News item | 5/19/2023 | 08:10
The Dutch entry for the 18th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice was opened by State Secretary Gunay Uslu (Culture and Media). In the exhibition Plumbing the System by architect Jan Jongert (superuse Studios) and cartographer Carlijn Kingma, the Rietveld Pavilion has become a testing ground for future-oriented, circular design with a twist.
Secretary of State Gunay Uslu:
“Architecture can help preserve and improve the world. For example, by responding with design to the major challenges that lie ahead, such as climate change. A subject that affects us all and in particular a place like Venice. A city that floats on water, but is now in danger of drowning in it. The living lab in the Dutch pavilion challenges people to think about how design can play a role in tackling these kinds of problems.”
Responding to the Biennale theme, Laboratory of the Future, this year, the Dutch pavilion will serve as a testing ground for the possibilities of a future-oriented economy and circular design, but with a twist. The aim is to demonstrate how alternative systems can contribute to a more sustainable future on a global scale. Jongert’s attempt to build a system to retain rainwater – on the roof of the Rietveld pavilion itself – should provide insight into the opportunities and obstacles involved.
In the series of drawings The waterwork of our money Kingma (in collaboration with researchers Thomas Bollen and Martijn Jeroen van der Linden) translates our complex money system into a spatial environment with water as a metaphor. In this way they illustrate the workings of our financial system and the deep-seated mechanisms that can both hinder and enable change. Plumbing the System can be seen from May to November this year in the Dutch pavilion.
Use of creativity in complex social transitions
The Netherlands is facing radical changes such as the energy transition, tightness in the housing market, sustainability and adjustments due to flooding and drought. Makers and institutions in design disciplines such as architecture, design and digital culture can make an important contribution to tackling these social challenges. Designers have the knowledge and skills to use imagination to show the possible future and to show alternatives.
In order to involve makers and institutions in solving complex social transitions, State Secretary Uslu will invest 9 million euros in a three-year programme, as announced in the culture outline letter. This program is currently being developed by a team of designers and researchers in the pilot Design Approach. To this end, this team organizes a series of dialogue and design sessions and conducts research into other programs in the Netherlands and abroad. A number of concepts are also being tested in practice. The findings of the pilot will be processed in a program proposal and presented to the State Secretary at the beginning of July.