Shall we consider everything as art? What if bridges, buildings, gardens, or public squares – in short: the entire built environment – had artistic value? Our proposal for this year’s PAN Amsterdam campaign is an invitation to reimagine city life through the lens of art. Such a shift in focus will help us appreciate our built environment more, and spark the discussion about inclusive cities and democratic spaces where everyone is welcome. Let’s make buildings, streets, or parks become art so that the monotonous and repetitive cities we know today come to an end.

The students of The Why Factory at CTU Prague take over one of the atriums with slogans for a future Bio World. Bioworld: Earth is our home; Earth supports us and contains all known life in the universe. But our home is threatened: climate breakdown, population growth, deforestation, pollution, income disparities – just to name […]

Some moments from the studio Bioworld Kickoff at CTU Prague.

Winy Maas joins a panel marking the celebration of Herman Hertzbeger’s 90th birthday with a roundtable discussion celebrating Hertzberger’s legacy in conversation with Herman Hertzberger himself. It is accompanied by an exhibition featuring photographs of his workspace by renowned photographer Johnannes Schwartz.    

Some moments of the MSc1 Bioworld studio kickoff at the TUDelft. We are very excited to explore Bioworld for the next ten weeks. Earth is our home; Earth supports us and contains all known life in the universe. But our home is threatened: climate breakdown, population growth, deforestation, pollution, income disparities – just to name […]

Winy Maas, the recently appointed visiting professor at the Faculty of Architecture of CTU in Prague, will instruct, together with Javier Arpa Fernández, Adrien Ravon, Lex te Loo and Šimon Knettig, two semesters during the academic year 22/23 with the The Why Factory, the think-tank he directs at TU Delft in the Netherlands.

How can we turn every dwelling into a desirable home? The latest book by The Why Factory, (w)Ego: Dream Homes in Density, investigates participatory processes and applies them to housing design. These processes establish a negotiation between the desires of each of the residents of a housing block and help determine the design of their units. (w)Ego explores these negotiations through the development of gaming processes that leverage the specific dreams of each resident and transform them into spatial requirements. This way, novel housing typologies emerge within a truly human-driven, dreamy architecture.

Architecture taking action: MVRDV and The Why Factory exhibition in Paris positions design as a tool to make the world a better place.

Come and join this lecture by Winy Maas in the occasion of the launch of the most recent book by The Why Factory (TU Delft): (w)Ego.

di 14 juni 2022

19:30 – 21:00 CEST

The Why Factory, together with artist and haute-couture designer Iris van Herpen, launches Every(body) is urbanism, a research that explores the crossovers between biodiversity, clothing and the city. Every(body) is urbanism operates at the intersection of nature, urbanism, architecture and the human body. This movie: The Veins of the City is part of a larger […]

Calling all visionaries! compiles a series of short films made by the Why Factory’s researchers and students since the foundation of think-tank. Each film shows scenarios for the development of the cities of the future and, more broadly, of the entire Planet. They are aimed at engaging in a public debate on architecture and urbanism.

On Thursday November 4th between 15:00 and 16:30, the students of The Why Factory will present their final presentation of the MSc1 Design Studio: Pixel Planet: From XXS to XXL, a fully modular & adaptable world. Prefabricated design goes beyond most of what we think we know about pods, containers, modules, and joints. Pixel Planet […]

The building industry has made a great progress in the development of more efficient, faster or greener prefabricated architectures. We are witnessing great advancements in customization, structural systems, building efficiency or waste control, to name a few.

In an interview with Dezeen for the Dezeen 15 digital festival. Winy Maas proposes covering the planet with a new inhabitable geological layer called The Sponge. For the full interview click here.  

The Why Factory’s most recent research, “The New Old”, on show at Cable Gallery Shenzhen.

The Wego research as part of the Together! Exposition at the TUDelft.

