Studio Visit: Rotterdam’s Urban Development Team
25 January 2019 16:30 - 19:30
Studio Visits is a series of evenings dedicated to contemporary architectural practice, its challenges and its possibilities. Rotterdam's Urban Development Team invites professionals, students and the broader public to cross the threshold, take a peek into the architect's workplace and join the conversation.
This Studio Visit is fully booked.
Rotterdam's Urban Development Team
The Municipality of Rotterdam's Urban Development Team is committed to maintaining and improving the city's spatial quality. The team monitors the relationship between architecture, public space, traffic and green spaces. The team comprises 29 urban planning experts responsible for disciplines such as landscape, housing, the environment, planning and zoning, and is part of the department of Space & Living. This department contributes towards the objectives of the city's vision: a strong economy and an attractive residential environment.
The urban planners are responsible for identifying and visualising spatial-programmatic opportunities that can reinforce Rotterdam's housing and business climate. The team is active at a variety of scales (from city to building), in a variety of roles (from initiating to facilitating) and with a variety of products (from policy and vision to project parameters), both internally and externally. They have an integral working method, conducted in partnership with colleagues from departments including Welfare, Cultural history, Landscape, Traffic, Environment and Economy, as well as external parties such as developers and architects.
The visit on 25 January 2018 begins with an introduction by head Urban Planning Mattijs van Ruijven. Urban planner Maurice Boumans will then illustrate the team's working method in relation to the development of Katendrecht, after which urban planner Esther Heemskerk will talk about Rotterdam's architecture policy. Finally, the group will assemble for a discussion around the model of the city centre. The evening will end with a drink.
Studio Visits
Hosted and curated by an architectural studio in collaboration with Het Nieuwe Instituut, each evening will be organized around a tour, a presentation, an open conversation and a celebration. The gathering will serve as a catalyst for debate and architectural discourse; for strategizing urban policies and actions; for collaboration, forms of solidarity, and friendship as well as competition; and for - why not? - architectural gossip. Studio Visits is also a space in which to reformulate the social position of the architect in a fundamentally changed field of influence, by collectively exploring possible roles and responsibilities.
Previous Studio Visits were hosted by studios with diverse spatial configurations, forms of practice and portfolios: Powerhouse Company, Casanova+Hernandez, Lilith Ronner van Hooijdonk, LOLA Landscape Architects and MVRDV.
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