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.
STRP Festival 2010
Mick Visser made a photo report of the STRP Festival 2010 in Eindhoven. I participate in the photography process as image editor. Our colaboration results in the best posible quality for the images.From left to right:
Christoph De Boeck - Staalhemel
Lawrence Malstaf - Shrink
Jean Michel Bruyère - La Dispersion du Fils
Lawrence Malstaf - Nemo Observatorium
Lawrence Malstaf - Transporter
Roos van Berkel & TUlip - 2 of a kind
The Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77
Lawrence Malstaf - Knot
Lawrence Malstaf - Nevel
Malcolm MacIver, Marlena Novak & Jay Alan Yim - Scale
Lawrence Malstaf - Territorium
Underworld
Creative Factory
The Clock Building is a magnificent icon for Eindhoven. It is built as factory by Philips Electronics in 1928/1929. After having been used for years as office space by Philips, the building now transforms back to its original function: a factory.This time no series production. Trudo turned the building into a creative factory. Architects, designers, musicians, photographers, creative consultants: a colourful aggregation of creative talent took over this icon of the city Eindhoven.
The building has been split into units of various proportions. They all share one common feature though. Huge window openings with delicate metal frames. The light that enters the building gives unity to the diversity of interiors.
I photographed numerous interiors of the Clock Building to give insight in the new use of the building. The transformation of the Clock Building is a starting point in the transformation of the city district Strijp-S, a new centre for the city of Eindhoven.
The pictured companies are from left to right: Architectuurcentrum Eindhoven, Little Mountain, Keukenconfessies (2x), Desque, FuturOn.net, De Boekenmakers, studio-OOK, Scherpontwerp, Lady Penelope, Dikgedrukt en PopEI
Future Space
Dutch Game Garden is a non profit organisation for promoting and supporting the Dutch games industry.On april 23th DGG opened the Indigo Showcase event. This event shows a selection of the best contemporary projects of the Dutch games industry to the press, professionals and the general public.
Dutch Game Garden asked me to build 26 Retro Space cabinets to showcase these games. The cabinets have a second screen in the rear access door. This display allows the creators to discuss their projects while someone is playing the game at the front.
The cabinets were set up in a rigid grid. This grid neutralised the amorphous dated office floor and gave structure to the showcase event.
Photo 4,8 and 10 courtesy of Mick Visser
XXL
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".
Trophy for Men
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.
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.
Black Box
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.
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.
Retro Space
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.
Little Mermaid
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
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.
Cinderella
While doing a creative portfolio course at the CKE in Eindhoven I worked on a new interpretation of the story of Cinderella.Thanks to model Christine Nabuurs, to Jeroen Roxs for the workshop location, and to John Körmeling for using his veranda.
Wanda Wanders
The avatar Wanda Wanders was born in a chatconversation with Margot Scheltens. Wanda wanders around the World and shares her sharp opinion on various topics.I created the website both technically and graphically. Many of the articles are written by me too.
Wanda Wanders is a registered Benelux trademark.
http://
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.