venice architecture biennale 08: NL architects

‘cruise city, city cruise’ by NL architects

NL architects, pieter bannenberg, walter van dijk and kamiel klaasse, presented ‘virtual realities’ a photographic exhibition, at the venice architecture biennale. the works discuss the present position of the architect, which at times seems non-existent as there are so many middlemen involved in projects these days that they seem to take forever to complete. but, we have a savior in photoshop. it gives us the ability, with the click of a few buttons, to communicate ideas and envision what something could look like. NL architects have exhibited large photographic works which deal with these fast changing times and methods of seeing something before it is completed. they give us a glimpse into the future and the direction in which our built, and some natural environments, could potentially take us.

one of the photographs was ‘cruise city, city cruise’. cruise ships are considered ‘parasites’ which infest each port they dock at with loads of tourists. are there ways in which cities can begin to benefit from these vessels? how can cities begin to benefit from these vessels that enter the ports of various cities? and what are the possibilities?

‘cruise city, city cruise’ by NL architects

‘flower power’ by NL architects

transforming the modern ‘windmill’, the turbine, within the traditional dutch landscape, NL architects question whether it is possible to come up with a monument-type structure, such as the eiffel tower, which is dedicated to producing environmentally friendly energy. they have come up with ideas on how to combine multiple wind turbines into one structure with ‘flower power’. the result looks like stems growing out of the ground, with turbines which look like flowers turning in the air.

‘trashberg’ by NL architects

currently, the pacific ocean naturally tends to collect all floating plastic into on confined area. the result is a large buoyant island of trash, the size of spain, italy and france. ‘trashberg’ deals with how our natural surroundings are starting to build their own structures.

‘minimum speed 200 km/h’ by NL architects

products which surround us often have unused capacities, we only use a fraction of their potential. ‘minimum speed 200 km/h’ takes the opportunity to maximize their potential which seems almost too much like an amusement park.

‘phantom pain’ by NL architects

in major capitals across europe 18 km2 of office space are left unused which to give you an idea, covers more than half of manhattan. or simply a ghost town of 50 twin towers.

installation view of NL architects’ exhibition