Dutch Architects Balance the Familiar and the Avant-Garde | Bedford Corners Homes

he avant-garde Dutch architecture firm MVRDV (an initialism of the names of the founding members, Winy Maas,  Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries) has tackled a wide range of projects, from a doghouse and people houses to whole sections of cities in and outside of the Netherlands.
Research is the consistency in the company’s projects; regardless of building type, size or location, the architects thoroughly analyze the contributing factors to design buildings best suited to the client and how they’ll be used. A number of books have documented the voluminous research MVRDV has produced since their its in 1993, but MVRDV Buildings (the most recent book and the firm’s first monograph), edited by Ilka and Andreas Ruby and published by nai010, focuses on 37 realized buildings.
With the importance of social housing in the Netherlands, MVRDV has realized many multifamily housing projects, but it has also designed single-family houses. This ideabook looks at six of the projects presented in MVRDV Buildings, an excellent monograph that lets readers learn about the buildings from the points of view of the clients and users, not just the architects.