More information below (in Dutch)

Modernistische architectuur, speculatieve wolkenkrabbers, bloemkoolwijken; de kritiek op architectuur neemt toe. Steeds meer gebouwen en gebieden worden verwaarloosd, verlaten of zelfs afgebroken. Denk aan de Bijlmer of het Wibauthuis, maar bijvoorbeeld ook aan Sovjet-architectuur in Oost-Europa en traditionele huizen in China die in rap tempo verdwijnen. Wie is hier schuld aan? De architect, de gebruiker, de media, de politiek? Michiel van Iersel vliegt over de wereld en zoomt in op recente gevallen en oorzaken van ‘mislukte’ architectuur in binnen- en buitenland.

-

Michiel van Iersel is oprichter van Non-fiction en van De Verdieping in het Trouw-gebouw van waaruit hij het internationale onderzoeksproject Failed Architecture opzette Hij is tevens lid van Stad-Forum.

De lezing wordt 26 april a.s. gegeven tussen 12.00 en 13.00 uur in de Zuiderkerk. Gratis lunch!

Aanstaande zuiderkerklezingen in 2012 (onder voorbehoud): 24 mei, 12 juli, 13 september

In 2010 Amsterdam’s 17th-century canal ring was added to the World Heritage List by UNESCO. On April 3 the newly established Stad-Forum, an advisory body for the City of Amsterdam and mobile debate platform, will organize a public discussion focusing on the opportunities and threats that UNESCO might pose to the city.

Being a member of Stad-Forum, and having written about UNESCO on several occasions, Non-fiction’s Michiel van Iersel will be one of the speakers, together with the deputy mayor of both Brugge and Amsterdam, providing an international overview of the ways in which cities deal with UNESCO. Please find more information below (in Dutch).-

-

A new Friday, but the same old balcony to celebrate the week and the weekend on. Join us after 5 pm for special Non-fiction drinks: an intimate preview on A Perfect Day, an exhibition with drawings by David Shrigley, Gummbah, David Bade, Raymond Pettibon and many others, that will take place 9 – 24 February 2012 at the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam.

With talks by curators Olga Scholten and Paul Faassen, a short film programme, mini exhibition preview, drawing corner for children, live button creation, free goodie bags, plus sausages and Glühwein at the ice cold roof terrace at Museumplein – to make your day perfect.

—
Stay up to date with A Perfect Day via their website, Facebook and Twitter.

Foam, the Amsterdam based but omnipresent photography museum, is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. For this occasion, Foam has created ‘What’s Next?’, a project exploring the future of photography. Foam has posed the question of ‘what’s next?’ throughout this anniversary year to a variety of people in a variety of locations.

Last March Non-fiction’s Michiel van Iersel moderated a panel discussion on ‘the ideal art (photography) institution’, critically re-examining the pillars of present-day museums: the building, the collection, the curator and the role of artists and new communication tools. Friday December 2, he will join four curators for another discussion on the future of the photography. The evening is in Dutch, but an English abstract will probably appear soon on the ‘What’s Next?’ website.

Curators’ Talk: The Future of the Photography Museum

(In Dutch)

Locatie: Foam
Datum: vrijdag 2 december 2011
Aanvang: 20.00 uur (zaal open: 19.45 uur)
Kaarten: € 8,00. Foam Supporters betalen € 5,00.
Voertaal: Nederlands

Naar aanleiding van de tentoonstelling The Future of the Photography Museumbespreekt Marcel Feil (adjunct directeur artistieke zaken, Foam) met drie curatoren hun visie op het maken van tentoonstellingen en de positie van het fotografiemuseum:

Leontine Coelewij, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Frits Gierstberg, Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam
Xander Karskens, De Hallen Haarlem
Michiel van Iersel, oprichter van Non-fiction | Office for Cultural Innovation, vertaalt zijn gedachten in een ‘spoken column’.

Reserveren
Kaarten kosten € 8,00. Supporters van Foam (Foam Fan, Club Foam) betalen € 5,00. Vanwege het beperkte aantal plekken raden we u aan tijdig te reserveren via foam[at]foam.org.

