Two of our projects are listed: De Verdieping, a temporary cultural project space in an abandoned printing plant which we started in 2009, and Tussen-ruimte (Remnant Spaces), an ongoing investigation with architect Jarrik Ouburg of the underutilized spaces (alleys, fire escapes, roof tops) in Amsterdam’s historic (and UNESCO protected) inner city that we want to re-activate with artistic and other interventions during Amsterdam’s year long celebration of the 400th anniversary of its canal area in 2013.

Thursday June 30 De Verdieping will host two events on the Future City. One of them is the Cognitive City Salon (CSS). In the CCS the synthesis between architecture, urban environments and network technology (smart-phones, AR technology, data-visualization and ubiquitous computing) is presented. How will (online) media and network technology change the way we understand, build, and inhabit our cities? You’re welcome to join the conversation.

The evening will be moderated by Juha van ‘t Zelfde, host of De Verdieping‘s lecture series Visible Cities and co-founder of Non-fiction, Office for Cultural Innovation.

Guests
James Burke – interaction designer, user experience architect and co-founder of VURB
Katalin Galayas – Policy Advisor to the City of Amsterdam
Kars Alfrink – ‘Chief Agent’ of Hubbub
Edwin Gardner – VOLUME Magazine

The four of them will present their thoughts on urbanity, technology and how we live in the middle of this all. But the Salons are not intended to give the stage to just the speakers. While sometimes it is important to only receive curated information, we are very much hoping for a lively debate at the event. Be challenged by the speakers, but also do your best to challenge them.

A special call for participation for the next IoT workshop by Volume and VURB will be delivered by Vincent Schippers, Alexander Zeh and Caro van Dijk. The workshop is for architects, planners, coders and others interested in prototyping applications for a more writeable city.

Info
Date: 30th of June
Location: De Verdieping, Club Area (http://verdieping.org/)
Address: Wibautstraat 127, Amsterdam
Begin: 19:00 (start at 19:30)
End: 22:30
Entrance fee: 10 Euros

Please visit the Cognitive Cities website for more information

Partners
VURB
Visible Cities
Volume Magazine
De Verdieping

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).

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

(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)

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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.

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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).

On the 3rd of May Network of Younger Planners from Denmark (NYP) visited Non-fiction in Trouw to get to know all the mysteries behind our practice. This group, which consists of professionals working in the field but also of master students, visited Trouw as a part of their inspiration trip to Holland. We dare to say that after one and half hour long talk they were leaving the place enriched by some deep thoughts, light jokes and an experience of two minute silence commemorating the death of those who died during the WWII. We were leaving the place thinking about new possible perspectives on what we do and a nice book on Danish urban planning which we get as a present. Let´s just sum up the most striking moments of the event.

After introducing De Verdieping, its history and uncertain future, there were several interesting questions from the audience dealing mainly with the practical issues like the rent, legal issues, promotion of the events and target audience. After one of the young urban planners asked how De Verdieping practically manages to involve with the local community Juha delivered a memorable quote “It is not a strategy, it is all about the approach” while stressing the importance of being  genuinely interested in local inhabitants and the neighbourhood.

Brief presentation of some of the projects Non-fiction has been involved in end up with 2 minutes of silence held on the occasion of the Remembrance Day.

We are looking forward to meeting more such interesting people who can bring refreshing ideas and questions.

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“Ambiguously schizophrenic…”

Ten MFA graphic design students from Otis College of Art and Design based in Los Angeles, are currently participating in a three week mentorship program in Amsterdam, graciously created and facilitated by the designers of COMA Amsterdam/New York. During their intensive three week graphic design and arts tour of Amsterdam and environs they have been meeting artists, designers and all between and beyond these “professions”.

On Friday 18 March they all dropped by at our office and we were more than delighted by their presence. After a presentation, which can best be described as “Non-fiction in a Nutshell”. It consisted of more than 100 000 slides that aimed to present all the activities, missions and approaches of the office. Next we suggested to our guests to go on a field trip to the Temporary Stedelijk 2 and we did. After that we continued introducing the creative environment within which our office is located and we visited the studio of the artist Amie Dicke which can be found just across the hallway.

All those cultural trips had its specific purpose. The students, inspired by Mondrian, Flavin and Dicke, were asked by us to come up with a proposal for our new “corporate” identity which could have ranged from a logo, slogan to even renaming ourselves. We were surprised by the scope and depth of the ideas which were presented to us. Some of the proposals were flattering and made us blushing (“You are funny, cool and serious at the same time.”), some made us think about fundamental things like the name of the office (“How does the name relate to what you do?”) but all of them inspired us and helped us to trace our raison d’être (“You are ambiguously schizophrenic and you are OK with it”).

