IABR

^{DOWN TO EARTH: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

The transition to renewable energy is urgent, but also almost unimaginably far-reaching. Urgent because the petroculture that characterizes modern civilization contributes greatly to global warming and climate change. Far-reaching because the way we live and care, learn and live, consume and produce; because what we eat and how we eat, how we move around and how we interact with each other and with nature – in short, because how we organize our living environment and our coexistence and whether everyone has equal opportunities, is largely determined by access to and use of energy.
Our use of energy has an impact on our economy and our culture. But the era of petroculture, the feast of fossil expressionism, is coming to an end. The energy transition is now the elephant in the room of politics. It is therefore crucial that we reconsider ownership of the transition to a sustainable energy supply. That we underline that the energy transition cannot take place without a social transition.

^{DOWN TO EARTH: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

^{Toolbox: The World and the Neighborhood (work in progress)}

^{image: OOZE, IABR–Atelier Rotterdam}

RECLAIMING THE COMMONS
The exhibition RECLAIMING THE COMMONS is the 2.0 version of WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?, the exhibition we had to close after only three weeks, last December, because of the lockdown.

^{DOWN TO EARTH: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY? focused on the energy transition at the district level, on the energy district as an energetic district. Because it is in the district that it is best to explore how the energy transition can be used as a lever for broader, sustainable, truly transformative change. That is, as the exhibition showed, the level of scale at which technical, infrastructural and social tasks come together. It is therefore also where major and minor players – governments, businesses, social initiatives, housing corporations, owners’ associations, and residents – must come to an agreement. But how can this be achieved? The discussion on this subject was extensive during and after the exhibition.
In RECLAIMING THE COMMONS the curators, George Brugmans and Thijs van Spaandonk, go a step further. Their starting point is the observation that energy was once part of the commons: that which belongs to all of us and that we take care of together. And that we might want to look at it that way again: after all, since the sun, wind and hydrogen belong to everyone, the transition to sustainable energy should belong to us all, too. So how can we reinvent the commons for the twenty-first century? The energy transition is the elephant in the room of politics. It’s high time to say: No energy transition without social transition – RECLAIM THE COMMONS!

Click here for more info about WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?

^{WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

IABR–Atelier Rotterdam: the energy transition as a lever for change in the urban district
In the Netherlands, according to the National Climate Agreement of 2019, circa 5,000 districts will have to become gas-free. Initial experience shows that this is not at all easy. There are many complications, for instance with implementation and, above all, financing and local support. Actually, we just don’t know yet how to wean our districts off of natural gas.
In Rotterdam too, all districts have to be weaned off of natural gas. The city pointed to five to lead the way. One of these is Bospolder-Tussendijken, also known as BoTu, one of the poorest districts in the Netherlands. But it is not only fragile, it is also resilient: culturally diverse, empowered and self-aware. That is why the IABR chose BoTu.

^{Reclaiming the Commons}

^{foto: Aad Hoogendoorn}

In BoTu the IABR–Atelier Rotterdam, a collaboration between IABR and the municipality of Rotterdam, has spent the past two years exploring how the energy transition that is inevitable can be a lever for what is aspired to. Can residents really become co-owners of the transition and in such a way that it contributes to social inclusion and the sustainable improvement of their living environment and quality of life?

^{DOWN TO EARTH: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

From building blocks to Local Energy Action Plan
Atelier Rotterdam first researched the spatio-energetic building blocks needed for a future, truly resilient BoTu, for it to become clear what the specific energy challenge in BoTu actually is. Then, an anthropological exploration by the Atelier of the known and unknown, often invisible social networks in BoTu provided insight into the potential power of residents. To what extent can and do they want to be co-producers of their living environment and take responsibility for the transition? An identification of the social building blocks needed to link the energy transition to other, more integral local challenges, such as the sustainable improvement of quality of life and the living environment.

^{Towards a LEAP}

^{© IABR, Ooze}

In order to actually realize a transition that is broadly supported and implement it spatially, a LEAP is required, a Local Energy Action Plan, which the IABR–Atelier Rotterdam has developed together with a growing number of partners in and residents of Bospolder-Tussendijken.

