2010–2011

Berlage Institute Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Prospectus
 Berlage Institute Prospectus 2010––2011

01 About the Institute

08 Institutional aims and goals

17 RECENT PostGraduate Research Projects

18 Decolonizing Architecture
20 Mexico City: Territorial Densification
22 Rome, the Center(s) Elsewhere
24 Radicalizing the Local: Post-Bubble Urban Strategies
26 h2obitat: Living with Water
28 When Economies Become Form: Micro-economic Models as
Spatial Prescriptions in Northeast Brasil
30 Bridging Untroubled Waters: The Ningbo Mall as a Quest
for Alternative Strategies in Open Space Development

33 Program 2009–2012
34 Research policy
38 Implementation of research policy
47 Facilities
48 People

49 POSTGRADUATE APPLICATION
52 Alumni
54 Current Participants
 Berlage Institute ­ About the Institute

The Berlage Institute is a post-academic laboratory

for design-based research in architecture, urbanism,
and other issues related to the built environment. Its
postgraduate program and PhD program are open to 1
applications from graduated and experienced archi-
tects, urban planners, landscape architects, and other
researchers. Complementary to these programs, the
Institute also broadens its activities to the profes-
sional sector with a series of publications, for which
it solicits internal and external collaborators, and a
public program of lectures, debates, and symposia.
The Institute provides the intellectual climate
and infrastructure to explore the forces that shape
the contemporary built environment; subsequently
developing, by means of design, alternative models
and new insights to devise a transformative impact
on the built environment. Essential to the laboratory
is the guidance by and exchange with leading and
emerging voices and practitioners, and the direct
engagement in concrete conditions represented
by third-party collaborators—those public authori-
ties, cultural institutions and/or private bodies that
are the “holders of the problem” that constitutes the
basis of each research study. This simultaneous com-
mitment to research and reality allows the Institute’s
researchers to develop a precise understanding of
the challenges that necessitate reflection, innova-
tion, and speculation. Through seminars, lectures,
publications and exhibitions, researchers directly
communicate and debate their polemical architec-
tural and urban propositions with the stakeholders.
 From the General Director and Director

The Berlage Institute structures its post-academic
activities to better contribute to the development
of knowledge and debate within the cultural and
professional fields of architecture and urbanism
in the Netherlands and abroad. Since Herman
Hertzberger’s effort to establish a truly new model
2 Western Europe, to the present-day economic
for post-professional education almost twenty
years ago, the Institute is today among the
renowned international laboratories for design-
based research. Since 2005, it has expanded its
profile as a research institution that emphasizes
collective work and broader cultural participation.
The Institute provides a rigorous environment to
explore how the global developments that shape
the built world are expressed within the Dutch
context.
As an independent foundation, the Berlage
Institute takes part in Dutch governmental policy
on culture, focusing specifically on architec-
ture. Partially funded by the Dutch Ministry of
Education, Culture, and Science for this purpose,
the Institute also aims to nurture the professional
community in the Netherlands by offering a place
for cultural debate and international encounter
and exchange. In this respect, this post-academic
laboratory focuses on research and design issues
relevant to the Netherlands more than ever
before.
The rapid redefinition of the contemporary city as
the physical and public structure of society con-
stitutes the next set of challenges for today’s
architects and urbanists. From massive migration
to urban centers in Latin America and Southeast
Asia, the decreasing and aging populations of
upheavals, each day the transformations related
to the built environment are experienced with
increasing complexity and ambiguity.
The question for architectural research is how to
directly engage with these conditions, while also
finding experimental ways of developing new
spatial models and principles. The Institute’s
international body of researchers and participants
takes on this challenge by aiming to produce
relevant and innovatively applicable knowledge
that influences the cultural and professional
aspects of architectural production. In the coming
year, the Berlage Institute will celebrate twenty
years of equipping the next generation of archi-
tects not only with awareness of the design and
realization of built form, but also with the ability
to synthesize private and public interests within a
shared social, political, and cultural landscape.

The Institute consciously situates the challenges Vedran Mimica

of the contemporary Dutch built environment Director
in an international perspective. It also provides
the opportunity to exchange and disseminate
the rich legacy of Dutch architecture and plan-
ning expertise into a broader context. The
Institute reinforces its contribution to disciplin-
ary development and actual policy-making,
while strengthening its participation as a cultural
player in a Dutch and international context. With
its 2009–2012 Program, the Institute continues
its mission to enrich, test, and present skills that
empower architects to bring visionary quality to
their work through its postgraduate program, PhD
program, and public program of lectures, sympo-
siums, exhibitions, and publications.

Rob Docter
General Director
 Berlage Institute ­ About the Institute

Lecture by Marion Weiss

from the Process in Detail:
Recent Buildings from the
Architectonic to the Bureau-
cratic lecture series

A master plan for the

Maashaven in Rotterdam
 Berlage Institute studio space
in the former Spaarbank
Building by J. J. P. Oud

Second-year participants
conducting fieldwork in
Phoenix, Arizona
 Berlage Institute ­ About the Institute

A proposal for shared living A master plan rethinking

and working facilities outside mobility infrastructure out-
Rome via Cassia side Rome
via Flaminia v

via Nomentana

via Aurelia

via Portuense

via Ostiense

via Cristoforo Colombo

Elia Zenghelis participating

in a final studio presentation
via Ardeatina
 Lecture by Hans Werlemann
from the Forms and Figures:
Exploring Architectural
Language lecture series

A master plan for mixed-

use residential facilities in
Ningbo, China
Berlage Institute ­ About the Institute

Lecture by Peter Cook from

the Fabricators of Ideology
and Architectural Education
lecture series

A master plan for residential

facilities in Mexico City
 Institutional aims and goals

The Berlage Institute positions

its activities in the void that ex-
ists between the rapidly chang-
8

ing forms of worldwide urban-

ization and the lack of models
and principles available to struc-
ture the physical environment
into a socially, culturally, and
ecologically sustainable habitat.
While the disciplines of architec-
ture and urbanism are more and
more compartmentalized areas
of knowledge, the Institute—as a
cultural platform—provides the
context for its researchers to es-
tablish, test and propagate new
forms of synthesizing skills that
would strengthen the visionary
quality of their work.
 Berlage Institute ­
Research policy
The rapidly changing field of spatial practices
makes evident that architecture is no longer
produced within a closed body of knowledge.
Therefore, the Berlage Institute organizes its
activities according to a set of defined research
trajectories. The aim is to address supra-disciplin-
ary knowledge, by relating the research ambitions
to other disciplines (economy, sociology, etc.),
and sub­disciplinary knowledge, by focusing
on specific aspects of architectural production
(materiality, organization, technology, etc.).
The activities of the Berlage Institute are struc-
tured along the following six distinct research
trajectories: new live/work conditions, tourism
and territory, emerging technologies and tech-
niques, structuring metropolitan formations,
cohabitation and conflict, and energy and the built
environment. While developing specific insights
to each respective trajectory, the Institute’s
research activities collectively aim to advance
new models, visions, and principles to be able to
frame the different forces shaping the contempo-
rary built environment.
The Berlage Institute participates with the cultural
and professional sectors in three ways: project-
based exchange with each research trajectory,
the development of the public program as a form
of post–professional education, and broadcast-
ing through the Internet and publications. The
Institute presents the results of its research
projects in the form of seminars, workshops, exhi-
bitions, and publications. This offers researchers
the opportunity immediately to check their plans,
visions, and convictions with reality.
For more information, see p. 34–35
Implementation of research policy
Postgraduate Program
The postgraduate program of the Berlage Institute
provides the next generation of architects and
urbanists with tools to better comprehend and inter-
vene in the complexity of contemporary life. Study is
conducted in an in-depth collaborative and experi-
mental setting. This two-year research program is
structured around three design research studios,
a series of history and theory seminars, fieldwork,
and master classes. Participants take part in two
one-term studios in the first year and one yearlong
studio in the second year. A series of public col-
loquia, lectures and exhibitions complements the
research program.
For more information, see p. 38
About the Institute
PhD Program
The Berlage Institute offers a PhD program in con-
junction with the Faculty of Architecture of Delft
University of Technology. Presently, there are two
different ways to obtain a PhD from the Institute.
The first is through individual doctoral studies and 9
the second through participation in The City as a
Project PhD program. The PhD program is meant to
function in close relationship with the postgraduate
program. PhD candidates are encouraged to take
part in design studio presentations and other related
postgraduate events.
For more information, see p. 39
Public Program
The architectural and urban research, ideas,
and projects pursued at the Berlage Institute are
expanded, consolidated, and complemented for
presentation to a global audience through a series of
architectural broadcasting initiatives. This content is
disseminated as print publications, online interactiv-
ity, and public events. The flagship of the Institute’s
publication series is Hunch. Each issue includes
contributions on a selected topic as well as other
wide-ranging columns, essays, interviews and
design projects. Published at the end of each term,
The Berlage Papers is a large-format broadsheet
highlighting recent news, activities, announce-
ments, previews and reviews related to the Institute.
The Institute’s website, www.berlage-institute.nl, is
a tool to exhibit the past and present activities of
the Institute. The Institute’s public program of lec-
tures, exhibitions and other events is framed around
a selected theme that complements the research
topics presently being investigated.
For more information, see p. 40
Professional Development Program
Complementary to the postgraduate, PhD, and
public programs, the professional development
program broadens the Institute’s activities to the
professional sector through design research and
continuing education activities, and contracted
studies. The program focuses on the transmis-
sion and further advancement of the architectural
knowledge developed within the Institute’s research
trajectories into the professional sector; while, at
the same time, addressing new fields of specula-
tion and research that may eventually feed back
into the Institute’s other activities. The professional
development program is organized under the aus-
pices of Berlage Institute—Centre for Research and
Development (BI–CARD) and operates on the basis
of external funding and grants.
For more information, see p. 41
 First-year participants
conducting fieldwork in
Caracas, Venezuela

10

First-year participants on
an excursion to Zeeland,
the Netherlands
 Berlage Institute ­ About the Institute

Lecture by Michael Speaks in

spring 2009

11

The site of the 2008 Summer

School Restructuring Aleppo:
Research into the Grey City in
Aleppo, Syria
 Second-year participants during
a midterm presentation

12

A proposal for a mixed-use

residential intervention in
Oligata, outside Rome
 Berlage Institute ­ About the Institute

Berlage Institute studio First-year participants during

space in the former a final presentation
Spaarbank Building by
J. J. P. Oud

13

A series of interviews
conducted during fieldwork
in northeastern Brazil
 Lecture by Teddy Cruz in
spring 2009

14

The site of the 2008–2009

second-year studio Mexico
City: Territorial Densification
in the Cuauhtémoc District of
Mexico City
 Berlage Institute ­ About the Institute

The site of the 2008–2009

second-year studio Mexico
City: Territorial Densification
in the Cuauhtémoc District of
Mexico City

15

Caption to the diamant

First-year participants
shaped image, Teddy
conducting
Cruz masterfieldwork
class. in
Ningbo, China
Caption to the triangle
shaped image, Rome,
the Centers, Elsewhere
second-year research
project
 The Berlage Institute was established in 1990 to
promote excellence in architecture and urbanism.
Herman Hertzberger, the Institute’s first dean and
16 one of its founding fathers, established its worldwide
reputation as a place for discussion, reflection and
research on architecture and urbanism. In 1995, Wiel
Arets became the Institute’s second dean, introduc-
ing the opportunity to perform doctoral research in
conjunction with the Delft University of Technology.
Alejandro Zaera-Polo was named the third dean in
2002. During his tenure he restructured the Institute’s
activities to emphasis the connection of research to
professional practice. Building on this, the Institute
increased its profiled as a research institution.
Therefore, in 2007, the Berlage Institute
Research Board was established to serve as a
new and diverse leadership structure. The Berlage
Institute Research Board, presently consisting of Ben
van Berkel, Winy Maas, Robert E. Somol, Alejandro
Zaera-Polo, and Elia Zenghelis, establishes the
profile of the Institute by identifying new research
trajectories. Each member of the Research Board is
personally involved in one or more component of the
program. Under the direction of Vedran Mimica, the
program is developed in collaboration with the fac-
ulty, Pier Vittorio Aureli, Joachim Declerck, Salomon
Frausto, Roemer van Toorn, and Peter Trummer.
Leading and emerging voices and practicioners are
invited as visiting tutors or as guest lecturers to
generate an unparalleled research environment.
 Berlage Institute Recent postgraduate research projects

