Wiel Arets

On the 27th August 2019, at his Amsterdam office, DJ (Ana Tostões, editor, and Michel Melenhorst, guest editor) interviewed Wiel Arets, an internationally renowned architect, and the founder of Wiel Arets Architects (1983). He has since taught at several universities worldwide, having also been Dean of the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam (1995–2001) and Dean of the College of Architecture (CoA) at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago (2012–2017)

David Chipperfield

On the 4th March 2019, at his Berlin Office, DJ (Ana Tostões, editor, and Michel Melenhorst, guest editor) interviewed David Chipperfield, an internationally renowned architect, founder of David Chipperfield Architects (1985) whose work is recognized with important awards such as the RIBA Stirling Prize, the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (Mies van der Rohe Award) and the Deutscher Architekturpreis

2nd Reuse of Modernist Buildings Workshop: Coimbra Modern City today: from functional buildings to community spaces

After the 1st RMB Student Workshop 2017 in the region of Marl (Germany), the 2nd edition worked in Coimbra, a historical university city in the centre of Portugal. In April 2018, the Reuse of Modernist Buildings (RMB) project, financed by ERASMUS+, organized the 2nd RMB Workshop to rethink the urban areas developed according to the De Groer Urban Plan of 1940.After the 1st RMB Student Workshop 2017 in the region of Marl (Germany), the 2nd edition worked in Coimbra, a historical university city in the centre of Portugal. In April 2018, the Reuse of Modernist Buildings (RMB) project, financed by ERASMUS+, organized the 2nd RMB Workshop to rethink the urban areas developed according to the De Groer Urban Plan of 1940

Unforeseen Impulses of Modernism: The Case of New Belgrade Blocks

Obsolescence and urban decay are usual attributes of the Modern Movement buildings and areas worldwide, especially of the post-war large-scale housing settlements. Therefore, the question of reuse and improvement guidelines for these settlements is becoming increasingly important. The paper addresses this issue, taking New Belgrade housing blocks as a case study. The current condition of the New Belgrade blocks that, indeed, can be characterised as obsolete and not adequately maintained, even degraded, is nevertheless a perfect platform for reading of the architecture and the space values, and how it was changing during the time. The study aim was reading the unforeseen impulses of modernism: identification and mapping of socio-spatial relations in environment (reactions on and interventions in space that were generated during the time), reading and interpreting them as impulses of the user behaviours and lifestyles, and further proposing future transformation tactics using the mapped elements and principles. The research framework was a workshop-seminar organized by the authors at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade. Using this research tactic, the particular elements and spaces within the blocks were mapped, identified, classified and systematized according to their flexibility to react and accept contemporary impulses of life. The study reveals common spaces of the New Belgrade blocks, or spaces between private and public, as the key elements in managing the urban decay and prompting adaptation, and hence investigates on the potential of their adaptive reuse initiating transformation of the whole area, and further achieving its attractiveness, openness and better accessibility

Unforeseen Impulses of Modernism: The Case of New Belgrade Blocks

Obsolescence and urban decay are usual attributes of the Modern Movement buildings and areas worldwide, especially of the post-war large-scale housing settlements. Therefore, the question of reuse and improvement guidelines for these settlements is becoming increasingly important. The paper addresses this issue, taking New Belgrade housing blocks as a case study. The current condition of the New Belgrade blocks that, indeed, can be characterised as obsolete and not adequately maintained, even degraded, is nevertheless a perfect platform for reading of the architecture and the space values, and how it was changing during the time. The study aim was reading the unforeseen impulses of modernism: identification and mapping of socio-spatial relations in environment (reactions on and interventions in space that were generated during the time), reading and interpreting them as impulses of the user behaviours and lifestyles, and further proposing future transformation tactics using the mapped elements and principles. The research framework was a workshop-seminar organized by the authors at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade. Using this research tactic, the particular elements and spaces within the blocks were mapped, identified, classified and systematized according to their flexibility to react and accept contemporary impulses of life. The study reveals common spaces of the New Belgrade blocks, or spaces between private and public, as the key elements in managing the urban decay and prompting adaptation, and hence investigates on the potential of their adaptive reuse initiating transformation of the whole area, and further achieving its attractiveness, openness and better accessibility

The impact of surgical delay on resectability of colorectal cancer: An international prospective cohort study

AIM: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to explore the impact of surgical delays on cancer resectability. This study aimed to compare resectability for colorectal cancer patients undergoing delayed versus non-delayed surgery. METHODS: This was an international prospective cohort study of consecutive colorectal cancer patients with a decision for curative surgery (January-April 2020). Surgical delay was defined as an operation taking place more than 4 weeks after treatment decision, in a patient who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy. A subgroup analysis explored the effects of delay in elective patients only. The impact of longer delays was explored in a sensitivity analysis. The primary outcome was complete resection, defined as curative resection with an R0 margin. RESULTS: Overall, 5453 patients from 304 hospitals in 47 countries were included, of whom 6.6% (358/5453) did not receive their planned operation. Of the 4304 operated patients without neoadjuvant therapy, 40.5% (1744/4304) were delayed beyond 4 weeks. Delayed patients were more likely to be older, men, more comorbid, have higher body mass index and have rectal cancer and early stage disease. Delayed patients had higher unadjusted rates of complete resection (93.7% vs. 91.9%, P = 0.032) and lower rates of emergency surgery (4.5% vs. 22.5%, P < 0.001). After adjustment, delay was not associated with a lower rate of complete resection (OR 1.18, 95% CI 0.90-1.55, P = 0.224), which was consistent in elective patients only (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.69-1.27, P = 0.672). Longer delays were not associated with poorer outcomes. CONCLUSION: One in 15 colorectal cancer patients did not receive their planned operation during the first wave of COVID-19. Surgical delay did not appear to compromise resectability, raising the hypothesis that any reduction in long-term survival attributable to delays is likely to be due to micro-metastatic disease

Reuse of Modernist Buildings

In his keynote lecture “When the oppressive new and the vulnerable old meet”, at the 13th docomomo Conference in Seoul 2014, Hubert-Jan Henket (1940–) made a passionate plea for “Sustainable Modernity”. In docomomo Journal 52, an invitation to join this plea was published. Hubert-Jan Henket also spoke of a wish to change the curricula at all schools of architecture and include the history of modernity as well as the conservation and adaptive reuse of what is there already as a standard part of the education. Since then, and even before 2014, a lot has happened in exploring the further potential of reusing Modern Movement Architecture. In 2016 the project “RMB Reuse of Modernist Buildings” started. For the RMB project docomomo International and the University of Antwerp, Belgium; the University of Coimbra and the Instituto Superior Técnico – University of Lisboa, both from Portugal; Istanbul Technical University, from Turkey and TH-OWL, Detmold School of Architecture and Interior Architecture from Detmold, Germany, came together to prepare a master course, addressing the subjects as formulated in 2014 by Hubert Jan Henket and docomomo