BIENNALE SPECIAL!

B NIEUWS
1
#10
6 JUNE 2014
periodical for the faculty of architecture and the built environment | tu Delft
BIENNALE
SPECIAL!
2/3 Interview with dean
Karin Laglas
6/7 Bakema and the Open
Society
12/13 CRISIS! WHAT
CRISIS!?!
"I see an incredibly resourceful and
entrepeneurial genration emerging."
Rethinking architecture's role in society
through Bakema's legacy
Professor Dirk Sijmons on 'Urban by
Nature' the 2014 International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam
2 BK IN DEPTH
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B NIEUWs 10 6 June 2014
INTERVIEW WITH KARIN LAGLAS
About students, designers, education and her experience as dean
match the level of professionalism in the Netherlands to the European playing
field and other fields within the Netherlands that are addressing the same
tasks. In a sense, I also consider it a compliment, because our profession is
considered so important that you are only allowed to obtain the title of architect if you have enough experience. Its initial ambitions are understandable,
however what I truly object to is this curricular stacking of education. Personally, I don’t believe that the knowledge modules are required in order to learn how to implement building code or how to make a tender. These are
things you learn while practicing architecture. If only you knew all the things
I learned when I started working. And, if you look at the facts, our faculty has
delivered so many architects and urban planners. They all went into practice.
Has that led to an increase in collapsing buildings? No. Let’s approach it then
from a practical point of view instead. The educational aspect of the BEP has
been given too much weight.
As a faculty, we have been thinking about what role we can play to make the
transition to BEP. Ultimately though our primary task is to provide the initial
education, not additional education for graduates. Though it would be ideal if
we could somehow help graduates navigate the BEP. We as a faculty are
working on it, but how we will come to terms with the Register is not clear.
However, talks with the register had already resulted in the acceptance of
practical experience, within a defined frame, as work experience.
In January 2011, Karin Laglas (1959, Rotterdam), was the first woman to be appointed as dean of the faculty of Architecture and the Built
Environment. She took up the mantle of dean in a time of major transition and transformation for our faculty. Launching the beginning of her tenure
in a new building her primary tasks were to balance the budget and to shape and implement plans for a new Bachelor. Now, three and a half years
later, Karin Laglas is set to take the next step in her career as the chairman of the board of directors of Ymere, the largest housing corporation in
Amsterdam. What is the story behind this capable (business) woman who leads our faculty? Together with Bnieuws, Karin Laglas reflects on the
most important moments of the past three years.
In the 80’s you studied Civil Engineering at TU Delft. What kind of student were you?
I was an active student. I was the chairman of the study association for Civil Engineering, and I was also very involved in various representative organizations for
student interests. My grades were good and I thoroughly enjoyed math and mechanics. At Civil Engineering, I learned a lot about the construction of buildings,
but I also wanted to know how this was translated to the practice. The bridge
connecting the practical side of constructing to the architectural articulation of the
building, fascinated me and lead me to take additional courses at the faculty of
Architecture.
What were your ambitions after you graduated?
After eight years of education, I wanted to start working immediately. I wanted
independence, to earn an income and to apply my knowledge and talents to
further develop myself. I chose civil engineering because it combined math and
the importance of the built environment. My ambition was very abstract, but even
at a young age, it was clear that I wanted to contribute to improving the built environment. I also wanted to work with others, not to operate from a lone position.
Due to all my extracurricular activities, I had always collaborated with others, and
I always enjoyed it.
You have an impressive track record and have had many high profile positions.
Which challenges did you face along the way before being appointed dean?
As a young woman, I entered a male-dominated world. There were instances in
which someone mistook me for the coffee lady. At the time I probably didn’t like it,
but I don’t harbor any negative emotions. It is important to overcome resistance
within oneself, to take risks. That can be very frightening. For example, every time
you take a new job, you leave behind something familiar to you for something new
and unknown. I’m an optimistic human being - I like to focus on the future and am
driven by curiosity. I will always try something new that still fits within my field of
expertise - the built environment.
In the summer of 2010, I received a call with the inquiry if I would consider taking
BY JANE STORTELDER
on the position of dean. At that time I was still at the BNA (the Royal Institute of
Dutch Architects), but that was an interim position, so I was available. I thought,
yes, this position is about the built environment; it's basis, but it is also something
completely new. I had no experience in the academic world and scientific research;
so this would pose a new point of view. However, I knew I could still utilize my
administrative knowledge and qualities.
What kind of faculty did you encounter?
A faculty with a fantastic reputation and an impressive history. Also one with a
wonderful building. I also faced the urgent task to make cuts to the budget. I knew
this beforehand, so it didn’t come as a surprise. It was just a fact. In fact, within the
faculty there were already many ideas on how to best approach the situation and
which elements could be utilized to achieve it. Governing a faculty is not an one
person job. The budget cuts were developed by a collective, the so called Review
Process. Despite the fact that such a task has its sharp edges, it can also provide
opportunities to initiate change. I believe in keeping things moving. Society keeps
moving, it is important to keep the bigger picture in mind, to cherish this. I always
try to explain these changes the best way I possibly can. But that doesn't diminish
how difficult it is to tell someone there are no resources anymore for their position
or research.
What were the ambitions and plans that you had envisioned for the faculty?
I tried to instigate a collective ambition. My personal view is that we are one of the
best faculties of our kind. We have to prove this by being the best in our primary
tasks - namely education and research. From an international perspective, we
have a strong characteristic - our broadness. From design to technology to process.
We also have a fantastic design tradition, that is embedded within the faculty like
DNA. For decades we have helped deliver renowned designers. All of this has
provided us an outstanding reputation. We have to show this and we shouldn’t be
afraid of comparing ourselves to the very best. My ambition is to improve our
strengths and to give these an international platform. That is why internationalization of the faculty is very important. This along with the fact that this vocation has
become a global one, it is important that we attract the best students and staff from
around the world, in order to create an excellent study and research environment.
The Berlage is a good example of how a renowned post-master can provide an
important contribution to internationalizing the faculty.
You will leave the faculty in the second half of July. Why?
I was offered the position of chairman of Ymere. After very careful consideration, I decided to take the position. When I’m seventy and I look back at my
career, it will be important to me that I had a positive social impact. We all live
in the built environment and we can make an impact on our environment.
With my move to Ymere, I can help influence the direction this impact will
take. My future position deals with a socially relevant issue - housing for
people with limited financial means - and it combines a lot of the things I am
good at; my management skills and experience in real estate. I would like to
point out though, that I only took this opportunity, because it came my way.
My job here as dean of this faculty gives so much joy each and every day.
What kind of faculty will you leave behind?
Organised and happy. But that is my perception of course.
In your inaugural speech, you emphasized three themes: “Improving the
world”, “Networking” and “Change”. Can you illustrate - through examples how these themes have been expressed in the past years?
A project in which all three themes come together is AMS (Amsterdam Institute
for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions). In this new multi-disciplinary institute, they
will focus on finding sustainable solutions for extremely relevant issues faced by
people who live in big cities. The social aspect is very present here. AMS is also a
huge network because of the collaboration of three academic institutions - TU
Delft, Wageningen UR and MIT - along with various business partners. This is
networking in optima forma. AMS is also in search of a new approach by closely linking
direct scientific research to education and entrepreneurship, through businesses and
the Living Labs, which play an important part within the AMS formula.
Also a lot has been done within the faculty itself in the past three and a half years. The
trends and needs of our times have been explicitly addressed in the education through
emphasizing re-use and transformation within the bachelor, through instigating the
Van Eesteren chair on the urban and water housing challenges in the Ijsselmeer region, and with the creation of the chair of Public Commissions. It is always important
within research to ask the question “Why should we care?” How does this research
address socially relevant issues?
The introduction of the International Midterm Review for research is a prime example
of our expanded network. Together with ETH and The Bartlett, two high profile peer
faculties, we network beyond just the project level but also on an institutional level.
"It is important to overcome
resistance within oneself, to
take risks. That can be very
frightening."
How do you envision the future of the architect?
I see an incredibly resourceful and entrepreneurial generation emerging. A generation
that has to give shape to their own future with the basic knowledge they’ve acquired.
Many societal shifts have taken place and the role of the architect is evolving with
them. This isn’t limited to designing, but encompasses bringing people together, taking initiative and leading the process.
On the first of January 2015, the BEP will be implemented. It stems from a law so we
will have to deal with it. There are aspects to it that I understand, such as the desire to
In what manner will your plans and ambitions continue to be implemented?
Those plans and ambitions are anchored within the staff and the people who
surround me. Along with MT, we have created a MLTP (midterm-longterm
plan). This is a collection of ideas that we have developed and elaborated on.
Of course a successor will have their own interpretation on this plan, but
that’s a good thing. There is a reason why a dean is appointed for no more
than eight years.
What qualities does a good dean have and do you have a tip for your successor?
I feel I should restrain myself from defining the next dean’s approach. But I
have one piece of advice: stop the tradition of introducing a new bachelor
curriculum with the appointment of a new dean. There is always room for
improvement, yet the bachelor is now working very well. Focus on the Master, and give the Bachelor some room to breathe.
How would you like to be remembered?
As someone who did what needed to be done at the time, as someone who
set the course in broad strokes and as someone who provided an interesting
contribution. Of course I hope that working with me was a good experience
and that I have helped students and colleagues within their own development.
In the second half of July 2014, Karin Laglas will step down as dean of our Faculty. Starting
on 15 August she will be the new chairman of the Amsterdam based housing corporation
Ymere. We would like to thank her for her contribution and dedication these three and a half
years and wish her all the best in the next phase of her career!
4 Biennale
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B NIEUWs 10 6 june 2014
Elements of Architecture
Part and Parcel of Architectural Innovation
It remains a remarkable choice of curator Rem Koolhaas
to focus the Central Pavilion of the 2014 Venice
Biennale on a collection of so-called ‘Elements of
Architecture.’ In contradistinction to the attention for
exceptional practitioners or researchers that has
characterized numerous previous Biennales, Koolhaas
decided to concentrate on the elementary particles of
architecture. As a result, the Central Pavilion is the sum
of a series of very different galleries, each of them
paying microscopic attention to a single element.
Gallery by gallery the visitor is taken along well-known
figures of architectural thinking such as the floor, the
wall, the ceiling, the roof, the door, the window, the
façade, the balcony, the corridor, the fireplace, the
toilet, the stair, the escalator, the elevator, the ramp…
By Tom Avermaete
return to autonomy?
In a time in which our discussions are focusing on the complexities of
parametric design and in which we are questioning the multiple roles of
architects vis-à-vis other actors in the built environment, one might ask
about the meaning of such an explicit attention on simple architectural
elements such as the stair or the roof? Some claim that this is a plea to
return to the basics of architecture, a sort of ‘rappel à l’ordre’ for
contemporary architecture. After years of justifying architectural
projects through complicated concepts, it seems an invitation to redirect
the attention of designers to the simple constituents which are at the
very core of the discipline. And that it is indeed how the main pavilion
of the Venice Biennale can be read: as an attempt to bring architects
back to the autonomy, to the basic principles, of the field.
At first sight this approach seems to reverberate the position of Aldo
Rossi, who used in the 1960s a plea for autonomy to criticize the
technocratic character of functionalism. But while Rossi wanted to
reintroduce the rules and types of the European city, Koolhaas focuses
on the norms and forms of the elements that define a single building.
The floor, the wall, the ceiling, the roof, the door, the window, the
façade, the balcony, the corridor… are considered as parts of a longstanding history of thinking and articulating architectural projects. In an
era where the shell of building has to often become the main point of
design attention for architects, the choice to focus intensively on the
importance of architectural elements within the various historical
articulations of buildings acquires a critical meaning. It appears as a
plea to go beyond grand gestures and playful facades; as a demand to
dwell upon the core elements of our discipline.
the omnipresence of elements
The choice for architectural elements in the Central Pavilion is in my
opinion not only related to an attempt to return the perspective to the
autonomy of architecture. By focusing on architectural elements
Koolhaas also ties in with a dominant way of thinking architecture in
contemporary design and building practice. Indeed, in everyday
architectural practice the ‘element’ is omnipresent. This starts on the
electronic drawing boards of architects on which libraries of elements
are made available by software developers and manufacturers to deal
with the most prosaic occurrences of architecture. Libraries of walls,
doors, stairs, toilets, … belong to the most consulted data collections by
architects.
Also at other instances of the architects work ‘elements’ remain to play
a central role. The construction specifications of buildings are increasingly defined through detailed description of architectural elements
such as walls, doors, roofs and ceilings. Step by step the building is
deconstructed in its constituent elements of which character, size,
quantity and construction is specified. This understanding of the
building resonates in the cost calculation, in which the architectural
elements becomes the unit that combines the price of materials with
that of the required labor. In short, the architectural element seems to
be an omnipresent figure of thought and action from the conception to
the realization of buildings.
objectifying the element
The argument of Koolhaas does, however, not remain limited to a
discovery of the importance of elements in contemporary architectural
thinking and practice. On the contrary, it can also be read as a criticism of
the way that elements are thought nowadays. It is especially the overly
techno-scientific understanding of architectural elements that is under
scrutiny in the Central Pavilion of the Biennale. In other words, it is
simultaneously a recognition of the central place that elements play, but
also a critique of the narrow understanding in contemporary architectural
practice.