The following is a selection of postgraduate

research projects conducted at the Berlage
Institute during the 2008–2009 year. These
projects have been taken place in a collaborative
and experimental setting in order to provide the
next generation of architects and urbanists with
tools to better comprehend and intervene in the
complexity of contemporary life. Each of these
research projects overlaps into one or more of the
six distinct research trajectories: New live/work
conditions, tourism and territory, emerging tech-
nologies and techniques, structuring metropolitan
formations, cohabitation and conflict, and energy
and the built environment. The results of these
research projects were presented in the form of
seminars, workshops, exhibitions, and publica- 17
tions.
 Postgraduate program
Workshop
2008 Winter Term Palestine

Decolonizing Architecture

This one-week workshop investigated how to situation in Gaza; on the other, the reuse
reverse the deadlock and trauma of occupa- of facilities that tends to reproduce spatial
tion by imagining architectural scenarios aspects of colonial power relations. Believing
for decolonization. The rising duality of in the potential of existing forces to shape
our world is physically visible at specific reality, the starting point of this project will
places on the planet: the walls of Ceuta and be the strategy of subversion.
Melilla, the closing of Spanish enclaves from Two case studies explored that
Morocco, the sealing of “fortress Europe” speculate on the use of colonial architecture
from Africa, or the running fence between for purposes other than those they were
Mexico and the United States. But the spa- designed to perform. The first looked at the
tial divisions, inequalities, and exclusions in evacuated housing of the colonists in the
Palestine have a complexity that could pre- Psagot, Jabel Tawil/Ramallah region (the
figure a spatial order to come: the formation “north site”); and the second, the abandoned
of secured and networked pockets of wealth military structures of Oush Grab, the Crow’s
that form an archipelago as opposed to cut- Nest, in Beit Sahour (the “south site”). The
off enclaves of deprivation. In that respect, first imagined set of scenarios, the second a
the Palestinian occupied territories can be battleground between Palestinians who want
18 conceived as a laboratory of the spatial order to turn it into a public park and settlers who
of the twenty-first century, of an urbanism of try to claim it (escorted by the Israeli army).
exclusion and containment. It is an extreme This workshop accompanied an
spatial planning in which urbanism becomes exhibition of the same name entitled curated
a tool for occupation and colonization, or by Iwan Strauven and Lieven De Cauter
even the continuation of war by other means. (with assistance of Marie-Cécile Guyaux)
The workshop explored how Israeli and produced by Bozar in collaboration with
colonies and military bases—the architec- the Masarat Festival (an initiative of les
ture of Israel’s domination—could be reused, Halles) and the Brussels Biennale.
recycled, or re-inhabited by Palestinians
at the moment they are unplugged from
the military-political power that charges
them. The Bethlehem and London-based
architectural collaboration of Sandi Hilal,
Alessandro Petti, and Eyal Weizman used a
series of architectural proposals to open an
arena of speculation about possible futures
for Palestine. This approach seeks to avoid
two extremes: on the one hand, the destruc-
tion of evacuated infrastructures, like the

Tutors Wanyu He Guest critics Links

Lieven De Cauter, Brussels Kuniyoshi Katsu Joachim Declerck, faculty member, www.decolonizing.ps
Sandi Hilal, Bethlehem and London I-Chen Lee Berlage Institute
Alessandro Petti, Bethlehem and Sebastiano Manservisi Salomon Frausto, faculty member,
London Alessandro Martinelli Berlage Institute
Ayaka Matsuda Vedran Mimica, Director,
Participants Lukas Narutis Berlage Institute
Han Ju Chen June Young Park Roemer van Toorn, faculty member,
Shih-Yen Chiang Ioanna Volaki Berlage Institute
Jeong Eun Choi Wei Wang
Guillermo Delgado Jiong Wu
Maria Giudici
 Berlage Institute Recent postgraduate research projects

A proposal for implementing a strategy of unroofing and recycling of housing settlements in the Jabel Tawil/Ramallan region

19

02_thick cut 01_thin cut

A proposal to de-wall and de-parcelize housing settlements in the Jabel Tawil/Ramallan region
 Postgraduate program
Second-year research studio
Associative Design Research Program
2008–2009 academic year Mexico City, Mexico

Mexico City:
Territorial Densification

Within the last thirty years, the center of In the second term, participants based their
Mexico City has decayed due a series of envi- work on the fieldwork conducted in January
ronmental, economic, administrative, and of 2009 in Mexico City. The material manifes-
governmental processes that have led to its tation of the city’s decay was the focus of six
decline. Mexico City could be called a patho- case study zones within the district of Cuauh-
logical environment. Due to the historical and témoc. The aim of this research was to under-
current situation in which big capital institu- stand the potential of voids that the decay
tion, being either the municipality of the city, of the city has generated and the means by
as in the big housing project of Mario Pani, which each of the manzanas gives raise to the
or being it big developers or multinationals, way its layout of subdivision either increases or
that take large part of city fabric and develop decreased the potential of urban development.
it as an completely autarchic object, as in Participants projected new forms of
the example of the Mercedes Headquarter housing environments that unfolded urban
in Santa Fe, the research program takes the milieus, which were embedded within the bio-
position that the multiplication of individual physics of our cities. Based of the biophysical
rights, to own and develop land, has to the property of the city—either being it air, soil,
serve the city as a whole. water, voids, greenery, and patio colectivo—
20 This position is taken as a prelimi- each proposed prototypical project projected
nary conclusion of urban development within the construction of an urban milieu.
a city that lacks any form of governance. The
first phase of the studio focused on the forces
that have affected the population decline
within the central district of Cuauhtémoc
from Aztec times to the present. The second
phase investigate the material organization
of the city and its inhabitation. Participants
studied the way in which the city has grown in
terms of colonials, specifically looking at how
over time each has been organized differently
in relation to the grid of manzanas, or city
blocks. These city blocks are varied in size and
shapes, characterized by their specific subdi-
vision. Participants mapped the city’s popula-
tion distribution, economic properties, and the
environmental affects of water, air pollution,
wind circulation, soil conditions, and earth-
quake damages.

Tutor Participants Select guest critics Select experts

Peter Trummer Han Ju Chen Lawrence Barth, Architectural José Castillo, architect, Mexico City
Shih-Yen Chiang Association, London Alejandro Hernández, architect,
Jeong Eun Choi José Castillo, architect, Mexico City Mexico City
Wanyu He Alejandro Hernández, architect,
Kuniyoshi Katsu Mexico City
I-Chen Lee Jörg Leeser, partner, BeL/Sozietät für
Sebastiano Manservisi Architektur BDABDA, Cologne
Alessandro Martinelli Andreas Ruby, architecture critic and
Ayaka Matsuda theorist, Berlin
June Young Park Elia Zenghelis, architect and educator,
Athens and Brussels
 Berlage Institute Recent postgraduate research projects

Master plan for the Cuauhtémoc District of Mexico City. The proposal traces the relationship between earthquake intensities and theoretical maximum height of
a building, producing different densities of connection with the ground plane.

21
A proposal for mixed-use housing that investigates the building surface area in relation to greenery
 Postgraduate program
Second-year research studio
Capital Cities Research Program
2008–2009 academic year
Rome, the Center(s)
Elsewhere
The myth and historical aura of Rome is both
the source of its strength and the cause of its
impasse. The studio departed from this para-
dox. Since its constitution, Rome has been
an undeniably archetypical city, a city that
incarnates the meaning of “political form”—
the representative role of city form and archi-
tecture. Rome’s historical richness should not
be only understood through an art historical
reading, but also from the successive political
regimes that have chosen it as their symbolic
center. From the Roman Empire and Chris-
tianity to the Fascist regime and the Ital-
ian Republic, each political power that has
inhabited the city has redefined its political
charisma and the form of its architecture. The
dramatic vicissitudes that built the Rome we
22 know today demonstrate how its history is far
from a linear accumulation of beautiful and
spectacular interventions. The city has been a
battlefield of ideologies that have produced an
extraordinarily conflicting heritage. The use,
selection, and representation of this heritage
have formed a complexity of politics, projects,
transformations and manipulations that are
always at the core of any appropriation of
Rome’s myth. The relevance and importance
of this myth reaches far beyond local urban
interests and is bound to the fate and mean-
ing of today’s global civilization.
Contemporary Rome appears divided
into two sectors: the first is the city center
that has been conserved and restored as tour-
ist destination; and the second, the city’s
periferia that for a long time has been the
neglected subject of any cohesive architecture
and urban project.
Tutors Participants
Pier Vittorio Aureli Guillermo Delgado
Martino Tattara Maria Giudici
Suchada Kasemsap
Ioanna Volaki
Wei Wang
Jiong Wu
Rome, Italy
It is in this context that the possibility of new
territorial organizational principles and cohe-
sive architectural forms of living are explored.
The territorial dimension of the city— the
center and its peripheral settlements—is
addressed through the reinterpretation of the
Roman consular roads system. This is first
done by rethinking the city’s infrastructural
system to explore new means collective mobil-
ity along the consular roads in order to reduce
traffic and to determine a new palimpsest for
the redevelopment of the periferia. Secondly,
the open space structure—the remarkable
campagna romana—was understood as the
driving element in connecting and divid-
ing existing settlements in order to develop
a more equitable and sustainable urban
organization.
The studio foresaw a long-term sce-
nario where new forms of living introduced
a new type of collectivity into a society that
has grown very reluctant to it. These new cen-
tralities were not be defined as hubs, but as
dense places of living and working. They take
in consideration not only new infrastructure
accessibility, but also, and especially, what
seems to be the exceptional and yet not rec-
ognized quality of the territory around Rome:
its vast spots of emptiness. Instead of look-
ing at these voids as something to be “pro-
grammed,” they have been used as positive
obstructions to urban development. Thus the
very core was not to shift of emphasis from
the city center to its hinterland, but instead
focus on the imagination of new centralities as
the limit of the city.
Select guest critics Select experts
Lawrence Barth, Architectural Luca Galofaro, partner, IaN+, Rome
Association, London Gabriele Mastrigli, architecture critic,
Luca Galofaro, partner, IaN+, Rome Rome
Elias Guénoun, architecture critic and Luca Montuori, partner,
theorist, Paris 2tr architettura, Rome
Luca Montuori, partner,
2tr architettura, Rome
Andreas Ruby, architecture critic and
theorist, Berlin
Elia Zenghelis, architect and educator,
Athens and Brussels
 Berlage Institute Recent postgraduate research projects

Aerial view of proposed project for Castel Gandolfo at Lago Albano

Plan drawing of the patio-garden in relation to the exisiting urban situation

23

Proposed project for Castel Gandolfo at Lago Albano, view from Via Appia Proposed project for Castel Gandolfo at Lago Albano, view from Lago Albano
 Postgraduate program
Master class
spring 2009 term Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Radicalizing the Local:

Post–Bubble Urban Strategies

Participants on this ten-day master class nomic and social infrastructure around them.
looked at conflict as an operational device to At a time when the formal economic and
transform architectural practice. The purpose political institutions that have been producing
was to see if architects—at this juncture of the official large, hyper-development in many
economic crisis—can, in addition to designing contemporary cities have come to a stand still,
buildings, also participate in designing the it is important to re-evaluate the role of archi-
political and economic process. tects in rethinking the institutions of urban
The changing of geopolitical bound- development.
aries across continents, the unprecedented
shifting of socio-cultural demographics
produced by the ongoing explosion of urban-
ization across the world, and the current
economic crisis—everywhere—generate new
conditions that call into question traditional
methods of artistic and architectural inter-
vention in the city.  These intensified geo-
economic and political dynamics begin to
24 foreground once more the tensions between
the formal and the informal, the top down
totalizing institutions of land use and devel-
opment at the scale of the metropolitan and
bottom up agencies of social activism at the
scale of the neighborhood. Above all, the mul-
tiple forces of division at play across the globe
and in the contemporary city are producing a
crisis of both housing affordability and social
and public infrastructure. The main challenge
in our time, primarily when the paradigm
of private property has become unsustain-
able in conditions of poverty, is the need to
rethink existing conditions of ownership. This
series of seminars will be aim at redefining
affordability by amplifying the value of social
participation. The idea will be posited that
dwellers—in collaboration with community-
based, non-profit agencies—more than merely
“own” units, they can also co-own the eco-

