Sediment and the City
Navigating the Future of Port Territories
Join us to explore the critical issue of sedimentation in port city territories. As part of Rotterdam Architecture Month, we invite you to a series of panel discussions spread over two days. Each two-hour session will feature projects that address various aspects of sedimentation and its impact on port cities. This series offers a platform for architects, planners, scientists, and policy-makers to exchange knowledge and envision more sustainable approaches to living and building with sediment in delta regions.
Friday 27th
Part 1: Comparative Future Scenarios – Regional and inland Ports of Dutch Delta
| Time | 13:00-15:00 |
| Location | Toekomst Atelier Oostkop, Museumpark 25, 3015 EK Rotterdam |
| Introduction of Project | This project explores the definition and positioning of small ports within the global port network and examines the port-city interface. It gathers narratives from key actors and stakeholders to assess current trends and future scenarios. The project aims to understand how small ports contribute to regional development and their interaction with urbanization, focusing on economic, social, and environmental impacts. The findings will be presented in a comprehensive project catalogue and discussed in this event. |
| Moderator | Alankrita Sarkar |
| Panelists | John Hanna, Mila Montezuma, Paul Gerretsen and Paolo De Martino. |
| Collaborators | Port City Futures, TU Delft, Deltametropolis Association |
Register Here
Part 2: Turning points of the Delta
| Time | 16:00-18:00 |
| Location | Toekomst Atelier Oostkop, Museumpark 25, 3015 EK Rotterdam |
| Introduction of Project | Our delta region have undergone drastic changes over the last half century. Global changes in our economy, technology and way of life have caused rise of mega ports, large waterworks and further urbanisation of coastal regions. How do we continue to live with water in the delta in the future? More than enough reason to speculate for which drastic changes await these coastal regions in the future. Through several spatial scenarios drafted by students of TU Delft, we will analyse the turning points, discuss the possible or impossible scenarios and comprehend the roles we can play in the future, by our actions from today. These scenarios are from the Bauhaus of the Sea Sails and Resilient Delta Living with Water projects, aiming to create a Dutch delta a port system and a social system for living with water in the future. |
| Moderator | Paul Gerretsen |
| Panelists | Carola Hein |
| Collaborators | Port Cities Futures, TU Delft, Deltametropolis Association |
Register Here
Saturday 28th
Part 3: Maud van den Beuken lets the river flow through Rotterdam with ‘Where the River is’
| Time | 14:45 – Walk in 15:00 – Start of session 17:00 – End of session *The sediment station is open to the public from 13:00, the Architecture month exhibition at the festival heart will also be open. |
| Location | Festival Heart Schiemond, Schiehaven 17, 3024 EC Rotterdam |
| Introduction of Project | Together with Han Meijer and Maud van den Beuken, we imagine ourselves in the soil of Rotterdam. Under the asphalt lie thick layers of sediment, deposited by the river over centuries. What role does the river play as the supporting bottom of the city? Can we still regard this bottom as part of the river itself? With Meijers’ critical voice, we reflect on the importance of river sediment, as opposed to the Port of Rotterdam’s daily dredging industry where sediment is constantly being removed. In what ways is river sediment an important carrier for the contemporary and future urban environment? This session takes place in the installation “Where the River is” by artist Maud van den Beuken, in collaboration with TENT – in which she intercepted 30 m3 of sludge from the Port of Rotterdam and placed it in the middle of the city as an intervention. She invites scientists in her Sediment Station to step into the perspective of the river, as an entity. She asks them to attempt to speak from the voice of the river, informed by their own field of expertise. On June 28, this conversation experiment will take place with Han Meijer |
| Moderator | Maud van den Beuken |
| Panelists | Han Meyer |
| Collaborators | TENT, Deltametropolis Association |
