Designblog

Idealistic intentions

All over the world idealistic ideas about ecological, peaceful communities and city’s rise up with the intention to create a new world and to design a new society and mentality that would chance the world. Nature supporting architecture, religious like rituals, education, economic and social structures are developed to amplify the realization of this new and “better” world. In every such project that was developed until now, cultures come together in a fusion of art, education, rituals and tradition. It is clear that a lot of people have the desire of a new structured, new spiritual and in every aspect more organic and ecological world. One that gives us the peace of mind that we will not use up our energy sources, that we will not exterminate our nature and therefor importantly to most humans ourselves! Every kind of media is trying to inform us to be aware for the need of change throughout the hole world. To raise the question of awareness, in what way do we go on manipulating the world, in what way can we change our living conditions. It is even a big inspiration for the art world, television series that create science fiction out of it, writhers, designers, architects etc…

Utopia’s

Some reactions to all of this have bin the design and building of Utopia’s. Still up until today non of these “Utopia” projects seem to really succeed. It is an interesting question to why these projects fail time after time and still why so many projects are rising up. It is a question that I will give my own perspective on. I will take two cities as an example for the experiment for the improvement of a better quality of live.

Auroville

“Auroville wants to be a universal township where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity”. In there philosophy they try to wave cultures and societies together with traditional and modern lifestyles. In that way Auroville has become a playground in many area’s such as architecture. Not only does Auroville have an interesting architecture it has it’s own economical structure, a research area for renewable energy and recyclable energy and elements, it’s own social structures and developed education.

The sketch of Auroville ‘1965’ begun with Mirra Alfassa (who was collectively called “The Mother”) she laid down the basic concept for the town. Here first sketches are called “The Galaxy” in witch she tries to lay down all the important activity areas that would fulfill the vision of making it a universal township.  It was to be a city that would totally intergrade and be submissive to nature. Then in 1970 Mirra Alfassa asked Roger Anger to begin with the design of the center “Matrimandir” the hart of Auroville. This is the most and very important  building of Auroville. It is called the “soul of the city” and is situated in a large open space much like an arena called “Peace”. Inside the building there are 4 pedestals that all belong to a wind-region North-East-South-West and symbolize characters. And also a mediation hall, this contains the largest glass globe in the world. Above it is a hole in the roof so that the sunlight shine’s s straight line into the globe by daylight. Witch gives it a extraordinary glow and light spectacle.

Every building has a symbolic meaning. The city exists out of 4 zones (cultural, international, industrial, residential) and a green belt. The movement of the city became to be intergraded in the nature it was build in. Around it other communities came into existence. Thus a kind of double city gradually developed. Auroville starts weaving into a structure of it’s evolution and become one pattern. The city has relied on the possibilities that nature trees and plants gave room for to build, and because of that a very natural shape became to be, almost tornado like, if it was made and shaped by nature itself.

This all came to be in the order of a charter of rules that where developed to the being of the City. Some of the architectural rules:

1. Not to Harm nature or its existing habitants in the build of the city
2. Eco Friendly Architecture
3. Climate responsive architecture
4. Architecture integration with natural surroundings

The following link is to the architectural aspect of Auroville: http://www.auroville.org/thecity/architecture.htm

Chandrigarh

Here I want to make a bridge to Chandrigarh another city that was build in India. This city came to existence because in 1947 Punjab was divided into a Pakistani and Indian part the new Indian state therefor needed a new capital city. The architect is Le Cobustier who also created the Modular formula and his own charter’s of rules for architectural constructions.

Some of Le Cobusier values:

1. Architecture that has a moving relation with light, shadow and space.
2. Provide of cheap and high quality buildings
3. To contribute to a more comfortable and easy lifestyle
4. To connect people by the use of elements and natural senses

These formula’s had everything to do with the natural elements.Le Corbusier had an aversion for industrial like cities, he thought it led to crowing, dirtiness and lack of moral landscape. He tried to intergrade a way of architecture that suggest and encourage people to have a certain lifestyle. He was also very concerned with the human body responding to its architecture. Also the feel and touch of materials and shapes, color, space, sounds, light where all even as important. The city Chandigarh pronounces itself as a city where modernization coexists with nature’s preservation. Tree and plants are as much a part of the construction plans as the buildings an the roads. And he city is surrounded by a green belt.

The most important and symbolic monument is an metal 85 feet hight open hand that rotates in the direction of the wind and carries out the message of peace and unity “open to give and open to receive”. Much like the symbolic meaning of the centre building “Matrimandir” in Auroville. Also Chandrigarh is divided into different area’s witch are self-sufficient neighborhoods, that are linked to each other by roads and path networks. The zones are numbered from 1 to 47, with the exception of 13 (since it is considered unlucky). The shape of the city is much like a patchwork blanked. It is clear that the city, roads and networks are organized and designed for practical use and comfort.

Failure and Succes

Both cities show in some way’s a lot of resemblance to each other but are also very opposite to each other in a lot of way’s. Both city are divided in sectors that have there own function, witch is also very important to both city’s is the richness of nature. In both city’s the architecture is build with a very friendly approach to the human body and environment. And both cities contain symbolic elements. But where Auroville wants to be a total new economic, ecological and self sufficient city and break loos of commercial and mass production companies, Chandigarh has companies like Mc Donalds etc… The mentality and philosophy differs in a economical, spiritual and educational way. Auroville tries to contribute to a solution for our problems of pollution of our environment, our energy sources and the quality of our mental and physical health. Chandrigarh tries to have a quality of living environment but does not in the hole try to change the use of economical and commercial consumers with the outcome of a more nurturing use of our environment. Still Auroville has not provide a solution and is now surviving on neighbor-villages. If you look at the world as a symbiotic organism it is clear that one can not survive without the other, everything is linked to each other. Even within the smallest organic cels and atoms there is linkage to everything around us. We humans have designed and created a world full of problems that are totally linked and symbiotic to each other. If we take one of them away the survival of function as we created it is in danger. In order for a concept like Auroville to work there has to be a chain reaction throughout the hole world to maintain that symbiotic relationship that we have with the world in order to survive.

