Annual Review 2023-2024

Amsterdam Academy of Architecture Annual Review

Amsterdam Academy of Architecture Annual Review

TAKING STOCK

On 25 and 26 April, the fourth Deans’ Summit of the European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE) took place at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture under the title ‘Transformation: New Directions in Education’. More than 70 deans and directors from architecture schools all over Europe had registered to meet and discuss an important and urgent question: How do we deal with our institutional responsibility towards the climate crisis? Addressing the environmental, social and political quandaries of this century will require changing fundamental theoretical and practical assumptions about what architectural design is and does. The climate crisis demands a radical change in the way we build and think about buildings. But how?

We are in a rapidly evolving situation of worsening scientific indicators and sweeping and contradictory policy proposals from different points on the political spectrum. What should designers do and how can they do it? How must the practice and education of architecture, urbanism and landscape architecture change?

In 2021, at the first Deans’ Summit in Oslo, the deans and directors wrote the ‘EAAE Pledge for Climate Crisis and Sustainable Future’, which implicitly referenced the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the fourth Deans’ Summit, we came together to reflect on what had changed in the schools since we wrote that pledge. After all, we’d made a promise to ourselves, to each other, to the students and to the faculty to promote a livable and just future on the planet. Here is what the Oslo Pledge says: ‘We recognize the climate crisis as the most significant issue within our lifetimes, and we recognize our institutional responsibility to promote conditions that support quality of life and dignity for future generations and our planet. We promise to incorporate the current concerns into common values and to choose the right measures in aligning our curricula and research to confront these wicked problems with the urgency, leadership and prominence they demand.’

That’s what we wrote then. It’s currently 2024. Where are we now?

Things are getting better in a number of areas, thanks to people who have been at the forefront of the climate and environmental movement. Some scientists, activists, journalists, writers and lawyers have made a big difference. But we can also make a difference in schools with the education we provide. As educators, we have a responsibility. Education is a work in progress, especially in this time of transformation: the world around us is changing constantly and at a rapid pace. The challenges of climate change, resource scarcity, energy transition, social inequality, biodiversity loss and more are complex and urgent. They all have spatial implications to which answers must be sought now in order to maintain the perspective of a sustainable and inclusive future.

According to the latest IPCC reports, rapid and profound changes in all parts of society are needed to limit global warming, as agreed in Paris. Dutch author Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer concluded his Huizinga Lecture in December 2023 with these words: ‘We cannot reverse disastrous global warming with a few stopgap measures without challenging the system of unbridled growth per se, but without the model of infinite growth, the bottom falls out from under capitalism. It is, as Albert Einstein puts it, impossible to solve problems within the system that created them. A paradigm shift is needed. But for that to happen, we must start boldly imagining a totally new society that can replace the stalled current system. What is needed for this is creativity. Only creativity can save the world.’ Change requires a certain chaos; we’re all looking for new directions and frameworks in education. Are we training students for the practice as it is now, or are we training them for a practice as it should be, given all the big issues? Can we imagine what that practice can and should be like in the future? How important is it to invite other disciplines into education, other forms of knowledge, in relation to the challenges of the climate crisis?

During the fourth Deans’ Summit in Amsterdam, deans and directors reflected on the pledge and discussed how curricula have changed and need to change further. What do our times demand and how can we help the new generation of designers to work in a regenerative way? And what can we learn from the students? In times of change, we have to rely on each other. Students learn from teachers and teachers learn from students. We all need courage and imagination: ‘The creativity and imagination to design a sustainable future and the courage to take a step forward,’ as Floris Alkemade, former chief architect of the Netherlands, concluded his keynote address at the start of the fourth Deans’ Summit.

This Annual Review shows that students and faculty at the academy have plenty of courage and imagination when it comes to addressing climate challenges. Many design and research courses offer climate-related assignments, and the results are a testament to the creativity and constructive approach that are needed. One thing is clear: spatial designers can’t do this alone. They need the expertise of other professions.

Let’s take a step forward together! ←

Text MADELEINE MAASKANT, DIRECTOR OF THE AMSTERDAM ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE

THE BEAUTY OF A BROKEN WORLD

In April, the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture hosted the fourth Deans’ Summit of the European Association for Architectural Education. The opening lecture was delivered by Floris Alkemade, chief government architect of the Netherlands from 2015 to 2021 and professor at the research group Tabula Scripta at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture from 2014 to 2019. This is an edited version of his lecture.

Text FLORIS ALKEMADE

Thanks for the invitation to give a lecture about what I believe to be the most important task for current and future generations of designers. The main point of my lecture is that spatial designers are specialists in change, and so should be the schools that educate them. Not ‘change’ for the sake of it, but the kind of change that redefines our responsibilities.

If we want to take stock of the situation we’re currently in, all we need to do is go to bol.com, a big web shop in the Netherlands. This web shop currently offers its customers a choice of over 400 models of hand blenders. Please let that sink in for a moment. In total, it has 22 million products for sale. Amazon, which also operates on the Dutch market, offers a total of 600 million products. These staggering numbers are a reflection of humanity today. With all our knowledge and scientific, technical and political ingenuity, this is what we’ve achieved. Every possible product that anyone might desire can be ordered, and – to those who can afford it – delivered the next day. Its Chinese counterpart, Alibaba, operates on an even larger scale. On one of its busiest days last year, it sold 583,000 products – more than half a million products – every second. That’s the magnitude at which we’re using the planet’s resources. All of this production and logistics are used to satisfy our desire to consume. At the same time, humanity faces huge and disruptive challenges: climate change, biodiversity loss, economic crises, wars, migration, infectious diseases and the delusions of conspiracy theorists. Each of these seven challenges has the potential to change everything we know, everything we have built and everything we take for granted. And they’re all interconnected. Many of these challenges have spatial implications. To stick with the example of excess shopping: since the arrival of web shops, 2.5 per cent of the total built-up area in the Netherlands has been taken up by logistics warehouses. That’s where the hand blenders wait for their consumers. Paradoxically, all this variety of choice leads to more blandness. Cars, for instance, increasingly look alike. The same goes for architecture and public space around the world. The logic of the market economy seems to lead to a loss of creativity, as if all questions have only one answer, and that is ‘more’. Apart from the problems we create with this excess, we also create boredom. That’s something that we should take seriously as designers. And that, of course, is what culture is all about.

The shift from production to consumption has led to vast cultural changes over the last few decades. Today, we are experiencing a shift from the real world to the virtual world. On average, people are awake 1,000 minutes a day. Currently, an average American adult has 640 minutes of screen time per day, including time spent watching tv and interacting with computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Elsewhere in the world, that number is lower, but not by much. Worldwide, about half of the 1,000 minutes that people are awake are spent looking at a screen. In some ways, this is great. We have a wealth of information and social interaction at our fingertips. But the digital world is not the real world.

A lack of social interaction in the real world can lead to serious problems. Writers and filmmakers often have a very keen eye for what is happening in society. One of them is Michel Houellebecq, one of the writers I admire and I fear, because his view of the world is really dystopian. But he has a clear point. He says that the law of increasing entropy – an ever growing state of disorder – is not only a law of physics, it’s also a social law. That’s what we’re seeing today.

Currently, 40 per cent of all households in the Netherlands are single-person households. In cities like Amsterdam or Rotterdam, it’s half of all households. That means fragmentation and atomization. At the same time, the population is getting older. This aging will increase over time. Many problems are surmountable: people face and solve problems all the time. But when they are not, some people choose to close their eyes to the consequences. It’s not that hard. After all, we’ve got all this prosperity and things look great on our doorstep. People who choose to keep their eyes open will see that on a global scale things look frightening. The Netherlands is home to shipyards that build the most luxurious private yachts in the world. The opulence is unimaginable. When these ships are transported from the shipyard to the sea, there’s always a big uproar: they barely fit in the canals, bridges have to be dismantled to let them pass, and they tower over the buildings on the quays. These private yachts offer a clear picture of the utter inequality of this world. As they pass by, you see and feel the injustice.

Cambridge University has studied the number of days per year that – at any given place in the world – the average daily temperature will exceed 25°C in the coming years.1 In many places, this will be the case on over 200 out of 365 days a year. In some places that are even worse off, this will be the case on every day of the year. This means that large parts of the world will become uninhabitable due to climate change. Soon, people will no longer be able to live there. Currently, about 2.3 billion people live in these places. They are the poorest people in the poorest countries, paying the price for the wealth accumulated in the richest parts of the world. Of course, this suffering is less visible than the private yachts we see passing by. How can we, as architects and teachers, take responsibility for questions that simply seem to be too big to answer? →

Heracles fighting the Lernaean Hydra, the ancient serpent-like infernal water beast. The British Museum, print made by Michel Dorigny after an engraving by Simon Vouet, 1651.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) employs some of the best scientists in the world. They don’t just monitor what’s happening to the climate, they also advise on what needs to be done to deal with the resulting problems. This is what is called ‘transformative change’. This is one level up from structural change. Transformative change is fundamental change that addresses social, technological and economic issues simultaneously. It’s nothing short of a revolution. In this case, it’s not the people who are demanding a revolution, but top-notch scientists. That’s good news: it’s a recipe against boredom. All that is needed is to take the right steps. But there’s a complication: we need politicians for that. It’s not a given that the current set of world leaders will take the right steps. It’s a real problem. There’s so much at stake and so much to organize, but somehow many politicians seem to be preoccupied with other things.

The New York Times fact-checkers reviewed a speech that then-president Donald Trump gave at a rally in Wisconsin in 2020, and they found that he made 131 false or inaccurate statements over the course of 90 minutes.2 How is it possible that a president of the United States can get away with this? This is, of course, a byproduct of the virtual world. He’s not the only politician who does this. These are the people who are in power and therefore ought to take responsibility for bringing about the transformative change that’s needed.

Trump is all about money, but some of the most aggressive entrepreneurs show that making money and transformative change are not necessarily incompatible. Larry Fink is the CEO of the biggest investment company of the world, BlackRock. This guy is here on this planet to make money, and he does it really well. In 2020, he shocked the financial world when he wrote his annual letter to all the CEOs of the companies he invests in.3 Titled ‘A Fundamental Reshaping of Finance’, the gist of his letter was: ‘As of now, sustainability is the new standard.’ The financial sector was flabbergasted. Asked by a journalist why he had done this, he replied: ‘Don’t worry, this is not idealism. I’m an investor. I need to know what the value of my companies is and if they have any financial liabilities, such as a possible tax for their CO2-emissions. In other words: it’s business.’ He’s only there to make more money, and that means he wants to protect his investments. The world is shaped by two major forces: politics and the market. Despite their power, both tend towards greenwashing. They’re not about transformative change; they add a bit of green to what they’re already doing. I have nothing against green façades, but they’re just that: the outer layer. They don’t change anything that’s behind them. But there’s also a third force: the force of imagination. That is where education, architecture, urban design and landscape architecture come into play. Both science and design are creative domains that have the capacity to bring about transformative change. Of course, there has always been change, and in many ways change is transformative by default. There are many examples. I will give one. People in the Netherlands – which in this case is probably more or less representative of Europe as a whole – on average spent 70 per cent of their income on food in 1850, and their average life expectancy in that year was 37 years. In 1950, they spent 39 per cent of their income on food, but their average life expectancy had risen to 67. In 2020, the Dutch spent just 11 per cent of their income on food. By that year, their average life expectancy had risen to 81. That is transformative change. What this example also shows is that transformative change is not always good by default. The way we produce and consume food today contributes to the loss of biodiversity in many ways, including the huge amounts of fertilizer that are used and the long distances over which food is transported. The huge feed silos that dot the landscape have changed the countryside: there’s no longer a direct link between the animals and the surrounding area because the silos contain soy from Latin America.

Another example of transformative change is the disappearance of religion from society. I live in a village in the south of the Netherlands. In this village and its surroundings, many churches are no longer in use. Culture that took millennia to build up, defining every aspect of our society, just evaporated.

A transformative change that could occur in the coming centuries is the consequence of rising sea levels. If sea level rise is within the range currently predicted, two-thirds of the Netherlands could be under water by 2300. This is particularly poignant when you realize that 80 per cent of the world’s metropolitan regions are located in coastal areas. The fundamental questions raised by this fact are all about transformative change. Perhaps one of the biggest changes mankind will have to face has to do with birth control. The introduction of the birth control pill in 1962 led to declining birth rates in societies that adopted the pill. As the standard of living rose, the birth rate fell. A New York Times →

Many churches in the Netherlands are no longer in use. Culture that took millennia to build up, defining every aspect of our society, just evaporated. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, painting by Bartholomeus Johannes van Hove, 1844.

article in 2023 pointed out that most people now live in places where the fertility rate is below the replacement level.4 Europe crossed the threshold in 1975, China in the early 1990s and Brazil in the early 2000s. India crossed below the replacement fertility in its most recent population census. Only African countries will continue to grow in the coming decades. In 2022, the total world population was about 8 billion people.

The world population is expected to peak around 2085 at about 10 billion people . I have always imagined or assumed that the world population would plateau after that, but current demographic insights show that in the twenty-second or twenty-third century, the population decline will be just as steep as its current rise.

Of course, the exact numbers may turn out to be different. The aforementioned New York Times article puts the world’s population peak at around 2085, the United Nations expects it will be in 2067, and the Club of Rome predicted it will happen in 2046. But that’s not the point. The point is that population decline will be one of the major stories of the coming century. Some people might be tempted to say: ‘Great, this decline will solve all of our housing and environmental problems at once, all by itself.’ But that’s not how it works. It’s not the number of people, it’s their wealth that counts when you look at the way they produce goods. And also, of course, the fact that by that time maybe half the world will be uninhabitable because of climate change. The problem is that almost all societies are based on organizing growth.

Organizing decline is a completely different ball game and requires an entirely new way of thinking, which we still have to learn. Decline has many side effects that growth doesn’t. Just to give an example: South Korea has a replication rate of 0.7, which means that in a few generations only a fraction of the population will be left. What does that mean in military terms, for example, given that it borders North Korea? Transformative change changes the rules of the game.

A very famous example is the Kodak photography company. Before smartphones were invented, if you wanted to take a picture, you needed a camera, and Kodak made the film for those cameras. Kodak employed 145,000 people. Kodak actually invented the digital camera in 1975, but decided not to produce it for a fear of losing its main business model. Then another company introduced the first digital camera on the market, and in 2012 Kodak went bankrupt. That same year, Instagram was sold to Facebook for $1 billion. At the time it employed only 13 people. This is the face of transformative change. If you see change coming, you’d better step forward. Otherwise, you’ll be gone. And that is true of many aspects of the change we now face. The answers to these questions are not easy to give because the rules of the game are changing, too. Normally, when most people want to get from A to B, they tend to do so in a straight line, if possible. But other cultures go about this very differently.

The Japanese art of kintsukuroi implies the understanding that broken pottery that has been repaired with attention and patience is more beautiful for having been broken. Photo by Steenaire, 2019.

The Hadza are some of the last hunter-gatherers in the world living more or less authentically. They live in northern Tanzania. In a scientific experiment published in 2013 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers recruited 44 members of the Hadza tribe to wear GPS units and examined their bouts of foraging.5 The question was how these highly skilled foragers would search the terrain for food. The research project showed that the Hadza perform Lévy walks when foraging for food. A Lévy walk is a random pattern in which mostly short one-directional walks are combined with rarer, longer one-directional walks. This is a pattern often found in nature. Whales follow this pattern when they swim in the oceans. Birds follow it when they fly in the skies. Even Internet search engines use it. The essence of the pattern is that when you don’t know the terrain, you take a random direction, but as soon as you change your position, you have a new insight and you change your direction. That’s the art of adaptation. Going straight from A to B is a very valid strategy, but only if you know where B is. If you don’t know where B is, going straight can be a deadly strategy. That’s what we can learn from the Hadza and from nature in general.

In 1985, the artist Jenny Holzer projected a beautiful quote on a large screen on Times Square. It read: ‘Protect me from what I want.’ This is exactly what designers should do in the coming decades. We are trained to give people what they ask for, what they want, but we’ll need to do the opposite. This requires a different way of thinking.

During my time at OMA, where I worked for 18 years and became one of the partners, we founded AMO. It served as OMA’s think tank and was about liberating architectural thinking from architectural practice. AMO conducted research on organization, identity and culture. This didn’t mean that we thought that the way we designed buildings had lost its validity. Of course, architecture, urban design and landscape architecture are about aesthetics, detailing, the use of materials. These topics are all very important to the profession of architecture. But it’s only half of the story. The other half touches all these other domains. In many ways, especially when you look at the current global threats that we face, we are the Hadza. We’re well-trained and have a lot of knowledge that we can apply when confronted with a new domain. This domain may seem scary and full of dangers that are hard to grasp. But that’s what education is about. Education is not about fear but about creativity, change and taking responsibility. Those are the qualities that we have to train our students in.

Change can be very gradual and not always immediately visible from the outside. You can see this by looking at how the iPhone design has changed over time. From the outside, the changes seem very limited, but appearances can be deceiving. The current iPhone is already worlds apart from its first iteration in 2007. What we see is a byproduct of other, more important mechanisms at play. Studying those underlying mechanisms makes the profession much more profound, logical and intense, and much more difficult and creative. Collaborating with other professions is not only fun, it’s very necessary if we’re going to change those underlying mechanisms.

As chief government architect, I organized competitions for designers in which collaborating with other professions was an important condition. One of these competitions was called Bread & Games and one of the winning entries was titled Productief Peppelland. Half of this team were architects and the other half were farmers. That’s not an obvious combination these days, but their collaboration was very fruitful. Their topic was farmland, and the area they were working in is very suitable for poplars, trees commonly used in the paper industry. But now poplars can also be used to make cross-laminated timber. This gives farmers the opportunity to create new business models that improve, rather than degrade, soil conditions. This is an example of taking responsibility and redefining it. I also asked teams to work on post-war neighbourhoods by densifying them with about 25 per cent more dwellings while at the same time increasing the green areas. Those teams proved that this is perfectly possible using biobased materials, prefabrication and light-weight structures on top of existing buildings. Born out of the necessity to become more sustainable, an exciting, much more agile urbanity is possible. If you were to draw a graph of sustainability over time, this century should first show a gradual dip and then a steeper rise. We’re now just past the lowest point and that’s the most beautiful point in the graph. We still feel the downward gravity of the dip, but we are defining our way up. This has to be the story when future generations look back at our generation.

That’s what the book Rewriting Architecture is about. With this book, we concluded the research group Tabula Scripta. It’s about sustainability as a creative process. We worked on it with a lot of students and conducted many interviews with specialists from a wide range of backgrounds. The recurring question was: ‘How can we change the role of the contemporary architect in the current power dynamics?’ We defined ten actions plus one. One of those actions is ‘eliminate’: designing not by adding, but by removing things. It’s a beautiful domain of thinking. Another is titled →

‘continue’: rewrite on that which is already written, in the same way that James Joyce corrected his own longhand manuscripts. The eleventh action is ‘abstain’: do nothing. Sometimes as an architect, you have to say ‘no’. This is something we still need to learn. Architecture should not only be a product of imagination, but also of courage. In the past, many generations thought that the trials and tribulations they had to endure were more extensive than those of their predecessors. Today there’s the same tendency. In fact, humans have faced life-threatening challenges many times before and risen to the occasion. All that’s needed is a future-oriented attitude. As author Saul Bellow wrote to literature critic Lionel Trilling in 1952: ‘We may not be strong enough to live in the present. But to be disappointed in it! To identify oneself with a better past! No, no!’ We need to long for the future, not the past. Longing for the future is about storytelling, imagination and education. That’s what we can learn from history. When you face difficult circumstances, don’t be Kodak and step back. Be Heracles and step forward, as he did when he encountered a many-headed monster at the lake of Lerna. That’s courage. Courage is also a design tool: not stepping back when you meet opposition or other difficulties. Go for it. It won’t make life easier, but it will definitely make it more relevant and fun.

In her book La Vieillesse (The Coming of Age) from 1970, Simone de Beauvoir wrote: ‘By the way in which a society behaves towards the elderly, it unequivocally reveals the truth – often carefully concealed – of its principles and its ends.’ That still holds true in our time and age. We have a population with a lot of elderly people who are very vulnerable. We have an influx of immigrants who also need help. The way we deal with people who need help shows who we are.

Some people have placed all their bets on technical advance, which may solve many of the problems we’re facing, from elderly care to sea level rise. It’s amazing what technology can do and it’s full of promise. At the same time, it can also be a trap. These days, we can make anything. Self-driving cars, online healthcare, automated check-in: technology has the tendency to eliminate both human labour and social relations. With all the knowledge and possibilities we have, is this the best we can do? Where is the fantasy? Where is the imagination?

In an interview in Dutch national newspaper NRC Wim Sinke, a scientist who worked his entire career on the development of solar panels, said about solar-cell efficiency: ‘Current silicon panels are heading towards 25 per cent efficiency. That approaches the physical maximum achievable with a single material. A breakthrough will come from making tandems, two layers of solar cells of different materials on top of each other. With stacks of more layers, 40 per cent efficiency will eventually be possible.’6 He also said: ‘A lot of things have worked out that I didn’t think could.’ In other words: what counts is knowing what you want. What you consider possible is of secondary importance. I will end with the Japanese art of kintsukuroi, which means ‘to repair with gold’. It implies the understanding that broken pottery that has been repaired with attention and patience is more beautiful for having been broken. The fact that it was broken is part of its identity, aesthetics, beauty and essence. This is a metaphor for where we are at this moment in time. Things that we took for granted have broken. They’re no longer sustainable. The question is: How can we repair them? Taking kintsukuroi to heart, we should make the fact that they’re broken part of our identity and our beauty. History teaches us that it’s never the crises that determine who we are. It’s the way we react to those crises. We’re in control. Thank you. ←

1 Cambridge Global Risk Index, ‘New Approaches to Help Businesses Tackle Climate Change’, Cambridge University, 26 February 2020. https://www. cam.ac.uk/research/news/new-approaches-to-helpbusinesses-tackle-climate-change.

2. Linda Qiu and Michael D. Shear, ‘Rallies are the Core of Trump’s Campaign, and a Font of Lies and Misinformation’, New York Times, 26 October 2020. https://www. nytimes.com/2020/10/26/us/politics/trump-rallies.html.

