Independent School for the City

The speaker for our next School’s Out! on May 31st will be the mumbai-based architect, urban designer and filmmaker, Rohan Shivkumar who will talk about the intertwined histories of image making and the evolution of the city of Mumbai. Rohan Shivkumar is the Dean of Architecture at the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute, principal of the ‘Collaborative Design Studio’ and a member of CRIT- an urban research collective based in Mumbai. His work ranges from architecture, urban research and consultancy projects to works in film and visual art. Rohan is the co-editor of the publication ‘Project Cinema City’, curates film programmes and writes on cinema, architecture and urban issues. His films on art, architecture and urbanism include ’Nostalgia for the future’, ‘Lovely Villa’, and ‘Squeeze Lime in Your Eye’. Doors will open at 18:00, the event starts at 19:00. Tickets available for 5 Euro. Get them here! https://lnkd.in/e2q63ZcP

Next week we will start the +2.5 Degrees City studio, running from 6 till 24 of May, and there are still a few spots available! During this thematic block, we’ll dive into the Anthropocene – the geological era marking the dominant human impact on the Earth systems. We will focus on the prediction by climate scientists that if we don’t speed up the climate measures, we will still end up on a planet that is between 2° and 3° hotter by the end of this century. The rising temperature will probably cause extreme weather phenomena, a substantial rising of the sea level, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, large migration streams, social upheaval and political reactions. How will our offspring live in these new unmapped circumstances, how will their cities work, how will their life feel? How will we survive living in the city in a + 2,5°C world? In these weeks we will map out the predicted effects of a global 2,5°C temperature rise on the Netherlands, on the City of Rotterdam and on a number of very specific places in the city. After exploring these effects, we will then use our collective knowledge and that of our guest speakers and scientific literature, to work towards a series of rich and panoramic visual representations of a possible future. A messy moment in a massive transition, showing signs of the extremes of informality and planning of colliding worldviews, and the tension and hybrids between them. The message we try to communicate is that the era of accurate solutions of isolated well defined problems might be over in the bumpy ride ahead. Tutors will be Dirk Sijmons and Herman Kossmann. It will take place from 06 – 24 May 2024. The participation fee for this studio is 400 euro. Register your spot here https://lnkd.in/erna5Yi3 and find more info on our website https://lnkd.in/gn-Tb2Xq

Two weeks ago we invited Camiel van Winkel and Lara Schrijver for a conversation about Camiel’s latest book “Lichaam en Steen. Over film” (Body and Stone. About film). After an initial introduction on his motivation that pushed him to write this book, he analysed the relation between body and materiality within architecture. In the second part, we had the chance to watch the three initial scenes from three movies from Michael Haneke - Code Inconnu (2000), Cache (2005) and Amour (2012). Camiel drove us along how human desires manifest themselves in a choreography of moving bodies through urban structures of steel, stone and concrete. From the urban scale of Code Inconnu to the intimate space of the home of Amour. We want to thank Camiel van Winkel and Lara Schrijver for the inspiring talk. The book is available for sale at the Independent School for the City. Here are a few images to get an impression of the evening! Next School’s Out! will be on May 31st with architect, urban designer and filmmaker Rohan Shivkumar. Tickets are available for 5 euro here https://lnkd.in/e2q63ZcP Image by Maarten Laupman

We are beyond thrilled to announce our next School’s Out! on May 31. For this event, we’ve invited architect, urban designer and filmmaker Rohan Shivkumar from India. He will talk about the intertwined histories of image making and the evolution of the city of Mumbai. Mumbai is often more myth than place. Every street and square is haunted by images – from the past and the future. These images shape the way we see who we are, and what we are going to be. They come from the world of cinema, television, poetry, urban design and architecture and promise the unfettered freedom of modernity on the streets, but also its inverse- the dark dungeon of crime filled alleys. These are intertwined with the everyday life of its inhabitants and affects the way the city grows. This has been particularly true across the twentieth century during which both its population and its role as the centre for the Hindi film industry grew rapidly. Rohan Shivkumar is an architect, urban designer and filmmaker practising, based in Mumbai. He is the Dean of Architecture at the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies, principal of the ‘Collaborative Design Studio’ and a member of CRIT - an urban research collective. His work ranges from architecture, urban research and consultancy projects to works in film and visual art. Doors will open at 18:00, the event starts at 19:00. Tickets available for 5 Euro. Get them here! https://lnkd.in/e2q63ZcP

