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Nature of Hope 2024

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The 11th edition of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) with the title Nature of Hope will take place from 29 June to 13 October 2024 and will include an exhibition at the Nieuwe Instituut, a public program and Botanical Monuments, green places in Rotterdam. The theme of this edition, Nature of Hope, focuses on how architecture can restore ecological balance by taking biodiversity and nature as a starting point.<a href="https://iabr.nl/en/nature-of-hope/visit">Plan your visit</a>In addition to the exhibition at the Nieuwe Instituut, it includes an extensive Public Program and a green network through Rotterdam to visit its so-called Botanical Monuments. Through a series of events, lectures, workshops, excursions and other activities, Nature of Hope’s Public Program of connects to various forms of existing knowledge and the practices that are transforming the very nature of the design disciplines. Some of these will take place in the Practice Place, where we invite the architectural community in the broadest sense to come together around transforming practice. Keep an eye on the agenda for <a href="https://iabr.nl/en/nature-of-hope/public-program">the full program</a>.Nature of Hope will focus on a combination of hope and nature. This choice stems from the recognition that everything begins with the Earth and that our exploitation – or rather, depletion – of the Earth, each other, and the living world is leading to multiple ecological and social crises. As humans, we can no longer place ourselves above or at a distance from nature and nor do we wish to. How can we put the knowledge and practices of spatial design at the service of the planet and all the creatures that live on it?

This year’s biennale edition, themed Nature of Hope, is put forward by IABR Director Saskia van Stein and curated by the IABR 2024: Nature of Hope Curator Team. The team consists of architect and researcher Janna Bystrykh, architect-researcher and philosopher Catherine Koekoek, researcher and writer Hani Salih, spatial designer and researcher Alina Paias, and designer and writer Noortje Weenink. The curator team, whose members come from different backgrounds but share a common basis in spatial design, manifests the change that is already underway.

Nature of Hope 2024. The 11th edition of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) with the title Nature of Hope will take place from 29 June to 13 October 2024 and will include an exhibition at the Nieuwe Instituut, a public program and Botanical Monuments, green places in Rotterdam. The theme of this edition, Nature of Hope, focuses on how architecture can restore ecological balance by taking biodiversity and nature as a starting point.<a href="https://iabr.nl/en/nature-of-hope/visit">Plan your visit</a>In addition to the exhibition at the Nieuwe Instituut, it includes an extensive Public Program and a green network through Rotterdam to visit its so-called Botanical Monuments. Through a series of events, lectures, workshops, excursions and other activities, Nature of Hope’s Public Program of connects to various forms of existing knowledge and the practices that are transforming the very nature of the design disciplines. Some of these will take place in the Practice Place, where we invite the architectural community in the broadest sense to come together around transforming practice. Keep an eye on the agenda for <a href="https://iabr.nl/en/nature-of-hope/public-program">the full program</a>.Nature of Hope will focus on a combination of hope and nature. This choice stems from the recognition that everything begins with the Earth and that our exploitation – or rather, depletion – of the Earth, each other, and the living world is leading to multiple ecological and social crises. As humans, we can no longer place ourselves above or at a distance from nature and nor do we wish to. How can we put the knowledge and practices of spatial design at the service of the planet and all the creatures that live on it?<h2>Curator Team</h2>This year’s biennale edition, themed Nature of Hope, is put forward by IABR Director Saskia van Stein and curated by the IABR 2024: Nature of Hope Curator Team. The team consists of architect and researcher Janna Bystrykh, architect-researcher and philosopher Catherine Koekoek, researcher and writer Hani Salih, spatial designer and researcher Alina Paias, and designer and writer Noortje Weenink. The curator team, whose members come from different backgrounds but share a common basis in spatial design, manifests the change that is already underway.