3 Larry Fink, ‘A Fundamental Reshaping of Finance’, 2020. https://www.blackrock.com/americas-offshore/en/larry-fink-ceo-letter.

4 Dean Spears, ‘The World’s Population May Peak in Your Lifetime. What Happens Next?’, New York Times, 18 September 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/ interactive/2023/09/18/opinion/human-population-global-growth.html.

5 David A. Raichlen et al., ‘Evidence of Lévy Walk Foraging Patterns in Human Hunter–Hatherers’, PNAS 111 (2013) 2, pp. 728-733. https://doi.org/10.1073/ pnas.1318616111.

6 Laura Wismans, ‘Zonne-energie kan een hoeksteen zijn’, NRC, 27 June 2022.

ARCHIPRIX NOMINATIONS

The Amsterdam Academy of Architecture nominated two Architecture projects and two Landscape Architecture projects for the annual Archiprix Netherlands competition.

At the close of the Graduation Show 2023, director Madeleine Maaskant announced the four nominations for the Archiprix Netherlands. The nominated graduation projects were: Average Place by Maria Khozina (architecture), The Eyes are the Windows to the Soul by Gavin Fraser (architecture), Garden and Gardener of the Peelrandbreuk by Roy Damen (landscape architecture) and Burnt by Jacob Heydorn Gorski (landscape architecture). Additionally, both the Engagement Award and the Audience Award were awarded to Shelter by Alice Dicker Quintino (architecture) and the Research Award was awarded to Water Driven by Rex van Beijsterveldt (landscape architecture).

Archiprix Netherlands 2024 had four first prizes. Two of those first prizes went to graduates of the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture: Jacob Heydorn Gorski and Gavin Fraser.

BURNT –A TALE OF THREE FIRES

Community-driven maintenance creates a more wildfire-resilient landscape.

Burnt: A Tale of Three Fires investigates how embracing wildfire can restore resiliency and create new cultural connections between a landscape and its inhabitants. It draws from the designer’s childhood fascination with landscape and fire and takes inspiration from a Dutch attitude towards another natural threat: water. The project focuses on the mountain town of Red Feather Lakes in the American state of Colorado to question dominant narratives of wildfire and offer a new path forward. The project takes inspiration from local ecology to develop three new strategies for wildfire: defensive, resilient and resistant. Each strategy kickstarts a process based on community involvement and site-derived materials to let fire tell a different story about the landscape. In the first site, fire breaks shape how a forest burns, allowing recreants to experience the ‘terrible sublime’ of the postfire landscape. In the second site, a stream is transformed into a naturally managed defensive buffer that mitigates the effects of post-fire flooding. In the last site, a community comes together to restore a severely burnt forest. Together, these three strategies reshape and restore the ecosystem and use fire to create new landscape experiences and community exchange. While site-specific, the interventions here offer a model for other landscapes in the American West for a possible future with fire. To quote Dante, we have found ourselves ‘within a forest dark, for the straightforward pathway had been lost’. This project offers a new path ahead, one lit by the light of fire.

Cultural burning is a chance for exchange and education.

Model.

The burnt forest becomes a patchwork landscape.

Giving room back to wildfire.

THE EYES ARE THE WINDOWS TO THE SOUL

manifested through several architectural interventions: spaces for physical therapy and education in a semi-private environment, coupled with highly public spaces for dialogue, exhibition, performance and social interaction within the wider community. In keeping with the eye hospital’s relative introversion, the social programme is the public face of the overall plan. This social foundation is designed to encourage a sense of self, accomplishment and purpose. One facet of this is the exposure of the visually impaired community to the wider public and the creation of valuable opportunities for education and financial independence.

These fall into two primary categories. The first is a direct consequence of diagnostics, testing, treatment, and oppressive clinical architecture. The second relates to a more expansive social sphere where visually impaired people suffer from social isolation, loss of purpose, loss of income, the inability to perform basic tasks and loss of self. This project addresses these current shortcomings by proposing a new combination of clinical and social responses. Through a new hospital architecture, the patient’s mental wellbeing is considered equal to the clinical aspects of care. To do so, this project redefines the traditional architecture of the eye hospital by incorporating spaces for escape, reflection, socialization and grief in the context of an accessible and communal village. This new hospital will establish new approaches to managing the challenges we face today in treatment, testing, diagnosis and clinical architecture. In parallel, a new social centre is created to supplement the new clinical approach. This new centre is an experimental ecosystem of alternative and physical forms of therapy; through the provision of therapies focusing on art, music, horticulture and movement, several social issues associated with visual impairment can be addressed. These activities are

Situated on the water’s edge of Greenock, Scotland, this project challenges the prescribed notions of care architecture for the visually impaired through the reuse of an abandoned complex of sugar warehouses and harbours in a city scarred by high rates of visually impaired people, caused by the long-lost sugar industry. Approximately 253 million people worldwide suffer from visual impairment. Currently, care for the visually impaired focuses exclusively on the physical visual condition of the individual. This leaves much to be desired when it comes to the litany of mental health issues associated with visual impairment.

STUDENT

DATE 05 October 2022

MENTOR Elsbeth Falk

MEMBERS Jeanne Tan and Jo Barnett

ADDITIONAL

MEMBERS Machiel Spaan and René Bouman ARCHIPRIX First prize ex aequo

Floor plan of the new eye hospital.

Axonometric drawing of the total master plan.

A view of a ‘sensory walkway’.

section of the eye hospital.

A view of a ‘sensory walkway’.

A view of a rest space and courtyard in the new eye hospital.

Interior image of the existing building showing the new intervention.

Axonometric drawing of the added programme in the existing sugar warehouse.

Perspective section of the existing building with new social programme additions.

GARDEN AND GARDENER

The project starts with my childhood in the village of Liessel in North Brabant, a village between arid and wet landscapes, between dry forests and the peat bog of De Peel. Separated by a geological fault, almost invisible on the surface, but 350 million years old: the Peelrandbreuk. Using the garden as a framework of thought and a spatial phenomenon in which man shapes nature, the gardener literally and figuratively searches for the fault line. The design of the garden forms a future story consisting of four garden rooms in the landscape, based on natural and social themes around the fault line: peat, wijst, groundwater and desire. Within these garden rooms, the gardener makes invisible processes visible and anchors us as humans in the deep time scales of the Peelrandbreuk. The garden of Peelrandbreuk is a spatial narrative consisting of four chapters in the spatial area of the fault line. The chapters form points or moments in the landscape where geological history and cultural history intersect. The garden’s boundary is formed by the thoughts of a person in the area and their handling of the soil. Through the hand of the gardener, man learns to know the fault again. Working on this project has allowed me to build a new relationship with the fault and the place I come from. You could say that I am the gardener in the story and my role as a landscape architect comes to life in the garden. By delving into the underground and rediscovering the fault line, I took a position within the project of awakening something rather than making it, giving it time and space, moving along with it and literally bringing people into the story of the landscape.

DATE 13 December 2022

Paul de Kort and Erik de Jong

Maike van Stiphout and Remco van

De Peelrandbreuk subtly visible in the landscape.

Biography of a deep past in three chapters.

Chapter 1: Untamed Land, Untamed People.

Chapter 2: Soil with rest awakens points to life.

Chapter 4: Monuments of desire.

Chapter 3: Feeding with groundwater.

Four rooms in the garden tell its story.

A garden border signifies an imbal ance between man and nature.

Four garden rooms in the Peelrandbreuk landscape.

This project investigates an architect’s role and architecture’s language in an authoritarian state. How can architects use their skills and knowledge to contribute to social change, and what role can architecture play in the political agenda? While Average Place is a political issue, it also has personal consequences and implications. It’s about grief, the lost feeling of home and belonging. It’s about a loss of understanding of one’s role as an architect and citizen in their homeland. Through this project, the architect wants to explore how they can engender positive change by using their craft and professional role. This work is not just about traditional design methods; it’s about finding a different language of architecture that can be used to explore the possible roles of architecture and to define my role as an architect. This project began with an exploration of new relationships between architecture and power in authoritarian states. The project’s overarching goal was to explore the potential of architecture to interact with people, examining how architectural tools can engage users in interaction and deepen the comprehension of their experience. By integrating elements from the plastic arts, the utilitarian nature of architecture and the constraints faced by architects, the Architectural Machine, a formal embodiment of a social issue, was conceived. The project was not only about the physical embodiment of architecture, but also about asking questions and finding the right words to describe the current state and possibilities of architecture. Simplistic perceptions can lead to homogeneity and limit healthy development. The project aimed to promote diversity and expand awareness of reality, even if formal results were not yet known.

Machine of expression.

Machine of superiority.

Machine of self-will.

Machine of different perspectives.

Machine of expression. Structural principle.

Machine of expression. Façade and floor plan.

of self-will. Adaptability.

of different perspectives. Models 1:2 and 1:20.

Variability of machines.

Machine

Machine

The result is a low-dynamic, breathing landscape that gives and takes, driven by an innovative water mechanism. This vision encompasses a series of water basins within the river polders, each with its own function, land use and beauty.

Spatial carriers: structures, land use and waterworks.

Land use determined by soil and water conditions.

Rivers such as the Rhine and the Maas are vital lifelines for both humans and nature. However, with ongoing climate change and the detrimental effects of river and landscape cultivation, we’re reaching a new breaking point. This design research argues for a transformative approach to the Dutch river region. The river area is a stark example of the extreme ramifications of climate change. Both severe droughts and increased flood risks are putting a significant strain on this landscape, especially in the low-lying river polder regions along the riverbanks. These vulnerable zones are crucial in developing a comprehensive strategy to mitigate the effects of climate change on the Dutch river landscape. Such a strategy not only offers hope for nature and farmers, but also demonstrates the potential when water and soil are managed. It addresses the negative effects of climate change and an over-cultivated landscape, but also supports extensive nature restoration and introduces innovative forms of land use in these new conditions. Rain and river water can be stored and used later during droughts through an extensive and intelligent water management system.

Saline Verhoeven and Gerwin de Vries

Ziega van den Berk and Roel van

OF ARCHITECTURE Research Award

A witness to the new land use.

Land shaped by clay.

Land of Maas and Waal.

TO HOST WOMEN

The different types of housing are designed to accommodate the varying family configurations of women in need of shelter. Each unit offers the opportunity to open up and share experiences with a community, or to have moments of introspection in one’s own private space.

The design approach is inspired by the traditional Dutch ‘hofje’. Centrally located in the urban context and surrounded by the urban built structure, the hofje encloses a fascinating protected inner world with its own character and atmosphere, organized around a communal garden. Inspired by this tradition, the inner block of the site is transformed to accommodate women victims of domestic violence in a protected environment, while still allowing them to be part of society and city life. The paradoxical relationships between seclusion and inclusion, privacy and collectivity are key concepts in the design of a shelter, as observed in the various interviews conducted during the research phase. The proposed design creates spaces where a process of recovery can take place, where shared experiences are encouraged, while individuality and privacy are maintained. From arrival to departure, a domestic environment is imagined around a sequence of enclosed gardens that provide a secluded orientation to reality in terms of time and place. The gardens play an important role in shaping the transitional sequences between city and shelter, essential to enabling the unique atmos

phere of the block’s inner world, a place to feel protected and to recover.

According to the World Health Organization, ‘violence against women is a major human rights violation and a global public health concern of pandemic proportions’. The statistics show that one-third of women worldwide are subjected to violence at least once in their lives. The high majority of these violence cases relate to a former or current intimate partner, which is classified as domestic violence. When experiencing it, women are in need of support, often of a place to stay, to feel sheltered and to heal, where legal and psychological support is available. Women’s shelters have existed in the Netherlands since the 1970s, shaped by available resources, opportunities and the development of an approach that has continued to evolve over the past five decades. This graduation project consists of rethinking women’s shelters from an architectural perspective, in the firm belief that spatial design decisions can make a significant contribution to the recovery process that women victims of domestic violence go through. Situated on the edge of Amsterdam’s historical centre, the chosen site consists of an existing city block surrounded by a variety of urban atmospheres. Each of the three programmatic sections of a shelter on this siteinstitutional, residential and healthcarecan find its own ideal relationship to the city.

Ground floor plan.

Model of the project embedded in the urban context.

Fragmentary models of the wall surrounding the project with different levels of permeability linked to the private or collective character of the spaces enclosed by it.

Longitudinal and transverse sections illustrating the main accesses to the shelter and the sequence of arrival and daily life.

The main access through the institutional tower, followed by the transitional arrival square that embraces an existing tree and the guests arriving for the first time.

The emergency beds and the collective courtyard, both gardens of paradise where

collective life of the shelter takes place in different moments of one’s stay.

Daily entrance in a transformed existing base, lending access to the shelter in a small-scale, domestic, normalized manner.

Private outside spaces organized around the gardens of contemplation where one may observe the passage of time through the seasonal transformations of a centrally positioned fruit tree and the play of light and shadow on the façade’s relief.

Access to one’s temporary home through the collective garden; the double orientation of the housing units enables both communal and private life.

MOVING BEYOND ‘PROBLLEM SOLVING’

The graduation projects presented at the 2023 Graduation Weekend excelled at addressing big and complex questions, such as environmental and social issues. Guest critic Aric Chen reflects on what he saw during the show.

Text JOHN BEZOLD Photo MARWAN MAGROUN

Aric Chen is the director of Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam and was a guest critic at the 2023 Graduation Weekend at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. He and I spoke about his experience of reviewing the graduation projects, to identify commonalties. Rigorous research, personal narratives and histories, combined with meticulously crafted yet graphically playful presentations were common themes woven into the intellectual foundations of the projects.

Before we focus on student work, could you talk a bit about some of the changes in the Dutch architecture scene over the past 25 years, and how they might have found their way into architecture education?

‘The shifting of priorities and agendas we’re witnessing in architecture are prompting a complete rethinking of research and methodology. This is happening because the goals are evolving or at least changing in emphasis. Research, always integral to the process of making and doing architecture, is now changing in nature and definition. Back in the 1990s, a student would spend all their time with software and algorithms. Today, however, they engage in research that includes collaboration across multiple and diverse forms of expertise, whether or not that involves the communities they are designing for or with. The emphasis on the architect as a solitary artist-hero-genius is diminishing, leading to greater shared authorship. Currently, there’s a growing belief that the power of architecture lies in humility, a significant shift from just a decade ago. One issue that the previous generation perhaps didn’t convincingly resolve was the contradiction between the autonomy of architecture and its social-political relevance. We are still navigating the legacy of this contradiction, but now with a strong drive to address societal and ecological issues.’

So then, to zoom into the work that you’ve seen here so far today, what was your initial impression of the dominant approach of students, right now?

‘I definitely see the explicit agenda to take on environmental and social concerns. The two are always linked, of course, to more questions. I think it was also interesting to be reminded that the projects that we saw here today were done by students who were doing their work in the context of the COVID lockdowns. You can also see how through these projects there’s a trend towards thinking on much more local levels. So many of the projects were coming from a very personal place.’

I noticed that as well.

‘There were many projects that address sites, questions or issues in places where the students had personally lived. Lots of hometowns, for instance. Quite a lot of hometowns. Many focused on personal recollections, situations and experiences. Personal histories. I think that that’s also indicative of, in some ways, a less top-down mentality at the academy, in that it’s acknowledging the sort of agency of the individual and, by extension, instilling a greater sense of empathy in architects.

This approach is more empathetic and truly remarkable. As someone with considerable experience in the field, I’ve noticed a significant shift. For a long time, during reviews, students predominantly aspired to design museums and opera houses. However, in recent years, there’s been a discernible pivot towards socially oriented practices. Many proposals now involve working with marginalized or underrepresented groups. But when asked if they had engaged with these groups, the common response used to be a blank stare. It’s rather encouraging to see how much more sophisticated the research process has become, aligning with the evolving notions of research.’

Beyond many of the projects being local, could you identify some other common themes, like subjects or concerns among the projects as a whole – as in, the ones that stuck out to you?

‘I am finding that, more and more, one sees a disproportionate number of projects coming out of landscape architecture. They are especially compelling. I think partly because the questions and problems that were asked are so big and complex that in some ways, landscape architecture now has a broader scope than architecture on its own. It also has to do with the broadening of education and topics in general. ’

Can you talk about some of the presentations that stuck out to you on a visual level? Were there any that struck you as impressive in how they were presented?

‘For one thing, I think all of us were really impressed by the drawings. One student from Colorado designed his landscape project on fire mitigation. His proposal was basically a cooperation with nature, which includes migratory birds and beavers and so on, but also fire, which itself is also a generative part of the natural cycle of regeneration. And his illustrations! We were all admiring how great they were, in terms of extracting the sense of fear out of fire, meaning the fire was rendered in almost a sort of childlike, friendly way, though not cartoonish. In general, I find that there’s an incredible rigour here towards really thinking through processes and methodologies in very precise terms. You find that in a lot of the ways that the students have described their projects, there’s a lot of emphasis on statement of principles, a lot of self-reflection. But what I found less of, is texts talking about the actual project. And so I think that’s something to really work on.’

Is there something you would have liked to see more of within the project presentations?

‘It would have been nice to see broader framing, more experimental projects. Experimental, there you go. Longer missions and time frames. Generational projects. The prevalence of a very narrative-driven, personal approach was methodologically sound, but very short-term focused, due to their personal approach. However, I’m happy to notice that architects, as a profession, are moving beyond design and architecture as, ‘quote-unquote’, problem-solving.’ ←

MATERIAL- IZING THE INVISIBLE

Every year, an Amsterdam Academy of Architecture alumnus gives a Kromhout lecture, named after one of the founders of the academy. This year, Lesia Topolnyk was the speaker. She talked about her professional journey so far and the personal motivations for her work.

Text DAVID KEUNING Photo LESIA TOPOLNYK

Lesia Topolnyk graduated from the Academy of Architecture in 2018. For her graduation project she designed a counterpart to the United Nations headquarters in New York: The Un-United Nations headquarters on the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed in 2014. The starting point of her design: politics by definition imply potential conflict. Realizing the impossibility of political stability and the inevitability of potential conflict, Topolnyk assumed a perpetual instability, a constantly renegotiated temporariness. She designed Un-United Nations as a neutral arena for disagreement, providing ground for a discussion about the morality of opposed political systems.

For the graduation project she chose the archaeological site of Chersonesus, an ancient city founded by Greeks and currently located near military facilities. The Greek city grid exemplifies a democratic ideal and Topolnyk proposed to excavate it, revealing different historical layers and political regimes in its exposed walls. Over the existing city grid she placed a 600 m-long structure, reflecting one of the public streets and creating a building consisting of only corridors as informal decision-making places instead of chambers where decisions are prearranged. The building seems to serve as a dividing wall, but simultaneously acts as a gate due to its elevated position over the landscape, offering relationships between the Eastern and Western worlds. Not only did the project win her a shared first prize at Archiprix Netherlands in 2019, she was also one of seven winners of Archiprix International in the same year. Additionally, she won a first prize in the Tamayouz International Award in Jordan. In 2022, she went on to win the Prix de Rome with No Innocent Landscape, in which she linked the shooting down of the MH17 flight in eastern Ukraine in 2014 to environmental problems in that same area.

In the Kromhout lecture, Topolnyk discussed the links between politics and her work as an architect and artist. Pointing out the biological, climatic, chemical and geological challenges of our time, she argued that architecture is slowly losing its relevance as a profession if it’s only concerned with adding new buildings to the existing stock. Buildings and landscapes are indeed shaped by designers, she argued, but only to a very limited extent. Much more important, and often overlooked, are abstract forces, such as financial

markets, political systems, artificial intelligence, energy production means, algorithms and racial divisions, which all produce physical environments but are also produced by the physical environment. Therefore, she said, designers should become a mediator and guide between the physical environment and invisible processes.

Giving examples from Ukraine, Topolnyk showed how political power was exercised through architectural and landscape design in the past. The pared-back design of Hotel Ukraine, built in 1962 as ‘Hotel Moscow’, was heavily influenced by a 1955 decree by Khrushchev, banning Stalin-era decorative features such as colonnades, sculptures and pilasters. And in 1946, almost 80,000 Ukrainians (including Lesia’s great-grandparents) were stripped of their assets and forcibly deported to Siberia in a large-scale landuse planning effort in the tradition of the Soviet Union’s five-year plans. With its central Maidan location, Hotel Ukraine was the backdrop for both the 20042005 Orange Revolution and the 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity.

2013 was also the year in which Topolnyk started her architecture studies at the academy. ‘It was a difficult year for me,’ she said. She witnessed the events from a distance: first another revolution in Ukraine, then the Crimea annexation and the downing of the MH17 plane in war-torn Donetsk. Being outside rather than within the course of events allowed her to reflect on them.

Given the world’s perpetual instability, the design assignments she was given at the academy sometimes didn’t feel that relevant to her.

After the Un-United Nations headquarters and No Innocent Landscape projects, Topolnyk is now conducting further research into the transformative power of design. She strives to apply her thinking as an architect to multiple domains, linking a site-specific approach to urgent global issues. In doing so, she touches on themes such as landscapes of trauma, neocolonialism, cultural and historical heritage, and the relation between psychology and space. The common thread running through those topics is the way that invisible structures determine our physical surroundings, and how design can be a tool to expose those relationships. International relations and large-scale conflicts have a huge backlash on a local level, and that’s the context that architects have to operate within. ‘Why not turn this around and have architectural and landscape design play a role in those relations,’ she asked. ‘People who say that they’re not interested in politics and that they have no part in events that happen far away deny the fact that everything they do is interconnected with geopolitical events.’ In her work, Topolnyk tries to offer people ways to relate to those events, professionals as well as the general public. In the Prix de Rome project, she involved her own family members, making the project into a healing ground.

Most recently, Topolnyk worked with local NGOs in Morocco on a project about the influence of the European energy transition on the African continent. In the Netherlands she developed a future vision for the Defence Line 1629 in Den Bosch, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the city’s siege during the Eighty Years’ War. Questioning what we will celebrate for the 400 years to come, instead of reconstructing the defence line she proposed a curatorial framework with site-specific interventions redefining our historical and future connection with the landscape. She also made a proposal for the historical Aa-kerk in Groningen, which resulted in a new pavilion and an interior design that exposes past and future narratives. The Aa-kerk is a church that takes its name from the River Aa. In Topolnyk’s intervention the River Aa serves as a storyline, recounting the history of the church, its province and highlighting the urgency of climate issues. It flows through the church like a river, shaping its landscape into an auditorium and extending into the pavilion.