On May 6th we will start our next course “The +2.5 Degrees City” in which we will explore the predicted effects of a global 2,5°C temperature rise on the Netherlands. Tutors will be Dirk Sijmons and Herman Kossmann. The course departs from the fact that the globalised economy is crashing into our planetary boundaries. And that the effects will have a fundamental impact on our daily life. The rising temperature will probably cause extreme weather phenomena, a substantial rising of the sea level, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, large migration streams, social upheaval and political reactions. We will explore these effects on society on a spectrum between a bottom up, informal, improvised way and a top down, policy oriented and planned manner, mixed with dominant world views that will colour both policy attitudes. These attitudes will coexist and feed off each other, causing tension and even conflict that will be manifested spatially. The friction heat produced by these tensions is negative (or positive) but could be the fuel for creativity. Focusing on five zones in the Rotterdam region, that pose different challenges and that will develop in contrasting ways, we will explore which early signs of informal transition can be found and which effects of policy and planning can be seen. How can these traces be extrapolated over fifty years in a plausible if speculative future scenario for these areas for 2084? Finally participants will develop a school poster, a rich and panoramic visual representation of a possible future that will be presented in an exhibition. The message we try to communicate is that the era of accurate solutions of isolated well defined problems might be over in the bumpy ride ahead. The participation fee for this studio is 400 euro. The course runs from the 6th until the 24th of May. Only a few places still available. Find more info and link to registration here https://lnkd.in/gn-Tb2Xq

On May 25 and June 6,28&29 we are running a design and build workshop in collaboration with Observatorium - studio for public art and place making. Over the course of these 4 days, we will develop and design a temporary structure in the city of Rotterdam. The workshop starts with a tour around some of the built projects by Observatorium and a lecture about their way of working. Afterwards we will collectively design a temporary installation that should function as an Urban Oasis, responding to changing climate and the warming up of our city. Eventually we will roll up our sleeves and build it together in a public space in the surroundings of the school. The installation aims to respond to the ever – and faster – changing world, where a vision for a dreamed future can be a powerful statement to make changes tangible, to turn dreams into reality and to get people moving. For a city like Rotterdam, which is also subject to major changes such as global warming, it is important to reflect on those changes, to imagine them and make them tangible for yourself and for the people around you. Regular tickets are available for 200 euro. Student tickets are available for 175 euro. To qualify for a student discount you can send an email to info[@]schoolforthecity.nl. Registration deadline 13 may 2024. Find more info on the programme and link to register here https://lnkd.in/eJy3WPJe

We are thrilled to announce that on Tuesday 7 May we will be organising “Reporting space, time and everyday life in the Delta” in collaboration with the TU Delft Climate Action Program and Eye Filmmuseum. The evening will pivot on the documentary “Terug naar Nagele” by Louis van Gasteren. It will dive into the legacy of past spatial and engineering projects and the future perspectives these empower in citizens. Nagele is globally known for its daring, contemporary architecture. It was designed by a number of Dutch avant-garde architects and urban planners from De 8 and Opbouw, including Aldo van Eyck, Gerrit Rietveld, Cor van Eesteren, Jaap Bakema, Mien Ruys and Mart Stam. The architects wanted to connect ‘inside’ with ‘outside’ to achieve the highest quality of living and residing. Van Gasteren became fascinated by the Nagele project and followed it from the drawing board to its construction. In Terug naar Nagele(2012), Van Gasteren and Joke Meerman return to the village fifty years later to find out what became of Nagele. Doors will open at 18:30, the event starts at 19:00. Tickets can be reserved for free here https://lnkd.in/e6NsFu4k. Find more info on our website https://lnkd.in/enjAVaNC and on their instagram page https://lnkd.in/ehmM5znS Reporting space, time and everyday life in the Delta is a film club that investigates the natural, social, and spatial transitions of the Netherlands before and after the execution of the Delta Works. The project is funded by the Climate Action Programme. It is part of the Delta Urbanism group at TU Delft, in collaboration with the Eye Filmmuseum. The film club is edited by Luca Luorio, Sophia Arbara, Carissa Champlin, Feike Smithuis, Amber Coppens and Merel Garritsen.

