User:Menno Harder/project proposal

Proposal #1 18/9

Middelland Blues!

Ever since I came to Rotterdam some years ago I have had the idea to develop a certain kind of social platform or space. I can imagine that with enough research done, dedication and willpower we could start a new project within the neighborhood, a place where people can walk in and out, enjoy a cheap cup of tea and have a small talk. But also a place where important or not so important matters about the city and it’s shaping of it can be discussed. An environment where we can have workshops, talks, music and show movies but also have the opportunity to invite people from the neighborhood to come by for a cheap weekly dinner.

I would like to carefully plan and create a possible structure for a such place. What can it’s appearance be, it’s meaning within the context of this area in Rotterdam? How does it relate to my personal feelings about the city, and the current cultural climate within Rotterdam? I can imagine that the opening–exhibition of this space could be the visualization of my own feelings and thoughts towards living in this neighborhood, what we can and what we can’t do. As the Middelland neighborhood consists of quite a few different area’s, both in physical appearance (it’s architecture and street planning) and in it’s social structure: it is a very multicultural part of Rotterdam, quite segregated and has seen some huge gentrification in certain parts the past years this is certainly an aspect that I could explore and visualize through the use of graphic design.

Forming new idea’s and starting a new project always relies on the experience I have had with past projects. A new project is built while still dealing with the thoughts and concepts of a just finished project. Looking back on works I have done in later years, I identify a certain way of working and initiating projects. A work usually comes forth out of an exploration of the area visited (this can be exploring the place while actually being there), or exploring it by listening to stories or reading about it either on the web or in a written document. Usually the mere visualization and translation of such an area can be a work in itself (objective journalism, documentation), but identifying the conflicts that happen within this area and commenting on them gives the work a personal and subjective layer, making the work critical towards the topic it is discussing. This project will most certainly be a combination of these two elements, in one way it is a celebration of the neighborhood, what it was, what it is and what it can become. But on the other side it is a critical reflection upon it’s history and current state. I understand that this is also a personal opinion, and that I do not share these opinions with everyone.

The creation of an autonomous cultural space has of course been done before and is still been done in cities throughout the world. For example, there are many active squatting groups in several Dutch cities that are reclaiming certain empty spaces and turning these into cultural centers, without the help of any municipality or subsidies from third parties. I understand that this project is also a very personal matter, as I see many empty spaces in my own neighborhood, it feels like the right moment to do something myself. Apart from claiming the actual space to perform all these activities I have to take in great consideration the effectivity of my plans. The importance of the audience is not to be underestimated. Will this centre be an artistic environment with mostly young people or will it be suited for any kind of visitor, even those without interest in for example the current exhibition. I have to find a way to make these different groups work together, so that it can be a place for everyone. I also wonder about the Rotterdam municipality, and how they plan the neighborhood of Middelland and especially the West-Kruiskade area and 1e and 2e Middellandstraat. As various stores are popping up everywhere, and small scale business seems to flourish in these streets, how open and willing would they be for a proposal like this? And while there are several cases of successful openings, there have also been numerous spaces that had to close down due to bankruptcy and so on. An ideal situation would be a space that could survive every month by breaking even, living of of small donations and the work of volunteers.

As a starting point of my research exploring and documenting the neighborhood in several ways (through interviews, photographs, extracting and recognizing certain specific elements from the streets, visualizing and abstracting it’s street life, recording the ‘sound’ of the neighborhood) will hopefully provide me with more knowledge about the situation, and in it’s turn provide an explanation for my cause. The creation and afterwards evaluation of what I see as small neighborhood projects will give me more information and reasoning as to why I want to do this, and how I can do it.

Texts

http://blog.common-places.net/2011/03/21/pioneers-and-gentrifiers-rotterdam%E2%80%99s-creative-class-1970-2000/
http://versbeton.nl/2012/11/cultureel-ondernemerschap-kraak-de-shell-toren/
http://proximitymagazine.com/2008/12/cities-rotterdam/ http://superbeatblog.com/2013/02/12/the-bridge-squatting-in-rotterdam/

Articles on empty spaces in Rotterdam and the closing of cultural centers:
http://nos.nl/video/498954-winkelstraten-vechten-met-nieuw-elan-tegen-leegstand.html
http://www.rijnmond.nl/nieuws/27-12-2011/rotterdams-poppodium-exit-failliet
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/lokaal/zuid-holland/nieuws/rotterdam/2008/december/fusie-watt-en-waterfront-een-feit.html
http://www.rijnmond.nl/nieuws/21-05-2013/flinke-toename-leegstand-kantoren-rotterdam
http://versbeton.nl/2013/05/rotterdam-moet-stoppen-met-de-bouwwoede-en-een-nieuwe-identiteit-ontwikkelen/
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/nieuws/2013/juli/Corso-sluit.html
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/nieuws/2012/juli/De-Nieuwe-Oogst.html