Matthew Cook
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matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook
@matthew-cook.bsky.social
350 followers 280 following 290 posts

Rotterdam resident, British born. Architecture trained, working in urban design/planning. Interested in architecture, cities, ecology, politics. Ik moet mijn Nederlands meer gebruiken.

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matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 7h
Stumbled across the express building today and was delighted by it. Hard to imagine what it must have been like seeing this go up in the 30s
A picture of the express building in Manchester, showing its main corner. It's a sunny day with a blue sky

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 1d
I visited The Whitworth in Manchester yesterday, it's a marvelous gallery. The newish extension is excellent. I loved how kids have a space to play in the heart of the building surrounded by art. Personal highlights were the George Shaw curated exhibition on trees, and Turner's watercolours
Exterior of the whitworth, made from dark red bricks in a Jacobean style Interior of the new extension. A man stands in front of a glass wall that looks directly out onto autumnal leaves of the trees in the park The play space for kids. Tables for drawing and materials to build structures surrounded by framed art on the wall A wood panelled gallery/learning space with art on the walls and green work tables. The walls have been painted green and a large Gilbert and George piece hangs on one

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 5d
(the) Gig (economy), in there?
Gigs, huddled up in Buc-ees or Amazon, in there?

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 7d
When you get your Breugel the Elder mixed up with your Hieronymus Bosch
mattthr.bsky.social Matt Thrower @mattthr.bsky.social · 7d
This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu

Reposted by Steven French, Zen Faulkes, Matthew Cook , and 3 more

mattthr.bsky.social
Matt Thrower @mattthr.bsky.social · 7d
This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 13d
Yes of course, I would be very happy for you to use them. If you need the original images feel free to DM. Credit with my name is fine

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 14d
Last ones showing the gallery access. It really has been a very successful renovation. It's not exactly the weather now but the deck is well used and very neighbourly
Deck access gallery of the Justus van effenblok. The communal courtyard is below with a bright yellow gingko tree. There are two chairs in the foreground on the deck Deck access gallery of the Justus van effenblok, on the bridge above the entry road. The deck is about 4m wide here and half of it has been occupied with amazing potted plants Deck access gallery of the Justus van effenblok. Somebody has made a collection of bonsai trees and they are all growing, in various states of progress, on a raised display bench next to the entrance of the communal stairs The deck opens out to the street in the corners creating views outside the block. This is also wider, about 4m, and residents are able to put benches and tables here

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 14d
A few more pictures of/from the interior spaces
Interior of an unfurnished flat. It's a kitchen/living space with a large wood framed window looking into a communal courtyard The communal stairwell of the service block. The finishes are raw concrete, painted masonry, and raw masonry where the plaster has been removed A view of the communal courtyard from the balcony of the service block. Three towers designed by the architects SOM are on the horizon A view from the office window looking north along the main road of the block. The photo is taken from the fourth floor level and you can see solar panels on the roof of the blocks opposite

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 14d
Great post! I'm very lucky, my office is that workspace in the central service block. The tower used to hold the baths and laundry facilities. These have gone but the district heating/cooling system is still upstairs. Here are some pics of the interiors. First 3 is the office, last is the gallery
A tall room with high windows made from white painted concrete. The room is used as an urban design studio and there are prints and model making materials scattered about A bright white office space with large t shaped windows. A big green plant grows in a pot in the foreground and my messy desk is on the left A darker office with a series of long windows on one side and small square ones on the other sides The roof is lower and there are several desks with papers on top A double height exhibition space for art with an open gallery running around edge of the 1st floor. The interior is white painted concrete with a brick floor

Reposted by Matthew Cook

municipaldreams.bsky.social
Municipal Dreams @municipaldreams.bsky.social · 14d
🚨 New blog post: How Rotterdam Shaped Social Housing: Part I, the Justus van Effen Estate and ‘Streets in the Sky’
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/h...
Central service block Internal courtyard showing blocks and throughways Internal courtyard with four-storey block and gallery

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 14d
Ahem, frothy coffees

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 17d
This is good news. Dutch house building has been too focused on big family homes. Meanwhile empty nesters have been stuck in family homes for lack of a nice apartment to move into. Building apartments creates extra family homes.

Reposted by Matthew Cook

dutchnewsnl.bsky.social
Dutch News @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social · 18d
The number of new housing projects made up entirely of apartments has almost doubled in recent years, while developments dominated by large family homes have sharply declined./
Dutch developers are building more flats than family homes - DutchNews.nl
The number of new housing projects made up entirely of apartments has almost doubled in recent years, while developments dominated by large family homes have sharply declined, according to new…
www.dutchnews.nl

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 20d
As a fellow 34 year old, of course Mamdani chose the location from the end of Men In Black for his announcement
A headline from the Guardian with a picture of Zohran Mamdani standing in front of the Unisphere in Queens, the big globe thing from the end of men in black

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 25d
Was trying to find the story of how he got into Oxford and found there is now an ai overview which is maybe funnier than the story itself?
Screenshot of a Google ai overview, it reads: Toby Young was admitted to Oxford University after he failed to meet his reduced entry offer, received a confusing acceptance letter, and his father, Lord Young, intervened by calling the admissions tutor. The admissions tutor decided to offer Young a place due to a moral obligation created by the clerical error of sending the incorrect acceptance letter. This occurred under an access scheme that lowered the required grades for comprehensive school pupils, though he still failed to meet the new, lower offer. Reduced offer: Young received a lowered offer of BBB for his A-Levels under a scheme to improve access for comprehensive school students. Failure to meet grades: He did not achieve the required grades, with results of B, B, and C. Clerical error: He received an acceptance letter by mistake, which was then followed by a rejection letter. Father's intervention: His father, Baron Young of Dartington, contacted the admissions tutor to clarify the confusion. Final decision: The admissions tutor decided to offer him a place due to the moral obligation created by the erroneous acceptance letter.

