[Music]
all our actions our interactions Oxford
University in England is a very old
college with very old buildings now one
building in particular was very very
beautiful it was a hundred and fifty
years old
and its roof was made of full-length
trunks of oak trees proper trunks it was
beautiful
now 150 years later this wood was
beginning to rot and fall apart so the
Faculty of this department comes
together to find a solution and since
they couldn’t afford beams like these
one of the younger members on the
faculty said before you take any drastic
measures let me do some research two
weeks later she comes back and she said
I am very very glad we took the time to
do the research because we have found
that the architect who built this very
building 150 years ago planted a group
of oak trees specifically for this
purpose ladies and gentlemen this is
sustainable design designing sustainably
is facilitating the process even 150
years into the future this is the first
of three concepts I want to share with
you it’s called utilizing the quality of
time the second one has to do with the
intelligence of users and the third one
has to do with the honesty of behavior
so how can we gather the intelligence of
users imagine I’m standing here at Point
a and I have with me a collection of
bricks now I need to get these bricks to
the point be there without moving what
do I do any ideas throw them excellent
you throw the bricks there they are job
done this time I’m still standing at
point a but instead of bricks I have a
collection of birds and I need to get
these birds to point be there without
moving what do I do this time I’m alone
in the room
throw them are you an engineer sir I
asked this question once to a group of
300 engineers no blinking no hesitation
everybody said you killed the birds and
you throw them
well there is a better solution I will
throw food and the birds will follow and
this is an example of mature leadership
leadership by pull not push leadership
not being dictating but being
facilitating so what is facilitation I
want to die for a second into this
notion of facilitation and for that I
want to tell you another story are we
ready for another story it’s one of my
favorite stories it’s about an architect
who was asked to design the University
campus on the site that firm above would
look something like this so she does the
work she designs the three departments
and build them on site however contrary
to the expectation of the staff and
students she doesn’t put down any roots
or paths to walk instead she plants the
whole site with grass after the first
semester paths appear in the grass she
then comes back and she paved these
pathways just as they emerge and she
noticed two things the paths were in
unexpected locations and none of them
were straight for me the story embodies
three qualities of facilitation three
rather provocative design guidelines
facilitating first of all is creating
things incomplete she didn’t finish and
complete the campus she left it
unfinished and that was exactly the
invitation for the input of staff and
students facilitating is also creating
things impermanent she didn’t cover the
site with asphalt but grass which is
intrinsically organic and records the
input of time and the third quality of
facilitation is designing things
imperfect the paths were not straight
like we architects loved to draw them
and there were not in expected locations
we’re talking about human aesthetics and
the humanity of even inanimate things
facilitating is creating contexts that
are incomplete impermanent and imperfect
so that means that to gather the
intelligence of users we need to
facilitate their interactions facilitate
their interactions not dictate them but
facilitate them so utilizing and
harnessing the honesty of behavior I’m
an architect I’m sorry about that I’m
trying to deal with form
am NOT interested in form I am much more
interested in the flow of things and how
people move around the space how they
use it how they interact with it you see
it’s not what is built but what is not
there it’s the void that people use and
that’s very very important remember it
this way it’s not what something is it’s
what it does and that means it’s not
about the context and the form but it’s
about what the context empowers the
behavior that the context empowers the
context is only as important as the
quality of the interactions it fosters
the context is only as important as the
quality of the interaction it fosters so
when we talk of harnessing the honesty
of behavior we have to think of
facilitating flows not form but flows as
you will notice these three concepts
revolve around the notion of interaction
here is what I’ve learned please oh
please do not design interactions if you
do that you will fall back into the
dictating model so instead we need to
facilitate interactions and facilitating
interactions means we need to design the
context for interactions to emerge in do
not design interactions instead design
the context for interactions here is a
question how do we do that how can we
indeed design contexts that foster
interactions this question is what
drives my work a few years ago I founded
akka it’s an architecture and urban
planning studio based in Amsterdam and
basically our work at akka is driven by
a vision if you’ll also see that we call
architecting interaction and this is
because we believe that interactions are
actually the starting point the seeds of
innovation and if you think about it
every context every context you can
think about needs to foster interactions
only different interactions and the
interactions to varying degrees creating
the context for interactions this is the
essence of architecting interaction this
is the essence of this vision now of
course this is a vision to make it
reality you need to go through a process
you need to make it practical so here is
what is available to us as architects
