portrait 14
frank havermans

Frank Havermans manifests himself as a “self-made” adventurer and explorer in the world of architecture and urbanism. From his studio he creates his models and drawings that reflect of his findings and ideas about interventions in space from a clear perspective of social interaction, resulting in a global presence; from the Biennale in Sao Paulo to the Taipei market.

Frank Havermans manifesteert zich als een ‘self-made’ avonturier en ontdekkingsreiziger in de wereld van architectuur en urbanisme. Vanuit zijn studio creëert hij zijn modellen en tekeningen die een weerslag zijn van zijn bevindingen en ideeën over interventies in de ruimte vanuit een duidelijk perspectief op sociale interactie, met een wereldwijde présence tot gevolg; van de Biennale in Sao Paulo tot de markt van Taipei.

plea for the unknown
pleidooi voor het onbekende

“experimental architectural universe”

starring artist:

frank havermans

text notes

constructor*)
person who is engaged in building structures / buildings

breda*)
old garrison and fortified city (1252) in the south of the netherlands (north – brabant), capital of the barony of breda.

mercedes*)
the famous german car ‘mercedes’ is short for ‘mercedes benz’ and is anyhow the favorite car in the constructors
world.

biennial oosterhout*)
the full name is ‘h3h biennial’. ‘h3h’ refers to the three monasteries in the so-called ‘holy triangle’ of oosterhout
(north – brabant). every two years, curators hendrik driessen (museum de pont) and rebecca nelemans
(mondriaan fund) invite dozens of artists from home and abroad with works inspired by this unique location and
the rich historical and spiritual traditions associated with it.

dommel*)
‘the dommel’ is a stream and downstream a smaller river in ‘the kempen’ and ‘the meierij’ of ‘s-hertogenbosch.
it measures in total 120 kilometers, of which 35 kilometers on belgian territory and 85 on dutch (north – brabant)
territory.

military service*)
compulsory military service in the netherlands was introduced in 1898 and was mandatory for men aged 18 and
over until 1979.

secondary school*)
a secondary school or high school is an institution that provides secondary education. some secondary schools
provide both lower secondary education (ages 11 to 14) and upper secondary education (ages 14 to 18).

model*)
professional architectural models are made for and / or by architects and is also often called ‘maquette’.
material and finish are suggestive and the dimensions are on a certain scale.

building permit*)
if a building design meets the legal requirements, a building permit will be issued by the municipality.

aesthetics committee*)
one of the legal requirements focuses on the aesthetic appearance of the building that has been designed.
in general, a separate committee deals with this.

engineer*)
during the design process the responsibilities of the engineer may include defining problems, conducting and
narrowing research, analyzing criteria, finding and analyzing solutions, and making decisions.

de stem*)
‘bn de stem’ (the voice) is a regional dutch daily newspaper in breda. the newspaper focuses on
western north – brabant and zeeuws – vlaanderen and was founded in 1998 through the merger of
the brabants nieuwsblad (based in roosendaal) and the daily newspaper de stem (based in breda).

st joost*)
the academy had its origins in 1922 when dio rovers started an art course in this city. this course developed
into the free school for visual arts and in 2004, after a merger with the royal academy of art and design from
den bosch, it received its final name: the academy for art and design st. joost.

glass palace*)
the ‘glass palace’ is a former department store in heerlen (province of limburg) that was designed in 1933 by
the heerlen architect frits peutz. it is one of the important examples of ‘new construction’ in the netherlands.
the glass palace is now used as a multidisciplinary cultural institute under the name ‘schunck’.

peutz*)
architect fritz peutz (1896 – 1974) started his own architectural firm in heerlen in 1920. he had a special affinity
with the international architectural movement ‘the new construction’, with a clear interpretation of his own.
many of his modernist buildings are in heerlen. peutz mainly made a name for himself through the department
store that he designed in 1933 for the heerlen fabric merchant peter schunck.

john körmeling*)
john körmeling (1951) is a dutch sculptor and architect. he has a wide, unconventional and humorous view of
architecture, because for him this not only encompasses architecture, but also urban planning, design, visual arts
and the human aspect. in shanghai (world exhibition 2010) he designed the sensational dutch pavilion
‘happy street’. in tilburg, ‘the rotating house’ and ‘de ophef’ (lifting) bridge are much-discussed well-known works
of art in public spaces.

luc deleu*)
luc deleu (1944) is a belgian unconventional conceptual artist, architect and urban planner. in 1970, together with
laurette gillemot, he founded the urban planning firm t.o.p. (turn-on planning) office, an interdisciplinary urban
planning company. in 1980 his ‘orbanist manifesto – architecture on a global scale’, was published.

antwerp*)
dating from the seventh century, antwerp, the largest port city in belgium, is located on the right bank of the
scheldt river and has approximately half a million inhabitants. antwerp is through the ages an important economic
and cultural center in europe.

ronald rietveld*)
the dutch architect ronald rietveld (prix de rome – winner) founded ‘raaaf’ in 2006 in collaboration with the
philosopher erik rietveld. this is an experimental studio at the intersection of visual art, architecture and academic
philosophy. raaaf’s projects are characterized by radical interventions in locations that are already of cultural
significance.

soesterberg air base*)
soesterberg air base was a military airfield near soesterberg, between utrecht and amersfoort. the airport was the
cradle of military aviation in the netherlands; in 1913, the army’s aviation department (lva) made its first flights here.
due to defense cuts, the base was closed in 2008. most of it has since been managed as a nature reserve:
the soesterberg air base park.

de overslag*)
‘de overslag’ in eindhoven (1996 – 2017) was an artists’ initiative whose core task was the production and
presentation of contemporary art, often manufactured in situ.

argument*)
‘showroom argument’ (1993 – 2013) in tilburg, founded by hans stevens c.s., was a small but grandly flourishing
artists’ initiative in tilburg. for many years, artists from near and far have worked and exhibited there, freely and
without frills. its main purpose was to offer art – in all its aspects – a real place.

heeswijk – dinther*)
heeswijk – dinther (origin: 12th century) is a village with 8.000 inhabitants in the middle east country side of
the dutch province of north – brabant, between veghel and den bosch, which has been part of the merged
municipality of bernheze since 1993.

fort asperen*)
‘fort asperen’ is part of the so called new dutch waterline (unesco world heritage) and is located in acquoy in
the dutch province of gelderland. this tower fortress (built in 1846) surrounded by a moat, is located along
a dike of the river ‘linge’ and accessible via a special footbridge. the entire complex is opened to the public
annually during the summer months.

prix de rome*)
the ‘prix de rome’ is a prestigious incentive prize for young artists and architects, originally consisting of a
study trip to rome, which was established in france in 1663 and later adopted by other countries, including
the netherlands (since 1808), and made available in various art disciplines. nowadays (since 2013) the dutch
mondriaan fund organizes this unique competition.

wood architecture award*)
the national wood architecture award (since 2001) aims to encourage building with wood in the netherlands.
this prize is an initiative of the digital magazine ‘wood world’.

aaron betsky*)
aaron betsky (1958) is an american critic on art, architecture and design. internationally he is known as a lecturer,
curator, reviewer and commentator. he directed the 11th venice architecture biennale, and became amongst
other director of the netherlands architecture institute ‘nai’ (2001-2006), nowadays named the ‘nieuwe instituut’
(new institute).

architecture biennial são paulo*)
the são paulo architecture biennial was initiated in 1973 and is held on alternating years from the são paulo
art biennial, the second oldest art biennial in the world after the venice biennial, which was set up 1895 and
served as its role model.
credits models, pictures and videos
shown by frank havermans

kapkar / h3h ypb | gate bridge pavilion model ‘bridge’
commissioned by h3h biennale oosterhout netherlands 2023
curators: hendrik driessen, rebecca nelemans | director: monique verhulst
manufacturing: studio frank havermans
install: frank havermans, mark van veen, stephan valk, kees van de ven, bram tassier,
photography: rené de wit, peter cox
supported by: mondriaan fund, h3h biennale oosterhout, bpd cultuurfonds

kapkar / to-rxd | landscape observatory
location: dommel river sint oedenrode netherlands 2009
client: art foundation sint oedenrode, skor, bkkc
manufacturing: studio frank havermans + gevers bouwwerkzaamheden sint oedenrode
structural engineering: frans van herwijnen, abt
video: jiaojiao li
photography: rené de wit

kapkar / taw-bw-5860 | studio dwelling
location: vught netherlands / studio dwelling in the ‘zin’ guest studio 2004
client: ‘zin’, the tilburg friars, the board of the ‘zin’ guest studio
manufacturing: studio frank havermans + frans van heel
photography: rené de wit
awarded with the dutch national wood architecture prize 2006

kapkar / zm-s*b3-jh | transitional installation
location: glass palace ‘schunck’, heerlen netherlands 2017 / 2018
curator: lene ter haar
manufacture: studio frank havermans + koos schaart adventures
in cooperation with: koen van oort, niek ten cate, floor van dijk, robert richter
photografy: rené de wit
supported by: mondriaan fund, bpd culture fund, municipality heerlen

