Stroom School: United We Live

Wednesday 5 June 2013, 16:00-18:00 hrs and 19:30-21:30 hrs (in the intermission free dinner)
Location: Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
Admission free (incl. dinner)
RSVP required: info@stroom.nl
or use form at bottom of this page

Part of United We

'We are in the Netherlands still building for the future with a sociatal image of yesterday. We are busy with ‘Lijnbaantjes' that make no sense any more, separate shopping malls, separate schools, separate theaters, separate universities; we are drawing conclusions from the past, multiply it a little bit and make predictions about the future. But the trees do not grow into the sky. What we need is a different way of thinking.'
- Frank van Klingeren quoted in Innovative Dutch Architecture, Living, 1, 1970, p.10.

The ideas of architect Frank van Klingeren (1919-1999) would not be out of place in our times. His pleas for encounters, communication and community, but also for doing more with less, flexibility and self-efficacy, echo the call of many in this time. But there is a difference. Where Van Klingeren pleaded for community formation against the backdrop of the call for participation in the sixties and seventies, the current argument for self-efficacy is motivated by the failure of large structures and an emptying treasury.

Can Van Klingeren inspire a renewed faith in a common life? And in which way can his buildings contribute to this? These two questions are the focus of United We Live.

With three architects who are or have been involved with the redevelopment of one of Van Klingeren's buildings, we talk about their choices in that process. The architects are Hans van Beek (Atelier Pro) who rebuilt De Meerpaal, Leon Thier (Studio Leon Thier) who made a proposal to redesign the youth hostel Ockenburgh, and Frans Benjamins (architecten|en|en) who is working on ‘t Karregat.

Piet Vollaard and Marina van den Bergen will briefly introduce the three buildings and comment on the new designs. Artist Wendelien van Oldenborgh is working on a film about Van Klingeren and Lina Bo Bardi and shares with us her vision on ‘t Karregat.