Ance Auditorium Roma

In the ANCE auditorium in Rome, Dutch & Italian architects, representatives of the construction industry and technology scholars gathered to discuss the future of building in relation to how the two counties could learn from each other’s history.

Talks were given by Piero Torretta of ANCE, the Dutch Ambassador Alphonsus Stoelinga, Livio Sacchi of the Directive Council IN/ARCH, Fabrizio Gallanti of ‘Abitare’ Magazine (who acted as the moderator for the conference), Francine Houben of ‘Mecanoo’ Architects from the Netherlands, Dietmar Werner of the Dutch construction consultancy firm ‘Volker Wessels Vastgoed’, Peter Fraanje of Bouwend Nederland (a Dutch trade association for companies in the building & infrastucture sectors), Andrea Rinaldi of the Italian Universita di Ferrara in the region of ‘Emilia Romagna’, Alex van de Beld of ‘Onix’ Architects from the Netherlands, Arjan van Timmeren of TU Delft in the Netherlands, Cino Zucchi of ‘Cino Zucchi’ Architects based in Milan in Italy and a former member of ‘Super Studio’ Adolfo Natalini of ‘Natalini’ Architects in Florence in Italy.

Piero Torretta opened the conference with a few words with regards to how difficult it seems for architects and builders to leave a distinctive mark on our cities, and how we could do well to look to our past – particularly here in Rome – to forge our future. Ambassador Alphonsus Stoelinga then made a welcome address, commenting on the differences between the two countries such as how buildings in the Netherlands try to let as much sunlight in whereas those in Italy normally make efforts to keep the sunlight out and how flooding was dealt with by the Dutch with their floating building tradition, whilst Venice’s flexible users wore Wellington boots. Livio Sacchi also made a welcome address, emphasising how much Italy can learn from the Netherlands modernity. Fabrizio Gallanti followed this with an introduction to the conference asking if we can achieve a consensus with regards to the meaning of sustainability? Suggesting that experts must reach common ground so that public players can work in the same direction.

The opening speech was made by Francine Houben, who presented ten recent projects starting and ending with two libraries, one in Delft and the other in Birmingham in the UK. Sustainable mechanisms for all these buildings were presented but it was thoughts on how cities no longer need icons that stood out, especially in light of the shown iconographic projects – though of course Mecanno have made many more contextual works too. The next speech was given by Dietmar Werner who stated that If you really want to change CO2 omission then you should start with the old buildings, after all there are so many more of them.

Fabrizio Gallanti initiated the round table discussion by repeating the question: ‘what is the definition of sustainability?’ Peter Fraanje was the first to reply stating that sustainability is here in Rome and that we should learn from that and look on one century later. Andrea Rinaldi spoke next advocating simple technology that lasts and emphasising how energy is the king of the sustainable issues. Piero Torretta spoke of Italy’s complicated regional & local level laws, which often contradict and also underlined the political nature of energy and well being. Alex van de Beld, who promotes timber grown architecture as his chosen sustainable way forward and asks if the Netherlands should not therefore be returned to its former woodland state, felt that it was not useful to try and get to one definition for sustainability, indicating that there may well be thousands. Whereas Arjan van Timmeren thought that a definition was useful and reminded us that the UN has one ~ though he simultaneously felt that it was not really possible to make one common definition that everyone could agree on. He also pointed out that it would be the resource of water that would rise over energy and become the top priority to consider in the end. Cino Zucchi then asked the rhetorical question of whether an old village was not in fact more sustainable than contemporary place making. He visually compared modern city growth, seen from a satellite, to that of a melanoma and suggested that though we create and implement great means of control over our cities, we still seem to lose control like in ‘Jurassic Park’. He also compared Europe itself to a city whereby we can travel so easily for recreation – the Alps therefore being a kind of super sized Central Park.

Adolfo Natalini gave the closing address, reinforcing some of the key themes of the debate, for example, he suggested that much modern architecture was effectively criminal, with vanguard architecture being like going to church in your underwear. He therefore suggested that the vernacular was far more sustainable, particularly in relation to the historical city and further upped this statement by suggesting that environmentalism was effectively invented to distract people from the real problem, which was actually the rapidly decreasing quality of architecture and urbanism. This then being the root of our failure to live sustainably, as does not our armature for the way we live not only reflect but also direct simultaneously the way we actually live? In relation to time he suggested that modern architecture is an ‘oxymoron’, embodying our desire for what is new as if only this has value. Finally, he concreted his line of reasoning by suggesting that ‘novelty is but oblivion’, for is it not reasonable architecture, allowed to slowly take shape over time, that is simple, solid & robust that can become beautiful and which thus makes life bearable, sustainable and so wonderful?

Fabrizio Gallanti subsequently closed the talk, describing it as excellent food for thought.

Report: The architectural climate in Holland and Italy on construction and sustainability @Rome, Italy

On 3 December 2009 the NAI organized a debate on Tour in the ANCE auditorium in Rome. Dutch & Italian architects, representatives of the construction industry and technology scholars, gathered to discuss the future of building in relation to how the two counties could learn from each other’s history.
> Read more...

Casablanca's design lessons @Casablanca, Morocco

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...

MODERN X - ARCHITECTURE AND THE INFORMAL CITY #2

Lecture/Debat/symposium 22 september 2011 20:00 | How has modernist architecture in Africa, often designed by European architects, been repurposed and reinterpreted by Africans? And how can the study of this lived modernism inform contemporary design practices in Africa and Europe? Johannesburg-based architect and researcher Hannah le Roux addressed these issues in the second evening in a series of debates about the informal city. Antoni Folkers introduced Le Roux and joined her in a discussion afterwards.
> Read more...

Debates on Tour

For several years the NAI has been working with partners abroad to organise debates on location under the title Debates on Tour. By raising topical, global themes in architecture and urban planning for discussion on the most diverse locations in the world, we hope to promote the exchange of knowledge on a global scale.
> Read more...

Where is Tehran? @Tehran, Iran

Lecture/Debat/symposium 17 february 2011 20:00 | What is the role of the masterplan in Tehran’s development? Is the tardiness in its implementation a failing or a blessing? Administrative incompetence or an act of resistance? Might support for it be increased by involving Tehran’s inhabitants in the restructuring of their city? The influential Iranian urban planner Farrokh Zonouzi and architectural historian Wouter Vanstiphout shedded light on this paradoxical metropolis.
> Read more...