My scheme introduces the strategy of precision bombardment to thoroughly expose the potentials of this, the only true dockland area in the immediate vicinity of Rotterdam city centre. My architectural bombs, primed with the most carefully measured quantities of programme, imply a strong faith in the power of architecture. But what architecture can hold its own in the dirty urban reality of Vierhaven? I sought the answer in a so-called performance architecture, a radical and direct architecture with the accent on what the building does. The outcome is five designs, most of which function on a conceptual level.

In the end I opted for 'Truxtop', in the first instance a facility for the more than a thousand truckers and trucks that descend on Vierhaven daily. The hidden agenda of this project is far more ambitious, however. I have tried to couch Truxtop and its programme in such terms that it will serve as a logo for the road transport sector which is frantically trying to address the problem of its image. Truxtop is an attempt to transform the picture of stinking, pollutive, noisy and tailback-happy lorries into a sublime architecture, using whatever architectural means it takes, from kitsch to exaggerated motorway aesthetics and single surface architecture. The lorry, its chassis, bodywork, interior and context were the points of reference.

Place of education: TU Eindhoven
Specialization: architectuur
Tutors: Gerard van Zeijl, Lex Kerssemakers, Wouter Vanstiphout & Henri Achten