In the autumn of 2021, Het Nieuwe Instituut will present MVRDVHNI: The Living Archive of a Studio. This exhibition explores the archive of architecture office MVRDV. Het Nieuwe Instituut displays the MVRDV archive as a living entity in office spaces, rather than in museum galleries. As a working environment, the office is the place where ideas and projects move fluidly back and forth between present, past and future.

In 2015, Het Nieuwe Instituut, the national heritage institution for architecture, design and digital culture, began acquiring the MVRDV archive, encompassing the firm's projects from when it was founded in 1993 until 2010. This is more than the archive of an iconic architecture office. In addition to architectural projects, the oeuvre and archive also includes research projects, books, websites, games, software, exhibitions, multimedia installations, and even dance performances.  And, in addition to a large analogue collection including more than 300 models, the archive consists largely of digital material, which presents the Nieuwe Instituut with new challenges with regard to the management and access of archives, but which also offers opportunities for a different relationship to heritage.

MVRDVHNI invites you to explore the archive and engage with the materials. The exhibition brings the archive to life by adding new stories to its history and by developing new instruments for making the material accessible. In addition to the exhibition, an accompanying programme explores various themes in MVRDV’s work and the issues surrounding keeping (digital) archives.

Main image © Petra van der Ree