Protest in the City

Protest in the City

After an exciting edition in 2025, the Independent School for the City and Loom - practice for cultural transformation, will again organise a compact workshop looking at the public space of the city as a place for protest. Together with René Boer, Mark Minkjan and Katía Truijen, we will regard activism as a discipline that involves revealing facts, building narratives and creating real-world impact. Whether it is the fossil fuel industry or the bankrupt housing system, Rotterdam has plenty of battles to be fought that resonate over the globe. During the workshop days, we will identify urgent issues, create counter positions, and design situated strategies, while proposing alternative solutions. 

Drawing inspiration from past and present generations of activists, we will explore how to design the communication of non-conventional narratives and the conditions for disobedient assemblies. This could include blockades, barricades, banners, choreographies, legal tactics, social media memes, squatting operations, consumer strikes or other, more subtle forms of expressing dissent with regard to the status quo—using whatever tools are necessary to drive change. 

Tutors

René Boer (Loom)
René Boer is an urban critic, curator and organizer in and beyond the fields of architecture, design, heritage and the arts. He is part of Loom - practice for cultural transformation, with whom he facilitates conversations, conducts research, curates exhibitions and public programmes, publishes books, consults organisations and develops shared learning experiences. Rene is also part of Failed Architecture and has been involved in various urban social movements and art, architecture and design schools in Amsterdam and beyond.

Mark Minkjan (Loom)
Mark Minkjan is an urban geographer, architecture critic. He is part of Loom - practice for cultural transformation, with whom he facilitates conversations, conducts research, curates exhibitions and public programmes, publishes books, consults organisations and develops shared learning experiences. Mark is also curator of the public programme at the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture, co-founder of Platform Woonopgave, and co-founder of Failed Architecture.

Katía Truijen (LOOM)
Katía Truijen is a media researcher, curator and educator. She is part of Loom - practice for cultural transformation with whom she facilitates conversations, conducts research, curates exhibitions and public programmes, publishes books, consults organisations and develops shared learning experiences. Katía is also the co-founder of interdisciplinary platform //\ hoekhuis and programme curator for Rewire festival and Ultima festival.

Wouter Vanstiphout
Wouter Vanstiphout is part of the Dean Team of Independent School for the City and partner of Crimson Historians & Urbanists. He is an architectural historian and researcher who has written extensively on urbanism and spatial politics. From 2008 - 2010, Wouter held the chair Design & Politics at the TU Delft and from 2012 to 2016, he was a member of the national advisory council on the environment and infrastructure.

Michelle Provoost
Michelle Provoost is part of the Independent School for the City’s Dean Team, partner of Crimson Historians & Urbanists, and director of the International New Town Institute. She is an architectural historian specialised in urban planning history, postwar architecture and contemporary urban development.

Mike Emmerik
Mike Emmerik is the director of the Independent School for the City and partner at Crimson Historians & Urbanists. He is educated as an urban designer at the TU Delft and has over 10 years of experience on research and spatial planning projects at the intersection of urban development and policymaking. Mike is also affiliated with the Dutch Board of Government Advisors where he advises the national government and municipalities on spatial planning in the Netherlands.

Preliminary Programme

Thursday 23 April 2026
18:00 - 20:00 Welcome and Introduction lectures by René Boer, Mark Minkjan, Katía Truijen and Wouter Vanstiphout.

Friday 24 April 2026
10:00 - 12:30 Exploring the protest city from a squatter's perspective with Cosimo
12:30 - 13:30 Lunch Break
14:30 - 18:00 Analyses protests from the past

19:30 - 22:00 School's Out! with Reinier de Graaf (optional)

Saturday 25 April 2026
10:00 - 12:30 Work on protest strategy
12:30 - 13:30 Lunch Break
13:30 - 14:15 Input presentation by (tbc)
14:50 - 17:00 Work on protest strategy

Wednesday 29 April 2026     
20:00 - 22:00 Public lecture by (tbc)

Friday 01 May 2026
10:00 - 10:45 Input presentation by (tbc)
11:00 - 12:30 Work on protest strategy
12:30 - 13:30 Lunch Break
13:30 - 17:00 Work on protest strategy
17:00 Visiting Snackbar Frieda

Saturday02 May 2026
10:00 - 14:00 Participants work on speculative proposal
14:00 - 16:00 Presentations on location