How do architects create public spaces where diverse and competing interests frequently meet, and how can they help reconcile the tensions often found in these collective areas?

During the Living Cities Forum, an initiative of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, founding partner, architect and urban planner Nathalie de Vries will discuss her strategic visions to help address these questions in both Melbourne (18 September) and Sydney (20 September). Positioning public space as the responsibility of the architect, Nathalie will explain how MVRDV pushes for public spaces across all of its projects, and with communities having different guises and needs, she will elaborate on why raising awareness and participatory processes are intrinsic to successful spaces. Envisioning changing urban needs, Nathalie's discussion will also explain how large-scale, long-term strategies can be developed and delivered to make cities resilient for the future. 

Nathalie de Vries is founding partner of MVRDV, an architect and urban planner, and the “DV” in MVRDV. She is currently also Professor of Architectural Design and Public Building at Delft University of Technology. From 2021 to 2023 holding the role of City Architect for Groningen, Nathalie’s work focuses on the invention of new building typologies and the creation of changeable, open systems, an approach which she brings to both buildings and urban plans. Well-known designs by Nathalie include 2 faculties for the University of Toronto, several projects for resilient urban design in Groningen, Vancouver and San Francisco, as well as the recently finished mixed-use projects for Mission Rock in San Francisco, and Ascension Paysagère in Rennes, France. A number of mixed-use projects and masterplans are also currently under construction in Amsterdam, Brussels, and Boston. She has also created cultural projects for the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam and the Buitenplaats Ypenburg. Older projects for MVRDV include Villa VPRO, Silodam, Nieuw Leyden, and the Lloyd Hotel.

As an architect, Nathalie appreciates intensive collaboration with clients and interdisciplinary design teams, but also with residents and other stakeholders. Whatever the project, there is always a lot of attention given to the design’s interaction with its surroundings, by designing inviting collective spaces and outdoor areas, among other approaches. In her urban designs, Nathalie explores the combination of high-quality public spaces with functionally mixed buildings that act as catalysts for the development of an area. 

Nathalie is committed to the education of future generations of architects. She has been active as a teacher throughout her career, and previously, she taught at TU Berlin, Harvard GSD, IIT Chicago, and the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, among others, and frequently provides lectures to students and young professionals on architecture and urbanism at a number of academic institutions worldwide. She has also been chair of the Royal Insitute of Dutch architects and Chief Railroad Architect.

• Melbourne
  • Date: 18 September
  • Location: The Edge, Fed Square,  Swanston St &, Flinders St, Melbourne VIC 3000
• Sydney
  • Date: 20 September
  • Location: State Library of New South Wales , 1 Shakespeare Pl, Sydney NSW 2000
• More information on the event including tickets can be found here.