Reinier de Graaf: The Masterplan - lecture at the SNG

On Thursday, February 16, at 19:00, a lecture by the world-renowned architect and urban planner Reinier de Graaf from the Office of Metropolitan Architecture will take place in the SNG cinema hall. Admission to the event is free.
What perspectives remain when architecture is reduced to a tool for real estate investors? What significance does a profession hold when its work increasingly exists to make money for others? What are the options for an ambitious architect when they are offered a commission that is too good to be true? The Masterplan traces the trajectory of an architect yearning for recognition and presents a fictional reconstruction of an architectural dream that larger forces have scattered to dust. The personal story comes to reveal a broader narrative – about the struggle of a developing nation with colonial remnants, about the growing Chinese influence in Africa, and about the challenging operation of the global real estate market.
Reinier de Graaf (1964, Schiedam) is a Dutch architect and writer. He is a partner at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and co-founder of its think tank AMO. He is the author of the book Four Walls and a Roof: The Complex Nature of a Simple Profession and the novel The Masterplan. He lives in Amsterdam.