FRESH AIR

At the opening of their first studio in Rotterdam, Gemma Koppen and Tanja Vollmer welcome the visitors with a glass of champagne. Instead of taking it off the tray in a relaxed manner, it ties the guests to fixed breathing masks that protrude from the studio ceiling. Oxygen, which usually flows as a life-saver through these masks, is not offered. They are not connected to the outside air – neither is the office. If you think of the Sick Building Syndrome of the 1980s, you find yourself in the midst of the two founders’ deliberate criticism of an unchanging architecture that deprives people of their basic needs in the semblance of luxury. With Kopvol architecture & psychology architect Gemma Koppen and psychologist Tanja Vollmer are taking a new path. But visitors of the exhibition and future clients can only follow this path if they are prepared to let go of their “traditional place at the champagne glass”. Two years later, the Dutch architecture promoter SFA offers its first promotional award for such courageous clients. The Hedy d’Ancona Prize, awarded by the former Minister of Health and named after her, is awarded every two years till 2016.