(FLOWING)

STUDIO MAKKINK & BEY – Waterschool M4H+

The water is up to our neck. Waterschool M4H+, a project managed by Studio Makkink & Bey, combines and showcases the work of more than 30 designers, architects and artists in an impressive exhibit. They analyse materials that could be used as (building)materials and/or food, whilst maintaining a responsible approach to the use of water. 

Staged at the behest of IABR (the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam) the research started by asking what the new residential and working environment in the Merwe-Vierhaven area of Rotterdam (M4H+) could look like. Using available coarse and raw materials, the aim is to find sustainable building alternatives. This is how Waterschool M4H+ manages to outline how they are creating living spaces in which various biotopes interact.

Waterschool M4H+ profiles itself as a temporary centre of expertise and considers how water could play a more significant role in education, e.g. they are creating partnerships to integrate artists and designers in the curricula. The objective: to get to grips with alternatives and unconventional approaches to problems. 

Waterschool M4H+ is investigating how a range of resources contribute to a circular living environment. Insects, duckweed, seaweed, wood and fungi are the five unconventional resources in the spotlight that could shape our future (co)existence. Using a streamlined amalgam of projects, Studio Makkink & Bey alludes to a future in which art and design will become a more important part of education and, by extension, society. You are cordially invited to join us and dive into, swim and splash in the wondrous world of Waterschool.