Tutor Andreas Karavanas Jad Semaan Select guest critics

Teddy Cruz Joune Ho Kim Timur Shabaev Lieven de Cauter, philosopher,
Wonjin Kim Janki Shah Brussels
Participants Yong Il Kim Xiachao Song Ana Dzokic, principal, STEALTH
Itxaso Ceberio Bergés Takaomi Koibuchi Dae Hee Suk Group, Rotterdam
Wei Ting Chen Nara Lee Keming Wang Dennis Kaspori, founder, The Maze
Zetao Chen Chia-Shun Liao Ran Wu Corporation, Rotterdam
Pedram Dibazar Chen-Jung Liu Ryosuke Yago Jeanne van Heeswijk, artist,
Marco Galasso Fang Liu Xiaodi Yang Rotterdam
Wei-Jung Hsu Takeshi Murakuni Jungang Zhou Tahl Kaminer, Design and Theory
Dong Woo Kang Luca Picardi instructor, Delft School of Design,
Eunjin Kang Nuria Pujol Caire Delft University of Technology
 Berlage Institute Recent postgraduate research projects

A diagram depicting the Afrikaansemarkt in relation to governmental A diagram depicting the Afrikaansemarkt infrastructure in relation
authorities and representative stakeholders to the public sphere

National government
Eu
City level
City council
City council

Local level
Local council

Local traders

Police Young people

Market committee Shop seller
Shop seller
Market director City guards Market seller Park director
Market seller
Union (Muslim)

Union leader: rob

Dutch Cleaning contractor Market level
Afrikanerplein
Hindi Afrikanerplein
Neighbourhood
Neighbourhood Dutch
Muslim women
Muslim women
Freehouse Young people
Freehouse Young people

Stall contractor Park

Culture centre
Swimming pool
Culture centre Botanical garden
Botanical garden Local level
Library Sports hall
Library Sports hall Mosque
Mosque

City level

Other markets

Blaak market

A diagram, based on London’s specialized market system, reorganizing the daily activities and specificity of Afrikaansemarkt

Rotterdam
Blaak General
Afrikanerplein
West
Hoogvliet
Zuidwijk
Prins Alexanderpolder
Schiebroek
Overschie
IJsselmonde

25
Ommoord
Hoek van Holland
Schiedamse Antiques
Noordplein Farmer
Binnenrotte

London
Camden Lock Art, vintage, market hall
Church Street Fruit, fashion, bric-a-brac
Portobello Vintage, antiques/general
Shepherds Bush Local market, ethnic foods
Bayswater Road Painting, scultpure
Grays Antique Market Antiques
Antiquarius Antiques
Picadilly Antiques/general
Covent Gardens Tourist
Brixton Afro-carribean
Borough Market Gourmet food
Bermondsey Antiques
Petticoat Lane Asian
Upmarket Fashion
Spitafields Young designers/art/general
Brick Lane Anything and everything
Columbia Plants, garden
Camden Passage Books
Chapel General
Stables Fashion

Reprogram
Rotterdam
Blaak
Afrikanerplein
West
Hoogvliet
Zuidwijk
Prins Alexanderpolder
Schiebroek
Overschie
IJsselmnode
Ommoord
Hoek van Holland
Schiedamse
Noordplein
Binnenrotte

Afrikanerplein Current General General

Future General Hybrid Free market

 Postgraduate program
First-year research studio
spring 2009 term Rotterdam, the Netherlands

H2OBITAT:
Living with Water

Confronting cutting-edge ecological knowl- Dutch architectural history and the societal
edge with critical design proposals, this models that have led to the present-day built
first-year postgraduate research studio inves- environment.
tigated to what extent new ecological parame- This studio, although driven by
ters and sustainable opportunities can change today’ s hottest “design driver” (eco-friendly
the current cultural outlook on the definition design), also just as much focused on the
of housing. The intention was to investigate things that make architecture brutal, banal,
how the shift of view can introduce new quali- and slow: its users, its scale, its inertia, etc..
ties and relations, how it can break open what Therefore, the studio dealt with these issues in
exists. a very specific and contextual way by relating
The Netherlands has always been a to the Rotterdam Climate Initiative; by deal-
designed country. Architecture is valued here ing with real stakeholders like the city of Rot-
because it is a necessity. Without design (and terdam, ARUP Amsterdam, and select Dutch
architecture) the country would only partially housing corporations; and by developing pro-
exist. Intrinsic to the studio was the belief posals for the Maashaven and the Rijnhaven
that the artificial can become a natural part in Rotterdam. Participants had the opportu-
of life (this pro-active attitude will serve as nity to directly engage with reality in order
26 the mental backdrop of the studio). However, to propose an architecture that goes beyond
the studio also took the a critical view on the reaffirming what already exists.
Dutch legacy that architecture should always
be new, more an engineering result then an
artistic product. The studio is also questioned
to what extent can architecture reduce C02.
Shifting from a rather homogeneous
society to a fragmented cluster of subcultures
and target groups, the Netherlands is no
longer able to cater to difference. The studio
looked for a precise way of approaching the
problem of difference, freeing architecture
from the hyper-specific marketing point of
view. At the same time, the studio produced
urbanity from the urban to architectural to
ecological scales of size and space. All design
proposals dealt with the issue of housing in
relation the frictions between social rela-
tionships and spatial organizations. They
were backed up by an in-depth survey of

Tutors Participants Select guest critics Select expert

Freek Persyn Zetao Chen Filip Geerts, Assistant Professor, ARUP, Amsterdam
Laurens Tait Fang Liu Delft University of Technology
Marco Galasso Nico Tellie, Ds+V, Rotterdam
Wei-Jung Hsu Teun van den Dries, ARUP,
Nara Lee Amsterdam
Chia-Shun Liao Alexander Van Dam, Dura Vermeer
Takeshi Murakuni Mariet Schoenmakers, Director, AM
Timur Shabaev Jaap Wiedenhoff, ARUP,
Ryosuke Yago Amsterdam
 Berlage Institute Recent postgraduate research projects

A proposed neighborhood that integrates a water battery program

27
Aerial view of neighborhood integrating public plaza with water battery program
 Postgraduate program
First-year research studio
2008 Winter term Northeast Brazil

When Economies Become

Form: Micro-economic Models as
Spatial Prescriptions in Northeast Brazil
In a time of global economic challenges— Participants investigated twelve meta-topics
paralleled by a resource crisis as the result of via micro-economies in which content-pro-
an increasing awareness regarding the looming ductions became formal interventions and
depletion of crude oil—there is arguably the spatial prescriptions. Individual interventions
potential for a reverse globalization: that of arose out of explorations considered on local,
extreme locality and context produce. While regional, and super regional scales, which will
international trading, shipping, and physical in turn be considered as an accumulation or
logistics are becoming increasingly expensive, composite to produce a new, generative layer
even tax-exempted islands of economic poten- for the (sub-) region.
tial will no longer hold true to their visionary The site of intervention was consid-
frameworks. When transport becomes a luxury, ered both physical and strategic, within the
economies will thrive locally. Such an exacer- given locale of Duas Barras, Poxim, Coruripe,
bation of localities arises in tandem with the Alagoas, Northeast Brazil and that of genera-
reverse logic and proliferation global tourism. tive micro-economies on local, regionale, and
When paradise becomes generic, the touristic supra-regional scales. Fieldwork to Brazil took
and market value placed on the local, and local- place during the last week of March.
ities, proliferates.
28 There is an odd notion hidden in this
appeal of localities. We are skeptical about
intervening in foreign lands. One should try
to avoid the risks of authenticity and progress
turning into the opposite of what they promise,
i.e., either mimicking local customs by emulat-
ing their formal characteristics, or introducing
planning frameworks that result in a pretense
of heterogeneity through individual pedigree
architectures.
This eighteen-week first-year post-
graduate research studio investigated a strategy
for local intervention. The current economic
climate and emergence of six resorts within
the emerging sub-urban economy of Northeast
Brazil, which has proven resilient to the current
economic crisis, was invoked as a case study.
The six-star Duas Barras resort under develop-
ment along Alagoas’ s 143 miles of unspoiled
coast provided a backdrop for investigation.

Tutors Participants Guest critics Experts

Tina DiCarlo Itxaso Ceberio Bergés Joachim Declerck, faculty member, Itacare Capital Fund, real estate
Markus Miessen Pedram Dibazar Berlage Institute developer, Brazil
Dong Woo Kang Salomon Frausto, faculty member, Zak Kyes, communication designer,
Joune Ho Kim Berlage Institute London
Yong Il Kim Jorg Leeser, principal of BeL, Michael Speaks, Dean, University of
Chen-Jung Liu Cologne Kentucky College of Design
Janki Shah Vedran Mimica, Director, Berlage Steve Teruggi, consultant and
Xiachao Song Institute partner, Winkreative
Keming Wang Roemer van Toorn, faculty member,
Xiaodi Yang Berlage Institute
 Berlage Institute Recent postgraduate research projects

A proposal for a flexible spatial and programmatic open-air market structure

Poxim

29

Potential transformations of View of corridor

flexible structure
Frames structure

RUPTURING BOUNDARIES
 Postgraduate program
First-year research studio
spring 2009 term Ningbo, China

Bridging Untroubled Waters:

The Ningbo Mall as a Quest for Alternative
Strategies in Open Space Development
The Chinese city of Ningbo, located 200 km
south of Shanghai is an affluent city known
for its rivers and tradition of trade. It has been
a major center of Chinese light industry in
for the past two decades and is now prepar-
ing itself for its postindustrial age.Therefore,
a huge financial investment is being made to
transform the city into a culture-oriented and
environment-friendly new habitat with the
construction of the Ningbo mall.
The Ningbo mall is located in the
southern district of Yinzhou. It is a 1.5 km-
long flood bed containing branched water sys-
tems, stretching from a three-hectare public
park to the city’s second largest river.Accord-
ing to the city’s master plan, it will be reserved
for a 300-meter wide public open space with
30 mid-rise to high-rise buildings developed on
both its sides.
In contemporary China, too many
urban waterfront development projects have
been imposed by functional planning and
a strict gridiron—with relatively moderate
and untroubled water systems—and resulted
in various forms of monumentality.Thereby,
leading to the homogenization of these raw
territories once and for all. It is time to recon-
sider this type of artificial intervention and to
rethink the city as a part of the natural system.
The Ningbo mall provides the good opportu-
nity to challenge the popular strategies, and
to explore new potentials of sustainability.The
mall is the ideal testing ground bed for new
design strategies that deal with the last trends
in the contemporary architecture debate:
sustainability, reclamation, density, scale, and
networks.

Tutor Participants Select guest critics

Rients Dijkstra Wei Ting Chen Adrian Hornsby, critic, London
Eunjin Kang Hiroki Matsuura, partner, Maxwan,
Assistant Andreas Karavanas Rotterdam
Thomas Stellmach Takaomi Koibuchi Patrick McCabe, partner, Redscape,
Luca Picardi Rotterdam
Nuria Pujol
Jad Semaan
Dae Hee Suk
Ran Wu
Jungang Zhou
 Berlage Institute Recent postgraduate research projects

A selection of different strategies for how the proposed site may be occupied

31

Proposed master plan for the Ningbo Mall, China

 Winter 2009 term first-year postgraduate research studios
Eura-ring Lille: City after Euralille, led by Petar Zaklanovic
and Markus Appenzeller
The 900-KM Nile City, led by Pier Paolo Tamburelli and Oliver Thill
Skill Bill: The Possibility of Mixed-use Structures
in Rotterdam, led by Rients Dijkstra
Stranger Than Fiction: Welcome to Los Angeles,
led by Christophe Cornubert

Winter 2009 term Projective Theory seminars

The Other Image: The Politics of Appearance,
seminar sessions with George Baird, Edward Dimendberg, and Andreas Ruby;
convened by Roemer van Toorn
Modernity and its Discontent: Architectural
(Op)positions Revisited, led by Roemer van Toorn
The Subversion of Architecture? The Architecture
32
of Subversion, led by Lieven De Cauter

2009–2010 yearlong second-year postgraduate research studios

Environments of Collectivity: The Tourism Resort
and the City, led by Olaf Gisper
Metropolitan Imprints: New Workspace Architecture
in Hybrid Environments, led by Dietmar Leyk
Radical Realism: Vienna, led by Peter Trummer
 Berlage Institute Program 2009–2012

The Berlage Institute continues the tradition of Dutch archit­

ecture and urbanism with an international perspective. From
H.P. Berlage’s three American lectures greatly influencing the
foundation of modernist discourse at the turn of the twentieth
century, and Mart Stam traveling to Russia to collaborate
with El Lissitsky on new urban issues, to Van Eesteren and
Van Lohuizen’s urban research on Amsterdam impacting the
agenda of CIAM and the thinking of Le Corbusier, and van
Eyck’s call for the return of humanism to architectural design,
to Hertzberger’s reconsideration of spatial frameworks, and
Koolhaas’s delirious reading of New York as the ultimate
capitalist city, Dutch architects and urbanists have had a
tremendous impact on the international debate and practice
of architecture. Many Dutch-based architects continue to
teach, research, and build internationally.