It is very clear now in the scientific world, the spiritual world, the business and economic world, that a change and chain reaction like that is very necessary for our survival. Money became digital and lost its value and creditability. Banks are falling, oil one of our biggest sources of energy is running out. There is a big hole in the ozone-lear that damages our  bio culturals. We have to find a way to make a solution possible. And finding this way is very inspirational for designers all over the world!

The Casio F-91w is a watch that intrigued me in the first place because of his simple structure. It’s not heavy, easy to wear and no unnecessary elements. The watch explains itself. With this I mean that the shape shows the function, which is something many designers don’t do anymore these days. Other aspects that I like are the geometric shapes, colours and the simplicity of the sound and buttons.

The longer you look at the watch, the more you will find out that the square with cut edges is repeated many times in different ways like a form stretched to the edges at the end of the watch. The designer did not only repeat this square, he also repeated other elements like lines and typography.

Since this watch turned out for me to be mainly about repetition. I chose to use this aspect in my next design, which turned out to be a bridge for bycicles.

In the technical drawing you can see more clearly how I repeated the geometric forms as much as possible. For the bridge I also chose to use the form of the bracelet from thick to thin into the pilars of the upper-middle side of the bridge.

What fascinated me in the exposition is how El Lissitzky redesigned Malevich’s opera, Victory over the Sun.

Victory over the Sun was a futurist opera premiered in 1913. The costume and set design was done by the Russian artist Kazimir Malevich. The futurist opera couldn’t succeed as the suprematist techniques were pretty new. The audience reacted negatively and violently to the performance.

What happened afterwards is that following the Russian revolution, El Lissitzky worked with Malevitch for a new version of the opera as an electro-mechanical show. Lissitzky transformed Malevich’s black and red squares into figures constructed of transparent prisms and metallic rods, bending and receding in space. He created a typography specially for the libretto. Most importantly, he transformed the old costumes into new robotic figurines/figures.

The new version of Victory over the Sun was closer to El Lissitzky’s Proun principles, where his work was more focused on the interaction of his architectural, graphic and typographic experiments, transforming sounds to architecture, words to costumes, or drawings to characters. This made me realize that he is not only a painter, but a graphic artist and an architectural designer, and a designer of furnitures, books and posters.

This is the proof that architecture and design are not just about constructing buildings or visuals, but also about how to create a coherent whole with a story, connecting different elements like the space, decors, visuals or texts.

Then maybe design is an activity one can apply to any kind of system. Architecture is a principle for making relational systems that can improve the totality of an artwork.

In this work you see influences of Design, Fine arts, Architecture and Graphic design.
A nice thing of this work is that the upper drawing can stand on his own, and therefore can be divided in Fine arts. What Lissitzky is doing in the painted photo below, can be compared with design. Almost all his work contains influences of Design, Fine arts, Architecture and Graphic design. For myself I see it back the most in this one.
I really like the composition and colour distribution and how Lissitzky combines the 2D/3D perspective, which makes the drawing much more architectural.
I think the later work of Kandinsky is in some way comparable. I’m talking about elements of composition, colour distribution wise and form contrasts.
What’s fascinating actually is that for example in these paintings ( K1, L1, K2, L2 ) the triangles, (half) circles, stripes and composition have so much in common. While the ideas of their work are so different. Kandinsky combines painting with music, which Lissitzky does with architecture.

What I appreciate is the modern way of exposing his work. I like the way he puts his drawing and his street-exhibition in one frame on the cardboard. And the fact that he paints on the photo. The street celebration design reminds me a bit of graffiti in legal manners. In Graffiti you have multiple meanings of doing it. Some do it for the adrenaline-kick, some for the group or competition feeling, some to show their design skills and others for  political statements or propaganda. This last example is what I see in a part of Lissitzky’s work.

I think it’s interesting to see how he uses his propaganda work in other work but then he integrates his in his autonomous work (proun. street celebration design).

All in all I think it’s a great work and a unique style. I really admire that Lissitzky makes so many different things, and still keeps it in one theme

At the Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung in 1923, Lissitzky was given the use of a small square space. Instead of hanging existing paintings, he decided to put new Prouncompositions with reliefs on the walls, thus creating a three-dimensional Prouneraum (Proun space).

The way Lissitzky turned 2D into 3D is admirable. One can experience being inside Prounspace as being in a Proun painting. By utilizing shifting axes and multiple perspectives, it feels like being in a spaceship. It has uncontrolable power over people, the same power that architecture can have.

At the same time wooden construction, the relief guides the viever through the room – “the journey“ – remindes me of a scale model of an another “space“. Prounspace thus allows us to be part of a space and at the same time have control/overview over another space.

The reason why I think Lissitzky’s Prounspace is that faschinating is the way it manipulates reality and our feeling for space. It challenges our notion of scale/ size.

There are two interesting japanese photographers that I like, who play with the same idea. One part of  Naoya Hatakeyam’s photo series called Scales consists of photos taken of existing architectural models of New York City and Tokyo as if they were real.

Another photographer Naoki Honjo makes pictures of existing cities, but plays with the focus, colour intensity and lighting in a way that urban life appears to look model-like.

Looking at Lissitzky and the mentioned photographers as references, I do not believe that making scalemodels belongs to achitects alone. I think that scale sized models are not only just a way to perceive reality differently but also to analyze the visual world. Taking the distance, a birds-eye view can often make things clear/better.

And there is always some nice hidden romantic feeling in scale models, even if we deny it.

