Retro Space 4.0
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.Sound and Vision in Hilverum was interested in buying Retro Space arcade cabinets for their museum.
This request demanded an extra durable version of the Retro Space cabinets.
The new cabinet is fully re-engineered in folded aluminium sheets. The cab is fully modular, perfectly recyclable and gets prettier from a little use.
Notice: Undefined variable: tekst in /home/w1512188/domains/martijnkoch.com/public_html/index.php on line 285
Pixel Art
Notice: Undefined variable: tekst in /home/w1512188/domains/martijnkoch.com/public_html/index.php on line 296
Lost in Navigation
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.Tokyo is a breathtaking city. Most metropolises have 1 urban railway network. Easy. Tokyo, the biggest metropolis on Earth, is a lot more complex.
The city has 2 official subway companies, the national railway operates several lines that can be considered metro lines as well, and there are tens of private operated railways that serve may areas just outside the central part of the city. Another problem is that many transfer stations use different station names on each line connected.
Creating a understandable subway map for this city is extremely complex. Should it be schematic, or geographic realistic? When is it easier to have a short walk than to switch lines?
This metro map for Tokyo only shows the most important lines for visitors of the city. That is already 25 lines! All distances are realistic, and the connections to Airports and Shinkansen trains are clearly visible. The parks that give a good orientation in the grey urban mass of Tokyo are visible. Icons show the most important landmarks. Matching the million neon lights the map is drawn in a night situation with the lines as glowing neon tubes.
The map is printed on 100x75 cm photo paper in a limited run, an can be ordered. Send an e-mail or call if you are interested to order.
XXL
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.Kingspan Netherlands wanted to expand their factory for insulation panels in Kesteren, and to combine it with their distribution facility and offices in Dodewaard.
At the new industrial zone Medel near Tiel the needed 700.000m2 plot was available. The area also allowed high risk production plants.
At the moment phase 1 is completed. The plot has room for expansion with 2 more production lines and 3 times the amount of distribution storage that is part of phase 1.
Kinspan asked construction and design firm Van Zeist to draw the design. As architect I was responsible for the design up to approval of the design by the urban supervisor and the local "beauty commission".
Pokal för Män
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.Result from a weekend workshop at WiSPER in Leuven: A trophy for real men, made from construction beams. The trophy is welded using MIG and metal arc welding (MAW) techniques.
Pac Man LACK Hack
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.One of the most popular IKEA products is the LACK coffee table. It is so cheap, it must be hollow.
I opened the tables, I built in a retro TV computer game by Jakks and added real arcade controls to this game. This way the TV game has a longer life and the Ikea LACK is no longer the boring classic every household owns.
Thanks to Lara Verlaat for Playin Pac-Man.
Öl?
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.ZZEF asked me to photograph 2 projects designed by Johan van den Berkmortel for the architecture portfolio of ZZEF.
One project is a beer cafe at the monk brewery Koningshoeve and the other is the Bavaria House in Helmond.
Svart låda
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.Painter Bert de Haas and salesman in business outfits Chris Hendriks both wanted a new business building in Kesteren. Because of fire regulations it was best to combine the two buildings. Otherwise a big part of the plot was useless.
To preserve each ones identity and to answer the request for a good cantina, both parts of the building were accented by a small tower. These towers contain a special room looking out over the polders of the Betuwe.
The building is clad with anthracite profile sheets to ease the implementation of the detailing and to maximise the abstraction of the black boxes.
I made this design as employer of Bouwkundig ontwerp en adviesburo Van Zeist BV in Opheusden.
Låg bandbredd
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.When the design of Retro Space was finished, we needed a matching website.
Because of the presumption that Retro Space could become a hit on the internet, we tried to make the website as small as possible. We did not want the website to crash on bandwidth problems.
Matching the style of the retro games, the website is designed in pixel art. All elements except some product shots are GIF images in 4 colours. It's just like the early years of internet when bandwidth was scarce.
Retro Space
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.In 1971 the first coin-op video gaming system was built: Computer Space.
Soon the video arcade as hangout was born. Many famous games as Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Streetfighter and Donkey Kong were filled with our quarters. Today the last arcades are closing down. The Wii, the Playstation and owner "mr. Counchpotato" have won. As an homage to this era and to keep all the classics playable Retro Space was created.
Retro Space is a modern arcade machine for at home or at work. It plays both all the arcade classics from Space Invaders up and all the console titles for your Nintendo, Sega or Atari. The system is made using modern technology and is flexible for future innovations. The system also is a perfect multimedia jukebox. Next to your favourite games, you can load Retro Space with your favourite music and movies. A full HD screen and a high quality speaker system ensure you to enjoy the best image and sound. And quarters are no longer needed.
Thanks to model Lara Verlaat for the imitation of the original Computer Space poster.
Lilla sjöjungfru
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.When we visited Copenhagen, I was surprised by the complex metro map for the very small network. It should be possible to draw a map easier to understand and graphically more appealing to visitors.
I designed a new metro map that shows the relation with the city. It combines all trains with different schedules on similar routes to bring back overview.
Autonomous work
BBQ XL
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.Frank en Chantal van den Eijnden asked Johan van der Berkmortel and me to design an extension to their house in Beek en Donk. It was supposed to replace a decrepit shed and to add a new veranda with a fireplace. Two L-shaped entities frame the view into the deep garden. The brick element contains the chimney and acts as a bench. The wooden part contains the new shed, a log storage and a tool shed, and continues into the ceiling of the veranda.
This assignment is done in collaboration with Johan van den Berkmortel.
Okänd modernismen
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.For most tourists the city of Faro in southern Portugal is nothing more than an entrance by plane to the Algarve. Which is a pity. The biggest city of southern Portugal is probably the only one giving room to creativity. You will not see kitsch appartment blocks for Dutch and Germans, but subtile shaped private houses for the Portugese themselves. You will see images that remind of modernists like Gerrit Rietveld, Adolf Loos and Le Corbusier. You will wonder wheter MVRDV got inspiration here, or if Portugese architects checked out work of the Durch architecture firm.
Myrstack
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.Hong Kong has little room to built. There is a small piece of land to build on between the water and the mountains. The only option to house the millions of citizens is to use efficient towering blocks. Some area's have a FAR (floor to ground area aspect ratio) of 5 to 10.
Blå kuvert
Denna text är inte översatt till svenska och endast tillgänglig på engelska.The Dutch Tax Administration feels like a family business. The atmosphere is open and relaxed. The organization is responsible for the total financial administration of The Netherlands Ltd. Dutch citizens expect professional civil servants. The office at the Quintax location in Apeldoorn expresses the two faces of the Dutch Tax Administration. The building looks severe and mimics the impregnability of Fort Knox. But internal, the building is totally transparent. Walls are exceptions, and voids open the floors to improve contact between employees.
At JHK Architects, I was responsible for the concept of the building. I also worked out most of the technical details.