06 – 30 November < 2009
WINZAVOD - Moscow Contemporary Art Center
4-th Syromyatnicheskiy lane, 1, bld. 6, Moscow
«уDUTCHная архитектура» (uDUTChnaya Architecture [a pun on the Russian word «udachnaya», which means «successful»]) is an attempt to understand in what respect Dutch contemporary architecture stands out from the global mainstream and what makes it so special and attractive to modern man.
Dutch architects tend to approach architectural design from a broader perspective rooted in urban planning. They view individual structures not as ‘unique and unrepeatable objects that are valuable in themselves’, but as just one of a large number of interlinked urban components that make up the integral manmade landscape of the entire country.
The ability of the Dutch to ‘listen in’ to what is around them and understand the laws of nature, coupled with their desire to play the architectural game in accordance with the natural rules of the universe, have shaped the ‘Dutch architectural language’ with its antipathy to formal superfluity and vacuous decorativeness. Conceptuality, freedom of creative thought, and orientation on the future are some of this school’s strongest points and one of its most important exports, an export which has won it international fame and brought it a constant stream of commissions all over the world.
The participants in this exhibition belong to the so-called ‘post-Koolhaas generation’. Their works illustrate a new stage in the development of the Dutch architectural school, which is characterized by its extreme openness to society and by the way it has transformed the process of architectural design into a discussion with all the various social classes.
The concept for the exhibition represents the architectural thought of the Netherlands as a system of interlinking elements that complement and develop one another. The typical ‘Dutch’ qualities which distinguish Dutch architecture from that of other countries and at the same time make it a thing of value for the whole world can be reduced to five elements:
Artificiality, Organic naturalness, Density, Optimization and Conceptuality.
The five thematic sections of the exhibition demonstrate both buildings that have already been erected and conceptual design solutions and video installations designed by leading Dutch architectural firms, making it possible within the framework of a single exhibition project to show all the multiplicity and originality of modern Dutch architecture.
Video installations: MVRDV, Neutelings Riedijk Architects, NEXT architects, ONL [Oosterhuis_Lenard], WEST 8.
Participants: JHK Architecten, KCAP, Mecanoo architecten, MVRDV, Neutelings Riedijk Architects, NEXT architects, NL Architects, ONL [Oosterhuis_Lenard], OTH Ontwerpgroep Trude Hooykaas, Rene Van Zuuk Architecten, Rutger de Graaf, SeARCH, Soeters Van Eldonk architecten, VenhoevenCS, Waterstudio.NL, WEST 8
Concept and realization:
C:CA / Center of Contemporary Architecture in Russia
Curator: Irina Korobina
Art-director: Sergey Sitar
Design of exhibition: Alexander Ryabsky / Group of architects FAS(t)
Design: AlenaTtrepetova
Production manager: Natalia Zhilina
Video: Elena lysakova
PR: Ekaterina Belyakova
Producer: Varvara Melnikova
Co-organizers:
WINZAVOD CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER
Netherlands Architecture Institute
ARTPLAY-on-Yauza design Center
Supported by:
The Royal Netherlands Embassy in Moscow
The Dutch Design Fashion and Architecture (DutchDFA)
The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Ministerie van OC&W)
The Netherlands Architecture Fund
Festival patron:
The Ministry of Culture of The Russian Federation
Sponsors:
Hunter&Douglas
ING Wholesale Banking
Design by Group of architects FAS(t)
Lighting installation: PHILIPS
Technical partners:
AVG Group
РИА «Лужники»
Partners:
The Most
Heineken
General Information partner:
INTERIOR + DESIGN
Information partners:
AFISHA
Project Russia
MONTE CARLO
