Pioneering in sustainable urban design

The City of Hamburg has earned a "Special Mention" by the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize 2018. The biannual international award honours outstanding achievements and contributions to the creation of liveable, vibrant and sustainable urban communities around the world. Our own HafenCity project is one of the central transformation initiatives by the City of Hamburg that helped earn the award. Regarding the HafenCity project, the jury lauds: "Hamburg is recognised as an extraordinary port city that has overcome planning challenges to become an attractive and welcoming city of opportunities for a population that now includes a growing number of immigrants. It has very effectively evolved from previous conventional practice of urban expansion on the fringe through the successful implementation of its inner city densification strategy to cater to increased demand for housing and urban mobility from its growing population. The new HafenCity is an excellent demonstration of this strategy. The former underused harbour and industrial space located next to the historical "Speicherstadt" warehouse district has been transformed from a dilapidated area into a dynamic mix-use district of urban housing, workplaces and recreation areas. Recognising that built heritage is an important aspect that adds to the quality of life in an ever-changing environment, the city placed great emphasis on the urban design of the new district to relate to the old city, and to align vistas with the spires of the old churches while also sensitively providing protection against flooding and rising waters." You can find the full jury report here.

KCAP's De Opgang, comprising of a program of 79 apartments, a church and daycare facilities, is one of eight projects selected for publication 'Complex Housing' (Routledge, USA), which introduces an architectural type called complex housing, common to the Netherlands and found in other Northern European countries. It is one of eight fully illustrated case studies that show successful approaches to designing for density, which reflect values such as long-term planning, a right to housing, and access to light and air. The case studies demonstrate a wide range of applications including a mixture of urban and suburban sites, various numbers of dwelling units, low- to high-density approaches, different architectural styles, and organizational strategies that can be adopted in projects elsewhere. De Opgang was also one of the projects presented at the symposium “Complexity: Dutch and American Housing” that explored the similarities and differences between the way housing is designed, developed, and constructed in the Netherlands and in the United States, as a way to create new practices. Extending from the book Complex Housing: Designing for Density and accompanying the exhibition Dutch Complex Housing, the symposium at the University of Minnesota brought 12-13 presenters from the Netherlands, including architects, developers, residents, urban planners, and politicians to engage in discussions about best housing practices. The conference addressed such questions as how to build equitable housing that: 1) incorporates mixed-income households, 2) includes rental and purchase opportunities, 3) is financed in new ways, and 4) is architecturally innovative and diverse? Han van den Born, architect, Henk-Jan Hollander, developer and former alderman of Amsterdam Duco Stadig, all involved in the project De Opgang, jointly presented the project at the symposium.        

Against the background of the exhibition "Train and the City", KCAP and OMI organize a special event around Rotterdam Central District on Tuesday 5 September. You are cordially invited to participate in the event. Rotterdam Central District, the station area of Rotterdam, is developing fast. What are the recent developments and opportunities of the area? What can we learn from the development of station areas in other European cities? What are the essential elements of ‘making’ a city? And how does the district become a driving force for the further development of Rotterdam? These and other questions will be discussed with Kees van Oorschot, Wijnand Galema and Kees Christiaanse. Patrick van der Klooster, director of AIR architecture center Rotterdam, will moderate the evening. During the program, the following topics will be discussed: • Recent developments of Rotterdam Central DistrictKees van Oorschot, process manager municipality Rotterdam for Rotterdam Central District• Cultural-historical research SchiekadeblokWijnand Galema, architectural historian• Rotterdam Central District as a driving forceKees Christiaanse, urban planner and partner KCAP Architects&Planners The entrance is opens at 4:30 pm at OMI Rotterdam, Schiekade 205. The program will last from 5.00 until 6.30 pm. We close the event with a drink. We look forward to welcoming you on September 5th. Please register for the event before Friday September 1st.      

Kees Christiaanse is one of the keynote speakers at the annual real estate symposium in Baden, Switzerland on March 28th. With the title "Die Stadt erfindet sich neu - Immobilien Quo vadis?", the Swiss Real Estate Association SVIT has invited national and international experts to look out to future visions and take a glimpse back into the past of urban development. Focus of the discussions will be on: Changing conditions of cities and urban regions Influences, needs and time periods New uses in a changed world New real estate for new cities Click here for more information. 

