Stimuleringsfonds

In the fourth Architecture round of 2022, 11 proposals have been selected. The available budget was unfortunately not sufficient to award a grant to all positively assessed applications. Maarten Tas, Architecture Grant Scheme coordinator, reflects on the round.

general impression

In terms of themes, it is notable that there were a relatively large number of proposals this round that focused on the housing and urban transformation task and related social and societal issues. There was also a focus on collectivity and community spirit in new development projects, the promotion of circular building materials, providing insight into sustainable design principles and building methods, opening up and making accessible free spaces and green(ery) in the city as well as new developments in rural areas and how these can be guided by policy.

selection

The available budget of € 300,000 was not sufficient to award a grant to all 18 positively assessed applications. As a result, the advisory committee had to prioritize. The procedure used is described in the Architecture Grant Scheme. After prioritization, 7 projects were eliminated from the selection. Of the 11 selected projects, 4 are for starting grants. A few notable projects from this round’s selection are:

Living Cities – Europan17 – Urban Region Breda Tilburg – Stichting Europan NL
Since 1988, Europan has been linking local design issues with young European architectural talent via an international design competition. By means of the competition, Europan NL advocates public quality in urban developments and the commissioning that this requires. Europan NL therefore focuses on one city or region per edition and aims to achieve purposeful coalitions per competition location to increase the chances of follow-up assignments. After two successful editions in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Europan is focusing on the Breda-Tilburg region in the next edition. The theme is Living Cities. Six competition locations were selected in consultation with the relevant authorities. Europan hopes for promising design proposals for the competition locations, purposeful coalitions of stakeholders who can give a development impulse to those locations, and a public programme to critically consider the themes of this edition.

Bijlmer Oral History – ZLB Dautzenberg
2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the large-scale transformation of the ‘concrete’ Bijlmer district in Amsterdam. Much of the urban plan has been demolished or renovated. With the demolition, residents and former residents lost memories and their history was erased. In the project Bijlmer Oral History, Liz Dautzenberg is researching, archiving and presenting this lost social history of the Amsterdam housing estate. The result is a collection of stories with personal memories of the rise and fall of the ‘original’ concrete Bijlmer (1968-1998), told through the eyes of its residents and former residents and presented in a digital environment. This project is a first attempt to document the more recent and underexposed urban history of the Bijlmer from the inside and to present it in an accessible way. The aim is to promote and increase broader insights arising from the history.

Stadspark West, een groene long voor de stad – buro MA.AN
In Rotterdam West, a green urban landscape connects 12 allotment and utility garden complexes with surrounding parks, amenities and the nearby countryside. It is a green lung for the city full of recreational facilities and also space for climate adaptation and biodiversity. But the value of this urban landscape is under pressure. Making its importance visible and making better use of the potential of the existing landscape structure will make Rotterdam (even) more natural, inclusive and healthy. With a design research study, buro MA.AN shows the opportunities in the area and offers tangible methods and tools for a development process based on the knowledge and participation of the parties involved. Based on existing natural qualities, cultural values and possibilities for use, the vision and policy intentions as expressed in the Rotterdam Environmental Vision The Changing City are fleshed out. An inclusive network, involved in the cycle of soil, water, growth and death, will generate a stable ‘urban ecosystem’ around Stadspark West. It outlines a beckoning perspective on a sustainable and inclusive future for Stadspark West as an essential part of the Environmental Vision.

Het Boerenwerkwoonerf – KettingHuls
On the farmyard of Almere City Farmers in Vliervelden, 21 flats designed by KettingHuls have been realized next to the cowshed and hay barn. It is a unique project in the Netherlands. Through this project, KettingHuls wants to explore whether it is possible to pave the way for realizing housing on other functioning farmyards. This could actually be a solution to a number of spatial issues that also exist in other places. During the start-up phase, KettingHuls, together with Kunstlinie, is organizing a knowledge workshop where the stakeholders of the project in Vliervelden will share their acquired knowledge and experience and exchange views with farmers, municipalities and provinces involved in five cases across the Netherlands.

Click here for all the projects selected in Architecture in 2022.

numbers

Of the 31 subsidy applications taken into consideration, 11 are receiving grants. This brings the percentage of applications receiving grants to 35%. The closing date for the first Architecture round of 2023 was 19 January. The next round closes on 20 April 2023.

N.B.: The Architecture Grant Scheme introduced the starting grant Project Canvas with effect from 2023. Use this if you want to apply for a starting grant. For the time being, this is a pilot that is intended to lower the threshold for applying for starting grants and promote further development towards regular project grant applications. After six months, the pilot will be evaluated and, if successful, implemented as a new standard working method.