It is out of this perspective that Koolhaas started two years ago a longer
research project with students of the Harvard Graduate School of Design
(GSD). This research project was an archeology of the cultural, political,
technical and social dimensions of architectural elements. Students
started to reconstruct the histories of these elements; to reveal that they
often have layered pedigrees. The cultural specificity was investigated,
by moving elements across cultures. This revealed not only the rich
responsiveness of elements –like a window for instance- to different
climatological conditions, but also their capacity to act as main articulators of cultural categories as privacy and publicity. It was also fascinating
to discover how technological innovation not only altered the functioning
of architectural elements, but also the meaning. One could argue, for
instance, that more then anything else it was the technique of drawn and
float glass, which offered the opportunity to make big windows and
allowed for a modernist rhetoric of transparency in architecture.
cultural mediator
Against this background a first goal of the Central Pavilion of the Venice
Biennale is to have visitors rediscover the rich technical, political, cultural
and social character of architectural elements. This is in the first place
achieved by presenting the histories of various elements. In the different
galleries of the pavilions AMO or the invited curators, have sketched the
fascinating transformation of architectural elements through times,
places and cultures. In our own gallery we have tried to understand how
an element as the balcony changes drastically in response to different
climatological and cultural data.
Our research demonstrated for instance that the architectural element of
the balcony has been a very important articulator of notions of privacy
and publicity. In the post-war period, for instance, this question was very
much at stake in the numerous large mass housing estates that arose in
the peripheries of all European cities. Large groups of people moved to
live in modern mass housing complexes, which on the one hand were
expressions of the modernist idea of a transparent way of living and
offered free visual access to the large public areas, while on the other
hand also had to deal with the very high density of people and thus with
issues of privacy. The balcony turns out to have acted as a mediator
between this field of tension between mass and individual, between the
public and private realm.
cultural and political charges
A second message that the Central Pavilion transmits is that architectural elements are not neutral or mute. On the contrary, they have a
strong cultural and often also political charges. As Koolhaas has claimed
in various interviews: the key political events of the 20th century seem
to depend upon an architectural element like the balcony. Indeed it is
impossible to conceive of the 1951 “renunciation” speech by Eva Perón
in Buenos Aires; or the first address of the liberated Mandela at the
Cape Town City Hall in 1990 without thinking about the balconies that
accommodated these important political developments.
Besides their participation in macro-political events, architectural
elements also partake in micro-political utterances and strategies.
Balconies, for instance, are often used by single users to talk about
political developments or preferences. A flag, slogan or sign on a
balcony can speak volumes and will be noticed in the public sphere. But
architectural elements also participate in the everyday micro-politics
among neighbors for instance: blocked doors or screened windows are
but two examples of the charged political character of the particles of
architecture.
locus of innovation
A third message that the pavilion wants to communicate is that
architectural elements, in spite of all of their simplicity, are prime loci of
architectural innovation. Indeed, elements like the door, the floor and
the window have throughout history been subject to constant transformation and modernization. Though the elements of architecture have
continued to carry their old names, their actual material, technical and
formal articulation has often drastically changed. An element as the
floor, for instance, has moved from a static formation of tiles towards a
high-tech surface that is responsive to users and generates energy.
The innovation of architectural elements has sometimes been the work
of architects. As design professionals they have conceived new forms of
walls, windows and stairs. However, also producers, technicians,
manufacturers and constructors have played an important role in the
innovation of architectural elements. For all of these actors of the built
environment the element has been the unit of investigation, exploration
and innovation. This is in my opinion one of the most important lessons
to be learned from the Central Pavilion in the Venice Bienale; that
architectural innovation is not necessarily a matter of grand gestures,
but also can be located in the charged presence of the smallest,
simplest and most ordinary particles of our buildings.
Curatorial team balcony gallery: Tom Avermaete with Chair of
Methods and Analysis, Faculty of Architecture and the Built
Environment (A+BE), TU Delft/ Delft University of Technology:
Klaske Havik, Hans Teerds, Jorge Mejía Hernández, Willemijn
Willems-Floet, Herman Prast, Mike Schäfer, Ivan Thung, Agniezska
Batkiewicz, Antje Adriaens
Special thanks to: Luisa Calabresa, Leonardo Zuccaro, Anna
Topolnicka, Charlotte Churchill, Mania Bien, Piotr Ruszkiewicz,
Sanne Dijkstra, Simone Costa, Tadeas Riha, Xander van Dijk
6 biennale
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B NIEUWs 10 6 June 2014
BAKEMA AND THE OPEN SOCIETY
In search of answers through the legacy of Jaap Bakema
When given the task to address the theme of Absorbing Modernity, it didn’t take Dirk van den Heuvel and Guus
Beumer, the co-curators of the Dutch pavilion during this years edition of the Venice Biennale, long to decide upon
placing the spotlight on Jaap Bakema, an important but underestimated figure from the postwar period. Open: A
Bakema Celebration also provided the opportunity to kickstart one of the first activities of the Jaap Bakema Study
Centre, founded in October 2013 by Het Nieuwe Instituut and Delft University of Technology. The research programme
consists among others of a broadly conceived study of the history and contemporary relevance of structuralism in
architecture in relation to systems theory and the social sciences. By Daphne Bakker
“The interesting thing about Koolhaas’ question to the national pavilions,
concerning the re-evaluation of Modernism, is that it opens up the whole
presentation to the history of architecture, rather than the latest trend or
the latest fashion,” explains van den Heuvel during an hour long talk
with Bnieuws. “This made it legitimate and valid for us to propose a
presentation based on the New Institute’s extensive archival collection.
And based especially on the collection of Jaap Bakema and his office Van
den Broek en Bakema.”
The Open Society - then and now
Van den Heuvel: “We chose Bakema, because of his slogan of building
towards the open society. This ambition of his is both relevant to postwar
modernity and to contemporary society and helps to make it more
general and interesting to address it today through the work of Bakema.
Back then, after WWII and the rise of the welfare state, the notion of the
open society was very different from how we define it today. Now we
wonder: what could an open society be in terms of the digital revolution
or neo-liberal market ideology? What does it mean if today we think in
terms of democracy, inclusive cities and egalitarian society?”
The open society was very important to Bakema, but how did he define
it? “He was very clear about that. It’s about democratic society and how
the individual is enabled, allowed to give shape to his or her own life. But
Hansaviertel Tower block, Berlin by Johannes Schwartz, 2014
for him it’s slightly different from today’s emphasis on individualistic
expression. For him individualism was about being aware of the larger
whole, larger context of the environment of which you are a part of.
Then it’s up to you how you want to relate to that bigger context. This
could be the family, the neighborhood you live in, the city, to the really
big existential question of life and cosmos. Today, conditions have
changed and we need to re-address this definition. Then our question
is, what can architecture contribute to this notion of building towards
an open and inclusive society? We will bring this question to the
Biennale, using Bakema’s work and ideas to illustrate this and to
challenge the public.”