^{Virtual workshop LEAP}

^{picture: Yonca Özbilge}

The LEAP was presented in WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY? and discussed in workshops and other settings, and with experts as well as with stakeholders from Bospolder-Tussendijken. Consequently, the LEAP was further developed and a Toolbox for the District was designed which will be presented in RECLAIMING THE COMMONS.
Therefore, the exhibition is also conceived as a launching pad for activities which we float in the summer of 2021 in BoTu itself.

^{DOWN TO EARTH: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

RECLAIM THE COMMONS!
Clearly, this exhibition is a snapshot, taken on the road from Local Energy Action Plan to local energy action. The aim is to provide Bospolder-Tussendijken with a plan and a toolbox with which more and more residents can lay claim to the energy transition and appropriate it – as such, but especially as a lever for integral change.
But that won’t just happen. Action perspective and action competence are one thing, acquiring ownership is another. In addition to plans and tools, residents must also be given a real position and be taken seriously by the authorities and the business community as co-owners of the transition. After all, this is about their living environment. Private-public cooperation is imperative, but then residents have to be able to become real players, too.
Residents will only be able to secure a real position if what they contribute is actually appreciated and has real value. In other words, if not only economic but also social and ecological gains are considered as increases in value, as income added to the books.

^{Energy Transition as Leverage (from: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS)}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

Everything has to change
The way capitalism works and the relationships between government, businesses and civil society must change, especially the underlying power structures. We need a new balance of profit and loss that takes into account the importance of future generations and other forms of life without irresponsibly mortgaging the future. This requires profound transitions and a structural systems change. Only then can we reclaim the commons – what belongs to us together and should remain so, and what we take care of together, now and for the future.

Curators
The curators of the exhibition are George Brugmans (IABR) and Thijs van Spaandonk (Bright and Head Master Urban Design of the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design).
Currently, the lead designer of the IABR–Atelier Rotterdam is Eva Pfannes (OOZE Architects and Urbanists), who designed the LEAP and the toolboxes.

^{from the left: George Brugmans, Eva Pfannes and Thijs van Spaandonk}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

DOWN TO EARTH: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS is open to the public from Wednesday June 9 through Sunday July 11, 2021, from Tuesday to Sunday, from 11 am to 5 pm. The exhibition is closed on Mondays.

Admission is free and registration is not necessary as long as the current corona measures are in force.
For all other pertinent visitors information, click here

ALL DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Given the pandemic, IABR follows the current guidelines of the Dutch Health Authority. So please remember that because of Covid-19 all dates are subject to change.

DOWN TO EARTH

Program

Exhibition

Location

Keilepand

People

curators
George Brugmans (chief curator)
Thijs van Spaandonk

curator assistants
Alexandra Sonnemans, Noortje Weenink

exhibition design
Eva Pfannes, Thijs van Spaandonk, George Brugmans

graphic design
ARK
Roosje Klap, Nóra Békés, Nina van Tuikwerd

LEAP
OOZE Architects and Urbanists
Eva Pfannes, Sylvain Hartenberg, Leanne Hoogwaerts, Nilofer Tajuddin, Hsoc Mathai George, Federica Zatta, Felipe Gonzales, Elif Soylu, Verena Balz

portraits
Ximena Dávalos

serious game development
PLAY THE CITY
Ekim Tan, Txell Blanco, Asma Begdouri Achkari, Chia-Ju Lin, Hyunwoo Koo

events
Yonca Özbilge

production and planning
Maartje Berendsen, Johanna Fuhler

copy-editing and translations
InOtherWords translation & editing
D’Laine Camp, Gerda ten Cate, Maria van Tol

reception
Radja Moelhan, Oleksandra Tkachenko

construction, lighting and printing
Bart Cuppens Tentoonstellingsbouw, Bouwer Bouwer, Keilepand bv, Nicari, Quintus Belichting, Rocka Art & Sign, Snijlab, Veenman+

The energy transition challenge has been a common thread through the research and exhibitions of the IABR since 2014.This is not surprising, because if we want to achieve the ambitions of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and meet the Paris climate goals, we must completely change the way we use energy and land, warn scientists from all over the world.