Based on the hypothesis of maximum density achievement and maximum desire fulfillment, the subsequent research and book of The Why Factory’s “Future Cities” series -to be published in association with NAi010 Publishers in Rotterdam- explores the potentials of desire-based design processes, capable of introducing the residents’ wishes in the construction and adaptation of housing and the city.

Winy Maas lectures on The Why Factory’s latest research: Pixel Planet.

Prefabricated design goes beyond most of what we think we know about pods, containers, modules, and joints. Pixel Planet aims at revising and up-cycling the prefab modular cell. On that score, we will analyze units, measure their performances and script the design of buildings, cities and the entire Planet by combining simple cells. This economy of resources simplifies the actions on complex contexts (from analyzing the performances of the unit, to scripting and evaluating buildings, blocks, cities, or the World).

Prefabricated design goes beyond most of what we think we know about pods, containers, modules, and joints. Pixel Planet aims at revising and up-cycling the prefab modular cell. On that score, we will analyze units, measure their performances and script the design of buildings, cities and the entire Planet by combining simple cells. This economy of resources simplifies the actions on complex contexts (from analyzing the performances of the unit, to scripting and evaluating buildings, blocks, cities, or the World).

The New Old is a collaborative research between The Why Factory and the IaaC Master of City and Technology that explores how we can manage all we leave behind by analyzing what does Old mean and what will become Old in the next years. By understanding its location, size and timeline we envisioned its future -by actions of removing, reusing, relocating and remembering- so we could start answering the question: What will be the New Old and how will it look like?

Winy Maas presents “Le Grand Puzzle” at Madrid’s CentroCentro centre. The book is the result of intensive research – made from 2018 to the start of 2020 – by an international team of architects and urbanists from MVRDV and The Why Factory (Delft University of Technology), in collaboration with Manifesta 13 and representatives of both Marseille institutions and universities.

Heritage is meant to embody the values and collective memory of a whole society. However, buildings, museums or monuments, conceived as manifestations of national pride and glory increasingly confront us with a problematic past. These symbols tell stories of conquest, victory and heroism, while simultaneously representing narratives of repression, racism or even genocide… Should we […]

Kunnen we de verwachte bevolkingsgroei gebruiken om een voorbeeldstad te ontwikkelen? De komende 30 jaar groeit de Nederlandse bevolking tot 5 miljoen mensen. Wat als ze (deels) in Amsterdam zouden worden gehuisvest? Dan zou de stad net zo dichtbevolkt zijn als Parijs. The Why Factory / TU Delft ontwikkelde met een groep van 50 masterstudenten […]

Kunnen we de verwachte bevolkingsgroei gebruiken om een voorbeeldstad te ontwikkelen?

During the Spring semester 2021, The MSc2 Design Studio at the Why Factory will research on what constitutes heritage and how to deal with it.

The Why Factory (Delft University of Technology) and MVRDV proudly present Le Grand Puzzle, a study with ambitious ideas for Marseille.

On Friday August 28, Marseille will see the opening of Manifesta 13, Europe’s nomadic contemporary art biennial. Central to the event will be an urban study of Marseille led by MVRDV Founding Partner Winy Maas, engaging researchers at both MVRDV and his TU Delft-based think tank The Why Factory.

Dutch architect Winy Maas joined Dezeen in a live Screentime conversation sponsored by Enscape as part of Virtual Design Festival.

Next Fall Semester, The Why Factory and AMS (Amsterdam Metropolitan Solutions) will celebrate a design studio aimed at exploring ideas for the future of the city and its metropolitan region.

MVRDV co-founder and principal architect Winy Maas for The Why Factory (Delft University of Technology) is giving a lecture for the IAAC Lecture Series 2019/20, Barcelona, on Monday 10 February. The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) is a centre for research, education, production and outreach, with the mission of envisioning the future habitat of our society and building it in the present. IAAC runs an international IAAC Lecture Series in which architects and experts from a variety of different disciplines present their work at IAAC. In this context, Winy Maas, in a collaboration between The Why Factory (Delft University of Technology) / IAAC Faculty will give his lecture “Everything is Landscape”.

What if we cover all cities with a thick layer of green? Everything! From roofs, facades and streets, to interior walls, floors and even furniture. We have combined the knowledge of plants and buildings in The Green Dip Maker. We know what strategies on buildings we can use, and which elements can hold how much plant material. We can select the correct species for the right biomes. We know the weight of the green hats, coats, socks,how much water it needs, when it flowers and how it effects our buildings. Now our cities can be totally green… So what?

What if we cover all cities with a thick layer of green? Everything! From roofs, facades and streets, to interior walls, floors and even furniture. We have combined the knowledge of plants and buildings in The Green Dip Maker. We know what strategies on buildings we can use, and which elements can hold how much plant material. We can select the correct species for the right biomes. We know the weight of the green hats, coats, socks,how much water it needs, when it flowers and how it effects our buildings. Now our cities can be totally green.

Het ABC Architectuurcentrum Haarlem bestaat dit jaar 30 jaar. Het centrum viert dat onder meer met de organisatie van drie bijzondere lezingen (‘Masterclasses’) door drie Nederlandse  toparchitecten: Ben van Berkel (UNStudio), Francine Houben (Mecanoo) en Winy Maas (MVRDV).

The workshop Qianhai 2.0 organized by The Why Factory (Delft University of Technology) will look to use the occasion of the Greater Bay Area undertaking as a point of departure for an exercise in intensive design speculation—imagining wholly novel urban futures that may emerge from this initiative.

Why green? What are its capacities? How does green perform? How can green be implemented to our cities? Can we create a database of plant species? Can we create a software to help us do it? Can we invent a series of green elements to be implemented?

How to open up our solid towers?

The Why Factory exhibits 81 porous towers at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo as part of the exhibition Future and the Arts: AI, Robotics, Cities, Life – How Humanity Will Live Tomorrow.

Very soon at the Mori Art Museum
“Future and the Arts: How humanity will live tomorrow”
Opening Next November 18th

This friday the MSc1 students will present The Green Dip. Feel free to join us in the orange room of the faculty from 14:00.

In the Spring 2020, The Why factory will initiate a research in collaboration with AMS Institute (Amsterdam Metropolitan Solutions). Witihn this framework, the MSc2 studio of The Why Factory will explore the urbanism(s) capable to accommodate hyper population derived from massive incoming flows of migrants.

We are very excited to welcome a group of 42 students to The Why Factory. This years MSc1 Studio on The Green Dip was opened with a day full of The Why Factory Talks and workshops. 

During the summer a group of GSAPP students came to Delft to participate in a workshop on the green dip. They developed a series of greening trends, greening strategies, greening calculations and a catalog of green qualities.

With a big bang, the students presented 66 new planets concluding the Planet Maker 2 Studio. Can we simulate possible scenarios which can change the planet? How to script those future planet scenarios? What do we need to know to achieve this? Who are our key planet actors? How to test their needs and capacities? […]

Organised by INDESEM, Winy Maas and Saskia Sassen will give a lecture followed by a debate at the Kunsthal.

This fall semester (2019/20) The Why Factory will offer MSc3/4 Making Future Cities, The Next Agenda.

This fall semester (2019/20) The Why Factory will offer MSc1 Air City, Living in the Sky.

This fall semester (2019/20) The Why Factory will offer MSc1 The Green Dip, Covering the City with a Forest.

The Why Factory Director, MVRDV co-founder and principal architect Winy Maas is giving a lecture on the 28th of February at the IE School of Architecture and Design in Madrid, Spain. In his lecture entitled “What’s Next for Architecture and Urbanism?”

What if we could fly? What would it look like? How would our buildings be configured? What new typologies would emerge? How dense can we live?

Wondering how we can green our cities? The Students present their research on The Green Dip to Winy Maas at #IAAC. Next week the finals, Exciting times :D!

What if we could fly? What would it look like? How would our buildings be configured? What new typologies would emerge? How dense can we live?

