[IMC-Editorial] Adriaan Geuze, the Curator of II. Rotterdam Architecture Biennale, Met with Architects in Istanbul

[Arkitera Architecture Center]

Adriaan Geuze, the Curator of II. Rotterdam Architecture Biennale, Met with Architects in Istanbul

“Contemporary Dutch Architecture” conference series, organized by Arkitera Architecture Center in sponsorship of Philips and Vitra-Artema and with the contribution of Consulate of the Netherlands, have started off on Monday evening, on  March 22 2004 at ITU Maçka Campus with Adriaan Geuze’s – one of the founders of West 8 and the curator of II. International Rotterdam Architecture Biennale.
The conference, starting with the opening speech of Ozkan Sengil, the head manager of Philips Lighting, has gained great attention from the architects and architecture students.

Adriaan Geuze, one of the best-known landscape architects in the world, has stated in his speech, which he started by saying that he had admired Istanbul, that he has an agricultural engineering education instead of architecture. He explained that the content of his speech was going to be based on the Netherlands first, then their urban design projects and finally the fantastic projects they have developed. 

He explained particularly for architecture students, that the story of tulip coming to the Netherlands was actually based on the Ottoman and that they have interpreted it in a new way. Starting with this subject, the architect mentioned the general idea of transition from one culture to another and its interpretetion with different thinking methods. He stated that as an association, they are very sensitive about space and that they handle the unique local qualities of the country they work on as an important data in their projects.

The architect, mentioned the fact that the special relationship between his country and the sea as a result of its geographical character, has a great value for himself, using this expression: “The country I was born in is below the sea level, so it doesn’t have a nature like in England or in France. You make the nature here and it is there, my country is the most beautiul piece of earth born from the sea.” The country, totally re-designed after the II.World War, with the population explosion afterwards has become the 3rd country with the highest density of population following Bangladesh and Japan. Geuze stated that he is not pleased with it and that the Netherlands shouldn’t be regarded as an example on this subject. 

Geuze, continued his speech with a project done in a  4-week-workshop, in order to show the Dutch people how beautiful the horizon is. He told the audience that this project where they have built huge models of Dutch cows and lined them on the sides of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Den Haag Highways to show the horizon in between their legs, was done with an analogical approach to the historic portrait of their own culture. 

The architect started the presentation of their urban development projects with the masterplan of Borneo & Sporenburg Peninsulas. He explained how they re-edited the corruption, caused by the great density of population, to enliven up the harbour. Because the row houses, constantly increasing in early 90’s are not quite efficient about the relationship with daylight, it was one of the main concerns and was taken as an initial point. The architect said that their own culture and the paintings showing interior spaces receiving light coming from an opening had been actually an important reference while working on the project. He told that they had been interested in the problematic of how to develope a landscape consisting of low-rise buildings with the concept of windows, row-houses and apartments. The building process of the residential groups where 200 thousand families live, had lasted 6 years. Geuze highlighted the most important feature of the project: the light coming do!
wn to the courtyards in between the buildings just like in the paintings. A different architect had worked in every little street and they were asked to design the inner courts, giving opportunity to every individuality. Since there had been no limitations, designs with different styles had been performed and a kind of multiplicity was gained. He stated that these points, where public space meets individual space, provide a panorama facing both the sea and their garden, and are used as lively spaces especially on weekends. 

Geuze stated that in order to break the individual rhythms in designed landscape, 3 great blocks had been built, containing studios and just like other buildings, West 8 group hadn’t interfered with these ones too. And finally, the urban spaces, with the street lighting units and bridges in particular have an interesting sculptural effect on the area and the expected enlivening is provided and supported even with fashion and advertisement recordings in the area.

Another project Geuze talked about was Rotterdam Schouwburgplein, a square which the employer had asked them to design during the re-building of the city for 40 years after it had been bombed in II.World War. Saying that they have created a space, driving people towards an interactive life relating with the harbour -highly loved by the Dutch- and used metals, wood and granite in order to create the lightning effect at night. This effect was triggered by the cinema, built by the municipality, while the 
25-30 metres high lighting elements with their ability to move upwards and downwards, have a dominant place in the city’s silhuette.

Les Halles Residential Project in Paris, was another project in Geuze’s presentation. The architect declared that the shopping center, expanded to an area of 3 hectars and visited by 40 million people every year, had an unefficient garden and landscape architecture. As a group they had analyzed what they had been asked for and integrated a large atrium with a new layer instead of a public space above the shopping center. Destroying the gardens in the largest window ever built in Paris, they had developed a new illumination system with the light coming from downwards with the contribution of mechanics from London.

Another project presented in the conference was the ferry dock in the city of Tromsf in Norway, which is at master plan stage. Geuze explained that the region, where the
sun never appears in winter, is an area where ferries traveling 200 miles pull along and at the moment serves tourists. If they had brought a brand new, spanking clean effect to the area, the romantic feeling and mystical fabric would have disappeared.
Therefore they have designed the terminal structure here by dividing it into smaller buildings such as hotel, shopping malls, etc. in order to provide economical profits for the city. With the melting property of ice as a starting point; they have added a 35 meter high tower of concrete and planned that the water gushing out from the tower would freeze into a sculpture in winter and in summer it would come down, melting as a reflection of the changing weather.

The first example to the architect’s fantastic projects was a design in Korea, in order to enliven an abondened town. They have designed a botanical garden nourished by monsoon rain and keeping the structure of the present bridge, placed huge concrete pots with plants over it.

The last project was the urban furniture designs along the parkway in the entrance to the city of Los Angeles. Geuze explained that they could not touch the heritage of Route 66 on Ohio Parkway, which symbolizes the American landscape. Overlapping with the luxurious life standards of people living in Los Angeles; the project contains palm trees, so resistant that they can even grow in concrete, lined up along both sides of the parkway with concrete pots underneath, have brought up a new approach to the entrance of the city.

The conference ended with a digital animation where Adriaan Geuze’s projects had been viewed.

“Contemporary Dutch Architecture” conference series will now continue with the participation of Willem Jan Neutelings from Neutelings & Riedijk Architects on April 6 2004, Francine Houben from Mecanoo on April 13 2004 and Ben van Berkel from Un Studio on April 27 2004. The ones to participate to all four meetings of the series will be sent a free book by Arkitera Architecture Center, containing the deciphered versions of the conferences, intreviews with the participating architects and their projects.


Willem Jan Neutelings Conference
Date: April 6 2004 Tuesday, Time: 19.00-2100
Place: Harbiye Culture Complex Auditorium

Francine M.J. Houben Conference
Date: April 13 2004 Tuesday, Time: 19.00-21.00
Place: Harbiye Culture Complex Auditorium

Ben van Berkel Conference
Date: April 27 2004 Tuesday, Time: 19.00-21.00
Place: Harbiye Culture Complex Auditorium


For free registeration to the conferences, please visit  www.arkimeet.com

Press Room for ARKIMEET: http://www.arkimeet.com/pressrelease.php

 
For more information, please contact: 

Pinar Gokbayrak
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