CHAIR OF ARCHITECTURE
AND URBAN DESIGN —
PROF. KEES CHRISTIAANSE

TEACHING

BEZALEL WORKSHOP: URBAN DESIGN AS THOUGHT EXPERIMENT 2011

Scenario Workshop at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, 20-25 November 2011. Invited Lecturer: Dr. sc. Christian Salewski

West 8 Landscape Architects: Duindoornstad, 1995 (for Rotterdam 2045)

Speculating about our future is a common pastime, not only for physical planners and designers. However, the latter often do not have much choice–faced with decisions on large-scale spatial development with long-term consequences, their task requires at least some image of the future to assess possible consequences of their actions. In principle, large-scale and long-range planning poses fundamental dilemmas that cannot be resolved: we do not know enough about the complex workings of our physical environment, nor do we have the means to reduce the future's inherent uncertainty. Looking ahead is therefore a core task for projective disciplines such as architecture, urban design, landscape design, and urban and regional planning. There are very different forms for this view into the future, each with respective strengths and weaknesses (see table Images of the Future). This workshop focuses on scenarios in their very different ways of employment and form. Scenarios are, in fact, designs: hence their close relation to the design disciplines, and the affinity that designer have for scenarios. However, familiarity can often lead to misunderstandings that impede the productive use of scenarios by designers. The aim of this workshop is therefore to give an introduction to what scenarios are, how they can be employed, and how they can help physical planners and designers in their tasks.

The workshop is part of Yuval Yasky's and Dan Handel's city/state unit at the Architecture Department of Bezalel Academy of the Arts. The semester topic is the Israeli south, Beer-sheva city and region.

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