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.
80's T's
For my Youtube channel 2kB of Fun, I made several T-shirts based on logo graphics from 80's video games and electronic gadgets.
Retro Space 4.0
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.
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
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.
Welcome to Andenne
Andenne is a small town on the bank of the Meuse between Namur and Liège. When entering Andenne the city does not impress. The abandoned factory area on the north bank of the Meuse makes a chaotic impression and the river is ignored. In collaboration with Wendy van Rosmalen I designed a new plan for this Europan 9 location.With out plan we want to give Andenne a face. Between famous cities like Namur, Huy and Liège, Andenne is missing an inherent identity. We chose to multiply the nonchalant character of Belgian building and turn it into a specific typology. Our plan is a framework for development of the area in its own pace. A subtle guidance in building alignment and building heights delivers a varied public space that opens up towards the river Meuse.
A specific part of the assignment was the redesign of Andenne station. Bad attainableness of the platforms, a weird logistic and the uncomfortable public space underneath the viaduct are creating a moody atmosphere. The size of Andenne does not allow a large scale intervention. We choose a very modest solution. We created a square below the tracks to connect al transportation streams. The viaduct is decorated to resemble a living room and is transformed into a roof covering the bus platforms. New buildings surrounding the square size the public space.
Every Belgian wants its own house. Ignoring this feat makes a plan implausible. We go one step further through making the buying of a house resemble the buying of a car. By using a smart basic layout for the houses, every house can suit the needs of very different groups of people. Future change is very easy too. The architecture is a caricature of traditional Belgian building methods, its execution is contemporary and flexible.
I never promised you a rosegarden
An abandoned commercial plot in the centre of Heteren had to be filled with 19 apartments. Contractor Kuijpers had moved to the city limits and the housing corporation "Woningstichting Heteren" had 4 outdated senior-citizen houses on the adjacent plot at the Rozenpad street. The combined plot connects a traditional village street with a seventies extension to Heteren. The housing coorporation asked me to design the modernist block fitting the seventies area.I designed this appartment block as employer of Bouwkundig ontwerp- en adviesburo van Zeist BV
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.
Fake Wanders
The lamp is a joke. I had no space to place the Big Shadow Lamp by Marcel Wanders. I also liked the idea of the Fake Lamp by Sophie Krier, but not its shape. I mixed them and created the Fake Wanders. Definitely not for sale.
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.