Max Tuinman

Exit Urbanism

it was heartbreaking, if not obscene... 
    ... to have to imagine here, a generic city  

This project is not a design, this project is an approach, a changed way of thinking.     

The Baaibuurt-west in Amsterdam is scheduled for demolition; 900 new houses are being projected on this inhabited area. This project started with a fascination for empty and unused spaces. During the process, I managed to predict which areas in Amsterdam were going to be demolished, thanks to multiple parameters. One of those areas intrigued me; I can simply not believe that everything and everyone there is going to be flattened, cut down and evicted.   

This project became about saving an undefined and unknown area within the city. We are eradicating entire areas without realizing the value of these anomalies for the city. We are sacrificing diverse, ecological, productive and creative but also vulnerable communities, only to build back so-called sustainable neighborhoods hoping they become a diverse and well-working part of the city again. How do we protect and value that which, at first sight, seems worthless by current standards? Are we building in the name of people - or for people? What is the greater good, and who defines it? Is the greater good housing, or is it ecology, cultural values, social values, creativity or productivity?  

The urbanism profession and the Academy of Architecture seem to participate in the system of large-scale and efficient design. I am part of that system too. But I will not believe that designing a dense car-free urban district with green roofs solves the problems we are facing. And with this graduation project, I have the possibility to question this large-scale applied machinal way of developing en designing.  

The ultimate answer is not up to me; that is not possible. Any design of what the perfect neighborhood might be, misses the point by definition; it is too one-sided. This is a quest, and my contribution is to stop and point in a different direction, advocating for a much slower lens. I am pleading for designers to get to know the area they work in - and question all reasons for intervening over and over.     

Are we still doing the right thing, or should we maybe be doing more than just design?  

Graduation date: 13 juli 2022
Graduation committee: Felix Madrazo (mentor), Willemijn Lofvers, Juan Pablo Corvalan Hochberger  
Additional members for the exam: Ad de Bont, Raul Correa-Smith