CoFuFun derived from ‘Kofun’ and ‘Fufun’, one a burial thomb, the other ‘a happy unconscious humming’. The space is a café, a playground and a massive piece of furniture.
This plaza is a combination of stair seats and high places, positive outdoor spaces organized within a negative outdoor space, and intimacy gradients, the inner circles being more intimate than the negative space of the plaza. This is all combined with a street café centered on the square as a place for people to meet.
Plaza de los Fueros. “Eduardo Chillida and Luis Peña Ganchegui.” Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. (1979)
As you can see in the pictures this square clearly is a sunny place, divided into multiple smaller spaces. Adding stare seats being used so you can sit high and overlook the square, but it’s also usable as bleachers for an event.
By putting the theater underground and making the (to be) glass roof stick out above the square a high place is created. One that works two ways, going about a meter up above the square, and then 24 meters down to the stagefloor. Mind you that the height from which this picture was taken is closer to 18~20 meters, but it still gives a rough idea of what the actors on stage would look like as seen from the square.
As it is, the theater is a closed off box with almost no windows, taking up good space. Why not put the theater underground, with it’s tower showing just above ground, so its roof can act as a second outdoor stage.
Making the roof of the tower transparent will allow for daylight to enter the tower and light up the stage, but also passersby will be able to look down and see at night what’s going on on stage 24 meters below.
The current place of the theater would open up and there would be space to create a park next to the Schouwburgplein.
Jan Gehl: Life Between Buildings - Using Public Space
Three Types of Outdoor Activities
Jan Gehl, in his book, describes three types of outdoor activities: Necessary Activities, Optional Activities, and Social Activities. These activities - passersby greeting in the streets, the mailman making his round, children playing, groups engaging in conversation - are all dependant on the physical environment they take place in.
Necessary Activities
Necessary activities are those that are more or less compulsory - going to school or to work, shopping, waiting for a bus or a person, running errands, distributing mail - all activities in which those involved are to a greater or lesser degree required to participate.
Most activities in this category are related to walking, and are only slightly influenced by the physical environment. These activities, more or less, take place all throughout the year, almost independent of the outdoor environment.
Optional Activities
Optional activities are those that are participated in if there is a wish to do so and if time and place make it possible. These activities include the likes of taking a walk to get a breath of fresh air, standing around enjoying life, or sitting and sunbathing.
These activities take place when exterior conditions are favourable, when weather and place invite them. When outdoor areas are of poor quality, only strictly necessary activities occur.
When the outdoor areas are of good quality, necessary activities will take place in about the same frequency, however, in addition, a wide range of optional activities will also occur. The situation is now inviting to sit, eat, play, relax, talk, and so on.
Social Activities
Social activities are all activities that depend on the presence of others in public spaces. Its sitting, looking at people passing by, hearing other people, meeting friends in the streets, children playing together and so on.
These activities, of course take place in more than only public space, but in his book Jan Gehl only takes up the domain of public space, for this is what his book concerns.
These activities, social activities, could also be called ‘resultant activities’ since they evolve from other activities, from running into someone while running errands, or meeting someone in the park for a chat. Therefore these activities are more or less supported when the necessary and optional activities are.
Source: Gehl, J. “Life Between Buildings” Translator, Jo Koch. Island Press. 2011
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