Anne Holtrop: Space, Matter, Spaces Between Matter, Matter Tracing Spaces

Cornell in Rome Fall 2024 Lecture Series

Abstract: 

The work of Studio Anne Holtrop centers around the relationship between matter and space under the influence of changing conditions, such as climate and geology. Focusing on materiality, they produce architecture where the essence of the work and its innovations lie within the material and the gestures of working that material. More than mere traces of the hand that shapes them, these gestures contain the entirety of human experience within them, from the cultural, social, and geographic context to ways of making and understanding our place in the world. 

Buildings are spaces we can link to other spaces, enriching the landscape. Studio Anne Holtrop believes that building is about finding these specific relations. In this approach, the relationship to a site is fundamental. One aspect of looking at a site is the sourcing of materials. Mines, excavations, quarries, and the underlying geological formations inform our building. By defining spaces between matter and matter tracing spaces, tensions between interiors and interior and exterior appear. Another aspect of a site is how the materials and the spaces explore ways of channeling its specific climatic conditions. For instance, in the Gulf region, the particularity of light — direct, harsh, and hot — has been the subject of experimentation in glass and its ability to permit, diffuse, and deflect light while mediating the harshness of solar conditions and heat gain. The environment is at once part of the work, as it puts the work in an ongoing performance.

Bio:

Anne Holtrop (1977 / Netherlands) studied architecture in Amsterdam and started his own practice in 2009. Since 2014, his main studio has been based in Muharraq (BH), where he lives. Holtrop is a professor at the ETH in Zurich. In 2007, his practice received the Charlotte Köhler Prize for Architecture from the Prince Bernhard Cultural Foundation; in 2016, the Iakov Chernikhov International Prize; and in 2020, the Aga Khan Award. In 2016 and 2020, The 2G Monograph series dedicated its 73rd issue to Studio Anne Holtrop. Site, Matter, Gesture by S.L El Croquis was published on the practice and its continuous research. In 2015, their first two major buildings, Museum Fort Vechten, as part of the largest UNESCO-listed heritage site in The Netherlands, and the National Pavilion of the Kingdom of Bahrain for the Milan Expo 2015, were completed. Recently realized are the Green Corner Building in Muharraq and the Siyadi Pearl Museum, part of the UNESCO-listed heritage site The Pearling Path. The studio has completed new stores worldwide for Maison Margiela, with flagship stores in London, Paris, Osaka, and Shanghai. The new Misk Art Institute is currently under construction in Riyadh. The work of Holtrop's studio, as well as his teaching and research outcomes from his professorship at the ETH Zurich, are presented and collected internationally in biennales and institutions, such as at the first Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Seoul Architecture Biennial, Frac Le Plateau, Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennial, Carnegie Museum of Art, and Qatar Museums.

Anne Holtrop will deliver this lecture remotely. Audience attendance is in-person only.