Leisure has not only become an enormous industry, but various aspects of our lives are becoming more focused on entertainment. We are living in a ‘Belevium’ (entertainment world) in which we amuse ourselves to death. But when others – tourists – want to play along, we are not so happy anymore.
Watch and listen to my multimedia tour ‘Vrije tijd’ (Leisure) in which I discuss how our environment is becoming more like a playground with Hans Mommaas, director of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, farmer Elmar Hoogendoorn and leisre consultant at LAGroup Stephen Hodes.
All three multimedia tours that I created on the occasion of being awarded the Maaskant Prize 2016 can be seen on www.tracyinnederland.nl
On November 4th, 2016, I was awarded the Maaskantprijs 2016 by Mayor of Rotterdam Aboutaleb. This is a bi-annual prize for a person that stimulates the debate on architecture, landscape and urban design by publications, teaching or commissioning. That day I also launched the multimedia project ‘Tracy in Nederland‘ (Tracy in the Netherlands) that I developed with multimediaproducer Submarine, artist Jan Rothuizen and podcastmakers De Kostgangers. Part of the project is the essay The Dark Side of Urban Success designed by Hamid Sallali.
In galerie Vroom & Varossieau hangen vindingrijke portretten van bekende street-artkunstenaars. Twintig jaar lang had de Deense fotograaf Søren Solkær popsterren geportretteerd. Kennelijk was het tijd voor iets nieuws, want drie jaar terug begon hij met Surface. Voor NRC Kunst schreef ik een recensie.
Een van de mooiste foto’s is van de Spanjaard Borodo, die zijn eigen portret ondersteboven heeft geschilderd op een betonnen muur tussen twee viaducten over een kanaal. Bij rustig weer, en goed licht, spiegelt zijn portret in het water.
The Edge was designed to advance workplace standards with an energy-neutral building that not only lowers the cost and environmental impact of power consumption, but also enhances the occupant experience. For Architectural Record I wrote about this extraordinary office building on Amsterdam’s Zuidas that was completed in 2015.
During my travels through the Baltic States, I write short observations.
From the back window of the Museum of Liepaja I see an enormous statue hidden in the garden, next to the parking lot. Why is it tucked away where no one will see it?
For the June edition of Architectural Record I went to the new Generator Amsterdam. This mix of a hotel and a hostel is located on the edge of a park in the up-and-coming eastern part of town, this reflects the spread of tourism beyond the historic center – a trend that has been encouraged by the city, which has been greatly restricting hotel permits since the fall of 2013.
With its surprising combination of old and new architecture, bursts of local art and design, and a clever hotel formula that attracts a wide-ranging crowd. Generator has brought a new kind of flair to Amsterdam’s flourishing tourism scene.