While all of these projects are very consistent with her other work from a methodological point of view, they seem to take very different shapes. Her projects are driven by ideas and not by a preconceived design style. ‘People like to put you in a box,’ she said after the lecture. ‘After the Prix de Rome project, the implicit expectation is yet another installation. But I don’t want to be pinned down. I want to be versatile and keep being open to exploration and experiment. My work is a manifestation of my life and the questions that are bothering me. I’m driven by a very personal inner quest.’ ←

Topolnyk made a proposal for the historical Aa-kerk in Groningen, which resulted in a new pavilion and an interior design that exposes past and future narratives.

ARTISTS IN THE MAKING

In the 2023 edition of the Start Workshop, students had a go at dancing, sound experiments and storytelling.

Text DAVID KEUNING Photos GREG JENNIE

During the Start Workshop, students acquaint themselves with each other, some of the staff and the city of Amsterdam. This year’s edition, which spanned two days, was organized by Stephanie Ete and Jacopo Grilli. Having graduated from the academy themselves, they appreciate being involved with students. ‘I enjoy the learning and teaching environment at the academy,’ says Ete. ‘It’s essential to the designer you eventually become.’

Ete and Grilli aimed to familiarize the students with Amsterdam beyond the city centre. They visited the outlying areas of the city: Nieuw West, Southeast and North. After an introduction at the academy, they first went to the Kröller-Müllerpark – not the famous one on the Veluwe, but the much smaller one near the Sloterplas. The park boasts some interesting buildings, such as apartments built in former water purification drums made of concrete. ‘We wanted the students to experience the city intuitively,’ says Ete, ‘not by looking at the architecture, but by experiencing it through their bodies.’ To help students get started, they invited dancers from the Rorschach Collective to demonstrate how to do so.

After lunch at the Sloterplas, the whole group moved to the Shebang art space in Southeast, where sound performer Oscar van Leest demonstrated how to experience a space through sound. After the performance, the students themselves were invited to perform. The day concluded with dinner at the academy.

On the second day, the students gathered at the Gele Pomp, a disused petrol station on the edge of the Noorderpark in Amsterdam Noord. Here they were met by writers Alina Hinterberger and Massih Hutak, who taught them about storytelling in relation to the city. ‘They talked about the differences between expats and immigrants, the meaning of belonging, and how to improve neighbourhoods without resorting to gentrification,’ says Ete. ‘It was an eye-opener, not only for the students but also for me.’

The afternoon was spent at the academy, where the students met with study advisers, a student coach, and the professional experience coordinator. The two-day programme ended with performances by the students, demonstrating what they had learned throughout the programme. ‘The output was very varied,’ says Ete. ‘They made physical models, created sounds and told stories in the form of poems. Our expectations were exceeded. The students gave it their all.’ ←

The two-day programme ended with performances by the students, demonstrating what they had learned throughout the programme.

CEREMONY OF THE SENSES

This year’s Winter School, which took place from 11 to 19 January 2024, was led by artist-in-residence Theun Karelse. He was invited by Joost Emmerik, head of the master’s programme in Landscape Architecture. Theun and Joost look back on a successful and happy week, which was all about ceremony.

Text DAVID KEUNING Photos GREG JENNIE

Theun Karelse and Joost Emmerik named the programme they put together for the Winter School 2024 ‘Cult of the Earth’. It was based on ten themes, each supervised by a lecturer or a team of lecturers. They presented the themes in performances during an opening evening at De Duif, an impressive nineteenth-century church building on the Prinsengracht. Three guest performers also attended the opening. Artist Ibelisse Ferragutti kicked off the Winter School with a ritual welcome to the four winds. Frank Heckman from the Embassy of the Earth spoke about the role of the sacred space in his work on socioecological regeneration, while Johan Roeland was interviewed about his research on theology and religious practices. Over the following week, students explored the ten themes, culminating in a celebration on Friday afternoon, when their explorations came together in a final ceremony in the academy’s gallery around the courtyard. Visitors could join in circles around three artificial fires, time was made tangible, there was a procession in which students represented ancestors and students worked with choreographies in the courtyard. The atmosphere was lively and elated; it was a successful finale of a great week. A few weeks later, Karelse and Emmerik look back on the event.

Theun, what did you like most about the Winter School? THEUN What I liked most was the freedom the students felt to express themselves. This grew throughout the week.

How could you tell?

TH They were cautious at first, which is understandable, as this Winter School focused on working methods that were very different from those used in everyday practice. I was running in and out of the classrooms, so I had a bit of an overview, but the students and lecturers did not. At first, they only noticed their own group going off the beaten track, but as the week progressed the teams began to work more and more in the gallery. Its cyclical shape lends itself well to rituals. The space is roughly aligned with the four directions of the wind and can be used for all kinds of cycles: that of a human life, a season, a day. As the teams saw that others were also doing unusual things, they became more confident. Over the last two days, that confidence took flight.

Apparently, when people go off the beaten track, they need reassurance that it’s okay to do so.

TH Some weren’t bothered by that at all. The theme of the Winter School was different from previous years, and so was the form, ending with a ceremonial feast. We set the bar quite high. We were working towards an experience, not a performance for an audience. The aim was for people to learn from what they experienced.

JOOST The students didn’t touch their computers all week. That’s what I found special about the final ceremony: it was all sensory experiences, with smells, movement, visual things, but also auditory. It felt like a kind of festival, with different things happening in different places. But what I liked most was that the students came out of their comfort zones. Many of them felt safe enough to walk around in unusual costumes, to make noise and dance.

TH I saw the academy becoming a place where people could show something of themselves that they wouldn’t normally display. Perhaps the festive atmosphere was a result of this.

JO This was in keeping with the nature of the Winter School. It’s a place of experimentation and it has a clear connection with the Amsterdam University of the Arts. The students were singing a different tune from the rest of the curriculum. That’s valuable.

Joost, it was up to you this time to invite the artist-in-residence. How did you find Theun?

JO I was inspired by a quote from one of my favourite authors – Ton Lemaire – and I wanted to do something with a cult of the Earth. In the rest of the curriculum I also try to confront students with a different relationship with nature. I spoke to several people and a couple of them mentioned Theun. I hadn’t heard of him at the time. Everyone said: ‘Theun is not only a good artist, but also a pleasure to work with.’ That got me interested: the importance of creating a good atmosphere is often overlooked. When I teach, I try to have fun with the students, first. You have to be comfortable with the group, and from that safety you can say a lot to each other. I made a suggestion to Theun, which he accepted and then completely transformed. I also wanted a joint conclusion at the end, with lots of sensory experiences.

Theun, how did you find the lecturers you invited?

TH I wondered who, given the unusual ambitions, best matched the intended format. I wanted to make sure that all the senses were represented. I also wanted to put together a team consisting of people with different levels of experience of working with students. If you only have people with a lot of experience, you might lean too much on what you already know. If there are a few people with less experience, then it gets exciting for everyone. And when it gets exciting, more is going to happen. Because there’s room for it.

In order to get everyone on the same page, Joost and I created a Winter School Reader. It included a glossary in which we tried to answer questions like: What is the purpose of rituals? What does transmutation mean? One of the key concepts is holism. By this we often mean the way human beings impact the environment. But while making the Reader, I realized that it is important to turn that around as well. What impacts us?

Can you give an example?

TH Adriana Knouf, one of the guest lecturers, is really engaged with the universe. She says: ‘The sky used to speak to us.’ In our everyday lives, we tend to think of the sky dome as something separate from our lives on Earth. The stars don’t really have anything to do with the academy building. Why is that? Is that justified? When you think about the damage our activities on this planet cause, it might be a good idea to reconnect with things we’ve lost touch with, like the sun, the moon and the sea. So, I started looking for →

guest lecturers whose artistry had a connection with this topic. Adriana’s universe was a perfect fit. It was the same with the others.

JO Theun was really open during the process. The initial idea for the closing feast on Friday afternoon was a kind of dinner, something with several courses. But in the groups, all sorts of other ideas came up. One group wanted to make an object while another wanted to work with movement. We did have fixed locations, which we started calling ‘tents’.

TH We used three metaphors: tents, processions and wanderers. The ideas the groups worked on all fit those metaphors. Everything else was open-ended.

Didn’t you find that exciting? It could go either way. After the opening in De Duif I thought: ‘I’m curious for the end result.’

JO We all thought that!

TH I was confident, though. There were some pretty impressive people in the teaching team. The exact shape the closing ceremony would take was up in the air the longest. That was only decided on Thursday evening. We agreed: there’s a starting point, there’s an end point, we have a kind of map of the locations of the tents, and we have a fixed order for the processions. As a teaching team, we can just decide on the pace during the ritual. That worked really well. The energy and action were instant.

Were any of the students sceptical about the topic and the approach?

TH I was initially worried that students might not see its relevance to their practice. We tried to address that question in the Reader. But at some point, I was sure that it wasn’t going to be an issue. After all, students understand why it’s important to experience something and not just reason about it. During this Winter School, students were not presenting while they stood next to a model or a drawing pinned up on a wall, but as they stood in the middle of their research.

JO In general, students are quite good at engaging their intellect. They all study hard and have responsible jobs, so they need to be excellent at planning and have their affairs in order. They’re very much in their heads. The Winter School offered them the opportunity to do physical things.

You brought a drum to the opening in De Duif. After some hesitation, the students started playing it quite enthusiastically. At the academy, too, I regularly heard its beat resonate through the building during the Winter School. What was the purpose of this?

TH I was so glad I decided to take it with me. Sometimes you get tired and less inspired. But if you can play the drum for a while, you always feel like doing something again at some point.

JO We don’t usually work with sound or music at the academy. But the moment you give people a drum, they start telling stories. One of the students said he used to play the drums a lot. Another student started drumming a particular rhythm that’s specific to the region she comes from. When you bring something new to the school, you see that it appeals to some students but not to others. That’s also fine.

TH It’s partly culture specific as well. At the start, someone from India and someone from Turkey were sitting at the drum. They were talking about the rituals in their cultures in which drums are used, and how they are used.

JO That’s what the Winter School is all about. You bring something to the table – a particular object or a specific way of thinking – and then it’s up to the students to engage with it. Some get really excited, while others

The ten groups were:

Universe: The Xenophysics of the Cosmos by Adriana Knouf

Guilty Air by Frank Bloem

Experiencing Time through Taste by The Centre for Genomic Gastronomy (Cat Kramer and Zackery Denfeld)

Glitter by De Onkruidenier (Jonmar van Vlijmen, Rosanne van Wijk and Ronald Boer)

Too Far, too Slow, too Small by Marit Mihklepp

Sensing Spirit: Sound and Listening as Portal into the ‘Spirit World’ by Robbi Meertens

Weaving Tribe by Teun Castelijn

Decolonization and Ancestors: Be(yond) them System: Personal and Collective Transformation & the Need for New Gods by Anne de Andrade

Bodies of Movement by Emma Hoette

Fire by Anna Maria Fink and Elza Berzina

need more time to warm up. Some ideas don’t connect with everyone, and that’s okay too. That’s why the Winter School is so much fun. We bring in things that many students don’t normally come into contact with. The result is like a miracle: all those ideas and objects!

TH From very extravagant things to small, unimposing objects. I should mention that the drums also had another function. We needed to transform the gallery into a ceremonial space. How do you do that in a building that the students already know inside out? I thought about hanging garlands, completely clearing the space, or creating an open fire. The latter wasn’t going to happen. So, I thought about using sound to create a ceremonial atmosphere.

JO Anna Maria Fink and Elza Berzina’s group, whose topic was fire, spent the whole week trying to make a fire in a building where fire is not allowed. They found out that what matters is the pain stimulus, and that the pain of heat is similar to the pain of cold. So, they had a container of ice water in which you had to immerse your hand for as long as possible.

Were there any other interesting outcomes?

TH Anne de Andrade did an exercise that she normally does with native elders and youngsters. There weren’t any elders there, so she asked half the group to imagine they were ancient beings with lots of wisdom and that they were having a conversation with a student. That worked well. We can actually do that, even without practising! It’s amazing what we’re capable of as human beings, without perhaps knowing it ourselves. I saw some interesting things in the other groups too. It’s clear that this is a pretty unusual study week. I hope this freedom of expression will stick around for a while.

JO I was very proud. People had dressed up, people were dancing, there were smells and sounds, it was really an apotheosis. Everything came together.

TH For me, the most important result of this week was the community itself. Beforehand, I thought we were going to connect with the sun, the moon and the universe. But what actually happened was that we connected with each other. ←

A film of the Winter School 2024 can be viewed at: bouwkunst.ahk.nl/ opleidingen2/onderwijsprojecten/winter-school/winter-school-2024/

PAVING THE WAY

Anna

Gasco took over from Markus Appenzeller as the head of the Master’s programme in Urbanism on the same night that the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture celebrated its 115th anniversary.

Text DAVID KEUNING Photos JONATHAN ANDREW

After six years at the head of the Urbanism Master’s programme, Markus Appenzeller handed over the helm to Anna Gasco on 5 October 2023. That day also marked the 115th anniversary of the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. Director Madeleine Maaskant reminded the audience in the Hoge Zaal of how the course began on 5 October 1908. ‘The first lesson was taught by architect Cuypers and was titled “Natuursteen, de steensnede” [Natural stone, stone-cutting],’ she recalled. ‘On the second evening, 6 October, “Bakstenen en andere materialen” [Brick and other materials] followed, and on the third evening, architect Kromhout took over with “Dragende bouwdelen” [Loadbearing structures]. Cuypers and Kromhout, together with Berlage, dreamt about the school of the future, and they established this Academy of Architecture. We’ll never know if it became the school they had in mind. But the guiding principles on which their educational model was based, are still going strong.’

After this brief historical exposé, Maaskant turned to Appenzeller, who had been at the helm of the Urbanism Master’s programme for two terms, totalling six years. ‘It’s your directness and positive attitude that make working with you such a pleasure,’ said Maaskant. She praised his international network and his commitment to teaching at the Academy. ‘Many times on Friday mornings, you entered the meetings of the Board of Studies straight from Schiphol. You were known as the man with the suitcase.’ As well as inviting people from all over the world to teach at the Academy, he also organized many design studios abroad.

After these commendations, Appenzeller gave a short farewell speech. Among other things, he recalled several Eurotours with students, including those to Moscow in 2018 and Berlin in 2019, and saw a bright future for the academy, despite all the social challenges. ‘We should work on a shiny future and that’s actually what I’m going to do right now,’ he said, donning a silver glitter jacket to the amusement of those in attendance. ‘Under the banner (R)evolution Planet we’re working on a climate curriculum that goes beyond climate alarmism.’ As part of the Eurotour 2021, students cycled from the Hook of Holland to the IJsselmeer and then took a sailing boat to Amsterdam. He also created the After Shell Winter School, which encouraged students to become activists.

Current and former heads of the Urbanism Master’s programme are gathered around a bust of architect Willem Kromhout, one of the founders of the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. To his left are Arjan Klok and Miranda Reitsma.

Next to speak was student Hannah Liem, who presented Appenzeller with a gift: a book in which 38 Urbanism students and graduates had contributed a drawing and a personal farewell text, designed by student Madelon Jansen. ‘While making this book it became apparent that coaching young urbanists is very important,’ said Liem. ‘So we’d like to say to you: please keep doing that. This book will show you that what you did is of immeasurable value.’

After receiving the book, Appenzeller introduced his successor, Anna Gasco, to whom he in turn presented a gift. ‘There’s a little tradition in that regard,’ he explained. ‘Hanneke gave her successor Joost a sapling. So I wondered what an urbanist can give related to their own profession.’ He concluded that nothing could be more appropriate than the classic Dutch paving stone, and had the words ‘Head of Urbanism’ affixed to it. ‘Here it is,’ he said. ‘With this, you receive all the weight and responsibility of the job.’

Gasco, who wore silver trousers for the occasion, began her talk by recalling how she first met Appenzeller 15 or 16 years ago, during a job interview in London for architecture firm KCAP. ‘It was in a pub near London Bridge,’ she recalled. ‘Job interviews with you happen in pubs. As a job description you told me in a very Marcus type of way that you were looking for a Swiss knife: a person that is not really specialized in anything but that has a wide range of skills to bring things together. Reflecting on our role as urbanists, in preparation for the lecture tonight, I realized that acting as a Swiss knife was probably the funniest, quirkiest but also most to-the-point description one could give to our work as urbanists. The fact that it comes from you doesn’t surprise me.’

After her lecture, Gasco briefly addressed her new colleagues. ‘Thank you for being so welcoming to me, to Joost and Janna, and to all of the academy. It has been wonderful. It’s only been a month and a half but I can’t wait for the next four years.’ ←

Anna Gasco’s inaugural speech can be read at bouwkunst.ahk.nl/en/research/publications

Markus Appenzeller gives Anna Gasco a classic Dutch paving stone with the words ‘Head of Urbanism’.

CHESS MATES

In the first-year O1a and O1b research classes, students explored various drawing methods. In a separate assignment, they were asked to design and make a series of chess pieces that referred to existing buildings.

Text and Photos JAN RICHARD KIKKERT

First-year students at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture were asked to visit buildings in Amsterdam for an analysis exercise, and capture their observations in a chess piece.

Real site visits are essential for developing a position on architecture. The idea was that translating the buildings into a game would provide a specific way of looking at those buildings, and that playing the game would also immediately remind the students of the visits later in life. The transformation from building to object involved not only the chess pieces themselves, but also their interrelationships in the game.

We started with a visit to René van Zuuk’s Arcam architecture centre, followed by Wiel Arets’s Van der Valk Hotel, Benthem Crouwel’s Stedelijk Museum and Jo Coenen’s public library at the Oosterdok. We concluded with a tour of the new Booking.com headquarters. It was remarkable to note that authorship is no longer important to this generation of idealists. Without much guidance, they all managed to create pieces that dealt with spatiality, construction, programme, building elements, routing and materials, and much more. The chosen format of the game naturally led to an extensive professional discussion. ←

Denisa Mashhadi

Boris Gelauff

Regis Hijnekamp

Loren Greene

Quintie Stam

Joppe Moens

Ibrahim Diab

HouseEurope! is an citizens’ initiative for EU legislation that boosts the renovation of existing buildings and stops demolition driven by speculation. Architect Jolene Lee gave a 1.Lecture about this initiative and its goals.

Text DAVID KEUNING

RENOVATE DON’T SPECULATE

Jolene Lee is an architect and one of five partners at B+ in Berlin. This is a collaborative architecture practice that grew out of Arno Brandlhuber’s office. It’s involved with buildings, media and initiatives aimed at the transformation of the existing building stock. Alongside B+ is S+, a video and film platform that explores these media as formats for architectural storytelling. Three of the most recent films are Legislating Architecture, Architecting after Politics and The Demolition Drama. On 7 March Lee visited the academy to give a 1.Lecture, titled Renovate Don’t Speculate, about HouseEurope!, which aims to promote the renovation of existing buildings and end speculation-driven demolition. After her lecture The Demolition Drama was screened.

Lee began her presentation with some disturbing figures about the European building sector. The Netherlands has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050 and aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 49 per cent in 2030 and 95 per cent in 2050. The building sector is a big part of the problem. It accounts for 35 to 40 per cent of CO2 emissions across Europe. By comparison, aviation currently contributes just 3 per cent.

At the same time, the architecture market continues to grow. Since the financial crisis in 2012, the turnover in the building sector has increased by 40 per cent. At a European level, new construction and renovation each account for 50 per cent of total construction activity. In Italy, it’s between 16 and 84 per cent for renovation. In the Netherlands, it’s 54 to 46 per cent in favour of new construction, close to the European average (all data except for the Dutch are from the 2022 ACE Sector Study The Architectural Profession in Europe, while the Dutch data are from the 2020 edition). At the European level, the average price of materials will increase by 15 per cent in 2023. Land prices will go up even more. In Berlin, which until recently was a shrinking city, the value of land increased by 1,500 percent between 2010 and 2020.

These are the economic realities that shape the built environment. At the same time, individual incomes are not growing at the same rate. Developers therefore need to reduce costs to stay within the client’s budget. Costs can be cut in two ways: material and labour, either by using cheaper materials and reducing scale, or by centralizing the building process and squeezing labour out of the equation. In many cases, developers are cutting both types of costs. This kind of efficiency leads to increasingly similar architecture around the world.

One of the biggest levers for change is legislation, which is why B+ and S+ started HouseEurope! It’s a European citizens’ initiative (ECI in EU lingo), a tool of direct democracy that allows a popular vote on new laws. It allows citizens from any EU country to propose new laws or changes to existing ones. The initiative must gather 1 million signatures from EU citizens in at least seven member states. If it is successful, the EU Commission is required to review the proposed law and set up a task force to oversee its implementation.

At the time of writing, HouseEurope! is still in the awareness phase, spreading ideas within its bubble, while working with European lawyers on legal proposals to register the campaign. Once registered, the campaign will be in full swing. ‘We have 12 months to collect 100 mln signatures until June 2025,’ said Lee. The legal proposals to be submitted are still being studied. Three angles are currently being considered. The first is to introduce a demolition permit for every building that an owner wants to tear down. This is the clearest of the three proposals, but also the most controversial because it will require a lot of extra bureaucracy. The second proposal is CO2 tokenization. The idea is that the grey energy embodied in existing buildings, from materials, transport, construction and operation, is used for energy rating, both in the planning process and in legislation. Buildings would receive a certificate for the CO2 already emitted, which could be used as a token for renovation purposes. The third proposal is a tax incentive. Currently, VAT rates in the EU range from 16 to 22 per cent. This proposal is for a reduction or even an exemption of VAT for renovation projects, especially for housing. Currently, most European countries charge less VAT on new construction than on renovation. HouseEurope! wants to change this. Lee ended her talk with a call for action. ‘Help us collect these 100 mln signatures,’ she said. ← houseeurope.eu ONE LE CT UR ES

Renovate Don’t Speculate Jolene Lee

Previous versions of the story include Tim waking up in an earthen, box-like time machine underground, different soil compositions and shapes of his habitat, and a love interest whom he tragically loses, motivating him to build the time machine and start the story all over again. These earlier versions can all be seen in the sketches.