The students of the Sky City studio developed a vr experience of the Sky City. This is a video showing the building aggregations creating a new sky urbanism.

Join us for the book launch of the new Why Factory publication:
PoroCity, Opening up Solidity.

“Outrageous architectural premises. An approach that looks 100 years into the future. Why the Why Factory at TU Delft in the Netherlands may just be the most radical design program in the world.”

Winy Maas gives a lecture titled the Evolutionary City at the CUHK School of Architecture in Hong Kong

Felix Madrazo presented Copy Paste at the Politecnico in Milan during the Copy + Paste Architecture and Transnational Urbanism Seminar.

PoroCity, The Why Factory’s most recent publication. Leaf through!

The seminal architectural publication Domus presented its new director: Winy Maas. The MVRDV principal and co-founder will head Domus for the upcoming 10 issues as part of the magazine’s new 10x10x10 editorial strategy. Maas is the second Editor-in-Chief selected as part of this 10-year plan, following in the footsteps of Italian architect and designer Michele De Lucchi.

On November 7 -13, a group of almost 80 students from TUDelft, ENSA-Marseille and ESADM Marseille proposed a myriad of interventions for the future of the city.

PoroCity – Opening up Solidity is a manifesto for the introduction of the public realm into the private sphere of our cities. The book provides the tools to make urban porosity socially, environmentally and economically valuable. The book will officially be launched on 6 November, 17:45 at Delft University of Technology and will be available for sale from nai010 booksellers www.nai010.com.

Manifesta has announced a collaboration with MVRDV on an interdisciplinary urban study of Marseille and its metropolitan region as the base for the curatorial framework of Manifesta 13. The study will serve as a platform to develop artistic and cultural interventions during the biennial in 2020.

“In this lecture, Winy Maas talks about the recent works of his architectural firm, MVRDV, and about the project ‘(W)ego’ at the research institute The Why Factory. “

MOSCOW URBAN FORUM — is the largest international congress on the development challenges of global megacities. The Forum has been held annually since 2011.

The Why Factory, led by Winy Maas, present the first results of the Planet Maker design studio and research by The Why Factory in collaboration with RMIT Melbourne and UTS Sydney at TU Delft’s Orange Tribune

On July 3, the results of the Planet Maker design studio by The Why Factory in collaboration with RMIT (Melbourne) and UTS (Sidney) will be presented at the orange tribune.

On 19 June the exhibition ‘SPB 2103’ opened in St Petersburg, where The Why Factory and MVRDV have presented 3 installations.

On June 19, Winy Maas, director of The Why Factory, will participate in the On Cities Workshop, organised by the Norman Foster Foundation, which will take place this week (18 to 22 June 2018) in Madrid.

The Centre Pompdou in Paris organises the exhibition “Coder le monde”, featuring among other works, the research “Porocity”, undertaken by The Why Factory

Winy Maas reflects on the future of Barcelona

Winy Maas Prof. Ir. Ing. FRIBA HAIA is one of the co-founding directors of the globally operating architecture and urban planning firm MVRDV, based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, known for projects such as the Expo 2000 and the vision for greater Paris, Grand Paris Plus Petit.

Globally renowned Architect and IAAC Master in City & Technology Senior Faculty Winy Maas discussed with IAAC Academic Director Areti Markopoulou the importance of the new profession of urban technologist.

With the Planet Maker symposium we celebrated the MSc2 Kickoff. We are very excited to start with our ambitious Planet Maker studio.

Tuesday 24 April, The Why Factory will host a series of presentations related to the topic of this semester’s design studio: Planet Maker. Instructors, researchers and former students will show their work.

We are delighted the (W)ego has been awarded one of the Architectural Media Jury Award awards at the 7th Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (Shenzhen) with the theme – Cities, Grow in Difference which concluded at its main exhibition venue Nantou Old Town on March 17th, 2018.

