WATERSCHOOL - GARDEN OF DELIGHT
by Studio Makkink & Bey
- Curators: Rianne Makkink and Jurgen Bey / WaterSchool Team: Anja van Zoomeren, Michou de Bruijn, Nai-Dan Chang, Timothy Liu, Antoinette Veneman, Hsiang Ching Chuang, Daan Veerman, Pichaya Puapoomcharoen
- WaterSchool Participants: Studio Klarenbeek en Dros, Helmut Smits, Urban Reef, Aliki van der Kruijs and Jos Klarenbeek, Tamara Orjola, Philipp Kolmann, Arvid &Marie, SERVIES, Gijs Schalkx, Novo Typo, Zhu Yingchun, Maidie van den Bos, Studio Ossidiana, Govert Flint and Bart Hess, Emma van der Leest, Frank Bruggeman, Giuditta Vendrame, Paolo Patelli and Giulio Squillacciotti, Basse Stittgen, Ance Janevica, Livin Farms / Collaborators: Stichting Droom en Daad / Credits: Stichting Droom en Daad Programmabureau M4H RotterdamMinistry of the Interior and Kingdom RelationsCity of Rotterdam
- Website: www.smb-waterschool.nl
What do we need to start from scratch – to start being human again?
WATERSCHOOL, a self-initiated design and research project of Studio Makkink &Bey, looks into the possibilities of founding a holistic school revolving around water as an essential material, subject, and socio-economic and political phenomenon — where education and curriculum are entirely rethought.
WATERSCHOOL’s site-based research and a ‘learning by doing’ approach focuses on Rotterdam’s Merwe-Vierhavens (M4H) harbour district. Operating as a test site, WATERSCHOOL shows a speculative landscape where the 6,300 residents implement the regenerative use of raw materials and resources, allowing for balanced cohabitation between all local organisms, communities, and environment.
Together with selected Rotterdam-based designers, architects, artists, and a WATERSCHOOL library, the exhibition, supported by Stichting Droom en Daad, contributes to a sustainable, circular and regenerative learning environment in order to meet our looming ecological challenges.
In WATERSCHOOL’s Garden of Delight, human presence is not immediately perceptible. It is a place where the fundamental elements composing the human body and our essential resources simultaneously become valuable nutritional sources, building materials and filtering agents. The garden, a humble starting point, grows into a new type of household, fostering completely new ways of living.
Studio Makkink & Bey aims to connect companies, governmental bodies and designers working on topics related to water and education. Within the framework of exhibitions, Studio Makkink & Bey acts as a curator, inviting upcoming artists/designers to present their work in thematic exhibitions and lecture series. Through uniting works by artist/designers within a larger (speculative) framework, Studio Makkink & Bey hints towards a future in which art and design are more integrated in education and life in general. In the exhibitions, projects are categorized according to themes, being Clean, Grow, Harvest, Make, Build and Document. Each of these themes pertain to a larger context and water-related issue, as well as a space and an act.
