Jeroen Spoelstra on Abundance

What if your new design client is an ancient glacial lake? How might we design for a future where our products, services and businesses protect and regenerate biodiversity on earth instead of destroying it?

Jeroen will take us on his journey developing Life-Centered Design (LCD). This is a new design philosophy and approach that goes beyond human needs and puts life at the centre of our creation. LCD advocates for biological ecosystems and non-user communities that never had a voice before in the design process.

Workshop

After the talk, Jeroen will also host a workshop on Life-Centered Design so you can experience the philosophy and approach yourself. During the workshop we will create Non-humanpersonas outside the Spaces building. There we will empathise with nature in the urban environment and discover what we can learn and improve to create a greener city.

About Jeroen

Late 2017 Jeroen left Haarlem in the Netherlands to live and work in the rural and mountainous foothills of Northern Spain together with his Costa Rican wife Marcela.  

He is one of the leading figures in the design world on the topic of Life Centered Design. With nearly 20 years of design experience, he will guide you in each design project using his curiosity, empathy, and love for solving riddles.

Ellen ter Gast on ETHOS

We are delighted with our guest speaker Ellen Ter Gast on October’s month’s theme ETHOS.

What does ethos, the word the ancient Greek used for both (good) character and our set of moral beliefs, mean for designers and professionals who work in the creative industry today? Aristotle believed we have to seek a balance between caution and passion. Referring to iconic moral heroes, the bold and the passionate, Ellen will argue why this idea of being a good person needs a critical update. The 21st century asks for designers and thinkers who dare to challenge the status quo.

About Ellen

Ellen ter Gast PhD is an interdisciplinary thinker and storyteller who works at the crossroads of arts, philosophy, biology and business. In addition to her practice as an ethics consultant, Ellen enjoys working with a diverse group of international bio artists, artists who, like her, reflect on the fascinating developments in bio(techno)logy. She participated in The Modular Body (2016) by Floris Kaayk and Trust me I a man Artist (2014-2017) by the British Anna Dumitriu. Ellen gives lectures at various art schools on art-science. She was an advisor of both the Mondriaan Fund and the Creative Industries Fund.

Dr. Martin Ziegler on Depth

This month we are diving into the ocean with Dr. Martin Ziegler. Martin Ziegler is a geologist and paleoclimatologist, researching  the cause and impact of climate variability through time.  He leads the carbonate clumped isotope lab at the Earth Science Department of Utrecht University Using clumped isotope geochemistry he reconstructs Earth’s past temperature on land, in the sea and underground.

As climate change affects us all, we thought to take a leap, jump into the deep end, and invite a scientist. We all know the importance of creativity and the need for everyone to embrace it in our work, including science. So we are very happy to have been able to have Martin talk at CreativeMornings this month.

This month Creative Mornings will be hosted at SPACES, in the re-developed House Modernes in the city centre.

We are proud to have SPACES as our new venue partner. Thank you!

Stefan Pangratz on Critical

This month’s theme is critical and we are happy to have Stefan Pangratz from wayfinding experts studio Mijksenaar talking to us.

Stefan will take us along to take a closer look at “critical details” and their link within the bigger picture of things. 

Once we look closer, the world seems to be full of unseen, underestimated and undervalued “critical details” that help us to understand and navigate through our daily lives. This is a universal truth in the world of wayfinding and is very relevant for design in general. 

Contrary to what the term ‘critical’ also embodies, you can expect a light-hearted take on the theme for this CreativeMornings, followed by an interactive group discussion.

This month Creative Mornings will be hosted at SPACES, in the re-developed House Modernes in the city centre.

We are proud to have SPACES as our new venue partner. Thank you!

Brian Pagán on Spirituality

For this talk, we’re taking a look at spirituality. It’s a highly personal topic, and our guest Brian is no expert. So this won’t be a formal lecture, but an informal discussion in a safe space.

We begin with some warming up as a group. Then Brian will share his perspective, along with a few ideas and frameworks. Then, we have a plenary discussion to explore what spirituality means to you.

Let’s share the moment together. Isn’t that what life is all about?

Brian is a seasoned Experience Designer working for brands like Philips, ING and Nationale Nederlanden in the past.  In 2016 he founded The Greatness Studio, ‘a community of creative professionals, helping innovators like you to build a more loving & equitable world.’

This month Creative Mornings will be hosted at SPACES, in the re-developed House Modernes in the city centre.

We are proud to have SPACES as our new venue partner. Thank you!

MAAN LIMBURG on WILDERNESS

This month Maan Limburg will take us into the WILDERNESS of Japan.

In Japan almost 8,5 million houses are vacant, left behind by the last residents. Not even talking about all the other abandoned buildings. In her book, The Lost World, Maan has researched all these places, their stories and beauty. Understanding first hand the house shortage in the Netherlands provided an extra dimension to the project.

