Inside the October/November 2013 issue a full review of the renovation project.
Journalist Eva Vroom defines itsthe study square: “A generous and light space able to connect the various programme’s spaces in an elegant manner.”
Organized by the Fleur Groenendijk Foundation in collaboration with Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design and under the guidance of Dikkie Scipio, the De Meester award serves to highlight and promote work of young architecture graduates in the Netherlands.
In less than two weeks, this years nominees will present their projects in front of the jury in order to win the title of De Meester. Led by chairman Dikkie Scipio, the jury is comprised of the journalist and author Tracy Metz, architect Bjarne Mastenbroek, urban planner Karen van Vliet, and Rotterdam Festivals director Johan Moerman. All nominated projects address topical issues of urban life while questioning the disciplines of architecture and urban planning.
The graduation project of Nina van Osta focuses on elderly people with physical or mental disabilities which are often marginalized by the community and forced to live in less than adequate conditions. The project offers an alternative in the form of a pleasant and safe living environment where the elderly can lead their lives as independently and actively as possible and where care facilities, activities and social relations are within reach.
On the other hand, nominee Jurian Voets forms an alternative to the ‘Living Vision 2030’, in which the municipality of Rotterdam actively encourages gentrification without showing a vision of suitable urban housing for existing and future residents. This alternative is the ‘intense city’, the city where living together and meeting are central, where high density and diversity of people lead to more variety, a rich level of amenities and a healthy local economy.
Finally, nominee Bram van Ooijen responds to the refugee crisis as an urban problem of the twenty first century. Based on this, Bram formulates a strategy on the basis of which the refugee camp can develop from the state of exception into an inclusive urban district. The project investigates the possible future for a Palestinian refugee settlement, which in 2017 was still dependent on international aid.
Interested to know more? Join the De Meester 2018 event and award ceremony on 31 October 2018, at Garage Rotterdam, for an evening of dynamic discussions and new ideas. Register to attend the event here.
A grand opening was held on 6 September, 2018 at the recently completed crematorium in Aalst, Belgium.
Just three months after completing the Utopia Library and Academy for performing arts in Aalst, KAAN Architecten added another landmark to their Belgian opus right at the edge of the same city. Recently finished Crematorium Siesegem was opened in a lavish ceremony with several hundred visitors.
Former Westlede director Kris Coenegrachts and the mayor of Aalst, Christoph D’Haese gave inaugural speeches, while KAAN Architecten founding partner Vincent Panhuysen presented the design.
Visitors participated in a guided tour, where they explored the building and the landscape, as well as learned about the cremation process and ceremony. See the atmosphere from the opening event in a photo reportage by Sebastian van Damme.
Full release of the project is set for November. In the meantime, find out more about the design here.
Recently opened Crematorium Siesegem by KAAN Architecten is set in a vast cultivated landscape outside Aalst, Belgium designed by Erik Dhont.
In order to disengage from the surrounding commercial estates, the site was transformed with physical and visual barriers. Trees and shrubs line the perimeter while the crematorium is situated in the middle, with a footprint of 74 by 74 meters. The surrounding greenery is envisioned as an extension of the crematorium space and is an important part of the funeral ceremony.
Upon arrival, undulating hills emerge from the ground among the parking areas, while a dynamic landscape spreads to the east articulated by natural flora development on the sloping topography. The hills for scattering the ashes and the urn garden rise along the northern facade, bringing the landscape into the ceremonial proceedings. This cohesive relationship between the building and the nature is essential, and will only become stronger when the final form of the new landscape expresses its full potential after a few seasons.
The goal was to design a building capable of internalizing the landscape so that its tranquility could console visitors and provide strength. This is also why interior spaces are strategically oriented within the landscape to create enclosed patios blurring the distinction between interior and exterior.
Full release of the project is set for November. In the meantime, find out more about the design here. Photographs courtesy of Jean Pierre Gabriel.
The new Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d’Orsay was officially inaugurated Tuesday, 25 September, at the University Paris-Sud by Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation.
During the ceremony speeches were given by Sylvie Retailleau, President of Paris-Sud University, Antoine Petit, President and CEO of CNRS and Gilles Bloch, President of Université Paris-Saclay, and the architects from KAAN Architecten (Kees Kaan) and FRES architects (Laurent Gravier + Sara Martin Camara).
