Over the past few years, Netherlands-based artist Stefan Bleekrode has been creating cityscape drawings from memory of cities across the globe. Basing his work on impressions from trips throughout Europe and North America, Bleekrode utilizes pen and ink with watercolor shading to bring urban landscapes to life.
The City of Amsterdam has selected MVRDV and OVG Real Estate to realize a new mixed use development in its Zuidas Business District - "P15 Ravel Plaza." Chosen through an international competition, the design calls for three asymmetrical towers grounded by office and retail, topped with housing and intertwined by an expansive public green space that wraps itself in and around the building.
"This plan effectively increases the attractiveness of Zuidas," said Klaas de Boer, director of Zuidas, Amsterdam City Council.
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Under the guidance of three teachers, four students from the Department of the Built Environment at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have designed and built a stage, “Ensuite,” for the 20th Extrema Outdoor, a music festival in Aquabest, Netherlands.
The structure is composed of 600 pallets, creating a stage that embraces visitors and provides an intimate environment within the crowded festival. By placing the DJ booth in the center of the structure, the stage is made tactile and experiential for visitors.
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Design Indaba, in collaboration with the C-City Design Museum in Kerkrade, the Netherlands, has selected Hennie Botes’ “Moladi” for their new exhibit: “Design For A Better World | Innovations For People.” The exhibit aims to raise awareness of the significance of design by selecting projects relevant to current issues worldwide. Based out of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Moladi has provided a solution to the problem of affordable housing since 1986.
Learn more about the construction system and its benefits for affordable housing projects after the break.
Residents of 's-Hertogenbosch have been asked to vote on proposals by UNStudio and Ector Hoogstad Architecten to decide who will design their new City Center Theater. Though vastly different, both proposals promise to provide a timeless main theater and flexible performance hall that connects to an inviting foyer and seamlessly merges with the adjacent public plaza.
The public's vote will count towards 50 percent of the final decision. Ground breaking is expected to occur in 2017, with completion scheduled for 2020. Read on for a preview of both proposals.
Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, which was comprehensively restored and reimagined by Spanish practice Cruz y Ortiz over the course of a decade, has been named as the 2015 European Museum of the Year (EMYA) by the European Museum Forum. Lauded by the jury as "a great museum, at the height of its powers, providing a rich experience to the public, and a socially aware outreach programme for visitors of all ages," its success has also been in the museum's "ambition to 'reach every child in the Netherlands by the age of twelve'" - an aspiration which has been praised as "notable, impressive and achievable." The coveted award has previously gone to Zaha Hadid Architects' Riverside Museum in Glasgow in 2013.
This year the Architectural Association (AA) Visiting School programme will extend its reach to the Dutch city of Rotterdam – a place which, "by some strange twist of geographical and historical fate, has the highest concentration of architects and architectural thinkers in the world." The workshop, which will run for two weeks in July, will explore issues of inhabitance, perception, and intensity through analysis and creative interpretation of Rotterdam’s 'core' "or, more likely, its multiple cores, invisible to the untrained eye." Based in the Shell Tower on Hofplein, students will be afforded the opportunity to observe and analyse the city from on-high.
Ever wanted your very own Flatiron Building to sit on your mantelpiece? What about a Guggenheim for your desk, or a block of London apartments for your side table? Ittyblox, a Dutch company based in Den Bosch, is determined to make this dream a reality, 3D printing 1:1000 models of iconic buildings and city blocks. The models are printed in full color and designed to slot into modular baseplates, which can be arranged into complete cityscape dioramas. Buildings currently in production hail from London, Miami, New York, and Chicago, with a new building added each week.
The 2013 Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam (AFFR), which focuses around the theme, 'Time Machine,' is set to take place in the cinemas of LantarenVenster October 10-13. The event will all be about evaluating the past and dreaming about the future. This will be done with movies, lots of movies, in which 'the world called city' is the leading character. The festival will also hosts television series, debates and talk shows. More information after the break.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the biannual workshop series, Indesem (International Design Seminar) '13 is a week long workshop for students and recent graduates, accompanied by a publicly accessible lecture series featuring renowned architects and theorists reflecting on the current theme. Taking place April 19-26 at the Faculty of Architecture in Delft, the Netherlands, the fundamental idea of the seminar, with the theme of 'Scale Matters', is to create an environment where students and professionals can debate about the position of an architect. The outcome can contribute to the current architectural discussion. Competition to participate in the workshop is open for applicants until February 27. For more information, please visit here.