this is the process of architecture as
you may know it the mainstream process
of architecture it’s a very limited
because it stops and it ends before
people actually move into the space and
start using it does that make sense
not to me I believe this is wrong and I
believe actually that our responsibility
as architects needs to extend into the
living phase of the building basically
it means that static architecture needs
to extend into living architecting this
is really what we’re talking about so
since the process of architecture that
is limited was not going to help us
achieve architecting interaction the way
we wanted we actually had to create our
own custom design process very briefly
it’s a four phase process the first step
of the sequence is called appreciate in
this phase we do two things the first
one is we start by mapping the community
of the project and that is the
collection of the different people and
parties involved with this project in
schools it’s all centered around
students around which come teachers
staff educators catering team bus
drivers parents etc etc you can go as
wide as you need to it also includes
nonhuman parties such as the city
context the educational vision etc etc
and the goal of this phase is really to
create an aligned understanding among
all of these groups among this community
of the project and once we have achieved
this aligned understanding we can move
into phase two which is transforming
that into a shared vision and it’s
important that the vision is shared and
in this phase is where we test different
ideas and we look at what is the
heartbeat of the space what are the
interaction hubs where are the flows on
the entire space but also on specific
detailed zoom-in areas once we have
figured all of this out we go into phase
3 which we call the kickstart and this
is where design development permit
demolition construction happens this is
the main bulk of the architecture
process as you may know it now normally
at the end of this phase is where the
project is finished it’s handed over
people move in and the architects are
never to be seen again
it always reminds me of a good criminal
that never goes back to the scene of the
crime we of course have a fourth phase
there and this is the most important
phase and this phase is called adapt
it can only happen after people start
using the space after they inhabited and
in this phase it’s based on observing
how people use the space how they move
it around how they make it work for them
that we can refine the space and
optimize it and make it into a space
that can adapt and evolve with its users
even 150 years into the future
this is the process of architecting
interaction appreciate to find the
kernel and kickstart for adaptation of
course you will notice it spelled akka
that’s not a chance the thing to
remember about this process is a very
controversial belief among architects we
believe that the users are the experts
in how they use the space I don’t know
any other applet who will agree with you
but this is basically what we believe
and how we work now when you look at
this process and this vision this is
what we’ve applied to all of our
projects since the beginning of akka I
will only share with you some of the
schools and learning institutions we
have done so far this is a high-rise as
you can see a skyscraper it’s a
university in Dubai scores that’s why
it’s so high and it’s the University for
architecture students actually this is a
small primary school in Mongolia this is
an extension to school in the east of
the country in the east of the
Netherlands this is a proposal for
floating toy Museum in Amsterdam and
this is a co-working space in Amsterdam
as well where we can witness of course a
different dynamic of learning I will
share with you from these projects the
seven lessons we have learned the
southern top tips if you will are you
ready for this number one press the
reset button provoke intrigue present
students with something unexpected you
can shuffle the later layout of the
classroom you can make it a complete
tabula rasa or you can hold the class in
very foreign locations even press the
reset button please back off back off
means leave spaces on program do not
give a function to every space those
unprogrammed spaces are those spaces
that will stimulate daydreaming and
daydreaming is good did you know that
daydreaming actually boosts the brain
increases creativity and even produces
higher IQs that’s interesting to
remember so
cough but also be their informal
learning is one of the most efficient
ways of learning not only among peers
but also with teachers staff directors
etc etc so be approachable in informal
settings this is the inside of the
skyscraper in Dubai and the challenge
there was they wanted it to be a
skyscraper even though there is all the
space we needed they wanted it to be a
skyscraper which means we were very
concerned about preserving the
horizontal interactions of a traditional
campus so what we did is we created the
whole tower in one continuous floor that
spirals up all the way with a very
shallow slope that you wouldn’t be able
to feel and just because most of the
schools in the Netherlands are not well
life everywhere are not in high-rise it
doesn’t mean that those horizontal
interactions are automatically preserved
so please think about connecting and yet
de-centralized do not group all the
facilities and all the activities in the
same place spread them create magnetic
poles that encourage circulation and
creates chance for serendipitous
meetings the tip before the next one is
about engaging make engagement a must
not an extracurricular activity this is
the school in Mongolia in Mongolia
students have to go to school in extreme
weather conditions think minus 40 to
plus 40 and very often in extreme
poverty so we had to create very
low-tech solutions to ventilate the
building naturally and we’ve made the
