Reinventing our cities – the vision of Dutch architect Ben van Berkel, founder of UNStudio

The founder of UNStudio, one of the best architecture practices worldwide, speaks of the trends in contemporary architecture and describes his approaches to making cities more livable, more breathable and more loved by communities.

The increasingly unpredictable climate context and the need to reduce the environmental footprint are the elements essentially influencing architecture nowadays at a global level. Sustainability reaches the next level, where the focus is on encouraging local biodiversity and where people are actively involved in designing the projects. The global architecture trends bring into the spotlight solutions to restore people’s emotional relation with their cities and creative ideas to approach issues related to living, urban mobility, pollution, and green areas. The line separating the ‘sleeping neighborhoods’ from business centres is becoming thinner and the industry is promoting mixed-use solutions (residential, office, retail, education, entertainment) that provide a blend of uses where people can spend time efficiently and socialize.

“We are dealing with a process in which the cities are reinvented through urban regeneration. We can notice a focus on building communities, aiming to diminish the feeling of isolation and solitude, as well as to promote inclusion, diversity and equality. There is a pursuit for flexible and adaptable design solutions, which can ensure financial resilience and longevity of the stock of buildings, while the role of technology in operating, maintaining and measuring the performance of the buildings we design has become more important.

At an urban level, mixed-use projects have become more popular in order to activate the neighborhoods and make them more resilient, and nature-inclusive design is deemed useful not only to the natural ecosystems, but also to people’s health and well-being,” said Ben van Berkel, founder and principal architect at UNStudio, a Dutch architecture practice with an internationally renowned portfolio.

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In Romania, UNStudio is about to sign a mixed-use project based in Cluj-Napoca, which is proposed by Iulius Group on a former industrial site. The project pays tribute to the past by refurbishing two buildings of certified environmental and heritage value, while also looking to the future as it proposes innovative solutions to integrate the 14 hectares mixed-use project into the city’s life.

Buildings designed according to EU sustainability policies

Nowadays, architecture takes sustainability seriously, with the general view that design decisions must be based on a thorough understanding of the principles of sustainability and circularity.

“Sustainability, now more than ever, has to become part of both design thinking and the computational design process. We are on a constant quest, right from the start, for holistic design solutions. More recently, we are aligning our design processes with the European taxonomy and the goals of the Paris Agreement,” said the architect whose team has already designed the first Net Zero buildings.

Environmental efficiency, however, cannot be separated from design aesthetics, so architecture does have a real impact, and pragmatism should never be at the expense of beauty or comfort. The architect believes that the overall experience of architecture and the aesthetic qualities of the buildings are key to how we fully experience them.

Therefore technology and digitization are increasingly making their way into the design arena as innovative tools for architects to effectively address climate resilience or biodiversity.

As far as energy is concerned, trends include designing all-electric projects, using energy generated on-site through PV panels, and energy from renewable sources.

Focus on biodiversity–friendly solutions

The way architects integrate green spaces into projects is pure science, because the main concern is to find solutions that support local biodiversity.

“The right combination of plants and trees will support insects, birds and small mammals. By placing the right types of greenery we can ensure that we design a resilient green space climate. For example, by using trees that can withstand occasional high water levels, we can allow the waterfront to slope gently, facilitating its accessibility for people, as well as for animals and birds alike,” explained Ben van Berkel.

Green roofs continue to be a constant feature of environmentally friendly projects, being effective both because of their ability to reduce overheating in cities – the so-called urban heat island effect – and because they absorb heavy rainfall and make it possible to store water for later use in buildings.

Waterfront projects have a positive influence on people’s mental health, says Ben van Berkel, which is why architects seek to design them to be as accessible as possible to the public.

Less traffic, more exercise

Traffic and pollution are some of the major problems of cities, which is why architects are looking to design smart routes that encourage the use of bicycles and scooters and reduce vehicle reliance.

“Designing cities for pedestrians, however, requires a broader shift in thinking regarding the parameters and design of the streets of the future. We need to design our streets for new mobility types and uses, and to allow people and nature to reclaim the city streets. So we need a new approach to the way we design the streets, in order to address the changing mobility,”says Ben van Berkel.

This new approach is no longer possible without the involvement of the community, which must make its mark on redefining streetscapes, the Dutch architect concluded.