What is the future of our cities and what role will architects and urban designers play in it? The 2007 International Architectural Biennale of Rotterdam (IABR), which runs from May 24 to September 2, seeks to answer these questions through a series of exhibitions that explore the theme of “Power: Producing the Contemporary City.”
This year’s IABR, the third such event, is being curated by the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, a renowned post-doctoral program for architects and city planners. Vedran Mimica, who heads the Berlage curatorial team, explains that his group wants the IABR to serve “the new generation of architects.” To this end, two of the main exhibitions are made for and by emerging architects and planners. One, Visionary Power, is a “worldwide appeal to young architects to take responsibility for the future of the city,” Mimica says, and invites 15 international young firms to contribute design proposals for cities as diverse as Sao Paulo, Ceuta, and Johannesburg. The second, International Master Class, gives architecture students the chance to design prototypical buildings for Rotterdam South, an area separated from the main city of Rotterdam by the Nieuwe Maas river. Like the outskirts of many European cities, Rotterdam South is currently blighted. But Mimica describes the neighborhood as “similar to the south bank of London in its potential for rebirth.”
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