Every Wednesday afternoon during the summer vacation, you can join a walk-in workshop where you work with a guide and other children to create a diorama of the future. Which animals live where? Do we live in underground houses? You decide! Help build a world that grows every week.For six weeks, every Wednesday afternoon, we will build and craft the future together. Bury your future message, design a real treehouse tree, and dive into the glitter river. Together, we'll create a diorama full of hopeful future dreams, where not only your ideas but also you can wander around! Each week, the diorama will be filled with new stories through different workshops and will look different. As hopeful world-makers, we will work together with nature, culture, and hope!Nature (July 17 + 24)During these two weeks, we will focus on everything related to nature. Who swims in the future river and which berries grow on the bushes? Curly trees and pink sand dunes will cover the diorama. We will grow future trees, come up with new plant species, and make the diorama bloom.Suitable for children aged 6-12 | Language: Dutch/English | Location: Nieuwe Instituut | Free admission | Walk-in from 12:00-15:30.FamilieFest: Boss! Photo: Florine van Rees

Wonderbuilding Future Workshop: Nature

Garden coordinator Tom Lorier takes you on a short journey through the Voedseltuin (Food Garden) using the permaculture principles.Permaculture is a design method for the human environment. The term consists of two words: permanent and culture, which means that within permaculture, a permanent system is sought. In other words, it aims for ecologically sustainable stability. This design method is based in part on ecology and ethics and takes complex ecosystems as an example. As is the case in the Voedseltuin, the focus is on the relationship between humans and nature. Register via <a href="mailto:info@voedseltuin.com">info@voedseltuin.com</a>.The spoken language is English.The event is free, but registration is required.Meetingpoint is the container canteen in the middle of the garden, between Keileweg and Keilestraat.The Food Garden Rotterdam. Photo: Peter Schmidt

Gardening with permaculture principles

How do we create conditions for a sustainable and hopeful design practice? IABR 2024 introduces a Practice Place, a meeting space in the exhibition, where we call on the architectural community at large to come together around the transformation of practice.The Dutch government has committed to a circular economy by 2050. But how does circularity affect our relationship and the origins of materials, building culture, and the landscape? In this meeting we bring together experts who have gained experience with design and construction processes that are part of long-term relationships with local materials, landscapes, and the knowledge embedded in them. We discuss whether and how circularity implies radical re-localization, and what that means for complex urban and rural areas.    The demand for bioregional building is by definition place-based. This meeting is therefore the starting point of a series of local meetings in regional architecture centers, organized in collaboration with Ministerie van de Toekomst. On July 19, they will conduct a workshop to train attendees in organizing place-based meetings around systemic and local questions. Studio Inscape will spark imagination inspired by their Bioregional Design Game.Towards Bioregional Building? is part two of a series of seven day-long workshops. It will be documented in a living archive in the exhibition, inspire a podcast series in collaboration with The Architect, and ultimately lead to a New Narrative for Architecture and Urbanism (NNAU) that will be festively presented on the closing weekend of the biennial.The spoken language is Dutch.The event is free, but registration is required.Practice Place logo. Image: Studio Le Roy Cleeremans

Practice Place: Towards Bioregional Building?

The fields around Rhoon bloomed blue until the 1970s. Flax provided many jobs in the Dutch textile industry. The rise of plastics in the 1960s came at the expense of many of the technical applications of linen. On top of that came cheap cotton and competition from low-wage countries. As a result, textiles disappeared from our country and flax virtually disappeared from the fields.For the past 5 years, flax has been back in the Buijtenland van Rhoon and the polders turn as green as flax from April until the longest day. Then the flax starts to bloom. Fortunately, not all flowers bloom at the same time. For a week or two, lilac-blue dots keep coming and going. And the polders of Rhoon turn blue in the morning for two weeks. Flax blooms from sunrise until about 11 o'clock. Picking starts in August.Flax is a nature-friendly, sustainable crop and good for biodiversity with unexpected and many possibilities. Discover it in the Buijtenland van Rhoon during a walk with area manager Arjan Ponsen. You walk across a beautiful piece of cultural-historical polder landscape just 10 kilometers from Rotterdam. Nowhere in the Netherlands is being experimented with 'nature-inclusive farming' on such a large scale. Come by bike or take the metro to the Buijtenland van Rhoon.The spoken language is Dutch.A ticket is € 9,20.Meeting point on the square in front of the farm shop. Buijtenland van Rhoon. Photo: Zorgboerderij De Buytenhof

