Outside our discipline • new date: 5 May

Ecosistema Urbano is a globally operating design and consulting company based in Madrid and in Miami. In its design approach, the office steps outside of the confinement of disciplinary boundaries. Ecosistema Urbano brings together urbanism, architecture, engineering and sociology, to develop urban social design: the design of environments, spaces and dynamics that facilitate and improve self-organization of citizens, social interaction and a balance between communities and their environment.

The office formulates its interdisciplinary practice along strategic crossovers between the domains of the social, the environmental and the technological. One of their early projects is the eco-boulevard in Madrid (2004-2007), an urban transformation built on the urban cooling effect of trees and plants. As trees need to grow, the project develops through time. Anticipating the cooling effects of full-grown trees, it was kick-started with three dismountable towers that cool their micro-climate by evapotranspiration – the movement of water from the soil and plants to the air- and which gather people for urban activities. The Open Shore in West Palm Beach, Florida is a more recent urban redevelopment project which investigates the coherence between the social, the environmental and the technical on a larger scale. The redevelopment of a waterfront between the city and Lake Worth Lagoon incites social engagement and urban activation, as the area hosts multiple urban programs. These programs make the site inclusive as they cater to all kinds of subcultures. The environmental aspect is about the coping with urban vulnerabilities and threats. The Open Shore reconnects the community to the Lagoon, bringing inhabitants back in touch with nature. Multiple bioclimatic domes offer comfortable micro-climates for year-round usage. The technological draws together architecture, engineering, and ‘smart city’ digital instruments. The Banyan Hub, a public building flexible to temporary usage, fosters such innovations.

Belinda Tato was trained as an architect at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and at the Bartlett School of Architecture. Together with Jose Luis Vallejo, she founded Ecosistema Urbano in 2000. She is an associate professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Belinda Tato was trained as an architect at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and at the Bartlett School of Architecture. Together with Jose Luis Vallejo, she founded Ecosistema Urbano in 2000. She is an associate professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

AUDITORIUM 20/21 - OUTSIDE
lecture series architecture, urbanism and design

With the theme OUTSIDE this lecture series focuses on the relationship between humans and their ecosystem - the ecosystem that defines the outside world of each piece of architecture. How can architecture reinforce this fragile and close interaction? How are architectural tools such as craftsmanship, materiality and typology applied to give meaning to outdoor spaces and to introduce spatial relationships between inside and outside? And in which way can the healing qualities of nature be brought into urban life?

For live webcast PRESALE ONLY (until the lecture day, 17:00)

www.stadenarchitectuur.be