Guus Beumer to head merger

Knowledge

Design.nl can confirm that Guus Beumer has been named director of the Netherlands' new national institute for architecture, design and e-culture, the merger organization’s Governing Board announced today.

By Editor Design.nl /asdf 26-07-2012

The institute will begin operating on 1 January 2013, after the merger of three official industry institutes: the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAi); Premsela, the Netherlands Institute for Design and Fashion; and Virtueel Platform, the knowledge institute for e-culture. Beumer is expected to begin work this autumn.

Beumer currently heads the Marres Centre for Contemporary Culture and NAiM/Bureau Europa, both in Maastricht. The Governing Board of the merger organisation said it was delighted with his appointment. “We are confident that Guus Beumer will make an inspiring director for the new organisation,” said board member Esther Agricola. “He's an ideal person to encourage interaction between architecture, design and e-culture.”

The NAi, Premsela and Virtueel Platform are working hard together to prepare for the merger. They finalised a 2013–2016 policy plan, “Creativiteit als Noodzaak” (“Creativity as a Necessity”), in early July. More information, including the new organization’s name, will be made available in September.

Photo: Philip Driessen