Exhibition Celebrates 100 Years of the National Collection
This autumn, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Collection for Dutch Architecture and Urban Planning. To mark the occasion, an exhibition explores how architects have dealt with the social developments of their time. After all, the Netherlands has changed radically since 1923. World War II and post-war reconstruction, population growth, emancipation, decolonisation, reparcelling, the rise of motorised traffic and new technologies such as TV, internet and mobile telephony have all left their mark
17 November 2023 - 2 March 2024
The exhibition features work by well-known architects from Berlage to Hertzberger to OMA, as well as designers who have been in the spotlight less frequently: the ‘new classics’. By connecting past, present and future, the exhibition shows us how we can draw inspiration from history when tackling current developments.
The National Collection consists of some 700 archives, containing a total of four million models, drawings, photographs and other documents. Together they portray the development of 130 years of architecture and urban planning in the Netherlands.
100 Years of the National Collection of Dutch Architecture and Urban Design is on show from 18 November 2023 to 3 March 2024 at the Nieuwe Instituut, Museumpark, Rotterdam
Cornelis van Eesteren and Theo van Doesburg (colour design). Competition design for a shopping arcade on the Laan van Meerdervoort, The Hague, 1924. Archive C. van Eesteren. Collection Nieuwe Instituut, EEST 3,250
Herman Hertzberger. Competition design for the Luxor Theater, Rotterdam, 1996. Archive H. Hertzberger. Collection Nieuwe Instituut, HERT 1112-3
Image at the top: In 1987, during the Nederland in 2050 exhibition, four scenarios for a possible 2050 were presented: a Dynamic, Critical, Careful and Relaxed Netherlands. Rem Koolhaas and Kees Christiaanse worked on a design for the Haarlemmermeer in line with the Dynamic scenario. Nederland nu als Ontwerp archive. Collection Nieuwe Instituut, NNAO 504