Dutch postmodernism and the New Institute. Het Nieuwe by Jo Coenen
24/10/2021.
[Rotterdam] Netherlands
metalocus, RAMIRO ISAURRALDE
metalocus, RAMIRO ISAURRALDE
In 1993, Jo Coenen was commissioned to construct the building for the Netherlands Institute of Architecture (NAi), which would later merge in 2013 with the New Institute (HNI), Premsela Instituut and Virtueel Platform to form the current Het Nieuwe Instituut.
Located in the Museumpark in Rotterdam, the building is in an urban environment loaded with the most iconic Dutch architecture such as the Kunsthal by OMA, the Sonneveld house, the Chabot house museum, the Boijmans van Beuningen museum and its brand new art deposit finalized by MVRDV.
Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph by Bert Muller
Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph by Jannes Linders
Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph by Jannes Linders
Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph by Johannes Schwartz
Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph by Ramiro Isaurralde
Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph by Johannes Schwartz
Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph by Petra van der Ree
Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph by Ramiro Isaurralde
Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph by Petra van der Ree
Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph by Petra van der Ree
Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph by Ramiro Isaurralde
Construction. Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph courtesy of the The New Institute Collection, NAIN Archive 3235
Jo Coenen showing his proposal for the NAi to Elco Brinkman. Photograph courtesy of the The New Institute Collection, NAIN Archive
Model by Mathieu Hermans, P. van Kempen & P. Beeftinck. Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph courtesy of the The New Institute Collection
Model by F. van den Breemer. Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph courtesy of the The New Institute Collection
Model by F. van den Breemer. Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph courtesy of the The New Institute Collection
Model by F. van den Breemer. Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph courtesy of the The New Institute Collection
Model by F. van den Breemer. Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph courtesy of the The New Institute Collection
Model by F. van den Breemer. Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph courtesy of the The New Institute Collection
“Less cool. Less organized. Exciting"
NAi Visitor, 1988.1
With the need for a building to house the new Netherlands Institute of Architecture, a closed competition was organized in 1988 for six local architecture studios: Jo Coenen, Rem Koolhaas, Luigi Snozzi, Benthem Crouwel, Jan Henket and Wim Quist.
With a plot already defined, the bases demanded a maximum occupation of 50%, with the other remaining percentage destined to the construction of public space and a park. The intention was, in addition to housing the collection and management functions of all the institute's archive material and collections, to generate a new icon of architecture in the Museum Park that could be seen from any direction, so what? better location for it than the place where for decades they had been experimenting with new and modern buildings?
But the challenge was precisely in that, how to make a building with such a closed character due to its storage and protection function, an open symbol that arouses the curiosity of walkers in the park?
The proposal that won the praise of the specialized critics was that of OMA, which at that time was already building the Kunsthal right at the southern end of the main axis of the NAi. However, and not avoiding controversies, the Institute (which considered the vote of the users) opted for Coenen's proposal, arguing that its distancing from the classic institutional character of these buildings endowed it with a timelessness that met the objectives of the NAi (although seen through the eyes of today, its timelessness could be refuted and, perhaps, has not aged as well as its already classic neighbours ).
“Coenen's design provides a clearly expressive and distinct representation of institutional functions. In the design of the parts of the building, the search was not for pronounced modernism, but for a timeless repertoire that allowed the equivalence of history and current events that lead the institute formulas."
NAi, 1988.2
Het Nieuwe Instituut by Jo Coenen. Photograph by Johannes Schwartz
The winning project was made up of four simple volumes and an exchange of materials that were intersected and juxtaposed to generate different spatial instances in its journey and that finally, for budgetary reasons, would not be built exactly as the project suggested. On the one hand, the archive made up of a curved volume that “closes” the north face of the building that adjoins Rochussenstraat avenue; the exhibition hall as a brick-lined box; a suspended glass and steel block for the library, covered by a large steel canopy; and a concrete, glass and glass brick plinth where the commercial and rather public functions are located, all of them perched on a film of water that isolates the building and connects it with the rest of the park through walkways.
The winning project was made up of four simple volumes and an exchange of materials that were intersected and juxtaposed to generate different spatial instances in its journey and that finally, for budgetary reasons, would not be built exactly as the project suggested. On the one hand, the archive made up of a curved volume that “closes” the north face of the building that adjoins Rochussenstraat avenue; the exhibition hall as a brick-lined box; a suspended glass and steel block for the library, covered by a large steel canopy; and a concrete, glass and glass brick plinth where the commercial and rather public functions are located, all of them perched on a film of water that isolates the building and connects it with the rest of the park through walkways.
“In Coenen's design, the landscape, the city and the architecture intertwine in a very elegant way to form an almost symphonic structure. General picture. Pre-eminently exudes the friendly monumentalism that Coenen strives for in all of his work. It rises above the everyday banality, but does not have the strict detachment from Snozzi design."
Janny Rodermond, 1988.3
In 2011 the building was involved in a series of reforms that eliminated the walkways and moved the entrance towards the zero level, to gain accessibility, in addition to some interior spaces that were incorporated with new structures to house educational spaces and increase the surface of others.
This last stage, with the disappearance of the New Institute of Architecture in front of the New Institute, is pointed out by authors such as Sergio Figueiredo as the fall of Dutch architecture and the functions of the NAi, which abandoned a history of almost one hundred years and reduced to the discipline the field of "creative industries", and the building in a cultural container to the detriment of what used to be the largest collection of architecture in the country.
NOTES.-
1- Proof of vote of a visitor to the NAi in the election of the Coenen proposal, 1988.
2- NAi press release, October 3rd, 1988.
3- Comparison of Coenen's proposal with that of Snozzi. Janny Rodermond for The Architect 19, 1988.
2- NAi press release, October 3rd, 1988.
3- Comparison of Coenen's proposal with that of Snozzi. Janny Rodermond for The Architect 19, 1988.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-
-BUREAU EUROPE. (2020). "Jo Coenen, 40 jaar werken in Europa." Maastricht: Bureau Europe.
-COENEN, Jo. (2016). "Verbouwing Nederlands Architectuurinstituut." Rotterdam.
-DE HAAN, Hilde. (2004). "Jo Coenen: From Urban Design to Architectural Detail." Rotterdam: NAI Uitgevers.
-FIGUEIREDO, Sergio M. (2016). "The NAi Effect: Creating Architecture Culture." Rotterdam: nai010 uitgevers.
-VAN DONGEN, Frits & SMEETS, Huub. (2014). "Jo Coenen, architect at stedenbouwer." Maastricht: Walters.
-Het Nieuwe Instituut brengt architectuur, design en e-cultuur samen. (2014). "Coverstory: Gezamenlijk succesproject." Nijmegen: Meeting Magazine. Nº 5. Pp. 30-31.
-COENEN, Jo. (2016). "Verbouwing Nederlands Architectuurinstituut." Rotterdam.
-DE HAAN, Hilde. (2004). "Jo Coenen: From Urban Design to Architectural Detail." Rotterdam: NAI Uitgevers.
-FIGUEIREDO, Sergio M. (2016). "The NAi Effect: Creating Architecture Culture." Rotterdam: nai010 uitgevers.
-VAN DONGEN, Frits & SMEETS, Huub. (2014). "Jo Coenen, architect at stedenbouwer." Maastricht: Walters.
-Het Nieuwe Instituut brengt architectuur, design en e-cultuur samen. (2014). "Coverstory: Gezamenlijk succesproject." Nijmegen: Meeting Magazine. Nº 5. Pp. 30-31.
More information
Architects
Project team
Jo Coenen. Geert Coenen. M. van der Hulst.
Developer
Netherlands Architecture Institute NAI.
Dates
Competition.- 1988. Completion.- 1993. Renovation.- 2010-2011.
Location
Museumpark 25, 3015 CB Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Photography
Ramiro Isaurralde. Johannes Schwartz. Petra van der Ree. Jannes Linders. Bert Muller. NAI Collection Database - Het Nieuwe Instituut.
Jo Coenen
Jo Coenen (Heerlen 1949) graduated in architecture & urban planning from the department of architecture of Eindhoven University of Technology in 1975. Following his studies, he worked until 1979 as a research assistant at the same university and established important professional relationships Europe-wide with Prof O.M. Ungers in Cologne, Prof Rob Krier in Vienna, Prof Luigi Snozzi who was then a professor at the EPFL Lausanne, and Prof James Stirling at the Staatliche Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, among others. In 1979, before starting his own practice in Eindhoven in 1980, he worked on the new building of the Faculty of Letters in Amsterdam under Prof Aldo van Eyck and the architect Theo Bosch. After 10 years, he moved his operation to Maastricht to work on the Céramique master plan. After another 10 years, he opened a branch in Berlin to design the residence of the Dutch ambassador and to work on the Gendarmenmarkt project. This was followed other studios in Luxembourg (2002), Amsterdam (2002), Milan (2007) and finally Bern (2012).
