At the intersection of landscape, infrastructure and public spaces, taktyk engages in city-making through practice, research, teaching, advocacy and curating

Towards Living landscapes

In the European context and beyond we are dealing with heritage sites, derelict voids, vast toxic post-industrial sites, coastlines and territories calling for regeneration The time required for adaptation is often counted in decades and for the first time in history, it is becoming too slow compared to the speed of the disruptions. We must therefore reinvent our modes of doing and develop tactics to strengthen fragile landscapes.. To accelerate the transitions while co-constructing those living landscapes is our aim.

How?

From Rotterdam to Paris Barcelona to Brussels, the structure of the practice has, since 2006, been envisaged as an interdisciplinary platform, adaptive and responsive to various landscapes in tensions. Understanding tacit knowledge of cultivation and bricolage we act as conductor, curator, and mediator of complex transformation processes, and explore new modes of engagement along three threads: Topotypes, Living Tracks Lab and Heritage revisited.

Topotypes, ground as Design Material, mark the birth of Taktyk. It demonstrates our approach to site-making, which privileges the importance of ground-conditions and the raw experience of landscape.
“Topotypes” can be understood as a contraction of the terms “topos” and “prototypes”.

Living Tracks Lab focuses on the adaptive re use of infrastructure spaces into new park prototypes. Here we test transitional strategies through curation and care, cultural agencies enable the emergence of multiple cosmopolitan landscapes.

Revisiting heritage implies a critical understanding of the site and rejects the oversimplistic reduction of history. Deep and creative investigations enable us to surface forgotten or hidden clues, create precious knowledge to inform our design. Through urban renewal projects, historical parks, adaptations and artistic interventions, we acknowledge three forms of heritage: cultural, social and environmental.

Published on January 12, 2020