Design Commissions
Marieke van den Heuvel devised the spatial design for the exhibition What is the Netherlands? 14 Entries to the World Fair (2015).
What is the Netherlands?
The exhibition What is the Netherlands? gave an overview of Dutch participation in the World Expo since 1910. When Stephan Petermann (who was then working at OMA) and Marieke van den Heuvel were invited to make an exhibition outlining how the Netherlands has presented itself on this international stage over the years, they developed the idea of giving the show a pavilion format. "We wanted a metaphorical translation of the World Expo,' says Van den Heuvel. "The design needed to have a pavilion's open character, so that visitors always have an overview of the exhibition and freely navigate through it. It had to be democratic and not dogmatic."
Van den Heuvel and Petermann comprise the MANN research and design agency. "We collaborate closely on assignments," says Van der Heuvel. "Stephan is an architectural historian and has a good understanding of design. I am a designer and contribute to the content. Form and content merge in our work. That's the strength of our collaboration's. While researching the exhibition, I saw the design for the layout of the 1867 International Exposition in Paris. The site was divided into rings, in which the participating countries were inserted like pie slices. It seemed like a graceful and suitable form. When you take a historical overview, you can quickly find yourself in a linear chronology, which I wanted to avoid. By opting for a circular pavilion, the design invited visitors to its centre, and from there they could make their own route through the exhibition."
The pavilion's steel frame allowed for a nimble and transparent construction. For each World Expo entry were two opposite walls. "From this began a dialogue through which Stephan wanted to tell a story about the various entries," Van den Heuvel explains. "The story melds bureaucracy and lyricism and tells how the Netherlands presents itself to the world. Such national presentations always invoke an element of pride: look how great and special we are! Lu Liang's graphic design resumes this dialogue, with one wall in positive black on white, and the facing wall in negative white on black."
The exhibition's timeline and sections were mapped onto the main exhibition hall's floor. "It was important to use the ground surface because I wanted the exhibition to include the whole space," says Van den Heuvel. "The drawing on the floor acted as a giant infographic for visitors to orient themselves. They could sit on the steps of the inner circular podium. Above it hung a carillon - referencing those used in seven of the 14 pavilions - that occasionally rang out through the space: "This festive element was representative of lyricism. The exhibition had to be a metaphor."
To mark the 34th World Expo in Milan in 2015, Het Nieuwe Instituut devoted extensive attention to this phenomenon in its programme Innovation at the World Expo 1851 - Now. The exhibition _What is the Netherlands? 14 Entries to the World Expo_ gave an overview of 14 Dutch contributions to world expos since 1910. Politicians, businesses and designers work in a unique partnership to develop pavilions and presentations that document the Netherlands' self-image. What is the Netherlands? outlines over 100 years of dialogue between modernity and nationality, economy and culture, and trade interests and speculation about the future.