As part of Placemaking Week Europe, HBS; New Lab, Stichting Tussentuin, and Aktiegroep Oude Westen are transforming a 26 m² concrete outdoor space into a vibrant green facade garden.
Want to join in? Roll up your sleeves, help turn this paved area into a lush, inviting spot, work together with local Rotterdam residents, and give something back to the city.
Feel free to join in whenever you like, stay as long as you want, and help us plant some greenery during our time at HBS @ New Lab!
Discover how we’re transforming the Oude Westen into a climate-proof neighborhood. Through community-driven projects, we’ve turned paved areas into green, rain-absorbing spaces. With gardens, green roofs, and water storage systems, we’re building resilience against climate change.
Together with the Municipality, Aktiegroep Oude Westen, Wolbert van Dijk, and the local residents, we’ve completed nine projects over the past seven years. By tapping into the talents and enthusiasm of the community, we’re not just greening the neighborhood—we’re bringing people together.
Join us to see how these efforts come to life, as featured in the book Climates.
Middelland is a real city neighborhood in Rotterdam West with residents from 172 cultures, rich and poor, low and highly educated, young and old. This diversity is an enormous wealth. At the same time, this diversity does not immediately make a community. 13 very different places in Middelland offer space for meeting and connecting in their own way, through which the richness, the energy of the community can be tapped and accessed. The tour takes you along these places for meeting, such as the Wijkpaleis or the Spoortuin, but also along places that, thanks to the community, have acquired a new form and meaning in the neighborhood.
