On 24 May 2007, under the curatorship of the Berlage Institute, the third International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, POWER – Producing the Contemporary City, will open in the port city, deploying its theme to examine the various forces at work in ‘producing’ the twenty-first century city and the role architects and urbanists can play in this crucible of forces.

Never before have so many people lived in an urban setting: more than half of today’s world population, and by 2050 this will have reached the two-thirds mark. Meanwhile, the contemporary city has become the arena for complex and diverse forms of power and the far-reaching effects of globalization. This confronts us with questions more urgent than ever before, such as ‘Who and what “produces ” the city? What forces guide its development? And who imagines the future of the city?’

The two main exhibitions in the biennale, Visionary Power and Project Holland, will run until 2 September 2007 in the main gallery of the Kunsthal. From 24 May until 10 June the lower gallery will serve as the Power Lounge: three weekends and two weeks of conferences, lectures, small presentations, workshops and events.

Curator
Berlage Institute, Postgraduate laboratory of architecture
Vedran Mimica, Associate Dean
Joachim Declerck, Assistant Professor

Organisation
International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam
George Brugmans, Directeur
Christine de Baan, Hoofd programma
Monica van Steen, Hoofd productie