Min2, Dialogue, 2016. R.A. Drieenhuizen

Min2 is an innovative Dutch architectural office led by partners Maarten and Jetty Min.
At present Min2 develops new building/architectural principles such as: The New Loft ,“a visual fixed construction and flexible space”, Dune House Collection, “a creative approach to housing, originating from the globally publicized Dune House”, and @home, “a sustainable design answer to the Dutch social housing demand”. Additionally Min2 designed Ceramic CoverTM for their Dune House in collaboration with Petersen Tegl.
Dialogue between Urbania and Arcadia
During the exhibition, we share our thoughts upon contemporary way(s) of living.
Visitors interact through a journey: visualizing an imaginary range of landscapes, illustrated on a four meter wide canvas as being a piece of art, while projecting our thoughts through sketches, images, and models, all the while supported by a soundscape of different sceneries and statements of people connected with the Urbania and Arcadia dialogue.
Additionally, we invite the spectator to join us in the dialogue through an interactive ap-plication that will become a shared database.
Time:
Time dilation is a difference of elapsed time between two events. We see this as the fric-tion or movement between Arcadia and Urbania.
While observing present-day’s social developments, we hypothesize that the main chal-lenges are the increasing demand for affordable single-person housing, the demand for shared and communal-housing typologies, and the specific housing needs for the influx of refugees.
Space:
Within Urbania and Arcadia, we explore multiple housing concepts projected upon subtle locations while looking beyond the actual borders of the contemporary.
In cities, e.g. the in-between places, temporary locations and abandoned buildings.
In nature, where the presence of people enhances the environment.
In abandoned villages and devastated areas, which could become the place for new forms of contemporary living.
For the housing concept, archetypical shapes are used. These are perceived to be globally readable through their symbolistic, primal appearance. The houses have a small footprint whereby the exterior communicates with the context; the surrounding community is addressed by use of local products and craftsmanship.
Existence:
While Arcadia is the place for harmonized balance, Urbania is the realm where self-reflection is limited due to an immersive input from one’s surroundings. Through setting up the dialogue between these two opposites, we analyze the different qualities of the built environment within and between these realms, which is essential to the quality of life.
We sense that an understanding of humanistic needs from either cultural, contextual, or a sociological perspective is the starting point to find a practical answer for vulnerable groups of people, which is the vitalization of subtle and abandoned places, answering to Alejandro Aravena’s “Reporting from the Front”