As the transformations of the built environment become

increasingly complex and ambitious, the professional sectors
of architecture tend to break down into distinct specializations.
The challenge for architectural research is to directly engage
with these transformations while simultaneously developing
new types of architectural knowledge. The Berlage Institute
sets up the context for its researchers to test and communicate
models, insights, and principles that focus on Dutch-related
architectural and urban issues in relation to a global
perspective.

33
 Research policy
Development of new
architectural knowledge
The rapidly changing field of spatial practices makes
evident that architecture is no longer produced within a
closed body of knowledge. Therefore, the Berlage Institute
organizes its activities according to a set of defined
research trajectories. The aim is to address supra-disciplin­
ary knowledge, by relating the research ambitions to other
disciplines (economy, sociology, etc.), and sub-disciplinary
knowledge, by focusing on specific aspects of architectural
production (planning, organization, representation, typol­
ogy, etc.). Within each of the different research trajectories,
a deeper understanding will be built up through expert
lectures, theory seminars, reviews by specialists and
fieldwork.
2009–2012 Program
Building on the positive experience of the past years with
the focused research activities of the Capital Cities and the
Associative Design Research Programs, the Berlage
Institute structures its laboratory according to six research
trajectories. The six distinct research trajectories include:
new live/work conditions, tourism and territory, emerging
technologies and techniques, structural metropolitan for­
mations, cohabitation and conflict, and energy and the
built environment. While developing specific insights to
each respective trajectory, the Institute’s research activities
collectively aim to advance new models, visions, and prin­
ciples able to be able to frame the different forces shaping
the contemporary built environment.
Each of these trajectories addresses a precise research
subject related to a contemporary spatial development or
phenomenon that requires architectural reflection and
speculation. The activities under each trajectory consist of
research studios, contract research initiatives, a lecture
program, and other related public events, publications,
and PhD research. For the duration of the 2009–2012
program, specialists and external parties related to the
phenomenon under study will be intimately engaged in
establishing the research goals and hypotheses to increase
the insights and knowledge in each research trajectory.
Description of research trajectories:
New live/work conditions
34 An aging population, an increasing middle class in emerg­
ing economies, vast collective housing developments along
urban edges, and the connection of living spaces to office
spaces are but a few of the challenges to the contempo­
rary city. While it is a massive part of architectural produc­
tion, at a time when societal constellations and living
patterns change rapidly, the very base of the city—hous­
ing—has not often been a topic of architectural innovation
and speculation. This research trajectory addresses the
implications of new live/work conditions on the territory
and the city. Building upon the significant Dutch neighbor­
hood planning tradition, this trajectory develops new
models to transform existing housing environments and
new forms of habitation.
Tourism and territory
As the world’s second largest economy, tourism impacts
the development of both cities and landscapes around the
globe by turning these locations into destinations for an
ever more mobile and increasing number of travelers.
With developing countries simultaneously growing as
tourist destinations (and also representing a rapidly
growing number of tourists), the tourism economy will con­
tinue to challenge the development of the built environ­
ment over the coming years. The prospect of further
growth makes long-term, socially and ecologically sustain­
able collaborations between the tourism industry and the
host societies and territories are vital. While tourism tends
to isolate specific experiences and places for the travelers
to consume, the importance of this long-term participation
of the tourist industry in the development of cities and land­
scapes necessitates the development of new cohesive
models.
Emerging technologies and techniques
The evolution of construction techniques and principles are
in part responsible for the advancement of architectural
history and practice. The advent of today’s digital culture
has altered technologies for conceiving and designing the
built environment thus opening up a new field of specula­
tion for the manufacturing and building of architecture and
cities. This research trajectory expands upon the know-
ledge gained in the Associative Design Research Program
and explores the possibilities and the impact of emerging
technologies and techniques in redefining the sustainable
and public aspects of architectural and urban compositions.
Structuring metropolitan formations
In search of economic prosperity, people, and industries
are massively migrating to urban centers. While this devel­
opment applies pressure to the scale of European cities—
causing the formation of small metropolises and regional
conurbations—in Latin America and southeast Asia these
migrating populations settle in ad hoc dwellings to form
increasingly vast favelas, shanty towns, or informal cities
along urban peripheries or in between structured parts of
metropolises. Both of these migratory fluxes challenge the
existing scales of their respective cities, necessitating plan­
ning methods able to address comprehensively the trans­
formation of these conurbations into a larger urban form.
While informal settlements are often accepted to be a con­
clusive form of urbanization of large parts of worldwide
 Berlage Institute Program 2009-2012

metropolises and megalopolises, this research trajectory Dutch international platform

aims to develop planning techniques and architectural Dutch architecture and urban culture has never limited
projects that structurally address the scalar increases of itself to local issues; in fact, its respective innovation has
cities and their respective territorial inequalities. The result been dependent on its international outlook. In a glo­
is to establish territorial cohesion through public infrastruc­ balized world, the Dutch context cannot limit itself to
tures, spaces and built form. national boundaries in relation to cultural, socio-economic,
and environmental issues. It is pertinent to collaborate and
Cohabitation and conflict share knowledge and expertise with colleagues and insti­
The pervasion of neo-liberal globalization has led to a tutions worldwide. The Institute aims for exchange
growing inequality between different populations through­ between other worldwide experiences and established
out the world. This condition not only traces dividing lines traditions as well as the distribution of Dutch local exper­
between country borders, like in the cases of Ceuta and tise in urban planning, public housing, and design to gain
Tijuana, but more and more it also fragments cities and broader awareness of the built environment.
megalopolises in both the “West” and “South” of the
world. This research trajectory develops its architectural
speculation around the territories where real or implicit
conflicts arise—the places where extremes touch. This tra­
jectory aims to develop counter-projects against the seclud­
ing devices that protect one social group or society against
another, while at the same time envisioning spaces of
potential cohabitation. By addressing the spaces of direct
confrontation and conflict as the locus of architectural spec­
ulation, this trajectory will develop a number of emblem­
atic projects that will at once critique today’s economic and
political inequalities, and propagate alternative models for
urban spaces and strategies of cohabitation.

Energy and the built environment

Sustainability and ecology are today at the crux of archi­
tectural discourse and urban political rhetoric. But often
their “green” character is only a cladding and selling of
cosmetic ecological skins. Even if these skins constitute
remarkable technological advancements, a step forward
to another level of action must be developed. This research
trajectory proposes to move away from the image of sus­
tainability. It will focus on energy efficiency and its respec­
tive architectural/urban composition and organization.
Based on energy models, this investigation will first
develop abstract organizational principles related to
higher energy efficiency. These principles will then be
deployed and articulated into concrete urban and architec­
tural settings. This research trajectory will ground a more
structural debate on the impact of energy efficiency on
architecture and urban planning as well as simultaneously
measure the social and cultural aspects of the proposed
organizational principles.

35
36

A selection of photographs depicting various

activities, including fieldwork, seminar discussions,
studio presentations, and public events, at the
Berlage Institute
Berlage Institute Program 2009–2012

37
 Implementation of research policy
Postgraduate Program
The postgraduate program of the Berlage Institute pro­
vides the next generation of architects and urbanists
with tools to better comprehend and intervene in the
complexity of contemporary life. Study is conducted in an
in-depth collaborative and experimental setting. This two-
year research program is structured around three design
research studios, a series of history and theory seminars,
fieldwork, and master classes. Participants take part in
two one-term studios in the first year and one yearlong
studio in the second year. A series of public colloquia, lec­
tures and exhibitions complements the research program.
First-year research program
During the first year, participants are involved in one
of two offered design research studios per term, which
relate to different urban conditions and design issues.
Participants take part in situational research by develop­
ing knowledge bottom up, and in subjective research,
by gaining knowledge top down. This research targets
generic fields of knowledge and tests them with site-
specific application. The aim is to test the potential of
speculative design research on specific architectural and
urban conditions. Working in an immersive and collabo­
rative environment, first-year participants explore real
urban conditions by applying professional techniques and
approaches. These studios focus on subjects such as cul­
tural, technological, and typological analyses in relation
to the Institute’s overall research trajectories.
Recent first-year design research studios include:
Bridging Untroubled Waters: The Ningbo Mall as a Quest
for Alternative Strategies in Open Space Development,
led by Rients Dijkstra
H2OBITAT: Living with Water, led by Freek Persyn and
Laurens Tait
Hong Kong Fantasies, led by Winy Maas
When Economies Become Form: Micro-Economic Models
as Spatial Prescriptions in Northeast Brazil, led by
Tina DiCarlo and Markus Miessen
Second-year research program
Second-year participants engage in one of a minimum of
two yearlong design research studios offered. Focusing
on issues related to the transformation of the contem­
38 porary built environment, knowledge is developed
that better bridges speculative and actual architectural
production. The program establishes innovative connec­
tions between new and existing large-and small-scale
planning techniques to explore urban development situ­
ations. Aspects of the second-year research program
are organized in consultation with first-year participants.
Participants engage in a collaborative research process
with a focus on individual growth. Each year, participants
perform extensive fieldwork, consisting of workshops, lec­
tures, and excursions, related to the elected studio topic.
Recent second-year design research studios include:
Mexico City: Territorial Densification, led by Peter Trummer
Rome, the Center(s) Elsewhere, led by Pier Vittorio Aureli and
Martino Tattara
Projective Theory Program
The Projective Theory Program offers a series of theoreti­
cal and historical seminars to mobilize theory and acti­
vate history by developing innovative forms of aesthetic,
urban, and architectural knowledge to seek new political
opportunities in architectural production. It establishes a
framework for understanding how creative practices—
through their situated, embodied and contained knowl­
edge within the order of things—have a chance to succeed
in building a progressive future. Seminars framed around
key issues related to the various research trajectories are
developed in close collaboration with the research studio
tutors.
Recent seminars include:
Reality Demands a Theory, led by Roemer van Toorn
About Berlage, led Thomas A. P. van Leeuwen
The Return to the State of Nature, led by Lieven De Cauter
and Rudi Laermans
Master classes
The Institute organizes two intensive one-week master
classes per year led by architects as well as professionals
from related fields. One master class is organized around
a design assignment; the other emphasizes a theoretical
issue. The results of selected master classes are published
and/or exhibited and may be further developed in the
regular studio program. Master classes are open to a
limited number of external participants.
Recent master classes include:
Radicalizing the Local: Post–Bubble Urban Strategies,
led by Teddy Cruz
The Politics of the Envelope, led by Alejandro Zaera-Polo
Fieldwork
Prior to the completion of the first term of the second-
year program, participants take part in an international
fieldwork related to their elected research trajectory.
Participants broaden and expand their acquaintance with
international practices, cultural institutions and universities
by attending workshops, seminars, lectures and excur­
sions organized by the Institute in close association with
local authorities and leading practitioners. In the last two
years, participants took part in fieldwork in Beijing, Berlin,
Brasilia, Hong Kong, London, Mexico City, Moscow, New
York, Paris, Phoenix, Rome, and Seoul.
 Berlage Institute
PhD Program
The Berlage Institute offers a PhD program in conjunc­
tion with the Faculty of Architecture of Delft University
of Technology. Presently, there are two different ways
to obtain a PhD from the Institute. The first is through
individual doctoral studies and the second through
participation in The City as a Project PhD program. The
PhD program is meant to function in close relationship
with the postgraduate program. PhD candidates are
encouraged to take part in design studio presentations
and other related postgraduate events.
Individual doctoral studies
The possibility to perform individual doctoral research
is open to a limited number of candidates with an
extensive list of previously published work. Research
conducted is meant to be critical, progressive, and
speculatively risk-taking. The emphasis is meant to be
on the development of spatial interventions or sce­
narios, rather than on a written dissertation alone. The
research is performed on an individual basis at the
Berlage Institute and is guided by the Berlage Chair
Professor at the Delft University of Technology, cur­
rently Alejandro Zaera-Polo. Candidates are selected
by invitation only.
Recently defended dissertations:
The Possibility of Absolute Architecture
Pier Vittorio Aureli
Defended on October 10, 2005
 