^{IABR–Atelier Rotterdam: thermal energy from surface water in Bospolder-Tussendijken}

From a spatial point of view, it can be said that the energy transition typically occurs at four scale levels: transnational, regional, district and building. Currently, the IABR focuses mainly on energy transition at district level, the IABR–Atelier Rotterdam has been actively working in and with the Rotterdam Bospolder-Tussendijken district since 2017. And WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?, the second exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, focuses entirely on the energy district. However, the IABR has also conducted intensive research at the three other scale levels, among others on the North Sea, in the province of Groningen and into new building typologies in Rotterdam.

Large-Scale Wind Energy Production on the North Sea
‘If we take the 2 ºC climate target seriously, what should we do?’ Starting from this seemingly simple question, which the Ministry of Economic Affairs put to the IABR in 2016, IABR–Atelier 2050 - An Energetic Odyssey explored the possibilities of large-scale renewable energy production on the North Sea. A knowledge consortium was formed – including Shell, Van Oord, the Port of Rotterdam Authority, Natuur & Milieu, TenneT, various Dutch ministries and of course designers – with the curators of IABR–2014 and IABR–2016, Dirk Sijmons and Maarten Hajer, at the helm.

The Atelier 2050 resulted in a large-scale installation that, including an animation that visualizes the possible future, depicts a transition leap that shows that it is possible to harvest wind energy to supply the surrounding countries on a very large scale from the relatively shallow North Sea. The 25,000 10 MW wind turbines that can cover around 90 percent of the North Sea countries’ electricity consumption by 2050 comprise the plan’s crowning touch.
The Atelier investigated what such an ambitious transition leap would involve, what infrastructure it would require, how it could be carried out without causing damage to North Sea nature, what innovations and policies it would require and what new economic dynamics it would generate, for example in the Port of Rotterdam and in the offshore sector.

Play

IABR–Atelier 2050 - An Energetic Odyssey: the video

Energy Transition in Groningen
In 2016 the IABR–Atelier Groningen presented the results of its research into how the Province of Groningen could use the energy transition, in collaboration with several cities and businesses in Eemshaven, to create new perspectives for the regional economy and for the spatial quality of the city and region. An extensive exploration of ways to switch to renewable energy over the next 15 years and ways to reap the economic benefits of that switch led to four prospects, for one Nordic City.

More about the results of the research led by Jandirk Hoekstra of H+N+S Landscape Architects, can be found in the brochure De Nordic City and in De Nordic City: de Film.

Play

The Nordic City: Energy Transition  and the economic opportunities it offers Groningen

^10:23"

^{Commissioned by iabr/UP for IABR-2016–THE NEXT ECONOMY.
Production: Strawberry Fields
Producers: Marieke Francke and George Brugmans}

Those who want to go into more depth can download the studies by Quintel Intelligence, E&E Advies, Atelier Stadsbouwmeester Groningen (with Specht Architecten, Studio MARCHA and MD landschapsarchitecten), Maat ontwerpers en Van Paridon x De Groot (met DAAD Architecten en LINT) here.

Building for the Energy Transition
In 2018, CIVIC carried out research by design into new building typologies for the energy transition for IABR–Atelier Rotterdam. Although there is a lot of expertise about energy-efficient construction, it used to be fragmented. CIVIC has brought all such knowledge together in the Lexicon Architectuur & Energie, an overview of building blocks that together lead to principles for better energy performance, a better indoor climate, and new architecture. This is a first exploration of a new architecture that both embraces the energy transition and delivers spatial and user quality. The energy transition can be used as a lever for better buildings in a better living environment.
The principles are applied to two typologies common in Rotterdam, the postwar housing association block and the new high-rise tower.The Gijslingflats in the Bospolder-Tussendijken district are exemplary of the first typology, the postwar housing association block that accounts for more than a quarter of Rotterdam’s building stock and presents the main renovation challenge.

Building for the energy transition

^{CIVIC for IABR–Atelier Rotterdam}

^{picture: Aad Hoogendoorn}

IABR-2020-

Exhibition: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS