As an architect, I prefer to work from the stories and needs of the people who I am designing for. The involvement of users in the design process leads to better design choices and results. This was the insight I discovered during my Architecture studies at the TU Delft. It triggered me to explore the potential capacity for dialogue in design processes. In 2015 I cofounded design firm Open Kaart. Open Kaart specializes in cocreation of the living environment.
The concept of cocreation is not new. It is, however, a relatively untapped discipline. To nourish the expertise of cocreative design, reflection and knowledge development are essential. By winning the Marina van Damme grant, I was given the space for this reflection. I won the grant with the plan to study cocreation in three different international contexts. In 2020, I travelled to my first destination, Chile, to research cocreative practices here. Japan was my second case study, in 2023. A third -European- destination will follow. Both the experiences from Open Kaart as the learnings from abroad help me to grow as a cocreative architect.