This work seems to me like a project that started as a painting, then it became a 3d object and in the end it became something with a function on large scale. That was my first impression. But it’s not a coincidence at all. Lissitzky made this work in his Proun- period. And if you look at the painting closely you can see that he has been using differect perspectives. It’s like he was already searching for a good architectural design, the painting seems like a study for the model.

Later on Lissitzky calls this Proun period “the station where one changes from painting to architecture”. But nothing comes from nowhere. The Russian Revolution and the First World War had gave art and design a whole lot of new opportunities. Art and Design were ready for a new start, with no right or wrong.

When I look at the painting and I see all the lines and different compartments, I find it very intriguing how Lissitzky makes the transition to architecture. It’s interesting to look at a process like this, making something that is two dimensional into tree dimensional.  It really triggers me, the whole thing looks very playful and I like the model very much. The building that came off of the painting and the materials that have been used in the model are very exciting.  The shapes that you see in the painting are literally translated to the model, but the materials that have been used in the model are very different from what you expect of the painting.

For me personally, something is missing, something that I find very interesting and important. I conclude that there has to be made a next step in this very nice project. You don’t see any doors, windows or floors. Finding the right balance between exterior and interior is the challenge.

XX- is based on a research-approach that focuses on the intensive examination of typography and writing in all its social, societal and aesthetic ways of application. In the 2006 ‘typography class’ at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts, we (Elisabeth Hinrichs, Aileen Ittner and Daniel Rother) developed our project on the visual implementation of “symbols of power” in writing systems under the conditions of a totalitarian regime. In particular, we examined the way in which the SS (Nazi SS 1925-45) presented and visually legitimated itself by means of a constructed sign . A collection of sources was created on the basis of intensive research in libraries, state archives and the Internet as well as of interviews with contemporary witnesses. This collection was the starting point and the foundation of that book XX-, The SS-Rune as a special Character on Typewriters.

In its three chapters FEMALE (FRAU), SIGN (ZEICHEN), MACHINE (MASCHINE) the book XX- examines the way in which administration, communication and technology were an elementary condition of the functioning of the annihilation apparatus in the Third Reich.

The book’s content consists in visual (advertising and propaganda images, files) and textual fragments (contemporary, philosophical, sociological statements as well as statements related to cultural studies and encyclopedic entries). In it, history is interpreted, displayed and arranged. In this sophisticated way of dealing with history which makes its documents visible and discloses them for use the book XX- questions its sources and their perception. In its hybrid composition as a file as well as a book its design employs filing techniques such as a registry, catchwords, numeration and categorisation and embeds these into a book format.

The book XX- is composed as a symbiosis of a file and a book cover and thus refers to its sources: The archive and literature. Constructed solely of visual and textual fragments, it uses available literature (contemporary statements, encyclopedic entries, philosophical, sociological, political and linguistical standpoints as well as statements related to cultural studies) and images (advertising- and propaganda images of the 30s and 40s, files).

In the book, fragments are juxtaposed without them being commented in way resembling an archive. Thus, they demand an independent analysis and an autonomous evaluation of the different opinions by the reader. The selective constellation of the sources takes on the book’s structures: Their succession and compilation are fixed and thus generate a new content. The resulting hybrid presents history and questions its alleged absoluteness and unambiguousness at the same time.

The book XX- questions its sources and their perception In a sophisticated way of dealing with history that makes its documents visible and discloses them for use. Thus the closeness of the book as a medium is abrogated in favour of a new perception of historiography. History is interpreted,  displayed and arranged in a reflection of the medium.

by Elisabeth Hinrichs, Aileen Ittner, Daniel Rother

Title: XX- (The SS-Rune as a special Character on Typewriters)
Series: orange files. Studies on Grammatology # 1 [orange files. Studien zur Grammatologie]
Editors: Julia Blume, Prof. Günter Karl Bose, Institute for Book Design at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts [Institut für Buchkunst der Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig] Leipzig 2009
324 pages, 198 images, 420 citations, hard cover, cost €49
ISBN: 978-3-932865-55-8

Browsing through the library for the last time, I thought it was time for a different approach. So instead of searching, looking, considering for at least half an hour or maybe even longer, I just run into the library and get the first big book I see. Without even wondering if it is about art or design (well, ofcourse I know it is about art, but there is a story to tell you know), I borrow it. Once outside the library I see the book is about the work of Tadao Ando. My conclusion is that you can not be objective or random towards anything. The reason for this conclusion is that when I tried to borrow a random book from the library, I still get back with a book about a person whose work I really like. This book about this person. I knew it before, but through this project I am more certain about it, no one can ever be objective. That can turn out to be pretty good, but also pretty bad.

The second book I choose is about the architecture from library’s and museums. Because my tags were “library” “arranging” “industrial” it isn’t a really big surprise that the book I find now is quite similar to the other one. But the most important difference is the fact that this book is about the architecture of the buildings.

It is a really interesting book because you will find out more from well known buildings and also discover some new. Off course the architecture is really important for the atmosphere in library’s and museums.

The reason that makes this book interesting for me is that they show every detail of the buildings. I like the fact that you can find maps, models, etc. In some way it almost looks like a hobby book, for self-made architecture. But to make one of the buildings myself, is not gonna work I guess…

Publik Library Amsterdam: 718.4
Bauten der Kultur: “Museen und Bibliotheken”

When i was checking the books at the library, i saw a book about the topic that i’m really interested in, Soviet Architecture. I checked it and yes it was the book that i am looking for. Then i looked for other books to find some images to  support my topic, i couldn’t find though. Suddenly i saw a boow, looking old and having old, dark red just jacket. Yes! It was about Russia Architecture. The best thing about it is the just jacket. It is just like Soviet public architeture or Soviet mentality. A book need to covered and there it is, nothing more ( i love “the Raven btw). One barely reads the name of the book, there is nothing on it to make you buy it (if you were in the book store). No colorful letters, no information about what it contains. One can find it, only if he/she needs it. Which is what i did. Which is why this dust jacket is a perfect match for this topic.