Omloop becomes a small moat that regulates the water intake from the Dijk and serves as a habitat for bats. Tim lives inside the Dijk. Dug into the inner walls, he has his own little shelter. His own private place. Tim walks out of the courtyard, reflecting on his new home, when he is suddenly sucked into a whirlpool that sends him back to the beginning of the story, where he starts the cycle all over again.

All Art Is Ecological by Tim Morton. Comprised of direct quotes from the book, the project utilizes storytelling methods in order to analyse, formalize and visualize a design, its users and their setting. Tim, the main character, goes through trials and tribulations in order to survive in his newfound home (the academy’s courtyard). Set in Amsterdam in 2100, rising sea levels have submerged the city under 1.5 m of water. Tim wakes up in this reality. Confused and shaken, he finds shelter in the courtyard, which has been overtaken by nature. He discovers a world of living beings, including birds and bees, bats and trees. And so he makes it his home, his own little Garden of Eden. To protect this paradise, he has to battle the rising waters. So he builds a dike: the Dijk The outer walls of the school are encased in earth, protected by cobblestones from the courtyard. In this way, the

This project was inspired by the book

A personal dwelling in an

of the pigment shop and work shop.

architecture of a timber home (left) and windmill (right) typical of the area.

together historical buildings from various locations in the Zaanstreek. While some are authentic and have historical significance, others are replicas or relatively new constructions. Despite this mix, the site actively preserves and displays traditional Dutch architecture and heritage, incorporating iconic elements such as windmills, timber tradition and houses from the Zaan area into the open-air museum setting. But can the Zaanse Schans simply be called a monument? What defines a monument and when does something qualify as such? These questions led to the concept of designing a pigment shop and workshop next to the De Kat pigment windmill, which was historically used to grind pigments and symbolize the region’s rich history of paint production. The aim is to engage people in a dialogue, to evoke recognition and to compel them to reflect on it, while quoting from the past. The choice was made to remove the windmill’s sails and heart, symbolizing a departure from its original function. From its cap, new life is breathed into the structure, embodying the essence of transformation and adaptation. And so it became Un(monument)ed, a contemporary tribute to history. It tells the site’s story by making the space four times larger, reminding visitors of the many mills that used to be there. These buildings are placed on stilts to mimic the polders on which the mills stand, respecting the surrounding environment while making room for workshops. Inspired by the old stolp method, the construction uses wooden beams to create sturdy squares that support the buildings and reflect the region’s history of using timber. Covered with reeds, the workshops blend into the landscape and retain warmth, just as they did in the past. Un(monument)ed goes beyond practicality. It brings back the forgotten history of the Zaanstreek and invites us to reconsider monuments in a new light. Offering an accessible approach, it connects with local heritage by embracing change and reimagining tradition.

Once a place of immense economic value, the Zaanse Schans owed its importance to its strategic location as the industrial area of Amsterdam during the Golden Age, when demand for manufacturing was at its peak. However, industrialization, the Second World War and population growth led to the demise of most of the traditional mills, which were either replaced by factories or lost to destruction. Recognizing the need to preserve the area’s historical heritage, in 1961 the Zaanse Schans Foundation, in cooperation with the municipality, decided to create a district that would authentically reflect life in the Zaan area in the nineteenth century. Now an open-air museum, the Zaanse Schans brings

Zaanse Schans faces the river Zaan and was home to a large amount of traditional windmills.

Sketch of a pigment shop and work shop next to the De Kat pigment windmill.

Plan of the pigment shop and work shop.

Section

Vernacular

From the windmill’s cap, new life is breathed into the structure, embodying the essence of transformation and adaptation.

Covered with reeds, the workshops blend into the landscape and retain warmth, just as they did in the past.

the old stolp method, the construction uses wooden beams to create sturdy squares that support the buildings and reflect the region’s histo ry of using timber.

RECUPERATING A RIVER

Two main interventions are proposed, one large scale and one small scale. The large intervention consists of creating a direct connection between the Maas and the port system. This will allow the river to bring sediment into the harbour areas. The small-scale intervention consists of the creation of a system of piles to act as sediment traps. The result of these two interventions is a harbour that is in some way linked to its dynamic origins. The new link will slowly fill the harbour with sediment, while the push and pull of the tidal system will deposit sediment behind the piles, creating a gradient in the riverbed. Over time, the riverbed will develop into a landscape similar to the tidal landscape of the Wadden Sea. Nature will once again be able to take root and develop along the banks of the Maas.

The P1a project Rights for the River Maas aimed to explore the rights and importance of nature in an area that has been heavily influenced by human intervention. The Rotterdam Delta is such an area. Over time, the influence of nature and natural processes decreased in comparison to human influence. Looking back at the history of this landscape we find that it is an estuary. A place where the influences of the river and the sea come together, resulting in gradients of sweetand saltwater, and the dynamics of high and low tide. In short, it’s a dynamic place. During my research I developed the hypothesis that although the estuarine landscape has been deeply affected, there are still some interesting similarities. The open and closed harbours along the Maas house similar dynamics to the side arms and dead arms we see in a natural water system, and as a result provide opportunities for nature to develop within the urban fabric.

for the River Maas

Section over housing blocks in Leuvehaven.

Sediment flows are rendered in red.

Section over Leuvehaven.

Water flows through Leuvehaven from the river Maas to the river Rotte.

Piles in the embankment act as sediment traps.

A DESIGN FOR THE WEREWOLF

In this project I created a design for a chimera, the werewolf. A werewolf is a human that transforms into a wolf on the night of a full moon. Through research, concepts and design, I have created a dwelling that takes into account the needs of both man and wolf. The wolf illustrates a relevant issue, because the wolf has recently returned to the Netherlands. People think wolves are too dangerous. They are used to there being no danger and want the wolf gone. Through the design of this project, people get used to the presence of the wolf and realize that it is relatively harmless to humans. As the transformation takes place at a fixed time and only once a month, people can get used to the wolf, and therefore the danger, being in their presence. Ultimately, people learn to live with a potential threat in preparation for a future that will hold a variety of threats to humanity. Throughout the designed dwelling, there are spaces for human, for wolf, but also for both. The spaces designed for the human are connected to the city street, while on the side of the park a connection is made for the wolf to roam while transformed. In the middle of the dwelling is a communal area. This is where the transformation between human and wolf can take place. The communal area is an area where functions, uses and materials gradually change from human-centred to wolf-centred.

Section showing the spaces for the human on the street side and the spaces for the wolf on the side of the park.

The house seen from the park.

The wolf’s lair is connected to the park.

In the communal space doors give access to the spaces for the human on the street side.

The wolf can emerge from its lair through a opening in the rock.

middle of the dwelling is a communal area.

MESH SEX CLUB

You park your bicycle in the small glasshouse next to the roundabout. Other people are also busy parking their bikes, but it’s is never too crowded like other parts of Amsterdam. The storage is clean and warm, and you can hear raindrops pattering against the glass ceiling.

It’s a wet autumn night. The days have started to get shorter and as you cycle away from your office a cold wind blows through your jacket.

You have special plans for this evening.

As you lay in the bed and prepare to close your eyes, you turn your head a little and glance outside. The semi-opaque glass creates a gentle filter for the outside lights, and you can also see the columns on the portico and the waterfall behind them. Feeling content, the sound of the waterfall lulls you to sleep.

As you undress and change in the locker room, you look through the glass doors and see a large hall filled with steam and you can smell a gentle scent in the air.

As you go down the entrance stairs and into the main corridor, sounds from the street fade away. There is a golden glow that lights up the corridor, but you can’t be sure where it’s coming from.

In the P1a project In Public we thought about the way that our activities are shaped by the spaces that we have. Many activities that other cultures performed publicly (for example bathing, using the bathroom and praying) are usually done behind closed doors. When I first approached this project, I was reminded of the peepshows in Amsterdam’s Red Light District. The viewing booths are arranged around a circular bedroom where the performance takes place. Because of the window in your cubicle, as a viewer you can see not only the sex workers but also the faces of the other patrons. This is a specific mix of public and private sexual activity. We are used to thinking about sex as an activity that should take place in private, behind closed doors. In the few instances that sex becomes visible in our society (for instance in red lights districts and peepshows) the two worlds clash and there is an overall feeling of griminess and discomfort. With Mesh, I wanted to create a place for public sex that feels like a glamorous continuation of your everyday life into the experience of sex. The term Mesh comes from ‘dream enmeshment’, because the experience should feel familiar yet otherworldly, like a shared hallucination. The project is located in the Weteringschans, in the centre of Amsterdam. The site is in the middle of a roundabout, but the entrance is hidden underground. From afar, the building looks impossible to enter. There are two main areas in the club: an underground bathing area with sauna space, low tables and various-sized pools; and a central bar that leads to the sex area.

From top to bottom: roof plan, ground floor plan, basement plan.

Section.

SERENITY IN THE SEA OF WIND

BRIEF

In this project, I investigated the relationship between wind and sound at the site of the NDSM wharf. I then designed three islands, each with its own sound theme. On Island A, a wind tunnel was created by converging the wind. On Island B, different layers of greenery were applied. You can walk through the different layers, each path giving you a different sound experience. A musical instrument has been placed on Island C. It works with tubes through which the wind blows. The use of different thicknesses and lengths creates different frequencies. This design makes visitors aware of how sound affects their experience of the environ

ment.

Section A-A’: The wind tunnel. Principle of the wind tunnel.

Section C-C’: Wind art. Principle of the wind music.

Section B-B’: The green layers. Principle of the green layers.

Rendering showing the wind music pavilion.

showing the locations of section A-A’ (the wind tunnel), section B-B’ (the green layers) en section C-C’ (wind art).

Map

A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

For the

Form Studies class Inspirational Matter, students were given a two-dimensional work of art and asked to translate it into a three-dimensional object.

Text MARLIES BOTERMAN Photos MARLIES BOTERMAN, RICKY RIJKENBERG, DENISA MASHHADI

Matter is everything around us. We’re not above matter, we are matter. For architects, urban designers and landscape architects, matter is the foundation of a design. Matter has many manifestations and properties. It has texture, structure, form, colour, shine, smell. It is cold, liquid, hard, coarse, light, soft, reflective, strong, heavy, porous, fine, shiny, matte, round, angular, sharp. It is alive, self-forming, pre-existing, energizing and so much more.

Part of the first year Form Studies programme is Inspirational Matter. This exercise aims to highlight the interdisciplinary aspects of work in the fields of architecture, urbanism and landscape architecture. Inspiration can come from anywhere and is often drawn from other creative environments such as music, film, theatre, photography, fine art, choreography, literature and design.

Modern architecture, whether it’s a structure, an urban design or a landscape, often starts with a set of technical and functional requirements based on a conventional understanding of how a user might engage with the space. More often than not, there is a dominance in our culture to value what we see over other senses and so in design there is naturally a tendency to rely on pictorial influences that ultimately produce spaces that mainly engage us visually.

If instead we engaged the user’s multiple senses, we might invite a wider human experience of a given space. To explore this more complex set of values that a space could offer, this year’s exercise used fine art as the key source of inspiration. Specifically, the work of two artists: Ellsworth Kelly and Frank Stella. They may not be spatial designers, but it could be argued that their two-dimensional work has similarities to the qualities and methods required to produce innovative spaces.

The group of 50 students were all assigned a unique piece of art at the start of the course. Twenty-five by Ellsworth Kelly and 25 by Frank Stella. Using these two-dimensional graphic paintings as a starting point, the students were asked to design a three-dimensional interpretation by creating a series of models, sectional drawings and finally a diorama image. This exercise is an intuitive design task without knowing the final outcome. The aim is to learn how to embrace spatial surprises and how to respond to them during the making process.←

Special thanks to Matty Gaikhorst, Emmalot Morel, Alexandra Nicolau and Peter Schuitemaker.

THE COLOSSAL ROCK

Melissa Pearson

In the heart of the desert, where the relentless winds sculpt tales into the sand, stands a colossal rock, a haven of secrets hewn by the hands of time. This monolithic guardian, weathered and worn, harbours a labyrinth of chambers within its ancient embrace. Some cradled by nature’s patient caress, organic and weathered, while others boast defiant angles, sharp and unyielding.

As the sandstorms rage outside, a symphony of spaces unfolds within the rock’s stony sanctum. Hushed alcoves beckon with their gentle depths, where whispers of solitude dance with shadows. Here, carved sand baths await, offering refuge in the gentle accumulation of time-worn grains, a tactile sanctuary for those seeking solace. Amid the stone’s silent song, chambers resonate with perfect acoustics. Musicians unfurl melodies, and the harmonies ripple through the entire rock, inviting dancers to sway on a floor worn smooth by countless rhythmic tales. Each note reverberates, finding refuge in the rock’s nooks. Outside, the textured canvas provides a challenge for climbers, ascending to heights where the world unfolds in panoramic splendour. At the summit, a breath-taking vista reveals the vast expanse of desert, a reminder that even in the harshest embrace, beauty and refuge endure within the heart of the colossal rock.

COSMIC RESILIENCE: THE CUBE OASIS IN THE FACE OF NATURE’S FURY

Sam Vork

Hidden in the midst of a world where natural disasters prevail and constant extreme weather conditions reign, the Cube Oasis stands as a colossal testament to human adaptability in the face of an unpredictable future. This impressive cube, a city unto itself, is imbued with a network of transparent tubes that serve as a safe haven amid the tumultuous elements. As you navigate through the intricate tunnels, the vision unfolds of a city spared from the ruthless forces of nature. Within the protective walls of the cube, the tubes are not challenged but act as a buffer, allowing residents to live without being aware of the extremes beyond.

The Cube Oasis captures the essence of a city surrounded by natural disasters, yet where daily life continues without hindrance from the outside world. Here, theatres offer performances as an escape from tumultuous conditions, zoos provide a serene sanctuary amid the chaos of nature, and restaurants and bars become places where people gather without the constant threat of external extremes. The Cube serves as an oasis of peace and stability in a world tormented by unpredictable natural elements.

URBAN OASIS

03. Making a transition in zones in the landscape

02. Connecting natural zones to create a larger ecological area

01. Creating a contrast between natural and cultural zones

IJ-plas as part of a larger green wedge into the city.

The Noorder

‘The frame’ and the central pavilion, marking the barrier of the ecological zone.

06. Adding a key element that shows, but also connects, the contrasting zones

05. Protecting the natural zone from urban pressure

04. Main flow and activity in one place to give nature space

Several artistic objects are placed and scattered around the site. The structures are made from the collected waste found on the site and are based on the main target species of the IJ-park. The aim of these objects is to make a statement about the human impact on nature and to make people more aware of the amount of pollution that areas like this have to deal with today. New residents around the park can contribute to this initiative, cleaning the site and building the structures. A close-knit community can emerge that will value the area more and maintain it with care.

The Noorder IJ-plas has become very polluted over the years due to the dumping of soil and the use of the area as a wasteland. Nature finds it hard to thrive. This human scar is still clearly visible in the soil, in the roots of the trees and on the ground. There is also a large human impact on a larger scale. The expansion of Amsterdam and Zaandam puts a lot of pressure on the area, making it harder for ecosystems to exist. In addition, the A10 motorway forms a noticeable barrier between the ’t Twiske nature reserve and the IJ-plas, blocking any possibility for animal species to move between the two. Despite the amount of pollution, the Noorder IJplas is a rich natural area. With future developments to turn the area into a new city park between Amsterdam and Zaandam, there is an opportunity to regenerate the landscape and give it a new start. But should we still allow people into this ecological zone? ‘The frame’ is a distinctive line that protects nature from urban pressure, allowing it to grow properly. The number of places where you can enter the nature reserve is limited. Once you find one, you really have to step into nature, so to speak. Man becomes a visitor in this green oasis. As you walk through this green paradise, you will pass through several natural zones, each contributing to a strong ecosystem for different flora and fauna. These landscape transitions provide opportunities for endangered species to return and for new species to move into the plan area. In addition, the landscape is connected to the ’t Twiske nature reserve by a passageway under the motorway, allowing safe passage for animals and insects. Each natural zone represents a main species, which together form the ‘big five’ of the IJ-park. All urban activity takes place in the cultivated zone. A flowing route runs through the area, connecting Amsterdam-Noord and Zaandam. Various forms of activity are linked to this route, from swimming and canoeing to natural play elements. The pavilion is a key point in the park. It’s a place where people can meet and learn about nature and the impact of human pollution. A 360-degree view allows visitors to see the two contrasting zones.

Entering nature’s paradise.

Flowing route running through the cultivated zone.

PAUSE

My design entails a transformation of the Noorder IJ-plas into a serene and tranquil park, distanced from the busy city of Amsterdam. I’ve envisioned the entire area as a sanctuary, enclosed by a huge living sound wall. Inside, a sculpture garden awaits, together with an underwater museum. I aimed to create a peaceful spot in the city, where people can escape the fast pace of urban life. There’s a natural desire for people to find peace in nature and take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city. The garden is accessible through this entrance, deliberately designed to gradually narrow as you proceed through it. This deliberate narrowing effectively diminishes the noise emanating from nearby motorways and industries, creating a transition into a quieter, more serene environment, where the sounds of the city slowly fade into the background. A meandering path runs through the garden, leading visitors through the grounds and into the museum. Along the way there are numerous sculptures and installations thoughtfully placed in the varied landscape. The garden itself is divided into four distinct ecologies, each contributing to the reduction of external noise. Beginning with the dunes, followed by the hills, then the woodland and finally the introduction to the water in the meadow. Here, a hidden path of solar panels, just below the water’s surface, leads the way to the entrance of the building, creating a captivating journey towards serenity and tranquillity. Walking over the water provides a unique perspective of the site. When you reach the stairs, you descend below the water level and enter a corridor that wraps around the building, offering captivating views over the water. The corridor leads to a room where you can relax with a drink and take in the surroundings from the water’s perspective. Continuing your journey, you pass through an open auditorium with steel walls where films can be shown, before descending further into a spiral staircase that surrounds a large void in the centre of the building. The first exhibition space you encounter is a concrete room with a spacious rounded window that frames the water around you. The building is nestled in the hole in the pond, and this space offers a glimpse of that subterranean world, shedding light on the hidden depths beneath the surface. Next, you enter a textile-covered room with a marble floor, illuminated by light from above. Descending to the final level, wood becomes the main material. Natural light filters through the conical void, creating caustic patterns that are projected onto the walls and ceiling, providing an interesting experience. Following this space, you enter a meditation area –a spacious, coneshaped room illuminated from above, with a large stone wall where water trickles down. In the background, you can hear the soothing sound of water dripping. Throughout the journey, there’s a continuous connection to the water. As you descend, the materials change from cold steel to warm wood, and the spaces gradually decrease in height, instilling a sense of calm in the visitors.

Floor plan and section of the underwater museum.

The entrance stairs to the underwater museum is flush with the water level. A circular stairwell winds down to the lowest floor.

The site is influenced by many factors, from noise pollution to visual obstructions and plans for future development.

Section over the entire area. From left to right: entrance, dunes, hills, forest, meadow and water.

The area leading up to the underwater museum serves as a sanctuary, enclosed by a huge living sound wall. Inside, a sculpture garden awaits.

While the remaking of the landscape is strongly embedded in Dutch spatial history, I wanted to explore the transition from the traditional Dutch

losophy of ‘makeable nature’ to a future built by ‘living with nature’.

In this project, we designed not only in space but also in time, imagining what the Noorder IJ-plas would look like in 20 years’ time. With such a long timescale, the first task was to recognize the unknowns and minimize them. This way the design is balanced between the possible and the fantastic. It also allowed us to aim for both the pessimistic and the optimistic future. The themes of water management, food security and housing will continue to shape our spatial environments, so I focused on designing these three typologies to meet the challenges of the future. In order to do so, we need to reconsider the traditions and assumptions that have shaped the land we’ve lived on for centuries.

Tse

Lehner

Noorder IJ-plas 2123: From collateral leftover to ultimate destination

Urban development strategies, now to 2050 (left), 2050 to 2100 (middle), 2100 and beyond

Energy and water strategies, now to 2050 (left), 2050 to 2100 (middle), 2100 and beyond (right).

Agriculture strategies, now to 2050 (left), 2050 to 2100 (middle), 2100 and beyond (right).

(right).

REIMAGINING HOUSING FOR MIGRANT WORKERS

The current asylum centre is in Park Bosruiterweg in Zeewolde, far away from Almere. Migrant work ers who have been driven out of the city are gathered in a designated area, severing their links with city life and social activities.

Unfortunately, migrant workers have minimal agency in choosing their new country based on living standards. In essence, flexibility becomes crucial not only in architectural terms, but also in promoting the freedom necessary for individuals to express, define and exist as themselves. The lack of integration hinders cultural exchange and understanding, and obstructs the formation of a cohesive social fabric in cities. This fragmentation can lead to isolated social networks, limiting opportunities for collaborative problem-solving and community growth. When migrant workers are not integrated into the wider social context, they can experience feelings of discouragement and alienation, which can affect their overall wellbeing and mental health. In addition, they lose the opportunity to make connections and build networks for future job and life opportunities. The residents of these uniform buildings, built with low-cost materials in a style reminiscent of the Flexwoningen approach, lack the opportunity to modify and personalize their living space. This restriction exacerbates the sense of isolation of these people, who are already distant from social life, and leads to a lack of comfort in their cramped living quarters. Housing for migrant workers prioritizes space and material costs over considerations of human values, adding to the challenges they face in finding a sense of belonging and peace in their living conditions. In view of all these problems, the project aims to answer the following research question: Given the economic conditions, what strategies can be used to effectively integrate immigrant workers into urban life, fostering a harmonious coexistence with the existing community and allowing them greater autonomy in determining their standard of living? As an example, it proposes a new approach to housing for the residents of the Park Bosruiterweg. By repurposing the recently demolished De Beurs office building in Almere, the project aims to demonstrate how such initiatives can benefit both migrant workers and the wider community.

cific applications.

