• Participative research project on the flexible dimension of urbanism
• April 2008-now
• popupcity.net

The Pop-Up city Laboratory is a one year lasting project in which we will explore new concepts, strategies and methods for a dynamic and flexible interpretation of urban planning and architecture.

More than ever societies are strongly linked to global developments that have a substantial influence on the local scale. Changes take place continuously with more and more acceleration. Present cities deal with many problems which are mostly related to rapidly increasing international societal, cultural, technologic and economic transformation processes. More variableness in economic, political and cultural patterns leads to new expectations and renewals of dynamic capacities of the city. Our aim is to search for creative solutions regarding flexible urbanism and architecture.

The central question of the Pop-up City Laboratory is: is the current practice of urban planning, development and architecture still up-to-date during these times of rapid changing processes today’s cities are dealing with? Does every building still have to be built for perpetuity? And why doesn’t it make more sense to explore opportunities for more rising and disappearing, loose, temporary and flexible manners of spatial planning and architecture?

The Pop-Up City Laboratory will organise readings, workshops and interviews with creative professionals and thinkers. This will be leading to an experimenting study in new forms of variable and temporary urban development. Multidisciplinary teams will be formed, consisting of theorists, designers, artists and professionals in real estate and construction. The assignment of dealing consequently with the flexible city contains two important dimensions. On one hand the exploring of opportunities for temporary use of both private and public space which have become obsolete. On the other hand the search for new forms of construction, urban planning and architecture where principles of change, movement, (dis)appearance or extensions are embedded. Our aim is to create a network of a wide range of professionals who are interested in dynamic urbanism.