V. The Irritant Principle of Renewal: 100 years of Aldo & Hannie van EyckV. The Irritant Principle of Renewal: 100 years of Aldo & Hannie van Eyck

Aldo and Hannie van Eyck were one of the most remarkable and influential architect couples of the second half of the 20th century, not only in the Netherlands but also in the international architecture community. In their inexhaustible quest for a renewal of post-war modern architecture, they placed the human being at the centre of their work and thinking. They found profound inspiration in 'the child, the city and the artist', as the famous title of Aldo van Eyck's manifesto goes. Influential works include the Municipal Orphanage in Amsterdam, the Arnhem Sonsbeek Sculpture Pavilion, and more than 700 children's playgrounds in Amsterdam. It is in the context of the latter that Aldo van Eyck spoke of the 'irritant principle of renewal': a playground in a city was like a grain of sand in an oyster, triggering a transformation and regeneration of the urban social fabric.

'The Irritant Principle of Renewal' is both the motto for the conference and its challenge. Next to the demonstration of the internal developments of the body of work and thinking of the Van Eycks, the Jaap Bakema Study Centre suggests a set of topics for further exploration and debate. Academics and practitioners alike were invited to submit to the call for papers. This year's conference has been made possible by a grant from the EFL Foundation.

Céline Condorelli, a London and Lisbon based artist and teacher, delivered the keynote lecture The Irritant Principle of Renewal on 29 November. A recording of that lecture can be found below.

• Dick van Gameren (Chair of the Department of Architecture, TU Delft)
• Dirk van den Heuvel (Head of the Jaap Bakema Study Centre)

• Francis Strauven – Aldo and Hannie van Eyck: in search of built meaning

Moderator: Herman van Bergeijk (TU Delft)

• Alejandro Campos Uribe – On the Van Eyck Home in Loenen aan de Vecht
• Anat Falbel – In the path of the "in-between": Brazilian Repercussions of Aldo van Eyck's Concept
• Marianna Charitonidou – Aldo van Eyck's critique against Postmodernism: between the "configurative discipline" and "the irritant principle of renewal"
• Andreas Kalpakci – Imaging the Human House

Moderator: Andrej Radman (TU Delft)

• Nelson Mota – Architecture and Social Ecology: The Role of Visual Ethnography in Design Education
• Lidwine Spoormans & Lidy Meijers – Towards Continuous Renewal. Re-use Design of 1970s Architecture and Design Education
• Dirk Somers & Daniel Rosbottom – Playgrounds as Pedagogic Tools for Architecture Students

Moderator: Heidi Sohn (TU Delft)

• Karin Jaschke – Whatever Happened in Mali: Re-telling the Story of the Dogon Journey
• Beatriz Rocha – Spirals of Time: Between Aldo van Eyck and Lina Bo Bardi

• Stanislaus von Moos – Child, City, Artist. The Swiss Connection.

• Herman Hertzberger – Learning from Van Eyck

Moderator: Jurjen Zeinstra (TU Delft)

• Linda Vlassenrood – Jakoba Mulder and the Amsterdam Playgrounds
• Daphne Bakker – Van Eyck, Risselada and Lafour: The "Other" Architects
• Rixt Hoekstra – The Role of the ETH in the Formation of Dutch Female Architects in the 1930s

Moderator: Jorge Mejia Hernandez (TU Delft)

• Janno Martens – Two Birds: Aldo van Eyck and Carel Visser
• Ellen Smit – The Story of Another Way of Drawing
• Oliver Sack – In-between, Twin Phenomena and the Court of Audit
• Jorn Konijn – The Ball I Threw: the Exhibitions of Aldo and Hannie Van Eyck

Exhibition tour

Special session with trustees and friends of the Aldo+Hannie van Eyck Foundation. Moderator: Sebastiano Brandolini (A+H van Eyck Foundation)

• Abel Blom
• Alejandro Campos Uribe
• Maria Müller-Schareck
• Tim Pitman
• Julyan Wickham

This session is organised by the Aldo + Hannie van Eyck foundation.

• Céline Condorelli – Support Structures