Sitting on the dock of the bay: Kraanspooroffice building by OTH

Otis Redding might have had something else in mind when he was singing "Sitting at the dock of the bay", one of his trademark songs, but certainly Trude Hooykaas, the architect that leads OTH, matched the song perfectly, when she designed Kraanspooroffice building to house her company's offices on a disused colossal crane track at the north end of Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is currently undergoing a post-industrial renewal. So it should be of no surprise using an older building to make a new one. But a crane track? Trude Hooykaas discovered this huge concrete structure at one of her bicycle rides along northern Amsterdam, when she was searching for a place to make the new headquarters for her company. The area used to be a shipyard, abandoned, but with all the signs of its former industrial glory present. It was easy for her to imagine a huge transparent box sitting on top of the track, floating above the sea.

Of course the difficulties were immense: the structure was already on the demolition list, the zoning requirements were not allowing offices at the area, developers were reluctant to invest in her vision. Luckily she persevered and, one by one, all obstacles were put aside, allowing her and her office to give us this amazing glass box emerging from the waters of the North Sea. A three-floor building, a metallic skeleton clad with double glazing and motorized glass slats for shading and controlling the climate inside along with full length wooden-framed windows. So, except from natural ventilation, the whole system gives the people working here the feeling they are travelling at sea, on a huge futuristic ship.

Using the four original stairwells as entrances, with new staircases and panoramic glass lifts was another master stroke, as well as using the old concrete catwalks as fire escapes: the former crane track was not only serving as support, it became really alive as well, fitting perfectly in with the new use. The glass box hangs asymmetrically over one side towards the water, making the feeling of floating above the waters even more intense.

The new building is raised three meters from the concrete skeleton of the track, supported by slender steel columns, seemingly fragile and hovering like a space ship, effect even more punctuated at night, when it is illuminated. The vision of it against a sunset making the waters look golden while sun drifts towards the waves must be thrilling.

The concrete wharf is 270 m in length ("270m of concrete silence" as said by Trude Hooykaas), 13.5 m high and 8.5 m. deep. It was built in 1952 and had two huge cranes until 1999, when they were dismantled. The restoration started in 1997: the building begun in 2006 and was completed in November 2007. The architect's vision of "a dawning sun on the banks of a golden coast", is finally realised, and it is shared with the people working there or visiting this unique building.


Originally posted at 2Modern Talk on July 5th 2008

1st Children's and Young Adults' Bookfair in Athens - the report

As promised, here is a post about the 1st Children's and Young Adults' Bookfair at the Helexpo Palace in Athens. We had to set up the stands (almost half the show actually) in only two days, facing some difficulties (missing stuff, crews not working as they should), but having great collaborators and co-workers, the impossible took place and the show opened on time and looking great!

Above, you can see the stand the National Book Centre (EKEBI). It was placed strategically at the entrance of the exhibition (which took the space of a whole floor of the venue), welcoming the visitors with a nice yellow paper bag filled with goodies.
Then it was on to the stand of The Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive (ELIA), which housed a small sample of their huge collection of old children's books, toys and accessories - oh the memories they brought up!


Of course I'm only referring to other people's memories, I'm much too young to remember all this stuff (not!)


Exactly opposite the previous stand, was a space dedicated to the two Greek nominees for the Andersen Awards 2008, Voula Mastori (for writing) and Vassilis Papatsarouchas (for illustration). I had the honour of meeting Vassilis, he's an extraordinarily talented young man and merits his own post (coming soon).


While the original drawings of Vassilis Papatsarouhas were exhibited in this space, Voula Mastori was present to read her stories to lots of children gathering to listen to her. Hence the colourful pillows scattered on the floor.

Now I swear this was designed before Kylie released her In My Arms video clip!

The Netherlands were the honoured country. That meant only one thing: using lots of orange for the stand! And of course we could not have missed tulips! We had many of them, both real (100 orange flowers flown in from Holland especially for the show) and also on a big poster on a wall in the middle of the stand, near the green patch:


To celebrate, we had some "Dutch Treats", as the Dutch called them: original drawings from the most famous Dutch illustrators of children's books. This small exhibition within an exhibition was a feast for the eyes both of children and adults, with the works of Dick Bruna taking centre-stage.

The Dick Bruna drawings - the bunny is Miffy, his most famous character.

The Dutch Illustrators ("Dutch Treats") exhibition

There were of course more spaces designed especially for children (it's a kid-oriented show after all!): an amphitheatre for presentations of books, also the Children's Corner, which was a place to play and read and listen to people reading books. It was decorated with books hanging from the ceiling (remember the fish?) and fantastic hats with books fixed on them!


This space incorporated a smaller amphitheatre and also had a fun poll: why do children read books? Two separate polling stations were prepared, one for children and one for kids, who voted by dropping a small orange (what else?) ball inside the appropriate tube. Of course children saw this as a game (and why not?) so the results were a bit, er, "fixed", by children throwing the balls like playing basketball, over and over again, into the tubes! Great fun!


