Through our website and social media, MVRDV will dedicate the whole of February to the theme of Resilient Communities. This theme addresses a range of topics that are sometimes overlooked in sustainability agendas: as a design strategy, resilience attempts to address the challenges facing the world – from climate change to social cohesion – caused by previous unsustainable practices. Alongside this, the focus on communities places a focus on the underlying raison d’etre of resilient design: people, their living environments, and the lives they are able to live there.

At MVRDV we believe that bold, audacious, and daring design can be a powerful tool in creating resilience. Resilience is often exclusively considered a matter of pragmatism and restraint. However, we believe that “beauty and wonder” are crucial ingredients in every successful urban adaptation strategy, as they catalyse the will to change – motivating stakeholders to engage in building resilience and ensuring their commitment and participation in long-term adaptation.

Since its founding, MVRDV has always fused this commitment to bold designs with a community mindset. The seeds of our ideas about resilient communities could be seen in our projects even before the subject gained a foothold in the wider profession – for example in our project Villa VPRO where free, unprogrammed spaces made the design robust enough to accommodate unexpected requirements. Over the years, this approach became formal, and MVRDV now counts on significant expertise in the field of resilience, shown in projects such as Resilient by Design among many others.

With #ResilientCommunities Month, MVRDV hopes to place a spotlight on this crucial issue, showcasing our work in this field, exploring our underlying approach, starting a conversation on the topic, and finally – most importantly – inviting other architecture and urbanism professionals to join us in this conversation.

You can take part by following MVRDV on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, or by following and using the hashtags #ResilientCommunities and #MVRDVResilientCommunities.