Alexandra Sonnemans
+31(0)619411178hello@alexesoleil.com
website under construction
A combined sculpture, viewing tower and exhibition space in the garden of Sonneveld House, in the Museumpark Rotterdam. This site-specific work reflects and reacts on the surrounding context, such as the design of the Sonneveld House. It tells the story of the transformation of the area (from Land of Hoboken to Museumpark) over 100 years, by bringing together the layers of past, present and future and making them spatially and sensorially experienceable – offering new perspectives, possibilities and value.
Modular structure, scaffolding material and two layers of printed mesh textiles, and reclaimed wood for flooring.
All weather conditions were to be felt in the tower this month, wind and rain, sun and heat. And in the night we had a lighthouse in the city.
June 2024
For: AIR, OMI, Nieuwe Instituut
Concept, Design, Execution: Alexandra Sonnemans
Execution with: OMI , Team Thursday, Paul Groenendijk, Titus Verheijen, Dutch Steigers, LENN
Thanks: Hetty Berens, Tijn van de Wijdeven, Alfred Marks, Joost de Munk, Stichting Volkskracht, Nada Kojadinovic, Catja Edens, Suze van der Markt, Jolanda van Dinteren, Quintus Belichting
Photo by Frank Hanswijk
Colour research with archival experts and curators of the Nieuwe Insituut
Strito Studio is the concept and design of four multi-functional modular small-scale studios that can be used independently and can also be assembled into one full-fledged home of ±50 square meters. The studios are easy to assemble, disassemble and relocate.
The studios act as a platform for (new) natural and experimental building materials, such as bamboo and hemp. The use of such materials in small studios can be a stepping stone to application on a larger scale.
We are researching the application of bamboo as load-bearing structure together with the TU Eindhoven.
Ongoing
For and With: Strito dev.
Project and Design development: Alexandra Sonnemans
Concept: rotative studio (Alexandra Sonnemans and Caterina Viguera)
First prototype built in 2021
“Exchange in Practice, an exchange for promising designers from the Netherlands and Flanders/ Brussels, aims to be a breeding ground for fresh ideas on a spatial and social theme, focusing each edition on a local case. At the same time, it wants to ‘stimulate cross-pollination between Dutch and Belgian architecture (culture).’ The fourth edition took place in Antwerp and focused on the (possibilities for) co-creation in the reconversion project of the former Stuivenberg Hospital.”
12 & 13 September 2024
Invited by: Nieuwe Instituut and Vlaams Architectuurinstituut
Location: Antwerp (Stuivenbergsite)
A series of three colorful pavilions as the first gesture and stimulus to change the perspective and use of the city’s central square, the Place du Marché, as a real place for encounters, a place for the residents.
Modular structure of wood and steel, with aluminum details and integrated lights, built locally in the atelier and assembled on site.
Completed 2021
For: Municpality of Aigle / Suisse Romande
Project by: rotative studio (Alexandra Sonnemans and Caterina Viguera)
Construction: Guarnaccia Constructions
Structural advice: Álvaro Romera Martínez
The pavilion with sound installation makes perceptible what we cannot directly see and hear: the story of fragile landscapes that are gradually, but also ever faster, changing, which has major consequences for our planet. It brings the sound of melting Alpine glaciers within the public, urban space, and highlights the climate crisis through spatial and sonic experience.
We created a wooden modular structure that we could easily build, dismantle and transport ourselves.
March and October 2023
For: composer and musician Ramon Landolt, as part of his project Iced Sound
Project by: rotative studio (Alexandra Sonnemans and Caterina Viguera) in collaboration with Ramon Landolt
Construction with Bilthauer Werkstatt Andreas Lindegger
Where: Schiffbauplatz Zürich, Ketelhuisplein Dutch Design Week
Making the future flooding of inner-city rivers visible in the present, to architecturally and culturally revisit public space and the value and meaning of urban elements by which it is formed. We encouraged students to work on-site in the scale 1:1 and to work collectively, and to present their work all together in a final exhibition.
The Noordereiland, an island in the Maas river in Rotterdam, already on occasion has to deal with inundation. We chose this location, because it makes it easier to imagine flooding on an even more extreme scale. And Venice as a case study: a city where the seasonal fluctuations of water have become part of everyday life, and where a wide range of solutions have been developed in anticipatory ways that lead, sometimes unintentionally, to new uses of space and encounters.
2021/2022 S2
Type: Teaching
Where: Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design
Tutors: rotative studio (Alexandra Sonnemans and Caterina Viguera)
Students: Arianne Fleege, Wessel Geysels, Justus Schäfer, Ronja Dmoch, Milou van Zomeren, Quirine Hoek, Daan de Jong, Esmee van Beekhuizen
Invited guests conversation series: Estel Figueras, Ramon Landolt, Suze Milius, Alberto Pottenghi, Pavle Stamenovic, Daniel Fuchs
A collective corridor connects five collaborative work spaces and a communal kitchen.
All the new walls, frames with glass and doors are built up of a designed modular system, wooden structure. By devising such a system, we were able to make customisation feasible and affordable and build on site.
Completed November 2023
Type: Transformation of a 1911 house - ground floor
Where: Staatsliedenbuurt Amsterdam
For: V. Arends
Design execution: Alexandra Sonnemans
Concept: rotative studio (Alexandra Sonnemans and Caterina Viguera)
With: Eulàlia Martin, Erwin Weenink, Rafal Bouw
Transforming an existing building and activating a street corner by introducing a new function. An opportunity to create a place for encounters, full of warmth and color.
Restoring the space, which has been modified many times in the past, to its full potential. Removing all layers, opening up the space and exposing hidden quality. And a complete remodeling of the interior, including the design of custom-made elements, furniture pieces and sunshades. These were built by local craftspeople, using a.o. steel and rubberwood. The vivid colors are executed with steel menie, sustaibable chalk paint and kurkuma. Irregularity of rythm is a reoccuring topic within the elements.
Completed 2019
Type: Transformation
Where: Kruiskade/Middellandstraat Rotterdam
For: Kristian de Leeuw and D.J. Wooldrik
Project by: rotative studio (Alexandra Sonnemans and Caterina Viguera)
With: Niek Mager, Breedveld Staal (Marc Gouwens, Maurice Hennekens), Janek, Erné, Van Dijken Glasbeleving, Kwarts en Co, Frans van Hooijdonk
Transforming a 1960s Amsterdam house into a more sustainable, bright and spacious family home. Making the most of the space with minimal, affordable and clear interventions.
Completed 2023
Type: Transformation of a 1960 house
Where: Amsterdam
For: private client
Design execution: Alexandra Sonnemans
Concept: rotative studio (Alexandra Sonnemans and Caterina Viguera)
With: Erwin Weenink (ib-weenink)
Following the Pavilion with sound installation ‘Encounter Iced Sound’, we created a portable spatial and sound installation to bring the sound of the melting Alpine glaciers to the center of the city of Barcelona. Following a ‘sonic route’, we went to three different urban locations.
2023
Type: Spatial installation with sound and Sonic route through Barcelona
Locations: 1) Hivernacle - Ciutadela Park, Mirador de pedres - Barceloneta Pier and Rooftop Terrace - Cloudworks Carrer d’Àvila.
Collaboration by rotative studio (Alexandra Sonnemans & Caterina Viguera) and musician and composer Ramon Landolt
Curated by Fundació Mies Van der Rohe and Eva Franch
Coordination by Eduard Fernàndez