On the left side you see the book i choosed and on the right side there is a book from BRD – Germany (to compare)

718.8 lis 1

The white spot in the middle of the book immediately grabbed my attention. It’s the only element you see on the book. The rest is covered with denim. Strange actually because the book contains information about the Japanese architecture. And denim is typical ´West´. But for me strange is not that negative, I think it is quite interesting.

Actually I don’t know anything about Japanese architecture. But I was thinking about it, because the last two years I learnt a lot about the Japanese environment. I wondered if you could see the Japanese flora and fauna back into their architecture (which it does).

While flipping the pages you only see black and white photographs which show the simplicity of their architecture. It shows a lot of buildings with interesting spaces, lines and basic elements. I really recognize ‘Japan’ in it.

It’s a squared book fit in one color which I like. Not too big, not to small and it really wanted to tell me something about buildings created with natural elements of Japan.

09769
7/3.3

Shoin

I entered the library with the intention of taking the first book that catches my eye, even it is based on pure visual, superficial attraction.
The book that I noticed first was standing right next to me and I instantly decided to take it because it brought me back to my past. It was a massive book called S, M, L, XL by architect Rem Koolhaas in collaboration  with designer Bruce Mau. I was 13 years old when I  held it in my hands for the first time and I was playing with it by choosing words and sentences from it randomly, translating them into my own language and retyping them in my big book of quotes. Today, 6 years after I played this game again and picked with my finger, with my eyes closed. The word was DISORDER.

-KOOL- 2a

What is the connection between Experimental Jetset, Johannes Schwartz and Herman Verkerk?
Besides the fact that they are all based in Amsterdam, that they can speak Dutch, they all like to create beautiful and witty designs or images, they like to question their practice, they like to experiment and they actually teamed up together several times, another crucial connection appeared recently: the three of them are going to participate to a collective interview project…

After discovering more about their work, it became obvious that there was something interesting to investigate about their collaboration. What make several people or entities meet and work together? Are they alike or on the contrary, are they so different that they complement each other…?

For that reason, we interviewed them using the same process:

>> AN INTERVIEW IN A SUITCASE
We visited Johannes Schwartz, Experimental Jetset and Herman Verkerk, carrying with us this suitcase. Inside the suitcase, many different objects. Each interviewee was invited to open the suitcase, to browse through it and to freely react to the objects they found in it.

The results were surprising, exciting and very interesting. But when it comes to decide what brought the three of them together and where they meet… you are left free to listen to the interviews and to make up your own mind!

Experimental Jetset, Johannes Schwartz or Herman Verkerk

A lot of “rules” were written for architecture. Not always have they been followed up and also a lot of times they have been discussed by other “writers (philosophers)” / architects.

Adolf Loos was one of these architects who were more philosopher than architect. Even though the whole world listened to what he had to say, his rules were not followed by everyone and not as strict as he had hoped for. This is due to the fact that there were more of these men that had their ideas about architecture. Besides the Ornament & Crime essay there were serveral others like the “Raumplan”, “the Plan Libre” and peoples individual ideas.

Today we don’t design according to a “manual” written by one architect. There are thousands of manuals that inspire us. It’s about what we want ourselves.

on_”Ornament_&_Crime”

Welcome again to Designblog.

We hope you have enjoyed all our contributions and project of the last season published by the students, professors and guests of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie Foundation Year’s Design Program.

As an education project Designblog is constantly publishing new content and reinventing it’s format. Not satisfied with the option of being a publishing platform only, we do investigate all posibilities to become an engine aswell. We hope you enjoy the experiment.

Designblog is also a platform to show some of the dynamics going on in the Foundation Year’s Design Program and the many faces it can make….like:

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DESIGN OF SPACES/architectonical design by Carla Boomkens

A project in which the making of spaces and their expressive means are investigated.   Both real size- and scale models of spaces are ventured in this short-term research-laboratory on visual, functional and communicative qualities, according to a well specified theme.

Ranging from a tent-cabin to the built environment of a city, the very function of the constructed space offers the specific features to it, and thus the means for visual expression: defining the way a space can be specificly experienced.   By analyzing the function unforeseen connections are to be revealed, which broaden the effective visual spelling and open doors to subtle and precise visual communication.

Examples of existing spaces and/or buildings will be extensively introduced and discussed as guidelines: the knowledge and understanding of the motives of their authors challenges to reflect on the motives of one’s own expression – it both intensifies and relativates.   The visual research is valued as the most important contribution to the workshop, the results are considered as a consequence, not as a singular aim.   About technique for building: through the making of the (scale)models the fundamental principles of construction will evidence themselves – and will be coached when the work calls for it.

text by Carla Boomkens /images & models by the students

Wonder where all the tagging started?……….

It was the 5th of February when we started a project moderated by Carolyn F. Strauss, designer, curator and founding director of slowLab. Together with the students of the FoundationYear’s D group she lectured and set of an investigation into slowdesign and related designers and artists. True to the principle of personal connection we started with a quick mapping of ourselves and our working process as designers and artists in relation to “slow” as a subject. Mapping to find keywords for processes and experiences that make up our conditions and inspiration for behaving and performing, to visualize that flow and determine specific tags to describe it. How do these tags symbolize slowness in our work and working process.
Ask yourself the question “slowMe”?
The results became clear instantly through a series of “slowMe” postings

read also: tagging slowdesign part 2

¿GRA becomes GAK?, a forum for students and teachers.
Read all comments below!

GAK building is located close to the “Bos en Lommerplein” and the A10

SPACE: As the Gerrit Rietveld Academie is struggling with a capacity shortage it is seriously considering to move to an other location, Designblog wants to provides some background information about this proposed “possible” location .

