As part of the Transition-Scapes project, the first in a series of three prototyping workshops took place at the end of January in Arcam and brought together the design partners working on the Haven-Stad case including UNStudio, One Architecture, Shosho and Clever Franke. The goal of the workshop was to define which problem(s) the Transition-Scapes prototype should try to address and for whom. It will be followed by two other workshops focusing on concept development and eventually testing an actual prototype.
The two-day workshop started with a deep dive into the project and case study through a series of presentations by the research team, Arcam and the city of Amsterdam. We then wanted to connect long-term thinking to more imagination and explored the future of the energy transition in Haven-Stad through two co-creative exercises, one focusing on the spatial exploration and the second using an intergenerational approach. The first day concluded with the first presentations of the rapid prototyping exercises carried out by the students of the Master Digital Design and the second day was entirely devoted to setting the basis for the prototype development.
There is a clear intention to facilitate interaction between institutions involved in planning processes, and the energy transition in particular, in Haven-Stad and (future) citizens, as well as to work with a mid-term future horizon of about 25 years or one generation. There is also a preference for a tool that can be at the same time mobile and situated, and that it can be used on multiple occasions throughout a planning process to help align agendas on a possible future, resolve conflicts and provide an environment where constructive exchange can take place.