Sustainable Rotterdam

We missed the previous two editions but managed to get tickets for the 3rd Pecha Kucha Night in Rotterdam. This time, the night was themed around Japan due to the celebration of Japan Film Festival in Lantaren/Venster where we found sushi, travel info, music with Dr. Ska during breaks and a superb electro-dance performance by Berlin based ODD, who promised the release of his first cd next September.
Pecha Kucha largely covered our expectations; the idea is that creative people present their work and ideas in a 20 slides x 20 seconds format. 'A happy crossbreed between an elevator pitch and a slide show' Well organized and structured while informal, a great way to meet peers with similar interests. Next Pecha Kucha nights are scheduled at the beginning of July and back after summer in September. Check the site for updates

The evening started with a dynamic introduction to Tokyo's landscape by Hunk Design and Studio PopCorn in the form of picture collages clustered by themes. What followed was a series of presentations covering art, illustration, photography, architecture and urban design.

• Wilco Otte, an urban designer at Enno Zuidema Stedebouw and researcher at Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design, presented a study covering the singularities of Japanese harbors against the Rotterdam model. The general observation is that meanwhile Rotterdam aims to differentiate and separate harbor activities with traditional city elements like residence and commerce, the Japanese model tends to stimulate integration by creating islands with and inner city life and external harbor functionality. During a conversation we had with Wilco, the question arose if the current trend to separate harbor and city activities in Rotterdam dissects the city from its traditional source of identity.
• Jacob van Rijs, architect from MVRDV presented Omotesando, a multipurpose building (shopping and amenities) to open its doors September 2007 in Tokyo. As usual, MVRDV relies in strong visuals which impact the expectator and this time the neighboring elite shops with its cubic and tidy surfaces almost seem to be a provocation for the Rotterdam architects.
• Architect Mark Veldman gave an overview of airport developments in Japan from an architectural and urban development perspective.
• Originally with a focus on Japanese calligraphy, Liesbeth de Jonge was introduced to Japanese techniques for baking ceramics which imprint a characteristic forms and colors.
• Yu Kuramoto is a performance artist who developed the horizontal elevator which allows you 'to move ten meters, to the left'
• Norio Oya from the Centre for Japanese and Korean Study University Leiden explained his relationship with Dutch photographer Ed van der Elsken, accompanied by a retrospective of the photographer and jazz background.
• Johan Kleinjan, illustrator and artist, told us great stories about his experiences with the alternative art scence in Tokyo. Antistrot
• On June 6 (6-6-06), Rotterdam will celebrate 666 years of existence as city, since Graaf Willem IV gave city rights. Minke Weeda, Director Rotterdam 666 jaar, presented the idea behind the celebration and the festival program.