Foam Café
Vooraf en na het programma is het Foam Café geopend. Indien u vooraf wil dineren graag reserveren via: info@foamcafe.nl.
Let wel: op deze dag is Foam gesloten om 17:30 uur.

The Future of the Photography Museum
5 november – 7 december 2011

Voor The Future of the Photography Museum heeft Foam vier gastcuratoren uit het internationale culturele veld uitgenodigd om elk vanuit hun eigen visie invulling te geven op de vraag What’s Next?. Het resultaat is een intrigerende tentoonstelling met vier uitgesproken, soms zelfs provocatieve presentaties.

The ubiquitous use of mobile devices to document and distribute our daily activities in a never-ending stream of updates, checkins, tweets and retweets is generating an ever-expanding biosphere of social information.

This advancing ecosystem is growing into an adaptive system of informational weather. Technologist Ben Hammersley calls it ‘social weather’: “I want to feel my friends like I feel the weather.”

The social weather is here, and more people want to know the forecast: should I book a room at the Lloyd? Facebook: ‘yes, but be aware of the crazy-bath room.’ Is the Bimhuis happening? Foursquare: ‘now trending in Amsterdam’. And how was the ‘Talk To Me’ opening at MoMA last night? ‘Awesome’, according to Instagram.

So where do we go now? Sonar says someone I follow on Twitter, who likes Alog on Facebook, is checked into the Stedelijk on Foursquare.

Today is a good day.

—
This article has been published in the Trend Book of the tenth Dutch Design Week Eindhoven.

There are many reasons why to throw a party on the 11th of November: the opening of carnival (in some parts of the Netherlands and Germany), Women’s Day (in Belgium), Single’s Day (in China) and, of course, all around the world many people commemorate the end of World War I.

From now on, Wikipedia needs a new entry to be done on the memorable 11/11/2011 Non-fiction officewarming party that can stand side by side with the moment when the Einstein refrigerator was awarded the patent number (11/11/1930) or the launch of NASA’s Gemini 12 (11/11/1966).

We would like to thank all of you who came to our officewarming/three year anniversary party last Friday. It was great to see all the familiar faces and to meet those which were until that very moment unfamiliar. While walking through the crowd we could hear conversations on topics ranging from fungus related issues, moon life, or solar energy panels, to projects of the CERN institute or Balkan Roma ghettos. It was indeed an inspiring evening and we are lucky to have you all around.

This post is not just a history lesson on the 11/11 significant events, praise of your intellect or boasting about our wonderful office with a breathtaking view. Most importantly it is a way how to encourage all of you to pop in more often. As you know the door of Non-fiction is open every Friday from six. And if it is closed, just use the newly installed buzzer. A blog post on the buzzer with an audio presentation of all its sixteen great melodies will appear soon. Not to be missed.

P.S. Sorry for any inconveniences with locked door in the pre-buzzer times

Almost exactly a year ago we started our search for two interns. And what result we had: one is now traveling the world as a successful producer of zeitgeist music, the other graduated cum laude from the University of Maastricht and is now an official Non-fictioner.

Today, we continue our search for a new intern.

We are Non-fiction, a start-up office for cultural innovation based in the heart of the cultural Mecca of the Netherlands, Museumplein in Amsterdam. We consist of 4,5 people: Michiel van Iersel (1978), a curators’ curator in the fields of architecture, heritage and Great Dictators; Juha van ‘t Zelfde (1979), a researcher and developer of urban technologies, social music distribution and Finnish (economic) models; Adéla Foldynová (1986), a cum laude arts-and-heritage-cultural-policy-education-management scholar, in-house information processor and hottest Czech prospect since Jaromir Jagr; Radna Rumping (1983), founder of Lijn5, former director of the Amsterdam Museum Night, and current independent adviser and curator in different fields of art, music and media, ; and Boris van Hoytema (1988), optimist, enthusiast and one-man social network (Boris currently divides his time between Non-fiction and VPRO Dorst).

Since 2008, we have been working for a growing number of public institutions, museums, design agencies, real estate developers, architects and artists, creating site-specific cultural programmes, first-person web strategies, and hands-on innovation solutions. With the goal to open up institutions and connect with as many people as possible. We currently work for the Stedelijk Museum, Picnic, Bimhuis, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Ives Ensemble, Stadsherstel, North Sea Jazz, Netherlands Institute of Cultural Heritage and A Perfect Day.

