a+u Architecture and Urbanism 20:01_592

In this issue, together with guest editor Kirsten Hannema, Chief Editor of the nai010 Yearbook Architecture in the Netherlands, we will take a look at the recent 10 years of Dutch architecture discourse. Previously in our a+u 12:01 issue (Feature: Architecture in the Netherlands 2000–2011) highlighting the country’s architecture scene right after the global financial crisis in 2008, the construction industry faced a slowdown and what we saw then as “typically” Dutch, has gradually faded. Looking away from the “SuperDutch” stigma, we now see projects combining broader social issues and since, take on a new form of cultural energy. Yet, compared to their previous superstar generation, these architects and their projects often go unnoticed. Therefore, in this issue, 19 projects are selected and placed into 3 themes to introduce to…

The request to look back on Dutch architectural production of the past decade for this edition of a+u involuntarily brought me back to November 9, 2007. On that day, the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAi) organized the symposium Architecture 2.0 – The Destiny of Architecture. At the invitation of NAi-director Ole Bouman, 6 Dutch architects – WielArets, Ben van Berkel, Francine Houben, Rem Koolhaas, Winy Maas and Willem Jan Neutelings, known as the generation SuperDutch – came together in the architectural city of Rotterdam to discuss the future of Dutch architecture. Apparently architecture was doing well. Since SuperDutch – named after the book that architecture critic Bart Lootsma wrote in 2000, about how this group of architects conquered the world with their radical concepts and spectacular buildings in the late nineties…

In this issue, together with guest editor Kirsten Hannema, Chief Editor of the nai010 Yearbook Architecture in the Netherlands, we will take a look at the recent 10 years of Dutch architecture discourse. Previously in our a+u 12:01 issue (Feature: Architecture in the Netherlands 2000–2011) highlighting the country’s architecture scene right after the global financial crisis in 2008, the construction industry faced a slowdown and what we saw then as “typically” Dutch, has gradually faded. Looking away from the “SuperDutch” stigma, we now see projects combining broader social issues and since, take on a new form of cultural energy. Yet, compared to their previous superstar generation, these architects and their projects often go unnoticed. Therefore, in this issue, 19 projects are selected and placed into 3 themes to introduce to…

The request to look back on Dutch architectural production of the past decade for this edition of a+u involuntarily brought me back to November 9, 2007. On that day, the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAi) organized the symposium Architecture 2.0 – The Destiny of Architecture. At the invitation of NAi-director Ole Bouman, 6 Dutch architects – WielArets, Ben van Berkel, Francine Houben, Rem Koolhaas, Winy Maas and Willem Jan Neutelings, known as the generation SuperDutch – came together in the architectural city of Rotterdam to discuss the future of Dutch architecture. Apparently architecture was doing well. Since SuperDutch – named after the book that architecture critic Bart Lootsma wrote in 2000, about how this group of architects conquered the world with their radical concepts and spectacular buildings in the late nineties –…

A giant egg made from sustainable softwood, reed and rocks lies on a mud plate near the imposing key piece of the Dutch Delta Works: the Haringvliet sluices (1958–71). The contrast between the egg – which serves as a bird observatory – and the flood barrier could not be bigger. Opposite the striking concrete, steel and basalt construction to keep the high seas out, RAU Architects and RO&AD Architects installed a delicate wooden building that invites nature to come in. The sanctuary offers a good view of the quail and spoonbills that forage in the tidal landscape. This Tij Observatory (2019, see pp. 50–55) has been set up to celebrate the Haringvliet sluices that allow salt water from the North Sea to pass freely. This was desperately needed, because the…

Bureau SLA and ZakenMaker designed 9 homes for a group of pioneers wishing to turn a potato field into a community. In the rural area of Oosterwold Almere, artist Frode Bolhuis dreamed of an alternative way to live and work. He wanted to make a one-hectare potato field into his home and asked bureau SLA and ZakenMaker to design his dream house within a very limited budget. The architects came up with 2 preconditions to make the project possible. First, they suggested to Frode to find some friends to join the project. It is a lot cheaper to build several houses at the same time than just building one. The second precondition was that only the exterior would be designed, leaving the families complete freedom to decide on the interior.…