David Gianotten (OMA): Why local context should shape future cities

The useful part

Across Amsterdam, Rome, Taipei, and other cities where OMA works, David Gianotten sees this shift as a changing way of working with the city. That position places him somewhat at odds with the appeal of universal urban formulas. 'The core idea of the 15-minute city is that urban life is organized around neighborhoods where most daily needs can be reached within a short walk or cycle,' he tells designboom in our exclusive interview.

How it works

• That means infrastructure, public transport, cycling, micromobility, housing, and local amenities but also the economic consequences that follow when these improvements arrive.
• Gianotten points to OMA's research into the shopping mall for an exhibition at Powerhouse Parramatta, where the studio examines the relationship between the mall, the suburb, and the ideal city.
• 'In parts of Asia where cities developed around density rather than suburban expansion, malls often became integrated with public transport networks,' Gianotten explains.
• In Hong Kong, where he lived for seven years, shopping, leisure, work, and mobility are often concentrated around a single transit node.
• A masterplan can establish a framework, but its success depends on the relationships and decisions that unfold around it.

What to take from it

A neighborhood that offers excellent public transport, walkable streets, parks, schools, shops, and cultural facilities can become more desirable precisely because of those qualities. The development also incorporates underground heat and cold storage and photovoltaic installations. Generous balconies and visual connections encourage residents to engage with both neighbors and public space.

Example or evidence

• Urban life is shaped by accumulated infrastructure, cultural habits, land values, political systems, and existing buildings.
• Gianotten sees architecture as a way of initiating processes, building coalitions, and making alternative futures easier to imagine.
• The existing neighborhood is relatively low-density, with interconnected buildings and abundant greenery, characteristics the project takes as evidence of what residents value.
• In The Martin, one of the recently completed buildings within Bajes Kwartier, interlocking volumes create a more porous relationship between apartments and the surrounding neighborhood.

Details worth keeping

The fifteen-minute city, which has become one of the most influential planning ideas of recent years, proposes a simple ambition: organize neighborhoods so that everyday needs can be reached within a short walk or cycle, reducing dependence on cars while bringing living, working, leisure, and services closer together. Gianotten is wary of treating the concept as a blueprint. ' While I see the 15-minute city as a valuable framework, I would be cautious about treating it as a universal planning model.' For Gianotten, the important question is not whether every city should become a fifteen-minute city but what conditions allow a city to become more accessible in the first place.

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