MVRDV's 'We Are All Experts': Architecture as Critical Practice

In a 2002 piece for artpress, Philippe Morel explores the Dutch architectural group MVRDV, established by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, and Nathalie de Vries. MVRDV emerged from the 1991 Europan competition with their Berlin Voids project and challenges conventional approaches, viewing urbanism as a social experiment. They critique accepted expertise by employing Rem Koolhaas's 'paranoid-critical method' to create 'false facts.' A key aspect of their methodology is datascaping, detailed in Farmax (1998) and illustrated in Metacity/Datatown (1999) and Costa Iberica (2000). Maas's 2000 lecture highlights their anti-humanist perspective, promoting 'dangerous thinking.' The article frames MVRDV's contributions as a transformation of architecture in the context of global capitalism, where data serves as both beauty and critique.