From the upcoming ECOWEEK in Tilburg Event.
OKRA-masterplan station area Hilversum (2017)
Give us some background on you and your work (studies, past experience, high lights of your career, prizes, etc.).
Paul Kersten (born 10-04-1990, Tilburg the Netherlands) works as designer at OKRA Landscape Architects in Utrecht. He graduated in architecture and urbanism from TU Eindhoven. His graduation project was exhibited at the Dutch Design Week. During his study, he also worked as a freelance architect on a masterplan for the Wilhelmina canal zone, the area which is also subject of the ecoweek workshop. Besides his work at OKRA, he was also researcher and teacher at the TU/e.
Inge Guffens studied at the School for TV Journalism in Tilburg, after which she made a specialist degree at the Media Academie in Hilversum in the field of single-camera direction, format writing, image grammar, editing- interview- and presentation-techniques. During and after her studies, Inge worked at the RVU (now NRT) on the TV- and radio program “The Club of 100”. That program was ’translated' into a local program called “The Club of Delft, where Inge worked as a editor in chief.
Journalistic content is the basis of Inge’s work. As a TV and documentary maker, she translates complicated information into a profound and comprehensible filmstory with the right tension arch.
Inge produces films and documentaries. In addition, she helps organizations with their visibility through the production of corporate films. Her preference goes to projects concerning social issues, social entrepreneurship and (health)care.
What attracted you to join ECOWEEK in Tilburg? Have you participated to ECOWEEK design workshops in the past?
I was asked by my old teacher, Gie Steenput, to contribute to Ecoweek by organising a workshop. Working with students gives the chance and freedom to experiment with certain methods to perceive the city and landscape. It's great to discover the talents of a group and to collaborate intensively in such a short period. It's always surprising how much energy and great work can be generated in a few days.
Exhibition Design Artefacts for the Built Environment - Eindhoven (2016)
What is the theme of your workshop in Tilburg? Who are the members of your team? What are your expectations of the workshop?
The subject of the workshop is the Wilhelmina Canal zone in Tilburg. This canal cuts straight trough the city of Tilburg, but it has always been a kind of back side. This blue green zone has never really been part of the collective memory of the city, nor has it ever been well connected to the city in a spatial sense. However, the canal is used quite extensively by cyclists and runners and a lot of societal organizations are located near the canal.
Central theme of the workshop is how to look, to observe, to value and to capture a specific place. The aim of the workshop is to discover what is of value or what could be of value in the future. Students are asked to just use their eyes and camera's to do this.
The workshop is organized together with Inge Guffens. Inge is a great producer and film director. In this workshop we combine our interests and expertise, Inge as producer/ director, and I as architect/ researcher. I think with our combined expertise we can give the students a good basis for a successful workshop in which they can do great research and make a fantastic films.
What is ‘bio-based approach to the design of urban space’ for you? How do you apply it to your workshop in Tilburg?
Lately, I read a very interesting interview with Rene ten Bos, the newly appointed Dutch 'Denker des Vaderlands'. In this interview, Ten Bos argues for a more thoughtful approach towards solutions for climate change. He compares it with being lost in a forest. In case one is lost in the forest, one should not walk in a straight line. Rather one might find the way back easier by standing still to see what's happening around. Subsequently, one starts walking circles to get out of the forest. More specifically, he states that quick solutions are attractive, because they give us an illusion of being in control, but that quick fixes are likely to take us even into more trouble.
This workshop departs from this idea towards a more thoughtful approach. Issues like climate change and biodiversity have a lot of different problem owners. To focus just on the 'bio' and 'eco' part of urban space is risky, not only from a societal or spatial point of view, but also for the livability of a place. At the same time, these issues are very important and urgent. In order to contribute to these issues, we start with small steps. I don't want students to understand only about climate change, at the same time I want them to understand social and spatial issues.
Exhibition Living Cities - Eindhoven (2016)
Please share link(s) to your work.
Work of Paul Kersten:
Texel Flows: a metabolic atlas (to be published june 2017) http://www.planettexelacademy.nl/
Architectural Research: http://www.chronotopos.com/jewishtraces/
Work of Inge Guffens:
Title: Why do they kill?
Company: Tilburg University and professor Alette Smeulers; Criminal law and criminology of international crimes
Content: Atrocities of ISIS shock the world. Fear of attacks - also growing in the west -. But these deeds are not just something of this time. Thinking of the Holocaust, the genocide in Rwanda. Since human memory there have been perpetrators who commit crimes against humanity on a large international scale.
Who are these people? How do they get to their actions? This film is about the research of Professor Alette Smeulers.