The third edition's winner of "De Meester", the architecture promotion prize, will be announced on Wednesday November 1st, 2017 at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam.
Dikkie Scipio is part of the jury evaluating the works in a live and dynamic discussion, together with Marina van den Bergen (Archined), Robert-Jan de Kort (De Kort Van Schaik), Mendel Robbers (Schipper Bosch), Rens Schulze (Geurst & Schulze architecten).
On Thursday April 12th, starting from 18.30, Dikkie Scipio will held a lecture at the Münster School of Architecture (Germany). The topic “Homo Universalis (f/m)” talks about architects and how their profession is appealing to people’s imagination. Dikkie Scipio will relate this assumption to the Education Center Erasmus MC project in Rotterdam and go through its design process, its construction technics and how it’s enjoyed by everyday users.
On April 4th, 2018 Kees Kaan took part in WorldBuild Moscow / MosBuild, a 4-days conference about building technologies and materials, with the keynote “The development of building technologies and their influence on modern architecture” moderated by Sergei Georgievski. Kees Kaan talked about how architecture is increasingly influenced by innovation and how the 21st century is driven by energy transition, SMART buildings, circularity and most of all Information Technology.
Utopia, the Library & Academy for Performing Arts in Aalst (Belgium) is close to completion. The new building blends perfectly into the historic centre of the Flemish city and is in direct dialogue with the architectural grandeur of the neighbouring Pupillenschool. Within the entrance area, concrete and red bricks give life to the new covered plaza, a new public space for the city and its citizens. Utopia will officially open its doors in June 21st, 2018.
We are really happy to share with you the new look of KAAN Architecten’s website which includes a freshly released Videos section. Since its launch, KAAN Architecten has been very interested in visual media as a tool to narrate buildings from a different point of view. Along with “The Learn’d” and “Today”, video-interviews and construction time-lapse videos, a new video project called “Minutes” will be released soon including iconic projects such as the Netherlands Forensic Institute and the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.
KAAN Architecten has published a book about B30, the elegant renovation of an historical building in The Hague, now housing five unique users: the independent planning bureaus (CPB, SCP, PBL), the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure (Rli) and the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA).
In line with the needs of a contemporary working environment, the closed hierarchical building has been transformed into an open and inviting one, through a clear spatial configuration and additive design. B30 is now a space for contemporary ideas and research regarding government transparency, and this use is reflected in the new design.
In Antwerp, the renovation and extension works of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts move forward. The roof of the new vertical museum has emerged, while some elements still lay on the top floor waiting to be placed on key points of the complex structure. Moreover, after one year of meticulous restoration, the stuccos of the Van Dyckzaal are now brought back to life and repositioned in their alcoves. It is the same for the elegant sage green tint, which is brought back to decorate the foyer area once again.
The first images from the construction site of Crematorium Aalst reveal a building with an emphasis on natural light, variation of concrete textures and easy-readable spaces. Thanks to its close relationship with the landscape, the crematorium embodies the tranquillity and peace required for a space of memory and sacredness.
In Lille, framed by mature trees, the Chambre de Métiers et de L’Artisanat emerges as a natural element characterized by mimetic glass facades and transparency. The reportage by photographer Sebastian van Damme reveals the strong character of the monolithic building on its way to completion.
The initiative started in 2014 by Storefront for Art and Architecture, Letters to the Mayor – Rotterdam invites a select group of international architects including Dikkie Scipio to write a letter to Mayor Aboutaleb of Rotterdam, articulating some of the pressing questions and desires that, as architects, they believe play an important role in the political dimensions and decisions that drive the making of cities and territories.
Letters to the Mayor will be launched on Friday 12 January 2018, in the presence of the Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, and will be on show at the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam until 11 February 2018.
“Past, Present, Future: about being an architect yesterday, today and beyond” is a series of video interviews conducted by Gianpiero Venturini of Itinerant Office. The project features eleven internationally renowned Dutch and Italian architects and explores the figure of the architect and his or her role in contemporary society.
Kees Kaan talks about his first steps into the architecture school, passing through the first projects and commissions till winning international competitions and the change of approach to the design process in the last decades. New keywords and important aspects of the future role of the architect such as the redefinition of functionality combined with the increasing sustainability debate and the complexity of fast developments in a time of technology are at the core of the video interviews.
Watch them on Itinerant Office Vimeo channel and below!