Right next to this was the space dedicated to Museum of Greek Children's Art, with lots of space for workshops for the kids. Of course they loved to doodle with markers, crayons and coloured pencils on paper or other materials, even the tables themselves!


My friend Enteka presented his new book here, but more for him on a special post (soon!). Right next to it, there was a room dedicated, tongue in cheek, to an imaginary writer: H.P. Lagavulin, thought to be one of the best knows writers of children's fiction (a total fiction in itself of course). The entrance to this teen-corner was a circle!


Many events took place in here too, one of the first having a great lady telling a story to the kids, while making special sound effects using water poured from a carafe to five glasses on top of a drum. The children listened to her transfixed! The whole room was decorated with thirteen illustrations (the years supposedly passed since his death), made in honour of the non-existent writer H.P. Lagavulin by seven Greek illustrators, while seven Greek writers wrote in his memory.

Another space was designed by the illustrator Antonis Aspromourgos, consisting of four rooms, one after the other, each showcasing a different art through books: theater, music, painting, sculpture. Each had a different colour and soundtrack, giving children a unique experience.


Many of the biggest Greek publishing houses had their own stands in the exhibition, also organizing events and activities, one of them being the Wandering Park: children carrying potted plants and banners, protesting about greener cities, in an effort to make the children more sensitive to environmental problems.


There were happy children faces (and parents too!) everywhere you looked! I saw lot of visitors both times I was at the show during its working hours, unofficial numbers are 100,000 visitors in four days, which is an amazing feat! It is definitely a very optimistic sign about children (and their parents) in Greece! I also had a great time myself, meeting very talented and interesting people and also seeing lots of friends visiting the show - let's do it again next year!

Netherlands trip 2008 - part 3

Walking around the old city of Utrecht is a fascinating experience, even if the weather is not the best you can get. One of the classic tourist attractions is the old Dom tower. This is the only part left from the old cathedral, but that is not what interests us today.


The cathedral's nave was torn down in 1674 by North Sea Winds (remember Cyril last year and it will not sound improbable). Only the tower and the transept remained. So today there is a big gap between the tower and what passes for the cathedral in these days. Filled with trees, in the summer it must be a lovely place to walk, enjoying the surroundings. This winter it is an eerie landscape of green tree-trunks (a result of the moss that covers them), looking strikingly otherworldly against the earthly and reddish hues of the chancel.

The impression that stays with you is of a surreal painting, where, instead of green leaves, you have green trunks and branches. And with that sense, comes another: one of isolation, loneliness, sadness. Despite the few people walking by (or on bicycles), I felt completely deserted there...

The tower is 112m tall, with 465 steps taking you up to see the view, and it is the tallest church spire of Holland. Its mechanical carillon has a huge repertoire of tunes that can be heard through the centre's cobbled streets, but I think only the tourists find them charming (try living next to it, playing a deafening melody each half hour and you will find out why).


You can go under the tower to the other side of it through a small tunnel at the base. I did not have the time to climb the stairs but will do in the future!


Walking away from the tower, the view from the canal is sublime... actually the tower serves as orientation so that one does not get lost in the narrow streets of the old city.

Netherlands trip 2008 - part 2 - Zussen in Utrecht

Zussen is now ranked amongst my favourite places to have a drink in Utrecht. An eclectic mix of various styles and materials, it is a bar-restaurant with a youthful clientèle, tasteful food and interesting music.


Located at Korte Jansstraat 23, Utrecht, in the centre of the city, it was a welcome haven on a humid and cold Monday evening. Although it was the start of the week, there were enough people there to make it lively and vibrant, aided by the eccentric decoration.

Wood is the main note in this neo-baroque concert of materials, either in rough, raw looking planks on the floor and walls...


...or dark looking wenghe with an 80's revival feel in the bar area:


The lighting is another interesting parameter of this establishment. Colour changing lights are used in the wall opposite the bar (it changed constantly from fuchsia to red, yellow, orange, green, blue)...

...to the use of tree branches, big and small, to light the seating areas...

...and a couple of huge lamp shades to finish off the look:


Swirling patterns on the fabric of the chairs (also used as wallpaper in the wooden grid framing the colour-changing wall) and huge painting reproductions on the walls, along with the use of polished stone on the floor, complete the picture. I will definitely go again on my next visit to Utrecht!

Netherlands trip 2008 - part 1

I was again lucky to visit the Netherlands this January, as I had done last year. I was supervising the set up of the Greek National Tourism Board in the Vakantiebeurs Fair in Utrecht. We did a similar design to last year's successful one, a bit lighter and airier this time around. Check it out:


We changed the colour of the main construction to maple instead of wenghe, limiting the dark wood to floor covering only. Combined with white frames and the intense colours of the new campaign for tourism in Greece, it made the stand look fresher, cooler and more inviting to the visitors.