For the previous School’s Out! on Friday 29 March, we invited Donna van Milligen Bielke for a talk about her work. During the lecture Donna travelled in time into her works in order to give us an overview of her fascinations and interests behind her projects. She started with her graduation final project “Boogie Woogie”, a new proposal for the City Hall of Amsterdam. Following, she navigated between different projects, from housing to more urban scale. She showed “Vertical” - a residential tower recently built at Sloterdijk in Amsterdam, that can be read as a stacking of different biodiverse human and non-human habitats. She ended her talk with her most recent project “De Kunstwerf”, a collaboration with Ard de Vries Architecten. This project is the cultural home for four dance and theatre companies. Their focus laid on the public space where these companies meet and interact in a public Hortus Conclusus. Soon we will publish the recordings of this lecture on our website. Join us tonight for a new School's Out! Lara Schrijver in conversation with Camiel van Winkel. Get your tickets for 5 euro here https://lnkd.in/e2q63ZcP Images by Maarten Laupman

We have an exciting new course coming up, starting on the 25th of May. Together with the artist collective Observatorium Rotterdam we will organise a 4 days design-and-build studio in which participants will create and build a scenario for an Urban Oasis. Observatorium is a studio for public art and place-making in cities and landscapes, based in Rotterdam. We work on representations of geographies, transitions and local culture in urban public space and the natural environment in many countries and produce strategic planning, placemaking, public works of art and related public events. The award winning public artworks vary from large scale sculptures to gardens and pavilions, all providing opportunities for gathering, dwelling, dialogue, contemplation or special events. Observatorium develops an artform that generates as much attention for the world around us as for itself. At best, it creates a sense of wonder in often already magical places. on 25 May and 6, 28 & 29 June Registration deadline is on 13 May. Regular tickets are available for 200 euro. Student tickets are available for 175 euro. Find more info on the programme here https://lnkd.in/eJy3WPJe and register here https://lnkd.in/e2FX4wRz -- Image 1/2 Lippepolderpark - Park for One Summer, Dorsten - Observatorium Image 3/4: Impluvium - Water Retention Pavilion, Venlo - Observatorium Image 5: Flaneren Op Flyover - Art Event, Rotterdam - Observatorium Image 6/7: Warten auf en Fluss - Living Bridge, Essen - Observatorium Image 8/9: Groot Museumpark - Event as Design, Rotterdam - Observatorium

This Friday 19 April, we are organising School’s Out! #41 (one week earlier than usual due to King’s Night the week after). For this evening we have invited not one, but two speakers! In fact, Camiel van Winkel will present his latest book (Lichaam en steen. Over film (Body and Stone. About film) in a conversation with Lara Schrijver while showing different film fragments. Camiel van Winkel writes on contemporary art and cinema. Trained as an art historian, he is a senior lecturer and researcher at LUCA School of Arts, Brussels. He is the author of various books, most recents: During the Exhibition the Gallery Will Be Closed: Contemporary Art and the Paradoxes of Conceptualism (Valiz, 2012) and in close collaboration with artist Joke Robaard he published Archive Species (Amsterdam: Valiz, 2018), the result of an in depth inquiry into the representation of the clothed body in print media since the 1970s. His latest book is a collection of essays on film, entitled Lichaam en steen. Over film (Antwerp: Letterwerk, 2023). Lara Schrijver is professor in architecture theory at the University of Antwerp and board member of the Independent School for the City. Her research focuses on twentieth-century architecture and its cultural underpinnings. She publishes widely in journals and was recently co-editor for Women in Architecture (2023). Doors open at 18:00, lecture starts at 19:00. Tickets available for 5 euro. Get them here https://lnkd.in/ehkcuMRJ