Our vision on design and mid-size cities
“Architects are rational and socially engaged people. Rational because ultimately we want to realise buildings, engaged because we must always look for the need and legitimacy to do so.”
Last week, Jeroen de Willigen spoke at the Tilburg Building Association. Not only did he highlight De Zwarte Hond’s vision on design practices and how the firm implements this, he also stressed the importance of mid-size cities as excellent places for creating higher quality environments.
More and more people are moving to mid-size European cities – with up to 500.000 inhabitants – and as a result, they currently face major societal and spatial challenges. Yet research shows that residents of these cities are generally happy. What makes them such pleasant places to live?
This summer, De Zwarte Hond launched an investigation into what makes these cities attractive and which bold measures are needed to make these centres of growth exemplary cities. The travelling exhibition titled ‘Bold Cities, Brave Decisions’, kicked off at the Haus der Architektur Graz and can be seen there until 15 September. It will then be on view in Groningen, Tilburg and Ghent before moving on to German cities. In each city, ‘brave decisions’ will be collected to compare them and learn lessons for the future.