The Berlage Affair

Description

Kenneth Frampton once called Vedran Mimica, "the spiritual leader of the Berlage Institute." The Berlage Affair is a book that investigates the educational legacy of that institution, and in the process, explores new ways to research and project new models of global urbanization. Through this multilayered book of diverse views, the essays, studies, reviews, and interviews within all share an intellectual origin from the Berlage, where Mimica worked for 22 years alongside contemporaries such as Herman Hertzberger, Wiel Arets, Alejandro Zaera-Polo, Kenneth Frampton, Rem Koolhaas, and Elia Zenghel, as well as many leading architects and students from all over the world. What sets The Berlage Affair apart from other architectural literature is its very subject. Rarely do we learn about innovative or alternative educational models that have produced and imparted applicable, real world knowledge in the field of architecture. This knowledge was produced in an experimental environment as a result of exchange between leading and emerging Dutch, North American, Japanese, and European architects and their students from around the globe. In the process of this exchange, the Berlage created a platform for the construction and consumption of an array of contemporary architectural pursuits. And here, Mimica records those efforts.

Vedran Mimica is a Croatian-born Dutch educator, currently working as Associate Dean of Research at IIT College of Architecture in Chicago. Mimica graduated from the University of Zagreb in 1979 with a degree in architecture and civil engineering, and continued his postgraduate education and research at the Technical University in Delft, with Herman Hertzberger. He joined the Berlage Institute Amsterdam in 1991, where he assumed the position of Course Director in 1995. From 2007 to its closure in 2012, he was responsible for creating the institute's educational and curricula programs, in addition to guiding research activities. Mimica's reach has extended across multiple pedagogical, cultural, and intellectual realms over the past 25 years, including the publication of several books and numerous articles, as a juror at architectural competitions around the world, and as head of the curatorial team for the 3rd International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam in 2007. Vedran Mimica is a Croatian-born Dutch educator, currently working as Associate Dean of Research at IIT College of Architecture in Chicago. Mimica graduated from the University of Zagreb in 1979 with a degree in architecture and civil engineering, and continued his postgraduate education and research at the Technical University in Delft, with Herman Hertzberger. He joined the Berlage Institute Amsterdam in 1991, where he assumed the position of Course Director in 1995. From 2007 to its closure in 2012, he was responsible for creating the institute's educational and curricula programs, in addition to guiding research activities. Mimica's reach has extended across multiple pedagogical, cultural, and intellectual realms over the past 25 years, including the publication of several books and numerous articles, as a juror at architectural competitions around the world, and as head of the curatorial team for the 3rd International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam in 2007.

"Architect Vedran Mimica, an educator, writer, and curator at the Berlage Institute, gathers and introduces lectures, reports, essays, studies, reviews, and interviews related to the architecture movement affiliated with the Berlage Institute over the past 20 years. Most of the projects described are found in Eastern European and Balkan countries, including Croatia, Slovenia, Albania, and Montenegro. The book contains color and b&w photos, illustrations, and plans on every page." --ProtoView "What sets "The Berlage Affair" apart from other architectural literature is its very subject matter. Rarely do we learn about innovative or alternative educational models that have produced and imparted applicable, real world knowledge in the field of architecture. This knowledge was produced in an experimental environment as a result of exchange between leading and emerging Dutch, North American, Japanese, and European architects and their students from around the globe. In the process of this exchange, the Berlage created a platform for the construction and consumption of an array of contemporary architectural pursuits. And in the pages of "The Berlage Affair," Mimica records those efforts. Critique: Unique, informative, exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "The Berlage Affair" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to professional, college, and university library Architectural History collections in general, and The Berlage Institute supplemental studies reading lists in particular." --Midwest Book Review