RAAAF is an experimental studio operating at the crossroads of

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 texti ...

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, constructi ...

, and academic philosophy. The studio is based in

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 Re ...

and was founded in 2006 by

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 i ...

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 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 (), ...

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 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. T ...

, a monumental military bunker that was once part of the

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, ...

. This intervention questioned Dutch and

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 secur ...

policies on historical preservation, which the artists deemed too conservative. In 2021 the bunker that was now sliced in half became itself listed as a

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 int ...

site. Another example is the spatial intervention that in 2018 transformed a

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, slu ...

test facility into the artwork Deltawerk //. This work has been received both as a tribute to the Dutch struggle against the water and as questioning the viability of creating an indestructible Netherlands.

Gallery

RAAAF - Bunker 599.jpg, Bunker 599 - New Dutch Waterline, 2013, RAAAF I Atelier de Lyon RAAAF - Deltawerk.jpg, Deltawerk // - Land Art Flevoland collection, Waterloopbos, 2018, RAAAF I Atelier de Lyon RAAAF_-_Still_Life_-_Het_HEM.jpg, Still Life - Museum Het HEM, Amsterdam, 2019, RAAAF

References

{{reflist Artist studios Studios in the Netherlands Organisations based in Amsterdam 2006 establishments