The main concept again was water: from the bubble prints on the plexiglass boxes framing the seating area of the cafeteria, to the backlit "water" print inside the rectangular white sofa in the middle to the blue transparent fish hanging from the ceiling (I threaded them all myself and Sakis artistically hanged them in random swarm movement from the ceiling), "swimming: between silk thread columns, the whole stand tried to evoke the blue Greek seas.


The new GNTO campaign fit perfectly with the chosen colour scheme. The campaign photos (with the worst photoshop editing I have seen in years - rushed job?) show a new, contemporary Greece, very attractive to visit and with a variety of things to see and do (and not only ancient ruins to admire). I hope it helps the Greek tourism industry in a positive way (i.e. attract more "good" tourism to Greece)


Once again, kudos to my crew, who did an excellent job in difficult environmental circumstances and tight time restraints, to our Dutch collaborators (TAO, our electricians and riggers (thanks Patrick and Peter!) , Atelier van Zijderveld, our graphics set up crew, the Vakantiebeurs team (thanks Marloes!), the Jaarbeurs Utrecht people, the GNTO Amsterdam office (thanks Sotiris!) and everyone else that contributed to our success.

Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum - Modern Art

The Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam is temporarily housed in a nondescript old office building near the Central Station. Inside only temporary shows can be seen, while the new expansion is being built and the old building renovated. There is a great secret though - a lovely restaurant/cafe situated on the 11th floor (hence named 11) which becomes a club in the wee hours of the evening. From the very high ceiling hang 4 huge Algues curtains, giving it a unique note.



The collections when I visited where very interesting, some of the works even design related like the above rotating metal/light installation called Counter Composition by artist Germaine Kruip. "a mirrored mobile that takes its form from the construction of a painting by Theo Van Doesburg. This mobile changes the composition of Van Doesburg into a reflection, which perpetually projects through the gallery. Activated by an artificial light, its reflections move through the space in the opposite direction of the natural light and shadows directed from the windows. Based on the principals of De Stijl, the original painting attempted to find forms through which universal truth could be grasped. Here that 'universal truth' is animated not as a contained truth but as a constant movement that is nothing but a reflection of its own surroundings." This one was part of the Just in Time – Proposal for Municipal Art Acquisitions Exhibition, which was asking the question: who defines what is acceptable as art for a museum to buy? See below how it looked after a while:



There was also a weird chandelier by Cerith Wyn Evans. "The so-called 'chandelier' pieces that are a perfect example of Wyn Evans Trojan Horse strategy in which he disguises radical content by way of tremendous elegance. Altogether the chandeliers form a personal canon of literature from the last century including poems, letters, short stories, philosophy, etc. The texts are transmitted through Morse-code pulsing though the light bulbs of the chandeliers".



The artwork above was part of the Vincent Awards exhibition. Andrei Monastyrski was another artist shown there. This work was a bit interactive, in the sense that you could walk inside the installation, on the flour covered floor, and your steps on it became part of the artwork.



This work below is probably from Monastyrski but I cannot remember. If anyone knows for sure, please let me know.

Rotterdam: NAI - the Netherlands Architecture Institute

This was one of the best moments in the Netherlands trip: the visit to NAI. The National Architecture Institute has one of the largest architecture collections in the world; eighteen kilometres of shelves containing drawings, sketches, models, photographs, books, journals and other materials.
The NAI is entrusted with the safekeeping and management of these archives and collections and with making them accessible to the public. Virtually every prominent Dutch architect since 1800 is represented in the archives, which include the personal archives of such famous architects as Dudok, Cuypers, Berlage and De Klerk.
The NAI's library is open to the public and contains over 35,000 books on architecture and related disciplines, plus an extensive range of Dutch and international architectural journals.
Researchers, students, and anyone else interested may consult publications and archives in the reading room.



The NAI moved into its current premises in 1993. The striking building is situated at the edge of the Museumpark in the center of Rotterdam and was designed by Jo Coenen. As you approach the building from the outside, you are at first impressed by the water surrounding the building - of course such an establishment could not have a building on a simple dry patch of land in Holland!
You enter by passing a bridge over the water expanse. On one side you see an abstract sculpture in the water:



I felt that the building was gently embracing me inside it when entering. The interior is as unusual as the exterior - lots of intense color, modern design and friendly personnel. All this makes for a lovely, unforgettable experience!
This is the entrance area viewed from the balcony above it:



The areas of the temporary exhibitions were closed due to the process of the installation of the next show, which made it impossible for me to visit them. I did not have the time to do that anyway, so I only had the chance to see the permanent exhibition and the museum store-so many books!
This is the corridor towards the permanent exhibitions:



And this is the room with the projection screens:



The building generated lots of reactions when it was finished (18 months late from schedule). There was criticism of the design and the final outcome regarding the original plans, some even said the Brutalist style construction reminded them of a garage. The architect though had to endure a constant war from the client (the Dutch state) regarding the budget: there were many cuts. I myself loved the building and think it serves its purpose very well and looks as it should: modern, light and easy to navigate. It also is very welcoming to the visitor, which for me is a huge advantage.
What you see on the bottom photograph on the right hand side is the archive wing.