Keynote & design competition at landscape quality conference
On the 14th of February, Sven Stremke and Dirk Oudes gave a shared keynote on landscape quality and energy transition. The province of Utrecht organized the conference to draw attention to the potential of energy transition to increase landscape quality. The keynote was entitled ‘Learning to love the landscapes of carbon-neutrality’, after a paper published by Paul Selman in 2010 (Landscape Research journal).
During their keynote, Sven and Dirk stressed the importance of ‘acquired aesthetics’ and the process of ‘learning to love’ new landscapes. The keynote featured state-of-the-art research on energy transition for the National Climate agreement and preliminary results of research on large-scale landscape transformation projects, as part of the PhD research of Dirk Oudes. Following the keynote, the 200 participants could choose between different workshops to learn more about local initiatives and challenges concerning the theme of landscape quality and renewable energy transition.
During the conference, two students of the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture – Lieke de Jong and Hester Koelman – were awarded for their entries to the ‘Big Friendly Giant’ design competition. The competition was organized under the auspice of the provincial advisor for landscape quality Paul Roncken with contributions from NGO’s and local governments.
Architecture and landscape architecture students explored large-scale renewable energy interventions during a design studio at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. The aim was to accommodate 2 PJ (petajoule) of renewable energy provision in the Dutch polder landscape. The competition entries (some in English) and the complete jury report can be accessed here.
Figure: Lieke de Jong receiving the first price for her design from the chair of the jury (photo: Sven Stremke).
Figure: Hester Koelman receiving the ‘wicked problem price’ by Paul Roncken (photo: Sven Stremke).
