‘The Next City’ brings together a distinguished group of institutions, designers and thinkers to examine the implications of new approaches to projective research & design. It gathers 8 schools in a multidisciplinary research of Beijing and Rotterdam: CAFA, Tsinghua and BIFT from Beijing, TU Delft, Design Academy, Sandberg Institute and Artez Fashion from the Netherlands. Central to this joint research & design studio is the question of how and where cities will need to change in order to accommodate future sustainable growth in respect of current conditions but more important its dreams and desires. What improvements are to be undertaken and what problems need to be solved in order to achieve a high(er) quality of life for the next generation inhabitants of Beijing and Rotterdam?

Varosha! is set up as a parametric driven research and design studio to investigate on possibilities for the rehabilitation of Famagusta. The aim is to create a variety of scenarios for not just Famagusta residents but for the entire island of Cyprus by using the UN Bufferzone as a catalyst for new developments and change. Why not appointing the UN buffer zone as a third state? As a starting point for new developments based on collaboration, shared interests and common environmental and economical problems? This studio is an attempt to reinvent Cyprus by using the potentials and opportunity of the abandoned border zone.
Curator: Tihamér Salij, Team: Olivier Arditi, Estafania Mompean Botias, Paula Grabowska, Ifigenia Lambrou, Elina Polychrodou, David Sellers

Imagine a city that assists and supports the desires and activities of its inhabitants; a city that absorbs and executes any human activity. This studio explores the dynamics and activities of city life and investigates on the city to appoint specific functions and tasks that can be fully automated and robotized. Students implement their proposed automated activity in a generic 3d city model to study the changes and effects on the city. Based on this exploration on automatic and robotic intelligence students will fantasize on where and how the city needs to change its shape, function and structure. This studio elaborates and designs a model city that is entirely driven by automation and robotics.
Master Design Studio, Fall Semester 2009, TU Delft

... under construction ....

All cities and regions are a result of different development formulae or models. The more successful cities are those that have based their planning on economic patterns and territorial understandings. This studio postulates that the formula may be found by diversifying the city’s core activities. Hong Kong will be used as a case study. Students were asked to formulate a variety of future scenarios by following possible speculative urban trends for Hong Kong. This studio explored the type of urbanity Hong Kong will need to change. In particular, it focused on the topics of concern potentially needed to bring future spatial change to Hong Kong.

Post Graduate Design Studio, 1st Semester 2008, Berlage Institute Rotterdam

About 70 students from the Berlage Institute, Beijing University of Technology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University and Delft University of Technology gathered for two weeks at the Chinese University of Hong Kong to study future development strategies for Hong Kong. By on-site fieldwork, this Master Class analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of Hong Kong and identified its potentials on a global, national, regional and local scale. This joint Master Class was part of the Studio 'Hong Kong Fantasies' and was an initiative by the IFoU (Internat. Forum on Urbanism) in collaboration with the Why Factory (TU-Delft), the Berlage Institute and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, with financial support in the framework of the ‘Open Minds’ program by the Dutch Ministry of Economy.

Can we think of a future where the city grows by itself driven by its own and by human desire? Will cities become smart enough to support sudden change? What kind of cities can we think of? Soft Cities? Growing Cities? Self Healing Cities? Hyper-Automated City? Self-Destructible Cities? Hyper-Transformable Cities? Cyborg Cities? Matrix Cities? What happens to the buildings; Transformer architecture or on the contrary, blank-white screen-architecture onto which different ideas can be projected? How smart can the city and its architecture be? Can the city adapt to the needs of its inhabitant?

Master Design Studio/ Graduation Studio, Spring/ Fall Semester 2008, TU Delft

How to design a new world wonder? By contemplating the wonders of the ancient world, and analyzing the modern world wonders of the New7Wonders Organization, this studio established four elemental keywords from which the students explored the many dreams of architectural fantastications: scale, technology, iconography and myth. These keywords served as design factors in order to challenge and constitute the wonder.
Do you dare to design the next world wonder?

