Carbon Dioxide Compensation

The Baobab tree we bought at the Tree-Nation plantation in Niger has been watered well by gardeners like Tinpeeba and is now three years old. It looks like we have to buy a new tree for CO2 compensation soon because we are in preparation for new Lecture Tour destinations.

Line up

At the end of a long day the part-time students showed the concepts on their lined up lap-tops. After dusk we had a farewell ceremony. Out of the hands of all students that attended the workshop a Kom Loy Thai wishing balloon was released into the sky.

The perfect spot

We figured that the RDM terrain was the designated location. The Rotterdamse Droogdok Maatschappij is a former shipyard where ocean steamers for the Holland America Line were build. It turned out to be the perfect spot to find Typical details even for us residents of Rotterdam.

Something new

After a break of twenty-four months we decided to try something new. We developed an assignment on reallocation of industrial heritage by making use of the Typical Planet method. The Rotterdam Academy of Architecture kindly hosted a workshop as committed by the Academy of Art and Design St. Joost in Breda, the Netherlands.

Prosperous 2009!

May the new year bring you new insights, prosperity and memorable moments. We look forward to many more great Lecture Tour destinations and the friendships that come from them.

Arabian night

Our flight back home was canceled so we had to spend an extra Arabian night in hotel La Cigale. It had just opened its doors.

Twelve light circles

Surprisingly there was no desert sand near the school so we had to bring it in. Twelve light circles were created on a soccer field closeby.

Air pollution

Qatar is the most striking country for our climate change assignment because it has the highest CO2 exhaust per capita in the world. At the end of the day we had two winning projects. This project dealt with asthma as caused by air pollution.

Woman only

Male and female students are strictly separated in Qatar so it was the first time we were teaching woman only.

Education City

Our workshop took place in Education City, an area with several faculties. Our host, the VCU School of the Arts Qatar offered spacious rooms for the students.

Desert state Qatar

On the first day of our arrival at Doha, capital of desert state Qatar it rained. The day after we drove around town looking for something typical. With new city developments these handcrafted door decorations will probably disappear in the near future.

A dynamic & energetic 2008

We wish a dynamic & energetic 2008 for those who have supported last year's Lecture Tour and to all the students that attended the workshops and lectures!

Two circles

Tokyo’s strict fire legislations made us move the farewell ceremony indoors. When the lights where turned off we all watched the two light circles in silence.

Dynamic workshop

We lectured this enthusiastic group of twenty two students from Tokyo Zokei University. Coming from different faculties like interior architecture, design, fashion and even fine arts it created a dynamic workshop setting.

Japanese tradition

Combinations of pavement and high end finishing degree show the Japanse tradition of refinement in contemporary design.

Taking the lead

The next day we got to the streets of Tokyo in search for typical details. Our host Fumi Masuda is taking the lead with Mie Suzuki and Gerrit Schilder on either side.

Tatami interior

Upon arrival in Tokyo we were welcomed at Iriya Plus, a postwar house with a wonderful traditional tatami interior. Our sleeping quarters were upstairs and downstairs we had an intimate workshop space at our disposal.

City beach

At Gwangalli beach we made light circles that merged nicely with the surrounding city lights. Bypassers stood still at the promenade to enjoy the sight. We had our drinks, ate pizzas and finally said goodbye.

Best project

Together with tutors from the university and the students we selected best project out of nine presentations. The winning team passionately presented a complete and credible concept that could truly reduce CO2 exhaust if realized.

Translation devices

With students from South Korea, China and even Russia communication took place in different languages. Translation devices proofed to be very helpful in the proces.

Frozen footsteps

Is it because of workmen in a hurry that these footsteps were created or because of pedestrians that wanted to leave a personal mark?

At the fish market

We have visited the Sasang and Nampodong neighbourhoods to find subjects for our Typical Busan presentation. Some people at the fish market were surprised by our way of taking pictures.

Room with a view

Busan’s city lights shimmer on the first night of our arrival. Our room was situated on one of the upper floors in the Millenium building of Dongseo University.

Circles in the rain

We ended the workshop with a small ceremony on Stroomi beach. While we were making the light circles it started to rain. Surprisingly this didn't extinguish the candles. They kept burning while we were watching the sun go down in the Baltic see.

Medieval walls

The students worked in classrooms with medieval walls. Again research on the subject turned out to be important for the creative process. Seven plans were presented and best project was chosen in a close finish. The conceptual approach of the assignment was appreciated by both students and staff.

