On August 18, Nathalie de Vries will take part in the HOOP event, part of the Noorderzon 2023 Festival of Performing Arts & Society. The Noorderzon Festival in Groningen offers events around theatre, dance, music, literature, and societal issues with talks and lectures, during 7 days. Organised by Platform Gras, the architecture centre of Groningen, the HOOP events take part in this Noorderzon Festival and invite two people who hardly know each other for a conversation to discuss solutions to current issues. 

Nathalie will have a conversation with Arna Mačkić, architect and co-founder of Studio L A and former head of Architectural Design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy on the theme of "Public Values, Public Directions". The talk will be centered around the need for architectural design to contribute to solutions for urgent social issues, where both experts will share experiences and thoughts on designing public space for all. Nathalie will bring insights from her experiences in the private and public sphere, as founding partner of MVRDV and as city architect of Groningen as well as Architectural Design professor at TU Delft. 

As the “DV” of MVRDV, founding partner Nathalie de Vries has led many successful MVRDV projects with a focus on the invention of new building typologies and the creation of changeable, open systems. De Vries combines her work for MVRDV with a position as professor of Architectural Design and Public Building at the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft. The central theme in her research, design, and construction of public buildings and public space is “Multiplicity in Design”. In 2021, the municipality of Groningen appointed De Vries to the position of City Architect. In this role, De Vries advises on current urban design and architectural projects and brings spatial issues to the fore in order to improve the city’s physical living environment and building culture.

• Date & time: August 18 - 19.00 (ECT).
• Location: Pollux - Noorderplantsoen, Kruissingel 1, 9712 XN Groningen, Netherlands.
• More information on the event can be found here.