The Post Box
This challenge to redefine architecture’s role will not be restricted to
the confines of the Dutch pavilion. “When CIAM ended in 1959, Bakema
established the newsletter Post Box for the Development of the Habitat,
as an attempt to maintain the network of CIAM, but also to stimulate
the exchange of ideas of architects. From ‘59 till ‘71, he edited 18
newsletter filled with contributions from all over the world, from Kenzo
Tange to Fumihiko Maki.” Inspired by Bakema’s newsletter, the New
Institute and Archined have teamed up to create a Post Box for the
Open Society, an online platform for architects and designers to share
new ideas for the open society. The Post Box will be launched during
Bakema meeting Bonnieux, courtesy Smithson Photo Collection
the Biennale and will be published throughout the duration of the
Biennale. It will contain contributions from thinkers, such as Lieven De
Cauter and architects, but also submissions from anyone who is willing to
participate in the debate.
Exhibiting dimensions
While devising the exhibition along with the Amsterdam-based
Experimental Jetset, Van den Broek en Bakema’s Lijnbaan, Europe’s first
pedestrianised shopping area, was quickly proposed as a installation
model. “The Lijnbaan is the classic metaphor for Bakema, to talk about
meeting people, the heart of society or a community is the street. I think
the shopping center is key, because it talks about how the welfare state
and consumer culture are closely interconnected. It’s about display,
communication and exchange in the Open Society.”
But don’t expect to see an exact replica of the Lijnbaan when you enter
the pavilion. “What we have is a invocation of the Lijnbaan, not a one to
one reproduction. Like Bakema, we played with scales, or as he liked to
call it, ascending dimensions.” Experimental Jetset studied the facade and
experimented with the layers and the notion of openness and how to
communicate this through the installation itself. These experiments
resulted in the inclusion of scale models, derived from the Lijnbaan, to the
installation and reflects Bakema’s approach to architecture, in which the
large-scale consists of the small-scale. In short, “the complete Lijnbaan
dissolves into the elements we are left with today.”
It’s an installation which enables them to position the materials in a
certain way. “Depending on how one approaches the installation, the
exhibit resembles a Greek tragedy.” explains van den Heuvel. “Through
the Lijnbaan, we are introduced to our hero, his ideals, ambitions and his
deeds. The small elements are the remains of what is left after the battle.
You can also look at it the other way. You encounter these elements and
they gradually build up to a story about a new society.” No matter how
Shopping Window Lijnbaan, copyright Steef Zoetmulder / Nederlands Fotomuseum
you look at it, the installation embodies a critique towards the theme of
Koolhaas central pavilion, which explores the fundamental elements
within architecture. “Koolhaas only talks about the elements, but what
is the larger system that keeps all these elements together? Our
installation wants to address that question as well.”
The man Bakema
Recent years have seen a growing resurgence in the appreciation for
Bakema and his contemporaries, but Bakema’s importance has always
been unfairly contested. “Conventionally, we still think of the architect
as this genius or the single author. But in reality, we operate in
networks and he’s a prime example of this. Bakema was such a central
figure, that Peter Smithson called him the Tito of Team 10, referring to
the then Yugoslav leader. He was a big communicator, always part of a
network, be it Team 10 or the Delft academic community, and he was
always collaborating within his office Van den Broek en Bakema.” Van
den Heuvel continues: “The fantastic thing about Bakema was that he
was also able to connect mainstream and avant garde positions. That is
unthinkable today. Together with his office, Bakema succeeded to
make architecture and urbanism a central part of cultural and political
debate on the direction of society. Because of his efforts and input,
architecture was at the center of building the society.”
When asked why the works of Bakema and his contemporaries have
always appealed to him, van den Heuvel replies: “As a contemporary
of Bakema once put it, the architecture is wonderfully anonymous. We
forget how really dominant architecture can be in its rhetorics and how
its conventions force people to live. Bakema’s architecture tries to be
ordinary and generous. It leaves room for everyday use and people.”
14th International Architecture Exhibition – la Biennale di
Venezia, 7 June – 23 November 2014
hetnieuweinstituut.nl
Town Hall Marl By Johannes Schwartz, 2014
8 biennale
9
B NIEUWs 10 6 june 2014
INSTANT PAST OF IRAN
This year, Iran contributes for the first time to the
Venice Biennale. Bnieuws spoke with the pioneering
curator, Azadeh Mashayekhi, architect and researcher
at the TU Delft.
by Soscha monteiro de jesus
How did you get involved with the Iranian pavilion?
Through my former colleagues at OMA I heard about Koolhaas’ ambition to
change the three-months Biennale into a six-month Biennale, involving
dance, theatre etcetera. I also heard about his ideas to open up the Biennale to other countries and become less Eurocentric. I thought these were
amazing ideas. And I thought hey, why not Iran?
I went back to Iran to talk to people about it. For a few years, Iran has been
participating in Art Biennales through the Museum of Contemporary Art in
Tehran, which is linked with the Ministry of Culture. A body of a government has to take the responsibility and provide the budget for a Biennale.
So, exactly one year ago, I went to talk with the director of the museum. I
asked him if he wanted to get involved and how we could start. He said he
would love to help, but it was the election time so he didn’t know if he
would hold his position in three months. He proposed to wait until September.
In the meantime I started to contact my previous professors in Iran and
everyone that I knew. Everybody was very enthusiastic. The topic is
incredibly relevant: Absorbing Modernity over the last 100 years. This is
something that we in Iran were struggling with throughout the 20th
century.
We were lucky, because the reformist government was elected into power
and they are more open for international exchange and doing these kinds of
projects. The advisor of the Ministry of Housing (now Ministry of Road and
Urban Development) took charge and all the while I was updating him with
information through my connections here in the Netherlands. An architecture exhibition, for many people, is not a very clear concept. How do you
exhibit architecture? So you need to explain the concept a lot and demonstrate its value. Furthermore, in Iran we don’t have any architecture
institutes or museums. That’s why I went through the art museum. Then it
occurred to me: maybe this is also the moment to create this institute. I’m
really hoping that from this Biennale to the next, we can establish an
institution which can become a place for architects and architecture to
generate ideas.
My PhD research is about modernization processes in Iran so I
already had some understanding of the topic. Three proposals
were selected for the Iranian pavilion, one of which is mine. In
the end, mine was chosen and they suggested involving the
other two selected proposals. Unfortunately, one of them didn’t
want to work like this. The other one stayed and we’re still
collaborating.
Instant Past
The proposal started with a basic intuition about what
modernity means for Iranians. In general Iranians are very
nostalgic people, they like to live in the past. For example, if
they go to an amazing party, they just immediately tell you: do
you remember, last year we went to this other party and it was
so good? They recreate the moment of the past in order to go
forward, to enjoy more. This you see in every aspect of our
culture.
