critical urbanity in practice with irgen salianji from architects of urbanity #storyofdesign

people by the design story

we always wonder how cities will change in the future as they have evolved rapidly over the past decade. this has led architects and designers to think critically about the contexts and environments we live in — how they shape us, our behaviors, and our perspectives, as well as how we shape them. in practice, critical urbanity is to understand the design of environments beyond individual wishes, and instead to build for greater impacts.

in this story of design episode, we conversed with rotterdam-based architects of urbanity, currently led by irgen salianji and karolina szóstkiewicz, where irgen shared enlivening stories and thoughts from his holistic studio, which continually seeks to answer wider architectural issues to create better-lived environments.

how cities are transforming

architects and designers need to understand that cities nowadays are changing and transforming faster than they used to be. the main component of this fast transformation, especially in the west, is the tendency to create more accessible cities — transitioning from cars to pedestrians. this is something urban theorists like jan gehl have put into practice, for example in copenhagen or…