Women Make The City | 尼亚莎·哈珀-米琼：妇女创造城市

要建立一种新的世界秩序，有时必须彻底摧毁旧秩序的基础。对于阿姆斯特丹的建筑师尼亚莎·哈珀-米琼来说，这正是她与某人分手的原因。

他们二人原本没有太多共同点：他身高一米八，家里的顶架是按照他的身高设计的，而她根本够不到放在上面的罐子；他每天规律地上下班，而她的工作地点和日程安排却天天都在变化；在城市里出行时，他开车，而她会骑自行车或是乘坐公共交通工具。总之，他们对城市的需求和用途截然不同。

尽管如此，这座城市、城市住房和城市空间都是为他这样的人量身定制的。米琼说：“男性代表着‘参考群体’。我为他们做过很多次设计，这是我们在建筑学校里学到的。男性被当作普通人的标准和原型，一切都是为他们设计的——我们的房子、我们的城市、我们街道的宽度、我们坐的椅子，就连我们用的杯子也不例外。专门为这类人设计的世界具有强烈的排他性，将与他们不同的人（比方说，女人、老年人、残疾人）统统排除在外。”

不过，米琼也花了很长一段时间才醒悟过来，意识到这两者是多么格格不入。她感叹道：“看看吧，这种设计理念无处不在、无孔不入，连我自己都对它视而不见。”这种认识深刻地改变了她对于建筑的态度。

“为这个参考群体设计的住房和城市将与他们不同的人统统排除在外”

尼亚莎·哈珀-米琼在很小的时候就立志要成为一名建筑师。1993年，米琼出生在法国巴黎的一个特立尼达裔家庭，后来在巴黎和阿姆斯特丹学习建筑。

但在求学和早期实践期间，米琼感到所学内容与自己对建筑的理解越来越脱节。她说：“我想这是由于我拥有一种多元文化背景，再加之我们千禧一代一心追求达成目标。我开始认识到，在创造更具再生性和包容性的净零排放建筑环境、让人们在其中生活和工作并且融入这种环境方面，建筑可以作出更多贡献。”换言之，就是一种让每个人都能找到归属感的环境。

米琼的使命始终没有改变，只是她现在不再建房子了，而是选择了另一种方式继续着自己的职业。如今的米琼已成为一名“建筑活动家”：这是她自创的一个词，指那些努力推动环境和社会改革，争取实现积极变化的建筑师和专业设计师。她在总部位于阿姆斯特丹的建筑设计事务所UNStudio担任战略开发主管，与房地产和建筑行业的从业者合作，在建筑领域创造社会价值和环境价值。与此同时，她还在荷兰的两所大学任教。

除此之外，米琼还是一位广受欢迎的演说家，有着巨大的影响力。她的使命促使她从“妇女创造城市”（Women Make The City）运动的地方性会议，一路走上了全球瞩目的会场，例如，2023 年 7 月在丹麦哥本哈根举办的世界建筑师大会。

这届会议的主题是“可持续的未来：不让任何一个人掉队”，这个主题本身就清楚地表明建筑行业内部的态度发生了变化，人们开始倾向于更具包容性的建筑。在米琼看来，气候危机与社会不平等之间有着千丝万缕的关系。

“我们在谈论可持续发展时，首先想到的是环境方面，诸如能源效率、碳排放之类。这些问题是可以量化的，比较容易理解，解决起来也相对容易。社会层面的量化则要困难得多。不过，假如忽略了社会问题，气候危机就得不到真正的解决。”

绿洲

有时，通过一些非常具体的行动就可以促成变化。比如，安装可供休息的长椅就可以鼓励老年人和行动不便者外出，而不必总是呆在家里。再比如，绿地可以减少夏季城市的炎热，改善居民福祉。但这些变化必须是平等的，才能起到作用。

米琼强调说：“我们知道，富裕社区的绿化往往比低收入社区的更好。但我们不能只为富人提供绿地，必须将绿色政策与经济适用房、包容性区划等其他举措结合起来。运用整体规划设计，我们可以创造出既有自然风光又具有社会包容性的社区。”