In the Park Bosruiterweg in Zeewolde, migrant workers who have been driven out of the city are gathered in a designated area and face a significant decline in their standard of living. This situation has severed their links with city life and social activities, limiting them to a restricted range of leisure activities in a confined space. They also lack the opportunity to interact with people from different backgrounds, fostering feelings of alienation, fear of others and a pervasive sense of mistrust among the population. Agencies exert considerable influence over various aspects of migrant workers’ lives, determining job assignments, daily working hours, transport costs and even controlling access to housing through spe -

Ayça Sevinç

STUDENT

P3bO3b

PROJECT

MASTER Architecture

TUTOR

Renzo Sgolacchia and Piero Medic ASSIGNMENT Reimagining Housing for Migrant Workers: Exploring flexibility and empowering freedom

The project repurposes the recently demolished De Beurs of fice building in Almere.

View from the repurposed De Beurs of fice building in Almere.

New configuration using existing wall elements.

MODERN FAMILY

of framing moments and the blurring of the traditional indoor and outdoor spaces. The materiality of the building will be comprised of bio-based and reused materials such as bio-bricks, timber and recycled concrete. One of my primary take aways of the project was the notion that envisioning homes tailored to the distinct personalities and requirements of modern families has the potential to craft extraordinary

ing spaces — where architecture becomes

tive, weaving stories and breathing

surroundings.

allowed the opportunity to create a unique nonblood bound “family” in a city or country very far away from their blood family. Through interviewing the users and working alongside them, I attempted to mimic a housing cooperative and create a new rhetoric of my own. This notion of family is particularly powerful because it provides the opportunity for people from various walks of life to come together and connect over similar values and challenge each other to grow and see the world in different ways. Architecturally, the design was centered around creating unique and tailor made spaces, creation

take into consideration the inclusion of the multi-species of bees, bats, birds and butterflies. The approach to this multi-species consideration will consider the optimum habitat for the creatures, while using anthropomorphic ideas to fulfill the concept of home and habitat. This project intends on questioning and commenting on the societal norms and the reasoning behind the traditional family home. Intentions to challenge patriarchal, domestic, social and political standards. I decided to define my clients as real people, choosing a group of 6 young adults who already exist as a somewhat modern family. People who have been

This project was a residential architecture project in Mr Visserplein in Amsterdam. The intention of the studio was to design a new way of living and developing in the heart of Amsterdam. The ambition was to create a design that caters for the human and non human. My design intent was to create an innovative re-imagining of the ‘family home’ that transcends conventional boundaries. The design will not only cater to the unique desires and requirements of each family member but will also nurture a harmonious and vibrant family life, cultivating a truly invigorating home environment. This family home will need to

Yus and Simon Whittle

Living with Each and Every Other

Room in Olly’s part of the house. He’s a sustainability professional at a sports brand. Models.

Room in Aidan and Julia’s part of the house. They are a sustainability account manager and an architect.

Framing moments.

Room in Nina and Britt’s part of the house. They are a sustainability professional and a dynamic movements coach specializing in yoga and pilates.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Hierarchy of networks. Main distribution route (top), local connector (middle), green vein (bottom).

environment. By introducing different types and scales of food production and distribution within a framework of blocks and networks, this design facilitates opportunities for local residents and entrepreneurs to create new food options. These opportunities range from small planters on balconies to large-scale greenhouses on top of existing warehouses. In addition to these production sites, distribution is also needed. Of course, food has to travel from producer to consumer. When individual households grow their own vegetables, this distribution is very easy. But on a neighbourhood or city scale, small shops, supermarkets or distribution centres are needed. These are located on the central axes in Tarwewijk. There will also be a research and education facility in the neighbourhood. This school will teach local youth about growing food in the city. The design interventions in this project are primarily aimed at creating opportunities for local and regional food production in the city. By shortening distances in the food production chain, the carbon footprint of distribution can be reduced. Meanwhile, local food production can lead to greater awareness of nutrition and care for the local environment. A second goal of the project is to improve the quality of (public) spaces in Tarwewijk. Communal gardens, orchards and fruit trees will be scattered around the now often unpleasant public spaces. These will be accompanied by herbs, tall grass and other vegetation that will serve pollinating insects. This will improve biodiversity, and new public spaces can stimulate social interaction. This design strategy was created for Tarwewijk, but because of the toolkit of different production and distribution sites, it could be implemented in different urban areas. This will not be enough to create fully self-sufficient urban foodscapes (although intensive areas could come a long way), but it will contribute to a healthier production chain and a nicer neighbourhood.

What potential do existing urban areas have for food production? Not only to produce food for residents, but also to increase the quality of life? This was the main challenge I set for myself in the P3b project Urban Design, Nature and Climate Resilience: Transforming Tarwewijk. Tarwewijk is a neighbourhood in the south of Rotterdam. The neighbourhood was built to accommodate housing for workers in the nearby flour mills and grain silos. In that sense, Tarwewijk (which translates literally to ‘wheat district’) has always had a strong connection to food production and distribution. The design for Tarwewijk extends this relationship by creating a new food landscape in a dense urban

Urban Design, Nature, and Climate

Resilience: Transforming Tarwewijk

Residential block.

Spatial concept. A hierarchy of blocks (left) and a hierarchy of networks (right).

Mixed block.

OLD AND NEW LAND

This year’s Holland tour took students to the provinces of Flevoland and North Holland.

Text OENE DIJK Photos MILDRED ZOMERDIJK

The Holland tour 2023 had as its theme old and new land. The first day, Friday 16 June, focused on new land in the Flevo polders. We visited land art project De Groene Kathedraal, residential neighbourhood Almere Oosterwold, Lelystad Centrum and Lelystad Haven, before traveling by boat to the newest piece of the Netherlands: the Marker Wadden, an archipelago in the Markermeer. Colleagues from Bureau Vista, responsible for the landscape design, explained the underlying ideas. The journey continued across the Houtribdijk (also known as Markerwaarddijk or dike Enkhuizen-Lelystad) to the village of Andijk, where tents were pitched for the communal dinner.

The second day’s theme was old land. It started with a visit to the Reformed Church in Andijk, a striking expressionist building designed by architect Egbert Reitsma. From Andijk we cycled along the dike to Enkhuizen, where we visited a nineteenth-century garden village called Snouck van Loosenpark (one of the first social housing projects in the Netherlands) and the Zuiderzee Museum. We continued the bicycle tour to Hoorn, where we walked through the Juliana Park and the historical town centre. The final event took place in the Oosterkerk of Hoorn, where we discussed some facets of the town’s history, including the Dutch East India Company and its trading policies. It was an thought-provoking end to a very stimulating two days. ←

The Marker Wadden are a perfect place for birdwatching.

Exposure is a steel artwork on the Markerstrekdam in Lelystad by Antony Gormley.

This observation tower on the Marker Wadden was designed by Ziegler Branderhorst.

WALK THE TALK

In the Erasmus+ Summer School

students surveyed the networks of architectural production.

Text JEROEN VAN MECHELEN

The circular economy – if we are to believe the media – is rapidly replacing the linear economy. Architecture and construction newsfeeds are abuzz with circular and biobased innovations. But are they really put into practice?

In this Summer School, students investigated the companies that practice what they preach. What is needed for a circular economy, what are the challenges of this transformation, and what does it mean for the position of the architect? And what are the consequences for design, building materials and responsibilities within the construction team?

Four schools of architecture participated in this Erasmus+ Summer School: The University of Antwerp in Belgium, the University of Vaduz in Liechtenstein, the University of Volos in Greece and the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture in the Netherlands.

For two weeks, these four schools conducted research in three phases. Students first conducted desktop research in each of the four cultural contexts, recording local findings in diagrams and statements. The students then took part in field trips to designers, demolition companies, manufacturers and builders in both Belgium and the Netherlands. The visits provided new insights into how to achieve low-impact building through the intelligent use of space, processes and materials. Finally, the students produced process diagrams representing the future of architectural design, material production and construction processes, including new roles for all parties involved. Much more than expected, these three phases revealed new information. Research within each cultural context revealed how the concept of ‘circularity’ is interpreted differently in the participating students’ countries. During the field trips, the participants met and learned in depth from the companies that put their money where their mouth is when it comes to reused and new (biobased) materials. The students also imagined how this rethinking of traditional relationships might affect the positions of existing stakeholders. This ‘rethinking of the networks’ offered many exciting and promising new insights into the role of architects and how they can and should adapt to new circular construction practices. Circularity invites architects to embrace new forms of creativity in more phases of the design process, and offers many opportunities to play an even more central and guiding role in the design and building processes. This was a great conclusion to the Summer School and a promising perspective for the circular-minded architect.←

The students took part in field trips in both Belgium and the Netherlands.

A DECADE OF EMILA

The Academy of Architecture organized the EMiLA Summer School 2023, which was the tenth anniversary of the exchange programme. To mark the occasion, Karin Helms gave a lecture on the history of the development of the collaboration.

Text DAVID KEUNING Photos JONATHAN ANDREW

The five courses that make up the European Master in Landscape Architecture take turns organizing the EMiLA Summer School, where students work together on a design challenge in the field. The Amsterdam Academy of Architecture organized a Summer School in the artificial archipelago of the Marker Wadden in 2017 and it was the Netherlands’ turn again in 2023. This time the meeting place was the Wongema Inn in Hornhuizen in the north of Groningen, where 16 students worked together to ‘design the future of the Wadden Sea coast’. After a few days, the group moved on to Amsterdam, where on 24 August landscape architect Karin Helms held a lecture on the history of the European Master on the occasion of EMiLA’s tenth anniversary. Helms, introduced by director Madeleine Maaskant as ‘the mother of EMiLA’, is a professor at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO) and chair of the European branch of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA). Previously, she was head of the design programme at ENSP Versailles for 14 years. Because of her international contacts, including those in Denmark and France, in 2006 she was asked by the then president of the IFLA, during the fourth edition of the European Biennial of Landscape Architecture in Barcelona, to set up a European programme for landscape architecture students, although it was not yet clear what form this would take. Helms began informal discussions with potential partners and launched a prize for student work. Two years later, contacts had been established between five now participating institutes. The courses, which had in common that their curricula were organized around design studios, agreed that they were going to set up a ‘North-South European Landscape Master’, or ‘at least have more relationship between us’. A presentation of the various European schemes that could be relevant to the project followed at a meeting of the Le:Notre institute at ENSP Versailles in 2019 and after the relevant grant was awarded, the joint Master became a reality in 2013.

In her lecture, Helms talked about the various Summer Schools and the topics they had covered. One of the features of the Summer School is that participating students create a design for a particular site in one week. This is a brief period of time. During one Summer School in Normandy, the participants studied agricultural plots separated by hedgerows. The farmers were amazed that people from all over Europe would come together and, in just one week, design the future of the land on which they themselves had lived for generations. ‘Maybe we should involve users and owners in the design studio for a longer period of time somehow,’ said Holms, ‘so they can be part of the process.’

Contacts between the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture and EMiLA have been maintained by the successive heads of the Master in Landscape Architecture: Eric Luiten (1999-2004), Noël van Dooren (2004-2009), Marieke Timmermans (2009-2014) and Maike van Stiphout (2014-2018). Van Stiphout remained in charge of EMiLA after the end of her term, passing the baton to the current head of Landscape Architecture, Joost Emmerik, after Helms’ lecture. Madeleine Maaskant also thanked Eva Radionova, who was responsible for the e-learning part of the EMiLA programme. Her duties have been taken over by Jacques Abelman. Helms, meanwhile, is already thinking about expanding the programme further. Ten years after starting EMiLA, she has now also invited her current employer, the AHO, to become a partner in the network. Ahead of the formal confirmation of membership, two of the 16 students attending the Summer School 2023 were from Oslo.← emila.eu

EMiLA is the European Master in Landscape Architecture. Participating in 2023 were the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, École Nationale Supérieure de Paysage Versailles, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Universitat Polytècnica de Catalunya and guest university Arkitekturog designhøgskolen i Oslo.

A LABORATORY FOR LIVING WITH NATURE

The 2023 EMiLA Summer School took place on and around the Wadden Sea in the North of the Netherlands.

Text and Photos MAIKE VAN STIPHOUT

The EMiLA exchange programme includes a Summer School. It is organized every year by one of the partner schools. The aim is to build the EMiLA community and learn from each other’s culture and teaching methods. The EMiLA Summer School 2023 was in the hands of the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, in particular of Maike van Stiphout (coordinator of the EMiLA programme) and Eva Radionava (alumna and EMiLA e-learning teacher).

The educational goal is to design for a world in which human and non-human beings live in greater balance. Some examples in the Netherlands show that we are slowly moving in the right direction, but it’s not fast enough. We used to build dikes and engineering works to protect us from the sea, and now we are making tiny holes in them to allow fish to migrate again. We still have some of the most intensive and industrialised agriculture in the world, but also a growing group of farmers with new initiatives such as regenerative and socially inclusive farms. We have the world’s first Zoöp, an organisational model for cooperation between human and non-human life that safeguards the interests of all zoë. And while the Netherlands aims to build 1 million houses in cities, various NGOs and government agencies are developing a policy for nature-inclusive building.

The Wadden Sea is a Unesco World Heritage Site because of its unique and rich nature. It will disappear due to global sea level rise and loss of biodiversity. The adjacent land behind the dikes is mainly used for intensive agriculture; with the use of lots of pesticides, the best seed potatoes grow here.

We went on a beautiful mud walk to experience the nature. Experts guided us through the landscape and inspired us each in their own way. And we had many lectures about future scenarios for coastal landscapes, in search of a new balance between nature and man. What did we achieve? We worked towards a possible future in which humans live with other living creatures that like to live there. We set up the Parliament of Wongema, the name of the hostel where we stayed. The parliament gives voice and rights to the other-than-humans. Some of us acted as species guardians, making sure that all species have an equal seat at the planning table. A meeting was held and a beautiful short film was made of it. We also imagined a future where we live with the sea, rather than building dikes to keep it out. Dikes can be breached to create more floodplains, replacing agricultural fields. This also means accepting unpredictability in our living environment.

Current crops can be replaced by crops that are more natural and saltwater resistant than the current seed potato industry. In all cases, humans will step back and make room for the Wadden Sea ecosystem, without withdrawing completely. In these scenarios, landowners’ income could shift to tourism. Moving inland can create beautiful, diverse, rich and attractive landscapes. These dreams for the future were made visible and seductive with models made of Wadden clay and objects collected during the excursions, plans, cross-sections, videos and even flags made of local herb prints. In this ten-day Summer School, we developed an active perspective for landscape architects to work towards a world that offers a much better balance between humans and non-humans. And we practised the narratives needed to move in this direction. ←

THE BARN REBORN

In September, several students and teachers travelled to Norway as part of an Erasmus+ workshop to rebuild an old barn into a new one.

Text and Photos JEROEN VAN MECHELEN

The P5O5 assignment ‘The lifecycles of trees and timber’ by Machiel Spaan and Gilbert Koskamp focused on how local timber can play a meaningful and sustainable role in more or less the same place for as long as possible.

On a beautiful site next to the little village of Eggkleiva, near Trondheim in Norway, 50 students from five international schools dismantled the last remnants of a 100-year-old barn. At first glance, the barn looked dilapidated, but it still held surprisingly useful material. It was the start of a labour-intensive week of true building efforts.

In six days the students harvested, cleaned, de-nailed, gathered, selected, improved, chiselled, cut, assembled and constructed a new gravel-stone and beam foundation, timber portal structures, roof trusses, façades, a timber floor, cooling and ventilation hatches, windows and a roof.

A special project within the timber barn was the construction of a rammed earth wall. The massive task of gathering, drying and sifting the local clay and gravel, building the formwork, and finally ramming the earth resulted in a beautiful centrepiece containing a historical, reclaimed and reworked piece of green natural stone from the local cathedral in Trondheim. This wall will accumulate and return the solar energy coming into the barn.

The barn will be used as a chicken coop, a greenhouse and a folly for morning coffee as it is the perfect place to take in the beautiful setting on the lake. We look back on an amazing week and a fantastic achievement. ←

In six days the students harvested, cleaned, de-nailed, selected, and assembled timber portal structures and roof trusses.

The participating schools were the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, the NTNU Faculty of Architecture and Design Trondheim from Norway, Universität Liechtenstein, Antwerpen University and the University of Thessaly from Greece. The participating builders, students and teachers from Amsterdam were Fernanda Bittencourt, Nigo Farida Atta, Emma Diehl, Maelle Turgeon, Babs Hofland, Jeroen de Rooij, Mauricio Rodriguez Glaudemans, Nadèche Westrus, Machiel Spaan, Gilbert Koskamp and Jeroen van Mechelen.

Students and staff stayed in tents facing a lake.

The new barn will be used as a chicken coop, a greenhouse and a folly for morning coffee.

CONSTRUCTIVE ALIGNMENT

Over the past year, the Academy of Architecture has been working on a number of educational improvements in the testing and assessment field.

Text HENRI SNEL AND DAVID KEUNING

In 2021, the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture underwent an accreditation. This occurs every six years, when an external, independent panel assesses the educational curriculum. To gain a clear understanding of this, members of the panel visit the academy for a socalled ‘visitation’ to talk with lecturers, students and staff. In the accreditation report, the panel members praised the academy’s educational curriculum, which they found to be both challenging and effective. However, they did have some recommendations. One of these was ‘to reach a consensus about the objectives and functions of the annual examination, to reach transparency in this assessment for the students and ensure that there is proper benchmarking among the different examiners’.

The academy has taken these and other recommendations to heart and launched an improvement project.

The first results will be visible in the next academic year. We have made adjustments in the area of testing and assessment, and we will also be introducing a reflective learning path in the coming year. This article addresses the background and initial results of this project.

The Academy of Architecture works with guest lecturers and guest assessors. This allows us to draw on the expertise of 350 external experts for teaching and for the comprehensive annual assessment. It is essential that these experts are all instructed in the same way about the purpose and design of the assessments. The visitation panel’s comment on benchmarking relates to this. In response, we first of all produced a Reflection and Assessment Syllabus for all lecturers and assessors at the academy. In this syllabus, we stress the importance of reflection and feedback and we explain the difference between formative and summative assessment. In short: a summative assessment is about pass or fail, while a formative assessment is about professional and personal development. The aim is for the comprehensive annual assessment to focus more on feedback, feedforward and feedup, and less on the assessment of the work itself (which, after all, has already been assessed by lecturers earlier in the year).

It is very important for students to have ownership of their studies, to have a clear understanding of their own development at any given time. Until recently, this was not easy for them. Although the learning objectives for each subject were described in the study guide, there was no consistency with the assessment forms, which were very concise and the same for each learning path throughout the entire course. The assessment forms did not reflect the expected progress of students during the course. In other words, there was room for improvement in terms of constructive alignment, that is, in the connection between learning objectives, teaching methods and assessment methods. There was also room for improvement in the transparency of the project briefs, for both lecturers and students.

Based on the learning outcomes in the Architect’s Title Act, we first compiled all the existing learning objectives together and discussed them in several working sessions with students, lecturers, the Heads of Department and members of the academy council, programme committee and examination board. Questions included: Are the learning objectives still relevant? Are they clear? Are any missing? We identified 49 learning objectives for the entire educational curriculum, which we divided into six main skills: design, research, internationalization, communication, process and positioning. We then formulated all the learning objectives at the level of academic years 1, 2 and 3-4. In this way, the complexity of the learning objectives increases as the course progresses.

We then consulted with the Heads of Department to assign these learning objectives to all the subjects in a test matrix. We looked not only at the learning objectives per subject, but also at the interrelationship between the learning objectives and the frequency of the learning objectives throughout the course. From the start of the next academic year, the new learning objectives will be listed in the study guide. This will ensure that students and staff are always clear about the learning objectives of a course and the criteria against which students will be assessed at the end of the course.

Together with our colleagues Irene Noordkamp and Jutta Grabowski and developer Floris Leurink from the software company Leerpodium, we translated the learning objectives into online assessment forms that are unique for each subject. We used so-called single-point rubrics, which means that only the level ‘pass’ is defined on the assessment forms. Lecturers who wish to deviate from this assessment approach and give a grade of ‘fail’, ‘good’ or ‘very good’ must describe how their assessment differs from the ‘pass’ level. Lecturers are also required to provide more extensive feedback, feedforward and feedup than before. The teaching allowance has been raised to compensate for the extra time involved. The single-point rubric ensures better calibration between assessors, as it is clear what level the academy considers worthy of a ‘pass’. This further objectifies what was previously a largely intersubjective assessment.

In the digital learning environment Stages (made by Leerpodium), students will have access to a personal overview of the status of all learning objectives for the entire course. This allows them to see which learning objectives they have already achieved and which still need attention. They can tell lecturers which learning objectives they want to focus on in class. They can also take an elective that specifically addresses the learning objectives they have not yet achieved. Also, during the comprehensive annual assessment, assessors can raise issues in a much more targeted way than before. For example, if a learning curve goes up, the assessor can ask the student to comment on it. What has the student done that can now lead to a more positive assessment? This transparency and clarity should reduce the stress students currently experience during comprehensive annual assessments. Together with the emphasis on formative feedback, the comprehensive annual assessment becomes an open conversation about professional and personal development, in addition to an assessment of work on display. In educational terms, this is called assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning.

Another innovation is the introduction of a reflective learning path in the coming academic year, alongside projects, research, form studies and lectures. Learning to reflect on one’s work takes time and the reflective learning path will give students experience of reflective conversation, peer review and self-assessment. Reflective clinics at the end of the academic year prepare students for the comprehensive annual assessment. In addition, from the next academic year, second- and third-year students will have two self-study weeks twice a year, giving them more time to reflect on their own work. In addition to the improvements described above, the academy has made a number of other adjustments that contribute to this goal. For example, the academy provides online training for assessors of the comprehensive annual assessments, in which they elaborate on the topics described in the syllabus. In addition, the academy provides detailed information on the desired assessment methods during so-called pre-meetings with lecturers and assessors, prior to the project assessment and the comprehensive annual assessment, respectively. Also, the comprehensive annual assessments now take place throughout the day instead of the evening, allowing more time for conversation and reflection.