Master Design Studio, Spring Semester 2008, TU Delft

Olympic Games can be seen as a motor for new urban developments. The bottleneck of such vast investments is the after use of its large-scale stadiums. What can we do to avoid that stadiums turn into so-called “white elephants”? Munich, Athens, Sydney, Barcelona and Beijing invested heavily in creating landmarks but most of these stadiums are used infrequently. This studio researches and designs possibilities for combining Olympic venues considering a long-term urban program. Can the stadium be used for housing and offices? How? Can it become a giant mall? Or even a city? What are the benefits?
Research & Design Studio, Spring Semester 2007, Berlage Institute Rotterdam/ Master Design Studio, 3rd year 2007, Academy of Architecture Rotterdam

A Healthy city? Can it exist? What components are needed to do that? This studio investigates the feasibility of a Netherlands Olympics, looking at themes like climate change, water management and energy production, as well as innovative ideas for stadiums, infrastructure and athlete accomodation.
What is the speculative ability of the Olympic Games for 2028 in the Netherlands? This studio explores the possibilities of the ideal Olympics by analyzing and speculating on its program, time frame and spatial requirements.

Postgraduate Design Studio, 1st Semester Fall 2006, Berlage Institute/ Master Design Studio, 3rd year 2006, Academy of Architecture Rotterdam

... under construction ...

What is the Ruhrgebiet through the eye of a local or a tourist, a trucker, mine worker, pensioner, shop owner, child, football supporter, politician, artist? What are the specific images of the collective mind? Identity is a complex and essential notion for individuals. It is not only the basis of our judgement and behavior, but also the foundation of our desires and aspirations. This studio discovers, visualizes and documents the spatial and personal identity of the Ruhrgebiet by the eye of the camera and contributes to the exhibition 'Rhein Ruhr City' at the NRW-FORUM in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Documentary Film Studio, 3rd year Spring Semester 2002, Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam

PROJECT: MACUIL-TOCHTLI HACIENDA
LOCATION: JALISCO, MEXICO
PROGRAM: TEQUILA DISTILLERY WITH SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PROGRAM
STATUS: SKETCH DESIGN
PROGRAM: 6600 M2
CLIENT: VICTOR M. BASURTO
CO-ARCHITECT: DAF-DF, MEXICO
GRAPHICS: STUDIO MINKE THEMANS
SOCIO-ECONOMIC RESEARCH/ PROGRAMMING: SPACE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: DOEPEL STRIJKERS ARCHITECTS

Urban Pigs

The phenomena of games and play are inherent to human behavior. Any type of game or play, from simple fun to serious sports competition, has always been a crucial factor both in the development of human culture and that of the individual from childhood to adulthood. Games and play are fundamental components in the evolution of human life and society: from homo sapiens, homo faber and homo ludens to homo athletica. Sports are everywhere. Millions all over the world enjoy sports. Spectators, investors, male, female, young, old and every race are all affected by sports. How do cities facilitate sports? How do the Olympic Games contribute to a sportive and healthy city? This research has been published in ‘NL28-Future Games’, NAI-Publishers, ISBN 978.90.5662.628.0

In general seaports can be pointed out as the epic center of global discoveries, international trade and intercultural exchange.
Nowadays, the relation between seaports and its city centers have been confronted with the problems attached to the changing nature of port activities. At this moment abandoned seaport districts such as the city ports area in Rotterdam stand on the threshold of a new future. What future?
Can we assembly harbor related organizations and institutions resulting in a powerful, creative, interactive and innovative community? Can we act local by thinking global and vice-versa?

Due to redevelopment plans of the entire neighborhood conterminous to the Garden Village "The Heij", S.I.A. proposed a swimming pool in combination with a community center for cultural programming and a floating stage for events and performances. Besides the creation of jobs, "Pleasure Edge" facilitates and revives the neighborhood and even attract people from abroad. A real up-valuation for the existing Garden Village as well as for the RDM district.

S.I.A. has been asked to make a design proposal for a recreational facility at the quays of the Heijse Haven in Rotterdam. Commissioner: Arcadis Rotterdam

The Wilhelminapier can be seen as an upcoming centerpart of Rotterdam with enormous ambitions to become the best place to be, to live, work and have fun at the many cultural events and restaurants located on the pier. It is a unique part of Rotterdam; it combines the present and the past, old warehouses with modern architecture and life style.

The warehouse “Las Palmas” is now giving space to the Beeldfabriek (a part of the SKVR) which is an educational institution and the Photomuseum Rotterdam. The rest of the building will be occupied by offices. A purely cultural building with a very strong identity has been degraded to an ordinary office building without much cultural spirit and power to resurrect the area.
How to re-invent a cultural place with a strong identity?