尼亚莎·哈珀-米琼与阿姆斯特丹市政府合作，直接参与了东南区（正在进行城市更新改造）的城区规划工作，将这些理念付诸实践。她解释说：“在这个地区，社区与市政当局的城市建设工作在持续不断的高档化过程中频频产生摩擦。规划者对于社区往往缺乏深入的了解，因此要努力建立联系，创造共同点。”

在倡导建设更加开放的城市时，米琼利用社交网络广泛接触青年人，后者往往十分关注未来。米琼在自己学生的身上看到了这一点：“他们风华正茂，却有这么多焦虑。这的确令人担心，但这也能激励他们行动起来。”

社交网络可以有效地提高青年人对事物的认识。在米琼看来，社交媒体有其弊端，但依然是解决方案之一：可以利用社交媒体来分享知识，塑造社区意识。她说：“如果使用得当，社交媒体可以成为改变现状和影响决策的有力工具。”

“如果使用得当，社交媒体可以成为改变现状的有力工具”

不过，城市规划的改变通常是一个缓慢的过程，一座城市不可能在一夜之间焕然一新。今天的阿姆斯特丹凭借着“绿色”建筑和四通八达的自行车道网络，被视为欧洲最具可持续性的城市之一。但以前的状况可不是这样。为了降低骑车人和行人的高死亡率，市政府从20世纪70年代开始投资建设自行车骑行基础设施。经过无数次抗议以及长达40年的城市规划和政策工作，阿姆斯特丹才呈现出我们今天看到的模样。

青年建筑师渴望迅速获得满足感，又喜欢质疑既有的做法，这往往会与缓慢的施工进度发生冲突。因此，米琼想告诫这些年轻人，耐心和毅力是必不可少的美德。她说：“我们今天建造的是5~10年前设计的建筑，创新的影响不会在一夜之间就显现出来，但我们一定要有耐心！”

对于有志于成为“建筑活动家”的人，米琼给出的第一条建议是——睁大眼睛。“想一想你在城市中的体验，然后讲给其他人听。你会意识到，大家在以各自不同的方式体验同一个空间。骑自行车去上学或是上班，在自家门前打造一座漂亮的花园，诸如此类的小事都可以带来变化。也可以更进一步，领导一个团体，甚至步入政界。每个人都有自己的选择。”

Nyasha Harper-Michon, a constructive woman

To be sustainable, a city of tomorrow must be more inclusive and accessible, says Nyasha Harper-Michon, an architect based in the Netherlands. She is striving to get the message across to the construction industry and young architects. Social media plays a key role in her strategy.

Anuliina Savolainen

Sometimes inventing a new world order requires unearthing the foundations of the old one. For Nyasha Harper-Michon, an Amsterdam-based architect, this led to her breakup with a certain man.

They don’t have much in common. On a top shelf designed for this 1.80-meter-tall man, she could barely reach a jar. Where he maintains a regular pattern of daily commuting to work, her workplace and schedule vary from day to day. To move around in the city, he drives a car whereas she cycles or uses public transportation. In short, their needs and uses of the city are very different.

Nevertheless, the city, its housing and urban spaces were tailor-made for him. “He’s the Reference Man. I have designed for him many times, that’s what we learn to do in architecture school. He is used as the standard, the archetype of the average person for whom everything is designed: our houses, our cities, the size of our streets, the chairs that we sit on, even our mugs,” she says. “Designing solely for this guy creates a very exclusive world: it excludes those who do not resemble him, like women, older people and people with disabilities.” 

And yet, it took her a while to wake up and realize how incompatible they were. “See how ubiquitous and pervasive it is, that even I myself could have been so blind to it!” she exclaims. This realization profoundly changed her approach to architecture.

“Houses and cities designed for the reference man exclude all those who do not resemble him”

An activist-architect

At an early age, Nyasha Harper-Michon already knew she wanted to become an architect. She was born in 1993 in Paris, France, to a family of Trinidadian origin. Later, she studied architecture in Paris and Amsterdam. 