The work is not yet complete. By the end of the first semester of the coming academic year, students and lecturers will have had their first experience of the new assessment forms. We will assess their experience with them in a midterm evaluation in February 2025. In addition, the project described above is not yet complete, either: the committee meetings during graduation year and the final exam should also have their own learning objectives and assessment forms. The same applies to the minors and premasters offered by the academy. We will use the results of the midterm evaluation to inform the process going forward. We expect the new assessment system to be in place by the end of the 2024-2025 academic year, so that the academy can face the next accreditation with confidence. ←

INSECT CITY

For the Materials and Design course, part of the Architecture Minor, students worked on housing for insects.

Text and photos MARLIES BOTERMAN

Earth, the bedrock of our existence, often goes unnoticed and underappreciated. It’s a resource with incredible potential: every year significant quantities of untarnished earth in the Netherlands end up in landfills. In this project we explored the potential of raw earth as an exceptionally sustainable construction material, offering a compelling alternative to processed materials.

Insect City consists of a series of blocks with different sizes, volumes and colours using a red mix of rammed earth (1,000 kg) and 30 recycled ceramic roof tiles. Each block is unique because each group of students has come up with its own design, to highlight and explore the needs of insects and other animals in the area, which ensures playful and beautiful variations.

To maintain a well-functioning ecological system, it is crucial to support the different parts of the natural cycle. Flora (flowers and plants) and fauna (birds, butterflies, bees, worms, insects and underground organisms) all play a role in this ecosystem. They each have their own food needs and habitats. Meeting the needs of the different species promotes a healthy ecosystem in which the various organisms are in balance. For example, we have made bee hotels, bird nests and drinking troughs for birds, from bamboo sticks, cavities, wood and ceramic bowls. The ceramic bowls and tiles are made of clay and fired in the kiln at Swayze Atelier.

The Marineterrein is a breeding ground of innovation where a community of visionaries and creative minds, such as the AMS institute, AHK and Codam, unites to develop progressive ideas and projects for a healthy, biodiverse and liveable city. This site acts as a living laboratory where these ideas are turned into action, beginning to shape the future of urban development. Insect City serves as proof of the possibility of a future without pollution. It reflects a shared purpose to build a world where no structures leave lasting traces, promoting harmony and balance between the built environment and the natural world.

Insect City consists of a series of blocks with different sizes, volumes and colours using a red mix of rammed earth and recycled ceramic roof tiles.

TERRITORIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Location of the island of Evia in Greece. Most af fected by the wildfires in 2021 was the northern part.

Evia is a densely forested island north-east of Athens, Greece, once known for its beekeepers, resin producers and olive groves, now suffering the consequences of a warming planet. The fire on Evia in 2021 quickly spread to several fronts, ripping through thousands of hectares of pine forest in the northern part of the island and forcing the evacuation of dozens of villages. In response to escalating wildfires, this initiative proposes an approach that addresses both immediate safety concerns and long-term social and environmental impacts. Wildfires disrupt communities, leading to complaints, economic losses and possible forced migration. Key stakeholders in this project are firefighters, beekeepers and foresters. The master plan introduces beekeeper clearings strategically placed as fuel breaks and firefighting spaces. These clearings not only support pollinators, but also aid in wildfire containment. By integrating beekeeper clearings into wildfire management, we aim to foster resilience by balancing ecological restoration with community needs. This initiative seeks to mitigate wildfire risks while promoting social cohesion, environmental sustainability and economic stability. Through collaborative partnerships, we envision scalable solutions that are adaptable to diverse contexts, providing a model for integrated wildfire management worldwide.

Romanos, Hanna Prinssen

Pyroscapes: Post-wildfire planning in North

Operation scales: territorial, regional, local.

Beekeeper.

Firefighter.

Forester.

PHASE 1 The foresters will cut the pine trees in the proposed clearing and plant the herb buffer zone at the same time.

PHASE 0–2021 In 2021, the island of Evia was hit by a devastating wildfire, which burned around 130,000 hectares of forest and is estimated to have destroyed at least 5,000 hives.

APIARY AND FACILITIES Shelter from the sun. Some, but not too much, sun in summer when heat is the enemy, and full sun in winter when heat is desperately needed. Built from the burnt trees, for six hives, based on the usable length of a tree trunk and the distance the hives need from each other. Water connection point and other. Water connection point and possibility for storage, but also a toilet and kitchen for the beekeepers on location.

LOCATION AND POSITIONING

South or east. The entrance to a hive should ideally face south or east, so that the bees can catch the early morning sun and get an early start. Rows of hives should therefore be positioned in these directions. Rows at the same height. To ensure accessibility for beekeepers. However, there may be a difference in height between the rows. This, together with the orientation of the hives to the south or east, determines the possibility of clearing an area.

PHASE 0 Once again, the area is hit by a wildfire, but this time the clearing gives the firefighters more space to work from, makes it safer to fight the fire and acts as a fuel break to change the behaviour of the approaching fire.

PHASE 2 After 20 to 25 years, the pine trees are fully grown and the bees can once again produce the traditional pine honey.

AMOUNT OF BEEHIVES

300 max total in a clearing . Because of facilities and the effect of the buffer zone of the clearing during an upcoming fire.

120 min total in a clearing . Per beekeeper, the intention is for a community of beekeepers to form, so there is no ownership of a place.

At least 12, but less than 1/3. Per beekeeper, the intention is for a community of beekeepers to form, so there is no ownership of a place.

HERB MEADOW AS AN EDGE

Buffer zone of 20 m . A herb meadow will be planted around the clearing. This will allow bees to pollinate and collect nectar in the early stages. The size is based on the average height of a pine tree to prevent the fire from spreading easily. Typically, pines reach maturity in 25 to 30 years, and new pines are planted in the first phase. However, it will take some time before the bees can benefit from this and produce the typical pine honey again. Typical herbs of Evia. The island’s herbs, with their amazing ancient uses and healing properties.

Masterplan: beekeeper clearings.

Nature (dark green) and communities (orange, grey, petrol, yellow, purple).

Types of soil: clay (purple), clay and peat (orange), peat (yellow). 33 percent nature added.

• Awareness • Different Food System • Increase Biodiversity • Add Preserved Nature • Mixed Typology KEEP IT LOCAL

A transformation is necessary, a quest for a new system, a new spatial arrangement, where we keep everything more local. A system where there is less distance to travel, more space in the agricultural landscape for nature and biodiversity, more variety, and mixed functions. A living environment where you know where your food comes from.

lematic are the emissions from all forms of transport and the desolate emptiness of these areas. Biodiversity is far from flourishing here. In addition, the Netherlands has not yet achieved a sufficient number of protected natural areas in line with global targets. So this is a showcase of what the Netherlands could look like if it produced food only for itself and expanded its natural areas. A sketch of what this new mix would resemble at an average density. The Assendelver polder is located in the province of North Holland, north-west of Amsterdam, and runs through a peat and clay landscape. The area has great potential. It is a green area where many people go for recreation. As a remnant of Amsterdam’s historical defence line, there are several dikes and forts that are characteristic of the area. However, as mentioned above, there are many areas that could be improved. Biodiversity needs to increase, more nature is essential, along with an expansion of protected areas and more space for water. Rising sea levels are a reality for which we don’t yet have a complete solution, and that water needs to find a place. What’s more, if the water level in peatlands rises, this will help to store carbon dioxide. The amount of food production can be significantly reduced and the import and export of food will stop. This will also create more space for nature and housing, thus addressing the housing shortage. Many aspects to consider! It’s time for a change. We should revamp the economic network to create a more efficient food production system, where we don’t rely on imports and exports for everything.

The A8-A9 motorway link has been a topic of discussion for many years, but has never been realized. In the previous research we looked at the history of these plans and their current status. Why is this connection necessary? What are the pros and cons? What are the consequences? The conclusion is that the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages and that the road is essentially a solution to the consequences of other major problems. In addition, the area is representative of several problems in the Netherlands, including the excessive amount of agricultural land, which is much larger than necessary for our own inhabitants. However, this is seen as crucial for economic reasons. The Netherlands is one of the largest exporting countries, which is of course absurd given our size. Particularly prob -

STUDENT Maaike Zweedijk

PROJECT P5O5

MASTER Architecture

TUTORS Jeremy Till, Alex de Jong and Ziega van den Berk ASSIGNMENT Design is Climate

Community.

Urban area. Living in nature.

Section 3: high density.

Section 1:

Section 2: average density.

functions.

showing urban principle.

The Community Land Trust served as a basis for the core principles of how the community works, how different interests can be weighed and negotiated, how property should be handled, how people can use and appropriate public spaces. This gave us the footing to speculate on what the spatial outcome of an urban commons might be. A more homogeneous city, with a lot of attention to renovation, dynamic use of public space and a focus on solving as many basic needs as possible within the neighbourhood. While I worked on the conceptual basis and the urban scale, my team members developed an alternative vision of the SoZa building within these parameters on an architectural scale.

CORE VALUES OF THE COMMON CITY

COMMUNITY LAND TRUST AS A BASIS At its core, a common is a self-organizing entity that fulfils a particular need. Think of a communal water well, or a source of knowledge such as Wikipedia, but it can also be a source of housing. A common is always associated with an organization that aims to ensure the continued existence and accessibility of the source. An urban common can be organized by a Community Land Trust. An association that holds property and/or land ownership. Membership is usually divided among residents, local people and a neutral group of trustees. This organization can balance the use, access, survival and interests of different stakeholders and protect the property from the market.

Allocation map.

How we live, how we build, has an undeniable connection to our climate. In this studio we were challenged to analyse an ongoing project through the lens of climate change and propose an alternative plan. We worked as a team throughout the studio, I worked with two architecture students. We chose the demolition and redevelopment of the SoZa building as our starting point. The iconic former Ministry of Social Affairs, designed by Herman Hertzberger, is to be demolished to make way for around 1,100 apartments, mainly in the more expensive segment. We made a film of our analysis. We came to the conclusion that our alternative plan had to be radically different, so we decided to speculate on what the SoZa and the adjacent neighbourhood could look like as a real community.

new functions.

STUDENT Frank de Boer

PROJECT P5O5

MASTER Urbanism

TUTORS Jeremy Till, Alex de Jong and Ziega van den Berk ASSIGNMENT Design is Climate

Diagram

gardens in courtyard.

Dynamic use of public space.

Building on top of existing structures.

COMMON(S) GROUND –A BLUEPRINT FOR COLLECTIVE GROWTH

Perspective sections showing the current situation (top) and the proposed new use (bottom). The generous circulation spaces allow for collective use.

It transforms the surrounding public space into a shared commons, fostering a vibrant sense of community engagement. The concept of the commons is reflected in shared space and collectivity, where communal lounges, rooftop gardens or co-working areas are designed to foster a sense of community among residents. Embracing the commons principle, these shared spaces encourage interaction, collaboration and a shared responsibility for the wellbeing of the community. Residents collectively contribute to the maintenance and use of these spaces, reinforcing the idea that the building is a shared resource.

The Netherlands faces a housing crisis and needs around 900,000 new homes.

The Ministry of Social Affairs will be demolished for future redevelopment of the site.

The Ministry of Social Affairs can only accommodate social housing, but that’s not profitable.

The Ministry of Social Affairs can’t be redeveloped efficiently for free market housing.

At the neighbourhood level, collective functions enhance connectivity, fostering a robust community. At the building level, shared spaces actively encourage resident interaction, forging a shared identity. Zooming in further, at the cluster level, collaborative efforts involve selected residents sharing common amenities, fostering intimate connections in communal living. The SoZa building embodies the concept of shared living and commons, integrating indoor and outdoor spaces for communal wellbeing. With ample natural light and innovative elements, the design encourages social interactions and collaborative activities.

scales to reduce the overall resource consumption within the newly envisioned housing units. Looking to the future, the concept of the commons is stretched to its limits, resulting in a society where collaborative and community-focused methods of resource management prevail. The study explores how the redevelopment of the SoZa building fosters the growth of a community that shares resources rather than resorting to traditional demolition. It envisions an interconnected urban landscape that prioritizes collective wellbeing over conventional redevelopment. Collectivity spans diverse scales, from internal living spaces to the neighbourhood and building level.

Existing facilities can’t accomodate the ‘required’ new programme. Free market housing is needed to afford social housing.

The Ministry of Social Affairs was designed by architect Herman Hertzberger.

What kind of housing is needed? There’s a battle between social housing and the free market.

Social and climate justice come off worst.

Profitability and efficiency are prioritized over social issues.

The controversial redevelopment of the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs (SoZa building) has sparked much debate, particularly the plan to demolish and rebuild. This project research argues that such an approach exacerbates climate disruption due to the increased CO 2 emissions associated with demolition and construction. It aims to counter the efficiency trend in the property market by proposing an alternative vision: the revitalization of the existing structure to reduce the carbon footprint and preserve the character of the site. Embracing the principles of the commons, the project seeks to pioneer a collective approach, promoting shared resources at different

STUDENT Natalia Gruszczyńska

PROJECT P5O5

MASTER Architecture

TUTORS Jeremy Till, Alex de Jong and Ziega van den Berk

GNMENT Design is Climate

ASSI

space. Detail showing barter system.

Food for thought.

Since 2005, the City of Amsterdam has expressed its ambition for a major redevelopment of the area by modernizing the Food Centre facilities, thus freeing up land for new residential development. The project then begins with a simple thought: What if the community instead planted a forest with equal goals of ecological services, regeneration and food production?

as craftsmen with an inherited practice and knowledge, who would intervene in certain moments of care. Furthermore, what is the role of the community in relation to the forest system and its multiple productions?

HOW DO THESE PARAMETERS INTERSECT?

• Four nut-bearing and timber tree species

• Their lifecycles

• Their qualities

The birth of a forest.

The project is located in the Amsterdam Food Centre complex in Amsterdam West. The complex is a large, enclosed wholesale distribution centre that stores imported food products and serves the needs of retailers, large institutions and the catering industry.

• Their yields both in terms of nutrition and timber

• The forest succession cycles

• On a specific site in Amsterdam of 13.5 ha

• With existing built structures

• Impacts on soil, biodiversity, community The next question concerns the role of architects

In the current dominant socioeconomic context, driven by short-term returns and insurance, the project explores the opposite stance by imagining a resilient and perennial urban food forest over the timespan of a millennium. This system is understood as one organism, evolving slowly and producing ecosystem services, local foods, raw materials and social spaces equally. The emerging research question is then how to quantify and express these outputs over time.

STUDENT Maëlle Turgeon

PROJECT P5O5 Research and Design

MASTER Architecture

TUTORS Machiel Spaan and Gilbert Koskamp ASSIGNMENT The Lifecycles of Trees and Timber

Crafting circularity.

Axonometry of the Yangpu focus area.

• Yangpu Play and Practice (the place to exercise and for kids to play)

• Yangpu Park (where you go to relax and unwind from busy city life) The three new public spaces are ‘sewn together’ by a pink ribbon; a new, pink, female-friendly pedestrian walkway. This walkway forms the backbone of the neighbourhood and joins the important neighbourhood functions and public spaces together. Not only does it play an important role in the neighbourhood, but it also connects it to surrounding public green spaces, public transport (metro) networks and the newly realized Yangpu Waterfront district. In the future, this female-friendly transformation could be seen as an inspiring project for other districts in the city to raise the level of gender inclusivity across Shanghai.

• Sufficient lighting (safety/wellbeing)

• No eyes-on-the-street (safety/wellbeing)

• Access to inclusive children’s play areas (accessibility)

• Access to sport facilities (accessibility)

• Access to public green and blue spaces (accessibility) THE PINK

RIBBON: SEWING TOGETHER THREE NEW PUBLIC SPACES IN THE YANGPU DISTRICT

By actively implementing the toolkit, the area will be transformed into a thriving and gender-inclusive district. Ultimately, not just for women, but through intersectionality, for all people. In addition, the Yangpu district can improve its level of female-friendliness through the implementation of three new public spaces. These include:

namic area that is currently being transformed into a new vibrant urban district. As a result, relevant global, female-friendly urban design and planning principles have been applied through a female-friendly design toolkit in the local Shanghai context to support a gender-inclusive twenty-first-century city. Based on the female-friendly literature study matrix, the design toolkit proposes solutions to nine gender-based design inequalities in the Yangpu focus area, with the ultimate aim of increasing the level of female-friendliness. The nine female-friendly design solutions proposed in the design toolkit include:

The World Economic Forum 2022 Global Gender Gap Report states that if the current rate of progress continues, it will take another 132 years to achieve gender equality. Gender inequality is not only a global problem, it is also a persistent local predicament in China. Ranked a lowly 102 out of 146 nations, the Republic of China still has a long way to go to achieve gender parity. One would think that a city like Shanghai, which bills itself as a ‘global city’, would be at the forefront of women’s emancipation. After all, a global city is one that is liberal and inclusive for all its inhabitants. But the harsh reality, according to many sources, is that women in Shanghai are still very much oppressed.

• Wide pedestrian-friendly sidewalks (mobility)

• Adequate seating quantities in public space (mobility)

BRIDGING GAPS: A FEMALE-FRIENDLY DESIGN

• Yangpu Square (bustling new neighbourhood entrance where people meet, dance and socialize)

• Inclusive alternatives for stairs (mobility)

• Ploughed and clean sidewalks (safety/wellbeing)

This project examines how female-friendly the public realm is in the city of Shanghai, and more specifically in the Yangpu District of Shanghai, a dy -

STUDENT Gabriella Pekelharing

PROJECT P5O5

MASTER Urbanism

TUTORS Wenwen Sun and Roel Wolters

ASSIGNMENT Transcultural Urbanism and Public Space for the Future Global City

Access to public green and blue spaces.

Access to sport facilities. No eyes-on-the-street.

Access to inclusive children’s play areas. Sufficient lighting.

Ploughed and clean sidewalks.

Inclusive alternatives for stairs.

Adequate seating quantities in public space.

pedestrian-friendly sidewalks.

SHARING BREAD

The lectorate of Architecture & Circular Thinking (ACT) organized the Festival of Reciprocity, an inspiring afternoon held in the context of the Circollab consortium.

Text LAURA VAN SANTEN Photos THOMAS MEIJER

Led by lector Peter van Assche, the ACT lectorate participates in the Sprong group Circollab, a collaboration of research groups from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA), the Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, the Amsterdam University of the Arts and more than 30 partners. Together, they are investigating what technological, social and economic innovations the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region needs to accelerate its circular transition. Quirine Winkler of the ACT lectorate organized the Festival of Reciprocity, which took place on 18 April at the former Floriade site in Almere.

The theme of reciprocity was chosen as a vessel to question our perception of sustainability, circularity and nature, words that are etymologically relatively young, and not present in the older, indigenous languages that are still spoken. In an interview with Het Groene Brein, Amsterdam-based political scientist Chautuileo Tranamil said that in her mother tongue Mapudungun there are more than 30 translations for reciprocity: between humans, humans and animals, humans and their children.

After a brief introduction by moderator Natasja van den Berg, Peter van Assche kicked off with a lecture about the way in which our current architectural practices have not only colonized the humans and the natural resources of the Global South, but also the ability to sustain life on our planet for future generations. He used the bird as a beautiful example of reciprocity, giving and taking from its environment without harming others, nature or future generations. The ACT lectorate is currently researching possible positions for the architect in a regenerative practice, and Van Assche shared several inspiring examples from this research.

The host of the day, Ingrid Zeegers of Price, explained their mission to share knowledge and stimulate innovation on the Floriade grounds. Working with value systems other than capital, Price aims to promote the development of autarky and self-sufficiency for energy and water, with principles of agroforestry applied to provide food and a green lung in the area. Price has high goals for a social justice in the transition, shared responsibility and questioning the fundaments of ownership.

The more than 100 participants were then divided into six groups for a tour led by CircolLab lecturers and partners. Workshops were organized around the themes of reciprocity proposed by different Circollab partners, ranging from preparing the agricultural, industrial and construction sectors for the implementation of flax as a building material, to changing consumer behaviour to circular practices in product and building consumption. The question was raised how to measure and communicate the value of biobased materials, while another breakout session questioned how urban gardening of natural dyes can change the relationship inhabitants have with their environment. From an educational point of view, there were discussions on what skills and crafts are needed in a circular textile chain, as well as to how to make circular education systems viable and more future proof.

The day was festively concluded by sharing the outcomes of the workshop sessions. Professor Marcus Popkema noted that the word ‘company' comes from the Latin ‘to eat bread with’, and that value creation in circularity could come from all parties bringing ‘bread’ to share. A lively discussion followed about how reciprocity could be assessed in product and building processes. The moderator pointed out that the circular lobby needs more legislative support, but consortium partners pointed out that the City of Amsterdam established CircuLaw precisely for this reason. ←

Librarian Alexandra Nicolau puts a spotlight on the library’s most inspiring magazines.

HELLO HIGHLIGHTS

Why these magazines? The library offers a wide selection of print magazines in English, Dutch and German, as well some digital journals. From established international titles on architecture, urbanism and landscape architecture, to design and research journals: the library has it all. The library also holds a dedicated storage area for older issues of emblematic magazines on art and architecture history, mostly in the Dutch language. The following selection of 22 magazines pinpoints a number of titles that offer ample opportunity for research and information supply on current topics, such as those related to the climate curriculum. To get the creative process going, we start with some excerpts from recent, thought-provoking editorials.

Volume # 63: The Not-So-Easy Guide to Circular Interior Design

‘Within the sustainability and circular design, discourse information at the moment divulges into content that is either too thin, biased and/or too glossy to take seriously, or it unfolds into highly complicated technocratic impact assessment and rendering it largely inaccessible. This issue-theme tries to bridge this gap by being both for novice and expert . . . why interior design? From a sustainability perspective, the rapid sequential execution of interior design is undeniably problematic and warrants through consideration to assess and mitigate its environmental impact.’

Topos # 125: Poverty

‘When we talk about poverty, we also have to talk about money. After all, the lack of money is one of the main factors behind poverty. In many parts of the world, however, the topic of “money” is a taboo subject . . . Another key topic when discussing poverty is housing. Housing is key to poverty and prosperity.’

Detail # 12/ 2023: Increasing Density

‘The road to real estate development in an existing context is a rocky one. In many cases, the destination is never reached. One reason for this is nimbyism: not in my backyard! Nimbyism isn’t only expressed by neighbors that object to new buildings that block views from their apartments. It is also supported by actors from civil society and the political arena that are willing to take a stand: the backyard has become an arena for special interests.’

