The old famous churches of Amsterdam should become public spaces again like they were in the 17th century. Currently most of them are closed off for big parts of the week. Willem wrote this article together with three others in Het Parool (a Dutch newspaper with a news-focuss on Amsterdam). It stirred up some discussion, we love to debate further about it. Feel free to comment if you speak Dutch:).
Loved to work with the Urban Discovery team on this Exhibition at the RICS Heritage Conservation Conference. Heritage conservation in Hong Kong is a challenge which generates strong views in the community and presents a range of interesting issues. I made the design (in close cooperation with Lisette van Rijn and Grace Lee) of these exhibition-panels. Each one evaluates the re-use of a particular heritage buildings in Hong Kong.
Some Revitalisation concept are super cool. My personal favourite: a resettlement housing estate that turned into a hostel (Mei Ho House). After the conference, the exhibition will be relocated to Blue House in Wan Chai so you can check out all the fascinating stories and struggles that are connected to Hong Kong’s most fascinating urban renewal projects.
Last Monday I did something extremely fun. I went on a Foodwalk with my clients and friends from Urban Discovery. Earlier this year I wrote more about their amazing heritage preservation work and efforts here but this Foodwalk just opened my eyes for a whole new level of ‘food heritage’ adventures that Hong Kong has to offer.
If you’re looking for great stories to tell to friends and family, you should definitely spend a night in Jordan area with one of the excellent guides of Urban Discovery. I got to know a lot of new fun facts about Hong Kong streetfood and received that extra push to try some weird but amazing dishes as well! This foodwalk has the perfect blend of indoor and outdoor eateries (you visit a total of 5 places). Highlights were a beautiful herbal teashop and eating snake soup!!
I like how the Urban Discovery guide Edmund managed to create a casual atmosphere but still was able to share a lot of super cool stories and experiences, bringing you to places you couldn’t manage to find on your own. Truly a night that will shape my food memories of Hong Kong! Find more info on the Foodwalk and Urban Discovery here.
Starry Starry… City! I made these business cards for one of my favorite Hong Kong companies: Urban Discovery. Their goal is to keep heritage alive for a vibrant and viable urban future… to reach that goal they develop all kinds of cool stuff like an iDISCOVER app for city-walks with all kinds of hidden gems in it. They have an amazing food-tour and on top of that they make awesome products as well (looking forward to the kids-book about Hong Kong that is being published in 2014).
Of course there’s also the serious part of the business where they help Asia’s rapidly changing cities redefine their heritage. They advise governments with historic city centers, reach out to developers that want to capitalise on the social and cultural investment potential of heritage buildings and work with NGOs to engage the community in heritage revitalisation projects. Urban Discovery consists of lovely people with strong ideals in their area of industry… where do you find such ‘gems’ in the city nowadays:)
Studio Refill Ltd 