Waiting Hall, Michigan Train Station. By Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre ©Galerie Fontana Fortuna, Amsterdam

Talks and Q&A | Wednesday May 9 | 20:00h | English | 5 euro

With a.o.: Hans Aarsman (photodetective), Rob Funcken (photgrapher), Kim Bouvy (artist) and Jarrik Ouburg (architect). Hosts: Michiel van Iersel, Mark Minkjan and Tim Verlaan (Failed Architecture)

In previous editions of Failed Architecture, we have primarily looked at the why, how and when of failed architecture, trying to get a grasp of the various dimensions of failure and to understand according to whom certain buildings or built environments are malfunctioning. This time, we will try to figure out why many people like to see and talk about failed architecture and whether this influences the future of failed buildings.

Aestheticization of modern ruins is popular: we love romantic, wistful pictures with perfect compositions and dramatic light, beautifying decay and mortality. Over the past years, the number of so-called urban explorers has grown, visiting or breaking into derelict buildings. Just take a look at the infinite number of pictures of abandoned buildings, ruined factories and rundown train stations on Flickr and other websites and blogs. These ruinous structures seem to be much more to us than just piles of rubble.

Detroit is the primary example. The extreme case of decay, deindustrialization and poverty after a prosperous century has become the mainstream case of failure fixation and a popular subject in picture, writing and film. Where does this fascination come from? Why are we so preoccupied with failure in photography, urban analysis, literature and other media? And does this obsession help or obstruct attempts to restore urban ruins and learn from past failures? These and other questions will be answered.

Psychiatric Hospital Bloemendaal. By Rob Funcken.

We have invited several guests to discuss the beauty of failure with us:

Hans Aarsman is a photography journalist, photographer and writer. Aarsman will analyze forms of failure photography in order for us to understand the underlying motives of the photographer and the collective love for beautiful decay. 

Rob Funcken is a Brussels-based photographer, graphic designer and former urban explorer. He has been invited to talk about the act and glamour of urban exploring, and why so many people are intrigued by the act of urban exploring and the photography connected to it. 

Kim Bouvy is an artist working with photography and text, exploring the ways our urban environment is perceived and valued and how that again is being reflected in visual culture and architecture and urbanism. 

Jarrik Ouburg was trained as an architect at renowned offices in Switzerland, Japan, Belgium and The Netherlands, before he founded his own office in 2008. Starting in September 2012 he will be the new (parttime) head of the Architecture department at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture.

Location: De Verdieping / TrouwAmsterdam | Wibautstraat 127 | Facebook Event

Simultaneously with this edition of Failed Architecture, the solo exhibition “The Ruins of Detroit” of the renown Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre is programmed at Galerie Fontana Fortuna in Amsterdam.

Savamala streetscape, Belgrade

Failed Architecture is coming to Belgrade, from April 2 - 6, for a workshop focusing on the Savamala neighbourhood, in collaboration with KC Grad. Please join us for a week of urban exploring and co-creation.

The makeup and dynamics of our cities are continuously subject to changing demographics, market forces, political volatility, aesthetic preferences, technological advancements and other variables. Within cities, this creates differences between areas and neighbourhoods. Some areas are more popular than others for particular population groups, businesses and (hence) for flows of capital, causing a variety of local development paths and differing spatial articulations as a result of the aforementioned variables. Next to the changing makeup of the built environment, this can cause social frictions and morphing identities.

The local expression of urban dynamics will be the subject-matter of the first FA-mobile edition, which will take place in Belgrade, April 2-6. It is a cooperation with Grad (European centre for culture and debate) and will concern itself with the Savamala neighbourhood.

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Talks and Q&A | Wednesday November 23 | English | 3,50 Euro

In the sixth edition of Failed Architecture, we will focus on the more concrete, technical and practical failures of architecture. Which seemingly clever building technologies or materials have turned out to have unforeseen negative implications for the inhabitants, users, repairmen and janitors? Which types of buildings are more often subject to failure or usage problems? When can we speak of just unforeseen complications and when are architects or contractors to blame? Which cases are exemplary and what lessons can be learned for future architecture?

- Peter Luscuere will give a lecture titled ‘How buildings kill’, in which ten mechanisms that lead to irritation, sickness or even death will be discussed. Peter Luscuere is professor in Building Technology at Delft University of Technology, guest professor at Tianjin University, China and former director of engineering consultancy Royal Haskoning.

- Hielkje Zijlstra will further zoom in on the night’s theme and elaborate on how buildings can get lost in urban space, hitherto resulting in a missing link between the former and the latter. Services and installations meant to make life in the built environment easier are more often than not obstacles for users and inhabitants instead of helpful devices. The TU Delft campus will serve as a case study in this lecture. Zijlstra is associate professor in Building Technology at Delft University of Technology. 

The evening will be hosted by Michiel van Iersel (De Verdieping). Tim Verlaan (UvA) and Mark Minkjan (independent researcher).



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This edition of Failed Architecture is part of a dual programme on concrete architectural failures. Next time we will focus on how inhabitants and users actually deal with their failed environments, exposing inventive ways of improving standardized apartment blocks and central service systems from a pan-European perspective.

Location: De Verdieping / TrouwAmsterdam | Facebook event

Taken from flickr

What exactly is the link between poor housing and social problems?

Here is a very interesting extract from a comment on the Building Design website:

“As for the general assumption that housing stock causes disadvantage and social problems, that isn’t borne out by much actual evidence. According to a recent study in the UK, moving to an area with less crime and poverty will make you happier, safer and healthier, but it will not improve your test scores or change the likelihood of your being unemployed. If you live somewhere ‘bad’ it may well make you less happy, healthy and safe, but it will not cause deprivation, it will not cause low test results, high unemployment or high crime rates.” (Source: CommunityCare).

If this theory also works the other way around (‘bad’ people do not cause ‘bad’ places) one could conclude that there’s no causal relationship between the ‘badness’ of people and places. If that’s the case, failed architecture cannot be solved by tearing down buildings and/or removing people from their houses.

Which leaves us with the question: is this assumption right? And if so: when people (residents) are not responsible for architecture to fail, who is? Architects? Developers? Nobody? Or, on the contrary, do users themselves ruin buildings?

Who has an answer to these challenging and urgent questions?