Architecture as a means for a new future
Mei is proud to present her new book Included.
The title Included stands for the design attitude of Mei architects and planners: for the ambitions the studio wants to achieve with its buildings; for everything that serves as inspiration in the design; for all the people Mei interacts with, teams up with, learns from and builds for.
This first overview of Mei unpacks 25 years of Mei’s work. From the values embedded in buildings and urban plans, to the methods used to design and realize projects. The book is fully bilingual, in both Dutch and English.
Order the book now via our website and have your copy optionally signed. The retail price of the book is €49.95.
Want to get a free introduction to the book first? We have made Included available as an open-access e-book, because we feel it is important for the book to be accessible to everyone. Order the free e-book version via this page.
Included is designed by graphic design firm 75B and published by nai010 publishers.
“It would be enough to make the argument that in this book on ‘architecture as a means for a new future,’ Mei has always seen a future for the past and the past as informing the future.”
This debut retrospective showcases 25 years of work: built and unbuilt projects. From the modular Smarthouse (1995) to the timber residential building SAWA (under construction), a fascination with intelligent building systems is evident herein. Systems that can reduce the environmental impact of construction. The radical call for user freedom evident in the firm’s early competitions has taken shape in adaptable buildings and spaces that can be appropriated by residents and users. Ambitious transformation projects, including the Schiecentrale, Fenix I and the silk factory in Naro-Fominsk, show how the firm has emerged as a frontrunner in repurposing industrial heritage.
Through a broad palette of techniques – from open floor plan to muse frame, from dry ballast to Delft sidewalk – the book provides insight into Mei’s design methodology, and into how the firm positions itself in the planning and building process. Conversations with Marinke Steenhuis, Arzu Ayikgezmez, Piet Vollaard, Sophie Stravens and Kirsten Hannema, illuminate underlying themes in the work and their current relevance. Aric Chen, general and artistic director of the New Institute, contributed the foreword.
As the ecological and social imperative of relating differently to the built environment grows, Mei is exploring new ways of working by actually doing, while building on the design principles and expertise the firm has developed in recent years.
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“With Included, Mei intends to spark reflection on this century’s design challenge and inspire people to act on it.”
“By 75B’s design, the leitmotifs and techniques are each indicated by colour. Like readable layers woven throughout the book. From quotes and passages in the text, to marking pages and chapters, ingredients in the work are both highlighted and linked in this way.”
- title: Included
- ISBN: 978-94-6208-614-2
- publication date: January 2023
- authors: Robert Winkel, Sanne van den Breemer e.a.
- content editing: Sanne van den Breemer, Michiel van Loon, Robert Platje, Robert Winkel, Mieke Winkel – Vullings, 75B
- copy editing: Leo Reijnen
- translation: Jean Tee
- design: 75B
- publisher: nai010 publishers
- printing house: die Keure
- language: Dutch, English
- execution: paperback, 17 x 24 cm, 384 pag.
- retail price: € 49,95
“The fiercely social and vigorously innovative Mei architects and planners realizes trend-setting buildings in the Netherlands and abroad. This Rotterdam-based architecture firm has built up an idiosyncratic oeuvre in which respect for the environment is central.”
