2016-03-31Souper #73

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Area Manager of the district Middelland Lot Mertens (Municipality of Rotterdam) and head of urban design Mattijs van Ruijven (Municipality of Rotterdam) were with us in late March at the table. The conversation at restaurant Huson, of course, went on various forms of urban development.

Lot calls herself quarter roamer and in that role she had among others an important part in the design of the Spoortuin, Essenburg Park and the project Fine, Beautiful Middelland. Mattijs of Ruijven working for 12 years in the city and has work in all the districts in this time separately. Now he can think about the city as one entity. Lot and Mattijs know the city very well, but working from totally different angles. While Lot seeks to scale up spontaneous development, Mattijs trying to embed the main lines of policy in the district. It either takes a lot of persuasion to bring others in their thinking and acting.

Where do these two different approaches come together? How can they use each other power? These were the main questions of the evening. After such a evening do you believe in a city of spontaneous developments and also in the calculated city.

2016-03-14Souper #72

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The last Monday in February, we have delicious dinner at restaurant Huson with Nathalie de Vries (architect / partner MVRDV) and Rients Dijkstra (urban designer/ partner MAXWAN).

The discussion focused on the 'Public architect’. Nathalie as former Government Advisor on Rail Infrastructure and now as president of the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA), Rients as Government Advisor on Infrastructure and Urbanism and Professor of Urban Design at the Delft University of Technology have extensive experience performing functions in the social field. They told us build bridges between market players, research institutions and public organizations is no easy task. Confidence in architects and urban designers is shockingly low.

Clear this evening that confidence can not be restored to the way we are now working within the disciplines. The 'Public architect' has the difficult task to connect with all other parties in the chain. An even tougher task is to open her own profession to the outside world.

2016-02-24Re/Start

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Read blog in Dutch at site De Architect. Feb 22, 2016.

2016-01-29Souper #71

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We kick off in 2016 with Marieke Berkers (architectural historian) and Gerjan Streng (architect/ partner The Cloud Collective). The setting is the same as the last Souper last year: restaurant Huson.

Marieke is a researcher, she writers articles, makes books, is a frequent juror, teaches at various educational institutions and is editor of the Blue Room. Landscaping is her specialty. Gerjan works with The Cloud Collective on architectural assignments and investigating with big data contemporary spatial issues. The Cloud Collective has been organized as an union, this makes working on various assignments in difference countries simple. The width range of assignments of this young agency, or better young organization is therefore impressive.

An interesting similarity between Marieke and Gerjan is that they managed to combine perfectly both content and entrepreneurship. They can also both talk about in a very pleasant way too.

Daan Bakker (Daf-architecten), Jeroen de Willigen (DeZwarteHond), Jasper de Haan (architect) and I invite each month a number of colleagues to eat, drink and discuss about our profession, the city of Rotterdam and related matters.

2015-12-10Souper #70

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The last Souper in 2015 was with the designers Christoph Seyferth and www.vincentderijk.nl Vincent de Rijk.] In restaurant Huson we mainly talked about the difference between design and architecture.

Christoph and Vincent design and produces products, furniture and spatial objects. They experiment with different materials in construction techniques, shapes and ways of finishing materials. Both gentlemen tell with lots of fun about their craftsmanship. The products are sold worldwide and users all seem happy after buying a bowl, a chair or a closet. They have a desirable autonomy.

We are, as architects and urban designers are dependent on one or more clients. Users require a prominent role in the design process. The line-up of consultants, suppliers and (sub) contractors with whom we must work together is impressive.

The distance between a designer and architect is great. A craftsman versus a process manager. A teddy bear versus a cold one. We have needed a whole night to indicate the differences well. In a one of the next Soupers we have to look at the possible similarities.

Daan Bakker (Daf-architecten), Jeroen de Willigen (DeZwarteHond), Jasper de Haan (architect) and I invite each month a number of colleagues to eat, drink and discuss about our profession, the city of Rotterdam and related matters.

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