Back to School with…Office Winhov #3

For this edition of Back to School with..., the Independent School for the City has invited Office Winhov to curate a lecture series on the transformation of public and cultural buildings designed and constructed between 1965 and 1990. Now approximately fifty years old, many of these structures no longer meet contemporary standards for sustainability and comfort. At the same time, the dismantling of the welfare state has eroded the financial foundations that once supported the social programme in these buildings. Also, many post65 buildings were built light-framed, using materials and structures that are often more difficult to restore and sustain. This combination of factors often motivates municipalities or building owners nowadays to demolition them and make way for something new. Yet from both a sustainability perspective as well as a cultural-historical point of view, there are strong arguments for preserving these buildings and giving them a second life.

The series will both look at the challenges of repurposing post65 architecture as well as their cultural value. It will investigate how these buildings, through careful design, can once again become icons of a renewed social infrastructure, responding to the social and cultural needs of today.

REPURPOSING POST65 NEIGHBOURHOOD BUILDINGS

The third and final evening focuses on the repurposement of buildings that can be found in neighbourhoods all across the Netherlands. Some are architecturally more interesting than others, but they have all played a vital part in people’s everyday life and include community or health centers, cultural facilities, daycares, or small libraries. Together we’ll explore how these buildings can get a new meaning, while their original function has often disappeared. With Uri Gilad, Inez Tan, Stephanie Lama and Auguste van Oppen.

Session #3 - Tuesday 05 May 2026

18:00 – 19:00 Doors open and dinner served

19:00 – 19:10 Welcome by Independent School for the City

19:10 – 19:30 Introduction by Inez Tan of Office Winhov

19:30 – 20:15 Presentation by Auguste van Oppen of Beta Office on the transformation of Rupare and Station Wildeman 

20:15 – 20:40 Presentation by Stephanie Lama about the need for cultural buildings in Amsterdam

20:40 - 21:00 Conversation with speakers and audience 

21:00 drinks and aftertalk.