Students from Eckart College have unveiled their vision of the ‘city of the future’ with creative models that highlight a futuristic world in 2050. The models include a train with grass on its roof and a school built on a high plateau with a car park below. These imaginative concepts were made in collaboration with ASML and the municipality.
Mayor Dijsselbloem attended the opening of the exhibition and admired the predominantly green designs. Many models feature abundant trees and plants, with one even showcasing a train covered in grass. “The grass is there to cool the train and help it absorb water,” explain the young designers, Dana and Malon.
This project is part of a ‘cross-curricular’ initiative, where students work on real-life assignments from businesses. In addition to ASML and the municipality, other organisations, including KnoopXL and NextNature (known for its futuristic exhibitions at the Evoluon), also participated in the project.
Eye-opener
For teacher Marie-José Thijssen, the project was an eye-opener. ‘What struck me was that the cities were very green and that my students would rather live in a village than a city. That’s closer to real green.’ A boy called Sepp is especially proud of the road system connecting all the designs of groups of pupils. ‘That connects really nicely,’ he says.
The assignment aimed to get pupils to be creative about the future. The project also taught them to work together. But that is not all. Thijssen: ‘As well as technical skills, they learned visual skills, research skills and practical skills. And they worked all that into a creative city. Whether these cities will be the future? Not according to some students.
Source: Studio040
For Eindhoven News: Chaitali Sengupta.
