Besides meetings with the authorities and the official events of the state visit, King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands visits the ‘Next City Living Lab’, the Dutch pavilion at Beijing Design Week. The expo embodies innovation and creativity for a better urban future, it also aims to demonstrate the spirit and strengths of Dutch design: Delft University of Technology presents Reclaiming the Human Space to promote social sustainability and better standards of life. In this expo, the king is being informed on the future urban challenges in the People’s Republic, including humanisation of planning, integration of social groups, recreation of community places, and rehabilitation of daily-life environments. This agenda is exposed in the midst of other exhibitions from leading Dutch design firms including West8, OMA, MVRDV, NL Architects and UN Studio.
Tag Archives: urban space
UN: Public Spaces for All
Happy World Habitat Day!
The purpose of World Habitat Day, October 5th 2015, is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns. This year the United Nations chose the theme ‘Public Spaces for All designed to live Together’ as very relevant for the Habitat Agenda.
The objectives of World Habitat Day 2015 aim to raise awareness about the need for well designed and managed public spaces and streets. Great to see that one of the key themes of my research group Design of Urban Fabrics takes centre stage also for UN Habitat.
see:
Urban October: World Habitat Day
UN-Habitat – United Nations Human Settlements Programme
United Nations Office at Nairobi
Reclaiming the Human Space
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Delft University of Technology and Beijing University of Technology at Beijing Design Week Exhibition 1 Reclaiming the Human Space 23rd September – 30th October 2015 The Nurturing House, Dashilar In the past decade, Beijing has focused on overall strategies for its rapid urban development. New functional zones, land-use layout, and a comprehensive traffic system, laid the basis for a booming urban economy, and widespread social wealth. Iconic buildings by global starchitects, including works by the ‘Big Dutch’, are evidence of this development. The city has been reshaped. Yet, along its motorways, and in its streets and alleys, we see other images of the city. People feel lost, houses are dilapidated, and the quality of urban spaces is relatively low. The current generation of international design students is taking on these big small-scale issues. Their designs show a more human-centred approach. Therefore, they take the culture of the city as their starting point and work across disciplines in search of answers. A clear paradigm shift. The collaborating universities of technology in Delft and Beijing strongly support this people-oriented approach by means of research. Here they present the outcome of recent studio work as a visual manifesto, forecasting four major challenges in the long-term development trend of the city: Humanisation of Infrastructural Wastelands; Integration of Modernist Fragments; Recreation of Community Places; Rehabilitation of Daily-Life Environments. |
代尔夫特理工大学与 北京工业大学在 北京国际设计周 第一展区 重塑人性空间 2015年9月23日至10月30日 保苖民居,大栅栏 过去几十年间，高速发展是北京城市建设的主旋律。新的功能组团、土地使用区划和综合性的交通系统构成了城市经济发展和社会财富积累的基础。包括荷兰建筑师在内的明星建筑师们所设计的标志性建筑物，就是这一时期的产物。城市在被重新塑造着。但是，在城市快速路的两侧，在街道边，在小巷里，我们看到的是不同的城市景象。人们失去了他们曾经拥有的，房屋在逐渐老化而城市空间的质量在相对下降。这里所呈现的学生联合设计作品面对的正是这一重要却又往往被忽视的议题。他们的设计所秉承的是一种更加人性化的态度，然而却从城市的文化角度出发，通过跨学科的合作寻求答案。这无疑是种范式的转变。代尔夫特理工大学与北京工业大学的合作从研究的意义上为这种以人为本的设计方向提供了强有力的支持。本次展览所展现的学生作品可视为一次视觉上的宣言，预告了城市长期发展趋势中面临的四项主要挑战：基础设施建设的人性化、现代主义城市空间的整合、社区场所的再造、以及日常生活环境的复兴。 |
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Design for the People
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Delft University of Technology and Beijing University of Technology at Beijing Design Week Exhibition 2 Design for the People 23rd September – 7th October 2015 The Shijia Hutong Museum Annex Within boosting big-scale Beijing, community-based spatial action gain exposure. Top-down development and market oriented real-estate is supplemented by communal initiatives. Participatory design is emerging. People ask themselves: How can we make our common courtyards and alleyways more attractive places to linger? Members of the Shijia Hutong Area are pioneering in initiatives inquired by design. Their recently opened museum is one of the many projects. At this place and together with their local partners, the universities of technology of Beijing and Delft present the exhibition ‘Design for the People’ to the public. It showcases a wide set of interrelated design issues inspired and supported by locals: Social investigation and among others the recording of hutong oral history show that improvements on their own living environment are free from any theoretical disciplinary restraint. Their suggestions to strengthen micro-economy derive from local entrepreneurship. Their appreciation for historic streets come from their own memory. Likewise, one will discover that the combat with the increase transport and tourism is foremost their own struggle. In this expo daily issues matter. These have inspired collaborating young designers to rethink issues on a local level. By visualising physical improvements and emphasising the added value for the people, now these designers aim to inspire locals vice versa. Therefore, local residents and visitors are invited to vote for their favoured future. |
代尔夫特理工大学与 北京工业大学在 北京国际设计周 第二展区 为人民设计 2015年9月23日至10月7日 史家胡同博物馆 在北京的大规模城市建设中，以社区为基础的空间规划行为逐渐显现出其重要性。社区层面的主动性成为了自上而下的规划建设与市场导向的房地产开发的补充。参与式设计越来越普遍。人们不禁会自问：如何将我们共用的院落或胡同变成更加宜人的场所？史家胡同所在的社区就是实践这一理念的先行者，而新近建成开放的史家胡同博物馆则是其中的一个典型案例。与当地的合作伙伴一道，北京工业大学和代尔夫特理工大学以“为人民设计”为题在这里向公众展示我们的工作成果，内容包括一系列与社区合作进行的、相互关联的设计项目。社会调查与胡同口述史的纪录展现了人们对于改善他们自身生活环境的需求和为之进行的努力，而这些并未为我们理论上所谓的学科差异所限。他们认同当地小商业对于微观经济的贡献；他们怀念记忆中的历史街巷；同样地，他们发觉不断增大的车流和过度的旅游开发是首要面对的挑战。日常生活是这次展览的重点，并将促使合作参与的年轻设计师们重新思考社区层面的议题。通过体现物质空间质量的改善及强调其对于社区居民的意义，设计师们也向居民们提供了新的思路。同时，社区居民和参观者也有机会投票选择他们中意的设计。 |
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Beijing Design Week 2015
The Dutch ambassador, Mr. Aart Jacobi, expressed:
“I have seen that much can be gained from matching Chinese and Dutch expertise in collaborative creative partnerships jointly working to-wards improving the quality of life in our cities for the long-term. It’s wonderful to see so many of our country’s key innovators taking part in the Next City Living Lab. This shows that China is an important partner for the Netherlands, also in the creative industries.”
