Queer Houses and PlacesQueer Houses and Places

Are there places designed for or by queer communities? Or is it mainly a history of communities appropriating spaces? Together with archivist Alfred Marks, the State Archive for Architecture and Urban Planning will be viewed from a queer perspective. Dirk van den Heuvel discusses the results of his ongoing research into queerness in architecture, and Aad Koster takes you into Rotterdam's queer history, from the first gay organisation in 1919, to the growth of secret meeting places and 'the scene that shows itself' in the current century.

Alfred Marks knows the extensive collection of architectural drawings, photos, models and other archival items better than anyone else. He has worked in the archive for many years and from 2014 until 2016 has curated the series of exhibitions _Surprising Finds from the Collection_.

Architect/researcher Dirk van den Heuvel is Head of the Jaap Bakema Study Centre and teaches at the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft. From a personal and political view, he is interested in the possible forms of an inclusive, open society which offers space for diversity. The topic of 'queer spaces' is underexposed in architecture and offers a challenge to take another perspective on the history and the architecture discipline.

Aad Koster (b. 1947) studied at the Interfaculty of Business Studies in Delft and worked for various operating companies of the Koninklijke Bijenkorf Beheer. He received the Erasmusspeld from the municipality of Rotterdam for, among other things, his services to the COC and the Historisch Genootschap Roterodamum. For the Rotterdam gallery and heritage lab DIG IT UP, as well as personal interest, Koster researched the gay history of Rotterdam, resulting in the exhibition 'Out in Rotterdam'. During this event he discusses some examples from his historical research.

This event is organised as part of Rotterdam Pride, which takes place throughout Rotterdam from 22 to 29 September 2019. Het Nieuwe Instituut values ​​a tolerant and inclusive way of living together and therefore makes a substantive contribution to the Rotterdam Pride programme. More information about Rotterdam Pride can be found on their website.

Containing the collections of some of the most important architects and urban planners in the Netherlands, the State Archive for Dutch Architecture and Urban Planning provides an insight into the development of Dutch architecture and society over the past 130 years. Each item in the collection of four million drawings, sketches, models, professional and personal correspondence, photographs, posters and news clippings has a story to tell. But many of these stories have remained untold because nobody has yet uncovered them. For the series of evenings entitled Archive Explorations we have invited a range of people to go on a journey of discovery through the archive to uncover new perspectives.