SPEAK YOUR MIND: Last week after a meeting with the coordinators (chairs) of all departments and the Board of Directors, a request has gone out to speak our minds about a location to house the growing academy. As a result of pragmatic managing the Board of Directors proposed to move to the GAK building located in the Bos and Lommer district. The City of Amsterdam injects millions to upgrade the poor “Bos en Lommer” district and again The Rietveld seems a perfect candidate for their plans.

QUESTIONS: Is the stage already set or do we realy have a say?
If so, let’s asks some questions: Was it not just 5 years ago that the Academie was renovated to be the pearl in the (now in crisis) Cultural/Financial district plan “Zuid-As”? Do we want to move to an office building not better than the new one we already have and dislike? Why is there no alternative in a city that is constantly rehousing cultural institutes and academy’s in town? Do we want to live and work together in one building? What happened to “the dream”?

Architect B.Merkelbach, co-founder of “the 8 & Opbouw” movement.

GAK building: The former GAK-building (City Administration Office for Social Security) is an overwhelming building, dominating -Bos en Lommer- from the A10 Ring way. It has been nominated for a monument status.

MERKELBACH: Build by the architect B. Merkelbach at the end of the 50ties this huge office building housed 3000 office workers. It still is one of the biggest office buildings in Amsterdam. The building is empty since 2005 and gives temporary accommodation to user’s like the Rietveld (2008) and Stedelijk Museum (2009). Many plans are made for a new occupation, but none of them are realized yet. browse through these links to get an idea: old news?, Rietveld Site, Amsterdam-promosite, Monument?
“the 8″ MOVEMENT: B.Merkelbach was co-founder of the architectural movement “the 8″. A movement that promoted a pragmatic functionalism and as such opposed the other movements of that time “The Amsterdam School” and “the Stijl Movement”. Merkelbach cooperated with Rietveld in the early stages of developing the Rietveld Academie until he became subject of city politics as a municipal architect. for more info link to: NAi or Arcam

The 8 is anti-KUBISTIC: With this statement they attack the Stijl group (founded in 1917 with prominent members like artist van Doesburg, Mondriaan and Gerrit Rietveld). They promoted an attitude which was against feeling and individualism and for rationalism as a means to express the needs of the society, emphasizing a more functionalist direction in architecture.

The question is, why can’t “The Rietveld”, as a leading World Wide renown Academy, not set it’s own trend again and enrich the city with a bold visionary statement in housing.

_______________________________________________________________________

To read all about this plans: newspaper articles, GRA Newsletters and the critical opposition (petition) link to:

rietveldforrietveld petition website

Volkskrant article April 30th, NRC column by Maria Barnas May 5th, ArchiNed May 14th, AT5 TV May 15h, Parool column by Ronald Hooft May 15th,  Parool.nl May 16th, EyeMagazine blog May 18th, Parool.nl June 20th,

official plan (Gerrit Rietveld Academy Newsletter/Ned) May 8th, same Newsletter/Eng version, Signing postponed until September (GRA Newsletter May 15th)

Gerrit Rietveld Website
read also the comments. Most recent comments as they are connected to this posting!

It is possible for the human being to adapt to all kinds of environments and situations, but without a stimulative environment, inhabitants easely get the feeling of lonelyness, boredom and estrangement. “Beond Shelter” is a publication published in connection with the Dutch contribution to the 1976 Venice Bienale in which Tjeerd Deelstra, Hein Reedijk and Gijs van Tuyl give a comment on –current housing– situation at that time in the Netherlands.

As a result of the construction projects of the Dutch suburbs in the 70’s, the architects no longer knew for whom they were designing. They no longer had the same importance in the final say of their projects. It was more up to the construction companies to decide the size of the projects and architects kind of forced in to massive scale buildings. Whole suburbs where competed in few years, leaving no space for inhabitants to give their own charm to the area.

If the speed of construction for new dwellings could be more critically planed and the scale reduced, it would be possible to experience a direct contact between the inhabitant and the architect, or even architecture without architects to let the neighbourhood grow organically and let it have the characteristics of the inhabitants.

cat.nr: 719.1-cat-1

keyword: freedom

In my previous post I talked about “City Signs and Lights”, about the design of a modern city landscape, attracting customers. City signs are in an ongoing competition for attention. In this post I want to focus on the interaction between the consumer (the flaneur) and the environment. I would like to shift between two cases: the architecture of The Strip in Las Vegas and the passages in Paris, in the first half of the 20th century.

The passage is a covered shopping gallery. The culture philosopher Walter Benjamin wrote about early consumer culture in Paris in his text “Passagen” (1930). He describes the citizen as a flaneur, not as someone who is exposing him/herself, but someone who is exposed to the attractive lights in the shopping gallery. The flaneur is a person who walks through the city without a specific goal. He/She gets into an ecstacy, going from one attraction to the other. The city unrolls as a landscape to the eye of the flaneur, but at the same time, locks him in. Benjamin calls this new city environment a “Fantasmagory”, the city becomes a dreamworld where different rules apply than in reality.

” If there is one place where colours are allowed to clash, it would be the Passage; a red-green comb is hardly noticed here ”

(W. Benjamin, Passagen, 1930)

I believe that Las Vegas is a great example of a modern day Fantasmagory. The city is almost entirely made out of neon signs. After the second world war, Las Vegas was growing extraordinarily fast. The consequence was a speed-up of competition along the Strip (the central road through Vegas). The actual buildings are all more or less the same: low, but a large ground level surface. This has to do with the climate and economical reasons. The outside of the building needs to stand out, both during the day and night. The result is a total mash-up of different styles, quotes, hightened symbolism, eclecticism, all in neon lights.

In the end, the building itself becomes a sign.

Vegas references:

W. Benjamin, Passagen, 1930

R. Venturi, Learning from Las vegas, 1970

Cocteau Twins, Heaven or Las Vegas, 1990

05-heaven-or-las-vegas

cat. no. 700.6-benj2

keyword: neon

In the earlier times of human kind people built their own homes, grew their own food, made their own clothes and tools. They where self sufficient and the knowledge was passed on from generation to generation. With industrialization and increasing population, this knowledge has been put aside and most of it now lost.