building completely open up in summer
and completely closed up in winter and
the students and staff teachers
educators had to cycle together to move
the walls of their school engage now you
know the saying build it and they will
come are we familiar with that saying
well what happens if you build it and
they don’t come before you can before
children are willing to engage like all
of us they need to care enough they need
to care circular spaces would have found
create a sense of community sense of
belonging and trust and inclusiveness
even on a subliminal level so embrace
them
those are the seven tips I can share
with you today reset back off yet be
there connect but also decentralize
engage and embrace a lot of you may be
thinking that’s all great if you’re
decided to build a new school or if
you’re even moving into an existing
building and moving the school there but
what happens when you have no plans to
go anywhere another story are we ready
one of our clients came to us only three
months after they have moved into a
brand new school only three months after
moving in they take him to us and
basically they had hired of world-famous
architect paid a few million euros only
to move in and experience epic failure
the building looked beautiful and it did
not work this is where we came in
and they asked us to redesign the space
and what we did is we didn’t force their
form
we didn’t force their flows and their
behavior into beautiful form instead we
shape the form around their flows and
the result is always beautiful so even
if you’re not planning on going anywhere
or building a new building you can
always transform your current space and
make it into a living space a space that
can foster the interactions you need
ladies and gentlemen by now you have
realised that architecting interaction
is indeed larger than architecture it is
about how to innovate through
interactions creating the contexts that
foster interactions is the essence of
architecting interaction I apply it to
my field I apply this vision to
architecture and urban planning and
design
I invite you in fact I urge you to apply
it to your fields as teachers as
educators and as students because every
context every role every field needs to
foster interactions only to varying
degrees and those are the four steps to
do that of course once you try it or if
you look into it you will realized that
the last phase actually creates a
renewed appreciation which means this
process is not a linear process but a
circular process remember do not design
interactions design the context for
interactions I will leave you with this
ladies and gentlemen I do
not believe the future of Education is
to teach children the future of
Education is not to teach children it is
instead to encourage children to learn
and it is our job it is our
responsibility we are now all
responsible to create the contexts that
foster these learning dynamics thank you
very much
[Applause]
all our actions our interactions Oxford
University in England is a very old
college with very old buildings now one
building in particular was very very
beautiful it was a hundred and fifty
years old
and its roof was made of full-length
trunks of oak trees proper trunks it was
beautiful
now 150 years later this wood was
beginning to rot and fall apart so the
Faculty of this department comes
together to find a solution and since
they couldn’t afford beams like these
one of the younger members on the
faculty said before you take any drastic
measures let me do some research two
weeks later she comes back and she said
I am very very glad we took the time to
do the research because we have found
that the architect who built this very
building 150 years ago planted a group
of oak trees specifically for this
purpose ladies and gentlemen this is
sustainable design designing sustainably
is facilitating the process even 150
years into the future this is the first
of three concepts I want to share with
you it’s called utilizing the quality of
time the second one has to do with the
intelligence of users and the third one
has to do with the honesty of behavior
so how can we gather the intelligence of
users imagine I’m standing here at Point
a and I have with me a collection of
bricks now I need to get these bricks to
the point be there without moving what
do I do any ideas throw them excellent
you throw the bricks there they are job
done this time I’m still standing at
point a but instead of bricks I have a
collection of birds and I need to get
these birds to point be there without
moving what do I do this time I’m alone
in the room
throw them are you an engineer sir I
asked this question once to a group of
300 engineers no blinking no hesitation
everybody said you killed the birds and
you throw them
well there is a better solution I will
throw food and the birds will follow and
this is an example of mature leadership
leadership by pull not push leadership
not being dictating but being
facilitating so what is facilitation I
want to die for a second into this
notion of facilitation and for that I
want to tell you another story are we
ready for another story it’s one of my
favorite stories it’s about an architect
who was asked to design the University
campus on the site that firm above would
look something like this so she does the
work she designs the three departments
and build them on site however contrary
to the expectation of the staff and
students she doesn’t put down any roots
or paths to walk instead she plants the
whole site with grass after the first
semester paths appear in the grass she
then comes back and she paved these
pathways just as they emerge and she
noticed two things the paths were in
unexpected locations and none of them
were straight for me the story embodies
three qualities of facilitation three
rather provocative design guidelines
facilitating first of all is creating
things incomplete she didn’t finish and
complete the campus she left it
unfinished and that was exactly the
invitation for the input of staff and
students facilitating is also creating
things impermanent she didn’t cover the
site with asphalt but grass which is
intrinsically organic and records the
input of time and the third quality of
facilitation is designing things
imperfect the paths were not straight
like we architects loved to draw them
and there were not in expected locations
we’re talking about human aesthetics and
the humanity of even inanimate things
facilitating is creating contexts that
are incomplete impermanent and imperfect
so that means that to gather the
intelligence of users we need to
facilitate their interactions facilitate
their interactions not dictate them but
facilitate them so utilizing and
harnessing the honesty of behavior I’m
an architect I’m sorry about that I’m
trying to deal with form
am NOT interested in form I am much more
interested in the flow of things and how
people move around the space how they
use it how they interact with it you see
it’s not what is built but what is not
there it’s the void that people use and
that’s very very important remember it
this way it’s not what something is it’s
what it does and that means it’s not
about the context and the form but it’s
about what the context empowers the
behavior that the context empowers the
context is only as important as the
quality of the interactions it fosters
the context is only as important as the
quality of the interaction it fosters so
when we talk of harnessing the honesty
of behavior we have to think of
facilitating flows not form but flows as
you will notice these three concepts
revolve around the notion of interaction
here is what I’ve learned please oh
please do not design interactions if you
do that you will fall back into the
dictating model so instead we need to
facilitate interactions and facilitating
interactions means we need to design the
context for interactions to emerge in do
not design interactions instead design
the context for interactions here is a
question how do we do that how can we
indeed design contexts that foster
interactions this question is what
drives my work a few years ago I founded
akka it’s an architecture and urban
planning studio based in Amsterdam and
basically our work at akka is driven by
a vision if you’ll also see that we call
architecting interaction and this is
because we believe that interactions are
actually the starting point the seeds of
innovation and if you think about it
every context every context you can
think about needs to foster interactions
only different interactions and the
interactions to varying degrees creating
the context for interactions this is the
essence of architecting interaction this
is the essence of this vision now of
course this is a vision to make it
reality you need to go through a process
you need to make it practical so here is
what is available to us as architects
this is the process of architecture as
you may know it the mainstream process
of architecture it’s a very limited
because it stops and it ends before
people actually move into the space and
start using it does that make sense
not to me I believe this is wrong and I
believe actually that our responsibility
as architects needs to extend into the
living phase of the building basically
it means that static architecture needs
to extend into living architecting this
is really what we’re talking about so
since the process of architecture that
is limited was not going to help us
achieve architecting interaction the way
we wanted we actually had to create our
own custom design process very briefly
it’s a four phase process the first step
of the sequence is called appreciate in
this phase we do two things the first
one is we start by mapping the community
of the project and that is the
collection of the different people and
parties involved with this project in
schools it’s all centered around
students around which come teachers
staff educators catering team bus
drivers parents etc etc you can go as
wide as you need to it also includes
nonhuman parties such as the city
context the educational vision etc etc
and the goal of this phase is really to
create an aligned understanding among
all of these groups among this community
of the project and once we have achieved
this aligned understanding we can move
into phase two which is transforming
that into a shared vision and it’s
important that the vision is shared and
in this phase is where we test different
ideas and we look at what is the
heartbeat of the space what are the
interaction hubs where are the flows on
the entire space but also on specific
detailed zoom-in areas once we have
figured all of this out we go into phase
3 which we call the kickstart and this
is where design development permit
demolition construction happens this is
the main bulk of the architecture
process as you may know it now normally
at the end of this phase is where the
project is finished it’s handed over
people move in and the architects are
never to be seen again
it always reminds me of a good criminal
that never goes back to the scene of the
crime we of course have a fourth phase
there and this is the most important
phase and this phase is called adapt
it can only happen after people start
using the space after they inhabited and
in this phase it’s based on observing
how people use the space how they move
it around how they make it work for them
that we can refine the space and
optimize it and make it into a space
that can adapt and evolve with its users
even 150 years into the future
this is the process of architecting
interaction appreciate to find the
kernel and kickstart for adaptation of
course you will notice it spelled akka
that’s not a chance the thing to
remember about this process is a very
controversial belief among architects we
believe that the users are the experts
in how they use the space I don’t know
any other applet who will agree with you
but this is basically what we believe
and how we work now when you look at
this process and this vision this is
what we’ve applied to all of our
projects since the beginning of akka I
will only share with you some of the
schools and learning institutions we
have done so far this is a high-rise as
you can see a skyscraper it’s a
university in Dubai scores that’s why
it’s so high and it’s the University for
architecture students actually this is a
small primary school in Mongolia this is
an extension to school in the east of
the country in the east of the
Netherlands this is a proposal for
floating toy Museum in Amsterdam and
this is a co-working space in Amsterdam
as well where we can witness of course a
different dynamic of learning I will
share with you from these projects the
seven lessons we have learned the
southern top tips if you will are you
ready for this number one press the
reset button provoke intrigue present
students with something unexpected you
can shuffle the later layout of the
classroom you can make it a complete
tabula rasa or you can hold the class in
very foreign locations even press the
reset button please back off back off
means leave spaces on program do not
give a function to every space those
unprogrammed spaces are those spaces
that will stimulate daydreaming and
daydreaming is good did you know that
daydreaming actually boosts the brain
increases creativity and even produces
higher IQs that’s interesting to
remember so
cough but also be their informal
learning is one of the most efficient
ways of learning not only among peers
but also with teachers staff directors
etc etc so be approachable in informal
settings this is the inside of the
skyscraper in Dubai and the challenge
there was they wanted it to be a
skyscraper even though there is all the
space we needed they wanted it to be a
skyscraper which means we were very
concerned about preserving the
horizontal interactions of a traditional
campus so what we did is we created the
whole tower in one continuous floor that
spirals up all the way with a very
shallow slope that you wouldn’t be able
to feel and just because most of the
schools in the Netherlands are not well
life everywhere are not in high-rise it
doesn’t mean that those horizontal
interactions are automatically preserved
so please think about connecting and yet
de-centralized do not group all the
facilities and all the activities in the
same place spread them create magnetic
poles that encourage circulation and
creates chance for serendipitous
meetings the tip before the next one is
about engaging make engagement a must
not an extracurricular activity this is
the school in Mongolia in Mongolia
students have to go to school in extreme
weather conditions think minus 40 to
plus 40 and very often in extreme
poverty so we had to create very
low-tech solutions to ventilate the
building naturally and we’ve made the
building completely open up in summer
and completely closed up in winter and
the students and staff teachers
educators had to cycle together to move
the walls of their school engage now you
know the saying build it and they will
come are we familiar with that saying
well what happens if you build it and
they don’t come before you can before
children are willing to engage like all
of us they need to care enough they need
to care circular spaces would have found
create a sense of community sense of
belonging and trust and inclusiveness
even on a subliminal level so embrace
them
those are the seven tips I can share
with you today reset back off yet be
there connect but also decentralize
engage and embrace a lot of you may be
thinking that’s all great if you’re
decided to build a new school or if
you’re even moving into an existing
building and moving the school there but
what happens when you have no plans to
go anywhere another story are we ready
one of our clients came to us only three
months after they have moved into a
brand new school only three months after
moving in they take him to us and
basically they had hired of world-famous
architect paid a few million euros only
to move in and experience epic failure
the building looked beautiful and it did
not work this is where we came in
and they asked us to redesign the space
and what we did is we didn’t force their
form
we didn’t force their flows and their
behavior into beautiful form instead we
shape the form around their flows and
the result is always beautiful so even
if you’re not planning on going anywhere
or building a new building you can
always transform your current space and
make it into a living space a space that
can foster the interactions you need
ladies and gentlemen by now you have
realised that architecting interaction
is indeed larger than architecture it is
about how to innovate through
interactions creating the contexts that
foster interactions is the essence of
architecting interaction I apply it to
my field I apply this vision to
architecture and urban planning and
design
I invite you in fact I urge you to apply
it to your fields as teachers as
educators and as students because every
context every role every field needs to
foster interactions only to varying
degrees and those are the four steps to
do that of course once you try it or if
you look into it you will realized that
the last phase actually creates a
renewed appreciation which means this
process is not a linear process but a
circular process remember do not design
interactions design the context for
interactions I will leave you with this
ladies and gentlemen I do
not believe the future of Education is
to teach children the future of
Education is not to teach children it is
instead to encourage children to learn
and it is our job it is our
responsibility we are now all
responsible to create the contexts that
foster these learning dynamics thank you
very much
[Applause]
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