As green as flax

Nature of Hope approaches architecture as an ecological practice. People are not separate from nature, but an integral part of it. But the binary thinking in which nature is everything that is not human or made by people has a long and dominant history. To introduce the exhibition, IABR therefore asked researchers, philosophers, historians and writers to reflect on how we look at nature. Every week we share one of the contributions, which can also be seen in the exhibition.Jane Mah Hutton reflects on the invisible effects that one place has, somewhere else.What does construction in one place have to do with changes in another? All design and construction work involves moving construction materials from one place and assembling them in another. Those materials – whether lumber, fertilizers, stone, or steel - are commodities that are bought and sold to perform to specification. Their commodity status means they are interchangeable and, effectively, placeless. But materials are also more than commodities; they are fragments of habitats, cultural landscapes, bedrocks, minerals, beings, and forests. They are shaped and installed by human hands and make up the livelihoods and landscapes where people live. Materials are sold in a certain form and size, but this form and size is only a single moment in the many compositions and configurations in a material’s life. What if we looked at materials not as single-purpose products or commodities, but instead as continually changing matter that comes from and returns to land?   Specifying materials can be a disorienting and disheartening experience. It is hard to see a 2x4 spruce pine fir board as part of a forest or plantation. It is unlikely to be able to trace the labor practices of a single ore in a complex alloy. It is difficult to understand the cultural significance of a territory colonized for mining or property development. How might understanding these so-called externalities of development support material practice that is in solidarity with people, other species, and landscapes elsewhere? What land relations do you want to support and what material production aligns with those values? What material practices could support communities that care for land or strengthen Indigenous sovereignty? What would the costs be to do this; what would need to be let go of? How can working with existing materials remove pressure on the extraction of new ones? How can design, deconstruction, and material care honor already extracted materials, and their fraught histories?<a href="https://youtu.be/DzO5Xu4dXc8" target="_blank">Images from Reciprocal Landscapes: Stories of Material Movements. Jane Mah Hutton. 2020</a>This video features archival and contemporary photographs and images from the book Reciprocal Landscapes: Stories of Material Movements (Routledge/Taylor &amp; Frances, 2020). The book follows five building ‘materials’ (fertilizer, granite paving blocks, structural steel, street trees, tropical lumber) that ended up in prominent public landscapes in Manhattan between the 1860s and 2010. The photographs depict the many landscapes, laborers, and physical states that the materials move through and between, reflecting the deep social and ecological connections between seemingly unrelated places.

