Interview with Anne Loes Nillesen: Build bridge between design and practice

Our Founding Director Anne Loes Nillesen and Tess Broekmans were interviewed on their new appointment as Urban Design professor at TU Delft.

“TU Delft plays a crucial role in tackling major societal challenges. We need good designers for that.” As the new appointed Urban Design professors, Anne Loes Nillesen and Tess Broekmans will bring valuable insights to the academic world and vice versa with their practical experience.

“We face major, societal challenges and changes that require long-term strategies that can in time adapt,” says Anne Loes Nillesen. And Tess Broekmans states: “Urban design is a slow process. A design must be able to respond to changes.”

Read the full interview here.

Mona zum Felde gives pitch at the ‘Dag van de Ontwerpkracht’

During the second edition of the ‘Dag van de Ontwerpkracht’ (Day of Design Power) our colleague Mona zum Felde gave a pitch at the Masterclass ‘Op waterbasis: wat betekent het als we water en bodem echt sturend maken?’ (Water-based: what does it mean when we make water and soil truly guiding?). The pitch, together with pitches from Stijn Koole (BoschSlabbers landscape architects) and Marco Hoogvliet (Deltares), was input for a panel discussion that focused on the importance of water and soil as guiding principle, what that means for developments, and how design can both contribute and benefit from this.

Geschiktheidskaart bodem en water voor woon- en werklocaties in de provincie Utrecht

Defacto heeft samen met de Utrechtse waterpartners een geschiktheidskaart voor woon- en werklocaties in de provincie Utrecht ontwikkeld. Deze kaart geeft inzicht in de geschiktheid voor nieuwe woon- en werklocaties vanuit het water- en bodemsysteem en klimaatverandering. De kaart vormt daarmee de ruimtelijke vertaalslag van het principe ‘water en bodem sturend’.

Programma Mooi Nederland

Voor het programma Mooi Nederland heeft Defacto bouwstenen voor ontwerpers ontwikkeld voor de transitie water en bodem sturend in stedelijk gebied. Deze vormen binnen dit programma (samen met bouwstenen voor de energietransitie en mobiliteit) de basis voor integrale handelingsperspectieven die middels ontwerpend onderzoek zullen worden ontwikkeld. Deze perspectieven maken inzichtelijk hoe complexe opgaven zo gecombineerd kunnen worden dat de ruimtelijke kwaliteit versterkt wordt.

Galveston Field Trip and Workshop with Local Stakeholders

Like many coastal cities, Galveston (Texas, USA) faces increasing flood risk challenges. A Ring Barrier Plan, is proposed to protect the area against storm surges. The barrier design consists of several concrete walls and barriers and will be complemented with a rainwater drainage system. During a field visit and design workshop together with local stakeholders, we discussed spatial impacts and potential spatial optimization of the Ring Barrier Plan.

Anne Loes Nillesen has been appointed Professor at TU Delft

We’re very proud to share that our founder Anne Loes Nillesen has been appointed Professor of Urban Design at TU Delft Urbanism Department. She will be focusing on strengthening the connection between research and design, integral design methodologies and associated multidisciplinary work-forms, and linking design with societal challenges, amongst which, climate change.

Anne Loes will of course remain active as Founding Director for Defacto Urbanism.

Climate Base Map South-Holland

Defacto together with the Province of South Holland and the water boards, developed a ‘climate base map’ that provides insight in conditions for land use deriving from the water- and soil system and climate change, as well as guidelines for climate proof urbanization, agriculture and nature developments. This project results from the ‘Water and Soil as guiding principle’ policy letter (‘Kamerbrief Water en Bodem Sturend’), a call for action by the national government, to stop passing on climate responsibility and costs to future generations, different areas or from the private to the public sector.

The map series shows climate challenges until 2100 in relation to flood risk management, subsidence, rain water discharge, water availability, water quality and heat stress. During a series of workshops with experts we together elaborated the impact of climate change and indicated areas that on the long term will be (un)suitable for traditional land use functions. We indicated where land use functions are considered unsustainable and should be reconsidered (orange on the map), where a joint effort is required to transform land use in a climate proof way (yellow on the map) and where guidelines can secure climate proof development (green on the map).

Municipalities can use the developed ‘climate base map’ to direct housing development, nature development and policies and agriculture transition. The map indicates what development could best be located where and provides guidelines for climate proof development.

Kennisprogramma Zeespiegelstijging

70 years ago today the great flood took place and flooded large parts of the southwestern provinces of the Netherlands. After that, the Delta works were built to protect the South West Delta. While the area is still well protected from flooding, it is unsure how long these measures will be sufficient in the light of sea level rise.

As part of the national knowledge program on sea level rise (Kennisprogramma Zeespiegelstijging) we explore different long-term development directions and their spatial and functional implications to ensure a resilient delta area in the future.

Dhaka Field Trip

The rivers around Dhaka are very diverse in their characteristics and face multiple complex challenges. As part of the umbrella investment program (a technical assistance to the GoB, commissioned by The World Bank) a boat trip was organized. During this field visit we discussed the current status and potential projects and investment for the rivers together with local authorities.

We look forward to further developing the prioritization strategy for investments to improve the river quality together with Royal HaskoningDHV, Delta Context B.V., The World Bank and the Government of Bangladesh.

Rotterdams WeerWoord 2030

The municipality of Rotterdam adopted the Rotterdams WeerWoord 2030. For this program we developed integral frameworks and perspectives for climate adaptation that can be applied by city makers. With this milestone, the programmatic approach Rotterdam WeerWoord enters a new phase of scaling up the implementation of climate adaptation city-wide.

For this project we developed climate analyses and perspective maps for different neighbourhoods and stakeholders, together with Nelen & Schuurmans.

Fill the form below in order to access the PDF:

    Fill the form below in order to access the PDF: