Welcome to the old IABR website. We would like to forward you to our new IABR website, an important step in the introduction of our new visual identity. Our Polite Society (OPS) designed and developed this website for the IABR that introduces a support structure starting from the new logo, which was presented and implemented in 2023.
06.11.2023
New IABR website
31.08.2022
130 ENTRIES OPEN CALL MINISTERIE VAN MAAK
The Ministerie van Maak received over 130 entries in response to its open call to architects, engineers, and designers willing to use their knowledge and imagination to come up with new designs for the Netherlands. The entries represented a nice mix of recent graduates, start-ups and renowned firms. The entirety of the spatial solutions will eventually form the largest model of the Netherlands ever and will be on display from 14 October during the 10th edition of the Architecture Biennale Rotterdam.
One hundred designers have been selected from the 130 entries. In the beginning of September they will receive a so-called Test Kit: a blank model measuring 1 m2 with separate building blocks representing 10,000 houses to scale, 5,000 trees, water, and other elements required to create an integrated design solution and to build the corresponding model.
About the Ministerie van Maak
The Ministerie van Maak wants to contribute to the radical transformation of the Netherlands and offer concrete solutions for the housing shortage, the energy transition, and the effects of climate change. ZUS, MANN, and the Architecture Biennale Rotterdam founded the Ministerie van Maak on 16 June 2022. It is a single ministry that thinks ahead, plans, builds, and thus will realize the 1 million additional homes we need in a sustainable and responsible way and with respect for future generations.
More information
www.ministerievanmaak.nl
31.08.2022
THE SOLAR BIENNALE
The Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) has partnered up with the Solar Biennale, an initiative of solar designers Marjan van Aubel and Pauline van Dongen. This collaboration will stimulate the discourse on the spatial consequences of solar design. We are facing an unprecedented transition toward renewable energy in which the design challenges are systemic and on multiple scales, from the domestic interior to redesigning infrastructures.
The Solar Biennale counterbalances the prevailing technological and economic viewpoints on solar energy and focuses on the human angle: after all, a solar-powered world goes beyond scientific research and uniform solar panels. Cultural practices and place-specific energy needs also determine how the post-carbon future will develop.
The IABR has a deep-seated and longstanding interest in the spatial implications and ramifications of climate change and the role that architecture can play: the energy transition we face will have a major impact on our cities.
On 9 September, at the opening symposium of The Solar Biennale, IABR curator Derk Loorbach (DRIFT) will host a breakout session, as will OOZE (Eva Pfannes and Sylvain Hartenberg) and Robbert de Vrieze (Transformism). IABR Director Saskia van Stein will kick off with a lecture.
31.08.2022
HORIZONS SERIES E-FLUX ARCHITECTURE X IABR
Online platform E-flux Architecture and the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) are delighted to collaborate on the Horizons series, an editorial series that brings together prolific architects, writers, artists, philosophers, and sociologists to reckon with the challenges of thinking and making futures today.
Architecture has long been one of the most powerful means of imagining, visualizing, and constructing futures. Like a projectile, the architectural project is thrown forward, reaching into and determining the conditions of what is to come. But where architecture ultimately lands – and what actually makes it to the end of the trajectory – can never be known fully in advance. Not to mention the multifarious costs and effects – the value – of bringing it down to earth.
We live among the ruins of past futures. Their promises turned out to be lies. The future is a threat, pressing itself onto the present with ever more force and urgency. And so we need another future, other futures. Looking around, we can learn from past mistakes. But it is never enough to merely know what went wrong. We must also detect and cultivate vectors of practice that both reorient and start moving toward new horizons.
Situated within the context of the IABR’s 10th edition, IT’S ABOUT TIME, curated by Derk Loorbach, Véronique Patteeuw, Léa-Catherine Szacka, and Peter Veenstra, Nick Axel guides this editorial collaboration on behalf of E-flux Architecture. The participating authors are selected for their particular interest in the various ways in which time can serve as a lens to understand how futures have been and can be made, successfully or not: spaces, materials, technologies, practices, organizations, rituals, and beyond. Our confirmed contributors are: Rahel Aima, Paul Bouet, Carson Chan, Amica Dall, Gökçe Günel, Tim Ingold, Joost Vervoort, and Stephanie Wakefield.
31.08.2022
UPCOMING CASE STUDIES
The Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) believes architecture and design will play a crucial role in imagining how spaces will be made sustainable and how they will cope with our changing climate. But many decision makers do not have access to the world-leading expertise of Dutch designers. The IABR aims to connect these worlds, to embed design thinking and collaborative working practices within the institutions of the Netherlands. Through research by design and real-world implementation, the IABR has been building this capacity since the first IABR–Atelier in 2008.
The upcoming case studies will focus on the speed of climate transition around the Netherlands, addressing roadblocks to change and finding ways to speed up the technical task of preparing the Netherlands for the twenty-first century. Local governments and other public bodies will work with the IABR, community members, and designers to imagine new ideas and create new approaches to public projects.
Following an open call to public institutions, NGOs, and other partners in the Netherlands, the IABR has started to work with a variety of public bodies from across the country. The city of Amsterdam would like to develop its methods for working with the increasingly congested underground infrastructure, modernizing pipes and cables without endless digging and disruption. The city of Rotterdam and the IABR will investigate mobility within neighbourhoods and the future of our electricity grid.
These projects will be developed over the coming two years and new partners will continue to join the programme.
Design by Studio Nóra Békés
By International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR)
When 17 June 2022
Where Pink Podium, Het Nieuwe Instituut (Museumpark 25, 3015 CB Rotterdam)
Tickets (free)
During the Rotterdam Architecture Month, The Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR), presents NIGHT VISION: an evening program in which we will compose multiple answers to the above question.
A lively night equals a safe night, and is thus essential for an inclusive and accessible city. Increasing real estate speculation, gentrification and a zero tolerance policy has influenced nightlife and pushed it to the periphery of our cities, ultimately resulting in the increasing marginalization of the night and its culture.
How did the architecture of the night develop, and what does this mean for the accessibility and inclusivity of our built environment and city life in general? How can the night become a core part of the city (again)?
NIGHT VISION approaches the Night from different angles: The Architecture of the night and her clubs, the relation between body and city, collective consciousness and queerness in the city.
In a panel discussion, thinkers, architects, and other actors from night culture will examine the role of the night in the city. Performances are presented by Superwow Agency. The evening is moderated by Hasna El Maroudi (Lilith Magazine).
Speakers
Bogomir Doringer (I Dance Alone), David Mulder van der Vegt (XML architecture research urbanism), Yessica Deira, Colin Keays (Extra Extra Magazine), Hasna El Maroudi (Moderator)
Practical info
This event takes place on the Pink Podium on top of the roof of Het Nieuwe Instituut, Festival Heart of the Rotterdam Architecture Month ’22. Reserve your free tickets through the ticketlink. Upon arrival, go to the RA Month information desk to be directed towards The Podium. Visitors for RA Month events in the Festival Heart have automatic access to The Podium and do not have to book a separate time slot.
Design by Studio Nóra Békés
By International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR)
When 9-13 May 2022
Where Keilezaal, Keilestraat 9, Rotterdam (free entrance) / livestream
The WaterWeek from 9-13 May initiated by the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) aims to further the conversation around the design challenges regarding water. The four events programmed during this week present an opportunity to see and listen to some of the designers combining research and projects in this field. The WaterWeek addresses different aspects of designing with water, ranging from the architectural and social to the political and geological; conversations on how to prepare for an uncertain future.
The Architecture Biennale celebrates her 20th anniversary and has a longstanding history with the contemporary urgencies of our time, such as the role architecture could play in the energy transition or designing with water. Water, being one of our primary needs for life on earth, is under pressure in various ways. Historically, the Western design attitude is informed by the notion of ratio and control. More recently the awareness is gaining momentum to design with water, in order to deal with the uncertainties as a result of the climate crisis.The relationship between underground (water) forces and above-ground urbanisation or retention zones therefore occupies an increasingly prominent place in the designing of our cities and landscapes.The Netherlands saw severe water shortages in the summers of 2018 and 2019. On the contrary, the summer of 2021 saw severe floods in Europe. Rising sea levels causes salinization of the land, which in return has its impact on our food system. Water safety is currently guaranteed by our dikes and sea walls, but for how long? Also, the quality of water is under pressure due to waste discharge and the pollution of plastic or medicine residues. Severe drought has led to migration, decline in biodiversity and it seems only a matter of time before the first war over water will break out.
During this WaterWeek we bring together designers, urban planners and other stakeholders who have water in the core of their (research) practice. The four events during the WaterWeek are dedicated to designing with water and every evening is focused on a different scale. We start the week with the urban area, followed by a national scale, a historic perspective and a more metaphorical approach to architecture and water. Every event three or four speakers will get the floor to talk about their practice of designing with water, followed by a short panel discussion led by a moderator.The public can attend on location in the Keilepand in Rotterdam as well as via livestream.
IABR and the theme of water have been linked since 2005, when this was put on the agenda during The Flood, the biennial led by AdriaanGeuze (West 8). In September 2022 the 10th edition will take place (and this marks the 20-year anniversary of IABR) and during all these years water was part of IABR, for example in our research by design Ateliers Drought in the Delta and Dordrecht. During the WaterWeek in May we want to highlight this theme again by approaching it from different perspectives and scales. From water shortage via the sponge effect to water overflow, and from an inner-city perspective to an international outlook. Because we believe that it will be inextricably linked with designing the future.
Register here to attend the WaterWeek
Programme
Time: 19:30-21:30 (walk-in from 19:15)
Monday 9 May - Wonen, water en de stad
With presentations by Nanne de Ru (Powerhouse Company), Marthijn Pool (Space&Matter), Gijs de Haan (PosadMaxwan) and Bernadette Janssen (BVR).
Main language: Dutch
Tuesday 10 May - Droogte in de Delta
With lectures by Marco Vermeulen (Studio Marco Vermeulen), Peter Veenstra (LOLA Landscape Architects) and Marjolein Mens (Deltares). Tracy Metz will conclude the evening through the lens of her recent podcast series Nattigheid. Moderated by Saskia van Stein (IABR).
Main language: Dutch
Wednesday May 11 - FLOODSCAPES
With Frédéric Rossano (author of Floodscapes), Hester Koelman (landscape architect, recent AvBKA alumna), Rianne Makkink (De WaterSchool) and moderated by Fransje Hooimeijer (TU Delft).
Main language: Dutch
Friday May 13 - The Poetics and Politics of Water Territories
With lectures by Marina Otero Verzier (independent curator), Lada Hršak (Bureau LADA), Ameneh Solati (architectural researcher) and moderated by Saskia van Stein (IABR).
Main language: English
09.12.2021
OPEN CALL: VISUAL IDENTITY DESIGN
The International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam is a think-and-do-tank and biennially a platform for architecture, urban design, and landscape architecture. The International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam enables ongoing design research into the significant societal and environmental issues of our time and creates a public platform that serves as free space for experimental explorations, systemic analysis and the design of change. Under the current new leadership, the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam is looking for a novel visual identity to encourage innovation for a world that signals a new dynamic and reflects IABR as a catalyst for debate and a trailblazer of previously unimagined possibilities to serve the planet and a rich mix of people and cultures.
As a contemporary organization, it is crucial that the identity, whether designed with a logo, symbol, or combination, reflects our mission and is easy to understand. The new identity will work as a coherent design system including distinctive colors, typographic standards, and a unique ‘look and feel’ or style of visual expression. It is foreseen that design concepts will explore ideas visualizing both the organization’s full name and the acronym ‘IABR.’
Jury
The applications have been reviewed by a jury comprised of Elma van Boxel (architect ZUS), Remco van Bladel (graphic designer), Roosje Klap (graphic designer and designer of the previous IABR edition), Saskia van Stein (director IABR), and Vivian Ammerlaan (office manager IABR).
Winner
From the careful selection process Richard Niessen has been chosen as designer for the new visual identity of the IABR. Congratulations Richard!
09.12.2021
YVETTE GOVAART NEW MEMBER SUPERVISORY BOARD
© Adrian Kuipers
Chair of the Supervisory Board Ed Nijpels: “The Supervisory Board of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) is delighted with the accession of Yvette Govaart. As a passionate real estate professional and entrepreneur, she knows the spatial and social challenges like no other. Themes such as design, feasibility, organisation, circularity and sustainability are at the heart of her practice.”
Yvette Govaart: “My conviction is that we will only find the solutions to the major social challenges if we work together, from different disciplines. This turns out to be very complicated in practice. Not only is old thinking a major obstacle, the economic system must also change. Steering paradigms must shift. Transitional thinking and acting is a precondition for this. The design discipline plays a crucial role in this; not only with regard to the architectural and urban planning craft, but also in terms of organisation and philosophy of cooperation. Government and the private sector are searching for the right role in a changing context. Citizens are increasingly uniting and taking on social tasks. As a cultural and knowledge institute, the IABR has an important task in this arena and I look forward to contributing to it from my role as a member of the Supervisory Board.”
Yvette Govaart replaces departed board member Adri Duivesteijn, to whom the team of the International Architecture Biennale shows gratitude for his many years of commitment and dedication to the IABR.
On 15 December, Medy van der Laan will start as the new chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR). She succeeds Ed Nijpels and takes office at a time when the Architecture Biennale is developing a new vision on its role in times of major transitions around water and energy, which we as a society are facing and which also have spatial consequences.
Ed Nijpels:
"We are delighted with the arrival of Medy van der Laan. With her diverse career and as a supervisor at various organisations, she brings with her an important network, in addition to a great deal of political-administrative experience. With her connecting, positive personality and quick thinking, she also brings an effective combination of content and process to the IABR.
It is with great pleasure that I look back on the past years as chairman of the IABR. For years, I have realised that the added value of design research, spatial design and architecture is indispensable in order to embed and address the climate challenge we are facing. The IABR has proven to be a powerful instrument in this."
Medy van der Laan:
"My passion for architecture is both managerial and personal. How we organise our country is of great importance to prosperity and well-being. The task of building hundreds of thousands of dwellings in the coming years offers an enormous opportunity to integrate the various social and spatial transformations. This can be done by stimulating smart design solutions in spatial planning and thus making us ready and resilient for the future. Personally, I like to be inspired by good design examples at home and abroad, especially contemporary architecture and urban planning."
About Medy van der Laan
Medy van der Laan is currently chairperson of the Dutch Banking Association (NVB). Previously, she was chairperson of Energie-Nederland, the sector organisation of energy companies. After having worked as a civil servant for twelve years, she became State Secretary for Culture and Media in 2003.
IABR
The International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, IABR, is a think and do tank and biennial platform for architecture, urban design and landscape architecture. IABR makes an active and concrete contribution to the changes needed for a sustainable and fair future for mankind and the planet. By connecting designers and social partners on an interdisciplinary and (inter)national level around urgent spatial issues, and by convincingly presenting promising approaches and concrete solutions, IABR actively contributes to the changes needed for a sustainable and fair future for mankind and the planet. The visionary and communicative power, the investigative and experimental approach and the knowledge and experience of the design disciplines play a central role in this.
31.08.2021
FROM DOWN TO EARTH TO SHOCK AND ROLL
On August 14, the doors of the exhibition THE HIGH GROUND closed. And with that, DOWN TO EARTH, an IABR-edition that will go down as the “corona biennale”, was over after almost twelve months and seven exhibitions.
image: Aad Hoogendoorn
From DOWN TO EARTH......
Of course, due to limited access because of the (ever-changing) corona measures, this edition welcomed fewer visitors than the eight previous editions, but we can nevertheless look back on a very successful biennale in many other ways.
The corona disadvantage has been turned into an advantage wherever and whenever possible. Designers from all over the world, who are normally so important to the success of an international biennale, could not come to Rotterdam with their projects, stories, presentations and ideas this time – the world was in lock down. But we realized soon enough that this is what it possible to focus more on our own research in the IABR–Ateliers. And thanks to the results of that research, we were able to create five exhibitions solely built on “our own work”. As a result, and more than in earlier editions, we were able to go in depth and fully concentrate on how we could show the results of the Ateliers in such a way that the chance of realization in the practice of city making would be as great as possible, keen as we are on the bringing about of real world change.
Also, as befits a larger cultural institution in times of crisis, we have succeeded in making more than our normal contribution to the ecosystem on which, ultimately, all of us depend. For example, in the context of DOWN TO EARTH, the IABR awarded almost 1.4 million euros worth of assignments to freelancers, cultural entrepreneurs and research and design agencies in Rotterdam alone. For reference: that is almost ten times as much as the annual cultural subsidy that the IABR now receives from the city of Rotterdam.
All in all, it was good to see that, given these difficult circumstances and thanks to a small but highly motivated team, we were still able to achieve our most important objective, i.e. to tangibly contribute to the realization of the Paris climate goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations.
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
......to SHOCK AND ROLL
The chief curator of DOWN TO EARTH, George Brugmans, now passes the mic to Derk Loorbach, who has been appointed the chief curator of the next IABR, SHOCK AND ROLL, in 2022 (see press release).
SHOCK AND ROLL will go all out for transition. It will focus on the urgent need to put into design practice the all-embracing change to which science incites us, which the Paris climate objectives call for, to which the global community committed itself in the UN’s2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and with which the reality of the climate crisis confronts us every single day.
Derk Loorbach: ‘The pandemic has acted as a magnifying glass and is contributing to a significant growth in support for transformative change. Now it’s a question of linking the momentum to competencies: unlocking the lessons and experiences of effective transition practices for a large audience. Showing people that it works and how it works. This is what we need to do. In concrete terms, it means that we are going to make transition as well as make transition practice visible. SHOCK AND ROLL will be one big transition experiment and action research project.’
THE HIGH GROUND, the seventh and final exhibition of the long 9th edition of IABR, DOWN TO EARTH, is open at the Biesboschhal in Dordrecht though August 14.
image: Aad Hoogendoorn
Curated by DOWN TO EARTH chief curator George Brugmans, THE HIGH GROUND demonstrates how the extremely topical water safety agenda can be wielded as leverage, in this case to promote the Drechtsteden2030 Growth Agenda as well as the city of Dordrecht’s sustainability ambitions.
model: West 8 - image: Aad Hoogendoorn
image: Aad Hoogendoorn
Turning a disadvantage into an advantage
The exhibition focuses on the results of the IABR–Atelier Dordrecht, with Adriaan Geuze (West 8) as its lead designer. They make it crystal clear that De Staart can play an unexpectedly important role in realizing the city’s water safety agenda. De Staart, currently an isolated area with many problems and few prospects, is located outside the dikes and is Dordrecht’s high-ground city district. If Dordrecht decides to go with the water-safety-as-leverage approach, this will create unexpected opportunities for the sustainable development of an attractive mix-used living and working district including new forms of housing, water-safe facilities, innovative work concepts, and a unique river-bound tidal park, all in harmony with nature and including new connections for slow traffic that can also serve as escape routes.
(detail) model by Made by Mistake - image: Aad Hoogendoorn
On De Staart, the City of Dordrecht can hit many pins with one ball: increase water safety while at the same time building housing and stimulating employment, optimizing connections in the city and region and increasing the quality of life and recreational opportunities for all inhabitants. Thanks to the water-safety-as-leverage approach, the Map of Opportunities of De Staart created for THE HIGH GROUND reads like a collection of once in a lifetime chances.
image: Aad Hoogendoorn
The exhibition is free of charge and, given the current corona measures, you do not have to make a reservation.
Do pay close attention to the times and days that the exhibition is open: from Wednesday to Saturday, from 1:00 p.m to 5:00 p.m.
For more visitors information, such as directions, location and Covid-19 guidelines, click here.
image: gemeente Dordrecht
From Saturday 3 July, when lockdown measures were eased, the doors of DOWN TO EARTH could open wide for the three final exhibitions of the 9th edition of the IABR, an 'anti-biennale in times of pandemic'.
Alas, RECLAIMING THE COMMONS is now closed. But WATER SCHOOL M4H+ can still be visited until July 30, in Rotterdam, and THE HIGH GROUND in Dordrecht is open until August 14.
Pay close attention to the times and days that the exhibitions are open. In Rotterdam, this is from Tuesday to Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. In Dordrecht, the exhibition is open from Wednesday to Saturday, from 1:00 p.m to 5:00 p.m.
For more visitors information, such as directions, location and our Covid-19 guidelines, click here.
WATERSCHOOL M4H+
image: Aad Hoogendoorn
WATERSCHOOL M4H+ is a working exhibition in Studio Makkink & Bey's workspace that illustrates what a new living and working environment in the Rotterdam city harbor Merwe-Vierhaven may look like if the planning takes as its departure the sustainable use of raw materials and resources by the future residents of the area .
In addition, at five outdoor locations in the area, as many spatial installations depict how people may live and work here in the future: five different stories about new ways of using raw materials and their impact on Merwe-Vierhaven.
image: Melany van Twuijver
The objective of the curators of WATERSCHOOL M4H+, Rianne Makkink and Jurgen Bey, is to increase our awareness of our gigantic water footprint and what we can do about it. And to take that as a starting point for an alternative "learning by doing" area development in the Merwe-Vierhavens area. The (awareness of) water is used as a lever for exploring a learning production landscape, a learning environment for the future that we can want in an area which the City of Rotterdam wants to turn into a sustainable and challenging living environment for mostly small business and 6,300 new residents.
beeld: Aad Hoogendoorn
For more info about WATERSCHOOL M4H+ please click here.
THE HIGH GROUND
image: Aad Hoogendoorn
As of Saturday July 3 DOWN TO EARTH’s final exhibition, THE HIGH GROUND, is open at the Biesboschhal in Dordrecht. Curated by IABR–DOWN TO EARTH chief curator George Brugmans, THE HIGH GROUND shows how Dordrecht’s water safety agenda can be used as leverage to promote the Drechtsteden 2030 Growth Agenda as well as Dordrecht’s sustainability ambitions.
model: VenhoevenCS, Studio KU+
The exhibition focuses on the results of the IABR–Atelier Dordrecht, with Adriaan Geuze (West 8) as its lead designer. They make it crystal clear that De Staart can play an unexpectedly important role in realizing the city’s water safety agenda. De Staart, currently an isolated area with many problems and few prospects, is located outside the dikes and is Dordrecht’s high-ground city district. If Dordrecht decides to go with the water-safety-as-leverage approach, this will create unexpected opportunities for the sustainable development of an attractive mix-used living and working district including new forms of housing, water-safe facilities, innovative work concepts, and a unique river-bound tidal park, all in harmony with nature and including new connections for slow traffic that can also serve as escape routes.
image: Aad Hoogendoorn
On De Staart, the City of Dordrecht can hit many pins with one ball: increase water safety while at the same time building housing and stimulating employment, optimizing connections in the city and region and increasing the quality of life and recreational opportunities for all inhabitants. Thanks to the water-safety-as-leverage approach, the Map of Opportunities of De Staart created by West 8 for THE HIGH GROUND reads like a collection of once in a lifetime chances.
image: Aad Hoogendoorn
THE HIGH GROUND opens on Saturday 3 July in the Biesboschhal in Dordrecht and can be visited Wednesday to Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. until 14 August.
For more information about THE HIGH GROUND click here
For more info about the IABR–Atelier Dordrecht click here.
picture: Melany van Twuijver
Read the introduction to DOWN TO EARTH by chief curator George Brugmans here
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
Seven exhibitions
From September 2020 to the summer of 2021 we present a total of seven mostly smaller exhibitions and in addition, where and when possible, a limited number of, sometimes closed and sometimes public events, from work sessions and guided tours to lectures and webinars.
Read more about:
DROUGHT IN THE DELTA
NOW! DESIGNING IN TIMES OF CLIMATE CRISIS
Because of the pandemic, all plans and dates are subject to change. So, check our website and agenda regularly, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on twitter and instagram
Crucially however, make sure to stay healthy, safe and sane!
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
DOWN TO EARTH reopened on June 9, and with two exhibitions: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS in the Keilezaal, and WATERSCHOOL M4H+ at Studio Makkink & Bey’s and in the public space, both in the Merwe-Vierhavens area in Rotterdam.
A third exhibition,THE HIGH GROUND, will open on July 3 in the Biesboschhal in Dordrecht.
Chief curator George Brugmans: "For everyone - the team, the curators, the participants, the audience - it's been a long and frustrating lockdown, but we haven't exactly been sitting on our hands, so now we can give it everything we have."
You're very welcome, all exhibitions are free, and it is no longer necessary to make a reservation. But all dates, also for the program of events, tours and meetings that we are putting together, are still subject to change, so check this website and our agenda regularly, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
RECLAIMING THE COMMONS
The exhibition RECLAIMING THE COMMONS is the 2.0 version of WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?, the exhibition we had to close after only three weeks, last December, because of the lockdown.
WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY? focused on the energy transition at the district level, on the energy district as an energetic district. In RECLAIMING THE COMMONS the curators, George Brugmans and Thijs van Spaandonk, go a step further. Their starting point this time is the observation that energy was once part of the commons: that which belongs to all of us and that we take care of together. And that we might want to look at it that way again: after all, since the sun, wind and hydrogen belong to everyone, the transition to sustainable energy should belong to us all, too. So how can we reinvent the commons for the twenty-first century?
The energy transition is the elephant in the room of politics. It’s high time to say: No energy transition without social transition – let's RECLAIM THE COMMONS!
For more info about RECLAIMING THE COMMONS please click here.
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
WATERSCHOOL M4H+
image: Studio Makkink & Bey with Juhee Hahm
WATERSCHOOL M4H+ is a working exhibition in Studio Makkink & Bey's workspace that illustrates what a new living and working environment in the Rotterdam city harbor Merwe-Vierhaven may look like if the planning takes as its departure the sustainable use of raw materials and resources by the future residents of the area .
In addition, at five outdoor locations in the area, as many spatial installations depict how people may live and work here in the future: five different stories about new ways of using raw materials and their impact on Merwe-Vierhaven.
The objective of the curators of WATERSCHOOL M4H+, Rianne Makkink and Jurgen Bey, is to increase our awareness of our gigantic water footprint and what we can do about it. And to take that as a starting point for an alternative "learning by doing" area development in the Merwe-Vierhavens area. The (awareness of) water is used as a lever for exploring a learning production landscape, a learning environment for the future that we can want in an area which the City of Rotterdam wants to turn into a sustainable and challenging living environment for mostly small business and 6,300 new residents.
For more info about WATERSCHOOL M4H+ please click here.
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
THE HIGH GROUND
drawing: Merel Corduwener for IABR–Atelier Dordrecht
THE HIGH GROUND, an exhibition curated by DOWN TO EARTH's chief curator George Brugmans, presents the results of the IABR–Atelier Dordrecht, Water Safety as a Lever for Sustainable Urban Development, under lead designer Adriaan Geuze (West 8). The exhibition, in the Biesboschhal on De Staart in Dordrecht, will be open to the public from Saturday July 3 through August 14.
For more information about THE HIGH GROUND click here
For more info about the IABR–Atelier Dordrecht click here.
picture: Melany van Twuijver
From September 2020 until the summer of 2021, the IABR presnets a series of relatively small exhibitions and other activities. We will also find safe ways to organise a limited number of events, such as work sessions, guided tours and lectures.
Read the introduction to DOWN TO EARTH by chief curator George Brugmans here
Read more about DROUGHT IN THE DELTA, the first exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here
Read more about WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?, the second exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here
Read more about METEOPOLIS, the first partner exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here
Read more about NOW! DESIGNING IN TIMES OF CLIMATE CRISIS, the second partner exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here
Because of the pandemic, all plans and dates are subject to change. So, check our website and agenda regularly, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on twitter and instagram
Crucially however, make sure to stay healthy, safe and sane!
04.05.2021
DESIGNING IN TIMES OF CLIMATE CRISIS
In a three day workshop at the end of February, a group of 150 students from the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design (RAVB) and the Graphic Design (BA) and Non Linear Narrative (MA) departments of the Royal Academy of Visual Arts (KABK) curated the exhibition NOW! DESIGNING IN TIMES OF CLIMATE CRISIS. Given the lockdown there was no chance that the exhibition would be allowed to open to the public, and it was therefore made for Instagram.
FROM APRIL 5 THROUGH MAY 26 ON INSTAGRAM: @downtoearth_now
picture: RAvB
How can we design our lives and our living environment in such a way that the future is sustainable? How do we deal with the shortcomings of "modernity as a project"? What values should we embrace and what should we say goodbye to?
For more information about NOW! please click here
Looking at the upcoming, final months of DOWN TO EARTH, it now looks like the lockdown measures will be relaxed and that we will be allowed to reopen our doors on June 9. Nothing is certain, but it’s now reasonable to assume that we can. It’s why we’re working on three exhibitions that will be open to the public, starting almost simultaneously in about a month’s time: RECLAIMING THE COMMONS in the Keilezaal in Rotterdam; the WATERSCHOOL M4H+ in the Merwe-Vierhavens area in Rotterdam, in Studio Makkink & Bey’s studio and in public space; and THE HIGH GROUND in the Biesboschhal in Dordrecht.
More info in our Newsletter of May 4
picture: Melany van Twuijver
From September 2020 until the summer of 2021, the IABR will present a series of relatively small exhibitions and other activities. We will also find safe ways to organise a limited number of events, such as work sessions and lectures.
Read the introduction to DOWN TO EARTH by chief curator George Brugmans here
Read more about DROUGHT IN THE DELTA, the first exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here
Read more about WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?, the second exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here
Read more about METEOPOLIS, the first partner exhibition of DOWN TO EARTG, here
Because of the pandemic, all plans and dates are subject to change. So, check our website and agenda regularly, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on twitter and instagram
Crucially however, make sure to stay healthy, safe and sane!
Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design, 2021
The exhibition NOW! has been set up but cannot be opened to the public due to the lockdown. However, 150 students, two academies and one IABR are hell-bent on bringing you its content.
NOW! FROM APRIL 5 THROUGH MAY 26 ON INSTAGRAM:
@downtoearth_now
picture: RAvB
NOW! Designing in times of climate crisis
IABR–DOWN TO EARTH asks the question: Where can we land? In response, the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design (RAVB) and the Graphic Design (BA) and Non Linear Narrative (MA) departments of the Royal Academy of Visual Arts (KABK) dedicated their education programs in the autumn of 2020 to an exploration of how designers can relate to the climate crisis and what action they can take.
How can we design our lives and our living environment in such a way that the future is sustainable? How do we deal with the shortcomings of "modernity as a project"? What values should we embrace and what should we say goodbye to?
picture: RAvB
For additional information about NOW! please click here
picture: Melany van Twuijver
From September 2020 until the summer of 2021, the IABR will present a series of relatively small exhibitions and other activities. We will also find safe ways to organise a limited number of events, such as work sessions and lectures.
Read the introduction to DOWN TO EARTH by chief curator George Brugmans here
Read more about DROUGHT IN THE DELTA, the first exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here
Read more about WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?, the second exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here
Read more about METEOPOLIS, the first partner exhibition of DOWN TO EARTG, here
Because of the pandemic, all plans and dates are subject to change. So, check our website and agenda regularly, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on twitter and instagram
Crucially however, make sure to stay healthy, safe and sane!
08.03.2021
IN LOCKDOWN
picture: RAvB
IABR temporarily closed
What we do not know, is how long the current strict lockdown measures will be in place.
It's not looking good, but hopefully, for all of us, infection rates will drop and measures can be eased again in April.
Partner Exhibitions
Our intention had been to start 2021 with two partner exhibitions, METEOPOLIS in January, and NOW! In February. Those plans were canceled because of the pandemic.
picture: George Brugmans
If in April we are allowed to open the doors again, we will yet present the exhibition NOW! in the Keilezaal, starting 2 April 2021. So please check our website and agenda regularly, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on twitter and instagram.
IABR–DOWN TO EARTH asks the question: Where can we land?
In response to this, the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design (RAVB) and the Graphic Design (BA) and Non Linear Narrative (MA) departments of the Royal Academy of Visual Arts (KABK) dedicated their education programs in the autumn of 2020 to an exploration of how designers can relate to the climate crisis and what action they can take.
picture: RAvB
In a three day workshop at the end of February, a group of students from the KABK and the RAVB curated the exhibition NOW! Designing in Times of Climate Crisis, an exhibition with contributions from almost 150 students specially made for the Keilezaal.
More information will follow soon.
picture: Melany van Twuijver
From September 2020 until the summer of 2021, the IABR will present a series of relatively small exhibitions and other activities. We will also find safe ways to organise a limited number of events, such as work sessions and lectures.
Read the introduction to DOWN TO EARTH by chief curator George Brugmans here
Read more about DROUGHT IN THE DELTA, the first exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here
Read more about WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?, the second exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here
Because of the pandemic, all plans and dates are subject to change. So, check our website and agenda regularly, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on twitter and instagram
Crucially however, make sure to stay healthy, safe and sane!
17.12.2020
FROM 2020 TO 2021
‘2020 was, of course, an abysmal and unhappy year. A lost year, in many ways and for most people. But nevertheless a year that we shouldn’t forget too quickly. Because the pandemic acts as a stress test, making us focus on things that we’d otherwise have kept sweeping under the carpet. It’s a much-needed reality check, because the planet is not doing well.’
This is how our director George Brugmans’ end-of-year letter begins. About the state of the planet, the state of the cultural sector and the sustainability of the biennale concept in times of pandemic and climate crisis. A look back and a look forward.
Click here to read the end-of-year letter.
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
Partner Exhibitions
What we do not know, is how long the current strict lockdown measures will be in place. Hopefully, for all of us, infection rates will drop and measures can be eased as of January 20. For now, the intention is to start 2021 with two partner exhibitions, METEOPOLIS in January, and NOW! In February.
METEOPOLIS is an exhibition by Rotterdam Weatherwise, a program of the City of Rotterdam. With ‘Scenarios for the Rotterdam of 2060’ as its subtitle, it challenges four design offices to imagine what Rotterdam could look like 40 years from now if the city were to embrace the water, rather than continue to fight it. An exercise in looking ahead in times of climate crisis.
For more information, click here
image: De Zwarte Hond
DUE TO THE EXTENSION OF THE LOCKDOWN THIS EXHIBITION CANNOT BE OPENED TO THE PUBLIC AS PLANNED
MORE INFORMATION FOLLOWS
For NOW! DESIGNING IN TIME OF CLIMATE CRISIS, some 150 students of the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture (RAvB) and the Graphic Design and Non-Linear Narrative departments of the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague, are joining forces. Under the guidance of Thijs van Spaandonk, a curator of DOWN TO EARTH and head of the RAvB’s Master of Urban Design, and Roosje Klap, responsible for the graphic design of DOWN TO EARTH, and with Niels Schrader, head of the two KABK departments.
For more information, click here
image: RAvB, Freek van Riet / KABK, Petra Eros
NOW! is open to the public from February 12 through 28, 2021. Because of the pandemic, these dates are subject to change.
WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY? 2.0
In March 2021 we’ll resume WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY? Not exactly as the exhibition has been on show until Sunday, December 13, when we had to close it due to stricter lockdown measures. We’ll present a version 2.0 integrating all of the knowledge gained during the first run in the virtual and physical work sessions for which the exhibition has been the arena.
The curators, Eva Pfannes, Thijs van Spaandonk, and George Brugmans, have shared notes and expertise with specialists and administrators and, in particular, with the many residents and representatives of social initiatives and organizations from the BoTu district, the focus of the exhibition. They came to the Keilezaal keen to find out what the energy transition can mean for them, whether and how they can become co-owners of this transition, and even how they can make an active contribution as a first step towards a CO2-neutral district. Their tremendous drive and involvement, and their commitment to facing the energy transition challenge is heartwarming.
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
In the 2.0 version, we will also be presenting the IABR–WORKSHOP BoTu, which we will start up in Bospolder-Tussendijken itself after the exhibition ends in the spring of 2021. Together with Robbert de Vrieze, another member of DOWN TO EARTH’s curator team, we will activate the Local Energy Action Plan, the LEAP for Bospolder-Tussendijken, developed in the IABR–Atelier Rotterdam. From aking the transition visible in the exhibition to visibly making the transition on site, this is our concrete contribution to Resilient BoTu 2028 program, launched by Mayor Aboutaleb. And we’ll set it up so that chances are this workshop can remain active until 2028.
For more information on the exhibition WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?, click here
Please note that, given the pandemic, IABR follows the guidelines of the RIVM, the Dutch Health Authority. As we want to ensure that there are never too many people present at the same time and that every visit is a safe visit, all visitors of WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY? have to reserve time slots in advance - which you can do here
For all further visitor information, click here
picture: Melany van Twuijver
DOWN TO EARTH is a biennale in times of pandemic – an anti-biennale. Instead of compressing a multitude of activities – concentrating them in time and place, inviting as many people as possible, from far and wide, through the same door – we will unfold the program over time. A biennale true to form is simply not possible under the current atypical circumstances.
From September 2020 until the summer of 2021, the IABR will present a series of relatively small exhibitions and other activities. We will also find safe ways to organise a limited number of events, such as work sessions and lectures.
Read the introduction to DOWN TO EARTH by the chief curator, George Brugmans, here
Read more about DROUGHT IN THE DELTA, the first exhibition of DOWN TO EARTH, here
Because of the pandemic, all dates are subject to change. So, check our website and agenda regularly, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on twitter and instagram
Crucially however, make sure to stay healthy, safe and sane!
EXHIBITION CLOSED DUE TO STRICTER LOCKDOWN MEASURES
WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?, the second exhibition of the 9th edition of the IABR, DOWN TO EARTH, and scheduled from 20 November through 20 December 2020, is closed due to stricter lockdown measures.
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?
The exhibition DOWN TO EARTH: WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY? focuses on the energy transition at neighborhood level. On the energy district as an energetic district. Urgent issues converge at this scale level and large and small players –governments, companies, civil society and residents– must reach a new covenant. In and with the neighborhood, it is also possible to explore how the energy transition can be used as a lever for broader, comprehensive transformational change.
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
Urgent and far-reaching
The transition to renewable energy is urgent, but also almost unimaginably far-reaching.
Urgent because the petroculture that characterizes modern civilization contributes greatly to global warming and climate change. More than a million life forms have already become extinct or are threatened with extinction. For humans, too, the Earth is becoming less and less habitable.
Far-reaching because the way we live and care, learn and live, consume and produce; because what we eat and how we eat, how we move around and how we interact with each other and with nature – in short, because how we organize our living environment and our coexistence and whether everyone has equal opportunities, is largely determined by access to and use of energy.
Energy and culture
So, our use of and access to energy has an impact not only on our economy but also on our culture. What we’re now witnessing is the era of petroculture, the feast of fossil expressionism, coming to an end. That makes the energy transition the elephant in the room of politics. It is therefore crucial that we reconsider ownership of the transition to a sustainable energy supply. No energy transition without a transition in ownership.
Reclaiming the energy commons
Energy was once – and can again become, we believe – part of the commons: that which belongs to us all and that we take care of together. And why not, sun and wind, and soon hydrogen, belong to everyone, why not the energy that we can generate with them?
But how can this be achieved? How can citizens become the co-owners of a new energy system and what will that require? What is the relationship between the energy transition and a sustainable social agenda? How can we smartly link the energy system to the local economy?
Timely questions
These are timely questions to ask. In the Netherlands, according to the National Climate Agreement of 2019, circa 5,000 districts will have to become gas-free. Initial experience shows that this is not at all easy. There are many complications, for instance with implementation and, above all, financing and local support. Actually, we just don’t know yet how to wean our districts off of natural gas.
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
Building blocks and action plan
Also in Rotterdam, all districts have to be weaned off of natural gas. The city pointed to five to lead the way. One of these is Bospolder-Tussendijken, also known as BoTu, one of the poorest districts in the Netherlands. But it is not only fragile, it is also resilient: culturally diverse, empowered and self-aware. That is why the IABR chose BoTu.
Building on more than three years of research in the IABR–Atelier Rotterdam, the exhibition WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY? –curated by George Brugmans (IABR), Eva Pfannes (Ooze Architects and Urbanists) and Thijs van Spaandonk (Bright)– wants to contribute to finding answers to these timely questions. And because we have to walk the talk, we will not only present building blocks for future steps in the exhibition, but also the LEAP, the Local Energy Action Plan for Bospolder-Tussendijken that should lead to those next steps.
© IABR, Ooze
For more information on the exhibition WHOSE ENERGY IS IT, ANYWAY?, click here
For all further visitor information, click here
picture: Melany van Twuijver
DOWN TO EARTH is a biennale in times of pandemic – an anti-biennale. Instead of compressing a multitude of activities – concentrating them in time and place, inviting as many people as possible, from far and wide, through the same door – we will unfold the program over time. A biennale true to form is simply not possible under the current atypical circumstances.
From September 2020 until the summer of 2021, the IABR will present a series of relatively small exhibitions and other activities. We will also find safe ways to organise a limited number of events, such as work sessions and lectures.
Read the introduction to DOWN TO EARTH by the chief curator, George Brugmans, here
Because of the pandemic, all dates are subject to change. So, check our website and agenda regularly, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on twitter and instagram
Crucially however, make sure to stay healthy and safe!
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
DROUGHT IN THE DELTA, open from 19 September through 1 November 2020, is the first exhibition of the 9th edition of the IABR, DOWN TO EARTH, an expanded biennale that will run through the summer of 2021.
You are of course very welcome to attend, but please note that, given the pandemic, IABR follows the guidelines of the Dutch Health Authority. This way, we can ensure that there are never too many people present at the same time and that every visit is a safe visit.
Therefore, visitors of DROUGHT IN THE DELTA have to reserve time slots in advance, which you can do by clicking here.
You can find all visitor information here
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
DROUGHT IN THE DELTA
Building blocks for a new freshwater strategy
In the Dutch delta, climate change is generating completely new problems. More and more often there is too much water, but we are also – and this is really new – now confronted with drought and shortages of fresh water. Curator George Brugmans: "Climate change is a total game changer. Even the fact that the Dutch, like no other people, know how to deal with water no longer offers any certainty."
The dry summer of 2018 prompted the IABR to start an investigation into opportunities and frameworks for the large-scale storage of freshwater, both aboveground and underground.
The IABR–Atelier Drought in the Delta was set up and lead designer Marco Vermeulen and his SMV-team were commissioned to map the situation and explore possibilities for increasing the delta's water buffering capacity and the opportunities that this would create. The aim of the research was to provide building blocks for a new freshwater strategy in conjunction with other transition challenges, such as the energy transition, food production, and urbanization, which always involve increasingly intensive use of the topsoil and subsoil.
A new freshwater strategy is urgently needed, because, as Vermeulen puts it: "Climate change is forcing us to re-design the Dutch water machine back into a resilient delta."
picture: Aad Hoogendoorn
In addition to the results of the Atelier Drought in the Delta, the curator, George Brugmans, selected four exemplary Dutch projects that explore concrete solutions that can be deployed in the Netherlands and elsewhere for retention and use of fresh water: COASTAR, Panorama Waterland, Watermosaic Groene Hart and Sponstuin.
Read more about the exhibition here
picture: Melany van Twuijver
DOWN TO EARTH is a biennale in times of pandemic – an anti-biennale. Instead of compressing a multitude of activities – concentrating them in time and place, inviting as many people as possible, from far and wide, through the same door – we will unfold the program over time. A biennale true to form is simply not possible under the current atypical circumstances.
From September 2020 until the summer of 2021, the IABR will present a series of relatively small exhibitions and other activities. We will also find safe ways to organise a limited number of events, such as work sessions and lectures.
Read the Curator Introduction to DOWN TO EARTH here
We will, of course, always follow the guidelines of the RIVM, the Dutch health authority. And this also means that we will wait as long as possible to decide when and in what form the consecutive program components will be presented. Step by step, we will find the best and safest way to exhibit projects that respond to the key question of this ninth edition of the IABR: Where can we land?
So, check our website and agenda regularly, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on twitter and instagram
Crucially however, make sure to stay healthy and safe!