3D City: Studies in density

Yale School of Architecture Gallery
180 York Street
New Haven, CT 06520
Tel.: 203-432-2889
www.architecture.yale.edu

Exhibition

3D City: Studies in Density
Recent Work by MVRDV

September 4 to October 25, 2002
Yale School of Architecture Gallery
180 York Street, New Haven, CT 06520

Exhibition hours are Monday through Saturday,
10am to 5pm.
For information call: 203-432-2889

This exhibition was originated and produced by MVRDV in collaboration with the Yale School of Architecture Exhibitions Program.

This multimedia exhibition is comprised of research projects and competition designs as well as individual projects featuring the films MetaCity/Datatown (1999), Pig City (2001), and KM3 (1999) along with the projects Nuage d'Art (2001), the Dutch Pavilion (2000), and Brabant Library (2000).

3D City: Studies in Density
Is it possible to escape from two-dimensional zoning practices and conventions that dominate current urban regulation? Can three-dimensional zoning create cities that may absorb more program and therefore increase density possibilities? Will such zoning lead to enlarged global urban and human capacity? Would it be possible to generate true densification and to expand existing space? Most importantly, will densification result in richer cities?

MVRDV's Studies in Density implies a city that is not only in front, behind or next to you, but also above and below. In short a city in which ground level zero no longer exists but has dissolved into a multiple and simultaneous presence of levels where the town square is replaced by a void or a bundle of connections; where the street is replaced by simultaneous distribution and divisions of routes and is expanded by elevators, ramps and escalators where far away is reduced to proximity; and the park is transformed into a stacking of public spaces. In this dense three-dimensional world, spatial quality is no longer translated into morphology or geometry, but in richness, diversity, presence, and proximity. The difference between under or above ground is no longer relevant. There is only simultaneity.
-MVRDV

For more information see
www.mvrdv.nl

Metacity, Living, MVRDV

In conjunction with "3D City", MVRDV's first comprehensive exhibition in the US, on display at Yale School of Architecture Gallery from September 4 to October 25, 2002, the School of Architecture will hold a symposium, "Dense-cities, An American Oxymoron?" on Friday evening September 20 and Saturday, September 21, 2002, as a series of presentations by design, planning, and environmental professionals who Winy Maas, a principal of the firm, will engage in a debate.

MVRDV, (Maas, van Rijs, de Vries) the Dutch architectural firm based in Rotterdam, has been exploring issues of density and urban growth for the past 10 years, with buildings such as the VPRO headquarters in Hilversum, the Wozoco Hanging Houses in Amsterdam, and the stacked landscapes of the Dutch Pavilion at the Hannover Expo 2000. The exhibition will challenge the normal urban models and ask: Is it possible to escape two-dimensional planning? Can a city absorb more program and how? Can three- dimensional cities led to the world's enlarged capacity? Does density give us richer cities?

The symposium will begin with a keynote talk by Winy Maas on Friday evening and then on Saturday diverse urban professionals-architects, planners, sociologists, landscape architects - will present their work in relationship to density. Maas will debate each speaker and engage a discussion in a talk show format.
While many would consider the US a dense country, others would say it is mostly sprawl, which would bring opportunities for future denser development. But how could this occur. MVRDV has explored, alternative ways to build density into cities by working around building codes and FAR; linking infrastructure with architecture; creating carpets of development; and building densely layered stacks of multiple uses to create a simultaneity of experience.

The investigations on density will contribute towards solutions to regional development and urban design as embodied in immediate concerns for building densely after September 11.

The event is free, but please reserve:
Phone: 203-432-2889, fax: 203-432-7175
Email: architecture.pr@yale.edu

Schedule:

Friday, September 20, 2002
6:30pm

Keynote talk
Winy Maas, MVRDV

Saturday, September 21, 2002
9:30am

Welcome
Robert A.M. Stern, Yale University

Global Density
Michael Sorkin, City College of New York

Nature in the Dense City
James Corner, University of Pennsylvania

William Burch, Yale University

Temporal Densities
Brian McGrath, Columbia University

Lunch break

Afternoon Session, 1:30pm

Designing for Density
Fred Koetter, Yale University
Marilyn Taylor, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Density and Development Post 9/11
Phillip Aarons, Millennium Partners

Density and Sprawl
Douglas Kelbaugh, University of Michigan

Planning Density
Alexander Garvin, Yale University

Reception

This symposium is made possible with the support of The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Consulate General of The Netherlands in New York

Donau City, Kissing Towers, MVRDV, 2001

Pinault Museum competition proposal, Paris, MVRDV, 2001

KM3, Gotham, MVRDV