Collecting Otherwise is one of the research projects currently being developed by Het Nieuwe Instituut as part of the Rethinking the Collection initiative, and under the umbrella of Disclosing Architecture. This background of this initiative is the decision of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) to invest 11 million euros over the next six years in the visibility – and thus the restoration and digitisation – of the National Collection of Dutch Architecture and Urban Planning, which is hosted and cared for by Het Nieuwe Instituut. In this context, Het Nieuwe Instituut considers it imperative to ask fundamental questions about the value and significance of the documents contained in the collection. In turn, these questions could contribute to the reorientation of notions of what could, or should, constitute heritage and archiving in specific moments in time.

And Other Spectres is a series of essays, exhibitions, public events that investigate agents that, being generally imperceptible or barely visible to the human eye, are able to permeate the sphere of the body (whether it is human, machinic or that of the nation-state) and its prosthesis in the form of computers, domestic and private spaces, triggering a multitude of cultural stories and fears.

Based on the premise that automation disrupts not only labour markets but also the configuration and design of entire territories, ‘Automated Landscapes’ seeks to document and reflect upon the emerging—and anonymous—architectures and landscapes of fully-automated, non-human work. The project follows an ongoing commitment of Het Nieuwe Instituut to address the implications of automation and artificial intelligence for architecture, design and digital culture.

In fall 2017, Het Nieuwe Instituut launched a collaboration with e-flux Architecture and The Berlage that investigates the power of representation within and beyond the field of architecture.

The squatting movement has played a major role in the design of the urban fabric and the domestic interior. Using spatial improvisation and radical, subversive tactics, rather than master plans or conventional design strategies, squatters have proposed alternatives to the dominant, market­ oriented housing policies, arguing that the people’s right to a house supersedes the right of property ownership.

In order to acknowledge the legacy of the squatting movement, Het Nieuwe Instituut is conducting research into squatting as an architectural practice. The research has so far manifested in an installation Architecture of Appropriation by design studio ZUS [Zones Urbaines Sensibles], in combination with a display of historical material from, among others, the International Institute for Social History, several city archives, personal archives of former squatters and Het Nieuwe Instituut’s own collection. The project uses the exhibition as a site for research, and collects materials for the publication around questions of vacancy, property, and proposes alternative urban and domestic arrangements and housing policies.

Algorithmic Culture is a research programme at Het Nieuwe Instituut that critically investigates the nature and effects of the entanglement of culture with algorithmic processes.