The NAI has one of the world’s most important collections of archives of architecture, interiors, landscape architecture and urban planning. The permanent exhibition Living in the Lowlands reveals the collection’s wealth of drawings, models and photographs. The highlights of this national treasure paint a picture of domestic life in the Netherlands over the last 150 years. Ordinary Dutch architecture whose quality is unmatched anywhere in the world.

Famous housing projects
The first four sections of the display are devoted to famous realized housing projects such as P.J.H. Cuypers’ designs in the Vondelstraat in Amsterdam, H.P. Berlage’s designs for Amsterdam-Zuid, the neighborhoods of Pendrecht and the Alexanderpolder in Rotterdam, and Almere, the country’s laboratory for domestic architecture.
The final theme is unrealized plans, or images of future architectural visions. An example is H.Th. Wijdeveld’s plan to extend the Vondelpark in Amsterdam all the way to the coast.
To link the past with the present, contemporary documentary photography will supplement the historical material drawn from the collection.

New dimension to the NAI building
The Belgian office 51N4E Space Producers, winners of the Rotterdam Maaskant Prize 2004 for Young Architects, designed the exhibition. Their solution adds a new dimension to Jo Coenen’s building. They transformed four of the NAI’s exhibition galleries into a single new space.
The void between the first and second floors will been closed off to create a continuous display wall. 51N4E’s design creates a new visual entity for the display of material from the collection, often without mats or frames.

Interventions
From the end of March the new permanent display will be given a new structure. The permanent display and various “intervention exhibitions” will create a dialogue with the temporary exhibition program in the NAI’s other galleries. NAi Publishers is producing a catalog in association with the NAI accompanies the display.

Publication
Living in the Lowlands, The Dutch Domestic Scene 1850-2004
ISBN 90-5662-386-9, euro 37.50

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