Dérive
Hedwig van der Linden & Kevin Westerveld
Introducing architecture: free talk for 16-25 year olds
Date: Tuesday 01 October
Time: 11:30am – 12:30pm
Location: The Mick Lally Theatre
A collaboration founded by Hedwig van der Linden and Kevin Westerveld, Dérive is a research-driven practice operating between architecture, public space and urban strategies.
In this talk the duo will discuss their practice and reflect on what it means to think creatively and discuss the impact architecture can have on our environments. This talk frames architecture as a creative discipline like art or music and invites especially younger audiences to think differently about their places and spaces.
Hedwig van der Linden trained as an architect at Delft University of Technology and is co-founder of design practice Dérive, operating from Brussels and Rotterdam. She gained experience as a researcher at the Chair of Area Development in Delft on the role of design research as a strategic tool and at Architecture Workroom Brussels she worked on design and cultural production for the transformation of the social and physical living environment. Hedwig is a guest tutor at the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and at the Faculty of Architecture in Delft.
Kevin Westerveld studied architecture at Delft University of Technology and ETH Zürich. After working at international offices such as OMA and 51N4E, he co-founded design practice Dérive – based in Brussels and Rotterdam. Kevin seeks synergy between conceptual thinking and co-creative practice by providing space for dialogue and creating local coalitions within complex transition challenges – consciously starting from the qualities and resources of existing habitats. Hedwig is a guest tutor at the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and at the Faculty of Architecture in Delft.
Project description
Kevin and Hedwig are supporting one of the projects in the Architecture at the Edge Design Lab bursaries programme 2024 in collaboration with the Galway Culture Company.
This project inspires students to influence their local community spaces for the benefit of the locality through rejuvenating and reviving the hidden heritage behind the 6m high limestone walls of the Mountbellew Walled Garden by creating a new community gathering space. This will act as a catalyst for the gardens long term renovation, an initiative largely supported by the community.
There is a history of storytelling in the rural villages of Galway, and Mountbellew is no different. The history of storytelling, entertainment and enjoyment at Lady’s Seat within the network of gravel stone paths and remains of the peach growing house and potting sheds; the community will unlock a new space for gathering where the students design and construct places to sit and relax – referring to the ‘hortus conclusus’. Gathering spaces will form through the unison of these installations combining natural local materials and recycled resources. As a festive inauguration and appropriation of this place, the students and the local community will discover their surroundings during a walking workshop using different senses and lenses.