Professor of Urban Design Tess Broekmans: ‘Designers must learn to listen better’
Tess Broekmans, co-owner of Urhahn urban design and strategy, delivered her inaugural address as professor of Urban Design on Friday 6 September. In it, she addressed ‘the complexity of the everyday’. After all, how can designers' visions connect better with people's everyday lives? In doing so, she also sees a new role for area developers.
Gebiedsontwikkeling.nu spoke to her at length about her intriguing title ‘the complexity of the everyday’ of the introductory speech. What does Tess Broekmans mean by this? ‘First of all, it's about the versatility you find in the city. The city as a living organism continues to fascinate me. In addition, and this is the point I want to make in my inaugural address and see as a mission for the fulfilment of my professorship, is that we need to connect the abstract thinking of designers with the everyday, with the world in which people live their lives in the city.
In design research, I sometimes see designs that are very abstract: ordinary people can't do anything with this. I miss the bridge between the long-term vision and how to bring people into it.
''At TU Delft, we are good at systems thinking, at analysing how everything works. And how we want to change that system from a long-term perspective, for example, how we can better gear the city to climate change in ten years' time. That in itself is commendable, but the most important link is missing, namely how to include people in their everyday living environment. Designers do not give this enough thought: how do you ensure that your design has an impact now? An idea for a future-proof neighbourhood must also land in everyday life.''
‘Where designers focus too much on the long term, area developers take too much of a short-term view of financial viability. I think we can bridge that gap if designers and area developers are willing to bring together short-term and long-term goals, dare to experiment and really involve residents in renewing our neighbourhoods,’ states Tess Broekmans.
More information
The full interview with Tess Broekmans can be read on Gebiedsontwikkeling.nu. (Dutch only)