1-2pm, Cinema, Spring House
presents
The Villa, Heerlijkheid Hoogvliet, Rotterdam
‘not Arcadia, but an imaginary Arcadia’
The Villa is a community building which sits at the heart of the Heerlijkheid park designed by Fat. The design is intended to create a 21st century civic architecture for a suburban new town. It is a decorated shed, using timber rain screen cladding to create an architecture of communication which evokes Hoogvliet’s industrial past. The references to elements of nature in the entrance and in some of the “cut-out” features of the façade, recall the bucolic ideas on which the design of the New Town was originally based.
‘We wanted to manufacture a sense of place. Our approach is like Critical Regionalism from the opposite point of view. It is about abstraction and stylisation, but an abstraction that’s not heading towards meaninglessness, but trying to find a meaning. We want to articulate the complexity of the story, not reduce it.”
The Villa, "a 21st century civic architecture"
Following Sam’s presentation of the scheme the discussion explored a number of ideas, including:
Park is the new Piazza. Is ‘the park’ a more appropriate civic space for the 21st century suburbia than previous, more traditionally urban models?
Slow urbanism. Heerlijkheid Hoogvliet was developed over an eight year period - is a meaningful, participative architecture only possible through extended brief development?
Accommodating diverse publics. The park includes a number of smaller buildings for specific interest groups e.g. model boat builders. Is this an appropriate form for accommodating the different, and often conflicting, demands of a diverse public?
Adaptive architecture. How can a social condenser best accommodate a diverse range of activities? The Villa provides a single main room, distinct in character and yet robust enough to take any amount of event specific decoration.
Hosted by LMU Department of Architecture and Spatial Design
Spring House, 40-44 Holloway Road, London N7 8JL
