Rising on AIR: The Role of Architecture International Rotterdam (AIR) in Elevating Public and Professional Expectations about Design in the Netherlands

Architecture International Rotterdam (AIR) has carried out a series of public design programs every two to four years since 1979, involving many of the best international designers. These conceptual projects have consistently anticipated important, emerging themes in architecture, landscape architecture, and urbanism, and, as a result, exceedingly strong interest in contemporary design has emerged among both public and professional constituencies throughout the Netherlands. While some of these individual projects have been documented, there is no comprehensive assessment of the overall program. This proposed project will provide the first comprehensive assessment of AIR and its affect on public design quality through oral histories of AIR participants, reviews of their conceptual designs, evaluations of built projects, and documentation of the public's engagement with the design process. My goal is to produce a publication aimed at a broad, international audience as well as to develop a similar initiative to implement in Kentucky.