kapkar / dpf-4b | social magnet – shelter
location / venue: depeng fortress liaochanwei area, shenzhen, china 2020
part of: 8th city biennale of urbanism / architecture
curator: yangyong, shangqi art shenzhen
technical drawings: denis bacal
visual sketch design: ami boerbooms
manufacturing: liao weding
photography: li yiting / studio frank havermans
video: jiaojiao

kapkar / a7-29 x ft | south gate
location: drachten netherlands, expessway a7, exit 29, 2021
client: municipality smallingerland netherlands
process management: taak amsterdam
construction / engineering steel work: sms drachten
engineering concrete work: boorsma drachten
ground- and concrete work: constructor eikelenboom drachten
coating: veenstra coatings heegh
photography & drone: rené de wit
highway clip: victoria ushkanova
visuals: jaap janssen

secret operation 610 | research station
location: air base soesterberg netherlands 2013
commission: raaaf + studio frank havermans
client: ‘de vrede van utrecht’
programm leader: ella derksen
manufacturing: de mannen van staal, koos schaart adventures, studio frank havermans + raaaf
photography: michiel de cleene
video: maurice spees
supported by: province of utrecht, score, vrede van utrecht, cbku, k.p. hein fund
was put on the longlist of the ‘mies van der rohe award’ 2015

first kapkar – 620 x 578 x 480
location / venue: ‘de overslag’ eindhoven netherlands 1998
curator: marc niessen, jacintha vetter
manufacture: studio frank havermans
photography: maarten van loosbroek, studio frank havermans
photography model: peter cox

from the roof down | daylight parasite
location / venue: vertoningsruimte ‘argument’ tilburg netherlands 2000
curators: hans stevens (✝︎), sandra eijkman
organization: vertoningsruimte ‘argument’
manufacture: studio frank havermans
photography: martin stoop, john schouten, rené de wit, sandra eijkman, studio frank havermans

tofud # amsterdam zuidas – urban research model
location / artist in residence: st. nicolas chapel zuidas amsterdam 2010
part of project: free space zuidas
on invitation of: mondriaan fund
coordination: meinke horn (✝︎)
photography: ron zijlstra
also shown in: hilvaria studio’s hilvarenbeek netherlands

kapkar / tfa-5w | monument statement
location / venue: art fortress asperen, acquoy netherlands 2009
curator: unstudio, ben van berkel, caroline bos
manufacture: studio frank havermans
install: studio frank havermans + stijn van der vleuten
photography: rené de wit

kapkar / vd-560 | state border chapel
location: the heart of schengen area / ottersum, genep (nl) / hommersum, gogh (de) 2021 / 2022
curators: antoine achten / piet de jonge
commissioned by: stichting cultuur zonder grenzen (culture without borders foundation)
manufacturing: koos schaart adventures, velp + frank havermans
paint shop: evers straal- en spuitbedrijf
technical drawings: denis bacal
photography: rené de wit
supported by: mondriaan fund, bpd culture fund, kunstloc brabant, province of limburg, municipality genep

kapkar / tt-c2p | cinema
location / venue: ciccilli matarazzo pavilion – são paulo 7th international architecture biennale 2007
also travelled to: hong kong, jakarta, vienna, arnhem
curator: linda vlassenrood
production sao paulo: stijn kemper
production jakarta, hong kong: suzanne de jong – kole
manufacture: studio frank havermans
video: stijn kemper
music video: jurgen bey
photography: ben cheung, kramar, studio frank havermans
supported by: mondriaan fund

the chongqing drawings – magapole organism
location / residence: studio yang shu, chongqing china 2018
drawings: frank havermans
photography drawings: peter cox
chongqing images: frank havermans
special thanks to: yang shu

tofud # trolley 0504 wanhua
location: 322 6 no. 6 ln.322, wanda rd. wanhui distr. taipe city taiwan 2023
director: peng sai-hsun
curator: michelle lin
photography & video: aquamarine film: po yen hsun
assistent photography: tsung hsun tsai
editor: jacob yab w.j.
production assistance: ting tzu liu, shu chen, you shuang li, yu hsuan ping, tong lin,
chia hsuan lee, wei ting lin (photography – opening)
project support: mondriaan fund
special thanks to: mr. whu

video portrait 14 frank havermans
camera and video editing: tom pijnenburg
research, editorial, text titles: jan doms

leader:
graphic design: jan doms
opening sequence: pieter reijnen & tom pijnenburg
sound: aspa petrov – prefuse 73 dvořák
ernst bonis – composition taksim