DUS creates ‘Public Architecture’ and celebrates the act of making. Since its inception in 2004, the architecture collective realized numerous urban renewal projects and public installations. Their work has been published and awarded extensively, and in 2011, they won the acclaimed ‘Amsterdamprijs voor de Kunst’, for the novel way they co-create architecture with large communities. In their quest to democratize architecture and bring design tools to everyone, they founded Aectual in 2017, the global platform for customizable interior and architectural products made via XL 3D printing of recycled waste materials in a fully circular loop.
DUS’ Momentary Manifesto is in permanent flux, updated in constant dialogue with clients, partners, and new things that inspire. Through design, they build alliances and solutions with a big impact on our planet.
Interested to learn more? Email info@houseofdus.com or call +31 (0)20 229 1786
Design by doing is architectural beta-testing. Build 1:1 models in the public domain that function as immediate analysis, architectural test case and social condenser. Put your practice to theory. Do the unthinkable: Build a manifest, write a building.
People like pretty things.
Look beyond traditional construction materials, and re-introduce old crafts with new technologies. Design the life cycle of a product instead of a mere thing. Create value from waste.
Start from the future while respecting the history. Remix traditions and technologies to create agile and future proof designs.
A big solution can be brought by a small product. All details shape our habitat, whether the coffee mug we drink from to the neighbourhood we live in. Design all with the same care.
Each person is unique. Design tailor made solutions for people worldwide. Develop mass-customization tools so that each person globally can have access to distinctive design. The urban future is personal.
Shakespeare said it: “All the world is a stage.” Architects have the world’s largest audience. Discover for whom you are designing and respond to the res publica with the proper act. Architecture is the staging of all events of life, and our tools can be those of the actor, artist or technician. Accomodate people, as social networks are the most important infrastructure of the city.
The future 7 billion people all deserve good and sustainable housing, water and energy. Work with new technologies to use the power of nature in the most direct way: Design plant lamps that generate light. Upcycle waste streams into new resources. Integrate water-recycling systems within architectural structures. Show communities and cooperatives the power of the crowd and organize new energy production within the city.
See architecture as an open source; a gift in which others are challenged to participate. Share beta versions of your ideas with the public to generate forceful feedback loops. Co-create architecture that is mutable and open to multiple interpretations. People will discover it and thereby make it their own. Design that confronts each person’s imagination creates opportunities for communication between the private and public domain, and between individuals.
There’s always a need for places for people to gather. Merge the online and offline public domain. Combine the real with the virtual in pop-up buildings; like an analogue facebook or a physical webforum. Make momentary monuments: one-day events can last a lifetime in the collective memory of the visitor.
Urban renewal is the future. Make ‘growing up’ designs: Incorporate existing bottom-up initiatives and let these inform the top-down. Design a script rather than a blueprint; be the director. Reserve space for change and celebrate the informal.
Food is social construction material. It unites people. Cook, drink and dine together. A mere cookie can be the answer to a big brief, and every challenge is a new dish. Pick the right ingredients and dare to develop new ones. Never stop before it tastes good!
Always act with a global mindset. There is just one Spaceship Earth and we’re sailing it together.
Enjoy what you do and have fun.
