Info

Council Chamber, Commission Rooms and Citizen’s Hall. The City Hall Arnhem is a relatively young municipal monument by Architect Konijnenberg from the movement of Functionalists. It is a total design: he designed the exterior, interior and furniture. The existing décor no longer met the current requirements. The dualism demanded a different setup for meetings and the furniture and the arrangements were impractical, not ergonomic and worn. The entire design of the restoration, renovation and renewals was assigned to Ruud-Jan Kokke and the process was closely followed by the monument committee and official. Besides the architectural and interior and exterior design, as many as possible elements and furniture were redesigned. The old setup of the elevated governance opposite the council members has been altered in a piste alignment. In order to achieve an optimal meeting setup Ruud-Jan, upon proposal of the Registrar, has worked closely together with debate expert Maarten Bouwhuis. Original shape details, materials and features were reintroduced in the new designs.

“The original Council Chamber had a carpet made by an artist. For that reason I invited an artist to make a new carpet design. I asked all council members to write down two words. I gave these words to artist Petra Hartman and asked her to weave the words into a pattern. The original design of Konijnenberg included the functional involvement of a number of artists. Following that example I have involved twelve artists in the overall City Hall project. Some for a specific assignment (carpet: Petra Hartman; mural Council Chamber: Ad Gerritsen; mural Bennisallee: Rosemin Hendriks; runner: Koos van Zomeren), others for a purchase (Maria Roosen, Klaas Gubbels, Peter Otto, Marcel Joossen, Albert van der Weide, Gabriele Merrolli, Peter Bliek), or donation (The People of the Labyrinths).