MVRDV

Our project The Modernist, a 60,000-square-metre mixed-use tower complex in Rotterdam, is part of this year’s Day of Architecture on June 15! You can visit its future site in the city centre and get a presentation around a model of The Modernist by the developer Maarsen Groep about the design, ideas, and plans for the project. The Modernist will consist of approximately 17,000 square metres of offices, a transparent commercial plinth, and 421 apartments. It marks the third phase of the transformation of the former Weenapoint complex in Rotterdam Central District. The different programmatic components all have their own defined volume, giving the complex a clear expression and creating a dynamic city entrance for those exiting Rotterdam Central Station. Find more information and sign up for the event (in Dutch) here! https://lnkd.in/emkFSZVF

Join us in Milan this week at the 2024 ULI Europe Conference of the Urban Land Institute! Business development manager Julie Wolsak will be at the conference on June 11 and 12, while studio director Gideon Maasland is present there on June 12 and 13. Would you like to meet us? Send a DM to Julie Wolsak to make an appointment!

Portlantis is one step closer to completion! The Port of Rotterdam has officially received the keys from contractor G. van der Ven B.V. Aannemingsbedrijf. The symbolic ceremony marks the technical completion of the building and was attended by press as well as 20 fans of the port who won tickets for the event. The next stage for the project will involve the completion of the interiors and the installation of the Kossmanndejong-designed exhibition before the building opens in the Spring of 2025. Portlantis is an exhibition space and visitor centre for the Port of Rotterdam. Located at the port’s western-most point, on the artificially reclaimed sands of the Maasvlakte 2, the twisting five-storey stack of spaces will give spectacular views while educating visitors about the port’s function and evolution during one of its most important transitions – the shift to sustainable, low-energy operations. "This building is not a closed box, like the many distribution and data centres you can see in its surroundings. Instead, it is a block broken up into five layers. This creates terraces on each floor, accessible by external staircases", says Winy Maas. "The building engages with its environment, opening up the boxes with panoramic windows. The floors will have different themes that will reflect on the past, present, and future of the Port of Rotterdam. The design of the building anticipates a possible future where we make better use of space by stacking and densifying, instead of filling the Netherlands with more anonymous boxes." Read more here! https://lnkd.in/e7zspF_v

How can we bring involved parties and other fields of knowledge to the centre of the architectural design process? This is the theme of this year’s OBEL AWARD. It looks at the difference between participatory and co-creation and questions the role of the architect and the profession as a whole. The theme explores re-envisaging techniques and radical new ways of sharing and giving agency to all stakeholders. Nathalie de Vries is a member of this year’s OBEL AWARD-jury that selected the theme. "While designing, there’s often a need to think in terms of limitation, reduction and elimination", says Nathalie. "But our starting point should be an ambition to integrate as many needs and users as possible. This is what the OBEL AWARD wants to emphasise again. After all, isn’t inclusivity at the heart of good design?" The OBEL AWARD is a global award for architectural excellence, held annually by the Henrik F. Obel Foundation. The 2024 award, which celebrates architecture that benefits both people and the environment, has the theme "Architecture With". Learn more about how to apply here! https://obelaward.org/

How can we successfully lead and shape urban transformations? Join our senior project leader Maria Stamati at the Urban Future. congress on June 5 in Rotterdam! She will host a conversation with participants of the congress to exchange knowledge on strategies, designs, methods, and change-making in the field of urban design and planning. The Urban Future. congress, held from June 5 to 7 at Ahoy in Rotterdam, is a conference for city change-makers. With 2,000 attendees, it features an array of events, field trips, sessions, and workshops centered around sustainable urban development. The program includes 274 speakers, 35 field trips, 20 side events, 67 sessions, and more. Find out more on how to join the Urban Future. congress and Maria’s contribution here! https://urban-future.org/

