How can we design with, within, and beyond depletion? The Delta Urbanism Research Group at TU Delft invites students, researchers, and practitioners to contribute to the exhibition “Depletion, a design inquiry?”, an interdisciplinary exploration of (soil) depletion as a critical lens for adaptive and regenerative design.
The Delta Urbanism Research Group at TU Delft is pleased to invite contributions to the upcoming exhibition “Depletion, a design inquiry?”. Building on the forthcoming Issue #6 of the Journal of Delta Urbanism, this exhibition seeks to spatially and interactively engage with the urgent and multifaceted condition of (soil) depletion.
About the exhibition
Rather than framing depletion as a singular crisis, the exhibition approaches it as a prolonged unraveling of landscapes, infrastructures, resources, and communities. Set within deltas and other vulnerable territories, it explores how extractivism, (over)design, and climate volatility degrade the systems that sustain us — and positions (soil) depletion as a critical lens for adaptive and regenerative design.
Reorienting our relationship with soils is as cultural and political as it is technical. It requires rethinking how we value soil, how our everyday decisions shape it, and how our societies are organised around it. The exhibition therefore aims to create a platform for interdisciplinary exchange, expanding our understanding of the grounds beneath architectural production — their transformations, extractions, and potentials for regeneration.
Research question
How might we design — and what does it mean to design — with, within, and beyond depletion?
Format
We welcome a wide range of creative, research-based, and speculative contributions that explore, represent, or provoke critical reflection on depletion. The exhibition will occupy several BK exhibition spaces for two weeks and embraces diverse formats, including:
large-scale models or installations
drawings, diagrams, or photographic works
written manifestos, essays, and visual narratives
audio or audiovisual explorations
postcards, artefacts, and other experimental media
Your contribution may be a work-in-progress (for example part of a thesis, dissertation, or ongoing design research) or a finalised piece critically engaging with depletion.
Who can apply
We aim to build a global and interdisciplinary dialogue. We warmly welcome contributions from:
students, early-career and senior researchers
practitioners in design, planning, architecture, landscape, and related fields
contributors from geoscience, soil sciences, environmental humanities, and the arts
both individual and collective (interdisciplinary) teams
How to apply
Please submit the following by 31 January:
150-word description of your proposed contribution
images or media excerpts representing the work
Send your submission to: Delta-urbanism@tudelft.nl
Exhibition dates
The exhibition will be on display 31 March – 11 April at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment (BK), TU Delft, running in parallel with the launch of JDU #6 and a dedicated BK Talks session.
We look forward to your critical, creative, and experimental contributions, and to engaging together with the complex condition of depletion.
Delta Urbanism Research Group
Department of Urbanism | TU Delft