From December onwards, we would like an intern for a period of 3-6 months to help develop and realise our current projects. She or he will be part of the entire creative process of our projects, from concept to creation. This means that she or he will in fact be half initiator, half producer and half communicator. Along the way, things may be carried or transported (i.e. non-demanding physical labour), but also always shared and evangelised (i.e. super-rewarding realworld doing and making).

This person is – and we are pretty serious about this one – a natural born writer who enjoys writing extensive blog entries. A fascination for Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter are a plus, but not a necessary requirement – we have quite a bit of that already.

First, you are a writer.

Second, you are a writer.

And only last, you are a cultural entrepreneur.

We just need more writers to win this thing. And enthusiasts.

The position will be for three days a week, ideally from December to May (but this is negotiable). We prefer it if you are fluent in both Dutch and English, but if for some reason you might be more fluent in Finnish or Czech, and you are still qualified for the job, then consider our office as your sauna. All details and conditions will be discussed along the way, but we can provide a decent pay, a vibrant working environment in an office at Museumplein in the center of Amsterdam, and enough new art and music events to keep you off the street for a while.

Please send your letter of enthusiasm with your resume to info at non-fiction.nl. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask them. Deadline will be Monday 14 November 2011. Thank you very much in advance for your interest, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Cordially,

Juha van ‘t Zelfde, Michiel van Iersel and Adéla Foldynová

Michiel van Iersel, co-founder of Non-fiction, was asked (and happily agreed) to join the so-called Stad-Forum, which was recently established by the City of Amsterdam as an advisory board, think tank and platform for debate focusing on urban developments and planning issues within the Amsterdam metropolitan area.

The Stad-Forum consists of three key members and a circle of twelve additional members, each with a different background, ranging from entrepreneurs and property developers to scholars, curators and artists. Michiel will focus on such topics as urban regeneration and temporary use of vacant spaces, the role of new and mobile media in the way we perceive and shape our cities and heritage and innovation.

The key members are Karin Laglas (Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Delft University of Technology), Liesbeth Jansen (Advisor on Redevelopment, Cultural Heritage and Creative Economy) and Wouter Veldhuis (urban designer/architect & partner with MUST).

The aim of Stad-Forum is to identify the most pressing issues and developments that shape the future (appearance) of Amsterdam, facilitate a dialogue between the various stakeholders, and advise the City Council and college of Aldermen on future policy.

-

Stad-Forum is linked to The Department of Physical Planning (Dienst Ruimtelijke Ordening, or DRO), one of the City of Amsterdam’s centralized services that focuses on the organization and design of an attractive and spatially coherent city.

From September onwards Stad-Forum will actively address issues of contemporary urban life through public and interdisciplinary programs. Its goal is the exploration of new and innovative ideas, public engagement, and ultimately the creation of progressive solutions for life in Amsterdam.

The first public appearance of Stad-Forum will be at PICNIC Festival 2011.

Visit the website of Stad-Forum for more information (in Dutch only)

You can follow Stad-Forum on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

-

 Capital A will be omnipresent (image taken from brand concept Capital A © Vandejong, 29 juli 2011)

The first 3 Days of A takes place from 25–27 November 2011, at various locations throughout the city, all in walking distance. The the website (www.cap-a.nl)is currently being developed and will include an extensive (visual) arts agenda. Throughout the year this website is also the central meeting place for everyone with an interest in contemporary art.

3 Days of A takes place simultaneously with the Open Studios of artists at the Rijksakademie and De Ateliers, as an integral part of the weekend. Prominent Amsterdam galleries, art institutions and museums present themselves for an entire weekend with exhibitions, artist performances and lectures of well known artists and curators, all in an exciting and unconventional way.

Capital A is a joint initiative of the Rijksakademie, Gallery Fons Welters and Gallery Martin van Zomeren and three Dutch private collectors. Fons Hof, co-founder of the international contemporary art fair Art Rotterdam has been appointed director and creative communications agency Vandejong will develop the on- and offline campaign that will play with the letter ‘A’.

