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Ondernemershuis Vaillantlaan opened almost a year ago, after it was renovated from an outdated office with small cabins into an open and transparant meeting and working place.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....