Dutch Pavilion. Hanover. MVRDV. 2000
Project type
The Dutch Pavilion takes concepts of design and investigation of the city begun in previous years into greater depth and is one of the main emblems of the practice's great vitality and ability to innovate, qualities its members have demonstrated in addressing the theme of new urban design since the '90s. Here the architectural idiom acts as a go-between, a filter through which to propose new solutions to the problems of pollution, depletion of natural resources, congestion and liveability in our cities.
The pavilion emphasises the relationship between natural and artificial from the formal point of view too, by juxtaposing and overlapping opaque and clear materials, greenery and technology, areas open to the outside and others which are closed off.
In this "assemblage" we find the particular vocabulary of MVRDV, which developed building types based on the juxtaposition and combination of different elements in the '90s and has continued to apply them since. But in Hanover it is the landscape architecture that truly stands out, with its particular function of forging the environment.
The pavilion structure is in fact characterised by six different overlapping concepts of landscape.
From the ground floor, a "dune landscape" takes us to a "greenhouse landscape", a space in which nature, and above all agricultural produce, reveal their strong link with life even in today's high tech world. In the "pot landscape", large vases contain the roots of trees on the upper level, while screens and digital images express messages in light and colour. "Rain landscape" is dedicated to water, which becomes a screen and a support for audiovisual messages; large tree trunks populate the "forest landscape", while at the top of the building a "polder landscape" contains large wind vanes and a big green area.
The current relevance of the theme of ecology, sustainability and a new relationship with nature is thus conveyed through strongly iconic architecture, becoming the first work to bring MVRDV to the attention of critics the world over.
Laura Della Badia
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