Read Guus Beumer's experiences visiting Ornamenta, a triennial on art and design.

Take a look at our VOLUME 66 launch photos. We hope to see you at our next event!

VOLUME 66 is out now. Our latest issue compiles a glossary that collects knowledge about plants, animals, and other critters.

We invite all humans, animals, plants and other critters to join us for the launch event of VOLUME 66. The event features a sneak preview of the Amsterdam Hortus’ Climate Greenhouse, as well as nature-inspired snacks and sounds. 

Loredana Gaiță is an architect based in Timișoara, Romania. This article was the winner of the BETA Awards 2024 in the Text category. BETA 2024, the Timișoara Architecture Biennial, will close its doors on 27th October. Don’t miss the last chance to visit the exhibition ‘Cover me softly’.

What is an institute for NightCulture? In Archis' latest publication, 170 voices from the worlds of contemporary nightlife, art, and culture come together to answer this question. Their diverse perspectives create a kaleidoscopic collection of ideas that collectively shape the vision for a future Institute for NightCulture. This book sets the stage for what such an institute could become.

In 2019, VOLUME first interviewed Tinatin Gurgenidze, the co-founder of Tbilisi Architecture Biennial. Five years, one pandemic and three editions later, the event keeps leading the debate around urgent topics in the caucasian republic of Georgia. We reached out to her again, a few days before the opening of their new edition “Correct Mistakes”, on the 28th of September.

Beehive design is not solely responsible for shaping the relationship between humans and bees. A perfect example of how hive technology has been transformed by cultural beliefs is the 'Bannkörbe': a basket hive prevalent in parts of Germany between the 16th and 19th centuries, incorporating a wooden mask depicting grotesque and eerie figures as means to ward off the evil eye. Read Aladin Borioli's full article from VOLUME 65 to find out more.

Archis and Nieuwe Instituut proudly present VOLUME 65: Living Together. Join us to celebrate the launch of the issue on Saturday September 7th at the Van Eesteren Museum in Amsterdam. 

This August, Archis and Nieuwe Instituut proudly present VOLUME 65: Living Together. The issue explores ways in which we cohabitate, capturing a wide array of modes and models of living across the globe. VOLUME 65: Living Together presents a mosaic of stories stemming from more than 25 countries – addressing both housing crises in different regions in the world, while also offering new perspectives, cases and creative engagements with housing, domestic issues, and potential futures for communal living.

Our friends at Confluence Studio are seeking ideas for redeveloping the historic Third Precinct Building in Minneapolis, abandoned since the George Floyd protests in 2020. They invite designers, artists, and community builders to contribute proposals by August 25th, aiming to transform the site into a symbol of positive change and justice. More information is available on their website.

A new partnership initiated by the Nieuwe Instituut aims to strengthen the position of Dutch architecture.

Earlier this year, we said goodbye to Ole Bouman along the lengthy corridor of the Markthal building in Amsterdam. Off on his impressively sturdy-looking bike, Ole commenced his 10,000km journey to the East the next day. Now, 139 days later, we reconnect with Ole for a conversation. As the Zoom on his phone flickers to life we find him in a Chinese hotel room, looking sharper than ever.

On Wednesday 13 March 2024, The Not-So-Easy Systems Change Meet-Up brought together over 80 experts and novices to untangle the practical steps needed towards circular design. We thank all guests, participants and supporters for joining us. And of course: a big shoutout to our guest editor Marieke van den Heuvel for bringing everyone together.

Diving into the unveil of Elon Musks’s Cybertruck, the futuristic spectacle in Bladerunner aesthetics. Opening up the conversation, reflecting on angular car design, historical influences, and discussing the impracticalities of Musk's take on the pick up truck. Questioning what a heavy, mass produced, electric truck is saying about envisioned futures in transportation, while calling for an increasingly sustainable, minimalist, and adaptable outlook.

Italian politics take an Adriatic turn as Giorgia Meloni is highlighting the coast’s importance as part of her election campaign. In 'Adriatic: A Concert of Civilizations at the End of the Modern Age', Robert D. Kaplan unveils the region’s rich histories, ranging from the clash of religions to its present-day geopolitical dance with China. Reviewing historical, cultural, and economic dynamics, this piece travels across the coast, through politics and the promise of an Adriatic resurgence.

Tallinn, Timișoara, Oslo, Rotterdam, Tbilisi, Lisbon - 6 biennials, 8 weeks. Follow Francesco on his trip across Europe, featuring (next to an honest review of the latest architecture and design) Haitian clay cookies, a run along the yellow line, experiencing the exhibition backwards, a ‘home visit’ at IABR, the cold, and exhaustion.

Chongqing's Redding International Tower A, a 48-story structure right in the heart of the city’s CBD. The tower is famous for its vibrant variety of offerings, seemingly unlimited possibility to explore, and hint of mystery. From cat cafes, to bridal photo studios, experimental dining, and themed cinemas, Redding International Tower A is an ever-changing vertical city and quiet an unique anomaly in Chinas real estate landscape.

Nationale Nederlanden - Exploring circular renovation of office spaces in two locations: Haagse Poort and Delftse Poort. From examining initial ambitions of 100% circularity and zero waste, to measurability issues, incentives, new ways of collaborating, and the shifting position of the architect - this case study reflects and informs on circular renovation ambitions of Nationale Nederlanden’s office spaces.

Alfa-College, Voltastraat - a college located in Hoogeveen, devoted to the circular renovation of their campus buildings. Exploring the renovation, scaling down in size and upgrading the school’s quality in a circular way, covers issues of resource efficiency, reclaiming materials, and the challenges and potentials of turning circularity into a compelling narrative.

A very beginner friendly overview and explanation of the process underlying circular design practices.

A timeline providing a comprehensive overview of key movements in environmentally-focused architecture and design.

Museum Kaap Skil, Texel - a place devoted to discoveries made by fishers, divers, and beachcombers, showcasing a variety of treasures from the sea. As a place with reuse values at its core, the case study sheds light on circularity in exhibition design, but also on the practice and stories of beachcombers, technical difficulties, and the sharing and learning from failures. 

We’re thrilled to announce that Volume magazine is now a collaboration between Archis Foundation and the Nieuwe Instituut! The collaboration with Nieuwe Instituut, the Netherlands Institute for Architecture, Design and Digital Culture, reflects a broader conviction that the complex issues facing society today can only be addressed through joint efforts. Substantial impact on society can be achieved by international cross-fertilisation between fields and sectors, linking expertise and tackling complex issues together.

An event to celebrate the launch of Archis' new book 50U.

We joined forces with MAB20 to publish V59 – Futures Implied, fresh off the printing press!

Missions of war and missions of peace: both can have a devastating effect on the spatial and social condition of the city. Architecture of Peace is a longterm research project by the international think tank Archis, addressing the military, political and cultural complexity of rebuilding operations. Can architecture actively contribute to a sustainable peace in this field of conflict? The exhibition The Good Cause shows inspiring and hopeful examples in post-war areas in order to distill a number of ‘key success factors’.

War and conflict are of all ages. To confront this reality, peace missions, rebuilding operations and international law have been developed as tools to help create stability and peace after conflict. This is very impressive indeed, but the road to sustainable peace is arduous and troublesome. Furthermore, rebuilding and urban planning strategies can rekindle old conflicts. The exhibition The Good Cause not only gives insight into the complexities of dealing with post-conflict situations. Through inspiring case studies from Afghanistan, Kosovo, South Africa, Rwanda, Israel and Palestine, it also shows what reconstruction could look like if it were designed with an eye for local structures.

Trust in the Blockchain Society is an audiovisual platform for smartphone users to engage with the future scenarios of the Blockchain, where 10 ‘augmented interviews’ are intertwined to create a new form of in-depth journalism. Trust in the Blockchain Society will be launched in Summer 2020.

How does the introduction of computation and algorithms impact the practice of architecture? The seminar focuses on how the increasing automation of the traditional responsibilities liberate architects from the past, to think more broadly about the role of architecture in approaching future built environments, infrastructure and problem solving.

It is a four-day research workshop with the ambition to do a reality-check of the intersection of technology, architecture and urban planning.

Maternity Waiting Homes, Bagh-e Jahan Palace, Bamyan National Park

Construction in war zones raises a number of issues, especially about the rebuilding of social relationships by providing activities and places that can stimulate community growth. In 2001 Maria Grazia Cutuli, a prominent Italian journalist, was murdered by a group of gunmen in Afghanistan. After ten years, the Foundation named after her, decided to build a ‘sign of peace’, a school as an innovative educational space as an alternative to those models related to the afterwar reconstruction emergencies.

(Re)collecting Mostar is part of a greater attempt by Abart of using art to move social boundaries. Mostar is a divided city, lacking general cultural activities.

Archis Interventions began its work in Cyprus in 2010, when it founded a local NGO that is run essentially by Cypriot architects and urbanists. Cyprus has been a divided country since several decades. Various attempts have been made to overcome the division of the country yet they have only rarely proved successful to date. The division has a direct impact on the development of urban structures.

The cityscape of Bucharest is dominated by huge, standardized public housing estates built during the socialist era, mainly in the 1970s and 1980s – in which circa 70 per cent of the city’s population still live. Following the collapse of state socialism and the introduction of a market economy, most public housing was privatized.

In response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza which has left thousands of families living in sub-standard conditions, the UUSC together with the AFSC the Youth Bank and Architects for peace have launched an extensive analysis of the housing situation. Combining psycho-social assistance, practical support to needy families, and housing repairs, the goal of the project was to re-establish a sense of normalcy in the lives of people, especially young people, by engaging youth in the mental and physical reconstruction of their communities.

’20 Centres for 2010′ was a campaign of the sporting body FIFA to harness the global event for social change during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Skateistan is a skateboarding school in Kabul, engaging growing numbers of displaced youth through skateboarding.

Nicosia on the island of Cyprus is the only capital in the world to be still divided. Since 1974 a demilitarized buffer zone, the Green Line, has physically divided the city and indeed the entire island in two. In an attempt to find spatial and architectural means of reuniting the two cultures, Gert Breugem developed a strategy that would stimulate the process of cultural change and regeneration in the heart of the old town.

Ein Hawd was an old Palestinian village on Mount Carmel. During the War of Independence in 1948, the Israeli army occupied the village, and the 900 villagers became refugees overnight. One group fled to nearby family land on the mountain and began building a new village, called Ein Hud after the old one. In the early 1950s, the picturesque old village became inhabited by Jewish artists who called it Ein Hod. It became a flourishing tourist destination whilst the Palestinian Ein Hud stayed unrecognized and illegal without proper infrastructure. In 2004 it was finally recognized but with a master plan that restricted the area and the Palestinian identity.