Over the past century in Iran, historic forces have closely
accompanied the continuous process of modernization. Rather
than viewing history as a counter-response to modernity,
Instant Past suggests that history is an inextricable component
of modernity itself. If modernization is viewed as a force where
‘all that is solid melts into air’, history presents itself as a tactic
to find meaning and solace within these changes. For the
exhibition, Instant Past will examine distinct moments in
Iranian modernization over the last century where processes of
re-creation of the past were triggered and new architectures
were created.
Modern Iranian architecture during the last 100 years used
two languages: one is a modern language and the other a
Persian language. During these 100 years, these two languages were creating dialogues. Sometimes they were empowering each other and sometimes they were destroying each
other. The Iranian pavilion wants to show the dialogue
between these two languages.
Mausoleums
The piece of architecture that I was inspired by shows this
idea clearly: the mausoleum. We started building mausoleums
in 1925, which was the start of nation-building in Iran. A group
of nationalists came together and they created institutions that
they wanted to rebuild, like the tombs of the heroic people of
our history. Poets, philosophers, heroes, they tried to rebuild
their tombs, and asked architects to make a new monument on
their grave [see image 2]. This to me was really a direct way of
taking people into a place that is purely modern, while you are
reading about this hero of the 14th century and standing at his
tomb. They did 38 projects, in only 50 years. They were
projecting the future, based on the past of the historic hero
that is going to remind you of this golden moment of your
culture and your nation.
Image 1. Fabric Factory, Isfahan, Iran, 1927, Entrance and frontal
view of the hall, designed by an unknown architect. The Fabric
Factory bares strong resemblance to Hans Poelzig’s Grosses
Schauspielhaus in Berlin from 1918, and the Grundtvig Church by
P.V.J.Klint in Copenhagen from 1921. The combination of an Islamic
arched gate with the Gothic spirit of the organ pipe façade reveals
the presence of the traditional Iranian architect-artisans.
The Pavilion
So to quickly describe the exhibition, it will present a series of projects from
the last hundred years in Iran that show the continu¬ous revival of historical styles integrated into contemporary construction. We have a table with
a collection of magazines showing how, through time, the profession of
architecture in Iran concerned itself with architecture that refers to the
past, yet through the quickened pace of modern building. Finally a short
movie projected on the back wall juxtaposes an unexpected combination of
images, usu¬ally not associated with each other, highlighting the dialogue
between the two formal languages: Persian and modern.
Image 2. Ibn-Sina Mausoleum, 1950,
Hamedan, Iran, by Houshang Seyhoun. This
project, modern in form, is inspired directly by
the Qaboos tower from1006 AD. The
combination of Persian geometry and modern
concrete structure reveals a new aesthetic that
synthesizes both modern and ancient form.
(See; Talinn Grigor, Building Iran: Modernism,
Architecture, and National Heritage under the
Pahlavi Monarchs, 2009)
To refer to the golden moment in the past, is that particular to Iran?
Lately, a friend told me, it is very common that countries that are modernizing quickly to start to refer to their golden age. This also happened in
Holland. In the 19th century, the age of industrialization, buildings like the
Rijksmuseum refer to the 16th century, the golden moment of the Netherlands. So recreating the past is not something that is very particular to Iran.
I think it’s general in many countries. In Iran, among the intellectuals, there
are architects who think this is their own struggle. I really want them to
see more alternatives in order to become more open to this issue.
What is the relationship between your PhD and the Iranian pavilion?
After the Biennale I have to go back to my own reality (laughing). I’m in the
last year of my PhD. It is mostly about modern urban planning. I do
research about visions behind architecture and urban planning, instead of
analysing the elements themselves. I’m talking about: how did it happen
and why did it happen? Who are the groups responsible and how did they
do it? I am fascinated by how modern urban planning affects urban culture.
I’m using the understanding of urban plans, policies and visions behind
this to see how it actually affects the urban lifestyle.
Visit?
The Iranian Pavilion is located in Sale d'Armi Arsenale, at the
first floor, Tesa B, next to Turkey, South Africa and Albania.
10 more countries are contributing to the Venice Biennale for
the first time: Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, New
Zealand, and Turkey.
I only talk about architecture when I really need it as a tool
to show what I mean. But I’m always looking at the architecture. For example, before the Biennale I already got this
fascination for mausoleums, because of the research I did
into the ideas of the nationalists that commissioned these
projects. I try to highlight the different kinds of groups that
are behind the projects, instead of the project itself. In this
way, I find some links between my PhD and Venice. Maybe I
would have never been interested in mausoleums if I didn’t
know about the institution that actually organized all this.
Architecture and urbanism help each other. You cannot
separate them from each other, I am a believer in this.
10 Biennale
11
B NIEUWs 10 6 June 2014
ONCE UPON A TIME IN CYPRUS
Michael Hadjistyllis utilizes storytelling to visualize Cyprus' turbulent history
“This is an opportunity”, thought Michael Hadjistyllis, TU Delft and EMU alumnus, when he read his sister’s email
informing him about the curators’ competition for Cyprus’ pavilion in the Venice Biennale. After almost five years of work
at OMA, and being completely devoted to architecture behind a monitor, he felt that this was his chance, not just to try
out a new experience, but to pursue lastly his own fascination, by viewing cities from new and different perspectives.
The Allegory of the Wallpaper by Michael Hadjistyllis
The story that follows, constitutes an allegory. It takes place in an
undefined time and place. It represents ideas and conceptions. Any
resemblance to reality (characters or events) is not at all coincidental; it
is contrarily delib-erate.
Once, there was a city built in the middle, and specifically in the exact
geographical center of the Land.The city had no particular beauty, no
coastline, no riverfront, neither a forest, nor a valley. It was merely
erected on a strategic point, facilitating connection and commuting with
the entire countryside. It had been devel¬oped along a main city axis,
being oriented from north to south. An arcade aggressively intersects the
main axis, that connects both sides from west towards east. The East
side and the West side were identical twins.
The architecture was mainly generic, the buildings were erected to
accommodate the city’s growing requirements, as a newly declared
administrative capital, of a lately declared independent state. A few
interspersed features, serve as landmarks and as reminders of previous
colonial times. An uninterrupted Renaissance fortification encircles the
city. A Venetian column, an arch, an Oriental bath and a Gothic cathedral,
constitute some of its architectural spectacles. In modern times, when
our story takes place, architecture has relinquished a redundant, generic
expression of the recently declared administrative capital.