Ute Schneider is one of the international jury members of Europan 14 Austria. On March 22nd, the competition will be officially launched with an opening event at the Haus der Architektur in Graz with Ute Schneider as keynote speaker. Europan is the world´s largest competition for architects, urbanists & landscape architects under 40. It covers 45 sites in 13 European countries. 'Europan A' has 3 sites in Austria.The topic of Europan 14 is 'Productive Cities' and deals with the question on how mixed is actually the mixed-city. The competition entries will have to be submitted by June 30th, the results will be announced on December 1st. Find here more information on Europan 14 Austria. Click here for the European website of Europan.

On Thursday, February 16th, Ruurd Gietema will give a lecture about KCAP's experiences with working in China at TU Delft. The lecture is meant as preparation for the STYLOS travel to China but it is open to everyone. Time: 12:45 am - 1:45 pm Location: Room A Click here for further information.

Kees Christiaanse will be one of the speakers at the symposium 'Schiphol towards the future', organised by the podium for architecture in Haarlemmermeer and Schiphol. During the event, the book 'The adaptive airport' will be presented to which he contributed with an essay named 'the productive landscapes in Haarlemmermeer'. Kees Christiaanse will contribute his expert knowlegde that is based on the numerouw airport projects within KCAP, his experience as supervisor of Schiphol Airport from 2008-2013 and his activities in the international Airports and Cities research platform, a cooperation of his chair at ETH with the SEC/ETH Future Cities Laboratory Singapore and TU Munich Professorship for Sustainable Urbanism, Prof. Mark Michaeli. The symposium will take place November 11th at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam. 

At the Building Green conference in Copenhagen on November 2nd and 3rd, Jeroen Dirckx, urban planner and associate at KCAP, will introduce KCAP's approach to sustainable urban design and present three international cases as keynote speaker. Since its founding in 1989, KCAP is focussing on realising sustainable urban neighbourhoods with a strong social coherence. With the GWL Terrain in Amsterdam, KCAP pioneered in designing a car-free living environment with communal facilities and urban farming. In Hamburg, we planned the flood-resilient HafenCity urban expansion, one of the largest brownfield developments in Europe, which received a TOD Gold Award. More recently, KCAP leads the multi-disciplinary design team of the CO2-neutral FredericiaC project in Denmark. This transformation of a polluted former harbour area into a vital new city district includes themes like climate change adaptation, urban prosperity, energy efficiency, urban farming, participation, temporary landscape and social cohesion. 

KCAP has extensive experiences with working in Russia in all phases of architectural and urban projects. This expertise has gained us an invitation share our expert knowlegde from an international perspective on the first edition of the international forum 'Environment for Living', held October 20th and 21st in Innopolis, the Republic of Tatarstan. The forum is one of the first steps to evaluate building regulations, generate a public discussion and initiate legislative changes in the fields of urban planning, housing construction and public improvements with the aim to establish a new design culture and working methodology. The forum is organised by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Russian Ministry of Construction and Housing, the Government of the Republic of Tatarstanand the Federal Agency for Housing Mortgage Finance.

The Urban and Landscape Week is the biggest annual academic symposium hosted by TU Delft’s Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences and is organized by study association POLIS. ULWeek provides a platform for collaborative and multidisciplinary engagement by inviting students, researchers and professionals within different academic disciplines from within Europe and overseas.  On ULWeek's first day, Kees Christiaanse is one of the international speakers, talking about LIVING IN THE LANDSCAPE. Click here for more information.

Today, KCAP participated in the annual interregional science and research conference “Modern Engineering System-2016" (MES-2016), taking place in Kazan, Russia. Riikka Tuomisto, senior project leader and urban designer of KCAP, gave a lecture “Better prevent than cure”, speaking on how to transform cities into places where people can enjoy all aspects of live in a non-conflicting manner with healthy and vital environments as a main goal. In 2016, the conference is celebrating its 10th anniversary along with the 50th anniversary of the Kazan State University of Architecture and Engineering. Among speakers of MES-2016 – architects, heads of clinics, leading experts from world-scale suppliers and other professionals interested in construction and modernization of hospitals. The conference is organized by Interregional Clinical and Diagnostic Center, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tatarstan, Ministry of Construction and Architecture of the Republic of Tatarstan, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan and others. Click here for the conference website.

