19 February–20 March 2005 / Casco HQ
At Casco, designer Neeltje ten Westenend presents her study Who’s Afraid of Vinex?. She spent two months living in Vinex Vathorst [1] near Amersfoort in order to gain insight into the identity of this new housing project and its inhabitants. Ten Westenend was primarily fascinated by the extent to which the designed environment influences that identity. Contacts with individual inhabitants and their personal layout choices for their private spaces were used as the point of departure for her approach to public spaces.
Who’s afraid of Vinex? is a study into the area where public and private space merge, into the tensions which exist between recreation and housing, and between tourism and local identity. During an earlier phase of the project Ten Westenend examined the similarities between a Vinex and a holiday village. Both cases appeal to feelings of freedom, pioneering mentality, space and adventure using similar images.
Who’s afraid of Vinex? started with the idea of developing a program for both visitors to and the inhabitants of the new society in Vathorst. Over the coming months, Neeltje ten Westenend – in cooperation with Vathorst’s inhabitants – develops a choreography for a parade, which takes place in May 2005. Information on the event and the opportunity of signing up to visit Vathorst during that time is available at Casco.
Neeltje ten Westenend (Uden, 1975) graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2003, majoring in Man and Public Space. At Casco, she will also be presenting prior works, such as the videos Ode aan Martin Margiela, Blindspot and A Votre Service, which illustrate her design methods.
Lectures in conjunction with this presentation
Thursday 10 March: Janet Andrewes
Sunday 20 March: Paul Meurs and Giene Steenman
More information about these speakers is available in Dutch.
Visit VATHORST GRAND PARADE to learn about the outcome.
[1] a planned urban expansion zone
