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For 11 weeks this summer, Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam gains a spectacular rooftop summer stage, designed by MVRDV

3 march 2022

Het Nieuwe Instituut is proud to announce plans for The Podium: a spectacular platform on institute’s roof. The striking pink installation with its imposing external staircase was designed by architects MVRDV and is an extension of the institute’s exhibition MVRDVHNI: The Living Archive of a Studio. Open from 1 June to 17 August, The Podium offers a unique opportunity to experience architecture, the city, Museum Park and the institute from a completely new perspective. For the very first time, the roof of the institute will be accessible to visitors. 

Visualisation of The Podium, on the roof of Het Nieuwe Instituut. Image: MVRDV.

With The Podium, Het Nieuwe Instituut gives partners and makers from Rotterdam, the Netherlands and beyond the opportunity to temporarily give shape to their own programming on the roof. The first major event to use the Podium is Rotterdam Architecture Month: an initiative of AIR (Architecture Institute Rotterdam), Rotterdam Festivals and Rotterdam Partners. The Podium will the Festival Heart of this edition. Het Nieuwe Instituut and Rotterdam Architecture Month will join forces to launch this special podium on the roof.

The city stage will soon not only have a cultural or architectural character: it will also be opened up to completely different activities and sectors, from sports lessons to rooftop dinners and special children’s activities. More information about the precise programming and the other collaboration partners will be announced at a later date.

Through The Podium, Het Nieuwe Instituut aims to shape a creative meeting place together with other institutions and makers – from and for everyone, and with the best view of the architecture that the city has to offer. 

Impressive installation

The colourful city stage will occupy the roof at a height of 29 metres. It will be accessed via an external staircase with 143 steps, an elevator and via the exhibition MVRDVHNI: The Living Archive of a Studio on the sixth floor of the institute. In this show, the early works of the architectural firm MVRDV are interactively explained. The Podium symbolises both MVRDV’s ambition to densify the city and make better use of rooftops, and Het Nieuwe Instituut’s ambition to increase knowledge about architecture. 

Rotterdam Architecture Month

The first user of Het Nieuwe Instituut’s Podium will be Rotterdam Architecture Month. During the duration of the event, the platform at the institute will form the heart of the festival and lectures, tours, films and other activities related to architecture will be organised there throughout June. Consequently, the main exhibition of Rotterdam Architecture Month will also be housed in one of the galleries of Het Nieuwe Instituut. Another part of the festival’s versatile programming is The World Around: a leading conference in the field of contemporary architecture and design. Together with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Het Nieuwe Instituut will host this international event and a conference will be organised on the Podium and in the institute on 11 June. 

Rooftop potential

The Podium at Het Nieuwe Instituut can be seen as a logical sequel to the impressive scaffolding installations that MVRDV has designed in the past. For example, in 2017 the agency placed a gigantic staircase on the Rotterdam Stationsplein to mark 75 years of reconstruction of the city and in 2018 it designed an enormous structure on the occasion of the BredaPhoto festival. 

With this summer stage on the roof, Het Nieuwe Instituut also links up with the Rotterdam Rooftop Walk: an initiative of the Rotterdamse Dakendagen. This route opens on 26 May and for a month offers access to the roofscape of the city centre. The event will allow a large audience to experience how using rooftops can contribute to a better future for cities and city dwellers. 

The Podium at Het Nieuwe Instituut is made possible in part by Dura Vermeer, Dutch Steigers, Fonds 21, the City of Rotterdam, MVRDV, Rotterdam Architecture Month, Rotterdam Festivals, Rotterdam Partners, the Job Dura Fonds, the Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot foundation, the Volkskracht foundation and the VriendenLoterij. 

 

Visualisation of The Podium, on the roof of Het Nieuwe Instituut. Image: MVRDV.
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Visualization of Het Podium at Het Nieuwe Instituut. Image: MVRDV.
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Het Nieuwe Instituut  

Het Nieuwe Instituut is the Dutch national institute for architecture, design and digital culture. Located in the architecture city of Rotterdam, in Museum Park, Het Nieuwe Instituut has various exhibition spaces, a museum shop, a museum café, a study space and library, an auditorium, educational spaces and a garden. It holds one of the largest architecture collections in the world. 

MVRDV

International, Rotterdam-based architecture office MVRDV offers contemporary solutions for architecture, urban design and landscape architecture in every region of the world. MVRDV – founded in 1993 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries – works in a multidisciplinary way and applies as many innovative and sustainable technologies as possible, resulting in distinctive and innovative projects. 

Rotterdam Architecture Month

Rotterdam Architecture Month (RA Month) takes place every year in June. Each year, an appropriate new location is chosen as the Festival Heart. This is the place where the power of architecture and design is showcased, along with its ability to innovate around urgent social issues. RA Month highlights the meaning of design and design power in a changing city and stimulates encounters and the exchange of knowledge between visitors, education and the design sector. More than 80 partners have already joined RA Month.