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RAAAF
RAAAF is an experimental studio operating at the crossroads of visual art, architecture, and academic philosophy. The studio is based in Amsterdam and was founded in 2006 by Prix de Rome (Netherlands) laureate Ronald Rietveld and philosopher Erik Rietveld. Art practice RAAAF creates artworks through research with visual artists, architects, academic researchers, and craftsmen. Artworks by RAAAF often relate to practices and policies that are connected with contemporary working and living environments. One example is the art installation Vacant NL that served as the Dutch contribution to the Venice Biennale in 2010. This work emphasized the possible uses of thousands of vacant buildings owned by the Dutch state. Many projects by RAAAF include large spatial interventions at cultural heritage sites. For example, one intervention was to cut through Bunker 599, a monumental military bunker that was once part of the New Dutch Waterline. This intervention questioned Dutch and UNESCO ...
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New Dutch Waterline
The Dutch Waterline (; modern spelling: ''Hollandse Waterlinie'') was a series of water-based defences conceived by Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, Maurice of Nassau in the early 17th century, and realised by his half brother Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, Frederick Henry. Combined with natural bodies of water, the Waterline could be used to transform Holland, the westernmost region of the Netherlands and adjacent to the North Sea, almost into an island. In the 19th century, the Line was extended to include Utrecht (city), Utrecht. On July 26, 2021, the line was added to the Stelling van Amsterdam, Defence Line of Amsterdam to become the Dutch Water Defence Lines UNESCO World Heritage Site. History Early in the Eighty Years' War, Eighty Years' War of Independence against Spain, the Dutch realized that flooding low-lying areas formed an excellent defence against enemy troops. This was demonstrated, for example, during the Siege of Leiden in 1574. In the latter half of the ...
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Visual Art
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts, also involve aspects of the visual arts, as well as arts of other types. Within the visual arts, the applied arts, such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design, and decorative art are also included. Current usage of the term "visual arts" includes fine art as well as applied or decorative arts and crafts, but this was not always the case. Before the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain and elsewhere at the turn of the 20th century, the term 'artist' had for some centuries often been restricted to a person working in the fine arts (such as painting, sculpture, or printmaking) and not the decorative arts, crafts, or applied visual arts media. The distinction was emphasized by artists of the Arts and Cr ...
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Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructing buildings or other Structure#Load-bearing, structures. The term comes ; ; . Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as work of art, works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements. The practice, which began in the Prehistory, prehistoric era, has been used as a way of expressing culture by civilizations on all seven continents. For this reason, architecture is considered to be a form of art. Texts on architecture have been written since ancient times. The earliest surviving text on architectural theory, architectural theories is the 1st century AD treatise by the Roman architect Vitruvius, according to whom a good bui ...
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Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Region of Amsterdam, urban area and 2,480,394 in the Amsterdam metropolitan area, metropolitan area. Located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North", for its canals of Amsterdam, large number of canals, now a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Amsterdam was founded at the mouth of the Amstel River, which was dammed to control flooding. Originally a small fishing village in the 12th century, Amsterdam became a major world port during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, when the Netherlands was an economic powerhouse. Amsterdam was the leading centre for finance and trade, as well as a hub of secular art production. In the 19th ...
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Prix De Rome (Netherlands)
The Dutch Prix de Rome is based on the originally French Prix de Rome and is awarded annually to architects and artists younger than 35. The award was initiated in 1807 by Louis Bonaparte, then ruler of the Kingdom of Holland, and confirmed after independence by William I of the Netherlands. It was canceled in 1851 by the statesman Johan Rudolph Thorbecke and reinstated in 1870 by William III of the Netherlands. From 1870 to 2011 the winners were selected by the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. Since then, thMondriaan Fundorganises and finances the Prix de Rome. In 2025 the prize is €60,000. Prizewinners Source Prix de Rome Architecture * 1808 Jan de Greef, Zeger Reyers and Anthonie Sminck Pitloo (first awards) * 1809 Johan David Zocher jnr * 1827 Johannes Craner for the design of a Dutch Royal Institute of Science and Fine Arts building (first Grand Prize) * 1837 Anthony Willem van Dam * 1900 J.F. Büchel * 1906 Johan van der Mey, Johan Melchiot van der Mey * 1909 Dirk Frederik Slo ...
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Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), which are held in alternating years (hence the name). There are also four additional components, each usually held on an annual basis, comprising , , Venice Film Festival, and Venice Dance Biennale. Between them they cover contemporary art, architecture, music, theatre, film, and contemporary dance. The main exhibition is held in Castello, Venice, Castello and has around 30 permanent pavilions built by different countries. The Biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of its kind. Since 2021, the Art Biennale has taken place in even years and the Architecture Biennale in odd years. History 1895–1947 On 19 April 1893, the Venetian City Council passed a resolution to set up an biennial exhibition of I ...
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Bunker 599
A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. They were used extensively in World War I, World War II, and the Cold War for weapons facilities, command and control centers, and storage facilities. Bunkers can also be used as protection from tornadoes. Trench bunkers are small concrete structures, partly dug into the ground. Many artillery installations, especially for coastal artillery, have historically been protected by extensive bunker systems. Typical industrial bunkers include mining sites, food storage areas, dumps for materials, data storage, and sometimes living quarters. When a house is purpose-built with a bunker, the normal location is a reinforced below-ground bathroom with fiber-reinforced plastic shells. Bunkers deflect the blast wave from nearby explosions to prevent ear ...
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UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International security, security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 194 Member states of UNESCO, member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the Non-governmental organization, non-governmental, Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental and private sector. Headquartered in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 National Commissions for UNESCO, national commissions. UNESCO was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.English summary). UNESCO's founding mission, which was shaped by the events of World War II, is to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights by facilitating collaboratio ...
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UNESCO World Heritage
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, conventio ... administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity". To be selected, a World Heritage Site is nominated by its host country and determined by the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee to be a unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable, having a special cultural or physical significance, and to be under a sufficient system of legal protection. World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, isl ...
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Delta Works
The Delta Works () is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta from the sea. Constructed between 1954 and 1997, the works consist of dams, sluices, Lock (water transport), locks, Levee, dykes, levees, and floodgate, storm surge barriers located in the provinces of the Netherlands, provinces of South Holland and Zeeland. The aim of the dams, sluices, and storm surge barriers was to shorten the Dutch coastline, thus reducing the number of dikes that had to be raised. Along with the Zuiderzee Works, the Delta Works have been declared one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. History Due to indecision and the World War II, Second World War, little action was taken. In 1950 two small estuary mouths, the Brielse Gat near Brielle and the Botlek near Vlaardingen were dammed. After the North Sea flood of 1953, a Delta Works Commission w ...
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