Future cities – Talks and projects from Dutch Design Week 2020
How is design shaping the future of urban areas? What projects are actually tackling the livability of our cities? How should public spaces define metropolitan experiences?
Despite the rediscovery of rural areas and a timid movement away from city centres fostered by the pandemic and its lockdowns, urban areas will keep a central role for the great majority of us: the convenience and the diversified offering of a modern city are still a priority for the many.
But our lives evolve along with our consciousness and concerns: as new habits are introduced in our daily routines the way we approach city life is also bound to change.
As a partner of Dutch Design Week, DesignWanted supports the 2020 virtual edition of the festival putting forward the conversation on Future Cities, to explore how architecture and design can improve our quality of life in urban areas.
Should we design our houses to be as dynamic as the people who live them? This is one of the topics addressed in the DDW Talks: Future Cities, with Erna van Holland moderating the discussion, joined by the owner of Tangram Architecten Bart Mispelblom Beyer, sector economist at ABN Amro Nadia Menkveld, intervention architect Paul Kuipers and experience architect Renée Scheepers.
The conversation reveals intriguing concepts on the future of urban living such as “the city as a service”: people are moving “from owning to using” for practical purposes and even because the perception of status is changing to become less associated with ownership but more experiences-oriented.
As the adoption of sharing economy models is on the rise in urban contexts, the concern for sustainable practices is also increasing.
The work of The Tyre Collective is focused on decreasing tyre emissions through a patent-pending technology that employs electrostatics and airflow to capture tyre wear directly from the wheel. The startup has also put in place a program for “Awareness and Action” to collaborate with local governments in raising awareness and run pilot tests of the device with public transport companies.
Heard of Dutch Design Week? Discover the 2020 edition.
The Urban Foraging project by multidisciplinary design studio SHARP AND SOUR questions the critical approach to food consumption in cities today. As the population grows and moves towards urban centres, the concern for sustainable supply and efficient economic model rises, questioning global consumption habits in a provocative project.
Can we rebuild a house using only circular methods and biobased materials? The Exploded View is a project by the Embassy of Circular & Biobased Building as part of a program of the Dutch Design Foundation named World Design Embassies.
The project involves designers, entrepreneurs, researchers, and policymakers joining efforts to find solutions for construction which are climate and people-oriented.
The research for a more sustainable future continues with Studio Tjeerd Veenhoven presenting in the project Het Circulaire Station a collection of sustainable building produced using local raw substances for a circular station design.
Finally, the biophilic-design project Urban Stem – presented by Rollo Bryant for his graduation from Design Academy Eindhoven – consists of public lighting pieces designed to become artificial habitats for plants and animals which integrate into the urban infrastructure.
Dutch Design Week is a renowned design event for its experimental focus and daring spirit, we have talked about its story with the founder Martijn Paulen.
