The kick-off was organised on the very first day of the Winter School. Two speakers with completely different perspectives were invited to give a lecture. Matthijs Schouten, ecologist and philosopher talked about the values of nature, in relation to live in the city. And the contribution that nature brings in the development of cities. Martin Aarts, city urbanist of Rotterdam, explained how new urbanism works. Today the identity of the city is no longer made by city branding companies in name of the city board. It is made by the people themselves, and the urbanist has to facilitate their demands and needs. The evening was led by lector Floris Alkemade.
The good, the bad and the ugly Nature, the car and the outskirts of the city come together symbiotically as part of the project for the A10 motorway. However much they may belong together, as well as being dependant on each other, the way in which they are valued is totally different. Using the metaphor of ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’, nature is of course ‘the good’, the car is ‘the bad’ and the outskirts of the city is ‘the ugly’; a classification that is common, but grossly oversimplified.
The bad To simply dismiss the car, which makes our free way of life possible, as something harmful or bad is a sign of excessive schizophrenia and self-hate. We are evidently prepared to pay a price for our car use. Using something and, at the same time, rejecting it is hypocritical.
The ugly The same applies to the disapproving way in which we judge the outskirts of our cities. This is what our generation has added to the city, for which we can be held responsible.
The good And the same may also apply to nature. Is the all-encompassing, uncritical admiration for everything called ‘nature’ justified?
That could be the aim of this Winter School: avoiding the common assumptions about what is good, bad and ugly, as well as the overly complacent rejection of what our own time and choices represent. New insights can arise from that position.
Floris Alkemade Lector Architecture
13