© Vandejong

Participants are a.o.: artists, De Rijksakademie, De Ateliers, Stedelijk Museum, Foam, Manifesta, De Appel, Smart Project Space, NIMK, Kunstverein, Salon/Magazijn, Galerie Fons Welters, Galerie Paul Andriesse, Diana Stigter, GRIMM Gallery, Slewe, Van Zoetendaal, Jeanine Hofland Contemporary Art, Ron Mandos, Gerhard Hofland, Vous Etes Ici, Van Krimpen, Juliette Jongma, Annet Gelink Gallery, Martin van Zomeren.

The central hub of this weekend is Tommy Hilfiger’s People’s Place at the Stadhouderskade. On show an exceedingly strong programme, with the highlights of Amsterdam art. The theme is: The Future of Art. Curators of this programme are the founders of Non-fiction Michiel van Iersel and Juha van ‘t Zelfde.

The complete program will be launched here in September 2011.

© Vandejong

(Zwarte Madonna. Photo taken from Presseurop)

FA #03: Amsterdam, The Hague, Belgrade, …

After the first edition with the American writer and urbanist Anthony M. Tung and the second edition with a panel of five speakers, who provided an international overview of cases of ‘failed architecture’, we are happy to have the following speakers as our guests during the upcoming (third) edition on Wednesday June 15th.

Arnold Reijndorp is an independent researcher at the cutting edge of urbanism/architecture and social and cultural developments in the urban field. He holds the Han Lammers Chair of Social-economic developments of new urban areas at the University of Amsterdam, and is associated with the International New Town Institute. With Maarten Hajer he published In Search of New Public Domain. Recent co-authored publications in Dutch are: Atlas of the Western Garden Cities of Amsterdam and Themed Communities: Living in a imaginated place. In his talk he will focus on the thin line between utopia and dystopia in new towns and themed communities.

Paul Groenendijk has been active as a writer specialized in (Dutch) architecture since 1984. He will talk about his encounters with a wide variety of ‘failed architecture’, focusing on his most recent book that describes the rise and fall of the Zwarte Madonna, or Black Madonna, arguably the most notorious social housing apartment block in the Netherlands. It was demolished in 2007 after years of fierce debate. The only people who protested against its demolition were a few of its inhabitants. At that point even the architect didn’t care anymore, saying: “I am glad it’s gone”.

Maja Popovic is an architect from Belgrade with an articulated interest in preservation of 20th century built heritage and the relationship between architecture, memory and storytelling. In her talk she will focus on Staro Sajmište. This was the site of Belgrade’s international fair before WWII. During the war, it was turned into a concetration camp by Germans. Today it’s mostly in ruins. The vast complex of buildings and smaller pavilions was supposed to kickstart the large scale development of New Belgrade in 1937, but during communist times the plans radically changed and Staro Sajmište became isolated and neglected. Although doomed to be forgotten it found a way to survive as a refuge for artists and outcasts. But how can you engage the public at large with this historically significant place, and how can it be rescued for generations to come?

The night is hosted by Michiel van Iersel with Tim Verlaan and Mark Minkjan.

Staro Sajmište during WWII (photo taken from Oldtajmeri)

________________________________________________________

Failed Architecture is a series of talkshows with presentations by various experts and public discussions that focus on buildings and urban environments that failed to stand the test of time and are neglected, abandoned or even vandalized or demolished, because of changing economic, social, political, cultural and/or physical circumstances.

Without a doubt the maxim ‘Failed Architecture’ raises questions. What and according to whom is architecture failed? Which criteria do we use when assessing architecture, e.g. the viewpoint of inhabitants and/or users, architects and/or planners? And how does the ‘Zeitgeist’ or ‘our’ contemporary taste and cultural differences influence our judgment of buildings and cities?

Follow Failed Architecture on Facebook and Twitter

Next Failed Architecture?
Failed Architecture will return after the summer. Check our website for updates.

—
De Verdieping is the cultural fringe programme and project space of TrouwAmsterdam and is kindly supported by the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK) and the Netherlands Architecture Fund (SfA).