On Thursday 21 March 2013, the teams that have worked under the wings of the Studio for Unsolicited Architecture, Design & E-Culture will present the results of their research at the Netherlands Architecture Institute. The Studio is an experimental project that explores ways in which designers can play a meaningful role in resolving urgent social and design challenges.

Ja Natuurlijk (Yes Naturally) is an international art manifestation that will take place at GEM, Fotomuseum and Gemeentemuseum in The Hague from March 15 till August 18, 2013. The central question that will be addressed is: What is natural? And who or what defines that, actually? Are we humans the only ones who decide this, or do plans, animals, bacteria, things and natural forces also ‘get a say’?

Filmmaker Kit Chung has created a series of fascinating and hypnotic GIFs that are intimate portraits of Beijing metro passengers.

Chinese artist Yang Yongliang recently released a new project that will be on view at Galerie Paris-Beijing from from March 14th to April 27th. The impressive collages aim to represent the potentially devastating effects of uncontrolled urbanization and industrialization.

'ENERGY. Oil and Post-Oil Architecture and Grids' is an exhibition that will be on display at MAXXI Architecture in Rome between March 22 and September 29, 2013. Curated by Pippo Ciorra, the exhibition features more than 80 drawings and projects, 3 photographers and 7 international architects that focus on the relationship between architecture and energy.

Two weeks ago, the ARCHIZINES exhibition opened doors at the RMIT Design Hub in Melbourne. ARCHIZINES is one of two inaugural exhibitions on design publishing at the new RMIT Design Hub, designed by Sean Godsell Architects. Both exhibitions will be accompanied by a program of talks, discussions, events and social gatherings. Go check it out!

The days when the 'Internet of Things' will no longer be a vision but a daily experience seem to be approaching faster and faster. In Volume’s issue #28, back in 2011, we have featured interviews, visions and envisions of how the IoT world would be like. The interaction between objects through their connection to the same information network allows the systematic programming and adaption of functions without the human interference. This concept has also been adopted in the field of transportations. European Commission, through a specific council and initiatives, has been funding a series of research programmes related to IoT. Some of those focus on the use of IoT in order to make European transportation systems more efficient and of course safer.

The Cycle of Japan is a new lecture series at the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam, that focuses on what the Netherlands can learn from Japanese urban practice. Edwin Gardner will kick off the series with a talk on 14 February. In the last decades development in the Netherlands is often equated to a linear process of more buildings, more cities and more square meters per person. With the recent economic crisis, this expansion mechanism has come to an abrupt halt. Due to the economic crisis of the 90s and an aging population Japan has long been engaged in a cyclical construction where growth and shrinkage are not opposites and where progress is sought in change, metamorphosis and and small amount of available space for housing. The central question in this Capita Selecta lecture series is: what can we learn from the Japanese condition in the Netherlands?

With Volume #34 we present the latest in New Town development: the city as enterprise. On Friday January 11th we launched the new issue at Athenaeum in Amsterdam. Click here for a photo series that was published on Facebook.