poster debate Bucharest

What can investors and architects do to improve the liveability and competitiveness of cities in Romania? What kind of partnerships can they develop? And on which strategic sites should they focus? In collaboration with Zeppelin Magazine and the Dutch Initiative for Sustainable Cities (DISC), the NAI organised a Debate on Tour in Bucharest on 16 December 2011.

Bucharest’s urban upheaval
The face of Bucharest has changed since the fall of communism. Many modernist complexes were refurbished and reprogrammed during the 1990s. Supported by rapid economic growth in the new millennium, Bucharest has experienced a period of urban renewal. Many shopping malls were built, and medium-rise office buildings have risen up on its skyline. The economic recession of recent years, however, has created an opportunity to assess these changes and draw conclusions for future developments.

Cultural blossoming
Architectural culture has blossomed in the new millennium. Initially called Arhitectura, Zeppelin Magazine has been issuing 10 editions a year since 2002. It also hosts regular events and an annual Zeppelin Festival, consisting of architecture exhibitions, tours and conferences. Taking place in November and December this year, it focuses, not surprisingly on economic aspects of urban development. Professionals, decision-makers and opinion-makers, politicians and businessmen will all come together in search of opportunities for new partnerships and projects in 2012.

Architecture and investment
The Debate on Tour in Bucharest was part of this festival. As a starting point, it viewed architecture as a political act in an economy based on cultural values. In a context of economic recession, architects, planners, economists and politicians discussed how to re-use the city. The debate consisted of two panel discussions. The first explored the role of architecture and strategic locations, and the second will focus on the role of investors in urban development. How can money and design form new alliances to improve the city?

Speakers

• Ole Bouman, director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI)
• Gheorghe Patrascu, Chief architect of Bucharest
• Serban Tiganas, President of the Order of Romanian Architects (OAR)
• Anca Ginavar, Director General Territorial Development, Ministry Regional Development and Tourism
• Piet Van Ruler, senior partner urban development at Twynstra Gudde, the Netherlands
• Liviu Ianasi, professor at the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urban Planning, Bucharest
• Damo Holt, director department of Real estate advisory at ECORYS Research & Consulting
• Ellen van der Lei, European Investment Bank, Luxembourg, and Urban Development Fund Specialist at the JESSICA and Investment Fund Division
• Nicolai Taralunga, partner IHS Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies Romania
• Eurgen Panescu, partner at Planwerk
• Kai Vöckler, founding member of Archis Interventions, programme director of the Archis SEE network, and professor at the University of Art and Design, Offenbach, Germany
• Joep de Roo, owner and director of Eurodite

Time and place
Friday 16 December 2011, 9.30 – 14.00 hours
National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest

Partners
Zeppelin Magazine
Dutch Initiative for Sustainable Cities (DISC)
Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI)

Debate on Tour@Bucharest 02 Photo: Nicu Ivan

Zeppelin Magazine

Ecology and urban growth: Design and governance challenges @Istanbul, Turkey

Lecture/Debat/symposium 13 june 2011 13:30 | How can architects and planners, activists and policymakers contribute to the ecological balance of the city in the context of rapid urbanisation and metropolitan growth? In collaboration with the International Architecture Biennale of Rotterdam (IABR), the Istanbul Bilgi University, SALT and Urban4, the NAI organised a second debate in Istanbul on 13 June 2011. Having discussed the practices of resident participation in urban regeneration projects during a first Debate on Tour in December 2010, the focus of this second debate was ecological landscapes, comparing projects and policies in the Netherlands and Istanbul.
> Read more...

Made in Marxloh @Duisburg, Duitsland

On 1 September 2010 the NAI organized a Debate on Tour in Marxloh, a ‘problem neighbourhood’ in Duisburg, Germany. Dutch and German speakers discussed how residents can improve their neighborhood. Co-organisers were Buro Venhuizen, Legenda Gesellschaft and Erfgoed Nederland.
> Read more...

Where is Tehran? @Tehran, Iran

Lecture/Debat/symposium 17 february 2011 20:00 | What is the role of the masterplan in Tehran’s development? Is the tardiness in its implementation a failing or a blessing? Administrative incompetence or an act of resistance? Might support for it be increased by involving Tehran’s inhabitants in the restructuring of their city? The influential Iranian urban planner Farrokh Zonouzi and architectural historian Wouter Vanstiphout shedded light on this paradoxical metropolis.
> Read more...

Casablanca's design lessons @Casablanca, Morocco

Casablanca is a showcase of the interplay between planned and unplanned urban development and construction and the varied architecture that results from this. What can architects learn from these developments? In collaboration with the African Perspectives Conference and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Morocco, the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) organised two Debates on Tour in Casablanca on 4 and 5 November 2011.
> Read more...