Protest in the City

Protest in the City

Protest has always been an inherent part of democratic processes and urban life, unfolding on the streets, squares, and walls of our cities. From the strikes of harbour workers to the #MeToo movement, and from demonstrations against increasing rents or climate marches, to Black Lives Matter campaigns - people find ways to be heard in public space. But the possibilities for protest are increasingly under pressure. Repression, surveillance, security measures, gentrification and the increasing smoothening of public space are making it harder for people to freely gather, express dissent, and advocate for change.

In these four days we will look at the public space of the city as a place for protest together with with Rene Boer, Mark Minkjan and Katía Truijen of Loom - practice for cultural transformation. We will regard activism as a discipline that involves revealing facts, building narratives and creating real-world impact. Whether it is the fossil fuelled industry or the bankrupt housing system, Rotterdam has plenty of battles to be fought that resonate over the globe. We will identify urgent issues, create counter positions and think of design strategies to challenge it, while speculating about 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 Deans 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 Deans Team, partner of Crimson Historians and 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

Day #1: Friday 13 June 2025
10:00 - 11:00 Welcome, Introduction & course outline by Independent School for the City and Loom
11:00 - 12:30 Do you hear the people sing. A lecture on the history of protest in public space worldwide by Wouter Vanstiphout.
12:30 - 13:30 Lunch Break
13:30 - 15:30 Exploring the protest city from a squatter's perspective
15:30 - 18:00  Work on spatial analysis
18:00 - 20:00 Pizza + Protest film fragments

Saturday 14 June
10:00 - 15:00 Work on spatial analysis
15:00 - 17:00 Presentation and conversation on spatial analysis

Thursday 19 June
19:00 - 21:00 Lecture by the Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination (included in the ticket price) More info here.

Friday 20 June
10:00 - 11:30 Lecture and conversation with XR Rotterdam
11:30 - 12:30 Participants work on speculative proposal
12:30 - 13:30 Lunch Break
13:30 - 17:00 Participants work on speculative proposal

Saturday 21 June
10:00 - 14:00 Participants work on speculative proposal
14:00 - 16:00 Presentations and conversation on speculative proposals with critics.