In addition to thought provoking projects such as Pig City and Grand Paris, MVRDV have designed a diverse portfolio of realised buildings and urban plans in its 20 years of practice; including the Villa VPRO, WOZOCO, the Book Mountain and the Mirador Madrid. But how do these buildings perform now that they are occupied? What is the philosophy, logic and design thinking behind the offices visually powerful concepts? And what is life actually like inside a blue house, on an orange tribune, in a vertical shopping street, in housing silos and inside a mountain of books? This book tries to find the answers to these questions, and in doing so goes beyond the traditional content of an architectural monograph.
Since MVRDV was founded 20 years ago, the office has always tried to include the users of its buildings in its designs: from the translation of their wishes and behaviour into the datascapes that form part of the design process, to their presence in published photographs of finished works. So it seemed natural to involve them once again, and to give them a voice, when the work began of collecting material for this book about 20 years of buildings made by MVRDV.
By asking Andreas and Ilka Ruby to edit the book, a journalistic voice was added to the project. Instead of project descriptions by the architect, interviews and visits to the buildings form the basis of the texts, accompanied by clear and easy-to understand drawings of the buildings as they were built. MVRDV also tried hard to find existing photographs of the buildings as they are in use today, rather than commissioning new photographs of emptied spaces. Designer Joost Grootens contributed to this idea by collecting as many amateur photographs of the buildings as he could find, showing what users, visitors and passers-by think is notable, or beautiful, about the works. Clients, users and friends on social media were asked for their collaboration. The making of the book became something of an MVRDV: Revisited, a suitable celebration of the offices 20-year anniversary.
Is this book an architectural monograph at all? In a way, yes; unlike many other books in the genre, it shows no interpretations, diagrams or themes. The agenda is simpler this time: only that anyone should be able to read this book, architect or not. Through use, buildings prove their right of existence. The reader of MVRDV Buildings will hold an object that can be used to understand what the buildings look like and how they are organized and used.
The book features 38 projects with user testimonies, an essay by Andreas and Ilka Ruby, 118 new, descriptive drawings and 682 images by photographers such as Jakob Galtt, Roland Halbe, Rob t Hart, Nick Kane, Thomas Loof, Jeroen Musch, Christian Richters, Philippe Ruault, Daria Scagliola, Mark Seelen, Marijke Volkers, Hans Werlemann and more than one hundred other talented photographers, many active on Flickr and Facebook.
Until July 4th MVRDV Buildings can be pre-ordered against a reduced price at www.naibooksellers.nl/mvrdv discount code: MVRDV
Book launch July 4th, 2013, The New Institute (Formerly Netherlands Architecture Institute), Rotterdam.