'When the peaks of our sky come together, my house will have a roof.' Paul Eluard.
The French filmakers Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine , famous for their documentary film ‘Houselife’ of Rem Koolhaas’ Bordeaux House in which housekeeper Guadalupe Acedo verbally guides a tour around the house, have produced a new, rather intimate portrait of Keisuke Oka, a butoh dancer. A Japanese man building his ‘house’, folly, shell in an adapted area of Tokyo; a ‘small universe built and thought in a rare freedom’, built over a period of 15 years.
In the Netherlands some 40.000 (registered) people are homeless; in all of Europe it is some 4 million. A recent initiative in the city of Ulm, Germany shows a ‘sleeping pod’ as a solution for shelter, complete with solar panels, electricity and a connection to a network. In the technical sense this is nothing new; see the wide variety of innovative projects devoted to elementary shelters over the decades. Of course: the need for protective measures in winter is urgent, the question that remains is whether this is a structural or temporal solution. After all, the ‘inhabitant’ still is excluded from society; while a more permanent place to dwell (as is a legal right) is far more necessary. Ultimately the focus should be on a real integrated ‘place’ within larger scales, i.e. as part of an environment that includes space for shelter, be it temporary or more permanent. So; reserve a certain amount of space within each housing project to function as ‘free space’ when needed, as part of the community.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/homeless-sleeping-pods-germany-ulm-b1791217.html
now online; my interview last week with RIVER Publishers’ Philippa Jefferies about my recently published book, also available via open-access at RIVER Publ. A brief talk about home, housing, technology and dwelling; to end with an actual part about the consequences for our housing caused by the current corona pandemic. It illustrates once more that the way we built our housing needs much more flexibility and adaptability.
After some delay at the publisher mainly caused by corona my book is finally ready and accessible for download; many sincere thanks to all artists (Antony Gormley, Carlijn Kingma, Marwan Rechmaoui and Rob Voerman), reviewers Marja Elsinga, Frans Vogelaar & Elizabeth Sikiaridi, Gerald Santucci, Ruud Hazes and Tijmen Wisman and various column-writers who contributed to this final result. I look forward to the discussions and further developments, aiming at a structural change when it comes to (re)thinking and building our housing in a networked environment. This website will, in the coming months, also be devoted to the further discussions following reading by as many researchers, artists and the professionals possible.
see: RIVER Publishers
Finally; the last proofs/samples for the book are agreed upon, set and done and the frontcover is ready. Again, many thanks to Antony Gormley for the use of one of his fine images, likewise to Carlijn KIngma, Marwan Rechmaoui and Rob Voerman. Publication is set for January 15th.; for digital version we try to become public sooner.
The Dutch organization for Interior Architects BNI has acknowledged the importance of the theme of the coming book and announced it on their website, together with some additional information. In the coming days we discuss the option of a presentation and/or interview; preferably preceding a discusion since the topic is of much relevance for every interior-architects, in particular those involved in housing.
AIOTI, the Association of Internet of Things Innovation has also added a link on their October-Newsletter to the publishers website; here again the topic is important given its link with the internet of things and parallel technologies within the built environment.
Illustratieve en informatieve online AIR-sessie rond ‘het Nieuwe Wonen’ , met presentaties/lezingen van eerst Robert Winkel (MEI Arch.) aangevuld door Atto Harstra, Piet Vollaard, Annuska Pronkhorst en Wenda Doff. Nadruk; circulair, duurzaam, gezond en flexibel bouwen; voorbeeld m.n. het komende SAWA-woongebouw in Rotterdam dat vrijwel volledig met hout wordt gebouwd.
For some two years now I have worked on a book about the triple theme of housing, technology and architecture; in particular focusing on the – sometimes complicated – issues caused by the fact that times are changing and our built environment, where it concerns housing, does not adapt. Housing is considered a traditional safe-haven, a protected private space in which we feel unseen. I believe this is no longer a realistic situation; we live – in Floridi’s words – in an infosphere, it is becoming complicated to withdraw from being connected, being part of an increasingly hybrid world. This book is written to discuss the problematic situation in which (Dutch) housing is for some 50 years.
The book will be published as an open-access book at RIVER Publishers early October 2020; for now the most interesting ‘Foreword‘ by Kas Oosterhuis is already accessible. I already would like to thank all who have contributed and/or participated in this book; I owe them for their comments and critical reviews. Also; many thanks to `Antony Gormley for his willingness to make one of his fine images available for the cover. Furthermore: thanks to Carlijn Kingma, Marwan Rechmaoui and Rob Voerman for their fine images elsewhere in the book.
After 2 years of research and writing my book is (almost) ready for publication and its envisioned broad discussion. Yet to come is a language check as well as some editorial work; so far many, many thanks to all who contributed, participated, reviewed and reacted; first of all to Antony Gormley for the use of one of his works on the cover. Most probably its contents will be discussed at the coming ‘Stadsmakers Congres’ on November 6th. 2020 on a variety of locations in Rotterdam, organized by AIR.
For more information, see the publishers website
One- and a half year after its initial start in early 2019 the first draft of my book on architecture, technology and dwelling is now under peer-review by two carefully chosen professionals; after various chapters have been read by others with a specific discipline it is now time for a full reading. So far: many thanks to the first readers for their comments, many thanks to those who agreed to the use of images. I hope to receive the results of the final reading back soon; after incorporating the comments the full text is edited by the publisher. More info soon…………