世界吉事：五大最有趣的天橋底改造｜The 5 most interesting urban spaces beneath flyovers!
在人口持續膨脹的趨勢之下，世界各地的規劃師、城巿設計師一直在思考解決土地問題的方法。過去，我們討論過在水上建造漂浮城巿的可能性，不過，在進行創新實驗的同時，若我們仔細縱觀自己的城巿，其實仍有不少閒置空間浪費掉。
其中一種，就是天橋底的空間——香港道路網絡四通八達，單是行車天橋就已有逾1400條，底下的空間，有些是行人過路的通道、有些是公廁，但有更多因為它光線較暗、沒有功能，於是成為不合法的儲物空間、棄置廢物的暗角，久而久之，天橋底總讓人有不光明、不乾淨、不安全的印象。如果，在遍佈天橋的香港，我們的起心肝改造天橋的底下空間，似乎可以同時清理天橋底一直積存的問題，同時可以讓社區有更多空間可以使用。
那麼，可以如何改造呢？有不少城巿已開始重新規劃天橋底的用途，這一期，就讓我們看看有趣的外國例子：
印尼電影公園Taman Film
萬隆是印尼第三大城市，有個位處天橋底的「城市客廳」Taman Film，設有巨大屏幕，地面鋪有人造草皮，波浪形梯級空間自由任坐。有別於戲院肩碰肩、排排坐，波浪台階形成大小不同的空間，為人們提供舒服的距離。2015年萬隆地區足球勁旅躋身國家總統盃決賽，很多人都選擇前往Taman Film電影公園，一起觀看直播。
即使沒有放映活動，附近的居民都常聚首公園，學生放學後在草地耍樂、媽媽群組坐在一旁談心，更是家庭周日好去處。那處有個「潛規則」，就是進入草地前，大家都會像回家般脫鞋，更有人會自發打掃。因此，相對於城市的其他公園，電影公園顯得更乾淨、保養妥當，成為居民放鬆的「城市客廳」。設計團隊代表說：「大家如此珍重這兒，波浪形梯級空間、柔軟的人造草皮可謂秘密殺手鐧。」
出身建築師、時任市長的卡米爾（Ridwan Kamil）亦成為公園的重要推手。在他上任前，當地社區及學生已提出善用橋底空間的建議，卻缺乏執行資金。卡米爾善用業界人脈及市長影響力，既從當地企業籌得資金，又確保承包商、政府在構思過程中，必須聽到居民用家（potential user）的意見，最終2年內建成Taman Film，由本來只為增加民間放映空間，變為廣受歡迎的大眾歇腳地。
英國食街 Maltby St Market
在倫敦塔橋附近的十九世紀鐵路橋底，2010年起變身火熱食街Maltby St Market，成為當地人掃街覓食的好去處。每逢週末，小販架起太陽傘，朝桌子鋪上餐布，售賣即叫即製窩夫、手沖咖啡、傳統蘇格蘭蛋等。街上放置幾張餐桌，人們買食物後隨即坐下開餐。
磚橋下的圓拱形空間，很多本來是用作貨倉，後來吸引手工啤酒吧、水果檔、海鮮餐廳等進駐，米芝蓮星廚打理的法式小酒館，也在這兒開店賣麵包。食街其中一個創辦人Adrian Amos，他的家族本身就在鐵路橋底長年開設木材工場。週末工場放假，地方便外租給小販開檔。在鋪滿各類木板的背景下，小販準備食材，人們隨意開餐，成為獨特的美食風景。
美國薩賓單車長廊 Sabine Promenade, Texas
得州薩賓單車長廊的前身，是被遺忘的沿河空地，抬頭天橋交叉不斷，人煙極罕。1986年，當地社企Buffalo Bayou Partnership委託國際建築設計公司SWA，展開大型公園計劃，橋底空地鋪設為單車徑、行人道，直通市中心休斯敦。沿途栽種本地河岸植物，鞏固泥土，減少水災風險，亦改善景觀，成為居民日常運動散步的好去處。計劃於2009年獲得美國景觀設計師協會卓越獎。
委內瑞拉二手書巿集 Avenida Fuerzas Armadas, Venezuela
在委內瑞拉的首都加拉加斯，巿中心的大型公路底下，大片天橋底空間，如今變成了巿民的蒲點，而吸引到來的人，不止有年輕人，還有老人家——天橋底的其中一邊，現在打造成二手書巿集，橋疐被髹上活潑的顏色，橋疐之間則設有一間接一間的書店盒子，琳瑯滿目，瞬即成為文青熱點；而另一邊廂，則擺放有一張接一張的桌椅，上了年紀的人每天到來捉棋，場面熱鬧壯觀。本來浪費空間、死氣沉沉的天橋底，只不過簡單地改造一下，不止美觀得多，甚至發揮社會功能，讓不同年齡的人，也可在這裏與人聯繫、進行社交活動。
而在橋底擺書攤的，更有名的例子是英國倫敦的南岸書巿。這個書攤，起初並非源自政府的規劃，而是在1980年代，由一對賣書的夫婦，用紙箱拿書到橋底向正要前往劇院的觀眾兜售開始。久而久之，現在橋底已發展成有近10個書攤，甚至成為遊客景點。
西雅圖橋底單車場地 I-5 Colonnade, Seatle
在高速公路的橋底，西雅圖在2005年打造了當時美國第一個城巿山地單車場地 I-5 Colonnade，及後，美國開始發展這種城巿單車公園，至今已興建逾百個。這裏本來與其他天橋底無異，同樣幽暗隱蔽，成為社會問題的溫床，及後由民間組織開拓，成為越野單車一較高下的地方。不過，雖有創新的硬件，管理及營運也是不能忽略的環節，於是數年後，使用者下降、無家者再次進駐，至2015年，當地開展檢討，與民間研究改善方案，例如增加通往公園的路徑、增強與鄰近社區連結等。
地點：印尼、英國、美國、委內瑞拉
圖片：網上資料
When spaces under the world’s flyovers become urban living rooms
Shortage of land is a perpetual problem. Discussions we have about creative solutions such as floating cities might seem to be a way out, butif we take a closer look at our city we might found a lot more spaces abandoned than we are aware of.Some of these spaces are right beneath flyovers. Hong Kong has a well-developed road network with over 1,400 flyovers. While spaces beneath some of these flyovers are transformed into paved walks and public toilets, there are far more unable to be put to use due to insufficient natural light and eventually become nothing other than mere dark corners.