Jane Mah Hutton - Reciprocal Landscapes

With more than 70 architects, researchers, designers, and writers, Nature of Hope offers a wealth of perspectives and ideas on how architecture and spatial design can contribute to regenerating nature, biodiversity, and restoring ecological balance. But what is really needed for a more hopeful, regenerative design practice? How are ambitious visions sown and harvested in the international architectural landscape?One of the speakers who shared his insights during the IABR symposium last weekend, came by bike all the way from Britain, leaving no ecological footprint. This was <a href="http://www.jeremytill.net/" target="_blank">Jeremy Till</a>, a British architect, educator, and writer, and Professor of Architecture at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, representing the collective <a href="https://mould.earth/home" target="_blank">MOULD</a>. We briefly spoke to him about the research collective MOULD, the work showcased at the biennale, and his vision for the discipline.Research Collective MOULDFirst and foremost, Till makes it clear that he is not here as Jeremy Till, but as part of the collective MOULD, which he is part of with five other colleagues. They share the vision he wants to convey in this interview. MOULD is a research collective working at the intersection of spatial practice and climate change. The work of MOULD,  "Architecture is Climate," currently showcased in de Nieuwe Instituut as part of the biennial, reflects the collective’s deep commitment to addressing the urgent challenges posed by climate change. MOULD’s work embodies a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to architectural practice, with a vision rooted in deep political and ethical concerns about the world. The collective has mapped out various <a href="https://architectureisclimate.net/practices/" target="_blank">practices</a>—not as architecture as we know it, but examples from different regions, contexts, and disciplines that directly address climate change and its spatial implications. They strive to think differently about architecture, not just as the design of buildings, but as a practice informed by diverse forms of knowledge and culture.Architecture and ClimateMOULD’s  work at the biennale, a large installation, reflects these insights and emphasizes the vision that architecture is not separate from the climate; on the contrary, it is deeply intertwined with it. The project underscores that traditional architectural practices are complicit in the causes of climate change. Till explains: "The installation shows that viewing architecture as an external solution is like applying a band-aid to a much larger wound. Instead, we advocate for an upstream approach, addressing the root causes of climate problems much more directly and locally."Underlying their work is a significant critique of current architectural practice: the trend of "sustainable" or "green" architecture, which Till sees too often as a form of greenwashing. He argues that many technical solutions to achieve net-zero emissions are potentially  counterproductive if they enable continuous growth and consumption. These solutions, while necessary, must be accompanied by systemic changes. As Till succinctly puts it:"The most dangerous is the technical solutions - we need them, of course. But the biggest solutions allow endless growth. On the one hand, you can have a solution to get to net zero, that is a technical solution, but then we continue to extract and consume. That will remain damaging  because it will be accompanied by growth which is always accompanied by extractive practices that damage the planet. One has to be quite careful about not privileging the world of architecture too much. We are part of a network of solidarity, which is bound into to politics, economics, and society. We have defined ourselves as a discipline that provides solutions. But that might be too arrogant, to say that architecture is generative. Designers tend to look just downstream, see a wonderful future, reinvent the world. But you first need to look upstream. You need to look at the causes of climate breakdown and address them first. Only then can it be sustainable."It is clear: Till advocates for a more realistic view of architecture that is closer to what is actually happening and what the problems are in each local practice. Environmental problems must be examined in context. That is the only sustainable way to build to prevent ecological collapse, which requires reinvented forms of architecture. "We cannot afford repetitions of the same architectural solutions and must better address specific challenges. From policy solutions to diverse methods of land use, to the use of different resources. This requires a broader view from our discipline", shares Till. Hopeful FutureDespite the challenges, Till remains hopeful. He believes that the necessary systemic changes driven by climate demands will lead to broader social transformations. These transformations will manifest spatially, as social relationships inherently play out in space. This perspective shifts the role of architects from mere builders to spatial designers and agents who use spatial intelligence within a broader context of social change.This is why Till looks forward to the other works on display during the biennale with enthusiasm. "What is encouraging is the diversity of architectural approaches seen here—it shows that they already exist. Architects have historically always identified themselves through their buildings. The past few years have shown how difficult it is for architects to let go of that and recognize that architecture is about much more than just the object and the materials it is made of.. At this biennale, you see that architects dare to identify with other methods. Methods that may still be invisible, not yet visible in the field or iconic architecture magazines, but that will ultimately make a difference."MOULD’s participation in the biennale marks a crucial shift in architectural thinking. Till shared his insights during the IABR symposium on June 30—the work of MOULD is on display in the exhibition. Visit the website for information about curator-led tours for more context on the work.

