04 Sep 2025
 Lectures Permalink

International Conference “HOT – Healing Our Towns”

2025-09-04

On September 8th, Anne Loes Nillesen speaks at the International Conference “HOT – Healing Our Towns”, the Summer School organized by Politecnico di Milano – DAStU.

She will be presenting on climate adaptation strategies, sharing examples that highlight the importance of including heat and water as a design criteria in urban strategies, public spaces, and nature-based solutions. She will illustrate how adaptation strategies can help cities adapt to future climate conditions.

The program brings together leading scholars and practitioners to discuss how design, planning, and innovation can contribute to more resilient and climate-adaptive cities.

📅 September 8th, 2025 | 9:30 – 18:15
📍 Politecnico di Milano, Building 16B (access from Via E. Bonardi, room 16B.0.1)

More information about the event: https://lnkd.in/euwYXYR4

Università degli Studi di Parma CMCC Foundation – Centro Euro Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici NMBU – Norwegian University of Life Sciences Delft University of Technology Climateflux GmbH RWTH Aachen University Comune di Reggio Emilia LAND

04 Sep 2025
 Office updates Permalink

Defacto on the move!

2025-09-04

Last week we enjoyed an inspiring office trip to Woudrichem!

We set off by boat from Willemsplein and passed some remarkable Dutch landmarks along the way, such as the Kinderdijk. Even though late-summer rain greeted us on arrival, discovering the rich history of Woudrichem was fascinating!

We wrapped up the day back in Rotterdam with a cozy dinner together, a perfect ending to a day full of stories, laughs, and team spirit!

#officetrip #fun #woudrichem #urbanism #colleagues #dutchlandscape

17 Jul 2025
 Project news Permalink

Climate-adaptive Utrecht

2025-07-17

Where will we live tomorrow? And how do we build smarter, greener, and future-proof?

Together with Utrecht Water Partners, we created the Suitability Map Guideline, a tool to help planners and municipalities assess where and how to build climate-resilient homes and businesses. Through 4 case studies, we discovered that no location meets the national climate-adaptive standard without extra measures. Early, area-specific action is key. This project shows how we can design smarter, with water and soil as guiding principles. Check out the full project via the link

15 Jul 2025
 Office updates Permalink

Katendrecht met studenten van de Universiteit van Tampere

2025-07-15

Onlangs hebben wij een groep enthousiaste studenten van de Tampere University uit Finland een rondleiding gegeven in de Rotterdamse wijk Katendrecht. In 2024 heeft Defacto in opdracht van de gemeente Rotterdam een klimaatadaptatie studie uitgevoerd voor deze wijk. Door de bijzondere buitendijkse ligging, het havenkarakter en de grote nieuwbouwambities van de wijk spelen hier meerdere vraagstukken op het gebied van overstromingsrisico’s en hittebestendigheid. Wij hebben de studenten inzicht gegeven in het onderzoek en onze ideeën toegelicht waarmee de oude en nieuwe bebouwing van Katendrecht klimaatadaptief gemaakt kan worden.

Je kunt het project hier bekijken: https://www.defactourbanism.com/portfolio-item/climate-strategy-katendrecht-2050/

Gemeente Rotterdam Tampere University

Katendrecht Klimaatadaptatie KlimaatbestendigeStad Toekomstbouwers LerenInDeStad Wateroverlast Hittestress

 

03 Jul 2025
 Publications Permalink

Excited to share that the new book De Fijne Stad is out!

2025-07-03

A beautiful collection of insights by various experts and professionals on what makes a city truly livable. Anne Loes Nillesen contributed the chapter titled “De Klimaatbestendige Stad” (The Climate-Proof City), where she explores how we can design urban environments that are resilient in the face of climate change. Huge thanks to Vincent Luyendijk for bringing all these voices together.

Also great to see that De Fijne Stad is the book of the month at Boekhandel Donner. If you would like to have detailed look and purchase the book, you can follow this link!

DeFijneStad ClimateResilience UrbanDesign BookLaunch Donner CityPlanning LivableCities

01 Jul 2025
 Media attention Permalink

Concrete Jungle – NOS

2025-07-01

If you live in the city, you will suffer more from the heat. In cities, the perceived temperature can be 10 degrees higher than outside the city. The Rotterdam district of Katendrecht is one such place where it gets hot. Anne Loes Nillesen, together with NOS, takes us to a small journey in the Katendrecht district, and explains the importance of including heat as a design criteria in urban strategies, public spaces and buildings to reduce the urban heat island effect. You can watch the clip here.

