Bnieuws 10 2013 2014

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

B NIEUWS 10 6 JUNE 2014

INTERVIEW WITH

ABOUT STUDENTS, DESIGNERS, EDUCA 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.

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

"IT IS IMPORTANT TO OVERCOME RESISTANCE WITHIN ONESELF, TO TAKE RISKS. THAT CAN BE VERY FRIGHTENING."

3

H KARIN LAGLAS

ATION 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.

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.

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.

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

B NIEUWS 10 6 JUNE 2014

ELEMENTS OF ARCH

PART AND PARCEL OF ARCHITECTU 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.

5

HITECTURE

URAL INNOVATION 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

B NIEUWS 10 6 JUNE 2014

BAKEMA AND TH

IN SEARCH OF ANSWERS THROUG 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

7

HE OPEN SOCIETY

GH THE LEGACY OF JAAP BAKEMA 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

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.

9

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

B NIEUWS 10 6 JUNE 2014

ONCE UPON A T

MICHAEL HADJISTYLLIS UTILIZES STORYTELLING “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.

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.

11

TIME IN CYPRUS

G TO VISUALIZE CYPRUS' TURBULENT 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

"MAYBE, IT IS A BIT ROMANTIC..."

14 RESEARCH

B NIEUWS 10 6 JUNE 2014

“HET IJSSELMEERGEBIED MO DAN EEN STILSTAANDE BAK Ontwerpers moeten veel meer met natuurlijke dynamiek rekening 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 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

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.”

Patchwork landschap IJsselmeer

VAN EESTEREN 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.”

Dwarsprofiel Durgerdam

15

OET MÉÉR WORDEN MET WATER.” KARIN LAGLAS

Stad 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.

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.

Schets IJburg

“DE UITDAGING IS OM HET LANDSCHAP EN DE NATUUR WAARIN JE WERKT ALS BASIS TE NEMEN VOOR JE ONTWERP” Frits Palmboom HANDMATIG TEKENEN 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.

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 info@summerschoolthinkingcity.org 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 !

T LIGH

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.