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Otis College of Art and Design @ De Verdieping on March 28, 8 PM

Finally, we offered to host an evening at De Verdieping on Tuesday 28 March, presenting the students eclectic body of work, as well as selected YouTube videos showcasing Los Angeles. The students are from various disciplines, ranging from photography, theater, engineering and fine arts.

Participating students are: Carlos Avila, Cindy Lee, Gilbert Garcia, Joy Scopa, Marina Murad, Monica Maccaux, Nicolas Sanchez, Ramon Tejada, Sam Anvari, Tom Ahn

Please come and join us for a casual evening of show and tell, chat and mingle. Check Facebook to learn more.

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Photos by Otis students

Posted by Adéla Foldynová on March 28, 2011

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We are happy to present the Dutch premiere of the sonic art installation Sound Shuttle, a collaboration between Max Hirsh and Michael Schiefel, in De Verdieping on Wednesday 23 March from 17:00 to 22:00. This work takes a playful approach to the acoustic dimensions of life on the go. Reconfiguring the noises produced for and by people in transit, the exhibition highlights the influential role that acoustics play in shaping our experience of the everyday urban environment. Traveling and commuting is the essential daily experience shared by many, from the MTR in Hong Kong, the Sherut, ‘shared taxi’ in Tel Aviv, Israel to the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France. Around the world, transit spaces enable our movement across cities, countries and continents.

Sound Shuttle is an intersection of sound art with urban studies. The project has been ongoing for 4 years and was shown in Berlin, Hong Kong and Tel Aviv previously. The sounds are field recorded of commuting networks in various cities such as Berlin, New York, Tel Aviv, Ho Chi Minh City and Beijing with a special made electronic device designed by Max.

Max Hirsh
Originally from Berlin, Max is an urban and architecture theorist and is currently a PhD Candidate in Architecture at Harvard University. His dissertation – Airport Urbanism: The Urban Infrastructure of Global Mobility investigates the expansion of international air traffic and its implications for architecture and urban design in Amsterdam and Hong Kong. Max has been a visiting faculty member, guest lecturer, and design critic at Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and South China University of Technology. His writing were published in Log, History & Technology, The Next American City, and Informationen zur modernen Stadtgeschichte.
http://facebook.com/soundshuttle

Michael Schiefel
Michael is a Berlin-based experimental/electronic jazz vocalist and Professor of Vocal Jazz at the Franz Liszt Conservatory in Weimar. Michael has recorded 15 albums over the past decade. His solo performances feature multilayered vocal loops that vary between grooves, soundscapes, and lyrics. Michael’s latest album, My Home is My Tent, was released in Fall 2010. Michael has been a visiting scholar at Harvard; and has given concerts and master classes in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
http://michaelschiefel.com
http://myspace.com/michaelschiefel

On the same night we will have the Rijksakademie Beamclub with Allard van Hoorn and Sarah van Sonsbeeck. More information at De Verdieping website. Join this event on Facebook.

Visible Cities, our regular night on the networked city in De Verdieping in Amsterdam, returns on Wednesday 9 March with a presentation of Sukey. It is a set of applications designed to keep people protected and informed during protests. Sukey brings together in-house code, resources like Google Maps and open-source software like SwiftRiver.

With the recent uprising in the Middle East and North-Africa, and student protests in the UK, mobile technologies have become the de facto standard for sharing information, distributing eye-witness reports, and organising collaborative strategies in real space and time. For this edition we are still looking for an extra speaker with knowledge of how crowds behave during protests and public gatherings. Please get in touch with via e-mail if you know or are such person, and would be able to join us on this evening.

Visible Cities has been taking place in De Verdieping since 2009. Its aim is to make visible the myriad of design research and deep thinking that is taking place in the Netherlands and beyond in the field of urban informatics. Topics are civic information systems, collaborative redevelopment, urban systems literacy and responsive environments. Previous speakers were a.o. Ben Cerveny (VURB, Bloom), Euro Beinat (Current City) and Ole Bouman (NAi). De Verdieping is a temporary site for urban and cultural innovation. It is housed in a former printing press.

Join this event on Facebook.

After the #00 edition in December 2009, with Micropolis developer Don Hopkins, Visible Cities #01 will present Euro Beinat of the Currentcity Foundation, and Ronald Lenz of the Waag Society.