The Liberal Monument: A Definition of Urban Design as
the Manifestation of Romantic Late-Modernism
Alexander D’Hooghe
Defended on November 19, 2007
Histories of the Immediate Present:
Inventing Architectural Modernism, 1930–1975
Anthony Vidler
Defended on October 25, 2005
Dissertations in preparation:
Noise Enclaves
Miguel Robles-Duran
Aesthetics as Form of Politics:
Fresh Conservatism or Radical Democracy?
Roemer van Toorn
Population Thinking in Architecture
Peter Trummer
Coastline Ecologies: The Case Study of Croatia
Sasha Zanko
Program 2009–2012
The City as a Project doctoral research
Launched during the 2009–2010 year, this research is
conceptualized to understand the city’s form as an act
that defines a political intentionality. Thus establishing
a precondition for engagement with the city’s complex
nature. A fundamental issue at stake is form in relation
to the political. The term “city” is defined not as a mere
mass of flows and programs but as a political form.
The terms political and form are assumed to be the fun­
damental criteria that construct the essence of the city.
If the essence of political action is the attempt to project
a form of coexistence among individuals, it may be
said that architectural form inevitably implies a politi­
cal vision. Even if there is no political architecture, there
is certainly a political way of making and reading
architectural form. Far from being just an aesthetic
category, physical form represents the political under­
standing of the city as a constant dialectic process of
inclusion and exclusion. This commitment to formal and
material responsibility is meant to be a departure from
the laissez-faire rhetoric of flexibility and indetermina­
cy that has paralyzed recent discussion on the city.
The three-year program is organized and structured
as a critical forum where participants are asked not
only to pursue their individual studies but also to share
these studies as part of a collective debate. Candidates
are not full time, but required to take part in all these
events. Participation consists of individual tutorials with
the supervisor, monthly seminars with invited guest
scholars, a yearly international colloquium, and sym­
posia. These activities are venues for discussion and
constitute occasions for candidates to deliver content
related to his or her thesis in the form of presentations,
papers, and publishable essays.
The program begins with a limited number of candi­
dates. Each year after, a selection of new candidates
will be accepted. For more information on application
procedures, deadlines, and other pertinent informa­
tion, please consult www.berlage-institute.nl/applying
The following dissertation topics have been submitted
to the program:
The Concept of Continuity in Urban Morphology, Bernardina
Borra; Beyond Public Space: Autonomous Common Space
and Insurgent Ecologies, Amir Djalali; Mass-produced
Classicism: Rethinking the Relationship Between Economy and
Architecture, Fernando Donis; Commonplace: Rethinking the
Architecture of the Street, Maria S. Giudici; The Colonization of
the Greek Polis: The Greek State and the Political Form of the
City, Platon Issaias; Between Power and Control: Typological 39
Ideas from and for the City, Christopher CM Lee; Tehran has
a Coast: Geopolitics of a Megalopolis in Formation, Hamed
Khosravi; A Justicing Notebook: Authority, Conflict, and
Control in Chicago’s Politics and Architecture since the 1900s,
Kathleen O’Donnell; Typical Plan: Architecture of Labor and
the Space of Production, Francesco Marullo; The Resistance of
Architecture to Political Regime(s): The Case of Novi Zagreb,
Dubravka Vranic
 Implementation of research policy
Public Program
The architectural and urban research, ideas, and projects
pursued at the Institute are expanded, consolidated, and
complemented for presentation to a global audience
through a series of architectural broadcasting initiatives.
This content is disseminated as public events, print and
digital publications, and online interactivity.
Public events
From lectures and round-table discussions to exhibitions
and conferences, each year a public program of events
complements the research topics presently being pursued
at the Berlage Institute. Each term, a lecture series is pre­
sented framed around a central topic.
Recent lecture series:
Risky Business: Architecture and Economies of Means
This lecture series focused on the cultural dimension of architecture in
relation to its economic organization. From balancing public policy
with private investment interests and to rethinking the relationship
between architect and client, each lecturer look at the influence of
a globally market-driven world in relation to the construction of the
built environment. Lecturers included Wiel Arets, principal, Wiel Arets
Architects; Keller Easterling, Associate Professor of Architecture, Yale
University; and Reinhold Martin, Associate Professor of Architecture,
Columbia University.
Form and Figures: Exploring Architectural Language
This lecture series brought together architects, urbanists, designers,
and scholars to present languages, thoughts, and representations
that successively contribute to the historical and contemporary canon
of architecture culture. The series aimed to individuate modes of
articulation that implicitly, rather than explicitly, serve as frameworks
and reference points for the debate within the discipline of archi­
tecture. Lecturers included Alan Colquhoun, Emeritus Professor of
Architecture, Princeton University; Hubert Damisch, Faculty member,
École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris; Mary McLeod,
Professor of Architecture, Columbia University, Vincent de Rijk, model
maker; and Hans Werlemann, photographer and filmmaker.
Fabricators of Ideology and Architectural Education
This three-part lecture and seminar program, initiated in spring of
2009 and to continue until spring of 2010, brings together those
architects who are the protagonists of architectural ideology and
education during the last half-century to discuss their influence on
contemporary theorists, critics, and practitioners. The aim is to trace
a historical trajectory based on the fifty-year teaching experience
of Elia Zenghelis. The series includes the participation of many of
the protagonists—both practitioners and theorists—that fashioned
this historical trajectory. Many of these protagonists are still prac­
ticing and all have been involved in search for, or critique, of a
paradigm. Most importantly, all are educators. Participants in the
program to date include Andrea Branzi, architect, Milan; Peter
Cook, architect, London; Kenneth Frampton, Ware Professor of
40 Architecture, Columbia University; and Herman Hertzberger, archi­
tect, Amsterdam.
Publications
The Institute’s flagship publication is Hunch. Each issue
includes contributions on a selected topic as well as other
wide-ranging columns, essays, interviews, and design
projects. In addition to publishing Hunch twice a year,
the Institute releases The Berlage Papers at the beginning
of each term. This broadsheet highlights recent news,
announcements, previews and reviews related to the
Institute’s activities.
In 2009, the Institute initiated a publishing agreement with
NAi Publishers to be publish Hunch and two new book
series. The first will present selected research activities
produced by Institute faculty, participants, and affiliates.
To reach a wider and more diverse readership, a pocket-
size book series will also be launched. Each paperback
volume will present a single essay by leading as well as
emerging scholars and practitioners; along with supple­
mental material.
Recent publications:
Hunch 12 Bureaucracy
This issue presents twelve contributions by leading and emerging
architects, critics, and scholars that explore the role of bureaucracy
in shaping contemporary architecture. From governmental regula­
tions and new organizational models for professional practice to
contrasting forms of urbanism and divergent interpretations of eco­
nomic value in relation to cultural capital, the authors focus on how
select determinants affect the built environment. At the same time
they rethink these processes in order to influence the buildings and
cities of today and tomorrow. Along with these topical contributions—
which are supplemented by marginalia of short stories, annotations,
terminologies, and inventories—four 1,000-word texts and a visual
essay complement the issue to reflect on broader theoretical aspects
of architecture culture.
Hunch 13 Consensus
From decision-making strategies, participatory forms of urbanism,
and top-down planning methods, to the collaborative process of the
architecture studio, the political implications of commissioning of star
architects, and the actualization of universal planning principles, the
contributors focus on how collective thought influences and enriches
the development, design, and planning of cities. Along with the topi­
cal contributions—which are supplemented by marginalia of annota­
tions, inventories, terminologies, and short stories—the issue also
presents a series of “peripheralia,” consisting of four conversations
with renowned architectural theorists and practitioners, and a visual
essay and text reconsidering the role of images in architectural his­
tory and theory.
Digital program
The website www.berlage-institute.nl is designed to be the
central hub in the network connecting the Institute’s past
and present production with a greater architectural audi­
ence. It is also a tool for the archiving and exhibiting of
the research projects pursued at the Institute. The website
presents live streaming of public events and a selection
of video featuring past events. In the future, it will also
feature blogs, topic-oriented bulletin boards and partici­
pant-generated video.
 Berlage Institute
Professional Development
Program
Complementary to the postgraduate, PhD, and public
programs, the professional development program broad­
ens the Institute’s activities to the professional sector. The
program focuses on the transmission and further advance­
ment of the architectural knowledge developed within the
Institute’s research trajectories into the professional sector;
while, at the same time, addressing new fields of specula­
tion and research that may eventually feed back into the
Institute’s other activities. The professional development
program is organized under the auspices of Berlage
Institute—Centre for Research and Development (BI–CARD)
and operates on the basis of external funding and grants.
On the one hand, the Institute opens its laboratory to
architectural practitioners, practices, and other related
organizations engaged in the production of the built envi­
ronment by organizing professionally-oriented seminars,
conferences, master classes, and design research projects.
The aim is to provide the opportunity for professionals
to further explore their design intentions, techniques, or
ambitions as well as to broaden their expertise and knowl­
edge. On the other hand, the Institute directly contributes
to the development of the built environment by execut­
ing contracted studies and research for both the public
and private sectors, often in close collaboration with the
Institute’s other programs.
Design research activities
The Institute coordinates, often in collaboration with
national and international partners, design research activi­
ties open to practicing architects, urban planners, and
landscape architects. Often based on international calls
for participation, they explore architectural challenges and
trends in urban development that countries, regions, or
cities are confronted with by setting up a collective reflec­
tion and speculation to project alternatives for the future
development of those areas. These activities simultane­
ously allow for the selected practitioners to develop new
architectural ideas and urban principles that aim to contrib­
ute to the development of the discipline overall as well as
to nurture their respective professional practice.
Croatian Archipelago New Lighthouses
Croatian Archipelago New Lighthouses is a joint project by the Berlage
Institute Rotterdam and the Croatian Architects’ Association focus­
ing on the process of development of the cities and landscape along
the Croatian coast, part of the Mediterranean that is still considered
rather “virginal”. In order to investigate alternative models of devel­
opment, CANL realized urban redevelopment projects for seven
concrete locations along the coast, in close cooperation with the local
municipalities. www.croatianarchipelago.com
City Visions Europe:
Bordeaux, Kosice, Mechelen, Plzen
The 18-month program City Visions Europe, running from autumn
2008 to spring 2010, is focused on the role of architectural specula­
tions in relation to evolution of the European city. It will provoke
public debate on the future of four mid-sized cities that have been
Program 2009–2012
candidates to become European Capital of Culture: Kosice (Slovakia),
Bordeaux (France), Mechelen (Belgium), and Plzen (Czech Republic).
It offers the framework for exchange between eight selected archi­
tects and cities to develop, present, and debate speculative architec­
tural ideas on the future of these cities as well as the European city in
general. www.cityvisionseurope.eu
Continuing education activities
The continuing education activities organized by the
Institute are open to participation for architects, urban
planners, and other related professionals, such as project
developers, public planning officers and political decision-
makers. The program consists of a series of intensive semi­
nars, colloquia, and master classes, giving participants the
opportunity to collaborate with distinguished colleagues
and experts on planning and design issues of mutual inter­
est. The courses focus on teamwork, strengthening the
international orientation of participants, and contributing
to professional performance at the highest level.
Hospital Master Class I: Evidence Based Design
This one-week master class, held in January of 2008, was organized
in collaboration with the Dutch Center for Health Assets (DuCHA) and
led by Kirk Hamilton, professor, Center for Health Design, Texas A&M
University.  Participants focused on intensive care unit design and
reflected on the theory and practice in architects’ use of evidence.
Corporations and Cities
The Faculty of Architecture at the Delft University of Architecture, in
collaboration with the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, organized a
three-day colloquium, entitled Corporations and Cities: Envisioning
Corporate Real Estate in the Urban Future, held in May of 2008. This
event brought together international professionals, policy makers,
researchers, and scholars in the fields of corporate accommodation,
real estate, organizational management, urban planning, architec­
ture, and other disciplines related to the built environment to consider
the relations between urban planning and the accommodation of
large-scale organizations.
For more information see www.corporationsandcities.org
Contracted studies
The Institute responds to international requests for propos­
als and tenders, and executes commissioned studies and
contracted services. Leading and emerging profession­
als, consisting of Institute alumni and other collaborators,
are responsible for the execution of these activities, while
the subject of the study is explored in the postgraduate
program. When appropriate, the institute also invites
architectural practices, consultancy offices, and other insti­
tutions active in complementary fields of knowledge to
collaborate.
Third International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam
Power—Producing the Contemporary City
The Berlage Institute was invited to curate the Third International 41
Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, entitled Power—Producing the
Contemporary City, in 2007. The event consisted of four exhibitions,
an international master class, a conference, a lecture program aimed
at exploring the role that architects can play in envisioning and
projecting the development of cities.
For more information see www.2007.iabr.nl
42
Berlage Institute Program 2009–2012

Clockwise: History and Future of the European

City exhibition in Mechelen; discussion related to
the first-year studio Rethinking the All-Inclusive:
New Coastal Tourism Resort Development,
taught by Saffet K. Bekiroglu and Olaf Gisper
and ; launch of Hunch 12; installation at the 2007
Venice Architecture Biennale, cover of Hunch
12, exhibition of the first-year studio Amsterdam
Zuidas: Transfer Node taughy by Ben van Berkel,
Caroline Bos, and Olaf Gisper; final presentation
of a master class; a proposal for a shared work/
live urban intervention in Seoul; lecture by Keller
Easterling.

