The third edition of Promising Young Architects, a knowledge exchange programme for young architects from Belgium and the Netherlands, was held on 14 and 15 November in Rotterdam. Het Nieuwe Instituut, the Flanders Architecture Institute and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Brussels brought together architects from both countries so they could meet one another and reflect upon their individual practices. The exchange scheme hopes to provide a basis for future collaborations.
The third iteration of the programme advanced the proposition that to forget or remember urban histories is an ostensibly deliberate and contested design question. The two-day programme explored the potency of architecture to decide upon which histories of the city are to be preserved or eradicated, included or excluded, and made visible or hidden for future generations.
The south of Rotterdam served as case study to address these questions. Major parts of the southbank of the city are currently subject to demographic and spatial changes, catalysed and supported by governmental initiatives. A preoccupation with what the city aspires to be, rather than its present state, demographics and histories seems to be prevalent in major parts of the city of Rotterdam. In an attempt to get to know each other more closely, the intensive programme instigated conversations about the role and responsibilities of architects in these urban renewal operations.
Promising Young Architects 2019 was enthusiastically attended by the following architecture offices:
