Hotel Transvaal*_*****, a stay in the interim
Concept: Jan Konings and Duzan Doepel (RAL 2005 architectural firm),
Development and realization: OpTrek (Sabrina Lindemann) in collaboration with Stichting Hotel Transvaal, Paul Ganzeboom, Hans Olde Monnikhof, Bram Heijkers, Bart Beuving, Maarten Scheepers.
Furnishing of the hotel rooms by: Sanja Medic, Anna J. Stuijvenberg, Frank Halmans, Kevin van Braak, Ingrid Mol, Ramon Lachmansingh.
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For a while Hotel Transvaal was the largest hotel in the world. The streets of the district were the corridors of the hotel, through which trams and buses were driving and the residents were the hosts and hostesses. The hotel rooms, furnished by five artists and a local entrepreneur were not in one single building, but were spread over the district in premises due for demolition, on undeveloped sites, in empty streets and in as yet unsold new construction. As soon as these were demolished or sold, the hotel moved on to a new location. Not a single hotel room was identical as regards location, space and furnishing.
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The many existing facilities in Transvaal, such as restaurants, hairdressers and bakeries were also facilities of the hotel. Breakfast for the guests was served in the local Turkish restaurant and the guests could surf the Net in the local telephone shop. In short, the entire district was the hotel. With the idea of Hotel Transvaal the initiators aimed at putting the empty space into use again and thus giving the district a sociocultural and economic impulse. Hotel Transvaal stands for a vision on restructuring policy at local as well as national level. Transvaal is not unique, for everywhere in the Netherlands districts are being demolished. In this way the authorities want to combat urban decay, but with the demolition the existing social structures also disappear, as well as the history of the neighbourhood and its residents.
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Hotel Transvaal fills the vacuum in the interim, upgrades it, looks for points of departure in order to connect the past with the future, and stresses the opportunities of a district in transition.
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Pilot weekend: 24/25 June 2006
Developing period: from summer 2006 to summer 2007
Opening: 24 June 2007 with Minister Ella Vogelaar and the alderman responsible for Building and Homes, Marnix Norder
Exploitation: until 16 October 2008
Location: the whole district of Transvaal
Video: Hotel Transvaal*_*****, verblijf in de tussentijd / Hotel Transvaal*_*****, a stay in the interim
Makers: Barbara Smeenk, camera and editing and André Bijma, montage.
