John Körmeling once placed a big arrow in front of a museum in Germany pointing away from the entrance. The entrance tickets stated that exit was free for all. His message: what happens outside is much more interesting than what is inside. What could this provocative attitude mean for a conservative city like Cologne? > Read more...

Does wealth paralyse creativity? On Thursday 29 March, NAI director Ole Bouman gave a lecture during a seminar about Architecture and Social Responsibility in the National Museum for Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo. The seminar was organised alongside the travelling exhibition Architecture Of Consequence, which is currently on display at the same museum. A comment from the audience triggered a spontaneous event, culminating in the first of, what might very well become, a series of propositions for a more sustainable future. Read Ole’s personal report. > Read more...

Lecture/Debat/symposium | External location - | 05/04/12 19:00 - 22:00

Throughout the month of April, the MAKK (Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln) focuses on Dutch architecture, in the context of their 'Jahr der Architektur'. Under the title ‘Stadt-Design.NL’ the museum is displaying a number of Dutch projects in its lecture hall, starting on 5 April with a lecture by John Körmeling, on invitation of the NAI. > Read more...

What can investors and architects do to improve the liveability and competitiveness of cities in Romania? What kind of partnerships can they develop? And on which strategic sites should they focus? In collaboration with Zeppelin Magazine and the Dutch Initiative for Sustainable Cities (DISC), the NAI organised a Debate on Tour in Bucharest on 16 December 2011. > Read more...

Can the powerful planning instruments of spatial concepts and visioning, so successfully applied in the Randstad, be used in rapidly growing Mexico City? And how might they facilitate the incorporation of emerging spatial practices towards common ambitions? In collaboration with the Ibero-American University (UIA), the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and Delft University of Technology, the NAI organised a Debate on Tour in Mexico City on 17 November 2011. > Read more...

Casablanca is a showcase of the interplay between planned and unplanned urban development and construction and the varied architecture that results from this. What can architects learn from these developments? In collaboration with the African Perspectives Conference and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Morocco, the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) organised two Debates on Tour in Casablanca on 4 and 5 November 2011. > Read more...

Lecture/Debat/symposium | External location - | 15/09/11 18:00 - 20:00

How can architectural quality be safeguarded in the face of massive and frequently insensitive construction and demolition? Is architectural quality a public interest which should be protected by architectural experts? Or is this a form of paternalism, even censorship? In collaboration with Project Russia and the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) organised a Debate on Tour in Moscow on 15 September 2011. > Read more...

On September 29th 2011, the ambassador of the Netherlands in Italy, Alphonsus Stoelinga, opened the Debate on Tour in Turin. Since becoming twin cities in 1958, Turin and Rotterdam have experienced industrial glories, the dramas of de-industrialisation and post-industrial highlights. Both cities have been inspired by dreams of Olympic proportions. And now they are facing the same question: what does it mean to become sustainable? This debate compared the two cities on these themes. > Read more...

Once renowned for their strict government-controlled spatial planning, many former communist cities in the Western Balkans have been transformed by feverish and uncontrolled urban growth. How can new cultures of spatial planning be created in a region where not only residents but even architects and urban planners can feel excluded from spatial developments? In collaboration with POLIS University, Co-PLAN, EXPEDITIO and ASA, the NAI organised a Debate on Tour to Tirana, Podgorica and Sarajevo from 4 to 6 July 2011 to address these issues. > Read more...

How can architects and planners achieve ecologically sustainable buildings and neighbourhoods in a developing country that is undergoing urbanisation at an incredible rate? In collaboration with the Amman Institute, the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) organised a Debate on Tour in Amman on 21 June 2011. > Read more...