Furthermore, Katendrecht will continue its transformation from a port and industrial zone into a residential and urban living space. Thus a ‘Resilience strategy’ is needed to adapt these developments to future climate conditions. In one of our recent studies, Climate Strategy Katendrecht, we tackled this challenge and identified hotspots for heat stress, and developed a toolbox that takes into consideration of the living environment, inclusiveness, spatial quality and ecology.

23 Jun 2025
 Exhibitions Permalink

Open Office Day 2025

2025-06-23

On Saturday, we had the pleasure of welcoming many visitors to our office for OpenOfficeDay2025, part of Rotterdam Architecture Month.

It was a great opportunity to connect with many curious and enthusiastic visitors, share insights, and exchange ideas. Our mini-exhibition, showcasing some of our most significant recent projects, both in the Netherlands and internationally, sparked interesting conversations around the role of research-by-design in shaping the built environment.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and contributed to the amazing atmosphere. We are already looking forward to next year!

OpenOfficeDay2025 RotterdamArchitectureMonth ArchitectureNetwork DesignCommunity StudioVisit

19 Jun 2025
 Uncategorized Permalink

Climate Adaptive Design for Heat Stress

2025-06-19

It’s hot again, isn’t it? Due to climate change, the number of tropical days is increasing. Yet spatial plans and designs of buildings still take far too little account of this increasing heat stress. The impact of heat can be limited by providing sufficient shaded areas and routes, less pavement and more greenery, well-integrated outdoor sun protection and options for night-time ventilation.

Fortunately, there are already many examples of greened streets. But a real design and implementation strategy is often still lacking. Even on a building scale, good outdoor sun effect is often not yet designed or cut back in the implementation.

With temperatures forecasted to exceed 30°C this Saturday, June 21, the urgency of climate-adaptive design becomes even more evident, right in time for OpenOfficeDay2025, part of Rotterdam Architecture Month! Don’t miss the opportunity to visit us and explore how we can design for a cooler, more resilient city. Learn about innovative measures we can implement to adapt our public spaces to a warming climate 🌞

And further check our project that we did for the municipality of Rotterdam, where we worked on spatial strategy in the context of ‘Weerwoord’ in which, based on building typologies and neighbourhood profiles, we looked at how heat can be tackled city-wide and what important focus areas are. View the project here.

18 Jun 2025
 Project news, Publications Permalink

Water en Bodem Sturend Zuid-Holland

2025-06-18

Voor de Provincie Zuid-Holland hebben we samen met de Provincie, waterschappen en drinkwaterbedrijven een onderlegger water en bodem sturend gemaakt. Het doel van deze onderlegger is dat ruimtelijke keuzes die nu en de komende jaren komen, bewust en op basis van de juiste kennis en inzichten worden gemaakt. Het is een kennisbasis die inzicht verschaft in ruimtelijke gevolgen richting 2100, bekeken vanuit de thema’s: Waterveiligheid, Water te veel, Water te weinig en Drinkwaterbeschikbaarheid.

De kaarten geven een overzicht van verschillende (zoekgebieden voor) reserveringen en ruimteclaims die in beeld zijn. De kaart is een levend document wat inzichtelijk maakt dat de ruimteclaim voor een toekomstbestendig water- en bodemsysteem substantieel is, en het essentieel is deze opgave integraal mee te nemen binnen gebiedsprocessen en andere ruimtelijke ontwikkelingen.

Bekijk het project op onze website of in de kaartenviewer van de provincie Zuid-Holland.

Het rapport is overhandigd aan gedeputeerde Arne Weverling en hoogheemraad Marjon Verkleij en opgesteld in opdracht van en in samenwerking met Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland, Hoogheemraadschap De Stichtse Rijnlanden, Waterschap Hollandse Delta, Hoogheemraadschap van Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard, Waterschap Rivierenland, Hoogheemraadschap van Delfland, Waterschap Amstel, Gooi en Vecht en de Provincie Zuid-Holland. Ook de drinkwaterbedrijven Dunea, Oasen en Evides Waterbedrijf hebben bijgedragen,

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