Number 0
An ode to VINEX
To accommodate the increasing population in the Netherlands the Ministry of VROM determined a number of conditions in the Vinex-document for the construction of new housing districts starting in 1993. New districts had to be placed near existing town centers and had to contribute to the certain aims such as; endorsement of existing malls, limit the removals of unsatisfied inhabitants in medium-large cities, protection of open areas by concentrating the aglomerations around existing medium-large cities and limit traffic between residencies, work and stores offering more possibilities for public transport, cycling and walking
Vathorst, close to Amersfoort, is a VINEX location that was designated to realize 11.000 dwellings between 2001-1014.
My main concern to VINEX is that it produces vast area’s that consists of mainly private space - the garden and the house, and communal used public spaces – playgrounds, the roads and the parking spaces. There is no real public domain. There is no reason for people who don’t live in these areas or don’t have friends or relatives living there, to go to these neighborhoods. As for the people who come to live there, basic facilities such as shops and schools are provided but the development takes a very long time. New habitants will live in deserted anonymous and soulless building pits for years. They still have to depend on the city to find their entertainment, cultural program, markets and shops.
Number 0 is a project stemming from the desire to improve public space and identity from the start within VINEX. The project is projected on Vathorst. A structure based on the ‘casco’ phase of the row of houses, located on the only place where address 0 can exist, at the beginning of the row. Number 0 can house many different functions; here it is an aviary. Address 0, a non-existing number of a house that will never be built or finished as an ode to VINEX, but even more as a place where stories will be told and new stories will begin.