Beinat is Professor of Location Awareness at Salzburg University in Austria, and Chairman of the Currentcity Foundation. He will explore the dynamics of the city through mobile devices. Beinat works with a.o. Carlo Ratti of Senseable City Lab of MIT, and Aaron Koblin of Google Creative Lab.

Ronald Lenz heads the research department on locative media at Waag Society and is creative director at 7scenes, a startup developing a mobile and online platform that enables people to create, play and share GPS-based games, tours and stories. Lenz will talk about his myriad of projects he is currently involved with.

Visible Cities is organised by De Verdieping in collaboration with VURB. The mission of VURB is to investigate the consequences of the convergence of ubiquitous computing onto public, urban spaces. We are now entering an era where technology begins to weave together the desires of citizens and the services available to them in their environment in realtime. But what does the use of these new systems look like? Visible Cities tries to find the answers.

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Wednesday | 03 February 2010 | De Verdieping @ TrouwAmsterdam | Wibautstraat 127 | Start 20:00 | Language is English | Entrance is free | Facebook

De Verdieping is the cultural project space underneath club and restaurant TrouwAmsterdam. Visible Cities is made possible by the Amsterdamse Fonds voor de Kunsten and VURB.

Visible Cities #02 is on 3 March. Our guests will be Ole Bouman (NAi) and Maurice Groenhart of Layar.

For its January issue, the Amsterdam branch of the international city chronicle Time Out invited five of the city’s prominent design-minded companies – architectural firm Benthem Crouwel, advertising agency KesselsKramer, arts and leisure consulting firm LAgroup, interior and architectural design company Concrete, and Non-fiction – to present their images of the city of the future: Amsterdam in 2020 (here’s ours).

To broaden the discussion and promote lively debate on the future of the city, Time Out Amsterdam and Non-fiction will be co-hosting a live panel discussion with the participants in the project on Thursday, 28 January. At this “2020 Vision Forum”, designers from each project will talk about how they envision the city’s future, and then Time Out Amsterdam editor Nina Siegal will moderate a discussion between the participating groups and the public.

With contributions from 36 of our dearest friends and heroes, including Ben Cerveny, Nalden, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Saskia Sassen and Winy Maas, our co-created vison of Amsterdam in 2020 appeared in the new year’s edition of Time Out magazine Amsterdam. Read more about our ‘Twitteropolis’ and download it here.

We hope to see you tomorrow in De Verdieping.

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TIME OUT AMSTERDAM 2020 VISION FORUM

WHEN: Thursday 28 January. Doors open at 19.30. Programme starts at 20.15
WHERE: De Verdieping at Trouw Amsterdam, Wibautstraat 131 (463 7788/trouwamsterdam.nl)
ENTRY: €5 payable at the door. Email us to reserve a spot rsvp@timeoutamsterdam.nl, or just show up (and join on Facebook)

Initiated by communication agency Vandejong and its idiosyncratic founder and namesake Pjotr de Jong, Trustville encompasses a series of themed expert meetings focusing on new and innovative ways to overcome the credibility crisis that paralyzes our economic and political system.

Non-fiction was asked to join the editorial board of this interdisciplinary research project and the forthcoming book, which will be published by Valiz later this year. Surrounded by professionals from totally different backgrounds, including an advisor to the World Bank and a young labor union leader, we found ourselves rather optimistic about the current state of affairs and future perspectives.

OK, we don’t wanna downplay the impact of wrongdoers like “Bernie“, the Bushes and Kanye, but luckily we meet more and more trustworthy people and organizations everyday. Like the man who runs Amsterdam and the lady we recently heared talking about the ‘Just City‘, or the museum that opened on time and within budget and the bank who helped us setting up De Verdieping.

Being an office for collaborative actions, co-created visions and crowdsourced sollutions, we feel the obligation to provide sufficient counterweight to the skepticism that dominates the news headlines and the hearts and minds op people nowadays.

Gated communities, fenced off companies and Firewalls.. You don’t want to go down that road, because you might end up in Lars von Trier‘s hellish Dogville. Or even worse, the city of Trussville, Alabama or better know as ‘The Gateway to Happy Living‘. What a difference one letter can make..

Instead of a small dead-end town we prefer a place where people still communicate and connect with one another, whether it’s Amsterdam, Twitteropolis, Wikicity, Farmville or our own interpretation of Niketown. So we don’t have to travel very far to reach Trustville. We just have to help other people opening up their eyes, and it’s right there in front of us.

We’ll keep you updated on our journey into the known..

Still taken from Dogville (2003), directed by Lars von Trier