Transforming a tired office building into a bold campus entrance! HAUS 1 has won the Architizer A+ Awards in the renovation category! The project is a transformation of a dated office building into an eye-catcher at the Atelier Gardens in Berlin. Now bright yellow, the building is completed with a new living roof, and a sustainable timber rooftop pavilion and terrace, accessible via a grand external staircase. Read more on the project here! https://lnkd.in/envbySqF Fabrix | Hirschmüller Schindele Architects | Harris Bugg Studio 📸 Simon Schnepp & Lukáš Drobný

How do we design redevelopments, and what do we consider when dealing with facades in renovations? On June 5, our studio director Gideon Maasland will discuss these questions during a lecture at Zak World of Façades in Switzerland, referencing the challenges in the design of redevelopment projects such as Tripolis Park and the Shenzhen Women and Children's Centre. Find more information on how to join the lecture here! https://lnkd.in/ejaV_khw

Flexible, family-friendly hotel suites with a colourful inhabited wall. We have completed a pair of hotel suites in the Shenzhen Women & Children's Centre! In a 100-metre-tall tower that we also recently transformed, we designed two suites that offer the option to be combined into one shared space for larger families. The rooms are animated by the metre-thick inhabited wall that curves through the space, with colourful niches that provide various functions – from expected items such as closets and desks, to fun additions such as toy cupboards and hidden bunk beds. This set of special hotel rooms takes the purpose of the Women & Children’s Centre as its starting point, targeting families as the ideal occupants of two adjacent suites. Since no two families are exactly alike, flexibility is a core design principle. One of the key features is therefore the sliding, soundproof wall that divides the two spaces, which allows the design to switch easily between two smaller suites and a two-bedroom suite connected by a large communal living space between. Read more on the design of the hotel suites and the transformation of the Shenzhen Women & Children's Centre here! https://lnkd.in/duasFrmk 📸 Zhi Xia

Construction work has started on De Oosterlingen, the MVRDV-designed block of seven residential buildings on Amsterdam’s Oostenburg Island! Designed for Being, the buildings in the ‘barcode’ composition form a clear family, but each has its own character, with varying heights, roof shapes, and sustainable façades made of wood, terracotta, brick, rammed earth, or biobased composite. Located at the entrance to Oostenburg, De Oosterlingen will form a green, people-focused street that provides a striking entrance to the neighbourhood. Anchored by the 17-storey ''Swallow Tower'' at one end, with the rest of the buildings ranging from three to six storeys, the project provides 142 new apartments of various sizes and types, aiming to develop a diverse community of people. With its green roofs, it also aims to welcome a diverse set of residents of another type: bees, butterflies, swallows, sparrows, and bats. The project also serves as a diverse test-bed of low-carbon façade construction techniques using circular economy principles. Most of the seven façades are designed to be demountable and reusable, or they will be made with recycled or reused materials, or both. Read more on the project here! https://lnkd.in/dHtT8wq Being | Vink Bouw | DELVA Landscape Architecture / Urbanism | IMd Raadgevende Ingenieurs | Arup | IGG Bouweconomie | DGMR

Selected from over 1500 start-ups, our partner Aectual has been awarded the LVMH Innovation Award for Sustainability and GreenTech! Congratulations! From fishing nets to drink cartons, we aim to use all kinds of recycled products in our projects. Aectual produces finishes that are waste free and fully digitally produced with 3D printers using recycled materials. For the façade of the Tiffany & Co. store at the Changi Airport in Singapore, they developed a process to produce the 50-millimetre-thick screen using recycled plastic, including reclaimed and recycled fishing nets. By making use of this unusual source of recycled plastic, the design not only draws inspiration from the oceans, but also plays a part in protecting them. On the ground and first floors of the NIO House Amsterdam, the walls are panelled with a 3D-printed material made from recycled drink cartons. Also developed in partnership with Aectual, the panel gives an earthy colour and a fluted texture to the walls. Read more on the award here! https://lnkd.in/e_9qRqyf