43
 Facilities

Building Opening hours

Located in Rotterdam, a city noted for its modern
architecture, the Berlage Institute is housed in the former
Spaarbank building designed by the renowned architect
J. J. P. Oud and completed in 1954. Participants work in
a communal studio space in the building’s sky-lit main
banking hall.
The Institute’s office is open Monday through Friday, from
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and closed on public holidays.
Access to the studio space is open twenty-four-hours,
seven days a week to all participants.

Computing facilities
The Institute offers general networking services,
including Internet access, e-mail, printing, scanning,
and data server storage. Technical equipment for
presentation, such as digital projectors and laptops, is
also available. Please note that workstations are not
provided; participants are advised to supply their own
computers and software.

Library
The Institute operates a specialized library for use by
participants, faculty and visiting tutors. It contains a
selection of architectural monographs, publications on
history and theory, and a broad range of international
architectural journals. The library also houses an
extensive DVD and video collection of public lectures
and final presentations previously held at the Institute.
Participants have access to the libraries of the
Netherlands Architecture Institute and the Faculty of
Architecture at the Delft University of Technology.

Exhibitions space and bookshop

The gallery area and studio space are used for the
display of guest exhibitions as well as the research and
design work conducted by participants, alumni, and
faculty. A selection of recent publications, focusing on
topics being discussed at the Institute, is featured in the
entrance bookshop.

Model workshop
The Institute provides a model workshop, adjacent to the
studio space, containing facilities for building in wood,
plastic, foam, metal and concrete. It is also equipped
with a selection of the latest computer-driven fabrication
technology for model making, including a large-bed
milling machine.

Lecture room
44 All public events and presentations take place in the H.P.
Berlage Lecture Room. Situated on the ground level,
this 125-person room is equipped with a sound system,
projector, large projection screen and capacity for live
Internet broadcasting.
 Berlage Institute
People
Supervisory
Board
The Board of Supervisors oversees
the Berlage Institute, governed by
the General Director.
Rob Docter
is General Director in charge of the
administration. He was the Senior
Advisor on Film and Architecture
for the Arts Directorate of the
Netherlands Ministry of Education,
Culture and Science. From 1992
to 1996 he was responsible for
the Dutch government’s policy
on architecture as Head of the
Architecture Department of the
Netherlands Ministry of Education,
Culture and Science. He worked at
the Netherlands Department for
Conservation, concentrating on the
protection of historic towns and
the advisement of local authorities
on urban conservation issues. He
consults worldwide on various
subjects related to the larger
cultural position of architecture,
including education policies and
the integration, conservation, and
development of urban heritage. He is
the President of the European Forum
for Architectural Policies, a founding
board member of the Venice Rietveld
Pavilion Foundation, a member of the
Advisory Committee of the European
Prize for Contemporary Architecture
Mies van der Rohe Award, and
a board member of the Palladio
Project Foundation. His past activities
include being the Secretary of the
International Specialist Committee
on Urbanism and Landscapes for
DoCoMoMo International and a
board member of the Architecture
Film Festival Rotterdam.
Jan Jessurun
is former chairman of the Netherlands
Cultural Council and former General
Director of Cultural Affairs for the
Netherlands Ministry of Education,
Culture and Science.
Program 2009–2012
Tom Meijer
is the former CEO of the MAB Real
Development Group.
Ivo Opstelten
is the former Mayor of Rotterdam,
Delfzijl, and Utrecht.
Jurgen Rosemann
serves as Chairman of the Board
of Supervisors. He is Professor
Emeritus and former Chair of Urban
Management and Renewal at the
Delft University of Technology.
Mariet Schoenmakers
is the Director of AM Wonen.
She is the former Director of
the Municipality of Rotterdam
Stedenbouw dS+V.
Research Board
The Research Board establishes the
profile of the Institute by identifying
new research trajectories. Each
member of the Research Board is
personally involved in one or more
component of the program.
Ben van Berkel
is cofounder and Principal Architect
of UN Studio in Amsterdam. He is
presently Professor in Conceptual
Design at the Städelschule in
Frankfurt am Main.
Winy Maas
is partner of MVRDV in Rotterdam.
He is Professor of Architecture and
Urbanism at the Delft University of
Technology.
Robert E. Somol
is an architecture theorist. He is the
Director of the School of Architecture
at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Alejandro Zaera-Polo
is partner in Foreign Office Architects
in London. He is former Dean of the
Berlage Institute and is presently
Professor of Architecture at Delft
University of Technology, holding the
Berlage Chair, as well as at Princeton
University.
Elia Zenghelis
is an architect and educator based
in Brussels and Athens. He most
recently taught at the Accademia
di Archittetura in Mendrisio,
Switzerland.
45
 Faculty
Under supervision from the
Director, who is responsible for
establishing the research program
in consultation with the Research
Board, the faculty and visiting tutors
guide research studios, seminars
and other related activities.
Vedran Mimica
is Director responsible for composing
and implementing the research
policy, in concordance with the
Research Board. Educated as
an architect, he was a lecturer
at the Faculty of Architecture at
the University of Zagreb and a
postgraduate researcher at the
Delft University of Technology
prior to joining the Institute. He has
supervised and taught numerous
design studios, seminars, and master
classes at the Institute and numerous
international venues. He initiates
and organizes a series of annual
International Design Seminars in
Zagreb, Croatia. An active writer
on architecture and architectural
education, in 2007 he coauthored
Contemporary Croatian Architecture:
Testing Reality and contributed to the
volume Project Zagreb: Transition as
Condition, Strategy, Practice published
by Actar Publishers in association
with the Graduate School of Design
at Harvard University. He is also
the author of Notes on Children,
Environment and Architecture.
He recently completed Croatian
Archipelago New Lighthouses, a
joint initiative of the Netherlands
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the
Berlage Institute and the Croatian
Architects’ Association. Focusing on
the future of tourism development
along the Croatian coastline, this two-
year research project investigated
processes to better integrate the
natural landscape and local culture
into a content witnessing accelerated
pressure by global economic forces.
He led the curatorial team for the
46 International Architecture Biennale
Rotterdam 2007.
Pier Vittorio Aureli
is Head of The City as a Project PhD
Program. This program aims to
conceptualize and understand the
city’s form as an act that defines a
political intentionality. His forth-
coming book, The Possibility of an
Absolute Architecture: A Study on the
Representation of the City through
Architectural Form From Bramante
to Mies, will be published by The
MIT Press as part of the Writing
Architecture Series. He studied
architecture and urbanism at the
Istituto Universitario di Architettura
di Venezia and the Berlage Insitute
before receiving his Ph.D. from the
Berlage Institute/Delft University
of Technology. He, together with
Martino Tattara, is the cofounder
of DOGMA, an office carrying out
architectural and urban projects at
different scales. In 2006, they shared
the first prize in an international
competition for a new administrative
city for 500,000 inhabitants in
Korea. They received the first Iakov
Chernikov Prize for Young Architects
in 2006.
Joachim Declerck
is Director of the Centre for
Architectural Research and
Development. This independent entity
initiates design research projects
to further advance the expertise
developed by the Institute’s faculty
and alumni as well as establishes
research trajectories. Educated at
Ghent University and the Berlage
Institute, Joachim Declerck is an active
independent architect. He coedited
Brussels–A Manifesto: Towards the
Capital of Europe and was cocurator
of the exhibition A Vision for Brussels.
Together with Vedran Mimica, he
formed the curatorial team for the
International Architecture Biennale
Rotterdam 2007, which investigated
the subject the production of the
contemporary city. He lectures and
publishes internationally on the role
of architecture and urban design
within the project for the city. He is
a member of the editorial board of
OASE–Architectural Journal.
Salomon Frausto
is Head of Architectural Broad-
casting. He develops the Institute’s
public program of events, exhibitions,
online interactivity, and publications
with the aim of further expanding
and complementing the research
pursued at the Institute for presen-
tation to a global architecture
audience. An advocate for improved
and diverse architectural literacy,
Salomon Frausto teaches, publishes
and lectures internationally to
sharpen awareness of the contem-
porary built environment. He
graduated with professional degrees
in architecture from the University of
Michigan and Columbia University.
From 2001–2007 he coordinated the
public and scholarly programs of the
Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the
Study of American Architecture at
Columbia University. He is coeditor
of Architourism: Authentic, Exotic,
Escapist, Spectacular published by
Prestel in 2005. This volume of essays
and projects by leading scholars,
critics, artists, and architects explores
the role of architecture in the tourist
imagination. He is the editor of the
Institute's flagship publication Hunch
Roemer van Toorn
is Head of the Projective Theory
Program. This postgraduate program
presents a series of theoretical
and historical seminars related to
mobilizing the consequences of
contemporary urban life, including
individualization, globalization
and technology. An architect, critic,
and photographer, Roemer van
Toorn published The Invisible in
Architecture in 1994. This acclaimed
publication dissects a range of
cultural, economic, political and
philosophical perspectives to outline
different positions and issues within
architectural discourse. He is the
editor of several issues of the annual
publication Architecture in the
Netherlands. As author and photo-
grapher he regularly contributes to
many international publications. He
is presently working on a publication
entitled From Fresh Conservatism
to Radical Democracy: Aesthetics
as Form of Politics. A selection
of his photography, along with
commentary by leading critics, will be
published in Society of The And.
 Berlage Institute
Peter Trummer
is Head of the Associative Design
Research Program. This postgraduate
program investigates the potential of
designing new site-specific housing
environments by applying associative
design to all scales of a design
process to increase its relevance to
the architectural discipline. Peter
Trummer is a native of Graz, Austria,
where he studied architecture at the
Technical University of Graz prior to
studying at the Berlage Institute. A
former project architect at UN Studio,
he cofounded Offshore Architects,
with Hannes Pfau and Astrid
Piber, before establishing his own
practice in 2004. He internationally
lectures and publishes. His research
focuses on population thinking in
architecture; in particular, how
city life, urban planning policies,
economic desires, and population
growth may be better integrated into
the design of living environments.
Program 2009–2012
Staff
The staff works closely with the
General Director, Director and
faculty to facilitate all aspects
of the Institute.
Giel van Arkel
is Systems Manager. He manages
all computer- and server-related
matters.
Danny Bosten
is Librarian and Technical Assistant.
He maintains the archive and library
as well as all matters of technical
assistance.
Marja van der Burgh
is Program Manager. She manages
the organizational aspects of the
research program, including studio
presentations.
Liselotte de Haan
is Office Manager. She is responsible
for all matters of mangement
assistance as well as hospitality.
Maria Monteiro
is Housekeeper. She maintains the
housekeeping.
Mick Morssink
is Graphic Designer. He is
responsible for the graphic design
of presentations, documents and
publications.
Betty Tan
is Financial Assistant. She handles all
financial-related issues.
Françoise Vos
is Projects Manager. She manages
the organizational aspects of the
Institute’s complementary programs,
including master classes and lectures.
47
 First-year participants on an excursion to Zeeland,
the Netherlands

