Tag: winy-maas | ArchDaily

Expanding Practice: Architecture Think Tanks at the Intersection of Research and Design

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 07:30:00 +0000

In architecture, most practices revolve around delivering projects to clients. Offices are shaped by deadlines, budgets, and clear briefs. While this structure produces buildings, it rarely leaves space for architects to question broader issues — about how we live, how cities are changing, or what the future demands of design. But alongside this production-focused system, a quieter movement has emerged: studios, collectives, and foundations that prioritize research, experimentation, and reflection. These are the architecture think tanks — spaces designed not to build immediately, but to think first.

From Martian Hydrospheres to Forest-Like Cities: 6 Radical Urban Visions Unveiled at the Venice 2025 Architecture Biennale

Nour Fakharany — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Cities today are being reimagined as living, evolving organisms, combining digital intelligence, ecological systems, and new materials to shape radical futures. At Carlo Ratti's "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective." biennial, over 750 participants challenge established boundaries between architecture, landscape, and technology. Several conceptual projects showcased in the main exhibition challenge conventional boundaries between architecture, landscape, and technology. From bio-adaptive urban systems and Martian water-based settlements to immersive symphonies of satellite data, these works collectively envision new models for cohabitation, resilience, and planetary awareness.

Discover the Full List of Special Projects and Participants of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale

Maria-Cristina Florian — Thu, 01 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The 19th International Architecture Exhibition, organised by La Biennale di Venezia under Carlo Ratti's curatorship and the theme "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective," is set to transform Venice into a "Living Laboratory" of experimentation and collaboration. This year's special projects extend beyond the exhibition grounds, integrating into various city locations and Forte Marghera in Mestre, providing an alternative perspective that expands the reach of architectural discourse.

Exploring MVRDV's Mega Mat: A Recycled Plastic Installation for Bangkok Design Week 2025

Antonia Piñeiro — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 06:30:00 +0000

MVRDV has recently completed Mega Mat, a temporary installation for public gatherings and performances made from recycled plastic mats. Created for Bangkok Design Week, the joint goal of the architects and the Thai Creative Economic Agency was to design a space that also raises awareness about plastic waste and recycling in Thailand. The result is an infographic public space that, in addition to featuring bright, eye-catching colors, follows a color-coded system to organize information about the country's plastic waste processing. Mega Mat takes recycled plastic to reinterpret an everyday household item: the Sua, or mat, on which Thai families have been sitting for generations. This fresh take on a familiar object showcases the potential of using recycled plastic in daily life, embodied in a versatile public space now installed in the heart of Bangkok.

MVRDV Announces New Residential Complex for Tencent’s Campus in Shenzhen, China

Maria-Cristina Florian — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 06:30:00 +0000

MVRDV has revealed a large-scale residential complex to take shape as part of a new smart city campus built by technology company Tencent in Qianhai Bay, Shenzhen, China. MVRDV’s intervention, named Tencent P5, is comprised of 11 apartment towers arranged around four courtyards. The project also includes amenities such as an adjacent kindergarten, to offer all the necessary facilities for the company’s employees. Construction began in early 2022 and is scheduled for completion in 2024.

Social Spaciousness: MVRDV Reimagines the Future of Co-Living

Nour Fakharany — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 06:30:00 +0000

MVRDV has just released a new design study exploring how co-living can help shape the future of housing. Created in collaboration with developer HUB and sustainable investor Bridges Fund Management, the study introduces a comprehensive study exploring diverse typologies, aiming to revolutionize communal living and vibrant neighborhoods. It addresses modern housing needs, including flexibility, sustainability, and community, while tackling climate crisis and affordability issues. The endeavor offers tailored solutions for various co-living projects, catering to many demographics and lifestyles.

A New Layer of Public Space: The Case for Activating Urban Rooftops

Andreea Cutieru — Fri, 26 May 2023 04:00:00 +0000

In increasingly denser urban environments, there is a new-found interest in underused spaces as opportunities for further development. Representing up to 25% of cities' land area, rooftops are among the most exciting spatial resources. From sustainable infrastructure and urban farming to social spaces and cultural venues, the article looks into the potential of creating a multi-layered city through the activation of urban rooftops.

The Van Gogh Homeland Biennale Selects MVRDV’s Winy Maas as Its First Curator

Maria-Cristina Florian — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 06:30:00 +0000

MVRDV has joined the Van Gogh Homeland Foundation to develop the first Van Gogh Homeland Biennale to bring awareness to the challenges faced by the Brabant region. At the initiative of Midpoint Brabant, the experience strives to combine knowledge of architecture, landscape design, and sustainability to reignite enthusiasm for the Brabant landscape, Vincent van Gogh;s native Dutch province. According to the organisers, the region is facing a number of threats, including the increasing number of floods and the limited availability of space, but, through an orchestrated effort, the landscape that inspired van Gogh 150 years ago can become more sustainable and greener in the future.

