During the symposium about designing with nature, organized by Architectenweb, to discusso how to develop our cities and make them greener at the same time. Speakers are Marlies Zuidam (FAAM), Philomene van der Vliet (BOOM!), Steven Delva (DELVA) and Cees van der Veeken (LOLA).

Architect Marlies Zuidam of FAAM architects discusses how not only the human inhabitants, but also the plants and animals should benefit as soon as an area is developed. For this she uses the example of a project such as Bosrijk Oak in Eindhoven. The buildings in Bosrijk Oak are constructed from modular timber construction.

Landscape architect Philomene van der Vliet of BOOM! Landscape emphasizes the importance of connecting green-blue structures. BOOM! Landscape designs with nature on the scale of the city, the neighborhood and the building.

There are so many benefits to introducing nature into our urban environments… it gives animals space, even animals that are less and less seen, removes particulate matter from the air and converts CO2 into oxygen, ensures better water infiltration and better water collection, reduces the warming up cities in the summer reduces noise… and it also makes us happier and healthier people.

Landscape architect Steven Delva of DELVA Landscape Architecture & Urbanism (Architect of the Year 2021) regularly creates win-win situations when constructing new green-blue structures. In the Dutch delta we are used to a stable and abundant supply of fresh water. But due to climate change, this is changing.

When greening our cities, we must therefore take longer periods of drought into account, says landscape architect Cees van der Veeken of LOLA Landscape Architects. At the symposium, Van der Veeken will show how landscape designs can anticipate this. Instead of including plants and trees in the facades of buildings, where they must be continuously irrigated, it may therefore be more sensible to place those plants and trees in the open ground.

Can we eventually see the city as a nature reserve through radical greening of the urban area…

Program

• 3:00 pm–3:30 pm – Walk-in
• 3:30 pm–5:30 pm – Presentations by architect Marlies Zuidam by FAAM architects, landscape architect Philomene van der Vliet from BOOM! Landscape, landscape architect Steven Delva by DELVA Landscape, Architecture & Urbanism, and landscape architect Cees van der Veeken by LOLA Landscape Architects.
• 5:30 pm–6:30 pm – Networking drinks

Practical info

• All participants in the event will be made public well in advance, so that new contacts can be effectively made on this afternoon.
• If you visit this program, it is not necessary to buy a separate admission ticket for the festival heart. A ticket for this program already gives you access to the floating festival heart.
• Please report to the welcome desk of the Rotterdam Architecture Month at the square in front of the Maassilo. Here, scan your ticket and receive a wristband that will grant you access to the program in the floating festival heart. If you arrive 30 minutes before the start of the program, you can also take a route through the festival heart.
• IMPORTANT! Do not go directly to the floating platforms without a (program) wristband, as you will not be granted access.

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