When AIR Rotterdam invited us (Sarah van der Giesen and Studio Anne Dessing) to create a traveling exhibition based on the results of a research project in Prins Alexander, we visited the neighborhood. We soon found ourselves at the well-known and enormous thrift store Opnieuw & Co, which is not only attractive to bargain hunters but also serves as an important meeting place and social workplace for the community.
The client had initially envisioned a small creative hub as the first location, but we convinced them to collaborate with the thrift store instead. The store provided space and supported the installation through employees from its social workshop.
We designed an exhibition object that made the photo series and drawings from the research project accessible to a wide audience. The design is based on modular cabinets, identical to those used in the store to display second-hand goods. After the exhibition, the cabinets will be donated to the thrift store.
Thank you @airrotterdam@sofievb and @opnieuwenco.nl
Het Bos Roept @hetbosroept invited me to design a special hiker’s cabin. Sturdier and more comfortable than a tent, yet easy to take down at the end of the camping season. That led to the idea of a tenthouse.
The cabin was fully booked the very day it was finished! Last weekend we tried it out ourselves, with Michiel @michielviersel capturing these wonderful photos.
Next week it will be carefully dismantled and stored away for the winter, but from April 2026 it will be ready to welcome new guests again.
At the start of the new semester, Eireen Schreurs @eireenschreurs and I launched the Back to School studio at the Chair of Urban Architecture @urbanarchitecture.bk at TU Delft.
This studio challenges students to reimagine an existing school building in Gouda. Working in small design collectives, they are invited to create a dialogue between past and present. Our exploration began with the study of reference schools that address key architectural and societal themes, providing inspiration and grounding for the work ahead.
The studio was developed in close collaboration with Wilma Kempinga, founder of the Mevrouw Meijer Foundation @mevrouw_meijer , a non-profit research agency dedicated to strengthening the Dutch culture of post-war school architecture. The foundation works with schools to explore new possibilities for their future, and Wilma Kempinga contributed to our studio with a lecture showcasing several successful school transformations.
We kicked off with a visit to Jenaplan School ’t Landje in Rotterdam, where architect Rien Korteknie of KSA Architecten @kortekniestuhlmacher guided us through the building and shared insights in a lecture.
We are looking forward to the next steps of this journey together with our inspiring group of students.
Picture 6 by KSA Architecten
In just 10 days, it will be 24 years since I met the first love of my life. Jor and I were together for a decade, during which he grew into a photographer. In those years, he captured me and our life almost every day.
From this new, happy chapter in my life, I look back with gratitude for the way he documented those wonderful years.
What to do with monumental farmhouses that have lost their agricultural function?
All around the Netherlands, the countryside is confronted with a coalescence of crises. The municipality of Oldambt in the province of Groningen, in the most northeastern part of the country, on the Dutch-German border, which is affected very severely by this polycrisis. The region, once known as the ‘Granary of Europe’, is now an area struggling with the consequences of (man-made) earthquakes, drought, subsidence, salinization and poverty.
Numerous stately, monumental farmhouses remind us of the glory days of grain production. As silent witnesses, they still stand proudly in the vast, desolate landscape. However, the grain mountains are gone, and the capital once earned has evaporated. Today, many are in disrepair, and owners struggle with costly maintenance. There’s a need to rethink their purpose..
What to do with (agri)cultural heritage that has outlived its original purpose? This was the question posed to us by the Board of Government Advisors (CRa) and the national Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE) of the Netherlands. Together with ANA ROCHA architecture and Studio Anne Dessing, and in close collaboration with local authorities, farm owners and various experts, we developed a number of spatial and functional scenarios.
Starting from a real-life situation - a farm that is largely in ruins - we worked with the owners and others to create new imaginaries and pathways that allow for a more agile and low-cost approach, instead of the typical restoration project. This intense collaboration resulted in various new design tools, including a role play, a large-scale interactive model, and a guide, titled ‘Voorbij Monomentaliteit” (Beyond Monomentality).
The guide advocates for a shift in perspective regarding the historic Oldambtster farms. Instead of clinging to the idea of preserving these farms purely as monofunctional and monumental relics (what we call the burden of “monomentality”), it promotes adaptive reuse, functional diversity, and phased development rooted in social, ecological, and economic sustainability.
De gids is er!
De afgelopen maanden onderzochten we mogelijke toekomsten voor de monumentale Oldambster boerderijen en voormalige graanschuren in ‘t Oldambt te Groningen. Samen met Ana Rocha en Michiel van Iersel van Loom, en in nauw overleg met de betrokken eigenaren, de gemeente Oldambt en Cultureel Erfgoed, ontwikkelden we de gids “Voorbij Monomentaliteit.”
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The guide has arrived!
Over the past few months, we’ve been exploring possible futures for the monumental Oldambster farmhouses and former granaries in ‘t Oldambt, Groningen. In collaboration with Ana Rocha and Michiel van Iersel —and in close dialogue with the wonderful owners, the Municipality of Oldambt and Cultureel Erfgoed (Cultural Heritage)—we’ve developed the guide “Voorbij Monomentaliteit.” (Beyond Monumentality)
@ana_rocha_atelier@loom.ooo@college_van_rijksadviseurs@cultureelerfgoed
For the municipality, Michiel van Iersel, Iwan Baan and I made a guide for the future of Sittard, Geleen and Born (NL).
The project encourages an organic development of the area, instead of chasing a utopian dream. The images, drawings and texts were based on the existing situation. Instead of unrealistic photo collages, they show existing qualities that inhabitants recognise and can relate to. We made a series of photos, drawings (maps) and texts that demonstrate the potential of Sittard, Geleen and Born and how their potentials and qualities are connected.
In collaboration with Pantopicon, @pantopinik and graphic design by Lu @ludemarroni , project published in 2021
@michielviersel@iwanbaan