Jeremy Till of Research Collective MOULD: A Shift in Architectural Thinking

With more than 70 architects, researchers, designers, and writers, Nature of Hope offers a wealth of perspectives and ideas on how architecture and spatial design can contribute to regenerating nature, biodiversity, and restoring ecological balance. But what is really needed for a more hopeful, regenerative design practice? How are ambitious visions sown and harvested in the international architectural landscape?All the way from Colombia, <a href="https://arqdis.uniandes.edu.co/profesores/pedro-aparicio-llorente/" target="_blank">Pedro Aparicio-Llorente</a>, architect and founding principal of <a href="https://aplo.xyz/" target="_blank">APLO</a> (acronym for aligning planets lines orbits), an architecture and landscape firm based in Bogotá that makes and researches buildings and landscapes, came to speak at the symposium this weekend. His work stems from 10 years of experience in design and construction within the material practices and political ecologies of postcolonial tropical habitats. Pedro holds an architecture degree from Universidad de los Andes and an MDes in Urbanism, Landscape, Ecology from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. We briefly spoke with Pedro about his vision on architecture, his reflections on the biennale's theme, and the work that is on display. The environment shapes architecture Firstly, Pedro takes us through his approach to architecture, which centers on cohabitation and experimental ways of living together. "I have learned to let the environment shape us, rather than us shaping the environment. The environment informs architecture in many ways, especially in biodiverse regions like the Gulf of Tribugá, where the rhythms of the pacific ocean, mangroves, and jungle organize space itself." In more northern countries, this way of thinking is less common—we tend to build with whatever is demanded and with resources that are available. Pedro and his colleagues at APLO adopt a more humble and context-sensitive approach. "We design with the understanding that everything is alive. For example, how can a mangrove forest, which floods and dries out every six hours, inform architectural design? We used contemporary  architectural methods and allowed the behavior  of marine ecosystems  and the technologies devised and used by local people to guide the further design. This philosophy underpins my work and is showcased at the biennale." What makes Pedro’s and his team's view unique is his interest in landscape as a live medium within a cultural context where landscape architecture is not recognized. "In Colombia, landscape architecture is not  a discipline in the same way it is in the Anglo-Saxon context for example, yet we live amidst tropical ecosystems where the interaction and manipulation of live media is an everyday practice and this is then our  entry point to explore space and time." Pedro explains. His previous work in Indonesia exposed him to dynamic environments where volcanoes and obsolete yet operational colonial infrastructures meet. "These habitats connect people deeply to the complexity of somewhat mestizo ecologies—from practical, productive ways of growing food to highly spiritual levels of transmission. This creates a continuum that is fertile and fascinating to consider in terms of contextual and situated architecture, leading to a more expanded notion of whom we design for, for what purpose, and how the environment shapes us as a species. In this matter, as architects we are interested in the turn towards a design of time, rather than a limited practice focused mostly on the design of space."Veanvé: Environmental Infrastructure for Pluriversal PedagogyFor this way of working as an architect, one needs knowledge - very specific and locally sourced knowledge on how nature and people shape the environment. On show in the biennale are three processes  carried out by APLO that give insights in the approach they advocate for: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DuBr4TGENc" target="_blank">Veanvé</a>, an environmental infrastructure for pluriversal pedagogy and planetary ocean health; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZq8lWboIfw" target="_blank">Payao</a>, the use and evolution of  an old fishing technology that originated in the Philippines and made its way to the artisanal fishing group Tiburones de Coquí around 10 years ago and; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrzmGtDz7Yw" target="_blank">Jurubirá</a>, a still incipient landscape plan for community based tourism. During the symposium, Pedro walks us through the ways of feeling-doing that  APLO applies with communities that live in specific ecosystems and how to build from there. One of the projects Pedro discussed is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DuBr4TGENc" target="_blank">Veanvé</a>, an environmental infrastructure for pluriversal pedagogy and planetary ocean health. In alliance with local leader Josefina Klinger and the Mano Cambiada Corporation, the Center aims to safeguard the traditional knowledge and ecosystems of Colombia's Tribugá Gulf, which was designated as a Hope Spot in 2019 due to its significant contribution to oceanic well-being, making it one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world. Recently, the gulf was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO for being one of the few ecosystems in the world that is in balance. Veanvé brings to life the evolution of the Pacific Migration Festival, transforming it from an event-based strategy, initiated by the local organization Mano Cambiada in 2010, into a dynamic and educational infrastructure. Each year, the Festival gathers 1,000 young participants, immersing them in a blend of scientific, sporting, and cultural activities. These experiences celebrate the region's unique status as a sanctuary where humpback whales travel thousands of kilometers from Antarctica to the warm and deep waters of Colombia to  give birth. This narrative redefines Tribugá, shifting the perception from a place of violence and hopelessness to one of love and vitality. Guided to envision themselves as waves, birds, turtles, whales, and other elements of their surrounding ecology, they explore the interconnectedness of their environment, learning to appreciate the delicate balance that sustains their home. Finally the building is imagined to happen in the abandoned Telecom station, a public infrastructure that first served the community in terms of telegraph, telephone and internet connection prior to the arrival of mobile phones. Charged with collective memory, this building is now owned by the spanish telecommunication conglomerate Telefonica who bought Colombia’s public communication enterprise in the early 2000’s. Pedro underlines that hopefully an agreement can be settled for it to be transformed into a collective space once again. Hope as a place and projection This brings us to the theme of the biennale, Nature Of Hope. Reflecting on this, Pedro explains, "Why is a place thought dangerous by humans the place chosen by whales to have their babies? Everyone wants to travel the world and seek opportunities, but true hope is rooted in generational care, passing on the responsibility of a specific place. This perspective is hopeful in itself—there is much more than we are aware of and often “closer to home”. It flips the notion of possibility of every place we work with if we learn to view it from a more socio-environmental perspective." Veanvé is a place to experiment with ways for generational relief by equipping children and youth with tools that contribute to their territorial inheritance of caretaking over 200,000 hectares of collective land inhabited by some of the world's most sensitive ecosystems: mangroves, coral reefs and rainforests. Much like the annual migration of species returning to the same place, as celebrated during the Pacific Migration Festival, where hope is intertwined with the well-being of the place, Pedro sees hope as a projection—looking forward to something, traveling, or working towards a goal. Not in a way that the future has to be idealized; rather, Pedro's vision focuses on speculating on a transformed present rather than simply hoping for a better future. "These are not projects of 5 years; they are processes of 30 or 40 years. My personal hope is that, as architects, we can accompany these existing flows, finding new ways to design companionship and by doing so, prepare ourselves and our work for long term causes." To learn about how to do that, you are welcome to visit Nieuwe Instituut, where the work of APLO is exhibited.

