Future City Maker Tom van Arman
Architect in Residence #1 van 2022
If you are a drone pilot, data scientist, app maker, supply chain engineer, life cycle architect or 3D print operator you are a “Future City Maker”. In his residency, Tom will be exploring how these interdisciplinary Future City Making teams can accelerate and augment the architecture and urban planning processes.
Over the last 10 years, architect and data specialist Tom van Arman has been bridging conventional city-making with 21st century technologies, to push designers and policy makers to the operational edge of future city making. During his Architect in Residency at Arcam in the first half of 2022, Tom will be exploring how these interdisciplinary Future City Making teams can accelerate and augment the architecture and urban planning processes.
‘As our physical and digital city become more integrated, I want to explore the concept of smart city architecture as a new professional paradigm, and what that means to be(come) a smart city architect. There are so many new city making processes, like future mobility, smart energy, Open Data and IoT (Internet of Things). All these new tools and layers are underutilized in todays design processes and skill sets of architects and urban planners’
Here in Amsterdam, the city has outlined some very ambitious goals for its future. In 2030, Amsterdam streets will be EV (Electric Vehicle) only. In 2040 all the homes in the city will be gas free with full circularity by 2050. Like it or not, these ambitions require a brand new digital infrastructure and skill set to facilitate these demands. The diversity and complexity of these demands will also have a direct impact on the way we live, work and play in our future city.
Masterclass Smart City Architecture for Architects
In his residency, Tom will be exploring how ‘Future City Makers’ can help achieve ambitions set out by municipality, and how they can partake in this massive urban transformation asking the question : Are today’s architect and planners really ready for a energy independent, autonomous, fully circular city? Or do we need more skills, insights or inspiration to achieve these goals?
For this Tom will develop two masterclasses called “Smart City Architecture for Architects” where we can explore concepts of future mobility, smart energy, IoT and Open data and the local heroes, makers (and shakers) behind them. The masterclass design will pair Future City Makers with practicing planners and architects to design new ‘systems’ into their own projects. The goal of the course aims to give designers a deeper understanding of what a smart city is, and how a Smart City Architect can help facilitate the new digital, social and spatial landscape.