Cultural Heritage

The Studio will deal with the issue of architecture and time. The relation between the past and the future, the lifespan of a building and its changing impact through time.  

Also questions of when does architecture become Heritage and how do we deal with this. What does Heritage mean to us? And, does it shape our identity? 

How do we approach Heritage in The Netherlands, a very protectionist country when it comes to dealing with its architectural culture, any intervention on something from the past is dealt with carefully? The country is worried that if the past is erased their identity will be lost. 

What is the difference between the Dutch and the Spanish approach.  

What is and what creates and forms Identity and in particular Architectural Identity? Is it history? Is it architecture? Is it landscape? Is it linked to symbolic architecture or to a group of elements? Is it culture? Is it values? Is it all of the above? 

How can the existing context be re-read, understood, valued and further developed? How can protection of Heritage and new developments go hand in hand? And how can architecture anticipate new developments from the perspective of the existing population, from aging and social segregation to climate change?  

Within this mind frame, we will work on a Spanish Palace and the city created around it, Aranjuez.