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world almost naturally becomes your stage.
She is not dependent on recognition. She says. She is also honest
It took a long time, because an international career such as this
enough to note: ‘You can never have enough success.’
makes special demands on the home front, the bureau. This
Does she have enough resilience in this competitive world? Deci-
should be well addressed. Otherwise, such a step can soon be
sively: ‘I always keep focused on my goal. I know that on my way to
risky.
that goal I will face adversity. That’s just how it goes. What remains
But which ambitions couldn’t be realised in the Netherlands? After
is my goal.
some pushing, an example is given. She would have liked to reno-
I have gotten everywhere in my life that I’ve wanted to go. I never
vate the Rijksmuseum
forget that as a student I wanted to see extraordinary houses and
in Amsterdam. ‘I could
architects. I made sure I looked tidy and rang the bell. I was always
原 本 教
堂 的 屋 頂 桁
架 空 間 改 為
辦 公 空 間 ,
綽 號 叫 「 駕
駛 艙 」。
The ‘cockpit’,
a work space
in the rafters
of the former
chapel.
De ‘cockpit’,
een werkruimte
in de nok van
de voormalige
kapel.
have done it too.’ But
she does not complain.
She merely wants to
explain why she pushes
her boundaries, literally.
In 2003, with a great
passion, she organized
the First International
Architecture Biennale
Rotterdam. She was
already an honorary
fellow of the Royal
British Architecture
Institute, gave lectures
for twenty years
throughout the world;
she had her place in the international system. And yet, it seems
that the biennial advanced her enormously.
The amount of work was epic. She had to develop a concept of
something that did not exist in eighteen months. What she wanted
was an investigative biennial, with mobility as a central theme at
the interface of urban planning and architecture.
It attracted designers and researchers from ten cities around
the world. Specific names such as Zaha Hadid, Thom Mayne, Greg
Lynn and Odile Decq were there. They went to work on the theme.
Rotterdam was buzzing for two months, plans and publications,
discussions between architects, engineers, traffic experts, urban
designers, landscape designers and students.
After so many years, she sees this as her greatest personal achie-
‘I want to be
valued for what
I could do, not
because I am
woman. Being a
female isn’t an
achievement in
itself.‘
welcome inside.’
*
Is there such a thing as female architecture?
‘I want to be valued for what I could do, not because I am woman.
Being a female isn’t an achievement in itself.‘
It might help.
‘I feel that I do think from a child’s and people’s perspective.’
Football is masculine. Architecture is too, isn’t it?
‘Generally, yes. You can count the top woman architects in the
world on one hand, maybe two. And that does not change over
time. This is partly due to the nature of the work. You have to
be working seven days a week, 365 days a year. You need to have
artistic skills, business skills, organisational skills. You must be
communicative. Men have more time for this, I suspect.
At the same time I think: I don’t want to talk about work so much. I
just do what I do. Whether it is male or female I do not care.
The best thing you can say about it is that I have become a sort of
role model for young people and women architects. Okay, that’s
fine.
After World War II they of course built a lot of ugly buildings. Bad
architecture, bad urban planning.’
Seemingly out of nowhere she says: ‘That’s all done by men.’
So, point made.
She employs ten statements (see p. 347). In fact, they include her
entire philosophy.
With Mecanoo, she wants to be ‘humane’ and design architecture
and urban plans from the perspective of the people, and even the
child. Of course it could be more academic. She does not want
INTERVIEW ENGLISH JAN TROMP
vement. ‘I was wrecked. It was a great feast.’
that. She tries to imagine how users feel about her work. These