NAI Symposium: Wijkonomie Tarwewijk

Tomorrow (Feb. 22^nd) the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) organizes the symposium: Wijkonomie Tarwewijk on how local entrepreneurship can strengthen both economic and social vitality of a neighbourhood and how design interventions and strategies can be more valuable in the long term?

Wouter Vanstiphout -on behalf of Crimson Architectural Historians- together with Maxwan A+U have developed one of the contributions: a top down strategy to allow for a bottom up transformation of Tarwewijk, Rotterdam South, and, potentially, many lower income communities.

Based on the statement that the major strategic error of Dutch and other urban renewal policies is that they focus only on certain communities, serving to create mono-cultural, dependent, poor neighbourhoods resulting in a 20% vacancy rate in Tarwewijk, they propose to turn this vacancy into an advantage by transforming completely vacated thirties blocks into a ‘Special Economic Block’, a safe zone from the municipal policy on the environment, branding, building and housing, urban renewal, the creative economy and standard commercial regulations.

The blocks are cut into large lots that are then free for development for entrepreneurs who issue both a strong business plan and a rebuilding plan as an investment commitment to the area. Here they are inspired by the highly successful Rotterdam Klushuis initiative, but apply the principle not to new house buyers, but to small and medium sized aspiring businesses. The strategy aims that the combination of the strong urban structure of the blocks, the proven entrepreneurial spirit of the participants, the liberation of administrative barriers to entrepreneurship and the taboo-free guidance of the architectural transformation, will lead to a bottom-up commercial building, and an inner city Special Economic Zone, or a Special Economic Block

This event is organized by Droog in collaboration with Kosmopolis Rotterdam, Jan Konings and the Netherlands Architecture Institute and is supported by DOEN Foundation. It starts at 19:30h. and  costs € 5,- (only € 3 for students). You can Register here

Lecture and Debate

After a period of exams and final presentations, the faculty of Architecture in Delft will have some pretty cool events coming up and Design as Politics will be there!

First on Tuesday (Feb.14) at 18:00, the why factory will present two new books ‘Hong Kong Fantasies’ and ‘Vertical Village’. After the book launch, Wouter Vanstiphout will join the debate with – among others- Winny Maas, Paul Schnabel and Arnold Reijndorp on city branding and bottom-up urbanism. Sounds like a lot of Fun!

If you want more, check the Stylos Social Engineering Week, with lectures, workshops, exhibitions and debates around the influence of the user and the importance of interdisciplinarity in design and architectural education. Every day during lunch (12:30-13:30) or in the afternoon you can find inspiring lectures from a wide range of professionals. Wouter Vanstiphout will take care of the last session on Friday at 12:3o titled: “Damn thé Master’s Plan!”

Both events take place in the orange room (you can’t miss it) and are open for everyone. We hope to see you there!

International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam

If you by any chance walk around in the architecture faculty of Delft, pass by the nearest coffee corner to get your copy of B-nieuws (Also available online). Inside this faculty magazine you find the announcement of the Design as Politics contribution to the 5^th international architecture Biennale Rotterdam ‘Making the City’.

Our contribution to the Biennale consists of the publication of book 6 in the Design and Politics series and an exhibition in the recently renovated Hofbogen in Rotterdam, both presenting the results of research conducted within the chair and a selection of student work from the studio’s Rotterdam-Detroit, Istanbul-the Green Heart and São Paulo-Randstad. To stay updated on developments around this spectacular event, frequently check this section of our blog. To be continued.

Picture : Maarten Laupman

Avoid Ghetto App

There is no such thing as bad publicity, right? Well Microsoft will probably disagree. Their recently registered patent for a new GPS feature was nicknamed the ‘avoid ghetto app’.

This new software for smartphones and other portable GPS devices is intentionally meant to help travelers avoiding bad weather, tough terrain and unsafe neighborhoods. It uses a combination of information from maps, weather reports, crime statistics and demographics to determine the most effective route to their final destination. Sounds harmless and even useful, but Steve Ballmer (Here in Nova Collegetour) and friends are now being accused of potential racism and reinforcing stereotypical views of certain ethnicities and socio-economic classes.

Might be true, but even more alarming is its possible influence on cities. Dividing them into save and unsafe areas will chop the city in two, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by further isolation of already weak areas and marking whole communities as ghetto or no-go zones. The social and economic impact can be huge and many fear that a Ghetto mark will lead to abandonment, disinvestment and degradation of areas. Microsoft refused to comment.

Architecture and Economics

While organizations as occupy and documentaries like inside job point at bankers as the reason for our current economic crisis, the guys from Barclays Capital have now found the solution: let’s blame tall buildings!

Their recently published skyscraper-index (pdf) shows the link between the construction of the world’s tallest building and an approaching financial crisis. The report -written in the 42th floor of a Hong Kong office building- states that skyscrapers are not only the ultimate symbol of capitalism, welfare and power, but also a monument of hubris and megalomania. The development of the world’s highest building, so they say, is often representing a world wide construction boom: initiated in times of easy credit, rising land prices and excessive optimism, although completed when the economy has already slipped into recession.

The world’s first skyscraper -the 8 stories high Equitable Life Building in New York (1873)- is directly a textbook example since its completion went hand in hand with the five-year recession, known as the long depression. Many others followed. The Chrysler building and the Empire State building were completed on the eve of the 1929 Great Depression. The twin-towers opened their doors just before the oil crisis, the Taipei 101 when the Dot-com bubble popped and we don’t have to mention what happened around 2010 when the Burj Khalifa was completed.

Fortunately, there is currently no higher building under construction, but plans are made to reach the kilometer. At the same time Renzo Piano will this year top-off Europe, the Chinese won’t wait, and also Rotterdam’s high-rise ambitions and the forced construction of de Rotterdam does not predict a prosperous future. Maybe architects among us should think twice, before taking a commission for projects like these and watch out for the skyscraper curse. But well. Who trusts bankers now anyway?

Damn the Masters Plan!

If you happen to be in Luxembourg on February 3^rd, you should definitely visit the conference on Architecture, European Urbanisation and Globalisation at the University of Luxembourg. Wouter Vanstiphout will give a lecture titled Damn the Masters Plan!: Riots, Plans and Politics in Western Cities”. Do I have to explain more?

The conference is open to public and free of charge, however reservation is required: march@uni.lu For those who don’t speak Luxembourgish: The conference will be in English

Lecture Series Video

Dear students of the Blame the Architect lecture series,
This is what you should do to get your grade.

Make a Youtube video of 5 to 10 minutes, describing an urban riot that could happen in a place you know. Incorporate the themes presented in the lecture series and project them on a fictional situation, giving special attention to the role of architecture and urban planning. Use images, texts, maps, diagrams, drawings, numbers or just use your hands. Be creative! Like the Danish.

If you need more inspiration click Here, Here, Here and Here. Still completely lost? Follow the Roadmap below:

1. Select a city you know well that holds the ingredients needed for an Urban riot
2. Describe the urban and political history of the city in so far relevant for the incidents
3. Describe the social, economic and political structure of the city relevant to the incidents
4. Imagine, describe and visualize a triggering event
5. Describe and visualize the ensuing riots
6. Describe the use of modern media
7. Describe the physical and social effects on the city
8. Imagine and visualize the role of popular culture
9. Imagine the possible role of architects before and after the riots
10. Use the story to demonstrate your opinion and analysis of the relationship between architecture and urban violence

Your deadline is March 15th. Students who cannot make it should send an email to: M.RelatsTorante@tudelft.nl and make a personal arrangement. This can be done until one week before the deadline. As promised, we added some (strongly) recommended literature at the end of this page