This year for the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale, the Dutch entry Open: A Bakema Celebration will reflect on the idea of an open society through the work and research of Jaap Bakema (1914-1981).
The Dutch architect, identified as a “compelling exponent of the Dutch welfare state,” was a leading voice within the international avant-garde movements CIAM (International Congresses of Modern Architecture) and Team 10. Inspired by the belief that “architecture should accommodate the emancipation of the masses while allowing for the self-realization of the individual citizen,” his portfolio includes some of the Netherlands’ most important postwar projects, such as the Rotterdam shopping street Lijnbaan.
Open will be curated by Guus Beumer, director of Het Nieuwe Instituut, and Dirk van den Heuvel, associate professor of architecture at Delft University of Technology and head of the new Jaap Bakema Study Centre.