Similar to other cities, built adjacent to a beautiful natural landscape, our
city desired a chance to stimulate and provoke the citizens’ life,
architecture and urban growth. The City council, agreed to decorate the
city with a Wallpaper! The idea was instantly seized upon by everyone,
in a group-decision-making process. Once the decision was made, a troop
of renowned architects and artists from all over the country responded by
springing into action. Hundreds of donors and organizations, placards
and logos were already placed adjacent to the freshly depicted
landscapes. According to the sources’ testimony, the construction was
de¬veloped into an on-going endless process, where artists kept
depicting even seasonal changes.
Suspended along the center, the newly created Wallpaper was screened
on both side of the city. A polyphony of var¬ious sceneries, - mountains,
volcanoes, waterfalls and Amazonian forests- composed the landscape.
The ongoing creation leaves the artists overcome with satisfaction
Architects reacted to those sceneries and sensitively adapted their
architecture, in respect to the depicted landscapes. That was a turning
point in the City’s evolution; whereas the Wallpaper is screening ideas
reflecting architecture, and vice versa.
The wallpaper became a continuous confrontation of a dynamically
changing city to an imaginary world: a collective excess of imaginary
landscapes overlaid upon each other - an accumulation of the city’s public
fantasies.
With the passage of time, people seemed to be pleased. The Wallpaper
has evolved and daily updates, undergoes change from an animated
painting to an information board. Newsletters, updates, announcements
and advertisements have been integrated among the natural features.
Architecture demanded to digest, adapt and reflect on an surplus of
information, projected on the Wallpaper.
The people’s council did not take into account the undesirable outcome
that the Wallpaper, suspended along the middle of the city, would create
a division. The presence of the Wallpaper as a visual obstacle, led both
sides to grow apart, creat¬ing a confrontation between them. On the
other side, the Wallpaper depicted correspondingly different sceneries.
While screening at both sides different ideas and backgrounds, both
parts, (initially sharing the same history), are now confronted with
different aspirations for their future. An aggressive megalomania, a
massive building and a developing operation while both emerging and
growing in height, are more and more confrontational to their alter ego.
Year after year, heavily exposed and absorbing that information, the City
ended up as a visually non-comprehensive settlement with significant
changes on both sides. Space became the battlefield of conflicting
ideologies, mate¬rials, typologies and structures.
An alarmed awakening of the City facing a blank Wallpaper to the echo of
sirens! The scenery was covered over with white paint and ‘’out of
budget’’ was written down in bold letters. A newly powered domain
established new rules, giving an end to the madness of the Wallpaper. A
congestion of cars, horses and people is queuing to view the blank. An
absolute emptiness! Only the delirium of the people, the whinny of the
horses, and the noise made by the cars, fill the scenery with substance.
Any sense of vision is gone. A feverish ‘Horror Vacui’, a colorless end on
the pantone of the City’s horizon, a farce that led the city to be known,
as: the city of the lost History.
The Allegory
The pavilion concept is based on the allegory of the Wallpaper, a narration
of a story of a divided city that is constantly redefining itself through the
addition of ‘propaganda’ layers upon layers to its walls. By the passing of
time, the wall is no longer updated and the older layers gradually come
into view again, resulting in a myriad of different collages representing all
at once different epochs and ideas. ‘It is perhaps a bit eccentric, a different
way of relating events’, explains Hadjistyllis. "Instead of adopting a more
scientific approach toward Nicosia’s history over the last hundred years,
we aimed to give emphasis on the need to understand architecture
through all these political upheavals. We adopted a different way in order
to understand Biennale’s theme, this of Absorbing Modernity. The way
that modernity is always updated by another modernistic movement, and
another one and so on. The Anatomy of the Wallpaper constitutes a
section of all these historical layers”.
Collaboration
Hadjistyllis shared this allegory idea with his colleagues at OMA, and
all contributed by their own way. It was with Stefanos with whom he
decided to submit the concept. Three working days later, they produced
their winning submission – the Anatomy of the Wallpaper. The upper
management of OMA was unaware of its employees’ participation in
the Biennale. During the official announcement of the participating
pavilions, Rem Koolhaas noticed their names on the list. It turned out to
be a pleasant surprise.
Walls of Paper
The installation will consist of one to one scale of walls made of over
12,000 m2 of paper. “ We wanted to give the feeling of being inside a
book. The visitor is like a termite inside the book, inside history.” The
exhibition is also interactive and invites its visitors to peel of layers
from the wall. This action will reveal the history, specifically eighteen
stories hidden between the wallpaper. These stories represent the lack
of national architecture in Cyprus, a nation which has always been
invaded and this is reflected in the diverse architecture which
populates its landscape. “The architecture of Cyprus is a collage which
is composed of different elements, from Gothic to Roman, from
Byzantine minarets to Colonial governmental buildings.”
The authors
“In a sense there are two authors of the Wallpaper. The first set of
authors are the ones who contributed the images, assembled and
applied them. These authors were present at the workshop we
organized in Nicosia, in order to collect images and stories which are
relevant to the citizens of Nicosia. The second set are the visitors of the
pavilion. They will tear off pieces from the wall, revealing the history, to
find out the layers like an archeologist would.” Hadjistyllis laughs and
adds “We don’t know how long the wallpaper will last. We take some
risks. We are curious to see what will happen.”
Visit the Anatomy of the Wallpaper till 23 November 2014 at
Palazzo Malipiero, Venice
facebook.com/anatomyofthewallpaper
With the passage of time, the Wallpaper’s layers are scraped by people,
or washed away by the rain the wind or eaten by termites, gradually
revealing different landscapes. Stories from different eras are surprisingly
appearing, and again the city rediscovers its history. Like an ‘’exquisite
cadaver’’, images are collectively revealing and assembling
composi¬tions. History evolves, like a dream from which there will be no
awakening, like a lie that was recognized as an undeniable truth.
The space along the Wallpaper’s line paradoxically divides and
simultaneously provides space for contact: a Space, where collective
memory has been recorded, where a City can pursue its identity. That’s
the moment, where the History of our time can be reconstructed…
BY DAPHNE BAKKER
Inspiration
“Maybe, it is a bit romantic”, says Michael Hadjistyllis, as he describes his
approach on developing his idea for the Cyprus’ pavilion. “I was
influenced by Italo Calvino’s writings, which constituted for my work, a
source of inspiration." He decided to prepare a short narration for a city,
just like Calvino. Later on, he created a collage in a form of a carte postale,
trying to illustrate the city in a way that no one has done this before, which
he then sent to friends. However, in the case of Nicosia - capital of Cyprus,
being his hometown as well- Michael Hadjistyllis applied an allegory.
Venice Biennale gave him the chance to develop this idea.
"Maybe, it is a bit romantic..."
14 RESEARCH
15
B NIEUWs 10 6 June 2014
“Het IJsselmeergebied moet méér worden
dan een stilstaande bak met water.”
