Martin van der Linden is an architect who believes that architecture should focus on movement within spaces and crafting immersive experiences through consideration of light, shadow, reflection, color, and silence. He believes design should start from the concept that spaces are defined by human mobility and that uniqueness comes from emphasizing the unique contextual elements of a place. Some of his projects include the Orandajima house in Japan from 2011-2013 and the VDAJ office in Tokyo from 2009.

1. Martin van der Linden
Work and Projects
AUTHENTICITY AT WORK
HOUSING

2. Martin van der Linden
van der Architects
Work & Projects

3. AN AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCE OF SPACE
APPROACH
We believe that architecture is about movement within space. Our designs take full
advantage of this mobility, and by doing so we craft an immersive experience through
architecture, with constantly changing viewpoints. Our building materials are not
limited to wood, metal and concrete. We also consider light, shadow, reflection,
colour and silence to be crucial components. We believe in a sustainable approach to
design — in fact, our project for an international IT company is one of very few
projects in Japan to be awarded LEED GOLD.
SPACE AND MOBILITY
The French philosopher Merleau-Ponty once said that space exists because of our
mobility. I believe that architecture should always start from this concept: a
promise that unfolds around us as we move through space. In the beginning,
architecture was nothing more than an enclosed area, a container of — and platform
for — human activities. As such, architecture’s beginnings were rather pure and
simple. But on a different level, there was another, higher promise of contextual
sensitivity: our experience within the space.
CONTEXT
Our experience of space has always been filtered through context. Contextual factors
such as geography, climate, weather, light, materials and the structure’s immediate
surroundings have always posed creative limitations. Initially, architecture was
created out of its immediate surroundings. For example, if you were to build a hut,
you used the trees, mud, grass and stones that surrounded you. Because of this, early
architecture was grouped into a village or collection of houses with a shared
sameness, contextually. We can still see examples of this all around the world.
CONSTRUCTION
Due to technical advances, the contextual limitations of the past are becoming less
and less influential: when it is dark, we switch on the light, and when it is cold,
we turn on the heater. Construction has allowed us to create our own context. We as
architects today are free to build anything, anywhere in almost any shape that we can
dream up. It is ironic that despite this technological freedom, we still build
hotels, office towers, shopping malls and restaurants — even the homes where the
world’s population lives their lives — that all look fairly alike.
IDENTITY
Maybe we have forgotten that there are sensitivities to our context that create and
shape our identity through these spaces. Human beings — all animals, in fact — are
highly sensitive to space. Perhaps we feel lonely, sad, angry, loveless or generally
depressed due to our inability to satisfy a deep need to connect and retreat within a
space that we can call our own.
UNIQUENESS
Architecture has the ability to create possible worlds through construction. However,
I think that architecture should be a manner of looking at the context again and
reinforce the unique contextual elements that are there. The uniqueness should not
come from the shape of the space, although this could be an element of the design as
well, of course. I think that uniqueness should consider the context to be the
starting point. As such, architecture will act as a modal filter of context and will
help to create a space, which, when walked through, helps us experience what in the
end becomes the space’s identity.

4. KYOTO STATION DESIGNED WITH HIROSHI HARA

6. orandajima house
Yamada-machi - Japan
2011-2013

7. orandajima house
Yamada-machi - Japan
2011-2013

8. orandajima house
Yamada-machi - Japan
2011-2013

9. orandajima house
Yamada-machi - Japan
2011-2013

10. orandajima house
Yamada-machi - Japan
2011-2013

11. House with no name, yet
Tokyo - Japan
2014-2015

12. House with no name, yet
Tokyo - Japan
2014-2015

13. House with no name, yet
Tokyo - Japan
2014-2015

14. VDAJ Office
Tokyo - Japan
2009

15. VDAJ Office
Tokyo - Japan
2009

16. VDAJ Office
Tokyo - Japan
2009

17. BRICKHOUSE
Tokyo - Japan
2013-2014

18. BRICKHOUSE

19. BRICKHOUSE

20. BRICKHOUSE

21. silent house
Rekem, Belgium
1994

23. DARK SOULS UNDER NEON LIGHTS
Tokyo - Japan
project

24. 1.Entrance
2. Storage
3.Bedroom
4.Bathroom
5.Kitchen
6.Living room
7.Roof terrace

29. Tiny house

30. Tiny house

31. 1. ENTRANCE
2. GARDEN
3. TERRACE
4. BATHROOM
5. KITCHEN
6. LIVING/
DINING
7. SLEEPING
8. STORAGE
1 2 3
4
5
6 7
8
Tiny house

32. Tiny house

33. Tiny house