ABC Masterclass Jeroen de Willigen recap
On February 11, the three-part masterclass series by ABC Architecture Centre Haarlem launched with great promise at PHIL.
Marieke Mentink (CEO of Plegt-Vos) opened the evening with her personal story about meaningful commissioning. She spoke about her intrinsic drive to work on high-quality living environments. About how creativity does not emerge despite clear frameworks and structure, but precisely because of them. And about keeping a shared ambition in sight amid diverse interests—and having the courage to steer back toward it when necessary.
That shared ambition resonated in Jeroen de Willigen’s lecture. He took the audience from the village of his youth—with its ice rink as a social meeting place—via his love of books, sparked by his grandfather, to public space as a collective responsibility. He advocated for the architect’s connecting role between client, builder, and society. A design-driven approach as the oil between these different parties.
It was a story rich with inspiring examples, many drawn from the work of De Zwarte Hond. From Paris as the 15-minute city to De Suikerzijde in Groningen, where vision and collaboration converge in spatial quality.
The evening concluded with a story about Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, centered on the power of generosity. During a solo, Herbie played a wrong chord. Instead of correcting him, Miles responded with a phrase that gave the chord meaning. No rejection, no correction—but a response that created space for the unexpected and helped it move forward.
Let us learn from Miles and resolve each other’s mistakes without correcting them.
A multifaceted evening about commissioning, craftsmanship, and collaboration. For those who couldn’t attend: the masterclass can be rewatched here.