LAS PALMAS EXPERIENCE

How to realize these ambitions? How to make this dream called “Little Manhattan at the Maas” come true? “Las Palmas Experience” adds an urban quality to the pier. The roof of the Las Palmas building located in the center of the Wilhelminapier gets accessible by placing a wooden dock-like structure on top of it, which is connected by escalators on each side of the building. Thus it becomes a round-the-clock up-lifted public plaza. The usability of this plaza is diverse. The flexible structure gives space to public and private functions, whereas the plain design makes it easy practicable to ensure the potentials of the dream. “Las Palmas Experience” absorbs a healthy mix of culture, commerce and leisure. It is surprising at any moment of the day. A real revelation to all the people with all kinds of expectations, from young to old, from local inhabitants to employers to tourists and investors. “Las Palmas Experience” is a real urban meeting point - a cultural stage for the city of Rotterdam with an enormous force of attraction. All kinds of cultural institution can use this plaza as a satellite. Different programs varying from local to regional and to international events can take place on this unique urban plaza.
The warehouse “Las Palmas” becomes a cultural magnet again!

This text is Copyright © 2008 by SPACE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (S.I.A.), All Rights Reserved.

Den Bosch is seeking for a cultural meeting point to support the youth and the many subcultures of the city!

The Factory

An old factory building with a strong identity along the South-Willemsvaart at the edge of the center of Den Bosch was pointed out by the municipality as the best accomodation for such a cultural magnet. The building was built around 1885 and functioned as a metal and iron foundry.
In the year 2005, the municipality declared this building a monument to avoid its demolition, thus to encourage the idea of creating a cultural meeting point.
Under the name of "The Talent Factory" TR-Events b.v. programs and creates such a meeting point that adresses the many creative subcultures. The factory building - as desired - has a great charisma: a huge open space with high brick walls, a very beautiful wooden raftered ceiling. This rough magnificent lot represents a perfect environment for the rich program that TR-Events has to offer.

Concept

S.I.A.’s first spatial concept creates the best flexible and programmable creative space. By locating all basic facilities along the walls of the building it creates a kind of belt, a bufferzone that emphasizes the core space of the building - the creative space. The inner wall that seperates facilities with the creative space is designed as an intelligent wall, meaning it implicits various techniques, niches, walls, panels or barriers to divide, reclassify, upgrade and decorate the creative space within the needed existing program.

Commissioner: TR-Events, Den Bosch

This text is Copyright © 2008 by SPACE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (S.I.A.), All Rights Reserved.

The city of Rotterdam needs to activate its waterfronts to ensure a city-like charisma.

Waterfront

Rotterdam is one of the most famous harbor cities of the world, unfortunately without knowing how to design with the quality of water.
Along with the first rays of sunshine a holiday-like season starts with the opening of the beach in May. How nice could it be to take a nice urban swim in the center of Rotterdam?
Right in the middle of the city one can enjoy delicious drinks, dig one’s feet in the sand and take a deep fresh dive in the pool till the end of September.

Lagoon

The urban lagoon offers an enlarged sun deck, a nice bluish swimming pool with a slippy slide, a tribune for sitting and relaxing while enjoying the river-view - a real popular sunbathing site with a hip pool experience amidst the river Maas. One is delighted by the unique mixture of city and holiday.
The Urban Lagoon is a real relaxing meeting point - an urban oasis with an enormous force of attraction.

This text is Copyright © 2008 by SPACE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (S.I.A.), All Rights Reserved.

What does it take for a city to become world-class? Who decides? It’s not enough to look at a city’s economic performance. Great cities have always offered a more fundamental, abstract quality – a quality that no single ranking system has yet been able to measure. This book tries to define that quality, and introduces universal standards for its evaluation: The World-Class City Framework. Using this framework as a guide, this book fantasizes that Hong Kong, a city struggling to hold on to its reputation, makes a spectacular comeback as an exemplary world-class city. This fictional urban resuscitation reveals the shortcomings of Hong Kong and the flaws in the tools with which we assess all cities. In order to improve our cities, we may also have to refine our standards of judgement.

Today's cities present challenges, and ask for a different breed of designers; what are their responsibilities, values, and skills; and how do our design schools need to change in order to produce them? This book hypothesizes that interdisciplinary, intercultural education will be crucial for the preparation of the next generation of designers. It explores new models for design education, looking at the Next City Joint Studio as a first step.
The Next City Joint Studio has generated an enticing challenge: in the face of our rapidly urbanizing world, it is not enough to re-educate designers; we must, at the same time, re-design education.
(Publisher: Frame China; ISBN 978-988-15399-3-9)

Total Housing demonstrates the virtues of high and medium density multi-family homes, and is an antidote to urban sprawl. The selection of works spans a period coinciding with the height of the housing boom, and consequent bust, experienced in most “developed” economies in the first decade of the 21st century. From among the vast built production of this period, it presents 61 projects from 22 countries that exemplify outstanding innovations in construction systems, spatial organization, models of unit aggregation, and integration of the residential program into the complex of functions that make up our cities. This book is a design manual as much as a reference for future good practices. Its structure follows a simple sequential order of the number of homes included in each project.

