Above image: Parco Dora – Latz & Partner; Photographer: Ornella Orlandini

by Joni Taylor

This research exhibition presents not only the latest building and technological renderings, but also an academic agenda with new solutions and strategies developed for the long-term.

The existence of much of the Netherlands, particularly the city of Rotterdam, is a result of extreme design – land reclamation, modified topographies and water management systems. It is perhaps because of this necessity that architecture and design receive such a high level of support here, not just culturally but as an intrinsic part of the urban planning process.

Since 2005, the Rotterdam International Architecture Biennale (IABR) has delivered critically engaging exhibitions centered on urbanism and the city. While Venice may be the established architecture exposition, Rotterdam is more tightly curated while still offering a diversity of international ideas and urban strategies. This year’s Urban by Nature is no exception. What is new is the appointment of a landscape architect as curator. Dirk Sijmonds has used his profession as a lens through which to view the city as a complete ecosystem. Sijmonds is a firm believer in the new age of the Anthropocene, having moved on from the Holocene, humans have now become another force of nature, our actions affecting the entire planet.

Berne Park – Terfruchte + Partners

“There is no way back”, he asserts, there is no more elsewhere and the previous dichotomy between human and animal, or city and nature, are redundant. Surprisingly, Sijmonds sees this time as having a positive side-effect, acknowledging the fact that nature and human society are intertwined is an important step forward in addressing the planet’s problems. Acknowledging that our environmental problems have been caused by urbanisation, Sijmonds claims it is only in cities that the solutions can be found.

And this is what lies at the heart of Urban by Nature and makes the IABR so relevant. It is a research exhibition, which does not just present the latest buildings and technological renderings, but also a highly selective academic agenda with new solutions and strategies developed for the long term. Importantly, partners and collaborators reach all sectors of Dutch and international society including universities, water management and insurance firms and many local councils...Continue Reading

> via Australian Design Review