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Nanne de Ru: The Latest Architecture and News

AD Interviews: Nanne de Ru / Powerhouse

At the ARKIMEET event in Istanbul, Turkey, we had the chance to catch up with Nanne de Ru, a co-founder of Powerhouse Company and the current director at The Berlage Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture.

“I think architectural thinking is quite often about how to manage complexity,  how to manage the complexity of different stakeholders -- an architect is a mediator between those different demands.  And politics operates quite often in similar ways,” he said on the connection between architecture and politics. “I think what politics and architecture have in common is the need for strategy and for thinking and to design strategies."

Check out some of Powerhouse Company’s designs below and watch the full video above to see what else de Ru has to say about politics, empathy and education in architecture.

AD Interviews: Nanne de Ru / Powerhouse - Arch Daily InterviewsAD Interviews: Nanne de Ru / Powerhouse - Arch Daily InterviewsAD Interviews: Nanne de Ru / Powerhouse - Arch Daily InterviewsAD Interviews: Nanne de Ru / Powerhouse - Arch Daily InterviewsAD Interviews: Nanne de Ru / Powerhouse - More Images

Critics and Peers Comment on Shigeru Ban's Pritzker Prize

Yesterday we asked some prominent critics and a few of Ban's peers to weigh in on the Japanese architect's Pritzker win. Curators, architects, and writers praised Ban's approach and conviction, describing what Ban's work signifies to the architecture community. Read on for comments from Architecture for Humanity co-founder Cameron Sinclair, MoMA curators Barry Bergdoll and Pedro Gadanho, Cooper Union classmates Nanako Umemoto and Jesse Reiser, of Reiser + Umemototo, and more.

"We are very proud of Shigeru as the first Pritzker Prize Winner to have graduated from Cooper Union. Shigeru continues to embody the independent thinking that was highly emphasized through our education. We met Shigeru in 1979, and can speak to his dedication to humanity from the beginning. As we recall, each design problem for Shigeru became an occasion to explore the work of what he considered to be the master architects as a way of developing his own voice. It has become fashionable to connect architecture to social causes; however, Shigeru has never seen it as a trend, but rather something fundamental to his design practice. Unlike those in the discipline who conflate their social and political commitments with architecture, he happens to be a very fine architect. As a result of his education abroad and his inclination to define a unique practice, Shigeru has always been viewed as an independent within the Japanese scene. We are very excited that Shigeru's work is being honored."
- Nanako Umemoto and Jesse Reiser
Founders of Reiser + Umemototo, RUR Architecture PC

Nanne de Ru Appointed Director of The Berlage

The Executive Board of The Berlage Center for Advanced studies in Architecture and Urban Design, chaired by Professor Karin Laglas, has just appointed architect Nanne de Ru as the Director of The Berlage. Partner of Powerhouse Company, de Ru has taught and lectured at schools across Europe, such as the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, the Oslo School of Architecture and Design and Delft University of Technology. Now part of the Faculty of Architecture, The Berlage is an entity of Delft University of Technology that builds on the tradition and reputation of the former Berlage Institute.