MVRDV
Encyclopedia
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Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
-based architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
and urban design
Urban design
Urban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has...
practice founded in 1991. The name is an acronym for the founding members: Winy Maas
Winy Maas
Winy Maas is a Dutch architect, landscape architect, professor and urbanist. In 1991 together with Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries he set up MVRDV...
(1959), Jacob van Rijs
Jacob van Rijs
Jacob van Rijs is a Dutch architect, lecturer and urbanist. In 1991 together with Winy Maas and Nathalie de Vries he set up MVRDV...
(1964) and Nathalie de Vries
Nathalie de Vries
Nathalie de Vries is a Dutch architect, lecturer and urbanist. In 1991 together with Winy Maas and Jacob van Rijs she set up MVRDV...
(1965). Maas and Van Rijs worked at OMA
Office for Metropolitan Architecture
OMA , is a Rotterdam based architecture firm of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.The firm was founded in 1975 by Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis with Madelon Vriesendorp and Zoe Zenghelis.-History:...
, De Vries at Mecanoo
Mecanoo
Mecanoo is a firm of architects based in Delft, The Netherlands. The Delft based office of Mecanoo was officially founded in 1984 by Francine Houben, Henk Döll, Roelf Steenhuis, Erick van Egeraat and Chris de Weijer. The firm is directed by its original founder architect Prof. ir. Francine M.J....
before starting MVRDV.
Their first realised commission was the new offices for VPRO
VPRO
The VPRO was established in the Netherlands in 1926 as a religious broadcasting organization. Falling under the Protestant pillar, it represented the Liberal Protestant current...
in Hilversum, Netherlands (1993–1997). Other built works include: Wozoco housing, Amsterdam (1994–1997) and the Dutch Pavilion at the Hannover World Exhibition Expo 2000
Expo 2000
Expo 2000 was a World's Fair held in Hanover, Germany from Thursday, June 1 to Tuesday, October 31, 2000. It was located on the Hanover fairground , which is famous for hosting CeBIT...
(1997–2000). Furthermore a business park 'Flight Forum' in Eindhoven, Gemini Residence
Gemini Residence
Gemini Residence is a residential building on the Islands Brygge waterfront in Copenhagen, Denmark. Built to the design of MVRDV, the building has been created by converting two former seed silos...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, the Silodam Housing complex in Amsterdam, the Matsudai Cultural Centre in Japan, Unterföhring office campus near Munich, the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam, an urban plan and housing in The Hague Ypenburg, the rooftop - housing extension Didden Village in Rotterdam, the cultural Centre De Effenaar
Effenaar
The Effenaar is a pop music venue in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. It was founded in 1971 and has grown into one of the larger pop venues in the country....
in Eindhoven, the boutique shopping building Gyre in Tokyo, Veldhoven’s Maxima Medical Centre and the iconic Mirador housing estate in Madrid.
Current projects in progress or on site include various housing projects in the Netherlands, Spain, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, France, Austria, the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries, a television centre for Zürich, a public library in Spijkenisse, Netherlands, a central market hall and a cultural centre in Rotterdam, a culture plaza in Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, China, large scale urban masterplans in Oslo, Norway and in Tirana
Tirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
, Albania, an entire new eco-city in Logrono
Logroño
Logroño is a city in northern Spain, on the Ebro River. It is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja, formerly known as La Rioja Province.The population of Logroño in 2008 was 153,736 and a metropolitan population of nearly 197,000 inhabitants...
, Spain and a research masterplan into the future of greater Paris. The latter was commissioned by French president Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
and the mayor of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë is a French politician, and has been the mayor of Paris since 2001. He is member of the Socialist Party . Delanoë was born in Tunis, Tunisia to a French-Tunisian father and a French mother...
.
Density and stacking
After the KM3 study -dealing with the global issue of urban sprawl and consumption - a “vertical suburb” "Torre Huerta" has been developed and is currently under construction in Valencia, Spain. The ideal suburban plots are stacked into a high-rise residential tower, each home with its own hanging, cantilevered garden and a free standing tree.
Sustainability
The office researches and debates global ecological issues such as the consequences of urban sprawl, the bio-industry and climate change. Large scale studies and provocative proposals have led in many cases to a constructive discussion about issues often considered terrifying or to be solved by legislation rather than architecture. MVRDV seeks architectural solutions for ecological issues.In Pig City MVRDV proposes a novel way of accommodating the population of 15 million pigs that share the Netherlands with 15 million human inhabitants. To provide the large area the pigs need, a new building type is proposed – the high-rise farm. The prototype is an 80 meter high tower. Each level is divided into animal friendly farm areas including outside play areas. The biogas generated by the pigs’ waste is collected as a clean energy source; fish farms inside the towers provide animal food and help reduce transport. Precious countryside is liberated from the polluting bio-industry. The proposal has led to a nationwide discussion in the Netherlands – Europe’s largest agricultural exporter - about the bio-industry. First farming experiments based on the outcome of the study have started.
Publications
- FARMAX (010 Publishers, Rotterdam, 1999)
- Metacity/Datatown (010 Publishers, Rotterdam, 1999)
- Reading MVRDV (NAi Publishers, Rotterdam, 2003)
- Spacefighter The evolutionary city game (Actar, Barcelona, 2005)
- KM3 EXCURSIONS ON CAPACITIES (Actar, Barcelona, 2006)
- Skycar City (Actar, Barcelona, 2008)
Articles
- Gonzalo Herrero Delicado. Mirador Building, Madrid, Spain: MVRDV and Blanca Lleó 2005. - Galinsky, 2006
- Frey, Darcy "Crowded House" - The New York Times Magazine, June 8, 2008