On June 24 a lecture on kiosks will be held at the IABR, as part of the research program En Passant: KIOSK, conducted by kioskologists Jacques Beljaars and Thomas Rouw in collaboration with Urban Sociology students from the University of Amsterdam. The kiosk will be viewed from a historical and contemporary perspective and a reflection held on its future value and significance as co-designer of the ‘Next Economy’. After the lecture a Q&A follows with the audience.

As a small freestanding vending booth, the kiosk provides a meaningful contribution to the quality of public space. The kiosk invites passers-by to slow down, to stay and eat in the public domain, to meet with acquaintances and with strangers. It means trade and animation. The entrepreneurs as Public Characters who know their customers well, act as ‘eyes on the street’ and thus improve safety and the quality of life in the city. The kiosk provides human proportions to the build environment and the informal, sometimes even ludic architectonic experiments with anarchistic aesthetics, are a visual relieve amidst the fashionable sleek and slick designed street facades. At last, as a mini-enterprise, the kiosk is an often easy accessible and stable employer, which contributes in a sustainable way to the urban economy.

Within social trends such as the changing composition of the urban population, ‘festivalisation' of public space, civic initiatives and a growing independent and creative entrepreneurship, how can the kiosk act as representative of the Next Economy?

Program follows soon.

The lecture is part of a three-part program of En Passant: KIOSK at the IABR. An expert meeting and a bike tour through Rotterdam complete the kiosk-program at the IABR 2016.

Friday 24 JUNE 2016
Time: 5.30 pm-7.30 pm
Location: Fenixloods II, Paul Nijghkade 19, Rotterdam
Language: Dutch
Admission fee: none, provided you can produce a valid exhibition ticket.

For more information on the lecture, please visit enpassantkiosk.nl