Antwerp students in Suriname present the following research
Master’s students from the University of Antwerp (Belgium) have conducted research into their master’s degree in recent years, together with students from the Anton de Kom University of Suriname. In this context, presentations were given last Thursday by, among others, the lecturers Marleen Goethals (Urban Urbanism University of Antwerp), Nathan de Feyter (Architecture University of Antwerp) and Marciano Dasai (Infrastructure AdeKUS). Advisors and staff members of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science attended the presentation.
This concerns students from the Antwerp Faculty of Design Sciences who came to Suriname after a Covid interruption. Currently, projects have been carried out in the city center of Paramaribo, Weg naar Zee, Frimangron, Para, Clevia, Meerzorg, Marienburg, Moengo and Tamarin. These students work in two groups with the head of urban agriculture in Paramaribo-North and another group with the main theme of road design for bicycle use, a third group worked on the restructuring of Bernarddorp and Julianadorp in Moengo and a fourth on the repurposing of built heritage in Totness. .
According to lecturer and presenter Goethals, ISTT (Interdisciplinary Studio for Territories in Transition) is an interdisciplinary research unit at the Faculty of Design Sciences of the University of Antwerp. The research unit focuses on the area where architecture and urban development meet. The research focuses, among other things, on coming up with changing building cultures, spatial practices and especially spatial practices and especially spatial practice between tradition and globalization in postcolonial, non-Western contexts and super-diverse neighborhoods in Flanders, which are also discussed here.
Using design-driven participatory action research (DD-PAR), they aim to find culturally and ecologically resilient solutions to play and concrete needs in these research areas. To choose this action research to pass. In the early part of Paramaribo, research has been done in the coming periods, at the beginning of the learning areas, at the beginning of the agriculture of vacant plots to improve the environment.
In Moengo, Community Based Tourism and the reconstruction of the drainage system were examined, and in Coronie the reuse of the historic buildings was investigated. With the results of the studies, the students want to explore with the government how they can work together to develop solutions. It is important that student works have meaning for society. An important purpose of the presentation has been to discuss this point with the Ministry of Public Works. “The presentations should show the possibilities and rather challenge them to develop ideas that can be worked out for the future” according to coordinator Hans Martinus and the other teachers Marleen Goethals, Nathan de Feyter and Marciano Dasai.