It´s kind of impossible and pretty utopian idea to turn back to these old living habits, especially here in the west,  but maybe we could try to find a balance in our lives between what we can make with our own hands and what still must be done by machines. So before running out to the store we could think twice and see if we really need to buy this item that we need.

The more we can create for ourselves, the greater will our individual freedom and independence be.

cat. no: 710.9-kah-2

keyword: freedom

1. if you are searching for the best way to walk clumsily with a book, take this one.
2. if you want the best book for architecture of 21 century.
3. if you are searching for a book that is 4 kilos, this is the best choice in the library of the Rietveld Academie.
4. this is the best book if you want one that probably will not fit into your bag.
5. if you want to have a book that is larger than A3 format and if you open it, even larger that A2, then this is the book .
6. if you want to know everything about the architecture of 21st century, this is probably the best book for   it.
7. if you want to carry a book that makes everyone say ” wow, a big one” this is the best choice.
8. if you want to find out more about this book, the best way to do that is to go to the Rietveld library and search . .

cat. no. 715.9

keyword: best

It was big….impressively big. That’s why.

Maybe it wasn’t fair for the other books, because this book was also on a ‘special’ place. It had a place of its own as if it was more valuable than the others.
It’s not that I’m a shallow person, but it just caught my eye because of its physical appearance.
I think the pattern on the outside was disastrous by the way.

This book is about patterns. I became really fascinated about patterns, because it seems to bet hat everything becomes a pattern as long as you repeat the shape, form, act or colour over and over again. This is also how patterns become part of our life. Interesting

…At least I thought so

cat. nr. : 701.9-sch-1

keyword: repetition

Opnieuw de bib in.

Mezelf bewust eerst naar het magazine platform begeven.

Meteen iets vinden wat me interesseert en ook aansluit bij mijn vorige keuze.

Toch nog even tussen de (textiel) boeken neuzen.

De ruimte verlaten met twee exemplaren van textile e forum.

Textil e Forum is een van de duits/engelse vooraanstaande tijdschriften over textiel. Elk onderwerp wat wordt aangesneden is voorzien van een hoop afbeeldingen in kleur. Ook bevat het informatie over wat er op textielgebied gaande is binnen Europa.

Een aantal onderwerpen van de artikelen in het exemplaar waar mijn oog op viel; door textiel een nieuwe manier van leven ervaren, textiel als architectuur, laserbehandeling van stoffen.

Mijn zoektocht kwam hier voornamelijk uit omdat ik dingen zocht die aansloten bij mijn vorige artikel uit het magazine Frame, welke ging over kant en imago.

De zaken die mij opvielen in Textil e Forum hebben ook te maken met vormen van nieuw textiel en hoe deze een vernieuwende functie hebben binnen ‘de wereld van alledag’.

cat. nr: T0049, textil e forum, 3/2007 September

keyword: oppervlak

In een rij boeken zal dit boek niet direct opvallen, maar toch viel mijn oog erop. Juist de bruine kaft die aan karton doet denken wekte mijn interesse. Het geeft het boek een natuurlijke uitstraling en sluit daarom goed aan op de inhoud van het boek. Ook het formaat spreekt mij aan, het ligt lekker in de hand; niet te groot maar toch een redelijk dik boek. Ik wist niet direct de betekenis van het woord ‘dwellings’ en om daar achter te komen begon ik door het boek te bladeren. Het bevat afbeeldingen van hoe mensen over de hele wereld hun eigen huizen bouwen. Het is ongelovelijk hoeveel verschillende manieren van bouwen zijn ontstaan door verschillen in klimaat en cultuur. Indrukwekkende constructies worden weergegeven in tekeningen en de teksten bij de afbeeldingen geven snel informatie zodat je er makkelijk doorheen kunt bladeren zonder perse meteen de hele tekst te lezen. Ik bleef geboeid tot ik het hele boek bladzijde voor bladzijde had door gebladerd.

cat. no. 710.9

keyword: culture

You start playing with plastic cubes…
for now, they are big… easy to fix…

they get smaller… it s time to play more precisely…

they are really tiny… play really precisely…

50 years later… still playing with cubes…
but now, they are huge… really huge…

cat. nr: 710.9-cat-6

keyword: playground

A book I found interresting is about pyramid design in ancient Egypt. The quality of the designs created by the ancients can be very inspiring tough it may seem a bit qliché, the mystery around the monumental pyramids as a timeless form are still facinating.

The book is an old and worn pocketsized relic it self. Its plastic wrapping that is protecting the cover almost falls off as you open it. It contains lots of illustrations and groundplan sketches of pyramidstructures, materials used, design methods and tools.

cat. nr: 712.5

keyword: pyramid

FAST, BABY YOU HAVE TO THINK FASTER.
Because this will not work in OUR reality.
No, I can’t think like this.
That is what she said.
My answer was: my apologies, but i simply don’t have any time left.
Would you mind?
The next one please.
GOD what a nightmare.
Where are my feelings?
No not necessary they make me run out off time,
and time is MONEY AND THAT IS WORTH A LIFE, even your life realize that.
YES MADAM. I said.
A LONG LIFE WISHED FOR THE ASIANS,
said my boss.
AND WILL BE REPEATED BY ALL THE  BOSSES IN THE WORLD TODAY.
TOP SPEED MY BELOVED FRIEND.
CAN YOU GO 2000 k/m a hour?
DOESN’T MATTER THE MACHINE CAN.
RAPID.
BLACK.
WHAT A NATION
WHAT A LIFE.
And there it went.
MY TIME
MY LIFE.
MADAM it’s o.k now.
It is different here, they name it SLOW.
I can glance at you,
only you will not be able to see me.
AND I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TELL YOU,
THAT YOU WILL MISS THE ART IN YOU MY CHILD.

posted by Beties Sadaty

Inspiratie halen uit iemand anders’ leefomgeving. Zoeken naar de punten die jij interessant vind en vanuit die inspiratie twee milieus samen laten komen. Een plek waar zowel jij als de ander zicht thuis voelt. Iedereen heeft zijn eigen persoonlijke ruimte binnen een groot huis en met die gedachte moesten er nieuwe omgevingen gecreëerd worden.
Bij architectuur projecten gaat het voordat je begint eigenlijk altijd om een onderzoek. Over wat voor een plek je wil ontwerpen. Is het een plek in de openbare ruimte speciaal voor jongeren of ga je iets maken voor alleen staande vrouwen.

