Stimuleringsfonds

In the first Architecture round of 2024, 24 applications have been selected. A reflection on the round.

18 April 2024

general impression

In the first round of 2024, a number of projects are being supported that focus directly on the role CO₂ plays in society and its repercussions in the urban-design development of our living environment, as can be seen in the project Carbon-Based Urbanism. The influence of good air quality is reflected, for example, in the design research of Rademacher de Vries, who are analyzing and redesigning air monitoring stations in the Netherlands to make more people aware of what is being measured, and what influence they themselves have on good air quality.

In addition, the more-than-human perspective appears a number of times in different projects. As a symbiotic partner in developing a new type of textile and interior, as the project Bioreceptive Textiles shows. Or as a voice to be explored that is hardly considered in area developments, if at all, such as within the projects Seascape Atlas:Mapping the Unheard and Mark the River.

Once again, many projects also focus on the circular economy in the construction sector with the aim of finding ways to make people think differently about waste. They range from a very specific look at the potential for reusing steel (including construction steel), and thinking about utilizing more growing materials such as bamboo to develop circular playgrounds, to a digital tool that looks at the spatial impact of recycling and reuse in the already overcrowded Netherlands. Related research studies focus more on the waste streams, such as the project PROTONODE 1, which instead looks at better incorporation of collection points in the city, encouraging more people to separate, hand in and collect biological materials.

Finally, there are several projects this round that apply the knowledge of designers or time periods from the past to the challenges of today. For instance, based on the typology of video stores,a study is proposed into the changing urban plinths and what the impact of this type of development is on the city and residents. Another example is the study into Louis Le Roy’s special design method, which looks at the role of nature in our living environment from an artistic viewpoint of its own.

selection

A few notable projects from this round’s selection are:

Een kamer voor jezelf – Laura Lubbers Historische Projecten

Een kamer voor jezelf (A room of your own) is an exhibition about residential complexes for women living alone in Amsterdam and about the women who lived there. Although the woman living alone is not a traditional household, homes have always been built for women living on their own in Amsterdam and elsewhere over the centuries. The buildings can still be found all over the city today. They tell a story about the changing view of women and the city, as well as female emancipation. The personal histories of the residents and former residents subsequently connect the bricks with the people. The exhibition will be at the Van Eesteren Museum and Museum Het Schip and is being created by Fabiola Eekhout, Noor Vet and Laura Lubbers. The information from the archival research, made possible by a starting grant from the Fund and a Seed Grant from the Centre for Urban Studies, will be incorporated into a travelling exhibition in which images, text and audio come together to bring the stories of forgotten city dwellers, women living on their own, out from beneath the dust. The residential complexes for women living alone are used as tools to take a journey through the city and through time. The personal stories make us reflect on what it means to have your own space. A question made topical by the current housing crisis. There will also be a fringe programme that includes walks organized by Arcam.

Tales of Housing (Crisis); Minimumwoning throughout Multiple Housing Crises, Social Movements, and Extraction Sites – Arvand Pourabbasi
Het WORKNOT! Collective project, led by Arvand Pourabbasi and Golnar Abbasi, explores the politics of the modern home through archival research, fieldwork and interviews. They are extending their The Minimum Dwelling research to include more archives and various geographies (some marginalized) as well as non-Western contexts, with the focus on the housing crisis and social movements. The aim is to make an essay film for exhibitions and screenings at the Nieuwe Instituut and international architecture film festivals. The 18-month project consists of research, pre-production, production and presentation phases and includes archival research, fieldwork, interviews, outline creation, storyboard development, video editing, sound editing, translation, voice-over, subtitling and promotion via film and trailer. The essay film presents a complex research narrative in an accessible way, using archival material, interviews and filmed material from housing projects and current housing-crisis events such as anti-gentrification campaigns and eviction procedures, among others.

Power to the People; de Baaibuurt Amsterdam – Raumplan
Raumplan is utilizing their expertise in design and cooperative building development to develop an alternative urban-design strategy for the Baaibuurt neighbourhood in Amsterdam, together with the Baaibuurt Collectief, and professional and academic parties. Raumplan is making an inventory of the stakeholders (and their wishes), the qualities of the place as a frayed edge, the current use of the neighbourhood, an overall programme of requirements for the development, and ensuring the involvement of professional and academic parties who can assist Raumplan in the process. The aim is to achieve an elaborated process and project planning.

Click here for all the projects selected in Architecture in 2024.

numbers

Of the 64 subsidy applications taken into consideration, 24 are receiving grants. This brings the percentage of applications receiving grants to 37.5%. The budget available for this round was € 483,000. The available budget in this round was not sufficient to award a grant to all 41 positively assessed applications.