Beijing Design Week 2015 北京国际设计周
10yrs of Graduation Projects
Liveability and Public Space in the Happy City
9th September 2015, 8:45-10:30h
Lecture
Delft University of Technology
Room: IO-Bernd Schierbeek
Landbergstraat 15
Delft
My faculty in Delft is one of the world’s largest in the field of architecture and urban design. “It is a place that is buzzing with life from early in the morning until late at night, with four thousand people studying, working, designing, conducting research and acquiring and disseminating knowledge*.” In this environment, I have supervised quite some graduates in their final master thesis, all focussed on liveability and public space. What can we learn from them and how to proceed?
Liveability and Public Space in the Happy City [download pdf]
Everyone Contributes
Singapore has been undergoing a fast growth scheme in a short time frame. No single person, no single firm or institution, not even a single government can solve all themselves. So, within the international Vertical Cities Asia competition, exactly this is challenged in the Paya Lebar area. How to house hundred-thousand people per square kilometre in the future?
Without People, No City!
Socio-Spatial Processes in Rotterdam
Challenging the City by means of Urban Design
Each year, collaboratively a mix of about 100 students have been challenged to improve the environment of people by strategically intervening in the urban fabric. They have been asked to do so in a sustainable and feasible way, and on a small scale. Next to a majority of urban designers and landscape architects, we’ve seen architects and planners joining the design teams too, and incidentally a social-geographer and a civil engineer. The multidisciplinary approach has added not only to the richness of the scope of solutions, but also and foremost to new understanding of the complex problems the city is facing.
Publicly-Known Space
| Delft University of Technology Oxford Brookes University University of Zagreb and University of Rijeka Exhibition Hartera/Školjic/Rijeka 17-27 October 2014 Association of Architects of Rijeka Four European universities explored the revitalisation of the former paper factory in Rijeka within the entire zone Školjić. For a large number of people from Rijeka, this former industrial zones, including zone Školjić does not exist in their mental image of the city or they are perceived as areas without access. The purpose of this exhibition could be seen at least a three-fold: to introduce the younger generation of citizens of Rijeka with its own city throughout its coverage; show them a way of growth and development of the city; affect the development of sensitivity to the construction heritage not only the representational type but that is often considered to be the not worth watching. |
Technische Universiteit Delft Oxford Brookes University Sveučilište u Zagrebu i Sveučilište u Rijeci Izložba Hartera/Školjic/Rijeka 17- 27 Listopada 2014 Društvo Arhitekata Rijeka Četiriju europskih sveučilišta istražili revitalizacije bivše Tvornice papira Rijeka i cijele zone Školjić. U mentalnoj slici vlastitoga grada većeg broja Riječana bivše industrijske zone, uključujući i zonu Školjić, ne postoje ili ako postoje, percipiraju se kao zone bez pristupa. Svrha posjeta ovoj izložbi mogla bi se vidjeti u najmanju ruku kao troslojna: upoznati mlađe generacije Riječana s vlastitim gradom u cijelom njegovom obuhvatu; pokazati im jedan od načina rasta i razvoja grada; utjecati na razvoj senzibiliteta prema građevinskom nasljeđu ne samo onog reprezentativnog tipa nego i onog često smatranog ne vrijednim gledanja. |
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Abandoned Area
Rehabilitation of Hartera
Only a few people live and work in Hartera. It used to be a vibrant part of the city of Rijeka where hundreds of people were flocking in and out every day. Today, this area largely abandoned. Its famous paper factory closed its doors about a decade ago and since then the area fell into decay. Nevertheless, despite its decline, Hartera is all but forgotten! On the contrary; Hartera is in the minds of many people. Locals will relate the area to its rich industrial heritage, unique buildings and great views to the hills. Some people refer to its annual music festival, current grassroots events, and emerging cultural scene. Although Hartera is known by most people, seldom it is used by many. The challenge for the public government of Rijeka and many other actors is to make this area public with respect to the multiple images people have of the site. This area can become publicly-used, not just publicly-known. A spa facility or entertainment park will not be answers for this particular side, nor will it be for example a shopping mall. Those kinds of development stimulate appropriation of the space by special target groups, blocking the way for others, and/or they change the identity of the area so drastically that people will change their perception of the area and neglect the newly developed as soon as it will becomes out of date again.