Urban by Nature

The 2014 edition of the International Architecture Biennale, URBAN BY NATURE, curated by landscape architect Dirk Sijmons, claims that we can only resolve the world’s environmental problems if we solve the problems of the city. Looking through the lens of landscape architecture, the 6th edition of the IABR redefines the way we deal with urban challenges by analyzing the relationship between urban society and nature, and between city and landscape. Sijmons argues that, perhaps now more than ever, the city is an integral part of one huge urban landscape, a complex system that has become our natural environment. This point of departure has many implications for the way we plan and design our urban environment and it opens up possibilities to develop spatial interventions that make use of its metabolism. Applying new strategies that effectively address the city as the larger urban landscape that it is, we can make the city more resilient and thus truly contribute to a more sustainable future world.
The catalog, with introductions by the curator, Dirk Sijmons, and IABR’s president, George Brugmans, contains a detailed description of the main exhibition, URBAN BY NATURE. Sijmons introduces the different sections of the exhibition, and the work process and results of three IABR–Ateliers are highlighted. Other contributions are by Ahmed Aboutaleb, Yves de Boer, George Brugmans, Johan van de Gronden, Maarten Hajer, Eric Hercules, Henk Ovink, Jelle Reumer, Piet Vollaard and Charles Waldheim.