MVRDV

Pig City and other installations

Will high-rises for pigs be able to prevent foot and mouth disease? The architect's office of MVRDV wants to house pigs efficiently in stacked accomodations, in such a manner that not only will the animals be better off, but the quality of the meat will improve, transport of livestock will not be necessary anymore, all diseases will be eradicated and The Netherlands will have more room to breathe. MVRDV's film ‘Pig City' had its premiere at Stroom in The Hague on Friday March 30, 2001.

Pig City was the next step in MVRDV's research into how, in the future, a small country like The Netherlands will be able to tackle the problem of space in the light of the continuing rise in population.

Stroom also screened a videofilm by Hans Werlemann dedicated to the Dutch Pavilion at EXPO 2000 in Hannover, a successful study by MVRDV into the stacking of landscapes. Can trees survive on a height of 18 meters above ground? Which techniques will have to be developed in order to make vertical nature a reality?

Additionally, MVRDV presented the extended version of MetaCity/DataTown, their study of the dense city of the future. In Stroom's exhibition space visitors were able to enter a rectangular tent in which a lively show was presented. Huge garbage dumps, stacks of livestock and a seemingly endless number of people passed by before our eyes. DataTown was first presented in Stroom in 1998. Since then the production has travelled to a large number of big cities all over the world.The number of visualized data increased so dramatically that the time was ripe to present the fully updated and extended version in Stroom.

As an extra element in the exhibition in Stroom, MVRDV presented their new installation KM3 / 3D City. A dozen models measuring 1 by 1 by 1 meters, create an idea of the three-dimensional city of the future, a city which extends both above and beneath its inhabitants. This 3D City with its limited space will combine typically urban issues with things like agriculture, horticulture, livestock, forestry, industry and recreation. 3D City is a study project by the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam under the supervision of Winy Maas, Wiel Arets and Herman Kerkdijk.

Panel Discussion
At May 9, 2001 Stroom organised ‘Morals', a panel discussion about the morals of factory pig farming (led by Winy Maas and Ronald van Tienhoven).

31 Mar '01 - 30 Jun '01
Spui 193-195, The Hague