New assignment

We have changed last years assignment about two young animals and their temporary habitat into one about the urgent matter of climate change. The students were asked to work with the subjects of CO2 emission and CO2 compensation and create solutions that stimulate sustainability awareness.

Estonian drainpipes

The variety of this subject was so exuberant that it became difficult to make a selection afterwards. It is touching to see that these pipes seem to have human features.

This is how we do it

The streets of Tallinn turned out to be tremendously fruitful for the Typical photoshoot. Easily we discovered several items to hunt down. Like mysteriously vanished squares.

What's up

These are the stairs to our room in Tallinn. During our stay in the city we enjoyed Toivo Raidmets warm hospitality in his house. Toivo is Head of the Interior Architecture department of the Eesti Kunstiakadeemia.

On our way

A new series of Lecture Tour workshops will start on August 26th in the city of Tallinn. There we will visit the Eesti Kunstiakadeemia, department of interior architecture. After Estonia we will be on our way to Qatar, South Korea and possibly Japan.

The Baobab tree

We have bought ourselves a Baobab tree. It will be planted soon near the town of Agadez in Niger. In the coming years this tree will grow for us to compensate 12.600 kilograms of CO2 which have been produced because of our flying behaviour last year.

Destination Busan

We are happy to announce that The Lecture Tour will visit Dongseo University in Busan at the beginning of this years autumn. This institute is situated in the South East of the Korean peninsula and we are already curious about the Typical pictures we can make there.

Visitors from Tallinn

This week we have been hosts for a delegation of tutors and students from the Eesti Kunstiakadeemia in Tallinn, department of interior architecture. We visited several outstanding Dutch projects like the Minnaert building in Utrecht and discussed the possibility to visit Tallinn on behalf of The Lecture Tour in autumn.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all the people that supported the Lecture Tour 2006 and to all the 400 students from three different continents that attended our workshops!

At the atrium

We handed out the price for best project two hours later than scheduled. Because time was limited we came up with an alternative for the light circles. At the atrium of the faculty we made a spiral out of two hundred and forty lights together with the students.

Social behaviour

Although most of the students had already encountered an orang utan still many questions remained. Especially the social behaviour of infant apes was triggering which led to lively discussions.

Lots of students

Our workshop took place on the last day of the international APSDA 2006 congress. About two hundred students from Malaysia, Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia showed up. The different cultural backgrounds led to interesting results for the orang utan assignment.

Pieces of art

We discovered that the tropical climate of Kuala Lumpur has several side effects on its buildings. The subject we liked most were walls that had spontaneously eroded into pieces of art.

Close to the ground

Walking around the neighbourhood we found a large variety of subjects for our Typical KL presentation. Sometimes we had to explain why we were putting our cameras so close to buildings and the ground.

Easy going guesthouse

These are the windows of our room at the easy going Number Eight guesthouse in the lively Tengkat Tong Shin street in Kuala Lumpur.

Destination Kuala Lumpur

Here we go again. We are on our way to our fourth destination this year! The organization of the APSDA 2006 Congress has invited us to give the Lecture Tour workshop on November 24th at the International Islamic University Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.

The crowd

Nearly one hundred students of the Tam Kang University took part in the workshop. We formed a jury together with the professors after which all groups presented their concept. The winning group was awarded in the aula of the Department of Architecture. We closed the workshop with a Chinese sparklers ceremony while standing in tropical rain.

Students at work

Getting closer to the deadline modern and old presentation techniques were used to visualize the ideas of the students.

Team spirit

This time we focused our workshop on a mythical creature, the Chinese dragon. The students had to come up with an appealing concept to transport two young dragons to Western Europe.

Taiwanese mops

Although Taiwan is an example of a mono cultural society we were lucky to encounter some uncommon characters in the streets of Taipei.

Farewell

We held a farewell ceremony on a piece of barren land near the school. We prepared the candles for fourteen light circles that would shine in the night.

In the afternoon

One of the models made by the students in the afternoon. This one had been made of cardboard, paper and vacuum formed plastic.

Two young bulls

Gerrit and a student at work at the academy for Art and Design St. Joost in Breda, the Netherlands. The students had to design a temporary living for two young bulls travelling from western Europe to Venezuela.

Typical Breda

Even in a tidy country like Holland things get worned out. We found these street markings during our cycling tour through the city center of Breda. This typical Dutch subject was one of twelve presented the next day.

News from Taipei

Due to circumstances our Lecture Tour to Singapore has been canceled but happy news reached us from Taiwan today. The Tamkang University has invited us to give a workshop and two lectures mid september.

Tamkang University
Department of architecture