KCAP joined as one of the speakers the Ningbo Sponge City Delegation Visit, organised by The Consulate General of the Netherlands in Shanghai last week. Ningbo, a large, rapidly growing port city in the eastern part of China, is hoping to transform 25% of its area into a Sponge City by the year 2020. With cities getting bigger and climate change threatening to bring more extreme weather, sponge cities may be an interesting solution. They are a so-called reimagination of the urban environment where almost every raindrop is captured, controlled and reused. Instead of funneling rainwater away, a sponge city retains it for use within its own boundaries. KCAP, being a Dutch company with rich experience on waterfront planning and urban transformation, was therefore invited to share our projects and exchange our ideas with local government. Approximately 171 Sponge-City projects with different focuses, such as Sponge-City Neighourhood, Sponge-City Road and Square Design, Sponge-City Parks and Green Spaces, Water and Ecology Restoration, Flood Control and Drainage, Building Capacity etc. will be implemented in China in the coming three years. Six other Dutch companies were also invited to express their thoughts on the subject.  

The creation of human living environments and intelligent breeding grounds for sustainable communities is key to KCAP's work. At the Sochi Investment Forum, Ruurd Gietema will present this expertise as one of the panelists in the session 'Modern Approaches to the Human Environment'. In addition, KCAP’s international perspective will make a meaningful contribution to the discussion about developing comfortable and high-quality urban environments in Russia. The Sochi Forum is a traditional platform for presenting Russia’s investment and economic potential and regional aspects of the global economy. It is also well-known for boosting cooperation and strengthening ties between Russian and foreign business leaders, experts, and media representatives. It takes place on September 29th and 30th in Sochi. Click here for more information about the program. Photo credits: Tass Photo

Kees Christiaanse is one of the speakers at the annual conference of Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) that takes place from September 14-16 in Singapore.Future Cities / Challenges is the first annual conference of Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) in its second phase. It will showcase the progress FCL researchers have made one year into the programme. The conference as a whole will focus on the challenges that future cities pose for researchers, planners, designers, and the society at large. Click here for more information.

Last month, Kees Christiaanse was one of the speakers at the annual Urban Age conference in Venice, jointly organised by LSE Cities at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft and integrated with the Venice Biennale. Click here to view his lecture during the 2-day conference.  

Ya-Hsin Chen, associate and chief representative of KCAP Shanghai, was one of the speakers at the 2-day event ‘Sino Dutch Sponge City Seminar’ in Zhuhai in June, co-organized by Embassy of the Netherlands in China, Zhuhai Housing and the Urban-Rural Planning & Development Bureau. KCAP and four other Dutch architects' offices, including Arcadis, Deltares, KuiperCompagnons and OMA, were invited to share their visions and experience about water and city. HafenCity and Bao'An were presented as two KCAP showcase projects of our approach towards new water cities.      

Kees Christiaanse is one of the speakers at the annual Urban Age conference, jointly organised by LSE Cities at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft. It will be integrated with the 15th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia which started in the end of May and will run through November 2016. The 2-day conference has as title 'shaping cities' and features a wide range of high profile international speakers and topics. Click here for the conference website.  

Tomorrow starts the first International Course Rotterdam Architecture (IC-RA): City force: Rotterdam architecture.  This 3-day summer school for (young) professionals examines various Rotterdam city themes, forces and architecture in workshops, lectures, office & project visits and debates with experts from a wide range of educational organisations, design-practices and clients. Themes are gentrification, transformation, innovation and city-branding. All regarded in relation to the strength of architecture design. The program is a 3-day course-en-route through the city with day 1 focussing on Rotterdam Zuid: Wilhelminapier, Katendrecht and Piekstraat. KCAP is invited to co-lead and host the afternoon workshop about the area around Piekstraat Rotterdam. Jeroen Dirckx, associate of KCAP, together with Stijnie Lohof, senior urban designer Rotterdam Zuid at the municipality of Rotterdam, and Vincent Taapken (New Industry project developement and involved in the Piekstraat development) will accompany the group during their analysis and elaborations. Day 2 will focus on Rotterdam North and East, Central District, Markthal Quarter, Hoogkwartier and the Maas, day 3 on Rotterdam West, Merwe4Haven. Click here for more information.  