OASE # 116 The Architect as a Public Intellectual

‘This OASE presents six more or less well-known architects who have been active in the public sphere in the past and to whom we therefore ascribe the position of public intellectual. They have been touched by the marginal position of certain groups in society and have worked to bring these issues to the attention of the general public. . . . The way architects operate as public intellectuals can take many rhetorical forms: from criticising a system, proposing alternatives, influencing policymakers and clients, and educating designers and clients, to raising awareness in the general public.’ ←

AGORA MAGAZINE VOOR SOCIAALRUIMTELIJKE VRAAGSTUKKEN

Agora is a non-specialist, Dutch-language magazine focusing on current sociospatial issues. The magazine has subscribers and editors on both sides of the Dutch-Flemish border. Each issue is dedicated to a specific theme. In recent years, these have included Urban Diversity, Anthropocene, Food Cultures, China and Smart City. In addition to theme articles, the magazine has a large miscellaneous section.

A+U: ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM

First published in January 1971, A+U is an architecture magazine in Japanese and English that provides information on architecture around the globe to a global readership. As Japan’s only monthly periodical dedicated to disseminating information on architecture around the world, A+U has been widely and actively read by the architecture community since its inaugural issue. The magazine’s research network is extensive, covering more than 100 countries.

THE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW

Since 1896, The Architectural Review has scoured the globe for architecture that challenges and inspires. Buildings old and new are chosen as prisms through which arguments and broader narratives are constructed. In their fearless storytelling, independent critical voices explore the forces that shape the homes, cities and places we inhabit.

ARCH+: ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR ARCHITEKTUR UND URBANISMUS

Arch+ is Germany’s leading magazine for discourse in the fields of architecture and urbanism. Each quarterly issue takes an in-depth look at a particular topic, taking up current discussions from other disciplines for the discourse on architecture and the city. Founded in 1967 in the spirit of emancipatory self-enlightenment, Arch+ critically reflects on the social aspirations of the built environment.

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN (AD)

Founded in 1930, Architectural Design (AD) combines the currency and topicality of a newsstand journal with the rigour and production qualities of a book. With a worldwide reputation, it is consistently at the forefront of cultural thought and design. Each title of AD is presented as a thematic volume edited by an invited guest-editor, who is an international expert in their field. AD also covers topics as diverse as architecture history and theory, the environment, interior design, landscape architecture and urban design.

DE ARCHITECT : SPECIALIST JOURNAL

FOR ARCHITECTURE

De Architect is a Dutch architecture journal focusing on completed projects and developments at home and abroad. The website also offers news, product information, an archive and access to the podcast. To read De Architect online, log in to MyAHK, subscribe to the De Architect newsletter and you can browse through the latest issue or an interesting article. You must be in the academy building to do this.

EL CROQUIS: DE ARQUITECTURA CONSTRUCTION Y DE DISENO

El Croquis presents the most important designs and works of architecture in detailed bimonthly monographs that analyse the work of the most outstanding architects on the international scene. Its most recent print edition was issue 224 on Christian Kerez.

BLAUWE KAMER: JOURNAL FOR LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT

Blauwe Kamer publishes current projects and developments in urban design, landscape architecture, spatial planning and architecture. The specialist journal has a journalistic profile and aims to inform, inspire and express opinions. The print version of Blauwe Kamer is published four times a year and the e-zine eight times a year.

FORUM

Forum magazine for architecture and related arts has a rich and eventful history. One of the magazine’s distinguishing features is its conceptual diversity (another, as a result, is its significance): it is an architecture-critical mediator offering travel and research reports, biographies and monographs, or philosophical treatises, in which architects write not only about their work, but also about the work of others. Forum has no commercial ties and has therefore never gone ‘mainstream’, but presents a clear picture of the times. Fun fact: for years, its editorial team was based in the Academy of Architecture building.

DETAIL: ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR ARCHITEKTUR + BAUDETAIL

Detail, which appears in German and English, devotes each issue to specific topics in construction and building details in architecture. Current international architecture projects are documented with beautiful photographs and comparable drawings at a scale of 1:20. Two times a year, the magazine features the special Interiors supplement.

JOLA: JOURNAL OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

Established in 2006, JoLA is the academic, peer-reviewed journal of the European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools (ECLAS). JoLA is published by Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, has three issues a year and is published in full colour, both in print and online. With its thorough editorial and review strategy, combined with a unique approach to the graphic design of its content, the aims of JoLA are to provide a platform for outstanding landscape architecture scholarship and research innovation, linking theory to practice.

GROEN: SPECIALIST JOURNAL FOR SPACE IN THE CITY AND THE COUNTRYSIDE

For more than 70 years, Groen has been a knowledge platform and specialist journal in the world of urban and rural green space. Groen combines the knowledge and skills of physical environment professionals with those of green experts. Together with participating municipalities, water boards and the business community, specialist journal Groen works on greening the city for the benefit of the climate, biodiversity, social cohesion and health.

MONU: MAGAZINE ON URBANISM

Monu (Magazine on Urbanism) is a unique annual international forum for architects, urbanists and theorists that are working on urban topics. Monu focuses on the city in a broad sense, including its politics, economy, geography, ecology, its social aspects, as well as its physical structure and architecture. Therefore architecture is one of many fields covered by the magazine – fields that are all brought together under the catch-all term ‘urbanism’. Monu is edited in the city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

MACGUFFIN: THE LIFE OF THINGS

With each issue based around a single object, MacGuffin magazine is a platform for fans of inspiring, personal, unexpected, highly familiar or utterly disregarded things. Widely recognized as a fabulously designed and immaculately researched design and crafts biannual, it is an indispensable resource for all those who want backstage information about the life of things.

PLAN AMSTERDAM

Plan Amsterdam is an e-magazine on urban and sustainable themes, projects and developments in the city and the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. The online magazine is published in Dutch and English. Plan Amsterdam’s readers are colleagues and interested parties in the field of urban development: from governmental partners (municipalities, provinces, national government) to architects and research agencies, media, educational institutions, students, political parties and international professional contacts.

OASE: JOURNAL FOR ARCHITECTURE

OASE, which appears three times a year in English and Dutch, is an independent, international, peer-reviewed journal for architecture that brings together academic discourse and the sensibilities of design practice. OASE advocates critical reflection in which the architectural project occupies a central position, yet is understood to be embedded in a wider cultural field. Intersections and affinities with other disciplines are explored in order to gain a more profound understanding of the practice and theory of architecture and rearticulate its disciplinary limits.

ROOILIJN: JOURNAL FOR SCIENCE AND POLICY IN SPATIAL PLANNING

Rooilijn was founded in 1967 as the newsletter of the then Department of Planning at the University of Amsterdam. Over the years, Rooilijn developed into a journal for the publication of mainly Dutch and occasionally English articles on spatial planning. After the last print edition of Rooilijn was published in 2020, the journal continued as a digital platform for informed debate on spatial planning and the built environment.

RUIMTE + WONEN: SPECIALIST JOURNAL ABOUT THE LIVING ENVIRONMENT FOR SPATIAL PROFESSIONALS AND HOUSING EXPERTS

Ruimte en Wonen reaches strategists, administrators and policymakers, professionals such as urban designers, landscape architects, housing market experts, public housing experts, sustainability experts and other specialists such as mobility experts. These professionals work at/for ministries, provinces and municipalities, knowledge institutes, businesses and semi-governmental organizations such as water boards and Staatsbosbeheer, at housing associations and as consultants.

TOPOS: EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE MAGAZINE

Topos magazine is an international and interdisciplinary review for landscape architecture, urban design and urban development. It focuses on landscape architecture as well as increasingly on architecture and urban planning. It sees itself as an interdisciplinary think tank aimed at addressing the challenges urban areas will face in future. The professional magazine strives to inspire planning practitioners, urban experts and professionals who shape the cities of tomorrow.

DE WITTE RAAF

De Witte Raaf is published in print and online. It aims to stimulate and enrich the debate on visual art in the Netherlands and Flanders. The magazine is open to all possible approaches to the visual arts and provides space for authors to discuss various aspects of a work or a theme. De Witte Raaf is aimed at everyone interested in the visual arts. De Witte Raaf wants to challenge its readers intellectually.

’SCAPE: THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE FOR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM

’Scape is an international magazine for landscape architecture and urbanism. Twice a year (summer and winter) it is published as a printed magazine, richly illustrated and attractively laid out, containing features, interviews, portraits, design criticism and essays. It focuses on a specific theme in a dossier. The magazine is written for garden and landscape architects, urban designers, architects, planners, ecologists, developers, geographers, artists and anyone with an interest in landscape and urban design.

VOLUME: INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN AND BEYOND

In 2004 Archis, the Amsterdam-based architecture magazine with a pedigree reaching back to 1929, joined forces with OMA’s think-tank AMO and C-Lab, based on the shared ambition to redefine and re-establish architecture’s relevance. Volume was created by the Archis Editor in Chief at that time, Ole Bouman, in collaboration with Rem Koolhaas. From 2017 Archis/Volume changed its structure into more theme-based forms of collaborations, expanding the network of partners. Since 2023, Volume is a collaboration between Archis and Het Nieuwe Instituut.

To give students who have difficulty finding a job the opportunity to gain work experience, the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture has set up professional experience studios.

Text NICO VAN BOCKHOOVEN

BEST PRACTICE

The Academy of Architecture’s concurrent education system is a unique and valuable training model. Young professionals attend classes at the academy in the evenings and on Fridays, while at the same time gaining the necessary experience in a firm or government body. This unique quality of the academy enables students to become practising professionals in four years. The prerequisite is that they are able to gain relevant professional experience during their studies. Combining work and study has many advantages but it can also be an Achilles’ heel in times when there is less work and it is harder for students to find a relevant job.

We saw this during the credit crunch of 2008 and in the years that followed, when it was a challenging time across the board, in architecture and urban design as well as in landscape architecture, and there was little work available. Today we again see that it is difficult for architecture students in particular to find relevant jobs. Architecture firms that design a lot of (commercial) housing are facing shrinking order books. Fewer houses are being built because of interest rates, rising prices for building materials and the CO2 issue, among other things, despite the growing demand for good, affordable housing.

As in 2009, the academy has again taken the initiative to organize professional experience studios in collaboration with market parties to enable students to gain alternative professional experience. Apart from the lack of available work, there is another reason for initiating another way of gaining professional experience. The Academy of Architecture trains for Master of Science degrees. Research by design is an important part of the course. In practice, however, students do relatively little research by design. By entering into collaborations with parties that focus on research, we can offer students who are interested in it a place where they can conduct research while gaining professional experience. This can involve research conducted by a design firm, but the Academy is also interested in collaborating with other parties.

The second semester of the 2023-2024 academic year will include several practical experience studios.

OF UNMEASURABLE IMPORTANCE

The first practical experience studio started in 2024 and was organized by Tangram Architects. In collaboration with Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture and a number of market parties, students are researching the application of Artificial Intelligence.

Of Unmeasurable Importance aims to explore the potential of AI to capture abstract issues such as social impact, happiness, healthy living, wellbeing and aesthetics in spatial design, as these are difficult to quantify in data. AI tends to focus on quantifiable programme elements. The risk is that the ‘softer’ aspects that largely determine the quality of a design are overlooked. Furthermore, the nature of creativity, where lateral thinking and innovation are important, seems at odds with the nature of AI’s processing of existing data. Tangram’s project aims to investigate the extent to which softer values can have a place in data-driven design processes. The study focuses on defining these soft factors and investigating whether these factors can also be used as input for an AI model. →

DESIGNING INDUSTRIAL AND MODULAR HOUSING SYSTEMS FOR NH BOUWSTROOM

The academy has also initiated a collaboration with the advisory board of Noord Hollandse Bouwstroom, a partnership of housing associations, builders and architecture firms: the NHBouwstroom Academy.

The NH Bouwstroom Academy is an interdisciplinary research and design project that aims to encourage architects, landscape architects and interior designers to contribute ideas on spatial quality in the application of industrial housing, in collaboration with NH Bouwstroom, Federatie Ruimtelijke Kwaliteit (FRK), the Dutch Board of Government Advisors (CRa) and the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. The research focuses on two themes related to industrial housing: its incorporation into urban design frameworks at the district level and its incorporation into architectural frameworks including residential floor plans.

The professional experience studio examines the usability of existing and yet to be developed building systems used by NH Bouwstroom. Various themes are addressed in an integrated manner, including aesthetics (spatial quality), user-friendliness (floor plans and built-in systems), technology (flexibility of the system, construction, sustainable and circular use of materials, installations) and future-proofing (adaptability and flexibility).

The professional experience studio works closely with the NH Bouwstroom network. Participants share their expertise and design, process and product developments. They see industrialized building systems not only as technical products, but also as opportunities for innovative, sustainable and efficient projects that are easy to incorporate spatially.

Thijs Asselbergs (chair of the advisory board of NH Bouwstroom) coordinates the supervision of the research and design team. Together with members of the RvA, the participating architects, builders and the trainees of the associations, the team will prioritize the abovementioned themes and present them in research and design workshops. They will also work on a project book of best practices.

COMPETITION #1

As an experiment, the academy has also set up its own research studio to conduct research into current social issues through participation in competitions. The academy does not generally recognize individual students’ participation in competitions as professional experience, but participation in competitions is an essential part of the work of many firms and is considered professional experience in this context. The research studio COMPETITION #1 focuses on team participation in competitions and is supervised by an experienced architect, Jan Richard Kikker, former head of Architecture at the Academy of Architecture. Students work in teams on several competitions, creating a dynamic that is similar to that of a firm. In the process, the studio addresses various professional skills related to design, such as positioning, organizing, communication, environmental orientation, design and entrepreneurship. The students work in three teams on three different competitions: a maternity centre in Senegal, Under Bridge (affordable housing making use of space under bridges) and the Micro Home. Each team works on one of these competitions. The teams regularly present and discuss their work. Where necessary or desirable, we also bring in external expertise. Although we are naturally curious about the results of the competitions, we are particularly interested in the quality of the studio as an alternative way of gaining professional experience. Research occupies a prominent place in education at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. As the academy wishes to offer its students the opportunity to present themselves as researchers by design, it has decided to include research training in a professional experience studio. By entering into collaborations with external parties who wish to carry out research by design, the academy can offer a number of students research training in the context of this professional experience studio. ←

IN HINDSIGHT

122

Art Kallen graduated from the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture in 2022. The following year, he was one of the participants in a roundtable discussion on architectural policy in the Dutch Lower House.

Text DAVID KEUNING

ART KALLEN: ‘What I learnt most at the Academy of Architecture was how to bring consistency to the design process and to follow my ideas through all the design phases. This is a skill I’ve been honing since graduating. I’m still learning a lot in this area. All the courses you take at the academy reflect this: you learn to develop a concept into a design. I devoted a lot of time to this in the first two years of my studies. In my first year, I was mainly concerned with making sure that I was in control of the design process. After those first two years, I had a foundation and could start to explore in more depth.

My previous education was not typical. I obtained a bachelor’s degree in Planning from the University of Amsterdam and then a master’s degree in Sustainable Urban Planning and Design from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. My view of the profession is perhaps broader than just architecture.

Theoretical depth is essential for design practice. Research is becoming increasingly important in architecture and should be given plenty of attention in the educational curriculum. For example, I’m currently inspired by the study Loveless: The Minimum Dwelling and its Discontents by Dogma, a research studio in Brussels. This book looks at the origins and historical development of the minimum dwelling, using examples such as residential hotels in the United States and workers’ housing in Communist Russia. The authors place this history in the context of political developments. I find this interaction between politics and design interesting and extremely important for our profession. I learn a lot from such studies, and use the lessons learned in my design practice.

On 26 September 2023, I took part in a roundtable discussion on architectural policy in the Dutch Lower House. I don’t know exactly how I came to be invited. But I have an idea. My graduation project at the academy was about an industrial complex in Maastricht called Landbouwbelang. Its buildings have been squatted for 20 years, but are now going to be converted into very expensive housing. This tender ran during my final year. With my project I tried to bring the debate about this place to life. My thesis was: look at the history and the value of the place and include them in the design. But the debate came to a dead end; I couldn’t catch a break at Bureau Europa in Maastricht. I wrote an opinion piece for a newspaper, but it wasn’t published. I think this experience is symbolic of Dutch architecture as a whole: it’s very difficult to get issues that are of great social importance in the world of architecture onto the political agenda.

Then the Yearbook Architecture in the Netherlands 2022-2023 was published. In response, De Volkskrant published an article by Kirsten Hannema.1 She quoted Ed Nijpels, who called on architects to actively participate in the political debate. He had ‘not met enough’ architects. I thought: ‘Well, that’s not always the fault of the architects. I want to get involved, but my story has been ignored.’ In response to this article, I sent my opinion piece to De Volkskrant, which did publish it. I got a good response, but not from anyone who had anything to say politically. Then the Dutch Lower House took the initiative for the roundtable discussion and I received the invitation. I can’t look behind the scenes, but I think I owed my invitation to this chain of events.

The discussion itself was exciting, fun and valuable. I was among people whose names I only knew from publications, such as Nathalie de Vries and Francesco Veenstra. At first, I felt quite inexperienced and out of place, but during the discussion I realized that I was the only architect present who sits down at the drawing board every day. So I was able bring my own perspective to the table. Afterwards I felt positive. I thought it was a good thing for architects to make themselves heard in the Dutch Lower House. But there’s still a long way to go. The issues that were raised need to be brought to people’s attention again and again, including in the Dutch Lower House. As a spatial design sector, we are responsible for this. There is increasing pressure on public space in the Netherlands, which means that the quality of the spatial environment is becoming more and more important.

The Dutch Lower House itself isn’t stagnating, by the way. In October it held a roundtable on housing associations. In the meantime, the elections for the Dutch Lower House have been held. The importance of fighting for these kinds of issues has only increased. The contribution of young architects is crucial in this respect. The spatial design sector benefits from the fresh perspective of colleagues who are actively involved in design practice every day. This is why it is important to break the pattern of this pragmatic design practice from time to time. You don’t have to settle for it. I hope that young architects can shake things up a bit.’

1 Kirsten Hannema, ‘Architecten maken zich zorgen: waarom laten wij ons niet horen in debat over woningbouw?’, De Volkskrant, 31 May 2023.

Art Kallen.

124 PUBLICATIONS

Eric Frijters and Matthijs Ponte (eds.) THE CITY AS A SYSTEM: METABOLIC DESIGN FOR NEW URBAN FORMS AND FUNCTIONS, TRANCITY

*valiz, Amsterdam, 2023

Difficult problems do not always require far-fetched solutions, but in order to arrive at the solution a change of perspective may be in order. The City as a System advocates such a change of perspective in the study of the urban environment. It posits that designers who wish to truly improve the functioning of the city and solve tricky urban problems cannot afford to focus only on the spatial manifestation of the city, but should also conduct thorough research into the underlying system, into the operation, use and performance of the urban fabric. The authors view the metabolism of the city as that of a living organism. The urban body – as the place where much of our resource use culminates – plays a crucial role in the transition towards a more sustainable living environment. This book is the result of the Future Urban Regions lectorate at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture.

Mari Bastashevski

ABOVE AND BELOW: ROOTS, VINES AND OTHER NETWORKS OF VERTICAL TIME

Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, 2024

In 2023, the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture asked Mari Bastashevski to lead the Winter School for first and second-year Master students in Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape Architecture. She invited the students to explore ten specific frameworks for working with other-than-human time. This manuscript consolidates the questions, prompts, process and a review of the works they created together during this time into a guide for entering into and strengthening interspecies agreements.

Eric Frijters and Taneha Bacchin (eds.) TEN TIMES TATA: 10 AMSTERDAM ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS ON THEIR FUTURE VISION FOR TATA STEEL

Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, TU Delft, and FABRICations, 2024

From Tata Steel to Tata City, can you imagine that? A group of ten students of the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture produced scenarios for the future of Tata Steel in IJmuiden. These ideas ranged from Tata Steel leaving to staying, from excluding to including people. Tata Steel has a devastating effect on the health of its direct environment and inhabitants. It is therefore likely that the production of steel will have to end within the coming years. The studio explored the relationships between landscape, ecology and urbanism, and the theories, tactics and workings of the field of of Landscape Urbanism.

Reflection and Assessment Syllabus For Lecturers at the Amsterdam Academy

of Architecture

Anna Gasco TOWARDS ETHICAL FORMS OF URBAN PRACTICE, INAUGURAL LECTURE

Amsterdam Academy of Architecture

5 October 2023

In this publication of her inaugural lecture as head of the Master’s programme in urbanism, Anna Gasco interweaves her personal and professional history, giving insights into the many things she learned along the way about urbanism. She ends her lecture with her educational approach and her plans for the academy’s climate curriculum in the coming four years of her tenure, making a case for ethical forms of urban practice.

Graduation Projects

Roos Bekkenkamp (ed.) GRADUATION PROJECTS 2022-2023

Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, 2023

In this year’s body of graduation projects, three themes can be clearly distinguished. First and foremost, many graduation projects address climate change in one way or another, for instance by researching the effects of climate change on the Dutch river landscape, the improvement of water quality or exploring future possibilities with clean energy, new food systems and nature-inclusive production landscapes. A second, clearly identifiable line is the focus on current and pressing social issues that, like climate change, regularly make headlines, such as mental health and domestic violence to women. A third clearly identifiable theme is the urban challenges of densification and redevelopment of former industrial areas.

Henri Snel REFLECTION AND ASSESSMENT SYLLABUS: FOR LECTURERS AT THE AMSTERDAM ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE

Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, 2023

This syllabus covers didactics for teachers at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. The syllabus emphasizes the importance of reflection and feedback in teaching, and briefly discusses the difference between formative and summative assessments. The differences between feedback, feedforward and feedup are also examined. In addition, the syllabus discusses a number of assessor effects. These are effects that occur – usually unconsciously – that hinder objective assessment, such as personal preference, stereotyping and projection.