48
 Berlage Institute ­ Postgraduate Application

To qualify for admission to the Berlage

Institute, the Institute must receive the
following documents no later than Friday,
26 February 2010:

1 A completed application form

2 A recent passport photograph
(which will also be used for your Berlage
Institute ID-card)
3 A certified copy of your degree
(bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or
other equivalent qualification)
4 A copy of your valid passport
5 The results of an internationally
acknowledged English language test
6 Financial statement
7 Three letters of recommendation
8 A portfolio showing representative
examples of design work (academic and/or
professional), publications, awards, etc.
9 A written proposal that outlines your
motives and objectives for doing research
at the Berlage Institute
10 A non-refundable application fee of €75.
This is payable only by bank transfer
to the Berlage Institute account
(67.91.89.416) at the ING Bank in Amsterdam
(IBAN NL 51 INGB 0679 1894 16. BIC/SWIFT
Code: ING B NL 2A)

For more detailed information on these required

admission documents and procedures, please see
the application section at www.berlage-institute.nl/
applying

49
 — Qualification
Applicants for admission to the
Berlage Institute must have com-
pleted study in architecture,
urban planning or landscape
design at a university or academy
or have equivalent qualifications.
— Selection process
An international selection commit-
tee, assembled and chaired by the
Director, reviews all applications
and makes the final selection for
admission to the postgraduate
program. Committee members assess
the applicant’s work, particular-
ly focusing on the consistency of
presented work and the applicant’s
potential for further development.
An essential criterion for selec-
tion is the written proposal, which
must be clear and well argued.
Applicants will be notified of
the decision made by the selection
committee by 31 March 2010.
— Diploma
The Berlage Institute is an inde-
pendent entity that collaborates
with several universities; it is
not an architecture school in the
traditional sense. Its goal is
to provide a critical climate for
qualified architects and related
professionals to enhance their
existing knowledge by conduct-
ing research that augments their
professional training. Upon suc-
cessful completion of the two-year
research program, a participant
receives a certificate of par-
ticipation: the Berlage Institute
Diploma. In the event that the
committee does not give a positive
review of the final presentation,
no diploma is issued and the par-
ticipant receives a certificate of
attendance.
— Tuition
The Berlage Institute postgradu-
ate research program is completed
in two years. The 2010–2011 aca-
demic year will begin at the end
of September and ends at the end
of June. The tuition fees for the
two forthcoming years, 2010–2011
and 2011–2012, will be €12,800.
Incoming first-year participants
must pay a non-refundable down
payment of €2,800 to confirm par-
ticipation by 15 May 2010. Payment
of the remaining portion of the
50
first-year tuition fee, €10,000,
is due by 15 August 2010. Both
the non-refundable deposit and
remaining tuition fee must be made
by bank transfer to the Berlage
Institute account (67.91.89.416) at
the ING Bank in Amsterdam (IBAN
NL 51 INGB 0679 1894 16. BIC/SWIFT
Code: ING B NL 2A).
— Study-related expenses
Study-related expenses, such as book
purchases, reproduction costs,
printing and model making can vary
depending on the elected studio.
These expenses are not included in
the tuition fee. Fieldwork and sup-
plementary excursions may require
a personal financial contribution.
— Scholarships and grants
First introduced in 2007, the Berlage
Institute Scholarship Fund, sup-
ported by the Netherlands Ministry
of Education, Culture and Science,
offers five scholarships of €10,000
each to second-year participants.
It is aimed at excellent first-
year participants who elect to
continue their studies into the
second year of the postgraduate
program. Requirements for eligi-
bility include obtaining excel-
lent results in the first-year
program, a portfolio of past and
present work, and proficiency in
English. Scholarship applications
are assessed by an international
selection committee, assembled and
chaired by the Director, composed
of Institute faculty and invited
jurors. At this time, scholarships
are not open for applicants to the
first-year program.
The Berlage Institute is unable to
offer contributions to partici-
pants’ living or study expenses.
Accepted applicants to the first-
year program are advised to apply
for scholarships, grants or awards
in their country of origin.
 Berlage Institute ­
— Language requirements
English is the official language of
the Berlage Institute. A good com-
mand of the language in written
and spoken forms is required for
admission. Accepted applicants
must submit the results of an
English proficiency examination,
such as the TOEFL or IELTS test.
The following are the required
minimum scores for admission:
TOEFL paper-based test, 577; TOEFL
internet-based test, 90; computer-
based TOEFL test, 233; or IELTS,
overall band not lower than 6.5.
The Berlage Institute reserves
the right to test an applicant’s
English proficiency through an
in-person or telephone interview.
Accepted applicants who do not
meet the language requirements
are advised to develop their ver-
bal and written skills, and wel-
come to begin their studies the
following year.
For Chinese nationals it is compulso-
ry to submit an IELTS test result
to the Netherlands Education
Support Office (NESO) in Beijing to
acquire a NESO Certificate. Please
note that other language tests are
not accepted.
— Housing
The Berlage Institute is unable to
provide living accommodations
for participants. A selection of
useful tips to finding housing
as well as the contact informa-
tion for local realtors may be
obtained at the Institute’s web-
site. We strongly advise incoming
participants to begin immediately
looking for housing. Please note
for the 2010–2011 year, the antici-
pated average rent for a room in
Rotterdam ranges from €300 to €500
per month.
— Health and other insurance
Participants are responsible for
their own health insurance as well
as any other personal insurance.
The Berlage Institute is not liable
for loss or damage to personal
belongings.
Postgraduate Application
— Procedures for incoming
participants
The Berlage Institute strongly recom-
mends that incoming participants
arrange the following documents
as soon as possible to prepare
for their arrival and stay in the
Netherlands. The following docu-
ments will eventually be needed:
1. Proof of international health
insurance
2. A birth certificate in English.
Please be aware that the
Netherlands requires Nationals
of certain countries (citizens
from India, Pakistan, Ghana,
Nigeria and Dominican Republic)
to submit a legalized, and in
some instances, also a verified,
birth certificate. The verifica-
tion procedure may take as long as
six months to be completed. Please
contact your local Netherlands
Embassy or Consulate and/or your
own local authorities about the
exact requirements for your coun-
try of origin and their respective
procedures.
3. If applicable, a marriage certifi-
cate in English.
4. Chinese Nationals are required to
apply for a NESO Certificate to
the Netherlands Education Support
Office (NESO) in Beijing at least
four months in advance. Detailed
information and requirements for
obtaining a NESO Certificate may
be found at www.nesochina.org.
All inquiries related this proce-
dure should be directed to: NESO
Beijing, Assessment Section.
Please do not contact the Berlage
Institute about this matter. The
Berlage Institute can only start
the visa procedure (MVV) for
Chinese Nationals upon receipt of
this certificate, which the NESO
will directly send to the Berlage
Institute.
For other detailed information about
matters to take into consideration
before coming to the Netherlands,
as well as steps to take prior
to your arrival, please see
www.berlage-institute.nl/applying
51
 —
Alumni Penelope Dean, Mika Cimolini, Wu Zhaohui, China
Australia Slovenia Yimin Zhu, China
Marie-Paule Greisen, Mikiko Endo, Japan Doris Zoller, Germany
1992 Luxembourg Shinobu Hashimoto,
Tadej Glazar, Slovenia Lada Hrsak, Croatia Japan 2003
Reinier Graaf, The Jan Richard Kikkert, Francisca Insulza, Iftah Arad, Israel
Netherlands The Netherlands Chile Rossana Atena, Italy
Branimir Medic, Volker Mencke, Germany Kati Juola, Finland Im Sik Cho, Korea
Croatia Wim Poppinga, The Dongkyu Lee, Korea Sebastian Duque,
Don Murphy, Ireland Netherlands Andrea Morpurgo, Italy Colombia
Pero Puljiz, Croatia Chris Rankin, United Javier Rojas Polona Filipic,
Sasa Randic, Croatia Kingdom Rodrigues, Mexico Slovenia
Simon Sprietsma, The Rajan V. Ritoe, Martin Scharfetter, Daigaku Fujioka, Japan
Netherlands The Netherlands Austria Pablo Guerrero,
Madir Shah, India Christian Schmutz, Colombia
1993 Ksk Tamura, Japan Germany Young Wook Joung,
Eko Prawoto, Indonesia Peter Tansey, Ireland Milica Topalovic, Korea
Henryk Zubel, Poland Sofia Vyzoviti, Greece Serbia Hiroshi Kohno, Japan
Anna Webjörn, Sweden Charikleia Kyriakidou,
1994 2002 Greece
Inge Bobbink, 1998 Arman Akdogan, Turkey Jongsoo LEe, Korea
The Netherlands Karl Amann, Germany Diego Barajas, Rubini Makridou,
Sarah Gansel, Israel Tom Broekaert, Belgium Colombia Greece
Chih-Jeng Hsiao, Kirsten Dörmann, Charles Bessard, Dinka Pavelic, Croatia
Taiwan Germany France Suncana Rapaic,
Nynke Joustra, Silvia Forlati, Italy Matthew Chan, Croatia
The Netherlands Jan Kapsenberg, The Australia Cornelia Redeker,
Miodrag Mitrasinovic, Netherlands Pitupong Chaowakul, Germany
Yugoslavia Davor Katusic, Croatia ThaiLand Suitbert Schmitt,
Vasa Perovic, Serbia Giuseppe Mantia, Italy Nophadon Chatpattana- Germany
Kelly Shannon, United Petra MarguC, Germany phong, Thailand Peter Senk, Slovenia
States German Molina, Chile Juan Pablo Corvalan, Kuo-Chien Shen, Taiwan
Kaoru Suehiro, Japan Peter Trummer, Austria Chile Katsura Narusawa,
Brent Crittenden, Japan
1995 1999 United States Juan Zapata, Dominican
Tim Denninger, Germany Jae-Woo Chung, Korea Luis Falcon, Spain Republic
Nicholas Dodd, United Koen Drossaert, Deval Gandhi, India
KingdOm Belgium Camilo Garcia, 2004
Tomoyuki Haramura, Angelika Fuchs, Colombia Sannah Belzer, The
Japan Germany Esther Giani, Italy Netherlands
Roland King, Shinsuke Fujii, Japan Hugo Hardy, Canada Andrea Fiechter,
The Netherlands Igor Kebel, Slovenia Emiko Hayakawa, Japan Switzerland
Jan Kroes, The Minah Lee, Korea Tsugumi Kanno, Japan Lorena Franco, Peru
Netherlands Thomas Lettner, Sung-Woo Kim, Korea Yorai Gabriel, Israel
Patrick Longchamp, Austria Irene Lund, Denmark Noa Haim, Israel
Switzerland Miguel Loos, Germany Felix Madrazo, Mexico Constanze Hirt,
Rafael Gómez Moriana, Hajime Narukawa, Japan Takeshi Mukai, Japan Germany
Canada Toshiki Omatsu, Japan Martin Mutschlechner, Kiwoong Ko, Korea
Antonella Vitale, Prashant Pradhan, Italy Veronica Arcos Lagos,
Italy India Satoko Oba, Japan Chile
Jan Peter Wingender, Zvonimir Prlic, Bas Princen, The Jung Jae Lee, Korea
The Netherlands Croatia Netherlands Maria Mandalaki,
Ana Rascovsky, Greece
1996 2000 Argentina Seung Soo Shin, Korea
B.K. Boley, United Luciano Basauri, Chile Manuel Rivero Ruiz, Claudia Strahl,
States Dafne Berc, Croatia Peru Germany
Sara Carbonera, Italy Shiuan-Wen Chu, Taiwan Nanne De Ru, The Jasmine Tsoi, China
Irene Curulli, Italy Ana Dzokic, Serbia Netherlands Alexandros Vazakas,
Claudia Dias, Germany Koh Iwama, Japan Alexander Sverdlov, Greece
Holger Gladys, Germany Elina Karanastassi, Russia Pieterjan Vermoortel,
Takeo Ozawa, Japan Greece JunKo Tamura, Japan Belgium
Tamara Roy, United Yukiko Nezu, Japan Kimihiko Tanaka, Monica Villate, Spain
States Carole Schmit, Japan Eriko Watanabe, Japan
Northon Flores Troche, Luxembourg Sabina Tattara, Italy
Bolivia Yuichiro Suzuki, Japan Jacopo Tenani, Italy 2005
Dimitri Waltritsch, Frank Tack, Belgium Daniel Valle, Spain Bernardina Borra,
Italy Dirk Weiblen, Germany Marisol Rivas Italy/Belgium
Velazquez, Mexico Miha Cebulj, Slovenia
1997 2001 Rintaro Yabe, Japan Yuan Sheng Chen,
Eddy Arinto, Indonesia Gerardo Asali, Mexico Tomohiro Yanagisawa, Taiwan
Seong-Lok Bae, Korea Pier Vittorio Aureli, Japan Tsai Her Cheng, Taiwan
Sofi Saavedra-Bruno, Italy Petar Zaklanovic, Weerapat Chokedee-
Belgium Serbia Taweenan, Thailand

