Vacant NL is the Dutch contribution to the Venice Biennale 2010, in which the potential of 10.000 governmentally-owned vacant buildings (from the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century) was shown. The groundfloor was left completely empty. It refers to our discovery that the pavilion stands on Dutch soil (in Venice) and has already been vacant for 39 years; seven months a year. The Gerrit Rietveld pavilion itself becomes part of this total installation.
Vacant NL got media attention worldwide (read more here >>>) and has led to many follow-up projects such as a Master Program at The Sandberg Institute (Rietveld Art Academy, Amsterdam) and a book to share our experiences and academic field of Vacancy Studies. This is also the title of the publication that appeared in 2014.
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Client: NAi | Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
Curator: RAAAF
Team: Ronald & Erik Rietveld, Jurgen Bey, Joost Grootens, Saskia van Stein and Barbara Visser
Support: Arna Mackic, Kasper Jacobs, Peer Frantzen, Chantal Bax
Realization: Landstra & De Vries en Claus Wiersma
Location: Venice Architecture Biennale, 2010
Status: Exhibited, 2010
Awards: Dutch Design Award, 2011 & Rotterdam Design Prize, 2011
Photography: Rob 't Hart