After the ceremony, Kees Kaan gave a presentation on the design of ISMO, which is distinguished by a harmonic coexistence of nature and scientific research. The newly opened building will serve over 160 students, researchers and teachers working in molecular physics, nano-science, chemistry and biology.
Explore the full project here.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Terminal has been awarded the International Architecture Award for the ‘Transportation’ category.
The award was announced just in time to mark a year since KAAN Architecten, Estudio Lamela, ABT bv, Ineco, DGMR, Arnout Meijer Studio and Planeground Airport Consulting, operating as KL AIR, won commission to design Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Terminal. Today, September 28, 2018, a special exhibition of all awarded buildings will open at the annual symposium, “The City and the World” at The Contemporary Space in Athens.
The International Architectural Awards are organized by The Chicago Athenaeum, together with The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, and serve to honor new and cutting-edge design worldwide. Find out more about the awards here.
Participating in the world’s biggest fair dedicated to natural stone, KAAN Architecten will present the Supreme Court project in The Hague.
Yesterday marked the start of Marmomac International Trade Fair for Stone Design and Technology which will continue over the next four days in Verona. Dedicated to the natural stone industry, the fair represents the entire supply chain from processing to application in architectural design. During today’s events, KAAN Architecten project leader Marco Lanna will give a lecture on the Supreme Court project in The Hague, which features pronounced use of light grey limestone within its interior.
Photographs © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG.
Throughout the five years since founding the office, KAAN Architecten continues to produce exemplary projects, earning them the nomination for the Dutch Architect of the Year award.
Dedicated to recognizing the importance of well rounded architectural agency, Architect of the Year award is organized by the Dutch architecture platform Architectenweb. The jury is composed of architects Koen van Velsen and Uri Gilad, developer Martijn Dirks and architecture critic Kirsten Hannema.
KAAN Architecten founding partners Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen and Dikkie Scipio are nominated as a collective, with the jury citing great craftsmanship demonstrated by recently completed Utopia library in Belgium, university buildings in Brazil as well as exciting future projects for the new Schiphol Terminal and the Amsterdam Courthouse. Read a detailed jury explanation here.
The fourth edition of ‘De Meester’ event and prize ceremony will take place on Wednesday, 31 October 2018, at Garage Rotterdam.
Organized by the Fleur Groenendijk Foundation in collaboration with Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design and under the guidance of Dikkie Scipio, the De Meester award serves to highlight and promote work of young architecture graduates in the Netherlands.
Serving as jury leader, Dikkie Scipio has assembled a panel of judges comprising journalist and author Tracy Metz, architect Bjarne Mastenbroek, urban planner Karen van Vliet, and Rotterdam Festivals director Johan Moerman.
During the evening ceremony, the jury will see project presentations by this year’s nominees: Nina van Osta (Beauty of the Grey), Jurian Voets (Intense Stad Oude Westen) and Bram van Ooijen (Al-Wihdat refuge camp in Amman). All projects address topical issues of urban life while questioning the disciplines of architecture and urban planning.
Join the De Meester 2018 event and award ceremony on 31 October 2018, at Garage Rotterdam, for an evening of dynamic discussions and new ideas. Register to attend the event here.
On Monday, September 3, Tilburg Universiry celebrated the opening of the academic year, which took place in the new education and independent study center on our campus, CUBE.
The ceremony included speeches by Professor Emile Aarts, Rector Magnificus, Ingrid van Engelshoven, Dutch Minister of Education, Culture, and Science, Professor Koen Becking, President of the Executive Board, and a group of students.
The CUBE is now officially open for the upcoming school year, with its 11,000 square meters floor area intended to better facilitate university students and raise the level of education on offer. Its position strengthens the landscape structure towards the northwest side and fully integrates the per-existing campus configuration.
Find more information about Tilburg University academic year opening ceremony here.
Dikkie Scipio’s new quarterly column for Fleur Groenendijk foundation has been published.
In her latest column written as a board member of Fleur Groenendijk Foundation, Dikkie Scipio reflects on the implicit advantages for societies and economies that occur during troubling times. The essay elaborates on how unexpected debates and initiatives develop when different actors are brought together by extraordinary circumstances. At the same time, it also advocates keeping up that positive momentum even after the times of crisis have passed, in order to keep benefiting the larger community.
Read the full article here.
