Thursday 30 June, 2011, 19:00-22:30. De Verdieping, Wibautstraat 127, Amsterdam. Entrance: €10. This first Cognitive Cities Salon Amsterdam will deal with the synthesis of architecture and network technologies. We hope to see many of you at our first iteration of the Cognitive Cities Salon in Amsterdam. It is our combined pleasure to introduce you to the speakers that will engage the conversation about the future of cities at De Verdieping on the evening of June 30th. Edwin Gardner, architect and theorist. Design researcher at the Jan van Eyck Acadamie and editorial consultant to Volume Katalin Galayas, Policy Advisor to the City of Amsterdam James Burke, interaction designer, user experience architect and co-founder of VURB Kars Alfrink, 'Chief Agent’ of Hubbub The four of them will present their thoughts on urbanity, technology and how we are in the middle of it all. But the Salons are not intended to give only the speakers the stage. While sometimes it is important to only receive curated information, we are very much hoping for a lively debate at the event. Be challenged by the speakers, but also do your best to challenge them. A special call for participation for the next IoT workshop by Volume and VURB will be delivered by Vincent Schippers, Alexander Zeh and Caro van Dijk. The workshop is for architects, planners, coders and others interested in prototyping applications for a more writeable city. The evening will be moderated by Juha van 't Zelfde, host of Visible Cities.

"Alles van waarde is weerloos." ("Everything valuable is defenseless.") — Lucebert Although it's Summer in The Netherlands, it feels like the country is going through a cold and grey Winter. With its empty politics of symbolism, our populist right-wing coalition destroys what civilization needs: beauty, innovation, care, trust, openness and tolerance. Its plans for draconic cuts in Dutch art funding will lead to irreparable cultural and economic damage. Dutch government spending on the arts will be severely reduced from roughly 950 to 750 million euros. These cuts are not distributed evenly: the remaining funds will be directed at traditional, established art forms and museums. The frustrate the Dutch cultural world even more, the government has also approved plans to raise sales tax on theater, cinema and concert tickets from 6% to 19%. It's time to take a stand together and fight the cultural meltdown. Please sign the petition, participate in the March for Civilization on 26 and 27 June, or do something else. Check out the Dutch Art Damage Map for an overview of all protest actions. Thank you! Image courtesy of Mediamatic, Amsterdam.

Click here for the photo set on Flickr! On Thursday June 16 director Mirko Zardini and Phyllis Lambert (founding mother of the CCA) opened the exhibition 'The Good Cause, Architecture of Peace' at the CCA. Some 300 people attended the opening and visited the show curated by Saskia van Stein (NAI), Arjen Oosterman and Lilet Breddels (Archis). The Good Cause shows the thin line between an architecture of war and an architecture of peace. It shows the complexities of a post-conflict resolution but also gives clues how architecture can contribute to a sustainable peace. The exhibition can be seen as an installment in a longterm project with the aim to better the way the world deals with international peace keeping and reconstruction.

Opening 22 June 2011, 6 pm. Free entrance. Exhibition runs between 23 June and 31 August, 2011. Bauhaus Institute, Dessau. Click here for more information. The Exhibition 'City Inc.' shows the legacy of an utopian city of the early 20th century. Inspired by Fordist theories, garden city principles and socialist ideals, the Czech shoe company Bata went on a mission to “shoe the world“. In Zlin, in the Czech Republic, Bata built a first company town according to modernist architectural precepts, testing the idea of a model town that could be efficiently replicated. These Bata cities, soon to be exported all over the world, all combined the same components: architecture, urban planning, management, social engineering and communication. The geopolitical context of colonialism as well as growing international trade and labour division encouraged the company's expansion.Soon enough the Bata empire formed an international corporate network of 80 Bata cities as places of production as well as a modern way of life. The exhibition introduces two Bata satellite towns, Batanagar (India) and East Tilbury (Great Britain); two places which have developed in opposite directions depending on the remaining presence or final absence of the Bata production in the city. Not only does the show give an insight into the complexities and contradictions of life in a city that has changed dramatically during the last century, it also reflects the uncertain future of these two company towns in the context of current strategies of global corporations with regards to their “urban footprints”.

Thursday 16 June, 2011, 18:00-21:00, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal. The Good Cause exhibition runs between 16 June-4 September, 2011. Organized by the Netherlands Architecture Institute and Archis in collaboration with the CCA. Click here for more information. How can construction be an instrument of peace? Post-conflict cities share many problems such as spontaneous construction and a lack of strong civil governance, thus even well-intended projects under these conditions risk fixing inequalities permanently or introducing new ones in the built environment. Can architecture, beyond solving a direct need or problem, add to stability and peace? The Good Cause: Architecture of Peace considers cases that suggest how peace can be materialized. Complementing the exhibition 'Architecture in Uniform: Designing and Building for the Second World War', NAi, the Netherlands Architecture Institute, presents The Good Cause, an experimental research lab that explores the possibilities for architecture to strengthen the transformation of post-conflict urban areas. Gathering statistical data, graphics, maps, movies, publications, fragments of real life, pictures and interviews this temporary experimental space will survey the controversial thin line between the architecture of war and the architecture of peace within the unstable condition of ‘reconstruction’. Launch Architecture of Peace Website Complementing the exhibition, the official Architecture of Peace website has launched today. The website is a treasure trove of information regarding the Architecture of Peace topic, and showcases case studies, videos, the ethical code for architects and more. It is set up in order to be as open as possible, so the website only consists of a menu, linking to all kinds of external sources. The site can be visited at architectureofpeace.org.

We are frantically and lovingly working on Volume #28. The issue will be dedicated to a forward-looking debate on the Internet of Things (IoT) and the role of the architect in this new landscape. Mindblowing, we think. More on that soon! In this present climate of excitement and apprehension around the IoT, Paola Antonelli's next show at New York's Museum of Modern Art. 'Talk to Me' will explore the communication between people and objects. It will focus "on objects that involve a direct interaction, such as interfaces, information systems, visualization design, and communication devices, and on projects that establish an emotional, sensual, or intellectual connection with their users. Examples range from a few iconic products of the late 1960s to several projects currently in development — including computer and machine interfaces, websites, video games, devices and tools, furniture and physical products, and extending to installations and whole environments". The Creators Project interviewed Paola Antonelli and got a sneak preview of a few of the objects to be included in the show. Watch the interview here. The 'Talk to Me' online journal should be as interesting as the exhibition. At MoMA.org/talktome, the MoMA team shares their "findings, considerations and explorations as they research, investigate and hear from their networks of designers, artists, scientists and scholars". An exclusive insight into the curatorial process. 'Talk to Me' opens on July 24 and runs until November 7, 2011.

"Vacant NL explores the potential of thousands of vacant buildings in the Netherlands dating from the 17th to the 21st century. This challenge calls for unorthodox and temporary interventions, which a team of designers and specialists in legislation, science, and technology will envision and test on location." During the 2010 Architecture Biennale in Venice, it became clear that thousands of inspiring, vacant public buildings in the Netherlands have the potential to be reused for creative entrepreneurship and innovation. With the two-year master’s program Vacant NL, the Sandberg Institute is realizing its ambition to train designers, craftsmen and scientists to become specialists in the temporary use of buildings and other spaces. Directed by landscape architect Ronald Rietveld and philosopher Erik Rietveld, the program revolves around design research on the potential of vacant spaces. Insights and solutions from different fields of knowledge are combined to address the topic in an integrated manner. Several unique buildings are available for experimentation and for making site-specific design interventions. Without doubt, what the Netherlands needs in the current decade is a multidisciplinary team of talented specialists in temporary reuse of buildings and other spaces. The challenge posed by Vacant NL calls for a range of visionary, unorthodox and unsolicited interventions. Design and build the impossible! Vacant NL is open for ten students, all of whom will be expected to have a solid basis in a relevant discipline at the start of the two-year program. Seven of the students will have a background in design in the broadest sense of the word. This could be in architecture, industrial design, interior architecture, web architecture, or stage design. The other three students will be resourceful specialists from other fields. They could be creative lawyers, fire fighters, documentary makers, urban geographers, cultural historians, research journalists, plasterers, event planners, or aerospace experts, for example. Their expert knowledge of their respective fields will enable them to contribute to surprising, unconventional design solutions. The variety in the students’ backgrounds and the contributions that specific experts from outside the field of design will make to the program will enable the integration of multidisciplinary knowledge. Vacant NL believes that by combining design, science, and technology in real-life situations, one can make the step towards real innovation. Click here for more information regarding the program.

After being one and a half year at the Archis team as managerial editor of Volume, Timothy Moore is going back to his roots in Melbourne. Congratulations on your new job as Editor of Architecture Australia, and thanks for being part of the team!

Last weekend Archis and VURB have organized the first IOT workshop. A group of ten coders and ten architects came together to share thoughts about their merging disciplines. It has been a very interesting day, which has resulted in a lot of interesting perspectives and ideas for the next issue of Volume. Volume #28 will be entirely about the Internet of Things and about the question how the architect should respond on the innovations and challenges that arrive from an entirely new field of knowledge and possibilities. After the success of this first Internet of Things workshop, Archis will organize a second one, with the main objective to collaboratively set up a project on the interface of both disciplines. To be announced!

Thursday 12 May, 10:00-18:00, at Uferhallen, Berlin. Organized by Urbanophil and Architekturvideo. Click here for more information. The Internet has become the most powerful communication infrastructure developed and used by mankind. It is changing our communication habits and ways of interaction and collaboration, and opens up new ways to disseminate information and knowledge. The Internet is also changing the discussion of urban issues, the distribution of information, how actors communicate and participate in the shaping of our (built) environment. Instead of passively consuming, one can now participate, publish and network. This opens up new opportunities for civil society engagement. It is not just the technology that makes things special — much more important is the change that goes along with the societal penetration of these technologies. Its great social and communicative consequences are not yet sufficiently discussed and understood. Especially in the fields of urban planning and architecture, the possibilities and new challenges are underestimated and slowly accepted. But there is a growing group of young urban planners, architects and activists, which explore the design challenges and opportunities that derive from the digitalization of space and society. But despite these developments, the urban-architectural blogosphere is just at the beginning. Therefore a conference is organized to discuss the changes, possibilities and limits, but also the challenges. Check out the Blogging the City website to learn more about the conference.

Buy here! We are proud to announce a new title in our Never Walk Alonely Planet series! After the big success of Beyroutes: A Guide to Beirut, Archis launches Mokum: A Guide to Amsterdam. Mokum will be presented at Paradiso on Thursday 5 May, 2011. Mokum is an alternative travel guide to Amsterdam that explores the boundaries of freedom in this European capital. How free is Amsterdam in 2011? How are the hard-won rights of women and gays, the freedom of speech and sexual liberties being influenced by the political climate in The Netherlands? Are these rights still visible and tangible in the urban realm? The travel guide challenges its reader to explore and analyze the rights and freedom in Amsterdam. Roosje Klap's graphic design is inspired by the esthetics of the Dutch free press in the 1960s and 1970s. Every chapter (Devotional City, Protest City, Cappuccino City, Monumental City) is based on a hand-made silk-screen poster from that time. Mokum includes maps, stories, poems, essays, illustrations and photos from more than 40 authors — from artists to geographers, from Amsterdammers to New Yorkers, from newbies to celebrities. Mokum will change your perspective on the city forever! Mokum is an initiative of the Amsterdam 4/5 May Committee. Mokum: A Guide to Amsterdam Archis, Amsterdam, 2011 €19.50 Editor-in-Chief: Christian Ernsten Graphic design: Studio Roosje Klap 208 p. ills color & bw, 16 x 23, pb, English ISBN: 9789077966556 Available from 27 April via Idea Books. The Never Walk Alonely Planet series provides an insider's perspective on the social and cultural reality of the city, with attention to daily life, political dimensions, and spatial consequences. The guides are appealing to both born and raised city dwellers and first-time visitors to a city.

Premsela, the Dutch institute for design and fashion, has made available a series of photos on its Flickr page taking during the discussion on 'Trust and Design' which took place yesterday morning. Premsela and Scott Burnham have been investigating the problem of consumers’ waning trust in the products and services they use since 2009 in the Trust Design project. So far, the design world has not succeeded in finding satisfactory solutions. Scott Burnham, Lilet Breddels of Volume magazine, and the designers Gijs Bakker and Alberto Meda discussed how design can win back the public’s trust. Photos were taken by Davide Bellucca. Click here to go to the slideshow. Click here for videos/soundbytes of the Trust discussion!

Thursday 7 April at 4pm, Why Factory (TU Delft, building Bouwkunde, Oostserre). 2067: The Legacy: Looking back to the future of architecture in Rotterdam. Special offer: During the presentation the book 2067: The Legacy will be available for € 15.00 (normal price € 19.90). The event presents the outcome of Indesem 2007, where the potential of the architect to set the agenda was at stake, tested at 20 locations in Rotterdam. For this festive launch Winy Maas, Wouter Vanstiphout and Dirk Sijmons will debate on the societal role of the architect: research agenda’s, consequences for education and relationships with local politics. What profile can we think of for this figure, that oscillates between landscapes of the future and cities of the past? 2067: The Legacy contains lectures and inspirational input from Herman Hertzberger, 2012 architects, Ronald Wall, Floris Alkemade, ZUS, Wouter Vanstiphout, Michiel Riedijk, Winy Maas, Dirk Sijmons, Salomon Kroonenberg and Juhani Pallasmaa and reports on the discussions and results from the workshops to formulate a future agenda for architecture. Jeroen Musch created a photographic report and Maureen Mooren with Sandra Kassenaar signed for the special design.