Can you imagine how great it would be to have a Rietveld’s pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale one day?
Well, last month group F did imagine that together with Carla Boomkens.

That special relation between the water and the land present both in Amsterdam and Venice was a starting point for their design assignment.
The projects and approaches differed a lot; from questioning the space by creating a path leading to the building to reacting on the ecological issues.
But just like the motto of this year biennale – ‘Architecture beyond the building’ all of their projects try to define space as the one measured in years, lifes and tons of melted ice, not necessarily in square meters.

posted by Marcin Przybile

With a speech by Simon den Hartog, former director of The Gerrit Rietveld Academie, a small retrospect exhibit on the work of Jan Slothouber was openened at the “van Abbemuseum” in Eindhoven NL. An intimate group of affectionado’s and family bridged the gap of almost 50 years, when Jan Slothouber together with Willem Graatsma started his fascinating journey into the world of the cube. The Centre of Cubic Constructions represented a highlight in this extraordinary focussed research, culminating in the 1970 representation at the Venice Biennale.
Seemlessly scanning the architectoral space occupied by art and design, the exhibit –designed by Erik Slothouber and curated by Diana Franssen– clearly presented an extraordinary focussed spectrum of work

Some weeks later we revisitted this exhibit with a student research team of the FoundationYears C group. Exploring the cubic constructions we found direct relations between the work of Slothouber and the minimal art of Sol LeWitt. The choice for a simple universal and modular form makes it posible to built a grammar for an entire body of work in which all the steps in the process can become interesting in their own right. “in which even the concept can become as interesting as the final product” (Sol Lewitt, cat Sonsbeek 71).

The specific context of typedesign addressed in our workshop presented striking relation between their works and those of more contemporary designers like Radim Pesko and the Swiss designers Dimitri Bruni & Manuel Krebs of Norm

More research was conducted to explore related content or workapproach of other designers like, Bram de Does, Karl Nawrot, Na Kim (website) and Ji Lee.
This was part I of the C_group research.

All researches linked in this posting can be downloaded in A4 format and are also available as hard copy research prints at the ResearchFolders available at the academy library

Voor Droog Event 2: Urban Play had architectenbureau NL Architects twee speelplaatsen ontworpen: de BoomBench en Moving Forest.
Moving Forest was een groep kleine bomen in winkelkarretjes. Eind september toen we langs de projecten van Droog Event 2 liepen waren de bomen al tussen stenen balken gezet, om ze bij elkaar te houden.
Het idee was dat voorbijgangers een karretje mee konden nemen en neer konden zetten waar ze maar wilden.
De gemeente Amsterdam vond de karretjes gevaarlijk en was bang dat ze midden op de autoweg terecht zouden komen. Helaas. Hierdoor kwam Moving Forest op mij absoluut niet geloofwaardig meer over. Het idee dat mensen hun eigen groene leefomgeving konden bepalen was ermee verdwenen en het enige wat overbleef was een dood gaand groepje bomen in ijzeren karretjes. Door de gemeente en hun ontwerpers op hun plek vastgehouden. Was het niet beter geweest ze nu weg te halen? Of het statement aan te passen?
Gelukkig had NL Architects dit zelf ook door en hebben de architecten hun project laten staan, maar achteraf de bomen verkocht voor vijf Euro per stuk. Zo voldeed het toch aan hun concept: de koper kon zelf de plaats van het groen bepalen!

Toen ik de bomen voor het eerst zag deden ze me vooral denken aan de consumenten-maatschappij en viel het dood gaan van de bomen in de ijzeren karretjes meer op dan het beweegbare van die karretjes.
Als je geïnteresseerd bent in mensen die zelf bepalen waar het groen is kijk dan vooral een keer naar de film Harold and Maude. Het is een detail, maar Maude besluit ergens in de film om een boom uit de grond te halen midden op straat, om hem mee te nemen.

De BoomBench van NL Arhitects was sowieso een geslaagd ontwerp. Hij wordt (haast) niet aangetast door vandalisme door het respect dat de meeste bezoekers er voor hebben. Hij veroorzaakt geen overlast en de enige klacht die binnen is gekomen is geloof ik dat hij niet harder kan! Hij heeft heel wat mensen geïnspireerd tot het maken van filmpjes. Check Youtube!

posting by Josje Kerkhoven

After visiting “deBazel”, a monumental building in the center of Amsterdam holding the new city archieves, we became intrigued by the architectonic philosophies behind the construction of this colossal building. Build around 1923 it was soon called “the Temple” a common reference to its general shape. In actual fact that name was not so far from the original theosophical philosophy architect de Bazel used for the total design concept of this building. He saw not just each house, but each room as a reflection of the cosmos, every part of which must be in harmony with every other.“ (K.P.C. de Bazel – designer to the elite, written by Yvonne Brentjens). This reflects in the buildings structure aswell as the interior and artifact he designed for it. De Bazel

Enjoying a tour through the building, we started to become fascinated by the way this concept was connected to the original use as a bank office and the details in which the theosophic ideal –that everything grows from within (wall colors become lighter as they are farther from the center)– reflects the rigid bank’s hiearchy.

