Exhibition | NAI Rotterdam - Gallery 1 | 19/02/10-16/05/10

Disputed City ("Strijd om de Stad") is an exhibition about the outcry architecture can cause. About citizens who go ignored. Architects treated with contempt. Bull-headed project developers and conceited lord mayors. But the public get to have the last word. Starting in February in the NAi: the forty most hotly debated designs from the largest architecture collection in the world.

Who shapes the city? “I do”, claims the architect or urban planner. “We do”, claim principals, project developers, city councillors and civil servants. “We all do”, exclaims the committed citizen, “everyone gets to have their say."
Not just a human-being-filled anthill, the city is a wasps’ nest brimful of diverse users, (conflicting) interests, and contradictory visions of the future. Who is really in control of the city? The bold visionary architect or elected members of the local council? The project developer with his burgeoning bank account or the local residents with their ideas and input? The pressure group or shopkeepers’ association?

The NAi is building its own city in Gallery 2: City of the Netherlands. A city consisting of and shaped by many different designs and architects. And, as it should be, the public has a chance to get involved. Visitors can share their views on a number of designs that will be included in the city. Starting in February 2010, the NAi will set up forty controversial models. Forty designs that prompted an outcry. Because the public was asked for its input but went ignored. Because the architect went with ahead the commission, undermining the principal’s initial wishes. Because the various suggestions and ideas resulted in a compromised design that was a watered-down version of the original. Because a commissioning agency insisted on forcing through its own views.

The NAi is again opening these projects up to debate. Visitors will get a chance to choose which of the forty controversial designs merit a place in the City of the Netherlands, and which deserve to be scrapped. Of the forty models, only ten will be lucky enough to become part of the City of the Netherlands. The remaining thirty will make their way back to the depot.

The website ‘Treasures of the NAI’ brings together the finest items from the NAI collection. Walk through the history of Dutch architecture, using the timeline or map as your guide.
> To the 'Treasures of the NAI'