

This paper looks into ‘gardens of wildness’ that have been established in metropolitan interstitial spaces. These unused, unfunctional urban spaces could be considered as spatial-temporary interstices of the metropolitan landscape. These ‘interstitial spaces’ possess the potential to host diverse social-ecological minorities that tend to be excluded by regulated urban spaces. The ecological qualities of interstitial spaces are recognised by French garden designer Gilles Clément, who regards spontaneous ecologies, which emerge in neglected spaces of the city, as cherished reservoirs that diversify and sustain the urban ecology. Specifically, this paper discusses the value of making gardens of interstitial wildness. If the garden is a potential design approach magnifying the quality of the place, what would be the role of interstitial wild gardens? Furthermore, how do these gardens respond to the relationship between interstitial spaces and the metropolitan landscape? In this paper we will analyse Gilles Clément’s garden design of Jardins du Tiers-Paysage (Gardens of The Third Landscape), located on the roof of the repurposed submarine base of Saint-Nazaire (FR). Reading Saint-Nazaire’s urban context and examining the design from ecological and experiential points of view, this paper shows how the gardens re-introduce the submarine base as a place in the metropolitan landscape of Saint-Nazaire. Orchestrating the experience of the site’s spatial characteristics and the emerging wildness, the gardens elicit an appreciation of the autonomy of non-human agencies and simultaneously reflect upon the heterogeneity of the metropolitan landscape.@en

This research aims to explore the courtyards in Den Haag Zuidwest as the meantime ‘open spaces’ for the urban regeneration of the neighbourhood. Municipality Den Haag has issued the urban regeneration vision of Den Haag Zuidwest “Bestemming Zuidwest Gebiedsverkenning” in 2019, aiming at revitalizing the post-war neighbourhood through urban spatial densification and infrastructural improvements. The essential attention is paid to current deteriorated 1950’s social housing apartment and low-income residents. 10.000 new dwellings will be added, to attract more middle-class social groups as new residents. The urban regeneration can cause remarkable changes to the existing urban fabric and the life of low-income social group. How the spatial condensation could integrate with existing highly formal and structural urban fabric that represents the area’s post-war legacy? How the demolish of old buildings could secure the demands of affordable housing? and How the potential influx of middle-class residents could coexist with the existing neighbourhood that is featured by old, poverty and unemployment. Regarding those potential challenges of large-scale urban transformation, this research proposes that the current under-used, neglected courtyards enclosed in each residential building blocks could be a mediator between old and new, between existing conditions and future potentials, and between situated local knowledge and distant urban planning. The key is to explore the particular characters of the site and initiate multiple substantial relationships between the courtyard and the surrounding urban context. Our main research method is research by design: using design analysis and design projection as a tool to disclose those in-between courtyards. The research methodology consists of three steps. First, we will investigate the background of the neighbourhood, understanding the urban design, spatial structure and existing urban social-cultural life. Based on that, we will analyze the condition of existing courtyards, an - notating their particular characteristics and current social usage and plant communities. Following the analysis, we will propose different design prototypes to a selected courtyard. The design aims at revealing the potentials of the site. The design prototypes will be presented to local residents to together imagine the potential social events and other processes could be hosted on-site and reflect upon the site’s characteristics. In this way, it allows us to collect empirical experience on what kind of new process, dialogues and relationships could be initiated in the courtyard. The research outcome is a showcase of local conditions and identities, adding valuable ingredients to the upcoming urban regeneration process. The design in this circumstances, provide an initial structure, a platform that allows local process to develop and further fill in the site. The courtyards, as the meantime ‘open’ spaces – the open outdoor space and space open to diverse practices, processes and identities - could provide a reference, coordination and even challenge to the municipality’s planning of urban regeneration.@en

Opening leftover spaces for the participation of local initiatives is prevalent in current urban design practice. While these cases reanimate the vacant land for diverse public appropriation, little attention is paid to the inherent qualities of each site. As terrain vague in the urban territory and as ‘intervals’ of urban transformation, leftover spaces can be valued for their indeterminacy that allows co-existence and open interpretation. From this perspective we might question if a design that simply transforms a leftover space according to a single social perspective, is truly responding to the space’s potential. In this article we plea for understanding multiple qualities of leftover spaces in their interstitialness, before the entering of the design. It is from such a mindset that the design could engage the continuity of the place, and initiate a transformation that accommodates, orchestrates and encourages what is embedded in the existing. Specifically, we propose four lenses: the morphological, social, ecological and material lens. The four lenses will be illustrated by a temporary urban vegetable garden PROEFTuin (Delft, NL), implying what might be overlooked in its design transformation. In the end we will discuss how this approach could open up for the participation of leftover spaces: by juxtaposing different lenses, the design invites the potential use while simultaneously triggers the perception and imagination of the place. It is because of this a bond with the place is nurtured and the continuous appropriation of the site could take place.@en