Juriaan van Meel
The "Van Nelle" factory is a master piece of Dutch architecture that has proved to be functional over time. Once it was a factory for tea and tabacco. Now it accommodates small companies from the design sector. Inside you can still feel the light and air; atmosphere that was so exceptional at the time when the factory was built. I admire the building because it has 'character'. Character is a quality that is hard to grasp, but it is certainly a quality that is not often found in new buildings. Buildings like this (coverted warehouses, factories, etc.) should get more attention from both the academic and professional world to tease out design principles that help to improve new design.
Hal Levin
"In Thoreau's own words:
"Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity."
This was a sustainable home, built to be low impact and no bigger than it needed to be.
Thoreau said he did not need a library because he did not read, he hoed beans.
It was built by a pond so it didn't need plumbing pipes - no lead, no copper, no zinc, no pvc, no pollution!"
