Studio Urban challenges students to develop a personal design position within the context of (semi-) public space in a neighborhood to strengthen places where people gather and communities emerge. Through on-sit field research pressing issues are highlighted, often rooted in the complex relationship between individuals and their immediate living environment. Observations, personal experiences, interviews and theoretical insights lead to site-specific spatial interventions that aim to create meaningful moments of interaction and reinforce existing social networks.
This year, the studio took place in Afrikaanderwijk, a historic district in Rotterdam South where multiple realities coexist. It is a neighborhood where many organizations, residents and designers are active to ensure the right to the city for everyone. The resulting design intervention should not be seen as a mere solution to a specific problem, but rather as a thoughtful response to a self-defined spatial question arising from an engagement with the local context.
The temporary implementation of each design proposal within the neighborhood, combined with independently organized efforts in realization, presentation and documentation, represent a transitional moment at the end of the first year. It marks a shift in agency, where students take ownership of their research trajectory and design process, identifying and executing this process in preparation for the graduation year.
Design tutor: Claudio Saccucci, practice tutor: Erik Jutten.