
Jan Knikker MVRDV Chief Strategy Officer
LIU HUI-XIN, MVRDV TAIWAN DIRECTOR
Wen Shin Art Center (No. 6, Lane 10, Lane 180, Section 6, Section 6, Minquan East Road, Neihu District, Taipei City)
The event is free, advance registration is required
If you are an avid architecture fan who has been following MVRDV for many years, you should also remember the colorful blocks from the Vertical Village 2011 exhibition, as well as the eye-catching new thinking. Over the past few decades, MVRDV has evolved from what was originally a three-person, founder-centric office into several autonomous regional offices, plus numerous departments established for different orientations (such as Studio 8, Studio Urban, Studio Public, and Studio Next, which is responsible for research and development, etc.) There is a think tank, The Why Factory, which grows in size and day to day, and what remains unchanged is a vibrant atmosphere and a positive attitude towards the future.
If you know this team from the Netherlands due to the completion of the “Kaura Square Tainan Spring” in 2020, you will find that they are constantly cultivating in Taiwan, with the recent addition of the “Tainan New Fruit and Vegetable Market Tainan Market” and the “Light Stone Offshore Wind Power Plant Operation Center in Changhin Industrial Zone Sun Rock” See you soon. In this talk, MVRDV Chief Strategy Officer Jan Knikker and Taiwan Director Liao Hui-Xin will share these designs they implemented in Taiwan and how MVRDV continues to break free and local in the current wave of freedom.
Speaking of "out of the box," the Rotterdam-based firm MVRDV is probably one of the groups that love using boxes the most while simultaneously being the least constrained by them. Their designs are broad in scope and varied in form, ranging from the renowned WoZoCo senior housing in Amsterdam to mixed-use developments, exhibitions, flagship stores of luxury goods, landscapes, MVRDV even established a research institution at Delft University. They are virtually synonymous with contemporary Dutch values: sustainability, inclusivity, and diversity. In conjunction with the 2024 Taipei International Book Fair, where the Netherlands is the theme country marking 400 years of Dutch presence in Taiwan, MVRDV's Director of Strategy Jan Knikker and Head of Taiwan Hui-Hsin Liao are invited to Winsing Arts Space to share their creations and observations in Taiwan. They also unveil their new collaboration with Winsing Development and Construction: MVRDV's first residential project in Taiwan, "Out of the Box." They discuss zero-carbon materials, reflect on contemporary issues, and acknowledge that balancing construction costs with design concepts has always been a tremendous challenge. However, they believe that good work can directly transform the tourism, atmosphere, and tone of an entire city. This was true for Rotterdam's Markthal (2014) and Tainan's The Spring (2020).
In Jan Knikker's gentle tone, the intricate processes and various challenges well known to all architects seem to become effortless, as if solving problems is a game. This mindset brings an element of enjoyment to the heavy responsibilities of architecture—facing clients sometimes required finding loopholes in regulations, sometimes addressing issues head-on, but constantly pushing boundaries and seeking solutions ultimately yields rewarding outcomes. Regardless of the years passed, whether in Rotterdam or Taipei, MVRDV consistently envisions creating a vertical village where neighbors can easily invite each other for a barbecue.