Pedro Aparicio-Llorente: How the environment shapes us instead of the other way around

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-bl1noAR2o" target="_blank">Watch the recording of the Opening symposium Part I</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZGlD8ozuqw&amp;ab_channel=IABR" target="_blank">Watch the recording of the Opening symposium Part II</a>On Sunday afternoon, the sold-out opening symposium of the 11th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) took place. It was a gathering of experts who delved deeply into the theme Building Ecologies – Nature in the City: Jeremy Till, Baerbel Mueller, Pedro Aparicio-Llorente, and Emmanuel Pratt.Jeremy Till from the collective MOULD opened with a keynote on the relationship between architecture and climate, advocating for a fundamental revision of architectural practices. His lecture included enriching interludes with poetic readings from his colleagues in the audience. Baerbel Mueller discussed the "Tamale Old Airfield" project in Ghana, highlighting the necessity of experimental approaches in architecture. Pedro Aparicio-Llorente’s presentation took the audience to the coast of São Paulo, where he spoke about designing to the rhythm of the tides and collaborating with local communities.The concluding panel discussion, led by Najah Aouaki, brought together the diverse themes of the afternoon. The speakers debated the language of architecture and the need for a new, hopeful approach to integrating ecological practices. Emmanuel Pratt from Chicago concluded with his vision of regenerative urban planning, illustrating how communities can be built through sustainable and human-scale projects.<a href="https://iabr.nl/en/nature-of-hope/public-program">Check the program</a>

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Jane Mah Hutton - Reciprocal Landscapes