Ruurd Gietema is speaker at the first of the 3 days of BAU congress in Bejing. During the congress, Chinese and international speakers will discuss the outlook for the future of the Chinese market. Ruurd's lecture will be on July 4th which has as focus "Urban strategies”, while on the second day the focus is on “Project development and implementation”, and on the last day focuses “Smart building technology”.    

On June 23rd, Kees Christiaanse is one of the keynote speakers at the 3-day 'Central Europe towards Sustainable Building' conference 2016 in Prague, subtitled with Innovations for Sustainable Future. CESB16 continues the tradition of sustainable building conferences in Central Europe of the previous years 2007, 2010 and 2013. Click here for more information about CESB16.  

On May 17th, Rotterdam will host the third edition of the annual international Urban Transformation Conference (UTC). The program consists of six sub themes under the central theme Vital Cities. UTC targets city planners, architects, planners and administrators, politicians but also artists, active citizens, scientists and entrepreneurs. Jeroen Dirckx, urban planner and associate of KCAP, will present FredericiaC within the session 'increasing complexity of integrated urban design processes'. 'As early as since 1989, KCAP Architects&Planners focuses on sustainable neighbourhood development with a strong social and health agenda. With GWL Terrein in Amsterdam, we pioneered in designing a car-free living environment with a strong sense of community. Today, we have devised a multidisciplinary design approach to confront the increasing complexity of integrated urban design processes. Exemplary for this approach is the CO2-neutral FredericiaC project in Denmark, which was designed in a participatory process. This transformation of a polluted former harbour area into a vital new city district includes themes like climate change adaptation, urban prosperity, energy efficiency, urban farming, temporary landscape and social cohesion. As a leading Rotterdam practice we can draw lessons from this project for Rotterdam.' Click here for more information about UTC.  

KCAP co-organised yesterday the first HPP Café, together with Holland Property Plaza. HPP Café is a new format within the various activities of HPP. As new networking initiative it brings together the professionals and decision makers of today with young potentials, the decision makers of the future. The format aims at benefits for both by combining the knowledge of the experienced professionals with the creativity and energy of the younger generation.  HPP Café takes place at inspiring locations throughout the Netherlands. The first edition yesterday took place at Fenix Loods in Rotterdam Katendrecht. Rotterdam's city district Katendrecht was once a picturesque village. After excavating the Maashaven and Rijnhaven and annexation by Rotterdam the character changed considerably. Katendrecht quickly became a neighborhood known for violence and prostitution. From the beginning of this century a transition is going on. By extensive demolition and rebuilding the neighboorhood, it quickly changes its character. Today is Katendrecht a hip and trendy place and preferred housing location within Rotterdam. Three speakers, all involved in the redevelopment of Katendrecht, highlighted the project from different perspectives. Wienke Bodewes, Chair of Holland Property Plaza introduced the topic and speakers: * Matthijs van Ruijven, Chief urban planner of the municipality of Rotterdam talked about the area development of Rotterdam Katendrecht and the role of the municipality in this proces. * Harry-Jan Bus, director of theater Walhalla in Katendrecht highlighted how culture can stimulate and contribute to the quality of urban developments * Peter van der Gugten, Director Heijmans Vastgoed presented the programming aspects of the area developments and how to combine it with private initiates of stakeholders The discussion after the speeches was moderated by Patrick van der Klooster, director of AIR Foundation, the Rotterdam architecture center and was continued during the informal drinks after the program. The audience, around 65 real estate professionals, had the chance to walk around ...

