This Is No School
Learning is working best when kids are into subjects of study that match their interests. It also works well when projects are realistic.Also there has to be place for the making. It should be possible to make prototypes, do experiments, program shows and produce goods to express yourself.
This Is No School is the world on a stamp. A meeting square, workshops, labs, a theater, a fram, sporting facilities, restaurants, shops and a hotel.
2kB of Fun
Never has a consumer electronic product seen such an extravagant variety in case design as early handheld games from 1976-1985. Never have computer games been so beautifully reduced to their essence as these handhelds offered. Never did 2Kb of memory offer so much fun.1983 was the best year with top titles like Amidar, Astro Thunder 7, Burger Time, Dig Dug, Ms. Pac-Man, Q*bert, Super-Cobra and Zaxxon.
Martijn Koch, architect from the Netherlands bought 180 of the best handheld games, photographed them, took them apart, analysed their tech, and put all the material together in this stunning book, a catalog like you never saw before.
Want some Beers?
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.
Monk Bond
When I started working at "bouwkundig ontwerp- en adviesburo Van Zeist" the preliminary design for these 8 apartments had been made already. I drew up the technical detailing.One of the challenges was to draw the brickwork in monk bond, just like the classic houses in the same street.
To show the appartments are built in 2008, many details are modernized. The balconies for example look like old wooden porches, but in fact they are made of brown concrete and steel.
Low Bandwith
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.
Unknown Modernism
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.
Miniature City
Brandevoort is one of the big suburban extensions according to the governmental document Vinex. Under supervision of Rob Krier, the city of Helmond tried to mimic the classic Dutch canal city for its big extension. Modern legislation on parking and the fact that a family in a suburban plan like this needs 2 cars to reach all daily facilities, resulted in weird interiors for the urban blocks. The gardens are petite, and most space is used for the cars.
Blue Envelope
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.