For years we have questioned the redevelopment of the Spui Square in our hometown of The Hague. In 2010 we developed a large scale campaign for the TodaysArt Festival. By looking at the developments around the square we tried to raise awareness of some pressing urban issues. With RUIMTE (2016) we developed a prototype to activate the square as a social and public residence. And when the old OMA Dance Theater was finally demolished we looked at one of the constant factors that defines this area of the city centre; the eternal presence of voids.

When the contours of the new “culture palace” Amare started to take shape Collective Works and Refunc were asked to develop a design for the fence around the construction site. Should we decline and not facilitate the developer or should we accept and serve the surroundings that are confronted with this endless state of construction? We asked ourselves if the in between time had any value?

A modular fence system was developed that could be reconfigured over time. It should function as a bridge between the vocabulary of the construction site and the urban routines of everyday life in the city. Together with a modular mobile seating installation (developed by Refunc) we temporarily tried to make the square more habitable in the meantime.