Platform on new construction, renovation, restoration and transformation
As of September 1, Francesco Veenstra started in his position as Chief Government Architect. The co-designer of Delft NS railway station, among others, is determined to put into action the path "paved" by his predecessors. "Decisiveness on the climate crisis and long-term vision are needed to address the complex challenges of the future," he says. "The 22nd century begins today. And good design is always a basic requirement."
Predecessors Mels Crouwel and Floris Alkemade broadened the role of the Chief Government Architect from advisor to a more integral approach; the College of Government Advisors was also made more "robust. Together with landscape architect Jannemarie de Jonge and urban planner Wouter Veldhuis, Veenstra will form this board in the coming years. The native Frisian earned his spurs as co-owner of Mecanoo, among other things. Since 2017, he has been a partner at Vakwerk Architecten; for the past two years, Veenstra has been chairman of the Branchevereniging Nederlandse Architectenbureaus (BNA) (Dutch Architects' Association).
There is work to be done on spatial tasks in the Netherlands. "The recently published IPCC report underlines once again that we can no longer put off the sustainability transition. This calls for a different perspective: instead of more and bigger, it has to be different and better," said the brand new Chief Government Architect. "We must move toward a society that is more focused on 'sustainability,' quality and well-being. The built environment must contribute to that."
"The Netherlands is not yet full, but we will really have to handle our space differently. Simply because claims and demands will soon no longer fit," said Veenstra. "I am not so much into targets in absolute numbers like '1 million new homes by 2030', I am into an integral vision for the long term. Let's look a century ahead and ask ourselves the question: what kind of country do we actually want to live in? Not to look for beautiful vistas, but rather to reason backwards: what do we have to do now?"
With the construction of new housing, Veenstra immediately mentions one of the main challenges of his profession. "Sufficient affordable housing is a must for society, but that doesn't mean simply 'build, build, build.' The debate should not be about numbers, but about the country and city of the future; about the contribution that housing can make to that. Country and city are two sides of the same coin: even in villages and small towns - perhaps especially there, housing can be a driver of livability and vitality."
So to avoid making decisions now that we will regret later, we must look ahead. "A hundred years is a long way off, don't forget that the structure of the present-day Netherlands was largely established at the end of the 19th century. The decisions made back then to build rivers, canals and roads still form the backbone of our country. So do the networks we build today. Energy companies are scouring the Netherlands for unused land to build solar fields. Don't worry, is the argument, the solar panels are only there for twenty years. After those twenty years, the soil is exhausted and there is an electricity network that will attract new activities to that spot. Such radical choices require an integral view."
Spatial designers are capable of outlining a common future perspective, the Chief Government Architect states when asked. Veenstra points out that design quality is not the egg of Columbus. "Design thinking is a tool to explore new directions. For real change, we need decisiveness from everyone: architects, developers, builders, clients and government. Time to get our hands dirty."