Next week Wednesday the 21st of February, Adrien Ravon will present the ongoing research undertaken at The Why Factory:
‘From Wego to Barba, building a fully adaptable environment’

The MsC1 students just presented their OnTheGo housing project.

The Exhibition entitled City of Lego opened its doors last week featuring 5 Lego Towers produced by the Why Factory students for the Porous City research.

The Why Factory presented yesterday the installation “The Future City is Wide”, about the production of our think tank over the last 10 years.

Together with MVRDV, The Why Factory presented The Wego House in Shenzhen.

Between November 17th and 21st, AEDES Network Campus hosted the Why Factory’s workshop “WeShare Berlin” aimed to identify alternatives to sharing accommodation

The final review of the OnTheGo Studio took place with Felix Madrazo, Wiel Arets and Winy Maas. “IIT Architecture meets The Why Factory.”

This studio is a collaboration between The Why Factory and UTS Sydney.
Students from Australia will travel to Delft during the last weeks of the studio and will work collaberately with TUDeft students.

This studio is a collaboration between The Why Factory and RMIT Melbourne.
Students from Australia will travel to Delft during the last weeks of the studio and will work collaberately with TUDeft students.

Ten years of research, education and public engagement are currently being shown at SpazioFMG in the city of Milan, Italy.

How do you imagine the future of city centre of Downtown Eindhoven?

The Why Factory’s (W)ego research takes the streets of Eindhoven.
Research and concept design: The Why Factory
Def design and definitive drawings: MVRDV
Images: Ossip van Duivenbode

Dutch Design Week ambassador Winy Maas curates with The Why Factory Products change our cities, an installation showing the vast ideas produced by the research hub for future cities

Listen Winy Maas speaking about Copy Paste, the tenth book in the Why Factory’s Future Cities Series.

Copy Paste is the tenth book in the Why Factory’s Future Cities Series.

Copy Paste is the tenth book in the Why Factory’s Future Cities Series.

Copy Paste is an invitation to copy with finesse and skill.

Copy Paste understands the past as a vast archive on which we can and must build.

Copy Paste is a reader in the art of evolution.

Copy Paste is a bad ass copy guide.

How do you imagine the future of city centre of Eindhoven?
ICI Eindhoven Masterclass with Winy Maas is up and running!
The Why Factory + MVRDV + TU/e

The audio-visual installation to be shown in the Hall 1of the Klokgebouw during the Dutch Design Week (October 20-29) focuses on products that will change our world.

The one year graduation design studio -“(y)our block”- tested the capacity of a 100 x 100 x 100 m hypothetical housing block to respond to a multitude of future scenarios.

Join our symposium on Wednesday!

16:00 Room K
Drinks will follow the panel presentations

It is time to fill in the gap left vacant by fleeting city thinkers.
It is time to take a position on how we want to live in the future.
It is time for a visionary city.

A fully adaptable hotel!
Meeting the demands of populations on the move.

The Why Factory launches the Fall 2017 design studio “OnTheGo” for TUDelft MSc1 and IIT Chicago Students.
Friday September 8. Faculty of Architecture, TUDeflt, Room K 10:00.

The Kuala Lumpur Architecture Festival (KLAF) is the main event of the architectural calendar in Malaysia. The thematic for KLAF2017 is “POWER is/and/to/with/of/for ARCHITECTURE”

Our exhibition “The Why Factory: Research, Education and Public Engagement” is featured in Domus. Don’t miss it if you are in Munich.

Next September 14, Winy Maas will participate in the Helsinki Design Week.

The Why Factory´s Manifesto after 10 years of Research, Education and Public Engagement

Watch Winy Maas’ lecture at the Indaba Festival in Cape Town, where he presented some of the research undertaken by The Why Factory.   From Design Indaba Website: If you are reading this while sitting in one of the world’s big cities chances are that you’re in a tall grey-looking building overlooking several more of […]

Winy Maas gave the lecture “What´s next” to architecture students of the School of Architecture of the Technical University of Munich (Germany).