My first two weeks in the office have passed very quickly.
At first, I would like include a few words about the city in which my Host Entrepreneur’s office is located. René van Zuuk’s practice is based in Almere, the youngest city in the Netherlands. It was created in the 1980’s, and you can see that the city is young through various urban and architectural solutions. René was one of the people involved in a part of the development of the city and still takes an active role in this. He told me for example about the bus lines in Almere, which have stops so that everyone can reach them in 400m or less – the calculated distance in which people still will use the bus instead of other means of transport. Almere is also the host of the 2022 Floriade – a world agricultural expo. It is connected with various changes in the city, from improving the infrastructure to moving some businesses to other parts of the city while making place for the exposition.
One of these businesses is a camping that will change its place to another, within Almere borders. It is a project that René was asked to predevelop by the camping owners. It aims to convince the investors to work further with the company. I am working on the project with an intern at the office, under Rene’s supervision. The camping is a specific project, as it combines empty sites for caravans, housing – bungalows, lodges and treehouses, as well as a representative restaurant building and the house of the owners. We had a site visit to the new camping site as well as the old one, and talked a little with the investors. I got acquainted with their vision, as well as the expectations of the city and the neighbors. The first phase of the project is to establish an urban concept of the project, which we are doing through numerous attempts and revisions.
Also during my first two weeks I was introduced by Rene to the way that the office functions. I could analyze some past projects and their development the digital archive system. I am looking forward to getting more acquainted with the office work and its promotional strategies.