Is there a way to reconstruct all these spaces beneath flyovers for better use? Let’s take a look at some interesting examples of how other big cities replan the use of spaces beneath flyovers.
Taman Film, Indonesia
Taman Film, the ‘urban living room’ under an overpass situated in Bandung, the third largest city of Indonesia, has a massive screen and a curvilinear stepping array of seats covered in artificial grass where people can sit together, not shoulder to shoulder like in cinemas, but comfortably in reasonable distances. When Persib Bandung, the city’s local football club entered the final of Presidential Cup in 2015, thousands of spectators filled Taman Film to watch live broadcast.
Between screenings, there are also gatherings constantly going on in the park, with students hanging out on grass after school, mothers chitchatting at a corner, and lots of family get-togethers on Sundays. There is an unwritten agreement between residents to take off their shoes before entering the space and clean up after use, which keep Tamar Film, or the ‘urban living room’ as they claim, relatively clean and well maintained compared to other parks in the city. Maybe it is just as the design team said, “we feel that the design of friendly curves in various sizes and shapes —which perhaps inspire visitors to use the space in a democratic yet respectful manner –combined with the soft artificial grass are two secrets that led to the park’s success.”
The then mayor Ridwan Kamil, who was also a trained architect, is the brains behind Taman Film. Harnessing his connections and influence, he raised enough funding to make the project happen and saw to it contractors and authorities come up with a plan that would suit the needs of the nearby communities. Two years later, Taman Film was completed and the idea of increasing screening spaces for Bandung’s film community was realised asa public space that all the residents love.
Malt by St Market, London
The space beneath a 20th century railway viaduct near Tower Bridge, London, was turned into Malt by St Market in 2010, a place where locals hunt for street food. Every weekend, hawkers spread out parasols and table cloths, selling freshly made waffles, hand-drip coffees, and traditional Scottish eggs to food lovers who often cannot wait to sit down at one of the tables laid out on the street and have a taste. Most of the arch-shaped spaces underneath the brick viaduct were used as warehouses until an influx of craft beer bars, fruit stores, seafood restaurants, and later a bakery opened by a Michelin chef-run bistro.
One of its founders, Adrian Amos, comes from a family which had been running a lumber workshop under the viaduct for years. The space is rented to hawkers during weekends when the workshop closes. With a unique backdrop put together with wooden boards in various shapes and sizes, it has became an extraordinary scene where hawkers wholeheartedly prepare delicacies for people to munch on.
Sabine Promenade, Texas
Sabine Promenade was once a desolate and neglected area traversed by numerous overpasses. In 1986, social enterpriseBuffalo Bayou Partnership commissioned SWA Group to design a master plan for a major park at this location. The scheme provided cycling tracks and paved walks that gave people access to the centre of Houston. The steep banks stabilized with native riparian plants not only increased conveyance of floodwater but also enhanced views, transforming the location into a place where people love to go for a walk and exercises. In 2009, the project received the Award of Excellence from the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Avenida Fuerzas Armadas, Venezuela
A vast space beneath a flyover in the city centre of Caracas, Venezuela has become a new hotspot not just for youngsters but also the elderly. One side of the space has been made into a second-hand book market with box-like bookstores installed in between columns decorated with vibrantly colourful paints, while the other was fitted with tables and chairs that attract the elderly to come to play chess day in and day out. The once dull and abandoned space under the flyover has been transformed through a makeover into a place with social function that allows people of different generations to mingle.Amore famous example of the book-selling scene underneath flyovers is the South Bank Book Market in London, UK. The book market started off not because of government planning but a couple selling books out of carton boxes to crowds making their way to the theatre. As time went by, the space is now filled with nearly ten book sellers and has become a tourist attraction.
I-5 Colonnade, Seattle
In 2005, America’s first urban mountain bike park I-5 Colonnade was built beneath an interstate highway in Seattle.Since then, more than a hundred of urban bike parks were built all over the country. Just like any other spaces under flyovers, it was dark and covert, and a hotbed of social problems until an NGO proposed to transform it into a space where mountain bikers could test their skills. However, the reputation of this once innovatively used land was let down by sub-standard management and operation, which left this place once again unused and reoccupied by homeless people. In 2015, authorities started working with NGOs on solutions to reconnect nearby communities with the space, such as increasing access to the park.
Location: Indonesia, UK, the U.S., Venezuela
Image: Internet
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