KARIN LAGLAS
Ontwerpers moeten veel meer met natuurlijke dynamiek rekening
Stad
houden bij het bouwen in deltalandschappen. Dat vindt Frits
Palmboom, die de komende drie jaar de Van Eesteren-leerstoel
bekleedt. Ontwerp met gevoel en teken ook met de hand, zegt de
Bk City noemen we ons faculteitsgebouw. En
inderdaad: er is een straat, er zijn pleinen, er
zijn plekken om te werken en studeren, er
zijn winkels en een koffiebar. Maar dat alles
komt pas tot leven met en door de bewoners. Pakweg 4000 mensen leven in onze
stad samen; zo’n 3000 studenten, 500
medewerkers en zo’n 500 beurs- en
gast-promovendi, gastdocenten en andere
gasten. De afgelopen 3,5 jaar heb ik deel uit
mogen maken van deze bevolking. Dat is
een feest geweest. Natuurlijk, er waren
moeilijke momenten, er waren droevige
momenten en het zat weleens tegen. Maar
door de bank heen: heerlijk. Ik zal onze
kleurrijke stad maar vooral jullie enorm
missen.
kersverse hoogleraar in zijn intreerede.
DOOR EDO BEERDA
Het is niet toevallig dat de intreerede van Palmboom samenvalt met de start van de
Delft Delta Design Dagen (11-13 juni). Want de centrale vraag bij dit internationale
symposium is ook relevant voor de IJsselmeerproblematiek waarmee de leerstoel
zich bezighoudt: hoe voorkom je dat een deltagebied kopje onder gaat, zonder dat
de beschermingsmaatregelen zowel de natuur als de ruimtelijke ontwikkeling
schaden? “Door het landschap en de natuur waarin je werkt als basis te nemen
voor het ontwerp. Dat is de uitdaging”, zegt Palmboom erover.
De Rotterdamse stedenbouwkundige gebruikte dat principe eerder als uitgangspunt voor zijn ontwerp voor IJburg. Bij ontwikkeling van deze nieuwe Amsterdamse wijk op een serie nieuwe eilanden middenin het IJmeer waren de bestaande
waterlijnen bepalend voor de vorm van de stadsuitbreiding – niet de eisen van de
stad. Want juist in het water ligt de aantrekkingskracht van de locatie, constateerde
Palmboom.
Een dergelijke uitgangspunt bepleit hij ook bij uitvoering van het in 2009 gelanceerde Deltaprogramma IJsselmeergebied. De miljardenoperatie ter verzekering
van waterveiligheid en zoetwatervoorziening, heeft grote ruimtelijke gevolgen.
Profiteer maximaal van de kansen die er liggen en bouw voort op de natuurlijke
dynamiek, is zijn advies.
Ontwerpschets Zuidzijde IJburg
Ik ga nu naar een andere stad. De stad waar
ik een groot deel van mijn leven al woon:
Amsterdam. Eigenlijk greater Amsterdam
want ook Haarlem, Almere en zelfs Leiden
vallen onder het werkgebied van Ymere. Ik
ga me inzetten voor goed wonen voor
stadsbewoners met beperkte financiële
middelen die daardoor op de vrije woningmarkt niet terecht kunnen. Dat zijn er nogal
wat in dat gebied. Ymere heeft met circa
90.000 wooneenheden een fors bezit. Je zou
bijna kunnen spreken van een Ymere-City.
Friese kust
Weliswaar is het plan om het IJsselmeerpeil met anderhalve meter te verhogen van
tafel, evenals geplande grote stedelijke programma’s van tien– tot twintigduizend
woningen. Maar nog steeds is het noodzakelijke programma ingrijpend. Behalve
dat er veel meer pompcapaciteit moet worden gebouwd, zijn er dijkaanpassingen
nodig om een flexibel waterpeil mogelijk te maken. Dat heeft voor buitendijkse gebieden aan de Friese kust grote gevolgen en vergroot de druk op de harde dijken
van het IJsselmeer.
Palmboom pleit voor meer geleidelijke overgangen. Door aanleg van vooroevers,
zandbanken en ondieptes ontstaat een interessanter en gevarieerder gebied met
meer natuurlijke rijkdom. Dat draagt tegelijkertijd bij aan meer veiligheid.
Natuurmonumenten pleitte vorig jaar al voor meer ruimte voor de natuur in het IJsselmeergebied. Een plan dat de vereniging presenteerde voor een nieuw natuurgebied langs de Houtribdijk juicht Palmboom van harte toe. Het gebied bij de 26 kilometer lange dam tussen Lelystad en Enkhuizen ¬– ooit bedoeld als noordrand van
een ingepolderde Markerwaard – zou als gevarieerde moerasgebied een aanwinst
voor de hele Randstad kunnen zijn. “En daar ligt nog een hele ontwerpopgave”,
zegt Palmboom. “Het Deltaprogramma moet meer zijn dan een optelsom van technische ingrepen.”
Schets IJburg
“DE uitdaging is om het landschap en de
natuur waarin je werkt als basis te nemen
voor je ontwerp” Frits Palmboom
Patchwork landschap IJsselmeer
Van Eesteren
Handmatig tekenen
Met de ruimtelijke ingrepen die hij bepleit voor het IJsselmeergebied treedt Palmboom in de voetsporen van Cornelis van Eesteren (1897-1988). In een terugblik op
het werk van de naamgever van zijn leerstoel, belicht hij tijdens zijn intreerede
diens vakmanschap. Het ontwerp voor de Sloterplas, middenin de destijds splinternieuwe Westelijke Tuinsteden, toonde bijvoorbeeld een combinatie van een stedenbouwkundige en een landschappelijke blik. “Door gebruik te maken van een
oud poldertje creëerde hij een landschappelijke kwaliteit in een hele grote urbanisatie. Echt uniek.”
Zijn onderzoekswerk in het kader de Van Eesteren leerstoel hoopt hij uiteindelijk in
een soort atlas voor het IJsselmeergebied samen te vatten. Met daarin aangegeven
waar kansen liggen om meer dynamiek in het gebied te krijgen. “Het IJsselmeer
moet méér worden dan een stilstaande bak met water. Via het Deltaprogramma
kan het.”
Hoe krijg je als ontwerper vat op die landschappelijke kwaliteiten? Volgens Frits Palmboom door niet
alleen met de computer, maar ook met de hand te tekenen. Ook bij grootschalige ruimtelijke opgaven
zoals in het IJsselmeergebied.
Dwarsprofiel Durgerdam
In zijn intreerede houdt hij een pleidooi voor meer aandacht in het onderwijs voor handmatig tekenen.
“Studenten die te zwaar op de computer leunen, kunnen vaak niet goed uitleggen wat ze zien. Tekenend met de hand maak je veel beter onderscheid tussen hoofd- en bijzaken, omdat je de lijnen in het
landschap fysiek volgt. Het is een manier om een gebied letterlijk beter in de vingers te krijgen.”
