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The Dutch Way - Exhibition

De Rijke was one of ten ‘Explorers’ out of 500 applicants the British Council selected to take part in a funded research project. Each Explorer had to find case studies of design practice that addressed pressing global problems, to be exhibited at the British Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale (‘Venice Takeaway: Ideas to Change British Architecture’, 2012), and the Royal Institute of British Architects (‘Venice Takeaway’, 2013).

De Rijke had previously researched floating developments on the Thames, and the current random development of waterside London sites led him to research collective ways of inhabiting waterscapes. The Biennale brief was an opportunity to test his ideas against best practice in the Netherlands. De Rijke's case study was IJberg, a prototype floating community in Amsterdam. The aim was to understand what constitutes 'the Dutch way': a unique combination of lateral strategic thinking, and a collective commitment to high-quality architecture for keeping a country below sea level habitable in the face of global warming. De Rijke and his team researched the technology, policies and design that enabled IJberg to be built, and interviewed residents, financiers, policymakers and architects. A study of the ABC Arkenbouw factory, which makes the prefabricated floating units, gave insight into the design, construction methods and economics behind mass production of floating buildings. De Rijke is using his exhibit as a springboard for discussions with the Greater London Authority to encourage the activation of some of the most underused areas of London – the waterways – and to cope with increased flooding from climate change, and the acute housing shortage.

The Dutch Way was reviewed in Venice Takeaway: Ideas to Change British Architecture (AA Publications, 2012), Architects Journal (2012) and the Evening Standard (2012). De Rijke was also interviewed about the project’s themes for BBC2’s The Culture Show (2013).