An urban measure and a collaborative practice

Jo Coenen belongs to the generation of Dutch architects who trained in the seventies and began practicing in the following decade, believing in the role of architecture as a form of art deeply linked to people’s lives. Today, after 40 years of intense and passionate research carried out in the field of architecture and urban design, this principle clearly transpires from the numerous buildings and urban projects shaped by Jo and his practice. His way of thinking and doing architecture is guided by a strong sense of political and social responsibility, architectural profession is an opportunity to respond to concrete needs, considered within a communal vision and a wider system of formal and symbolic values. His architectures are never conceived as isolated bodies but always as components and integral parts of the urban fabric; what‘s important about a building, at any scale, is not the shape itself but the quality of the space it is able to define, from the limited and private dimension of the interiors to the broader and public one of the city. It is in this set of values, which alludes to the most authentic meaning of working as an architect in contemporary society, by refusing selfreferentiality and formalisms, now so in vogue, in favor of responsible balanced actions, in continuity with history, that we retrace the reasons that led us to enthusiastically join the initiative promoted by Politecnico di Milano, Bureau Europa Maastricht, TU Delft University of Technology. The initiative includes a traveling exhibition, dedicated to Jo Coenen’s 40 years of activity, which will be inaugurated on March 3rd at the Galleria del Progetto Politecnico di Milano, to then reach Bureau Europa Maastricht e BKCity - Tu Deflt and the editing of this catalog which summarizes and illustrates the main contents of the display and will be offered as a supplement to the readers of l’industria delle costruzioni. All this confirms the interest that the magazine has shown over time towards the architectural production of Jo Coenen, publishing his most important works starting from the well-known Dutch Architecture Institute in Rotterdam (l’industria delle costruzioni n. 275-1994), passing through the urban project of the island KSNM in Amsterdam (l’industria delle costruzioni n. 296-1996), the Centre Céramique in Maastricht (l’industria delle costruzioni n. 327-1999), the OBA Central Library in Amsterdam (l’industria delle costruzioni n. 433-2013), up to the Parmaverà office project in Parma (l’industria delle costruzioni n. 440-2014) and the monograph by Alberto Alessi on Jo Coenen, published in 2013 in the series I quaderni de l’industria delle costruzioni directed by Giuseppe Nannerini and edited by Edilstampa. Jo Coenen is also a member of the magazine’s scientific committee, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his participation and contribution to the debate and the scientific advancement of its contents.