Architecture is witnessing a situation best described as complex, confusing and uncertain. In the midst of the quest for survival, meaning and balanced choice, this uncertainty is also source of innovation and creation, a source for curiosity. Within this context the article 'The Crisis of the Future Image' has been published. This article makes a call to architects, urban planners and designers to 'reclaim the future' since it is being exploited by the film and entertainment industry, trend scouting and the stock market. The film industry especially the science fiction genre is dominating, cocooning and catapulting human being into a distant future full of technological trivialities. How to escape? Architects, urbanists and designers need to take responsibility in the creation of the image of the future?

‘NL28-Future Games’ offers a parade of spectacular visions on how the Olympics can transform the Netherlands. The book focuses on the spatial agenda of the Netherlands by linking themes as climate change, water management and energy production in surprising and startlingly new ways with solutions for stadiums, infrastructure and accommodation for athletes. This publication exposes different scenarios for the organization of the Olympics in the Netherlands in 2028. These are preceded by a historical timeline that gives a vivid impression of the impact that the Games have had on previous host cities such as Montreal, Sydney and Beijing. This publication is edited and written by SIA in collaboration with Joubert Architecture and outlines the basic concept for the exhibition held at the NAi.

KM3 is a story about a world that is getting dense. KM3 is a hypothesis, a theoretical city and a possible urban theory. It constructs its logic answer: a city that is continuously under construction, with space for limitless capacities, populations and possibilities. A city that continues to serve all demands while incorporating all desires. A city that enlarges our capacities within the current mass, as well as in the currently underused spaces – deserts, forests, seas, oceans, underground, even the skies. KM3 is a free fall in endless space; from the right to the left, from the front to the back, from above to below. Pure depth. Without escape, yet. Tihamér Salij together with MVRDV developed this publication containing 10 years of research after ‘FARMAX’. ACTAR-Publ., ISBN 84.95951.85.1

This publication generates a discussion on the possible future of the Rhein Ruhr Region, Germany. The REGIONMAKER has been developed as an innovative planning device and has been applied to the agglomeration at Rhine and Ruhr. This most radical and far-sighted analysis of the Rhein Ruhr City as well as the development of the REGIONMAKER have been made possible through a collaboration between the architecture office MVRDV, various academic institutions and international professionals. This book is a manual for The REGIONMAKER and describes the targets and structure of the software. Tihamér Salij edited this publication and contributed research, interviews and several essays. Hatje-Cantz, ISBN 3-7757-1200-3

...

'Hong Kong Power' was shown at the Convention Center in Hong Kong during the Business of Design Week, Dec. '08. It proposes a series of visions for the future of Hong Kong. It analyses the city's strengths and weaknesses and indentifies its potentials. Instead of regarding the city's spatial restriction as limitation for further urban development, such restriction could create inventive solutions, as for instance: the vertical extension of hills to enlarge the ground space, a new housing typology that help to reduce migration to Shenzhen, a combination of living, working, retail and culture along the waterfront. New building guidelines, such as the creation of canopies and increase of shaded areas could counteract Hong Kong's need for cooling and therefore reduce its high energy demand.

The Olympic Games in the Netherlands... Is it a fact or fiction? The Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam shows fantasies and speculations about sport and space, water and energy, landscape and infrastructure in a sportive exhibition on the future of the Netherlands.

The exhibition shows studies and scenarios from students of the Berlage Institute and the Academy of Architecture in Rotterdam in collaboration with MVRDV from May 31 till September 21 2008.

This exhibition generates a discussion on the possible future of the Rhein Ruhr district, Germany. It exposes global, regional and local perspectives of the Rhein Ruhr area. The exhibition space was devided into 3 sections: (1) the warroom (global): presenting the Regionmaker software device, (2) the projection room: presenting future scenarios of the Rhine Ruhr area (regional), (3) the observation room (local): presenting interviews with professionals, mayors and locals, showing historical background information, slideshows, local newspapers of the region. This exhibition is an excursion on the constructivity of a region - between the generic & the specific, global & local, possible & impossible, the urban & the rural. Location: NRW Forum für Kultur und Wirtschaft, Düsseldorf, Germany, Nov. '02 - Mar. '03.