Building Ecologies: Nature in the CityBuilding Ecologies: Nature in the City

The afternoon programme Building Ecologies: Nature in the City will kick-off with a brief introduction to the Nature of Hope theme by IABR director Saskia van Stein and Nature of Hope curators Janna Bystrykh, Catherine Koekoek, Alina Paias, Hani Salih and Noortje Weenink.

Then British architect, educator and writer Jeremy Till (MOULD) will give a keynote lecture followed by a conversation with Baerbel Mueller ([APPLIED] FOREIGN AFFAIRS) and Pedro Aparicio-Llorente (APLO Architecture & Landscape). In this conversation some of the geological, historical and social aspects are explored of how architecture plays a role in contributing to biodiversity, local ecologies and social connectivity. And what is needed for a more hopeful, regenerative spatial design practice.

Rotterdam Architecture Month (RAM), International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR), and Nieuwe Instituut invite Chicago-based urban designer Emmanuel Pratt to talk about the work of the Sweet Water Foundation; a community-rooted, non-profit organisation that practices Regenerative Neighbourhood Development (RND). Emmanuel Pratt will reflect on experiences and exchanges during his visit through a conversation with participants to RAM, IABR and the audience - reflecting on designing and building ecologies in Chicago, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and other places and spaces.

Emmanuel Pratt's talk offers a critical examination of how cities utilize resources, labor, land, and materials to address societal and climate crisis in response to the future of the built environment. The conversation explores how SWF's practice of Regenerative Neighbourhood Development at its Communiversity campus instead cultivates true Common Wealth - the spaces, structures, networks, resources, and opportunities essential to mending the urban fabric, healing communities, and equipping our neighborhoods to thrive rather than merely survive. The talk invites us to imagine: "What if??? What if.... development took place on a human and eco-logical scale, fueled by critical connections that cultivate the relationships and collective commitment to do the work necessary to re-story a new vision for a future rooted in nature and hope?"

For the past two decades, Pratt’s work has interrogated the cross-sectionality of architecture, urban design, urban planning, agroecology, art, and human development. Emmanuel Pratt is the co-founder and Executive Director of Sweet Water Foundation (SWF), a community-rooted non-profit organisation headquartered in Chicago. Emmanuel Pratt was a Harvard GSD Loeb Fellow in 2017, a 2019 Joyce Award recipient, and a 2019 MacArthur Fellow.

Since 2014, Sweet Water Foundation (SWF) has re-generated and re-storied six contiguous city blocks in the South Side of Chicago into what is now known as The Commonwealth. Today, The Commonwealth is a bio-dynamic Communiversity campus for Urban Ecology, Human Development, Civic Arts, and Regenerative Neighbourhood Development (RND). RND is an interdisciplinary and intergenerational practice that offers a unique blend of design, agroecology, and lifelong education that cultivates the physical spaces, programmes, and resources necessary to heal and nurture people across cultures, geographies, and generations.

The visit of Emmanuel Pratt is made possible by the International Visitors Programme of the Nieuwe Instituut with support from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs – along with support from Rotterdam Architecture Month and International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam.