project05:Site Archive

Initial thoughts on NDSM

In general, objects around us are designed for a certain purpose. If they fulfill their expected role we can say that they work or operate well. If a knife has a sharp blade it can be used as a knife. A bicycle can only be regarded as a bicycle if it can be used as a bicycle. If objects fail to play their role we usually collect and try to get rid of them. This is the way how a dump site comes into existence.

The NDSM shipyard can be regarded as a dump site as it is a collection of buildings, and objects which formerly had a very strictly determined role (cranes, ships, trams, industrial buildings, and even a submarine). By today these elements have been suspended from their original operation. Meanwhile, they started communication with each other, generating a new kind of relationship of the objects. A new context has emerged. What can be the role of a new element here? Would it be necessary at all to intervene into a network, which has already started redefining itself?

It would be useful to map the relationships between the constituting parts of the site, as it could lead to a deeper understanding of its present character. The discussion of any kind of possible interventions can only come after this.