Since the start of his academic career, Coenen has taught at various national and international colleges and universities (Aken, Karlsruhe, Lausanne, Milan and Delft ) In 1987, he was appointed Ordentlicher Professor Gebaüdelehre und Entwerfen at Karlsruhe University of Technology, of which he has been an honorary professor since 1995. In 2001, in the Netherlands, he was appointed professor of Public Building in the department of architecture at Delft University of Technology. As part of his job, and based on his experience as Chief Government Architect of the Netherlands, in 2006 he established the MIT ® Research Center for Modification, Intervention and Transformation at the same university, in which Coenen assigned great significance to 'the art of interweaving' past and present and also put the emphasis on design. Since 2009, he has held the professorship of Architecture & Transformation at Maastricht University.
Coenen has been frequently invited to exhibit his work at various Biennials and Triennials such as the Venice Biennial (1980), the Milan Triennial (1995) and the São Paulo Biennial (1997). In addition, he has taken part in many international workshops, symposia and congresses. For example, he was invited to lecture at the RIBA in London (The concepts for the living city), at the Getty Center Santa Monica (Building in old context) and to the Collegio Official de Arquitectos de la Comunidad in Valencia (Experiencias en edificios publicos). Coenen has sat on various national and international juries, including that of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in Sydney. He was recently on the jury of the Neubau der Zentral und Landesbibliothek Berlin (2014).
He has won various awards and prestigious prizes for architecture, including the Dutch BNA-Kubus for his entire oeuvre (1995) , the Dutch Building Award for the 'Glaspaleis' (Glass Palace) in Heerlen (2005 in collaboration with W. Arets), the BNA 'Best Building of the Year Award' for his Vesteda Tower in Eindhoven (2007), the 'International Architecture Award' for the Public Library in Amsterdam (2008), the 'WAN Civic Building of the Year' prize for the Public Library in Amsterdam (2009), the 'International Architecture Award' for the Mosae Forum project in Maastricht (2010) and an award for participation and planning for the IBA Hamburg (2013).
Influenced and inspired by his contacts in Central and Southern Europe, he has designed many architectural and urban development projects, of which the NAi in Rotterdam, the master plan and library for the Céramique Centre in Maastricht and the KNSM island in Amsterdam are the best known.
Since the start of his academic career, Coenen has taught at various national and international colleges and universities (Aken, Karlsruhe, Lausanne, Milan and Delft ) In 1987, he was appointed Ordentlicher Professor Gebaüdelehre und Entwerfen at Karlsruhe University of Technology, of which he has been an honorary professor since 1995. In 2001, in the Netherlands, he was appointed professor of Public Building in the department of architecture at Delft University of Technology. As part of his job, and based on his experience as Chief Government Architect of the Netherlands, in 2006 he established the MIT ® Research Center for Modification, Intervention and Transformation at the same university, in which Coenen assigned great significance to 'the art of interweaving' past and present and also put the emphasis on design. Since 2009, he has held the professorship of Architecture & Transformation at Maastricht University.
Coenen has been frequently invited to exhibit his work at various Biennials and Triennials such as the Venice Biennial (1980), the Milan Triennial (1995) and the São Paulo Biennial (1997). In addition, he has taken part in many international workshops, symposia and congresses. For example, he was invited to lecture at the RIBA in London (The concepts for the living city), at the Getty Center Santa Monica (Building in old context) and to the Collegio Official de Arquitectos de la Comunidad in Valencia (Experiencias en edificios publicos). Coenen has sat on various national and international juries, including that of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in Sydney. He was recently on the jury of the Neubau der Zentral und Landesbibliothek Berlin (2014).
He has won various awards and prestigious prizes for architecture, including the Dutch BNA-Kubus for his entire oeuvre (1995) , the Dutch Building Award for the 'Glaspaleis' (Glass Palace) in Heerlen (2005 in collaboration with W. Arets), the BNA 'Best Building of the Year Award' for his Vesteda Tower in Eindhoven (2007), the 'International Architecture Award' for the Public Library in Amsterdam (2008), the 'WAN Civic Building of the Year' prize for the Public Library in Amsterdam (2009), the 'International Architecture Award' for the Mosae Forum project in Maastricht (2010) and an award for participation and planning for the IBA Hamburg (2013).
Influenced and inspired by his contacts in Central and Southern Europe, he has designed many architectural and urban development projects, of which the NAi in Rotterdam, the master plan and library for the Céramique Centre in Maastricht and the KNSM island in Amsterdam are the best known.
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