However, in her studies and early practice, she felt a growing disconnect between what she was learning and what she thought architecture could be. “I guess it’s a bit of a mixture between my multicultural background and my millennial purpose-seeking mindset,” she ponders, “I started to feel that architecture could do so much more to create a more regenerative, inclusive and net-zero built environment to live, work, be in.” In other words, an environment where everybody belongs.

Her vocation remains intact, but instead of building houses she now practices her profession in another way. She has become an “archtivist”: a term coined by her for architects and design professionals driving environmental and social reform to foster positive changes. As a strategic development manager for UNStudio, an architectural design practice based in Amsterdam, she liaises with real estate and building industry actors on creating social and environmental value in the building realm. In parallel, she teaches in two Dutch universities. 

She is also a sought-after public speaker and influencer. Her calling takes her from local WomenMakeTheCity movement meetings to global venues, such as the World Congress of Architects in Copenhagen, Denmark, in July 2023.

The event’s theme, "Sustainable futures: leave no one behind", itself emphasizes a change in attitude within the industry towards more inclusive architecture. For Harper-Michon, the climate crisis and social inequality are inextricably intertwined.

“When talking about sustainability we like to think of the environmental aspects first: things like energy efficiency or carbon emissions are measurable and easier to grasp and tackle. The social aspects are much harder to quantify. But you can’t really tackle the climate crisis if you ignore this dimension.”

The oasis of green

Change can sometimes be achieved through very concrete actions. Installing benches, for example, encourages the elderly or people with reduced mobility to go outside instead of staying at home, because a bench allows them to take a rest. Another example: green areas reduce summer heat in cities and increase residents’ well-being. But it will only work if the change is equal.

“We know that affluent neighbourhoods tend to be greener than lower-income ones. But we cannot have green areas for our affluent citizens only,” she stresses. “Green policies have to be coupled with initiatives of affordable housing, inclusionary zoning and the like. By thinking holistically, we can create both natural and socially inclusive neighbourhoods.”

Nyasha Harper-Michon has been directly involved in implementing such ideas through her work with the Amsterdam municipality on urban planning in Zuid Oost, a borough undergoing urban renewal. “It’s an area grappling with friction between the community and municipal urban endeavours amid ongoing gentrification. Those shaping the plans often lacked intimate knowledge of the community, so it is also about trying to build connections and create common ground,” she explains.

In her efforts to advocate for a more open city, the architect uses social networks extensively to reach out to young people, who are often very concerned about the future. Nyasha Harper-Michon observes this among her students. “There's a lot of anxiety, and at such a young age. It’s worrying, but it can also motivate them to take action.”

Social networks can be an effective tool to raise awareness among youth. Harper-Michon sees social media, despite its downsides, as a part of the solution: it can be used to share knowledge and to create a sense of community. “If used wisely, social media can be a powerful tool for shaking things up and influencing decision-making.”

“If used wisely, social media can be a powerful tool for shaking things up”

Change, however, is generally a slow process in urban planning. A city cannot be transformed overnight. Today Amsterdam is considered one of Europe's most sustainable cities with its "green" buildings and wide network of cycle paths. Yet this wasn’t always the case. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the city began investing in cycling infrastructure due to the high death rates of cyclists and pedestrians. It took a lot of protests and forty years of urban planning and policy work to create the Amsterdam we know today. 

Therefore, patience and perseverance are essential virtues. This is something Nyasha Harper-Michon tells young architects, whose urge for instant gratification and the need to question established practices often collides with the slow pace of construction processes. “Buildings built today were designed five-ten years ago, so the impact of the new ways of doing things are not immediately visible. But we need to be patient!”

The first tip she gives aspiring “archtivists” is to open their eyes. “Think of how you experience the city and share this with others. You’ll realize that we all experience the same space in different ways. Showing the example by biking to class or work or making a nice garden in front of your house can already make a difference. Or you can take it further and lead a group, or even go into politics. Everyone has their path.”

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