ultrahip

The trip to London was truly inspiring, we visited the upcoming areas in Shoreditch such as the Spitalfield Market, Bricklane and Columbia Rd. The amount of young designers, types of global food, vintage, funny lasercut designs, vendors and shoppers was just incredible.

winter-wonder-London-world

Snow at Portobello Rd and Tom Dixons' Christmas design market, Ladbroke Dock

temporary use

NAI hosted a debate about temporary use, examples were presented by particpants of Atelier Tussentijd about Apeldoorn, CIBOGA in Groningen and Nu Hier from Rotterdam. The cases give different perspectives on temporary use however were all very idealistic.  

public art

De sculptures made by Tom Otterness (USA) on the seafront in Scheveningen are my favourites, how funny to come across similar figures in a subwaystation (14th Street–Eighth Avenue New York City Subway) called "Life underground", however this movie about the sculptures during the redevelopment on the seafront is excellent and funny!   (movie made by DPI)  http://www.youtube.com/user/gemeentedenhaag?feature=mhum#p/c/0A5E4A094EE2F6C6/65/0oozwwOwNDU

inspiration - my scrapbook

Other scrapbooks offer a lot of inspiration, however my own scrapbook (middle one) is getting thicker and thicker too..

all about snow

A view from the kitchen

interior renovation

Ondernemershuis Vaillantlaan opened almost a year ago, after it was renovated from an outdated office with small cabins into an open and transparant meeting and working place. Entrepreneurs can visit this place for information, coaching and courses.

Vaarwel SS Rotterdam

The Building brains congress took place in Rotterdam, on the SS Rotterdam, a cruiseship that recently has been renovated into a hotel, congress & leisure spaces. The first glimpse from the quay is beautiful especially covered in snow! The best part is the whole interior and the use of old photographs always works well, something we also did at the Caballero Fabriek.

happy birthday

This weekend we celebrated my thirtiest birthday, finally a (sushi) dinner to use all my collected bowls, plates & glasses!

I love tableware!

Marimekko has a new collection that is inspired by country life in an urban setting. The patterns and line drawings of Siirtolapuutarha (= a charming district of Helsinki interspersed with gardens where residents grow vegetables and flowers/ Community Garden) depict intricate vegetables and labyrinthine buildings. It is for sale in Den Haag by Tas-ka, have a look at their lovely (web)shop!

office bubble

Amsterdam has the highest rate of empty offices in Europe with 23%!

BNSP young proffesionals organises interesting events with young people involved in the urban development in the Netherlands. In november I attended a meeting about the "office planning bubble". The 3 speakers gave their view on this rising issue from a research, government and the market perspective. My main 3 lessons:

1. The value of the property is still to high to invest in transformation of the buildings, however this might soon changes if investors reassess their real estate. Some of my projects in The Hague show how a good transformation can look like such as the Caballero Fabriek, Labs55 and het Ondernemershuis! I would love to do more projects like this and also look at new functions as residential or retail.

2. Urban regions need to collaborate! Individual cities in the region should jointly consider their share of expected new office and not compete with each other on new office developments. NICIS: Publicatie 'Ruimte ruilen. Regionale samenwerking als oplossing voor de aanpak van leegstaande kantoren’ L. Jansen-Janssen

3. The labour force will not increase, it is wishful thinking that empty offices will become occupied in their original function.

FAST

F.A.S.T. (Free Architecture Surf Terrain) is a unique place along the seaside in The Hague. It has a hostel, camping, restaurant, bar, shops and art projects as well as a bunker-museum. http://www.fastscheveningen.com

residence de la mode

Fashion in The Hague; many young designers exhibit their outfits in empty shops and shopwindows of the large departmentstores with this yearly project. A newly opened fashion hotspot is called HOOP a "creative department store" on the Grote Marktstraat at least open till dec 31st, 2010.

pig05049

Source: Christien Meindertsma

I know this project for some years now but the publication is really stunning! The artist, Christien Meindertsma has spent three years researching all the products made from a single pig. Amongst some of the more unexpected results were: Ammunition, medicine, photo paper, heart valves, brakes, chewing gum, porcelain, cosmetics, cigarettes, conditioner and even bio diesel.

back on the beach

Back in the Netherlands; the beach in Scheveningen is 1 of my favourites....

foodscape

Food is trendy. Around the world many initiatives have started to increase the public awareness about the impact of food production and distribution on cities. In the Hague, the artist Debra Solomon (check her culiblog!) works with Stroom on a very interesting project in the densely populated and multicultural area of Schilderswijk. The project explores the potential for integrating urban agriculture (UA) into existing social and green infrastructure in this ward. (Illustrations by Jacques Abelman)

climate change proof

The "high tide heels" made by belgium artist Paul Schietekat caused a lot of fun at the Scupad meeting in The Hague. The shoes are displayed at Gallery Colours.

world urban campaign

The ISOCARP conference was an excellent moment to hear about new initiatives such as the World Urban Campaign including the 100 cities initiative . At the moment 11 cities are selected and they are recruiting more. Wouldn’t it be great to submit The Hague? Vienna, Chicago, Kabul and Alicante are within the first 11.

Bicycle diaries

A basket on the back of your bike is definitely also a trend in Africa.

streetlife

Nyama Choma means grilled meat in Kiswahili. Every village on the main road has at least 1 choma zone or Choma palace! Packed busses are a common sight but the most striking is the amazing amount of backs filled with charcoal and the impact of deforestation of large areas along every road we travelled.