This evening the State Archive for Architecture and Urban Planning is being squatted in order to explore traces of the Netherlands’ history of squatting and its significance for contemporary architecture. With contributions from curator Hetty Berens (Het Nieuwe Instituut), researcher and artist Reinier Kranendonk and researcher and activist René Boer. The evening will be moderated by Flora van Gaalen (Het Nieuwe Instituut).

In a period of renewed interest in a programmatic approach to the existing city, in which people are working with ‘what is there’ and empty buildings are being given new uses, Het Nieuwe Instituut is beginning research into squatting as a form of architectural appropriation. How can squatting – formally forbidden in the Netherlands since 2010 – be understood as a strategy with spatial implications? And what influence can the squatting movement have on the practice of the architect and the urban planner?

This evening is part of the research programme ‘The Architecture of Appropriation’. The first outcomes of this exploration will be presented in an installation by design studio ZUS.

THURSDAY BITE
Before the Thursday Night why not grab a bite to eat with the speakers and staff of Het Nieuwe Instituut? At 18.30 Het Nieuwe Café will serve either soup with bread or a quiche with salad. Dinner vouchers are available for €7.50 up to a day before the particular Thursday Night event via the Tickets link.

ARCHIVE EXPLORATIONS
Containing the collections of some of the most important architects and urban planners in the Netherlands, the State Archive for Architecture and Urban Planning provides an insight into the development of Dutch architecture and society over the past 130 years. Each item in the collection of the four million drawings, sketches, models, professional and personal correspondence, photos, posters and news clippings has a story to tell. But many of these stories have remained untold because nobody has yet uncovered them. For the series of evenings entitled Archive Explorations we invite a range of people to undertake a journey of discovery in the archive in order to introduce new perspectives.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Programme € 7,50
Programme students & Friends of Het Nieuwe Instituut € 3,75
Grab a bite (without programme) € 7,50
Language: English

Image: Jouke van den Bout and Paul de Ley at a neigborhood meeting on Bickerseiland. Photo Pieter Boersma
Collection Het Nieuwe Instituut/ LEYP, f20-1