A collective of 12 "makers" representing the Room for the River programme wins the Grand Rotterdam-Maaskant Prize 2018. They are the representatives, representing a community from the business community, national and regional governments, residents and other stakeholders of Room for the River. A unique collaborative programme, which has resulted in a safer country with a high-quality landscape and urban design. Each winner represents many colleagues and fellow stakeholders. Room for the River belongs to everyone, which makes the approach successful. The approach is an example of how different interests and opportunities have reinforced each other so that safety could be combined with spatial quality and liveability.

Room for the River works towards a safer river area and an attractive living environment. To that end, the programme is giving the river more space at over 30 locations along the Rhine tributaries - such as the IJssel, Waal, Nederrijn and Lek. So that four million residents of the river area are better protected against the rising water. Plus the spatial quality of the river area increases. It produced over 30 projects that were implemented over about 10 years. These projects are now complete, except for one, and have remade and reinvented the Netherlands. The necessary approach to safety was linked to the development of spatial quality, in a process of working together with all stakeholders and residents and with explicit concern for the experienceability of this spatial quality: Room for the River was made by and for the people.

The design approach, based on the two objectives of safety and quality, makes Room for the River the winner and the chosen collective the bearer of the Grand Rotterdam-Maaskant Prize. Because they stand for that approach, not alone, but together and not just as a collective but as representatives of the Room for the River community. The collective consists of 12 "makers", ambassadors of this culture of spatial development who - as individuals and as bearers of their institutional roles within the collective - stand for the success and power of Room for the River:

- Ina Adema from 2001 to 2009 alderman for spatial planning in Deventer and portfolio holder for water within the VNG

- Roelof Bleker from 2010 to 2018 dike grave Waterschap Rivierenland

- Ingwer de Boer from 2006 to 2013 Chief engineer Director Ruimte voor de Rivier Rijkswaterstaat

- Jos Dijkman from 1995 to 2005 project leader of research for Room for the River at the Waterloopkundig Labaratorium (part of Deltares)

- Jorien Douma from 2008 to 2016 department head communication Room for the River Rijkswaterstaat - Regina Havinga from 2007 to 2017 cluster leader spatial quality at Room for the River Rijkswaterstaat - Nol Hooijmaijers farmer in the Overdiepse Polder

- Robbert de Koning from 2003 to 2015 landscape architect of 12 projects including de-poldering Noordwaard

- Niko Poolen from 2012 to 2016 project manager of Ruimte voor de Waal near Nijmegen

- David van Raalten from 2011 to 2014 Head of the River & Coastal Advisory Group and Project Manager of a number of planning studies of the Room for the River projects at consultancy and engineering organisation Arcadis

- Dirk Sijmons from 2006 and 2010 Chairman of the Quality Team (landscape architect)

- Gert Verzijl from 2007 to 2017 director of Projects Rivers and Dykes at Boskalis

Besides celebrating a unique and extremely valuable programme for the Dutch landscape, the jury's choice sends an important signal: the power of such an approach is still too little recognised in the Netherlands. Room for the River is the proof that spatial quality is not a luxury, but with the right approach, perseverance and safeguarding of the main principles, adds significant value to Dutch society and permanently guarantees our landscape and the Dutch culture of living with water.

And once again, the Netherlands faces a major task. The Delta Programme 2019 presented on Prinsjesdag - with Deltares' report on the possible consequences of climate change and sea level rise for the Netherlands - sets the tone, and the ambition. More than ever, we must realise that the Netherlands, made of water, is a country where that safety and quality must always go hand in hand. Every new task will deliver added value for city and country, citizen and company, river and coast, based on this double objective."

Presentation 19th Rotterdam-Maaskant Prize The prize will be presented on Friday 16 November at Kunsthal Rotterdam by Ahmed Aboutaleb, mayor of Rotterdam and chairman of the board of the Rotterdam-Maaskant Foundation. The award is based on nominations by a jury consisting of chairman Henk Ovink (water envoy, Kingdom of the Netherlands), Thijs Barendse (programme maker, director of debate podium De Dépendance), Rients Dijkstra (professor of Urban Design TU Delft), Wim van de Donk (commissioner of the King province of North Brabant) and Petra Rutten (director of housing Frame Vastgoed). On the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Groot Handelsgebouw, designed by Maaskant, the award ceremony will take place at the Kunsthal Rotterdam, where the exhibition 'Ik sta hier goed - 65 jaar Groot Handelsgebouw' will be on display at that time. The Grand Rotterdam-Maaskant Prize is a biennial award for one or more individuals who significantly stimulate the debate on architecture, landscape design and urban planning through publications, teaching or commissioning. Established in 1978 by Rotterdam architect Hugh Maaskant, the prize consists of a certificate and a cash prize of €25,000. In the odd-numbered years, the 'Young' Maaskant Prize is awarded, an incentive prize for young architects, landscape architects or urban planners no older than 35 years, in which the architectural or urban planning work is paramount. This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the first Grand Maaskant Prize. The anniversary is reason for Rotterdam-Maaskant Foundation to organise a series of public talks - the Maaskant Dialogues - on the broader significance of architecture and urban design in the light of current social issues.

The exhibition 'Maaskant drawn' will also open at Kunsthal Rotterdam on 16 November. Commissioned by CBK Rotterdam and the Rotterdam City Archive, ten Rotterdam-based artists have shaped their personal views on Maaskant's buildings into a work of art. In doing so, the archive breathes new life into an old tradition in which artists record the changes in the city. The 40th anniversary of the Maaskant Prize provided an occasion to put Maaskant's buildings at the centre of this edition.

PRESS RELEASE - 25 September 2018