Michiel Van Iersel
Michiel van Iersel is an independent urbanist, curator, writer and teacher working at the intersection of the arts, architecture, (urban) design, and heritage to support cities and places that are socially inclusive and sustainable.
Michiel is partner at Loom, an Amsterdam and Rotterdam-based practice for cultural transformation interested in the creation of public values and engagement through artistic means and new rituals. The collective’s exhibitions and publications, research, projects, and events bring people and ideas closer together around such diverse topics as the future of heritage and the Post-Fossil City. Additionally, he is holding the position of Program Lead of the NEWROPE Chair of Architecture and Urban Transformation and coordinator of the Institute for Landscape and Urban Studies (LUS) at ETH Zürich.
Previously he initiated the ongoing research project Failed Architecture, about architectural and urban failures around the world. He was curator of the 2016 International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam and recently co-curated Places of Hope, an exhibition for Leeuwarden-Friesland European Capital of Culture 2018.
Michiel has more than two decades of experience advising and (re)activating a wide variety of smaller and larger (public) institutions, including UNESCO, the City of Amsterdam and various cultural institutions. In addition, he teaches, writes and publishes on a broad range of topics, including Rewriting Architecture 10+1 Actions for an Adaptive Architecture (Valiz, 2020).