NEW COMMITMENT

Of late, the disciplines of art, design, and architecture have been called upon to engage in current social issues--a development which surely has some connection with recent international political and economic trends. If the 1990s can be described as a period of unprecedented financial and political prosperity--at least in the Western world--that decade now seems completely consigned to history. Today a new commitment is being argued for in professional journals, and art and architecture are truly being called on, for tasks such as the restructuring of the post-war city, building for care and education, and deciding how contemporary art and design can reassume a radical stance and create a new world view. This collection of essays offers a broad insight into commitment today by drawing attention to comparable developments in a wide range of disciplines. New Commitment is well served by essays from architecture, design and art critics, including Hans Aarsman, Aaron Betsky, Jeroen Boomgaard, Rena Boomkens, Ole Bouman, Lieven de Cauter, Josa van Dijck, Chris Dercon, Fred Feddes, Adriaan Geuze, Maarten Hajer, Hans den Hartogh Jager, Bas Heijne, Hilde Heynen, H.J.A. Hofland, Hans Ibelings, Allard Jolles, Rudi Laermans, Dieter Lesage, Bert van Meggelen, Rutger Pontzen, Arnold Reijndorp, Janny Rodermond, Gert Staal, Anna Tilroe, Wouter Vanstiphout, Ton Verstegen, and Lucas Verwey.

"Dutch art critic Rutger Pontzen, born in 1957, writes regularly on the subject of new developments in contemporary art for the newspaper Vrij Nederland and the art journal Metropolis M."

Arnold Reijndorp is an independent researcher and publicist active at the forefront of planning, architecture, and urban culture.

Aaron Betsky has been Director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam since 2001. Previously, he was Curator of Architecture, Design and Digital Projects at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He is the author of a dozen books, including Landscrapers published in 2002 and Three California Houses, 2003.