Urban Wasteland (Urban Void, Abandoned Space, Interstice)

Angelo Bertoni, École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Strasbourg 

Definition 

An urban wasteland typically refers to areas within a city that are neglected, underused, abandoned, or degraded. These spaces often include vacant lots, derelict buildings, disused industrial sites, and areas left behind by urban decline or failed development. They may appear desolate or overgrown and are often perceived as unproductive or unsafe, though they can also be seen as opportunities for regeneration or ecological renewal. 

Background information and contemporary debate 

The professional practices of certain architects had already demonstrated, since the pioneering work of Alison and Peter Smithson during the 1960s and 1970s, an interest in building urban wasteland, considering the ‘void’ material within the design process (Smithson & Smithson, 2001, 2005). The proposals by Rem Koolhaas and his firm OMA for the Parc de la Villette competition in Paris (1982) and the redevelopment of the Melun-Sénart town centre (1987) illustrated the contextual dimension of the void, which had become an operative tool in the dialectical relationship between site and project. This aspect has led to a diversified use of terms such as wasteland, brownfield, void, interstice, or residual space, often treated as synonyms to describe urban—or even architectural—spaces that are minor, forgotten, or marginal yet possess significant potential for the city’s future. These types of spaces, frequently enclosed and thus removed from view, constitute both a site of resistance to the regulated and homogenised urban fabric and a site for expressing needs that are unmet by proposed transformations (Groth & Corijn, 2005). Such transitional spaces are often accompanied by stigma or negative preconceptions, associated more with marginality than with freedom of expression or the experimentation of new urban practices. Spatial and temporal dimensions may help to better understand and distinguish among them. The duration of vacancy varies greatly depending on the complexity of the projects intended to fill these urban voids—voids that urban stakeholders often struggle to define or even name. Legal frameworks appear insufficient, as do analytical tools capable of identifying and characterising these spaces, which are often residues of past planning operations or vanished activities. Urban wastelands are increasingly emerging as privileged grounds for such experimental practices. They may thus serve as the starting point for a collective reflection on the city’s future—one that can lead to the formulation of a shared urban project. These vacant spaces appear, in this sense, to offer places of freedom and expression for urban dwellers, preserving the essential qualities of public space—qualities that are increasingly threatened by normative, and at times restrictive, approaches to urban governance, potentially losing their flexibility of use (Franck & Stevens, 2007). Architectural and urban wastelands have often given rise to a specific artistic and architectural imagination. Several types of approaches can be observed. Some imagine scenographic uses based on the specific poetics of the sites for often ephemeral transformations (shows, concerts, rave parties.). Others develop new architectural styles through more permanent transformations that are often flexible and transformable. The transformation of the former Pompeïa factory in Sâo Paulo in 1977 by the Italian architect Lina Bo Bardi is an emblematic example of how rational industrial architecture was turned into a ‘dream factory’ and turned into a ‘living, vibrant body’ in the megalopolis (Lextrait, 2023). Urban wastelands can also respond to the social demand for urban nature, contributing to residents’ well-being, environmental education, urban biodiversity, and the development of green networks (Di Pietro & Robert A., 2021).

References 

Di Pietro, F. & Robert A. (Eds.) (2021). Urban wastelands as a form of urban nature. Springer. 

Franck, K., & Stevens, Q. (Eds.) (2007). Loose space: Possibility and diversity in urban life. Routledge. 

Groth, J., & Corijn, E. (2005). Reclaiming urbanity: Indeterminate spaces, informal actors and urban agenda setting. Urban Studies, 42/3, 503-526. 

Hatzfeld, H., Hatzfeld, M. & Ringart, N. (1998). Quand la marge est créatrice: les interstices urbains initiateurs d’emploi. Éditions de l’Aube. 

Lextrait, F. (2023). Architecture. In M.-P. Bouchardy, & F. Lextrait (Eds.), (un) abécédaire des friches, laboratoires. Fabriques, squats, espaces intermédiaires, tiers-lieux culturels, Sens & Tonka.  

Smithson, A. & Smithson, P. (2001). The charged void: Architecture. The Monacelli Press. 

Smithson, A. & Smithson, P. (2005). The charged void: Urbanism. The Monacelli Press.