Ruurd Gietema is one of the panelists of the 'Urban Environment and Resilience' panel at the European Habitat Conference in Prague. The 3-day conference started March 16th and serves as one of the pre-events of the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development - Habitat III which will take place in Quito, Ecuador in the fall of this year. The main organizers of the Prague event are the Ministry of Regional Development of Czech Republic alongside with the City of Prague. Other regional and thematic meetings will take this month in Toluca (Mexico), Barcelona, Mexico City, Pretoria and Abjuja (Nigeria). Click here for more information about European Habitat Prague. Click here for more information about Habitat III.  

Kees Christiaanse is one of the speakers at the symposium 'Future Healthcare' which is held every two years in Berlin. It serves as an international platform to offer political, medical, ecological and economical as well as architectonical perspectives on the construction of health facilities. The 2016 edition is the sixth symposium in the series. The event addresses architects, carriers of health facilities and health professionals as well as politicians. The interdisciplinary discussion will analyze and present current tendencies, innovative concepts and latest findings. It will be accompanied by international experts who are invited to contribute. Click here for more information about the program.  

Today, Kees Christiaanse will give a lecture about 'The impact of big projects on the city‘ within the spring lecture series of the University of Hong Kong. 'Today, the equilibirum of cities seems to be widely steered by Big Projects, like Kowloon Station, Lujiazui in Shanghai, Kings Cross in London or HafenCity in Hamburg. Also the impact of Big Events, like the Olympic Games, in the city have a far-reaching influence on the local urban condition. What does this mean for the role of urban design?' Click here for more information.

The construction progress of the first canal and the emerging of the public spaces of FredericiaC is progressing. The canal is a key element in KCAP's urban plan for the transformation of the former brownfield into a new city district and integrates water as important element into the site to create an attractive maritime environment. On YouTube there are 2 impressing timelapse movies showing the contruction of the canal and the first bridge. VIew here timelapse 1, and here timelapse 2.

Next Level – Urban planning without boarders. Learning from international experiences is the title under which the Dutch Creative Industry Fund gathers various experts to discuss: - how do international design projects and research contribute to find solutions for large-scale urban challenges? - what are the lessons the Dutch design community can learn from international experience? In parallel sessions three different topics will be examined: living environments, waterscapes and international workfield. Ruurd Gietema will share KCAP's experiences with housing strategies in the session about environments for living and working. Click here for more information.

On March 25th, KCAP was invited to host a design salon at the Dutch Consulate in Chongqing. The aim was to share KCAP's experience and discuss the future possibilities of Chongqing’s city development by having a dialogue with local stakeholders, developers and representatives of the Chongqing University. The event was planned as a first session with more to follow. The next Design Salon is will take place in the summer.

After FredericiaC had signed the agreement for the development of a plot at the canal last month an overwhelming interest in buying or renting a house has reached the company. Already 180 people have signed in. The block will contain 40 social housing units, 16 condominiums and 600 m2 offices.

FredericiaC has signed an agreement with the housing association Futura Fredericia and a private investor for the construction of 56 apartments and 600 m2 office space next to the first canal in KCAP's urban concept for FredericiaC. Find here the official press release (in Danish).

KCAP is proud to be included with 2 projects in the Yearbook Landscape Architecture and Urban Design 2014. With FredericiaC in the category 'the innovative city' and with OZ Nature Urbaine Montpellier in 'station areas'.

GWL terrein Amsterdam was one of the 15 'almost perfect urban blocks' exhibited at the Moscow Biennale in May 2014. The show, curated TU Delft’s Susanne Komossa, Nicola Marzot and Jonathan de Veen, is now exhibited at TU Delft and can still be seen until December 12th. Click here for more information.

KCAP is one of a range of Dutch architects published in 'Discover Benelux', a special of the Business Inflight & Members magazine of among others British Airways, Swiss Air and the business lounges of KLM and Air France. Click here for the online version. (KCAP on p. 36)  

KCAP is included in the exhibition '100 Architects of the Year 2014' organised by the Korean Institute of Architects (KIA) and showcased in Gwangju, Korea. The exhibition is part of the 33rd KIA Convention & Exhibition and proved to be one of the most prestigious exhibitions in Korea for architects and designers. The exhibition runs from November 5-9th. Click here for more information.