ArchDaily’s Readers Select Who Should Win the 2023 Pritzker Prize

Nicolás Valencia — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 08:00:00 +0000

As part of our yearly tradition, we have asked our readers who should win the 2023 Pritzker Prize, the most important award in the field of architecture.

Winy Maas and Theobert van Boven Lead the Transformation of Their Former High School

Andreea Cutieru — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 05:30:00 +0000

MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas and Theobert van Boven of Van Boven Architecten, two alumni of Gymnasium Beekvliet, are leading the transformation of their former highschool in the Dutch village of Sint-Michielsgestel. In addition to the renovation of the existing building, the design features a flowing, colourful extension accommodating a new auditorium, as well as art and culture facilities providing students with an engaging learning environment. The new structure features a printed façade showcasing artwork by Canadian visual artist Ian Kirkpatrick that provides a record of the school's 200 years of history while creating a new focal point for the school and region.

Ilot Queyries Apartment Building / MVRDV

Hana Abdel — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Ilot Queyries is a courtyard apartment building providing 308 homes – including 163 for social housing – parking, commercial space, and a rooftop restaurant in an intimate urban setting with plenty of light, air, and a large collective green space. Located to the east of the River Garonne in Bordeaux, across from the city's UNESCO World Heritage historic centre, the building is part of a new neighbourhood of four buildings master-planned by MVRDV alongside Joubert Architecture.

MVRDV's Winy Maas on Dipping Our Planet in Green in Design and the City Podcast

Christele Harrouk — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 06:30:00 +0000

Design and the City a podcast by reSITE, on how to make cities more livable and lovable, raising questions and proposing solutions for the city of the future, kicks off its second season, with Winy Maas. In this first episode, the co-founder of MVRDV and The Why Factory discusses ideas that are seemingly larger than life, pushing the boundaries of our urban potential.

Design Disruption Episode 7: Disrupting Transit, Culture, and More with Winy Mass

Diego Hernández — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 15:35:00 +0000

The COVID-19 Pandemic is a disruptive moment for our world, and it’s poised to spur transformative shifts in design, from how we experience our homes and offices to the plans of our cities. The webcast series Design Disruption explores these shifts—and address issues like climate change, inequality, and the housing crisis— through chats with visionaries like architects, designers, planners and thinkers; putting forward creative solutions and reimagining the future of the built environment.

MVRDV Unveils "Sky Valley", Chengdu Future Science and Technology City, in Southwest China

Christele Harrouk — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 06:30:00 +0000

MVRDV has revealed the first images of Chengdu Sky Valley, the firm’s competition entry for the Future Science and Technology City in Southwest China. Fusing technology with nature, urban with rural, and modernity with tradition, the proposal introduces “a liveable city into the Linpan Landscape”. Located in one of China’s emerging cities, the project balances the competing needs of the area, through a computational workflow developed by in-house tech taskforce MVRDV NEXT.

MVRDV Wins Competition to Design the Mixed-Use Shimao ShenKong International Center in Shenzhen, China

Christele Harrouk — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 06:35:00 +0000

MVRDV’ s entry, Shenzhen Terraces, has been selected from 27 projects as the winner in a competition to design a 101,300-square-metre mixed-use Shimao ShenKong International Center. The multi-level urban living room is located in Universiade New Town, Longgang District, Shenzhen, China.

MVRDV Wins Competition to Reimagine Seoul’s Waterfront

Eric Baldwin — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 05:00:00 +0000

MVRDV has won the competition to redesign the Tancheon Valley and Seoul’s waterfront. Called “The Weaves”, the design was made to knit together pedestrian and bicycle paths, the natural landscapes, and public amenities. Commissioned by the government of Seoul, the design introduces a combination of natural and human activity in the midst of the city.

Carlo Ratti and Winy Maas Discuss Facial Recognition and the Shenzhen Biennale

Niall Patrick Walsh — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 07:45:00 +0000

In December 2019, the Chinese city of Shenzhen will host the world’s only Biennale focused exclusively on the topics of urbanism and urbanization. The 2019 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture will explore new phenomena brought about by the digital revolution, and the ability of citizens to become involved in shaping cities. The Biennale curator, Carlo Ratti, exemplifies this intersection between natural and artificial, championing the power of new technologies to transform how we live and design through his work at Carlo Ratti Associati and the MIT Senseable City Lab. In the “Eyes of the City” section of the Biennale, he is joined by MVRDV, and its co-founder Winy Maas, in shaping an experience that invites visitors and observers to question how technologies such as facial recognition can be integrated into urban life.

The Shenzhen & Hong Kong 2019 Bi-City Biennale Reflects on Technology and Urban Life

Christele Harrouk — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 06:30:00 +0000

Opening in December in Shenzhen, China, the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture (UABB), organized by the cities of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, will discuss the theme of “Urban Interactions”. First to use Facial Recognition and Artificial Intelligence, the public exhibition will test new grounds to reflect on the impact of digital technologies on the urban environment.