Although So:ren has already left the office 5 years ago, his mother still sends us her delicious cookies for X-mas…
Archive for December, 2012
Frohes Fest!
December 23, 2012Seen in the wild
December 20, 2012
Very rare sighting of 3Vase in the wild, somewhere near Lauriergracht, Amsterdam
Zac: Squid Pool
December 19, 2012
It was Zac’s last day in the office: the traditional good bye T-Shirt in his case -of course- had to be replaced with a tank top. It features a diagram of the Squid Pool.
Zac is this an attempt at crawl swimming?
Zwaluwen in Nieuwsuur
December 19, 2012
Zwaluwen in Nieuwsuur: Maandag 10 dec 2012, 22:00 min: 41:10
Gotspe / Chutzpah
December 18, 2012Dom van der Laanstraat, Noorderhof, Amsterdam
Driving through Amsterdam Nieuw-West we made a hilarious discovery. Within the Modern post-war city expansion a new enclave emerged, the Noorderhof planned by Rob Krier.
“Krier takes his inspiration from historic European town layouts, which he believes provide a useful example for modern urban development.”
Many think it is a wonderful new neighborhood, but it could also be considered a fairly clumsy collage, or rather un-inspired Photoshopping…
Although Krier has often been nagging about lack of appreciation, the neighborhood has proofed to be pretty contagious; after Bin Laden all over the country similar defensive settlements have popped up. My castle is my home, haha
Suddenly we noticed that the streets are named after architects. That in itself is already quite remarkable. But which sardonic clerk proposed to name one of the streets after Dom van der Laan?
Van der Laan was an architect /monk, master of restraint, ascetic aesthetic. He was a 3D philosopher committed to ‘fundamental research’. Which relations of length, width, and height continue to please us?
Van der Laan developed an intricate proportional system: Le Nombre Plastique. The plastic number is not a particular measure: it disciplines the relationship between the measures we choose. He actually discovered the key to what is good space. Van der Laan apparently was blessed with the visual equivalent of absolute hearing.
Van der Laan’s precision is hallucinogenic. Please check the amazing documentary De Natuurlijk Ruimte by Frank Scheffer. (If you don’t speak Dutch it is worthwhile to join Master Gen, Giulia and Carmen to the Dutch Course…) Also recommended: the mind-blowing analytical wwwebsite Der Architectonische Raum by Georg Munkel.
“Like many of his peers Van der Laan in the beginning of the twentieth century considered the continuation of tradition an impossibility; neo-styles were out of the question. A fundamentally new approach was needed to substitute the worn out architectural language”.
In Krier town, Dom van der Laanstraat is 100% Chutzpah
Mini Monk in Abdij St. Benedictusberg
Dr. Doom
December 12, 2012
Yesterday the winner of the Zuiderkerkprijs was announced: the very bright Blok 46c in IJburg. Congrats Gus and Mike. Ah!
The event was festive, but at the same time never before a group of planning professionals seemed so puzzled; aldermen, developers, representatives from housing corporations, contractors, manufacturers and architects all seemed clueless about what to do after the party… Dr. Doom left his tag.
Close Encounter
December 9, 2012
400 hundred years after Hendrick de Keyser finally a new addition to the skyline of Amsterdam… is that really a ship hoovering over the city?
GMS Endeavour 6102, one of four jack-up vessels equipped with elevating legs of over 100m in height, being serviced by Shipdock in Amsterdam Noord.
NL Architects Blog 