Revision as of 09:15, 29 June 2012

introduction

In this page the ideas of the summary are clarified in a more detailed form. As stated before the aim of attracting the young generation- elementary and secondary schoolers- to NDSM is not only to bring liveliness to the everydays of NDSM but also to catalyze stronger and wider connections among existing institutions at NDSM and beyond. The decision of organizing the workshopevents around the topic of media is also serving this notion. But who are these institutions exactly?

First the Creatieve Industrie School located at NDSM should be mentioned. For its students working int he field of media arts and design, MEDIA LAB is an ideal platform for experimentation and research.

Visual artists,designers, and other applied artists working in Kunststad also have interst in collaboarting with MEDIA LAB for the same reasons (Let me mention for instance Rhianne van Duin.)

Beam Systems, located near to NDSM is the most obvious provider of media facilities to MEDIA LAB.

Headquarters of tv channels targeting the youth are located at NDSM as well. For these institutions MEDIA LAB is an independent source of feedback.

MEDIA LAB does not intend to be financially dependant of commercial companies. In order to maintain its independency MEDIA LAB is in contact with CCC (Creative Corporate Collaboration). This means that occasionally, MEDIA LAB provides space for creative events for employees of corporations. Due to the financial benefits of this policy, the services of MEDIA LAB are more accesible (no fees) for a wider range of school groups.

After the description of the institutional network enforced by MEDIA LAB, it is time to have a closer look of the project itself as a piece of architecture.

MEDIA LAB is located in the abandoned blacksmmith warehouse int he middle of NDSM. The phisycal center position is in resemblance with the project’s aim to be a gathering point for the local institutions.

Though the function of MEDIA LAB is very special, with our design we wanted to avoid creating an isolated block. So we wanted to open up the warehouse, and make it accessible to the public without loosing its caracter of a place for critical learning and creativity, which obviously need concentration. Creating a balance between publicity and special activities was the main challenge of the project. The following chapters are dedicated to the description of how we commited to cope with this plurality.

entering into the floating open landscape

To balance the tension between public openness and undisturbed concentration we decided to make a horizontal division inside the warehouse. This division enabled for us to keep the generous spatial expression of the interiour. However at the same time different functional units also needed to be articulated. We wanted to avoid strict vertical particles, so we experimented with differentations of highths that led to a landscape like form.

The idea of a landscape inside the warehouse was also supported by the neighbouring project de Markt. To connect the two projects seemed obvious. The connection to de Markt also helped to clarify how functions are divided by the landscape. We decided to formulate the landscape as an extension of the openness and public attitude of de Markt. This means that we put the main entrance of the project to five meter hight from the ground floor. So the landscape of MEDIA LAB connects to the the landscape of de Markt as a continous flow. Now have a look at what actually happens ont he landscape.

going down to the workshops