Witteveen+Bos, OKRA, and ZJA have recently won the integral design for the Jaarbeursplein Utrecht and the underground parking. Their vision focuses on the realization of the perfect parking concept, with a comfortable, lively, and socially safe city square on top of it. Forming the face of the new Utrecht, their vital and highly dynamic proposal becomes a place where inhabitants and visitors can have a taste of the new city. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Located in the heart of Gorssel, in the east of the Netherlands, the new Museum for Realistic Art for Hans Melchers by Hans van Heeswijk Architects will be housed in the former town hall of Gorssel. The museum will be a pavilion-like building of two floors with strategic vistas to the park-like environment in which it is located. Besides exhibiting the permanent collection, the building will also house temporary exhibitions. Construction will start in the spring of 2013 and the museum is expected to open in the spring of 2015. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Imagine driving down a road at night without street lights with the light-emitting road guiding your way. As the temperature outside drops the road starts to reveal images of ice crystals, signaling to you, the driver, that conditions are now icy and slippery. This futuristic concept may soon be a reality as Dutch design firm Studio Roosegaarde and the engineers at Heijmans Infrastructure team up to develop “Smart Highways” – a design agenda for interactive, sustainable and safe roads. The concept won the two firms Best Future Concept at the Dutch Design Awards 2012. Join us after the break for more.
Team innergy, composed of Frank Marcus, Pieter Wackers, Gerben Pennings, Gertjan Rohaan, Chris Van Der Zwet, recently won the first prize in the Energetic City 2050, competition about the sustainable future of the city of Arnhem, Netherlands. The jury felt that the vision of Innergy was “hopeful, with a strong belief in humanity & technology”, “focusing on individuals, for the city of the future will be the people themselves” and that “housing subscriptions and building material plazas will turn the city into a fluid place full of creativity “. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The International New Town Institute is organizing the ‘New Towns New Territories: New Players in Urban Planning’ conference taking place September 27th from 9am-7pm. The event, which will be held at the NAi in Rotterdam, will explore the latest innovations in global urbanization, privatization and new organizational models of urban development as well as the impact and challenges for professional practice. Global urbanization is moving at a faster pace than ever before and it is showing a fundamental shift in its structure and organization. Hundreds of economic, eco and satellite cities are being developed by private companies. Not only in Asia, but also in Europe. Who are the new players in the field of urban development? What visions, ambitions and strategies do they have? What innovations and financial models make these cities possible? These are just a few of the questions that will be answered and discussed. For more information, please visit here.
The City of Almere has revealed it’s MVRDV-designed proposal for the Floriade 2022 candidature! Almere is one of four Dutch cities competing to be the next location of the prestigious horticultural Expo, which takes place once every ten years in the Netherlands and is currently open in Venlo.
Rather than creating a temporary expo site, MVRDV has designed a lasting Cité Idéale, which would serve as a green extension to Almere’s city center. Drawing upon research from the radical DIY urbanism plan for Almere Oosterwold and the Almere 2030 master plan, MVRDV has designed an ambitious sustainable city that strives to be a 300% greener exhibition than the current standard.
Continue reading for more on this potential, exemplary green city!
Today, in the industrial Zuidoost area of Amsterdam, construction begins on the new OMA-designed headquarters for the fashion brand G-Star RAW. Led by OMA partners Reinier de Graaf, Ellen van Loon and Rem Koolhaas, the project will consolidate G-Star RAW’s existing disparate facilities into a single 27.500m2 horizontal building.
Continue after the break to learn more.
.jpg?1438136821 "© Willeke Machiels")
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.jpg?1434392465 "Courtesy of Moladi")
.jpg?1434392454 "Courtesy of Moladi")
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