The German word ‘Stubenarrest’ (to be grounded) describes the prohibition for a child to stay at home and not to go out and play. Psychologically this constraint leaves the child in a vacuum like situation. Metaphorically this term reflects the current shock of general patterns of communication, work and behaviour while the origin might be relatively intangible.

In spring 2020, the department of Urban Design of the University of Münster invited us to reflect on this topic, and to use this reflection to anticipate a look at the future, that would fill the vacuum created by the current situation.

Starting from a look at the way our cities and economies reacted to the crisis, the reflection allowed us to track and describe a core principle of our practice, which is the way conflict is capable of driving change: this helps us to articulate our role, as designers of a common ground for discussion, able to make our cities resilient to shock and open for change and transformation.

View the other contributions to the call here