How does this reflects on our own living surroundings. What object represents a “centre” in our own house, who designed it and how do we reflect upon it. 21 students of the foundation Year’s F group try to answer these questions through the small postings you can read below:

more in …… (posting 214)

When you drive through the Vijzelstraat, you might have glanced in amazement at the huge block-size buiding that you pass between Keizers- and Herengracht. This building is called “De Bazel” named after the architekt K.P.C. de Bazel. It was built between 1919 and 1926 and served as headquarters of the Dutch Trading Company. Since a year it houses the new City Archive (Gemeente Archief). If you go inside you can walk through this amazing building and enjoy the detailed interior design and visit exhibits organized in the huge bank vault in the basement. more …. (posting 299)

[poster by Anton Beeke

as a hommage to Premsela in the year of his death]

At this moment –until April 26th– The Gemeente Archive presents an exhibit on one of the prominent dutch designers of the 2nd half of the 20th century. Benno Premsela [1920-1997]. He was active in interiour-, and exhibition design as well as the design of shopwindows (Bijenkorf) and several interiour products. He also designed stages for the Dutch Ballet. As designer, advisor and organiser he manifrested himself in the foreground aswell as the background of the design community. Premsela was not someone to hide his private- from his professional life, which was most prominent in his manifest role in the homo emancipation movement.

The Premsela Institute is –in good dutch tradition– named after him. This institute promotes design national as wel as international. Platform 21 is is closely connected to this Institute

Our Design Program consists of 7 different classes. All focussing on an aspect of the design spectrum. In one of these 4-week classes Carla Boomkens creates a laboratory in which the students get access to the visual language of shapes in large format/scale, through small-scale researches on the essentials of spaces and what they can express: spatial-/architectonic design. (links to: Allan Wexler, Eero Saarinen, Zaha Hadid, Paul Gehry, Rudi Riciotti

All projects have a start at the buildings of Gerrit Rietveld (1888 – 1964), the architect of the main-building of this academy. Sometimes the academy-building itself is taken as a research-location, in other cases a building is selected by the student out of his whole body of built works. In doing so, the student studies and gets acquainted with his approach to spaces and his choises to making them fit for particular needs and functions, in relation to it’s environment. (links to: Luis Barragán, Peter Callesen,

Departing from ‘the lessons we can learn from Gerrit’, which the student can easily use as a handgrip in learning technique and working method, the student can freely develop her/his own expression of sculptural quality, choreography and a personal research for exciting spaces. As you can see, we work in scalemodels. The student is asked to develop an authentic visual language in this field as well. (links to bookshops Architectura & Natura [dangerous grounds] or publisher Lars Muller

The assignments may appear similar to each group/project, but they never deal with the same subject – this guarantees a fresh start for each session with a new group. (link to: Gerrit Rietveld, Barbara Visser [Maison Grégoire or Transformation House])

posting prepared by Carla Boomkens

The Design Trip to Germany took us to Insel Hombroich in Neuss Germany. On the way we stopped at the Museums Haus Esters and Haus Lange, Mies van der Rohe’s first building experiments (1929) with -non supportive- brick housing. The buildings were clearly designed to look from inside out as we experienced while exploring the art and photography filled interiors. Especially the bathroom on the second floor gave us a sweet glimps in the past.[above: Thomas Ruff /under: Haus Lange by Mies van der Rohe]

During a beautifull autumn day, we entered the magical Erwin Heerich’s Pavilions followed by red and yellow leaves . Nowhere can daylight be experienced like this, looking at the art and craft as it realy is and was meant to be. The unique melting of architecture, art and craft can be enjoyed only at a few places like this. Calder, Yves Klein, Buddha, China or Schwitters and Bart vd Leck, the shere power of it made us enjoy this humbling moment. Architectura et Natura[above: Venician glass / Gerrit Rietveld furniture

Based on the general theme “Le Corbusier and Other Stories” we investigated a variety of subjects related to the content presented at this summers Corbusier Art and Architecture exhibit at NAi, Rotterdam. Research material was edited down to A4 sized guided tours into these subjects. All subjects presented in this list are available as hard copy prints at the Research Folders at the library:Primitivism, Le Poème de l’Angle Droit, Corbusier’s Christmas Gift, La Chapel de Notre Dame, Amedee Ozenfant, Corbusier in Istanbul, Varese’s Poème Electronique, The Candigarth Project, Modular, Language of Organic Form, Corbusier and Politics, The Bric, Ferdinand Léger, The Brasilia Project, Sandberg’s Experimenta Typografica 11, Koolhaas/Lagos, Nature Design Zurich, Constant’s New Babylon, Rietveld’s Academies, The Chaisse Longue

Design Researches available for everybody.

Hard copy prints of all researches from 2005 – 2009 are on file in the Library folders Vol#1-12. You can study them anytime during opening hours [Openingstijden: maandag t/m vrijdag van 11.00 tot 17.00 uur]. For example you could check out this beautifull research on Amedee Ozenfant in the context of “Le Corbusier Art and Architecture”. for more see X

Fransje Killaars Soft copies are available on line as jpeg’s or pdfs. You can download these pdfs and enjoy the content and its hyperlinked guided tour. Here is an example of such a tour into the work of “Fransje Killaars”. see for more X

On September 1, before the program of the Foundation year even started, G-group visited the exhibition “Le Corbusier Art and Architecture” on it’s last exhibition day. It was the beginning of a journey with Corbusier which showed us that art, design and nature are permanently interconnected. The Lecture on Le Corbusier’s sources of inspiration and his journey to the balkan and Istanbul (by Carla Boomkens) prepared us for the yearly FoundationYear’s International trip to the “Bienalle of Istanbul”.
We found out that the richness of Corbusier’s oeuvre, connected us to many classic and contemporary subjects from Primitivism and the “Foundations of Modern Art” to the “Nature Design“in Zürich fall 2007