Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work by uploading projects to Architizer<\/a>\u00a0and sign up for our\u00a0inspirational newsletters<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/p>\n The Why Factory (T?F)<\/a> is a global think-tank founded in 2008 and led by Winy Maas, founding partner of MVRDV and Professor of Urbanism and Architecture at the Delft University of Technology. It explores possibilities for the future development of cities by utilizing innovative methods of production and visualization. It analyses, theorizes and constructs scientific and fictional city scenarios in order to tackle contemporary urgencies \u2014 both global and local, universal and specific. Since its inception, The Why Factory has organized an array of exhibitions, publications, workshops and panel discussions, in an attempt to foster public debates on architecture and urbanism.<\/p>\n That is the traditional (rigid) way of introducing such research groups; by stating their timeline, their goals, their process and their output. However, what is unique regarding The Why Factory is the primary question it asks: Why be visionary?<\/a> and I would also add, why is it important to be a visionary architect in today\u2019s world? In the Why Factory’s first publication, Visionary Cities in 2009, Winy Maas extensively discusses the need for and potential of visionary thinking in architecture and urbanism:<\/p>\n “A vision is, in a way, what happens between a question mark and a proposal. It asks the big questions and then paints an image for the future with its answer. Most importantly, it is a dream for the city and for its spatial translation that offers a long-term, cohesive, seductive, and strong perspective for future societies. It is part curiosity, part exploration, part fantasy, and part real problem solving. The role of the visionary is to guide, and direct and summarize the course for this increasingly urban world.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n