Klokgebouw Strijp S, Eindhoven
‘Try to be different’
Strijp S, the former Philips factories, plays an important role in the history of Eindhoven. In the early 20th century, the city was still rather a collection of villages, transformed by Philips from the 1920’s into an industrial area. Daily, more than twelve thousand workers passed the entrance gate at Strijp S. For years the area was closed to the public and fenced off. Nowadays, the monumental buildings at Strijp S are the motor behind the transformation of the area into a creative brainport with metropolitan allure, a place where people can live, work, go to school and entertain themselves.
From industry to brainport
At the end of the 20th century Philips started to move the production from Eindhoven to cheap labour countries. Close to the city centre, the 27 hectare area of Strijp S became available for other functions.
Besides Philips, another great company, DAF, departed, leaving behind an industrial and technological footprint. Eindhoven decided to reinvent itself, through an innovative and creative identity. With the slogan Leading in Technology, the municipality wants the high-educated people to remain in the city, and give a new impulse to economic development. Strijp S was prepared as a fertile ground for design, urban culture and innovation. The Brainport-concept, built-up through the Technical University Sciencepark and High Tech Campus, gets an inner city pendant: Strijp S will offer a living- and working environment for a young and creative generation.
Placemaking for redevelopment
The transformation process started with place making. 130,000 square metre of listed buildings had to be transformed in living and working space. In order to develop the areas’s identity, the ‘Klokgebouw’ become the first building to be used for temporary functions. It provided space for innovative activities and spectacular events with music, technology and design as the main themes. It was the owner’s, Trudo, explicit choice to offer space to selected creative pioneers in the first stage of redevelopment. Users and temporary inhabitants help to determine the contours and contents of the area. Starters pay a relative low rent and can upgrade to larger spaces. Nowadays the ‘Klokgebouw’ has over 100 companies and about 450 employees and is fully rented.
Events and festivals
Among the many events taaking place in the Klokgebouw, STRP festival was developed specifically for Strijp S. It’s an unique multi-disciplinary combination of technological art, ‘special performances’ and contemporary music. The festival cooperates with the Technical University Eindhoven and several art academies and attracts yearly more than twenty thousand national and international visitors; it shows the latest innovation in multi media art, such as smart chips to technologize yourself with ‘radio frequency identification’ (RFID) or ‘near field communication’ (NFC). A nice occasion for the international promotion of product innovation based on the Philips-roots.
Economic values
The entire development of Strijp S as Creative City creates new employment to fill the gap left by the departure of Philips. Events and festivals attract visitors and tourists; this generates income and potential buyers of lofts, studios and apartments and makes further transformation of the area possible.
Project: Klokgebouw Strijp S, Eindhoven
Size: Klokgebouw: 30.000 m2; Strijp S: 27 ha
Owner: Trudo Housing Corporation
Historical function: Philitefactory (varianta Philips a bachelitei)
Built: din 1929
Architects: A.I.J. de Broekert și J.R. Bouten
Initiator re-development: Orașul Eindhoven și Trudo
Coordinating architect: Adriaan Geuze, West 8
Delivery: Temporary use from 2004, housing from 2012
www.klokgebouw.nl, www.strp.nl/en
WASP. Colonizing an industrial space in Bucharest
Text & photo: Andreea Căpitanescu, WASP curator
WASP-Working Art Space and Production is an independent space for contemporary art, open in September 2012 by the founders of 4Culture Association.
We work for over 8 years in the independent, non-profit cultural sector, and have got experience in carrying out multi-annual cooperation projects at an European scale, as well as the organisation of the most important contemporary dance event in Romania– eXplore Dance Festival. Opening WASP ows a lot to sad context, that is the acute lack of spaces for contemporary dance and contemporary art, in general.
The reconversion of the abandoned industrial hall, part of Flaros factory in Timpuri Noi area, into the new WASP space took 6 weeks. We had the inspiration and luck to select a working site manager who took over our project with lots of enthusiasm. It took lots of thoughtlessness on our side – and I mean 100% personal commitment. We had no sponsors, partners, funding etc. Not because we did not want that , but there was not time for it.
WASP opened first of all coming from an immediate need to carry out projects. In the summer of 2012 we were in an unprecedented situation, with no main location for the the 70 events (performances, installations, workshops, films, debates etc.) in the 7th eXplore Dance Festival.
We look at WASP as a personal investment in the future of tour profession, similarly to investing in our children, in the young people we support, in the projects we start from scratch. An experience which showed us that this is possible in Romania as well, if you do not wait for outside miracles, but choose instead to get involved and take your destiny into your own hands. We took the risk, and we risk a lot every day, but I think that this contributes in a healthy, creative way to all our projects.
Currently, the administration of WASP space means 500 sqm, made of two studios, functioning as performance halls (black-box: 200 sqm and white box 100 sqm), an exhibition / installations area, offices and technical annexes. The opening of a media-lab, meant to host new-media projects, but also a dance and contemporary art library, is under way.
At three months from the opening, in 2012, over 100 shows, performances, installations and exhibitions were presented: within the festival and the Romanian Platform of contemporary dance and performance, as well as, in November and December, through the hosting of a CNDB curatorial programme (CNDB – Bucharest National Dance Center). In the first three months of work, we had art residencies part of Jardin d’Europe and the Meet the Next Generation programme, plus lots of workshops, film screenings, debates and conferences. In the spring of 2013 we launched a professional training programme, as well as a residency and WASP production one.
We are interested to complement projects and find the public potential for each one. Since we opened the space, we started a more real dialogue with our audience. We found people watching our events for a couple of years, but who have now turned themselves active, taking part in workshops. We also want to know our neighbours and the neighbourhoods of the space better – the community around the factory, schools, high schools, faculties, and broaden the range of our audience, as well as that of our beneficiaries – children, teenagers, elders etc.
eXplore Dance Festival #8 will take place at WAP in August-October 2013. We have many other projects under way and we look forward to receiving cooperation proposals from various areas of contemporary arts, film and architecture.
