Design & Services

How can we envision more desirable, shared and inclusive futures? And how can we take action on the transformations needed?
To answer this question we need to understand the present, dream up the future, and translate that to the actions we can take today, tomorrow and in the years after that.
This needs committed and careful observation and analysis of the present. It needs visionary and speculative approach to societal transformations. And the ability to plan and take transformative actions that connect the social and spatial changes. 

This is why the studio's projects are always research-based, value-driven and collaborative, involving stakeholders and experts alike, and connecting the smaller and larger scales.

Postcards from the future. 2019. A visual tool to explore alternative pathways of transformation.

Research & Advice

How can we understand the present situation, so that we can inspire new ideas and imaginations of the future?
Spatial and community research with attention to value-driven future transformations.
Spatial transformation is a complex process situated between multiple systems and actors. The set up the foundation of meaningful transformations, we need to read the place in relation to the transformative goals, and the way the organisation and its community relate to and perceive the site. How far is the place in its journey towards transformation, what has been tried, who are the key stakeholders, what physical qualities and conditions. Resulting in a visual report identifying the challenges, opportunities and cross over that should be addressed in the site's (future) development.

Sample works

mapping change by care

community mapping

Triangulating Evidence

Engagement

How can we engage the community in the transformation as early as possible? Testing things out in practice, on-site, with the stakeholders
Transforming a place inevitably affects its people. Likewise, the people can add much to the development of a place. For this it is crucial to formulate a role for the community in the process that fits their values, needs and capabilities. Time, the duration of stay, as well as social and spatial needs of people play a crucial role in determining the right engagement approach. Understanding the community and its values, can help find a fitting approach and role for them in the transformation of the place, resulting in a tool or strategy of community engagement that falls naturally with the conditions of the place and the needs of the community.
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Sample works

Moral Lab

stadsoever Eindhoven

Future Scenarios

What if we imagine alternative future narratives and aesthetics? 
Exploring alternative visionary scenarios for the future of a space or community
Exploratory research through scenarios is a proven method of envisioning the future transformation of places and communities. Alternative scenarios that make it possible to compare the possible future outcomes. When many futures are possible, we need to define which ones are plausible and preferable. The scenario design brings in a visual and tangible way the answer to 'what if?' questions that can unlock a spatial decision-making process.  This is how we can give shape to the end result the transformation should lead to.
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Sample works

future scenarios for de Grote Beek

Envisioning the Anthropocene

​Strategies

How can we maintain the vision and strategic approach? Devising spatial and community strategies for transformation
Knowing the desired future of places and communities can be defined through scenario design. But How to get there, requires a strategic design approach, translating the vision to specific tactical steps of transformative process. The socio-spatial strategy method is especially effective in guiding decision-making in the near- and long-term future. In this way, actions in the short-term can be connected to the long-term vision. This method of spatial transformation is based on embedded learning, so that the lessons and insights gathered through the early stages of a transformation can inform and contribute to the long-term vision.

Sample works

Playbook for healing environments