Studio The New Workspace with Studio Makkink&Bey 04

FLOWS

The InsideFlows approach to spatial design was originally developed by Jan Jongert of the Rotterdam based architecture offce Superuse Studios. This approach aims for a ‘systemic’ understanding of the working fows in our environment and the ways of giving resource fows a positive contribution to design, delivering innovative and sustainable solutions that respond to users needs and clients interests.

Spatial changes are complex by defnition. They consist of numorous conditions involved such as clients demands, suppliers possibilities and not the least: spatial qualities, fnancial limitations, and applicable regulations, to name a few. Spatial designers have to get ‘grip’ on the situation in order to be able to propose a change. There are many ways of getting grip of a situation: you can symplify a situation for instance by isolating specifc elements through focussing on materials or construction, on colors or tactility, on budget or usability, on emotion or fexibility etc etc. The focus on one of the elements involved can create a welcome hierarchy in complex situations.

The Flows approach does not create a hierarchy in complex spatial situations but focusses on the complex system itself that lies underneath every spatial situation. In het systemic approach InsideFlows distinguishes three sections of fows: physical fows, energy fows and fows of value, and determines 14 different subcategories within these sections. In recent years Superuse developed and gathered various Flows tools that enable designers to observe, document and study the various fows in the space, and as a result of that, establish a systemic view of the context. Flows helps designers reasoning the reality and understanding the world not through simplifcation and isolation, but through establishing a ‘systemic view’ of our environment. By mapping the dynamic and complex relationships of the designated fows, designers are capable to maneuver and understand the numerous layers involved and their connections and fnally bring these together to the core of their design process.

Flows thus not only manifests itself in the research phase of a project. By applying the Flows approach also to design, designers are able to include numerous and even elusive elements in their design and unexpected opportunities pop up and are discovered that can lead to a new aesthetics. In recent years various Flows tools were further developed, among others in China with the alumni INSIDE student Junyuan Chen, who graduated in 2015 with a Flows approach for the future ruralization of a small village in Southwest China.

The Flows of my Kitchen by Junyuan Chen To introduce a Flows narrative I take my kitchen as an example. Currently I live in a residential building in Beijing, China; the kitchen in my apartment measures six square meters. It has a rectangular foor plan and is 1.80 meter wide. On the west side of the kitchen there are double-stores cabinets and a worktop with a mobile metal shelf resting on the east part, with pots and pans on it I daily use. The surfaces of the cabinet are bright green, made of PVC with 20 millimeter stainless edging. The counter, which is 0.60 meter deep, is made of similar stainless metal. It has a sink on the north side of the kitchen and a stove on the south. A chamber with a refrigerator connects the kitchen with my living room. The northern part of my kitchen is connected to a small two square meter balcony. Here you can fnd a washing machine and a gas heater equipped with a water supply and drainage system. In case I want to renovate my kitchen, what should I do? First of all, I would like to enlarge the space and double it in order to have more room for cooking activities as six square meters for a kitchen is too small and too restrictive. I fnd the bright green PVC cabinet door too glaring and prefer a wood fnish. Furthermore, I don’t like so much the stainless countertop because it has an uneven surface, a marble top would therefore be a good alternative. Under the closet above the stove I prefer some extra lighting because cutting vegetables in the dark is unhandy and not a funny thing. The last thing to fx would be the gap under the lower cabinets where dirt is accumulating. At the same time, I would like the balcony not only to be used for washing and heating, but also as an extra space for vegetations.

So, let me describe my kitchen by one systematic language: as a starting point I need to take into account that the kitchen system is meant for the needs for two human beings. The current system combines cleaning, preparing, cooking, storage and some other facilities that all make routinely use of Flows like water, electricity, natural gas, heat and organic and inorganic systems. Let’s take the organic system as an example: food enters the kitchen system from outside and is stored in a freezer that requires external electrical