Abroad, the way heritage is approached in the Netherlands is often regarded with amazement and admiration. The Dutch heritage policy may safely be called a successful export product. Consequently, our office is regularly invited by foreign governments, universities and civil society organisations to come and share our knowledge about it. We are very happy to take on this ambassador’s role. In collaboration with the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we created an exhibition on adaptive reuse in the Netherlands. This exhibition was translated into English, Russian, Japanese and Portuguese, and was shown in a number of countries. Our activities with regard to UNESCO World Heritage sites are also cross-border, for example our contribution to the nomination file of the Colonies of Benevolence. This file includes attention for flanking spatial policy and support at national, provincial and municipal level, which has been shown in various countries.

PROGRAMME SHARED CULTURAL HERITAGE

The Dutch government has entered into collaboration agreements on shared cultural heritage with ten countries. The objective is to contribute to the sustainable preservation of (joint) cultural heritage through knowledge sharing, collaboration and consultancy. The Dutch embassies as well as the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) have involved SteenhuisMeurs in the implementation of this programme. Paul Meurs, for example, together with Jean-Paul Corten (RCE) supervised a workshop for Russian architects on the adaptive reuse of a former button factory in Moscow (2018). Through the Dutch embassy in New Delhi, he is involved in the project ‘the revival of the Spice Routes’ in the state of Kerala. This project, with the aim of redeveloping the rich history of the area and making it accessible, is being effected through heritage projects in places such as Muziris and Alappuzha.
A second project in India is ’Europe on the Ganges’ in West Bengal. Local parties want to develop the heritage of Danish, English, French, Dutch and Portuguese trading posts into a diverse and rich cultural landscape, and for that purpose are seeking cooperation with Europe. Paul Meurs has contributed to a number of workshops and seminars, particularly on regional heritage strategies and the approach to large-scale adaptive reuse projects.

See the RCE website for further information on shared heritage.

HOW THE DUTCH DEAL WITH HERITAGE

The book we made on the subject of adaptive reuse (Reuse, redevelop and design, nai010 publishers) illustrates the Dutch approach to adaptive reuse on the basis of five essays and 20 sample projects. The book was published in 2016 and was reprinted in 2020 with three new cases. The characteristic feature is the creative manner in which all parties are brought together: this involves our quest for surprising combinations of functions, the financial creativity to realise projects deemed unfeasible, smart interventions and quality design. For heritage professionals as well as designers abroad, this Dutch experience is challenging and exciting. They have all kinds of questions, for example whether the heritage is preserved well, how it is possible for investors and the heritage sector to collaborate, or how as an architect one can find space for new designs that fit in well with the location. On behalf of the Cultural Heritage Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Dutch practical examples have been turned into an easy-to-reproduce exhibition on adaptive reuse in the Netherlands, which travels around in English, Japanese, Russian and Portuguese. The opening of the exhibition is regularly an occasion for giving lectures or organising workshops. In Moscow, on the initiative of the embassy, the exhibition was expanded with a documentary by Eva Radionova.

BRAZIL

Paul Meurs graduated in Delft on the subject of a Brazilian World Heritage site: the inner city of Salvador. Following this, with the aid of several grants from the Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, Paul was able to conduct research for many years into Brazilian architecture, urban development and monument conservation. The results appeared in professional journals such as ‘De Architect’ and ‘Archis’. Together with platforms such as Nirov (Netherlands Institute for Housing and Planning), Paul organised study trips, exhibitions, documentaries and workshops. He took the initiative, for example, to travel to Sᾶo Paulo with Aldo and Hannie van Eyck in order to make a television documentary about Lina Bo Bardi. He also organised a workshop on the subject of the water in São Paulo (‘Rios Urbanos’), as part of the project Holanda Hoje, on the occasion of the state visit of Queen Beatrix to Brazil. Those involved with this project included MBBM / Paulo Mendes da Rocha, and Riek Bakker. These days, projects in Brazil focus on Shared Cultural Heritage (workshops on the subject of cultural landscapes in Recife, Pomerode and Brasília), adaptive reuse and guest lectures on Brazilian universities. Johanna van Doorn, too, graduated in Delft on the subject of a Brazilian World Heritage site: the historic city of Olinda, near Recife. On the occasion of the visit of the Dutch minister for Education, Culture and Science Jet Bussemaker to São Paulo in 2015, Marinke Steenhuis gave a major lecture on adaptive reuse. SteenhuisMeurs was approached by RCE and the embassy in Brasilia to create an exhibition on the makeable society of the Zuiderzee polders. Under the title ‘The Dutch Brasilias’, the development is followed of the ideal 1930s polder villages in the Wieringermeer up to the DIY communities of Oosterwold in Almere, which are currently under development.