Ontwerpers die bij het ontwerpen alleen naar een computerscherm kijken, maken volgens hem vaak
te oppervlakkige ontwerpen. “Het inzicht in het ingrijpen in het landschap ontbreekt.”
De publicatie ‘Inspiration And Process In Architecture’ die Frits Palmboom tijdens de Delta Design
Dagen ten doop houdt, gaat hier mede op in. Het boek bevat een groot aantal tekeningen en schetsen
uit zijn oeuvre.
Veel van de kennis die wij op onze faculteit
ontwikkelen en overdragen speelt in mijn
nieuwe omgeving een belangrijke een rol.
Kennis over de transformatie van de
bestaande woningvoorraad - het onderwerp
van het BSc-4 ontwerpproject. Kennis over
het verduurzamen van “de hollandse
eengezinswoning”, zoals wordt onderzocht
en uitgevoerd in Prêt-à-loger. Kennis ten
aanzien van urban landschapes, openbare
ruimte en groen. Kennis over de corporatiesector zelf zoals verankerd in REH en OTB.
En kennis van de woningmarkt natuurlijk
waar Peter Boelhouwer in ons land het
gezicht van is. Ymere lijkt me een prachtig
living lab voor al deze kennis.
Wat vinden jullie ervan om een stedenband
aan te gaan tussen BK City en Ymere-City?
Dat lijkt me productief en fijn voor allebei. En
met een beetje geluk mag ik dan misschien
zo af en toe ook nog eens op uitwisselingsbezoek komen.
Het ga jullie allen goed en tot ziens!
16
B NIEUWs 10 6 june 2014
Summer School Thinking City:
The Dynamics of Making
Amsterdam
ROBERT NOTTROT
Hokjesgeest
De zesde editie van de Internationale Architectuur Biënnale Rotterdam
opent 29 mei met het thema Urban by
Nature (van Nature Stedelijk). Drie
woorden, die ik nu dagenlang herkauw.
Niet om de inhoud van de biënnale te
kunnen voorspellen, maar omdat zij
inspireren tot gedachten over het
verschil tussen het idee stad en het
idee natuur. De stad hoofdzakelijk het
domein van de mens, de natuur,
eenvoudig geformuleerd, alles om de
mens heen, de kosmos.
De mens is nieuwsgierig en
onderzoekend, deels uit overwegingen
van overleven, deels gedreven door
winst of status, maar ook om de
intellectuele uitdaging. Zowel de
micro- als de macrokosmos hebben al
veel geheimen moeten prijsgeven.
Steeds fijner worden de mazen van de
wetenschappelijke netten, steeds
groter en preciezer de vangst. Dat de
natuur aan wetmatigheden onderhevig
is, was natuurlijk al vroeg bekend. De
periodieke repetitie van fenomenen
bijvoorbeeld, zoals het korten en
lengen van de dagen over een cyclus
van een jaar, werd snel herkend en
ritueel of economisch ingezet,
geëxploiteerd. Tijd is nu, in de wereld
van 24/7, geld. De snelheid van het
licht is nog net niet overschreden, maar
de snelheid van het elektron bepaalt de
winst op de beurs. Met de snelheid van
geluid kunnen we fysiek concurreren.
Tijd, ons eigen verzinsel, is volledig
verkaveld. Wij leven in de ban van klok
en agenda, het kwantificeren en
synchroniseren van onze contacten,
afspraken en inspanning.
Ruimte ondergaat hetzelfde lot. De
mens heeft de rechte hoek geïntroduceerd. De hoek, die economisch
uitvullen mogelijk maakt, restruimte kan
uitsluiten. We verkavelen zelfs
berglandschap met orthogonale
wegennetten. De mens reist naar de
maan. Het gaat over verder en meer,
maar ook over kleiner en duurder. De
stad, product van de mens, wordt
gedomineerd door de verkaveling van
ruimte en tijd. De natuur, de kosmos
lijdt onder de aanwezigheid van de
steden, de sponsen, die hun omgeving
absorberen, leegzuigen. Ruimte en tijd
zijn door de mens verkaveld in hokjes,
gerationaliseerd tot verhandelbare
eenheden, tot tikkende tijdbommen,
tot netwerken van claustrofobie,
schurend langs het tijdloze en
grenzeloze karakter van de natuur.
This summer the University of Amsterdam and Delft University of Technology organise, in collaboration with VMX Architects, a unique interdisciplinary Summer School about
city planning and city making. Hundred participants from
around the world will work for two weeks on a sustainable
future for Amsterdam.
Summer School studios
The group of participants will consist of Master’s students,
Phd students and professionals with diverse backgrounds—
from social and economical sciences to architecture and urban planning. Under the guidance of leading scientists and
designers, they will work on various issues in Amsterdam.
Since current developments ask for new ways of planning,
innovative, cooperative working methods play an important
role in the programme. In the studios the participants will
therefore work in interdisciplinary teams on concrete case
studies, in close collaboration with various local partners.
The programme will be housed in the Academy of Architecture, in the centre of Amsterdam. In addition, excursions will
be organised and fieldwork will take place on site.
part in the organisation of the programme.
The Summer School will take place from 5 to 20 July 2014.
Applications can be submitted via the website, until 25
April. The tuition fee is €800,-. A limited number of scholarships are available, therefore an early registration is recommended. Suggestions for accommodation within various
price ranges will be given. After completion of the Summer
School participants will receive a certificate and 3 ECTS, to
be transferred at one’s home university. The public programme will be largely accessible for free or for a small fee. Follow
our social media for regular updates on the programme.
For more information please contact Sanne van den
Breemer en Marieke Brink
[email protected]
www.summerschoolthinkingcity.org
Public programme
In parallel to the studios a public evening programme will be
organised. Renowned speakers will share their views of Amsterdam and will raise a discussion on city planning worldwide. To experience Amsterdam’s rich cultural infrastructure, the evening lectures will be organised in different
remarkable buildings throughout the city. Various parties,
among which are Pakhuis de Zwijger and Stadgenoot, take
Cartoon by Anna Wojcik
spot !
light
CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL HOUSING
DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURAL
STUDIES 24 & 25th of JUNE 2014
Housing is dead! cry the cynics in the aftermath of the financial
crisis here in the Netherlands. Nothing could be further from
the truth. Housing design and education remain vital for our
cities and societies here in the Netherlands and increasingly
and very urgently in the rapidly urbanizing developing world.
Can what we have learned here be useful there? And what can
we learn from other parts of the world? With this conference our
faculty provides a platform for our professionals, young
designers, researchers and students to meet with and exchange
knowledge with renowned, highly regarded experts and
academics on housing design from all over the world.

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