Maan photographed the lost locations, wrote about their stories and bundled all her experiences in her book and exposition, The Lost World.

The exposition is at The Ping Pong Club which is also this month’s venue. The Ping Pong Club is at Wisselspoor, one of the former NS maintenance halls that will take you by smell, sound and experience into Maan’s world.

In her talk Maan will take us with her on a journey. How did she find this story, and how can you find yours? And how to tell the story by creating a book and exposition.

EXTRA EVENT: Audiotour: Hoor het werkspoor!

HI ALL,

Come WALK with us and LISTEN to the just released: Hoor het werkspoor!

This audiotour brings the history of the Werkspoor area to life, poetically connecting past, present and future. For example, a visit to a wasteland suddenly transforms into a lively factory hall from a century ago and a discotheque briefly transforms back into a laundry room. With these stories the makers (who themselves work in the Werkspoorkwartier) want to show a different side of the Werkspoorkwartier and introduce people to the hidden gems in the area.

The creators of the Audiotour, Wendy en Michiel from 5gradenoost, will join us and we would love to walk this tour with YOU.

We will start with a drink at Café Qeet in the Werkspoorfabriek, friendly offered by De Stadstuin!

Join us: Thursday June 16th 15:30.

What to bring: your phone and a headset.

We hope to see you then! 

Grab you tickets as usual.

Note: The audiotour is in Dutch.

These days, the “nows” hurry past us, shoved aside by the “next” — the urgent to-do’s, the latest breaking news. Constantly anticipating and staging for our future decimates our experience of the present. Our “now” vanishes, like water flowing through our fingertips.

We are happy to have Mark Swinkels over from Hong Kong, while visiting family and friends in the Netherlands. A great opportunity to invite him to talk at Creative Mornings Utrecht!

Besides being the Creative Mornings Hong Kong host, Mark is a recruiter at Cogs Agency and has a focus on marketing and design roles. Besides recruiting, he shapes the culture of the company and drives marketing. Outside of work, he designs pub quizzes and workshops like design hackathons.

This month Creative Mornings will be hosted at SPACES, in the re-developed House Modernes in the city centre.

This month’s theme is Folklore so we thought: Let’s Dance!

Together Iris Loos and Tamer Alalloush founded the Dreaming of Syria Foundation. Their mission is to celebrate the true colours and culture of Syria.

Back in 2015, many people from Syria -including Tamer himself- arrived in the city of Utrecht and both Tamer and Iris wanted to build bridges and stimulate encounters between people who are new to the Netherlands and people who have lived here for some time.

While the media was mostly talking about a ‘refugee crisis’, they set out to create valuable encounters and shed light on more personal stories. This resulted in hundreds of projects, from clothing collections to an on- and offline community - with about 5000 members by now - and a music and culture festival called 'Dreaming of Syria’.

That festival was the start of now well-known and successful dance evenings: Dabke Nights. 

Dabke Nights focuses on the folklore dance 'dabke’: a dance that is often danced in the Middle East, in countries such as Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. Dabke Nights are regularly organised in pop venues such as TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht and Paard in The Hague.

Iris and Tamer also give Dabke workshops throughout the country, and now for us at Creative Mornings Utrecht. Not only will Iris and Tamer talk about Dabke and their experiences, they will also teach how to dance!

During this CreativeMornings, Iris and Tamer we will share the things they learned over the years. After that we will put aside the tables and chairs. And dance!

In style with the theme and to add on to the experience we will be hosting this Creative Mornings event at A Beautiful Mess.

 30 years ago, an asylum seekers’ centre was established here in the former hospital on Joseph Haydnlaan. In collaboration with Refugee Company, a meeting place/community café started at this special location. The trainees are all residents of the centre. Here they will find a free and safe space to work with a team and to practice with hospitality. They are part of the kitchen team or the service staff, learn Dutch and become stronger.

Address
Joseph Haydnlaan 2
3533 AE Utrecht

Monumental Muze Hotel Utrecht  - from ruin to hotel

A special story about a special family from Utrecht, Cocky and Paul Barendregt (sister and brother) and their daughters Bo, Puk and Belle. After a difficult period in their lives, the Barendregt family had one wish: to realize something beautiful together.

Their close family relationship resulted in the purchase of a dilapidated city hotel in Utrecht. It took them 3,5 years to complete this project. It was a ruin when they started,  but now it is one of the most beautiful hotels.

In honour of their family approach both Bo and her uncle Paul are going to tell us all about their monumental challenge. What lessons did they learn that we, creatives, can learn from. The former mayor - Jan van Zaanen - summarized it in: ‘Houd moed’

We are looking forward to seeing you all on Friday the 25th february 8:30 in the Werkspoorfabriek.