Radical Locality; actual potential

8 June till 5 August 2013

Recently, Bureau Europa opened its doors for the first time in the Timmerfabriek with the opening of the threefold exhibition ‘Radical Locality; actual potential’ on Saturday 8 June 2013 (17h00 – 19h00). With this exhibition/manifestation Bureau Europa conducts from 8 June through 5 August research into the meaning of the local and the role of architecture in our globalizing world.

'Radical Locality; actual potential' consists of three parts:

Reactivate! Innovators of Dutch Architecture: Conceptual, Engaged and Pragmatic.

In the main exhibition room, Bureau Europa presents the group exhibitionReactivate!, a joint project with Indira van ’t Klooster, editor in chief of A10 new European architecture and author of the publication  ‘Reactivate! Innovators of Dutch Architecture’ (published by Trancity*Valiz).

At the beginning of the 21st century, the society has strongly changed in political, economic and cultural terms.  That requires a substantial re-evaluation in several fields, but certainly also a re-evaluation of the architect’s profession. Rooted in the Dutch tradition of redefining the task, in a lively debate and publication climate, and with a, marginalized but still present, architecture policy, optimizing and adjusting is in the genes. Young studios are socially engaged and have an open and flexible design attitude. The ambition to have influence on their environment and ‘do something!’ translates into pragmatic but deliberate acting, which redefines the borders of the discipline. They are confident and media-conscious and have relatively few structural expenses. Within this moral and financial framework they seek new pillars and the social support for their discipline and their position therein.

Now, the youngest generation of architects doesn’t speak of Schedule of Requirements, Final Design and technical drawings anymore, but today’s practice is characterized by  social engineering, performative urban planning & open plan process, new craft & technology, sustainability & ecology, re-upcycle of materials, alternative earnings models, creative commons and transition as a fact.  Each one an example of new collaboration structures, new instruments for financing constructions, product development for self-builders, connected energy, flow of materials and social innovation, whether or not in empty buildings or sites. The presented palette of design attitudes implies that a new landscape has developed; not an unambiguous sloping landscape, but a fragmented kaleidoscopic image.

The following offices contribute to Reactivate!:

AayuBavavla i.c.m. Studio Iris Schutten and Superuse StudiosBlok Kats van Veen ArchitectenBureau SLA i.s.m. Overtreders WBureau WijkwiskundeBureau ZWIRT i.c.m. Bureau M.E.S.T.By BaliDe Kort van SchaikDe Mannen van SchuimDELVA Landscape ArchitectsDoepel StrijkersDUS ArchitectsElastikExceptFABRICFact ArchitectsFLAT architectsFRANTZEN et al architecten, Jan Konings, LOLA landscape architectsMarc Koehler ArchitectsMaxim WinkelaarMONADNOCKMOPET architectenNEXT ArchitectsNLÉNon-fictionO+A strategies & architectureOlaf Gipser ArchitectsPlacemakersPOSADPowerhouse CompanyRAAAFSelfBB-collectiefSHIFT architecture urbanismSpace&matterSponge ArchitectSTAR strategies + architectureStealth.ultdStudio PapaverStudio Roosegaarde,Superuse StudiosXML Architecture Research UrbanismZECC ArchitectsZOFA architectenZUS [Zones Urbaines Sensibles]

Curator: Indira van ’t Klooster and Saskia van Stein
Exhibition Design: Maurer United Architects
Graphic Design: Our Polite Society
Layout: Meeusontwerpt
Communication: Margot Krijnen
Translations: Jason Coburn
Realization: INhout

Radical Locality: Canon of Maastricht

The second exhibition room will be set up by Tim Prins (Maastricht-LAB)He studies the diachronics of Maastricht urban planning and the driving forces behind a changing city. How historic developments, such as industrialization (and the migration of the production process) reflected on the built environment, the area development and the structure plans for Maastricht.  The Belvédère area is one of his case studies.  What were the plans for this area and looking to future: which values from the past offer a possible perspective for future developments? Bureau Europa also opens up to all stories related to the area. Storytellers are invited to entrust their stories to the camera at set times. All this material will be assembled and made into a documentary that will be featured in the fall at Bureau Europa.

Curator: Tim Prins
Exhibition Design: P en M architecten
Graphic Design: Noto
Translations: Jason Coburn
Realization: INhout

As the third element of Radical Locality, laboratory for investigation MONNIK has been invited to react to the text ‘Towards a Critical Regionalism, Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance’ by architecture critic Kenneth Frampton. Monnik introduces ‘The work room’, a response to Frampton’s essay on architecture in a globalizing world and investigates how we can rediscover our relation to the local through the lens of labour.  Meaning, shape and action have become separated. What happens when we bring these together again? Monnik’s research constitutes a longer programme trajectory at Bureau Europa, but for Radical Locality this translates in an essay about labour division and specialization, and creation of meaning.

Realization: MONNIK

The research process of ‘Radical Locality’ will open on Saturday 8 June 2013 (17 – 19 hours) and will run through 5 August 2013.

Reactivate! Innovators of Dutch Architecture; conceptual, engaged and pragmatic.

Radical Locality; actual potential