Anna Gasco Towards ethical forms of urban practice

Katja Hoogenboom / Introduction 06 September 2023

30 August 2023

Olaf Grawert / Freedom: Between Fact and Fiction 13 September 2023

Michael Young / Enstrangement: Combining Enchantment and Estrangement 20 September 2023

Katja Hoogenboom / Situated Freedom: The Private Swimming Pool Is So Much More Than Just Blue 27 September 2023

Zaš Brezar / Contradictions and Ambiguities of Ecological Aesthetics 11 October 2023

Sarah Cowles / A Ruderal Practice: Fertile Sections and Dark Surplus 25 October 2023

Mathieu Gontier and Francois Vadepied/ Observing, Gardening, Drawing, Doing, …ing 01 November 2023

Günther Vogt / Ecology Is Invisible 08 November 2023

Elisa Iturbe / Confronting Carbon Form 15 November 2023

Stephen Cairns / Planetary Urbanization and Its Limits: Agropolitan Territories in Monsoon Asia 22 November 2023

Aglaee Degros / Towards Territorial Transition

Ruurd Gietema/Solution Space for Big Urban Projects 29 November 2023

Pierre-Christophe Gam / Toguna World and the Sanctuary of Dreams: The Global Mapping of Dreams

Ali T. As’ad / A World in a Grain of Sand (and Infinity in the Palm of an Architect)

Ola Hassanain / Confluence: Space, Form and Gathering

February 2024

February 2024

Leah Wulfman / Mixing Realities: A Consciousness of Mud 06 March 2024

Teresa Fankhänel / Software Timelines: The Origins of Today’s Architectural Software Culture

Pin Tian Liu / We Have Updated to Rhino8: The Commands You Know Are No Longer Useful

Simone C Niquille / Model Homes 24 April 2024

Jacintha L.R. Scheerder / What Might the World Look Like in 2050?

128 NOTEWORTHY

ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE ROTTERDAM

Janna Bystrykh, head of the Master of Architecture programme at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, is a member of the Curator Team of the IABR 2024. This edition, entitled Nature of Hope, will take place from 29 June to 13 October 2024. The other members of the IABR 2024 Curator Team are Catherine Koekoek, Hani Salih, Alina Paias and Noortje Weenink. iabr.nl

ARCHIPRIX NETHERLANDS

Archiprix Netherlands 2024 had four first prizes and three honourable mentions. Two of the four first prizes went to graduates of the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture: architect Gavin Fraser (left) with The Eyes Are the Windows to the Soul and landscape architect Jacob Heydorn Gorski (right) with Burnt: A Tale of Three Fires. The other two first prizes were for graduates of Delft University of Technology and Artez. Two of the three honourable mentions were for graduates of Delft University of Technology and one was for a graduate of the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture.

Archiprix Netherlands 2023 received three first prizes and one honourable mention. Two of the three first prizes went to graduates of the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture: Architect Steven van Raan with Exhibition for Imagination and landscape architect Justyna Chmielewska with Choreographing Resilience. The third first prize was for a graduate of Delft University of Technology and the honourable mention was for a graduate of the Maastricht Academy of Architecture. archiprix.nl

AHK GRADUATION PRIZE

Maria Khozina’s graduation project Average Place won the AHK Graduation Prize 2024 in the Master’s category. From the jury report: ‘This graduation project is an expression of intense self-reflection on the artist’s own field and therefore transcends the field of architecture. Maria’s extensive research reflects her search for her role as an architect in the authoritarian state of Russia. She wants to use creative machines to connect people and make them think. Maria does not make it easy for herself: questioning her own role shows courage and strength. Her activism touches the jury.’ The prize consists of a cash award of €2,000. ahk.nl/ahk-eindwerkprijs

KUIPERCOMPAGNONS GRADUATION AWARDS

At a festive and well-attended event at the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture on 16 November 2023, the winners of the KuiperCompagnons Graduation Awards organized by Blauwe Kamer for the best graduation projects in the field of landscape architecture were announced. Two graduates of the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture were among the winners. In the Master’s project category, Kasper Neeleman won second prize with his graduation project From Quarry to Mountain. Tessa Schouten received an honourable mention for her graduation project The Island of Silence. The jury consisted of chair Gijs van den Boomen, Delft councillor Martina Huijsmans and Marjolein Jansen, who heads the Directorate-General of Spatial Planning of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. blauwekamer.nl

MASTERPRIZE STUDENT ARCHITECTURE

AWARD

Irene Wing Sum Wu’s graduation project Alive Algae Architecture won the MasterPrize Student Architecture Award in the category Architectural Design/Green Architecture. The MasterPrize Student Architecture Award is an international annual programme to celebrate students of higher education and recent graduates who have proven their dedication to the fields of architecture, interior, landscape and urban design. Every year entrants from schools all over the world submit their best projects to compete for the New Discovery of the Year title in their respective area. architectureprize.com

ABE BONNENMA PRIJS

Donna van Milligen Bielke (alumna of the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture) and Ard de Vries won the Abe Bonnema Prijs 2023. The makers of De Kunstwerf in Groningen received a cash prize of €50,000. The jury consisted of chair Meta Knol and members Steven Delva, Kees Kaan, Hedwig Saam, Gus Tielens and Nathalie de Vries. abebonnemaprijs.nl

130 LECTURERS

ABOUT THE AMSTERDAM ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE

This annual newspaper is published by the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, an international school that offers space to experiment, produce and reflect in the heart of Amsterdam, providing a laboratory and workplace in one. Established in 1908, the Academy is now part of the Amsterdam University of the Arts (AHK) and offers three Master’s programmes: Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape Architecture. The interdisciplinary courses prepare students for practising spatial design as a discipline on the cutting edge of visual art, construction engineering, civil and cultural engineering and the spatial sciences in a national and international context. Students study and work simultaneously, combining academic learning with professional development. All of the guest teachers are practicing professionals, forging a strong connection between the school and the job market. Graduates are entitled to independently practice one of the three disciplines taught at the Academy. The degree meets the admission requirements that are defined in the Dutch Architect’s Title Act and is notified with the EU. The graduate has direct access to the Dutch register of architects, urban planners and landscape architects and is qualified to compete in the European market. The Academy has its own place in the cultural life of Amsterdam and places itself in the professional debate through lectures, workshops, events and exhibitions.

P1A (AUL) PLACE Re-shelter Patrick Roegiers / The Decline of the Grand Render City Kinke Nijland, Léa Soret / Shelter: A personal dwelling in an entangled world Anna Fink / Re-wilding the Industrial Waterside of the Hamerkwartier Hester Koelman, Quita Schabracq / 50 Shades of Water: Exploring the many dimensions of water Rosa Jonkman / Rights for the River Maas Charlotte van der Woude / The Healing Way Pedro Costa / Colourful Translation Rogier van den Brink, Dominique de Rond / The Custodian Tobias Kumkar

P1B (A) SCENOGRAPHY The Smallest Spatial Unit, or a Bed Manifesto Anastassia Smirnova, Alexander Sverdlov / After Comfort Freyke Hartemink / In Public Jochem Homminga / The Amsterdam Toilet Project Susana Constantino / Chimeras Giulio Margheri, Valentina Fantini

P1B (UL) SCENE Amsterdamned Ania Sosin / Bioregional Urbanism and Future Strategies at the IJ, Amsterdam: A case study Daniel Irving / Living IJ Vito Timmerman, Blake Allen / Future Islands Alessandra Covini, Giovanni Bellotti

P2A (AU) TYPOLOGY The Gym Type Pavel Bouše / Living the Dike: Research for a climate adaptive urban block Emanuele Paladin, Bruno Wöber / Dissolving Boundaries II: The return of the productive city Juliette Gilson, Douwe Strating / Designing in Conflict: Spatial imaginaries of liberation and self-determination Johnathan Subendran, Irene Luque Martin / Perma-camp Sandra Bsat / Queering Public Space: Questioning Typologies of the Nieuwmarkt Noortje Weenink, Wouter Stroet, Irene Feria Prados / Solar Synergies: Transforming housing typologies through sun-driven design Alejandro Fuentes, Santiago Brignardelli

P2A (L) INTERBEING Other-than-Human Temporalities Justyna Chmielewska, Jean-François Gauthier

P2B (AL) NATURECULTURE New Farmers, New Landshapers Lieke de Jong, Alexander Beeloo / Reading Our Soil Aura Luz Melis, Job Claushuis / Crafting a New Cycle: Giving new life to something that has been Hanna Prinssen, Lindsey van de Wetering / ‘t Sierveld in Mechelen Ira Koers / Inhabiting Topography Anna Zań, Justyna Chmielewska / Interspecies Foodscapes: Adaptive ecologies between land and body Ronald Boer, Jonmar van Vlijmen, Rosanne van Wijk

P2B (U) NEIGHBOURHOOD Block Neighbourhood Jacopo Grilli / Marineterrein Herman Zonderland

P3A (AUL) NEIGHBOURHOOD Noorder IJplas 2123: From niemandsland to iemandsland Matthias Lehner / Synthetic Naturalisation Andrew Kitching / Out of Balance Grisha Zotov / Noorder IJplas: Your project is a startup (or an NGO) Luca de Stefano / Noorder IJplas: City park of the future Oleksandra Naryzhna / Multipark: District and community Anastasiia Palii / Noorder IJplas: Speculative futures Jacques Abelman / Who is the Lake? Designing a park in an aquatic world Thijs de Zeeuw

P3B/O3B (A) RESIDENTIAL TYPOLOGIES One Hundred and Thirty Degrees Fahrenheit Bruno Vermeersch, Ewout van Rossum / Compact Co-housing: Between necessity and delight Oana Rades, Harmen van de Wal / Living with Each and Every Other Patricia Yus, Simon Whittle / Reimagining Housing for Migrant Workers: Exploring flexibility and empowering freedom Renzo Sgolacchia, Piero Medici

P3B (U) CITY Tarwewijk: A biobased revolution Mauro Parravicini / Urban Design, Nature and Climate Resilience: Transforming Tarwewijk Daniele Cannatella

P3B (L) TERRITORY A Deeper Dive into the Noorder IJplas Pierre-Alexandre Marchevet, Brigitta van Weeren

P4/O4 (A) COMPLEX PROJECTS Refound, Repurpose, Reconnect Jeroen van Mechelen, Hans Boonstra / De Ceuvel 3.0 Jos de Krieger, Amber Beernink, Anke Wijnja / Transforming Het Hem Rogier van den Brink, Patrick Rogiers / Un/ Smooth Dwelling Art Kallen, Charlie Clemoes, René Boer

P4 (UL) REGIONAL RESEARCH AND DESIGN Northern Lights: Vision and strategies for Piteå and Norrbotten Giacomo Gallo, Jonas Papenborg, Jacopo Gennari Feslikenian / The Nitrogen Crisis: From an environmental challenge to new forms of coexistence Lea Soret, Robert Younger, Philippe Allignet

P5/O5 (AUL) NARRATIVE Design is Climate Alex de Jong, Jeremy Till, Ziega van den Berk / Pyroscapes: Post-wildfire planning in North Evia Chris Romanos, Hanna Prinssen / Transforming Tata Steel to Tata City Eric Frijters, Taneha Bacchin / Transcultural Urbanism and Public Space for the Future Global City Wenwen Sum, Roel Wolters / Planetary Health: The wellbeing of (non)living systems Rebecca Bego, Max Tuinman / The Lifecycles of Trees and Timber Machiel Spaan, Gilbert Koskamp

P6 (AUL) INTEGRAL DESIGN Vision, Plan, Detail How Will We Live Together? Sofia Koutsenko, Jolene Lee / Terminal Farm Stefano Milani, Victor Muñoz Sanz / Design an Organisation Barend Koolhaas, Edwin Gardner / Building (Cities) with Soil and Water Dingeman Deijs, Anna Zań / Metropolitan Energies: Electric city Rotterdam Martin Probst / Space for Choice Remco van der Togt / Integral Iceland: Energy, industry, agriculture, tourism, fishing and environment Jana Crepon

P4/O4 FALL (A) / P6 FALL (A) Bart Bulter, Dana Behrman, Dingeman Deijs, Anna Zan

P4 FALL (UL) / P6 FALL (UL) Yttje Feddes, Herman Zonderland

O1 (A) METHODS Mapping Architecture Rebecca Bego, Jan-Richard Kikkert, Magnus Weightman

O1 (U) METHODS Urban Perspectives Eric-Jan Bijlard / Density and Typology Liza van Alphen / Blueprints for the City Bram Klatser

O1 (L) METHODS Landscape Narratives Willemijn van Manen / Time Landscape Jean-François Gauthier / The Image of a City Philippe Allignet

O2A (A) FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE Site Marten Kuijpers / Climate-driven Migration Rachel Keeton / Care Ania Molenda / Post-Growth Yuting Tai / Nature-based Solutions Yağiz Söylev

O2A (U) READING THE CITY Building the Atlas of Amsterdam Sander Maurits, David de Kool

O2A (L) ECOLOGY AND BIODIVERSITY How to Use Ecology as a Design Instrument Rob van Dijk, Koen Wonders

O2B (AUL) ECOSYSTEM AND REFLECTION Ecosystems of Architecture: An architecture firm’s guide to staying relevant (if also alive) Adham Selim / Who runs the Red Light? Anna Torres / Revealing Coexistencies Nathanaelle Baës-Cantillon / How to Deconstruct Your Favourite Meal and Reconstruct It as an Ecosystem Ganesh Babu / The Planet and the Particle: Asbestos in Amsterdam Burcu Köken / Shifting Sands Esther Mecredy, William Pollard / Dirt Snack! We are what we eat, but also what our food ate Leanne Wijnsma / Look Around: Observing city nature Francesco Carrasso

O3A (AUL) HUMAN, ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY Noorder IJplas Marieke Berkers and Merten Nefs (coordinators) Wouter Pocornie, Carolien Schippers, Ronald Boer, Ekim Tan, Lenora Ditzler, Burcu Koken, Bram Willemse

O3B (U) URBAN SYSTEMS AND INFRASTRUCTURE Christan Rommelse, Stephan Boon

O3B (L) FIELDWORK Jeanette Visser

O4a (UL) REGIONAL RESEARCH Proximity from a Distance Marlies Vermeulen, Remy Kroese

O4B (U) METROPOLIS AND URBAN REGION Manifesting Transformation Jacopo Grilli

O4B (L) PROCESS How to Use Ecology as a Design Instrument Rob van Dijk, Koen Wonders

O6 (AUL) PAPER Arjen Oosterman (coordinator) Billy Nolan, David Keuning, Lilet Breddels, Alexandra Tisma, Abla elBahrawy, Vibeke Gieskes

O6 EXTRA (AUL) PAPER Arjen Oosterman, Coco Vink, Ellis Soepenberg

RC (A) REFLECTION CLINIC Rogier van den Brink, Peter Defesche, Dex Weel

RC (U) REFLECTION CLINIC Jerryt Krombeen, Christian Rommelse

RC (L) REFLECTION CLINIC Bieke van Hees

GC (A) GRADUATION CLINIC Vibeke Gieskes, Paul Kuipers, David Keuning

GC (U) GRADUATION CLINIC Anna Gasco, Jerryt Krombeen

GC (L) GRADUATION CLINIC Joost Emmerik, Berte Daan

V1A (AUL) INSPIRATIONAL MATTER Marlies Boterman (coordinator) Anna Zan, Thomas van der Nus, Estelle Barriol, Anne Nieuwenhuijs, Erik Vermue, Mirte van Laarhoven

V1B (AUL) NATURAL MATTER Marlies Boterman (coordinator) Annemarijn Haarink, Daria Khozhai, Ricky Rijkenberg, Paul Kuipers, Kaita Shinagwa

V2A (AUL) SELF-GROWING MATTER Marlies Boterman (coordinator) Marjolijn Boterenbrood, David Habets, Sam Edens, Irene Wu, Peter Mooij

V2B (AUL) TECHNICAL MATTER

Marlies Boterman (coordinator) Raul Forsoni, Alexander Kalachev, Thijs de Zeeuw, Ricky Rijkenberg, Hetty van Bommel, Mariet Sauerwein, Marta Male-Alemay, Kathelijn Rombaut, Timo Bega, Marco Galli

IC (AUL) INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE Marjoleine Havik (coordinator) Alicia Kreijger, Iruma Rodríguez Hernández, Imane Boutanzit, Patrick Roegiers, Jessica Shinnick

TOOLS 1 (A) STRUCTURAL DESIGN Jos Rijs (coordinator) Charles Hueber, Adri Verhoef, Jan Bart Bouwhuis

TOOLS 1 (UL) LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS AND URBAN SPACE

Mirjam Koevoet (coordinator)

TOOLS 2 (A) STRUCTURAL DESIGN Jos Rijs (coordinator) Charles Hueber, Adri Verhoef, Jan Bart Bouwhuis

TOOLS 2 (UL) LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS AND URBAN SPACE

John Westrik (coordinator)

C1 (AUL) HISTORY AND THEORY Nicholas Korody, Joost Emmerik, Daryl Mulvihill

C2 (AUL) HISTORY AND THEORY Thijs van Spaandonk, Daphne Bakker, Sereh Mandias

C3/C5 (AUL) PRACTICE, METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH Katja Hogenboom, Zaš Brezar and Jeroen Dircks (coordinators) Olaf Grawert, Michael Young, Elisa Iturbe, Stephen Cairns, Ruurd Gietema, Aglaee Degros, Sarah Cowles, François Vadepied, Mathieu Gontier, Günther Vogt

C4 (AUL) THEORY, SOCIETY AND DESIGN Zineb Segrouchni, Jacintha Scheerder, Simone C Niquille, Leah Wulfman, Teresa Frankhänel, Marga Weimans, Pierre-Christophe Gam, Ola Hassanain, Pin Liu, Ali T. As’Ad

C6 (AUL) WRITING WORKSHOP Sander Pleij, Wiegertje Postma

PRE-MASTER (A) Jos Rijs (coordinator) / Tools 0 Jos Rijs, Jan Bart Bouwhuis / Structural Design Roy Kok / Building Physics and Mathematics Matteo Cozzi / Excursion Paul Vlok, Jurrian Knijtijzer, Meintje Delisse / Architect and Building Paul Kuipers, Maarten Vermeulen, Milad Pallesh / Design

Project Jos Rijs, Paul Kuipers

MINOR (A) Paul Kuipers (coordinator) / Introduction and Building Analysis Paul Vlok / Architectural Tools Paulien Bremmer, Daria Khozhai, Paul Kuipers, Ricky Rijkenberg / Model

Making Kaita Shinagawa / Book Making Edwin van Gelder / Photography Jeroen Musch / Imagination and Presentation Ricky Rijkenberg / Material and Design Marlies Boterman, Anna Zan / Exhibition Making Marlies Boterman, Paul Kuipers / Design Assignment Paulien Bremmer, Paul Kuipers, Maarten Vermeulen / Architecture Theory

Oene Dijk / Lecture Kaj van den Berg / Excursion Rogier van den Brink, Eva Souren

MINOR (UL) James Heus (coordinator) / Workshop Willem Hoebink / Excursion Guide James Heus / Studio Niek Smal, Sophie van Eeden, Martha Seitanidou, James Heus / Excursions and Exercises Jan Eiting, Jerryt Krombeen, Ania Sosin, Koen Vermeulen, Wouter Pocornie, James Heus, Sophie van Eeden, Mark Vergeer / Lectures Gabriëlle Bartelse, Jerryt Krombeen, Alessandra Riccetti, Koen Vermeulen, Wouter Pocornie, Jean-François Gauthier, Jacopo Grilli

START WORKSHOP Jacopo Grilli, Stephanie Ete, Oscar van Leest, Roger Buyne, Massih Hutak, Alina Hinterberger, Rorschach Collective

WINTER SCHOOL Theun Karelse, Adriana Knouf, Anna Fink, Elza Berzina, Anne de Andrade, Emma Hoette, Frank Bloem, Marit Mihklepp, Onkruidenier, Robbi Meertens, Teun Castelein, Astrid van Nimwegen, Zachary Denfeld, Kay Nieuwenhoff

ELECTIVE COURSES Photography Mies Rogmans, Raimond Wouda / Presentation Training Marjolein Roeleveld / BIM Revit Roland Stuij / Drawing as a Tool Hans van der Pas / Plant Knowledge Ton Muller, Sanne Horn / GIS Course Ganesh Babu / Guest Lecture Gerrit-Jan van Prooijen, Hans Kaljee

PRACTICE MODULE DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT Alijd van Doorn, Martin Fredriks, Tamara Rogić, Chris Luth, Leon Emmen, Kim Kool, Martijntje Stam, Pedro Silva Costa

PRACTICE MODULE DESIGN AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Thijs Meijer, Martin Fredriks , Annegien van Dijk, Nataly Wierenga, Leon Emmen, Jerryt Krombeen

PRACTICE COACHES Léa Soret, Martin Fredriks, Frans Boots, Judith Korpershoek, Lejla Duran, Pedro Silva Costa

The Amsterdam Academy of Architecture would also like to thank all assessors, graduation mentors, graduation committee members and staff members.

PRE-MASTER (UL) Jean-François Gauthier (coordinator) / Workshop Willem Hoebink / Studio Hanna Prinssen, Jerryt Krombeen, Ania Sosin / Excursions and Exercises Jan Eiting, Jacopo Grilli, Marjolijn Boterenbrood, Jean-François Gauthier, Linde Keip, Sander van Velden / Lectures Mirjam Koevoet, Koen Vermeulen, Iruma Rodríguez Hernández, Eva Willemsen, Willie Vogel, Blake Allen, Sebastien Reinink, Oene Dijk / Final Project Jean-François Gauthier, Ania Sosin

Amsterdam Academy of Architecture

Annual Review 2023-2024

Editorial Board

Madeleine Maaskant and David Keuning

Managing Editor David Keuning

Translation and Copy Editing

InOtherWords (D’Laine Camp and Maria van Tol)

Graphic Design

Mainstudio (Edwin van Gelder and Moritz Eggmann)

Lithography

Alex Feenstra

Printing Tuijtel, Werkendam

ISBN/EAN 9789083207445 Publisher Amsterdam Academy of Architecture © 2024 Amsterdam Academy of Architecture www.academyofarchitecture.nl

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy or any storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture does not accept responsibility for errors or omissions.