Yesterday, the official start ceremony of the digging of the first canal for the urban development FredericiaC was celebrated. Herewith the beginning of the first phase of the 21 ha waterfront development is officially announced. KCAP together with Ramboll and Fakton is responsible for the masterplan for the project.

In August, the 21ha waterfront regeneration scheme FredericiaC will start with digging the first cana and announces herewith the beginning of the first phase of the development. KCAP has developed the masterplan for the project based on a first prize competition win in collaboration with Ramboll and Fakton in 2011. Click here for the official press release (in Danish).

Students of the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design interviewed Kees Christiaanse about the furture of urbanisation. Click here to read the interview.

HafenCity Hamburg is one of nine best projects worldwide that received the TOD Standard in Gold. KCAP’s urban plan for the eco-friendly GWL Terrein in Amsterdam is certified with the TOD Standard in Silver. A global catalog of 50 urban developments on six continents was released yesterday by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP). TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) Standard is an assessment, recognition and policy guidance tool uniquely focused on integrating sustainable transport and land use planning and design.  It shows which projects connect people conveniently, affordably and safely to jobs, shopping, education and other opportunities that cities provide. The evaluation is based on eight principles for better streets and better cities - walk, clycle, connect, transit, mix, densify, compact and shift - which when put into practice, will create vibrant, low-carbon cities where people want to live and work. The certificate gold rewards urban development projects that are global leaders in all aspects of integrated transport and urban design. Silver marks projects that meet most of the objectives of best practice to a high level of quality. Last year, ITDP released the first version of the TOD Standard. The Standard is endorsed by UN Habitat and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), and is supported by ClimateWorks Foundation. More information about TOD Standard can be found on ITDP’s website.

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has selected winners in the 35th annual ULI Global Awards for Excellence competition, widely recognized as the land use industry’s most prestigious recognition program. The projects were honored in a ceremony at the ULI Fall Meeting in Chicago. HafenCity Hamburg is one of the twelve awarded developments.

A new film has been launched by Realdania that invites to discover how life in the first stages of the new district of FredericiaC can be lived. View the film on youtube.

The German public channel ZDF produced a documentary about Hafencity in their program 'Länderspiegel' in which they show various German cities. It shows nicely the current status of the development. Click here to watch the documentary (in German).

The masterplan by KCAP/ASTOC is nominated as one of 10 international projects for prestigious Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design, organised by the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, USA. Established in 1986, the Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design is the foremost award recognizing achievement in this field. The Prize is awarded every two years to recognize excellence in urban design with an emphasis on projects that contribute to the public realm of a city and improve the quality of urban life. The jury will announce the winner in March 2013.

Today, the new book over the first decade of Hafencity Hamburg will be officially launched in Hamburg. 

KCAP’s masterplan FredericiaC in Denmark has received an 2012 Excellence on the Waterfront Honor Award in the category ‘plans’. This annual award, organized by the US-based Waterfront Center since 1987, gives recognition to international waterfront developments. They are judged by their sensitivity of the design to water, their quality and harmony of design, the impact of civic contribution, environmental aspects as well as enrichment and difficulty. In total ten projects were awarded of which eight built projects and two plans. The award ceremony took place during the Waterfront Center’s 30th International Conference in Washington, DC, US.

The WAN AWARDS Urban Regeneration celebrates and promotes the best in international urban design, landscape & infrastructure projects. In the category of unbuilt projects, KCAP's FredericiaC masterplan is longlisted as one of 20 projects. The shortlist will be announced October 16th.Click here to view the longlist.

In late August the proposal for the development plan for FredericiaC was released. The plan shows how the development of FredericiaC over the next 20-25 years can create a radical, positive and visible change for the city and the region around Fredericia. The elaboration of the development plan is based on the winning competition design of KCAP of 2010. Click here to view a movie of the development plan.

Public Polish TV will broadcast a documentary about waterfront developments. The main focus is on the Polish city Gdynia and makes reference to the cities of Hamburg and Rotterdam. A few experts are interviewed in the documentary, among which KCAP urban planners Frank Werner and Jeroen Dirckx.View the trailer here.