Floris Alkemade: DDW Ambassador!
Architect and Chief Government Architect Floris Alkemade is one of the three ambassadors of the 20th edition of Dutch Design Week (DDW). He will be accompanied in his role by Natsai Audrey Chieza and Christien Meindertsma. This Sunday, 18 July, Alkemade will be invited by Janine Abbring as the first VPRO Zomergast (ed. Summer Guest) of 2021. Watch the episode at 20:20!
The ambassadors of Dutch Design Week 2021
Every year, DDW appoints people from the design field as advocates for design in general and DDW in particular. According to Dutch Design Foundation—the organisation behind DDW—the appointed trio represents the modern and most urgent voices of the design field of today and the future like none other.
Especially for this edition, DDW ambassadors Floris Alkemade, Natsai Audrey Chieza and Christien Meindertsma each develop a unique work that can be visited during DDW. Doing so, they share their own interpretation of the DDW theme The Greater Number, a quest for the “better number”.
Alkemade’s labyrinth at DDW21
On behalf of the College of Government Advisors and together with World Design Embassies, Alkemade presents a physical translation of his essay ‘The Future of the Netherlands. The Art of Changing Direction’. In it, he describes the great challenges we face as a country and how we can provide answers to complex issues such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, as well as housing shortages, ageing, and loneliness.
From 16 to 24 October, you can wander through his labyrinth in the Klokgebouw in Eindhoven. He says: “The road to the future is not a straight line, but a continuous search, wandering and changing direction. The project is about finding new ways, looking at things differently. Change is an art that requires improvisation, audacity, and imagination.”
VPRO Zomergasten
Floris Alkemade is the first Zomergast (ed. Summer Guest) of 2021. Dutch Journalist Janine Abbring talks to him about his ideal television evening. The Dutch public broadcaster’s summer classic is based on an idea that is as simple as it is innovative, which originated in 1988: when programmes are repeated in the summer, ask people with a story to compile their favourite viewing evening and explain the fragments of their choice in a good conversation. Watch the broadcast* with Alkemade on NPO 2 next Sunday, 18 July at 20:20 hrs.
*Please note, this broadcast will be in Dutch.