In 2025 and 2026, Arcam and the Academy of Architecture will present a new series of 1Lectures, centered around Arcam’s annual theme An Optimistic Disaster Plan. The series kicks off on February 20 with landscape architect Dirk Sijmons, moderated by Indira van ‘t Klooster (Arcam). After this introduction, five more lectures by both Dutch and international designers will follow throughout the year.
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Calendar 1Lectures 2025
- 20 February – Dirk Sijmons
- 18 September 2025
- 30 October 2025
- 4 December 2025
- 26 February 2026
- 9 April 2026
- 7 May 2026
Navigating the Anthropocene Beyond Modernism
Shouldn’t the design community take a closer look at its own worldviews? Aren’t we secretly still the heralds of modernism? Landscape architect Dirk Sijmons – one of the founders of H+N+S Landscape architects – links with his 1· Lecture the view of life in the Anthropocene to the design world. He distinguishes four attitudes towards this Age of Mankind. Denialism, Ecomodernism, Posthumanism and New Anthropocentrism. All four can also be seen as philosophically well-signposted escape routes from modernism. Sijmons paints a picture of the challenges we face now that humans as a geological force seem to disrupt planetary processes. Climate change, disruption of biogeochemical cycles, disruption of the freshwater cycle and the erosion of biodiversity on land and in the oceans. It is abundantly clear that the globalized economy is crashing at its planetary limits. How can the design world get acquainted with this new navigation tool?
Vistor Info
1Lectures Dirk Sijmons: Navigating the Anthropocene Beyond Modernism
Date: Thursday, February 20, 2025
Time: 19:50 doors open | 20:00 lecture starts | 21:15 ends
Location: Academy of Architecture
Address: Waterlooplein 211-213, 1011 PG Amsterdam
Tickets: Regular €9 | Academy of Architecture students: free entry with student ID