I am wrapping things up here at maxwan architects & urbanists, as tomorrow is going to be my last day. I will be teaching urbanism at a private university in Aleppo (google maps) in a week.
We have achieved quite a bit recently – not only did we launch our new maxwan website, but we also won the competition for the design of 2009’s Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam (IABR). The motto of next year’s Biennale is ‘Open City’, a term Kees Christiaanse (the Biennale’s Curator) has been working with for a while. Maxwan translates this idea spatially by turning the NAi inside out.
A more direct access to the main large exhibition hall turns it into a multi-functional lobby/conference-hall/exhibition space, directly exposed to the public space instead of being tucked away in the belly of the building.
Maxwan’s new website stays true to maxwan’s excel-driven soul, providing quite complete data on the projects including high-resolution images. Check out what I have been working on recently – supervising the Barking Riverside masterplan and previously developing a new vision for Rotterdam’s Harbour.
The IABR 2009 project seems great, I’d love to see the reality of the project. Perhaps a trip back again will be necessary. Good luck with the Aleppo studio!
IABR was Klaas’ project. The access bridge is heavily debated – let’s see how the project moves on.