A series of three evening lectures about social housing, curated by architect and writer Andrea Prins. Taking place on 28 January, 18 February and 04 March 2025.

After being ignored for a long time, the lack of affordable, social housing in the Netherlands has become ubiquitous. In the current debate, most of the attention is focused on numbers: too few homes are being built compared to what is should be needed. High construction costs are used as an argument to make social housing seem like an unprofitable investment. Moreover, there is a maze of rules that people have to navigate to qualify for social housing. This narrowing perspective on numbers and regulations, overlooks something important: the resident and the experience of habitation itself. As a result, many (young) people do not even consider living in a social project. Not only is social housing discouragingly scarce, it also suffers a negative imago. In this series we discuss these issues from different perspectives. What do decent spatial floor plans look like? What should be meant by the word “social” mean? And why do we know so little about alternatives to home ownership?

A series of three evening lectures about climate change, environmental justice and migration. Tuesday 08 October, 05 November and 03 December. Tickets for the separate events are 17,50 euro and include a simple dinner.

Climate change increasingly is a reason for displacement and migration. The United Nations International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has cited estimates of as many as 25 million to 1 billion climate migrants in the next 30 years, while other projections point to 1.4 billion by 2060. It is therefore important to investigate more just alternatives for the way we are dealing with climate change, migration and the organisation of space today. This lecture series examines the impact of climate change on the liveability of our world and the potentialities of space. Where is climate-induced displacement and migration already happening today? Which areas will be most affected by global warming? Where can people move to and how can new places for living be built?

A series of three evening lectures about a sustainable and just future for the port of Rotterdam, taking place on Tuesday 13 February, 5 and 26 March 2024. Tickets for the separate events are 17,50 euro and include a simple dinner. An entrance package for all three evenings is available for 45 euro.

For the 4th edition of Back to School with...  we've invited One Planet Port to curate a series around the topic of Architecture of Transition of Global Trade looking at the future of the port of Rotterdam. In this series we will focus on the port of Rotterdam and its pivotal role in steering the momentum of change toward a sustainable global trade and transportation system. Despite the recognition of the imperative to align with climate targets and adhere to planetary boundaries, the pace of change has fallen short of what is dictated by these limits. This underscores the necessity for a cohesive and systemic approach to address ports, advocating for a just and equitable transition that confronts global inequities and builds local people power.

A series of three evening lectures that explore the architecture of memory, taking place on Tuesday 31 October, 21 November and 12 December 2023.

For the 3rd edition of Back to School with...  we've invited architect Arna Mačkić to curate a series around the topic of the architecture of memory. How can places of memory and monuments be designed that do not offer a one dimensional perspective on history, but that underline a shared past and a collective future? Places of remembrance that urge people to reassess their perspective and play a part in the daily lives of the urban communities. During this series we will look at different approaches by architects, activists and researchers in thinking about and designing places of remembrance.

A series of three evening lectures, that took place on Tuesday 04 April, 16 May and June 2023.

Back to School with... Rick ten Doeschate was a series around the topic of representation and formal expression of public buildings. During this series we dealt with the fact that the architecture debate has for the past thirty years revolved around 'extra-architectural' issues such as economy, program, health and sustainability, while subjects such as 'Aesthetics', 'Design', 'Style', 'Representation' have scarcely been discussed. In this series we wanted to broaden the view on the formal dimension of architecture. On three evenings we looked at the subject from different perspectives.

For the first edition of Back to School with...  we've invited architect and researcher Marina Otero Verzier to curate a series around the topic of architecture for data storage and digital infrastructures following the title "Future Storage: Architectures to host the Metaverse"

In this series at the Independent School for the City we will explore architecture paradigms for storing data attuned to socio-ecological challenges and the growing price of energy. We will analyze current trends and innovations in data storing architectures and behaviors that could reduce dependence on data center growth: From macro data centers ceding terrain to decentralized egde computing and micro centers,  to data centres operating as a thermal urban infrastructures, and gardens being models for more-than-human data storing architectures.