How MVRDV's buildings contribute to sustainable living for the future

Riyad Joucka and Jan Knikker on the stage at Architecture of the Future Conference. Image © World Architecture Community

Knikker's presentation was on how MVRDV's buildings contribute to "sustainable living" for the future. He stressed the importance of sustainable living with the use of outdoor spaces and variety that are dominantly used in the studio's projects in general, and he shared a broad perspective on how they manage the design process in terms of efficiency and usability of these spaces.

Knikker, in relation to a question about how to use a lot of green spaces in their projects, stated that "if you have enough soil on your balcony, you can grow your plants because you can test how much sun or rain comes in different periods of the season".

Jan Knikker. Image © Allard van der Hoek

"You can test it parametrically with software tools." However, Knikker also added that "we don't talk about only digital models as a generative process, but we love also physical models and they are still a very important part of the thinking process. We put physical models in the middle of the table and all architects in the studio discuss it because architecture is a social interaction as well."

Knikker shared some visuals of important projects from the studio, including Market Hall in Rotterdam, the Public Art Depot in Museumpark Rotterdam, the Seoul Skygarden, (W)ego house, Peruri 88 in Jakarta, showing how they transformed the cities from small scale to larger scale and brought new life and use.

Market Hall from the West at dusk, completed in 2014 in Rotterdam. Image © Ossip van Duivenbode

In his lecture, he explained how the firm transformed the car city with Seoullo bridge, the post-industrial city with Market Hall, and the Art Depot making art visible to the public.

Article originally published on World Architecture Community.