In the autumn of 1999, Chris de Weijer and Robert Alewijnse left Mecanoo Architecten to start up their own office, which they called DP6 architectuurstudio. In the ten years that have passed since then, they have realized a rich and multi-faceted oeuvre. Eighteen projects from this oeuvre – those that most fire the imagination – are presented in DP6. Ten Years of Architecture. They range from the glass towers of the Walterbos complex in Apeldoorn to the archetypical wooden dwelling house in Driebergen, and from the striking red mega-cinema in a noise barrier to near Ede to the bridges for the Zuiderpark in Rotterdam.
Besides comprehensive documentation of the projects, the book furnishes insight into the way in which DP6 deals with assignments. Designs are often created in two stages. Rational analsis is followed by a more intuitive process in which the emphasis is placed upon associative thought. This produces strongly sensory architecture in which a major role is often reserved for the landscape. DP6 is also notable for the way clients and users are involved in the genesis of a design.
DP6. Ten Years of Architecture is a book about an architectural office that manifests itself without much propaganda or fuss but which is, at the same time, distinctive enough to claim a conspicuous position in the realm of Dutch architecture.