52
 Berlage Institute ­ Postgraduate Application

Lovrenc Cvetko, Wenli Li, China Jeong Eun Choi, Korea

Slovenia Stephan Mehlhorn, Guillermo Delgado
Joachim Declerck, Germany Castaneda, Mexico
Belgium Agata Mierzwa, Poland Maria Giudici, Italy
Vipich Dulyapach, Ryuta Ohori, Japan Wanyu He, China
Thailand Ddusanka Popovska, Kuniyoshi Katsu, Japan
Reto Durrer, Macedonia I-Chen Lee, Taiwan
Switzerland Chintan Anil Raveshia, Sebastiano Manservisi,
Cristina Garcia India Italy
Fontan, Spain Miguel Robles-Durán, Alessandro Martinelli,
Ulrike Franzel, Mexico Italy
Germany Yoko Sano, Japan Ayaka Matsuda, Japan
Sharon Gur-Zeev, Ivonne Santoyo Orozco, Lukas Narutis,
Israel Mexico Lithuania
Hiromi Haruki, Japan Canan Saridal, Turkey June Young Park, Korea
Kumiko Hayashi, Japan Takeru Sato, Japan Ioanna Volaki, Greece
Hideyuki Ishii, Japan Galit Shiff, Israel Wei Wang, China
Katarzyna Korsak, Hong-Yea Wu, Taiwan Jiong Wu, China
Poland Teresa Nai-Tsuei Yeh,
Hui-Hsin Liao, Taiwan New Zealand
Rodrigo Loaiza, Mexico Chang Ho Yeo, Korea
Bart Melort, Belgium
Alexa Nurnberger, 2007
Germany Nana Chen, Taiwan
Konstantinos Pantazis, Adolfo Despradel,
Greece Dominican Republic
Federico Rodriguez, Elena Gissi, Italy
Costa Rica Sahil Latheef, India
Daan Roosegaarde, Weijie Liu, China
The Netherlands Jiri Pavlicek, Czech
Marc Ryan, Canada Republic
Heng Shi, China Miha Pesec, Slovenia
Martin Sobota, Germany Shiyun Qian, China
Winter Stockwell, Lama Sfeir, Lebanon
United States Ming-Ying Tsai, Taiwan
Daliana Suryawinata, Melisa Vargas,
Indonesia Dominican Republic
Pier Paolo Tamburelli, Yvette Vasourkova,
Italy Czech RepuBlic
Martino Tattara, Italy Juan Vera, Colombia
Taichi Tsuchihashi, Luming Wang, China
Japan Zhenfei Wang, China
Niklas Veelken, Sheng-Ming Wu, Taiwan
Germany Zhongping Wu, China
Dubravka Vranic, Shanshan Xue, China
Croatia
Marleen Ter Weele, 2008
The Netherlands Tsung-Jen Chang,
Tom Weiss, Switzerland Taiwan
Zhiyi Yang, China Botsung Chiu, Taiwan
Lu Zhang, China Julica Grzybowski,
Ying Zhu, Germany
China Seung Jeong Hong,
Korea
2006 Tzu-En Hsu, Taiwan
Ross Adams, United Dae-Won Kwak, Korea
States Eun Kyung Lee, Korea
Minoru Amano, Japan Kyo Suk Lee, Korea
Yoon Kyung Bae, Korea Chia-Ying Lin, Taiwan
Kristijan Lucijan Alejandro Martinez,
Cebzan, Serbia Dominican Republic
Naiwen Cheng, Taiwan German Ramirez,
Florian Heinzelmann, Colombia
Germany Fairuz Reza Razali,
Celine Jeanne, France Malaysia
Tina Jelenc, Slovenia Tsai-Ching Tsai,
Rolf Jenni, Taiwan
Switzerland Mika Watanabe, Japan
Shizue Karasawa, Japan
Jung Bin Kim, Korea 2009
Sukyeong Kim, Korea Han Ju Chen, Taiwan
Kalle Komissarov, Shih-Yen Chiang,
Estonia Taiwan

53
 — Current Second-Year
Participants Itxaso Ceberio Berges,
Spain
First-Year Wei Ting Chen, Taiwan
Na An, Korea Zetao Chen, China
Juan Carlos Pedram Dibazar, Iran
Aristizabal Marco Galasso, Italy
Zuluaga, Colombia Wei-Jung Hsu, Taiwan
Chien-Ting Chen, Dong Woo Kang, Korea
Taiwan Eunjin Kang, Korea
Raquel Drummond de Andreas Karavanas,
Carvalho, Brasil Greece
Andreas Faoro, Italy Joune Ho Kim, Korea
Ulrich Gradenegger, Young Il Kim, Korea
Germany Takaomi Koibuchi,
Minqi Gu, Australia Japan
Samia Henni, France/ Nara Lee, Korea
Algeria Chia-Shun Liao, Taiwan
Pei-Lin Hsieh, Taiwan Chen-Jung Liu, Taiwan
Chun-Yu Hsu, Taiwan Fang Liu, China
Maria Iglesias Takeshi Murakuni,
Martinez, Spain Japan
Vesna Jovanovic, Luca Picardi, Italy
Serbia Jad Semaan, Lebanon
Magnus Jørgensen, Timur Shabaev, Russia
Norway Janki Shah, India
Dongwoo Kim, Korea Xiaochao Song, China
Hyun Soo Kim, Korea Dae Hee Suk, Korea
Taiwan Kim, Korea Keming Wang, China
Chu Liu, China Ran Wu, China
Yu-Chun Liu, Taiwan Ryosuke Yago, Japan
Zhiwei Lu, China Xiaodi Yang, China
Ivan Kurniawan Jungang Zhou, China
Nasution, Indonesia
Sarah Nichols, USA
Sangbo Park, Korea
Wannes Peeters,
Belgium
Giorgio Ponzo, Italy
Maria Dolores Robles
Martinez Gomez,
Mexico
Davide Sacconi, Italy
Manuel Roberto Soundy
Escobar, Guatamala
Zhouer Wang, China
Yuichi Watanabe, Japan
Ji Hyun Woo, Korea
Jung Hyun Woo, Korea
Si Wu, China
Tzu-Hua Wu, Taiwan
Chao Yue, China
Lingxiao Zhang, China
Shuang Zhang, China

54
 Berlage Institute ­ Postgraduate Application

The Berlage Institute studio space in the former

Spaarbank building designed by J.J.P. Oud

55
56
Berlage Institute Prospectus 2010––2011
A Selection of Recent Activities
Winter 2008 term Master classes and Exhibitions Symposium First-year
workshops 14 November 2008– 14 November 2008 research program
Lectures 20—31 October 2008 16 January 2009 Critical Judgment: Hong Kong Fantasies
21 October 2008 Hong Kong Fantasies A Vision for Brussels: Architectural Winy Maas
Digital Materiality Winy Maas Imagining the Capital Criticism and the
Fabio Gramazio and of Europe Politics of City Form Spatial Justice and
Matthias Kohler 3–7 November 2008 Pippo Ciorra, Giorgio the Politics of Scale:
Decolonizing 25 November– Ciucci, Luis Fernández- The Paris Banlieue
28 October 2008 Architecture Workshop 19 December 2008 Galiano, Richard 1848–2048
The Model and Its Lieven De Cauter, Sandi The Rule of Regulations Ingersoll, Joan Miguel Robles-Durán
Architecture Hilal, Alessandro Ockman, Andreas Ruby, and Lukas Stanek
Patrick Healy Petti 10 February 2009– Mario Tronti, Wouter
27 February 2009 Vanstiphout, and Elia
4 November 2008 25–28 November 2008 Taking Aim: Berlage Zenghelis Second-year
Proposals for The Politics of the Research in Progress research program
Decolonizing Envelope Rome, the Center(s)
Architecture Alejandro Zaera-Polo Launch Elsewhere
Sandi Hilal and 16 December 2008 Pier Vittorio Aureli
Alessandro Petti www.berlage- and Martino Tattara
Book Presentations institute.nl
18 November 2008 20 November 2008 Mexico City:
Architecture Urban Transformations Territorial
Model Shop Ilka and Andreas Ruby Densification
Vincent de Rijk Peter Trummer
4 December 2008
25 November 2008 The Chinese Dream:
Towards a General A Society Under
Theory of the Building Construction
Envelope Neville Mars and Adrian
Alejandro Zaera-Polo Hornsby

2 December 2008
Visual Experience in
Painting and Cinema
Hubert Damisch and Teri
Wehn-Damisch

9 December 2008
This stands as a sketch
for the future: Muriel
Cooper and the Visual
Language Workshop
David Reinfurt

16 December 2008
Heroes and Losers:
Resolution and
Definition in
Architecture
Hans Werlemann

20 January 2009
Open-Source Urbanism
and the Language of the
Global Polis
Nader Vossoughian

27 January 2009
The Dictionary of
Received Ideas
Enrique Walker

3 February 2009
Contemporary
Architecture and
the Question of
(Architectural)
History
Alan Colquhoun and
Mary McLeod
 Berlage Institute Prospectus 2010––2011

Spring 2009 term Master class Exhibitions Conferences and First-year

25 May–02 June 2009 25 April–21 June 2009 symposiums research program
Lectures Radicalizing the History and Future of 7 April 2009 Bridging Untroubled
6 April 2009 Local: Post–Bubble the European City Biopolitics of Scale Waters: The Ningbo
Design Thinking Urban Strategies Andrea Cavalletti, Mall as a Quest for
Michael Speaks Teddy Cruz 16–26 June 2009 Mark Purcell, and Alternative Strategies
Imagining Recovery: Sven-Olov Wallenstein in Open Space
21 April 2009 Toward a Design Economy Development
Fabricating Ideology Book presentations 23–24 April 2009 Rients Dijkstra
and Architectural 11 June 2009 30 June–10 July 2009 City Visions Europe:
Education Le Corbusier and the Berlage at Yearend New Vocabularies for When Economies Become
Elia Zenghelis Elements of a Synthesis the European City Form: Micro-economic
Stanislaus von Moos Models as Spatial
28 April 2009 19 May 2009 Prescriptions in
The Archigram Story 18 June 2009 The Return to the State Northeast Brazil
Sir Peter Cook Raumplan versus of Nature Tina DiCarlo and
Plan Libre Lieven De Cauter and Markus Miessen
12 May 2009 Max Risselada Rudi Laermans
The Last CIAMs H2OBITAT:
Jos Bosman Launch LIVING WITH WATER
31 March 2009 Freek Persyn and
26 May 2009 Hunch 12 Bureaucracy Laurens Tait
Radicalizing the
Local: Post–Bubble
Urban Strategies Second-year
Teddy Cruz research program
Rome, the Center(s)
28 May 2009 Elsewhere
Tectonic Form and Pier Vittorio Aureli
the Space of Public and Martino Tattara
Appearance
Kenneth Frampton Mexico City:
Territorial
16 June 2009 Densification
New Towns from the Cold Peter Trummer
War Era to Neoliberal
Reality
Michelle Provoost

25 June 2009
Archizoom and the
Origins of the Italian
Radical Architecture
Movement
Andrea Branzi

COLOPHON

EditORS
Salomon Frausto
Joachim Declerck

Design
LUST, The Hague

Printing
Artoos, Rijswijk

www.berlage-institute.nl

© 2009 Berlage Institute

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this publication may be repro-
duced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopy,
recording, or an information
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without permission in writing
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The Berlage Institute is a

foundation under Netherlands law.

Rob Docter, General Director

Vedran Mimica, Director
For further and up-to-date information about
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