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 25d
My mate is at nice restaurant with his wife and there is a guy being an arsehole on the next table, apparently he sent his steak back for being cold after having ignored it for 5 minutes to look at his phone. Waiters are glaring. Anyway looks like it was toooby young

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 25d
The museum closed for renovations in 2019! After 6 years of work they finally have a definitive design, which might be open 6 years from now. This project has been terrible for Rotterdam culture, a whole generation of school kids missing out

Reposted by Matthew Cook

rtvrijnmond.bsky.social
Rijnmond @rtvrijnmond.bsky.social · 25d
Rotterdams icoon krijgt nieuw leven: definitief ontwerp Museum Boijmans onthuld
#rijnmond #algemeen
Rotterdams icoon krijgt nieuw leven: definitief ontwerp Museum Boijmans onthuld
Alleen maar blije gezichten bij de presentatie van het definitieve ontwerp voor het nieuwe Boijmans-Van Beuningen. Het dramatisch slecht onderhouden Rotterdamse museum ging zes jaar geleden abrupt dicht vanwege de vele asbest in het gebouw, dat bovendien brandgevaarlijk was. Als alles meezit, kan eind volgend jaar begonnen worden met de forse renovatie. “Er staat weer een stip op de horizon.”
www.rijnmond.nl

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 27d
I don't get a vote but I did get to take a #dogsatpollingstatoions #hondenbijhetstembureau photo!
My small black labradoodle called Oscar sitting like a good boy in front of the polling station sign

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 27d
The Dutch ballot paper (this is a dummy ballot) might just be the largest in the world
A Dutch dummy ballot paper, sized roughly the same as an a1 piece of paper. You can vote once, there are 26 parties and an average of 50 candidates per party to chose from

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 27d
Maybe it's anglocentrism but this headline is framed very oddly. The PVV could finish first but with 25% less seats and no viable coalition. The Dutch call that losing. Wilders also wants to claim that <20% vote share is a win and it's undemocratic he's not in power, but it's just trumpian nonsense
Screenshot of the Guardian newspaper. Headline: Voting opens in Netherlands as polls suggest second Gert Wilders win Subheadline: Major parties rule out coalition with rightwinger, giving his party little chance of being part of government

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Oct 25
The architects space&matter set up a platform, CrowdBuilding.com to help CPO groups form, find plots and to provide resources for anyone interested. It's worth a look!
CrowdBuilding
Unieke en betaalbare woningen creëer je samen. Vind passende projecten en leuke buren in jouw regio.
CrowdBuilding.com

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Oct 25
I believe some cities used to help provide sites for CPOs but have now stopped because they realised they were just taking resources away from their affordable housing programmes.

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Oct 25
Here in NL, CPOs as we call them are unusual but becoming more popular. They offer a good alternative to developers' market offer. However you need access to capital and the ability to organise so it's not much use as an alternative to social housing.

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Oct 24
In the last decade a weird demographic crossover has begun, with the boomer generation's electoral dominance fading. They were never going gently into the night and still have electoral heft so I guess we have another decade plus of close, split, results like this
mariosrichards.bsky.social Marios Richards @mariosrichards.bsky.social · Oct 23
Brutal age split - clearer if you bin into blocs (LAB+LD+GP+PC:CON+REF)

24-49 = 67|28
50-64 = 46|50

So, cross-over point ~50+

Note, Wales is older than England (median age 42 vs 40) and the electorate is a bit older than that, but the different is turnout propensity x age.

Reposted by Matthew Cook

mariosrichards.bsky.social
Marios Richards @mariosrichards.bsky.social · Oct 23
Brutal age split - clearer if you bin into blocs (LAB+LD+GP+PC:CON+REF)

24-49 = 67|28
50-64 = 46|50

So, cross-over point ~50+

Note, Wales is older than England (median age 42 vs 40) and the electorate is a bit older than that, but the different is turnout propensity x age.

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Oct 14
Dutch general elections are two weeks away and great fun for UK election nerds as it's basically the inverse of how the UK does it. These ad boards are up across the country listing all the parties running. Over a dozen of these could get seats. There are always new ones or ones I've not heard of.
A large billboard with 25 parties' posters, from normal and boring to incredibly mad

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Oct 12
Fun afternoon yesterday at the Groen Doeners Fesitvaal at Oase in Rotterdam. Nature isn't in some farmers field, it's in the cracks between us all
An old harbour crane on the quayside, under are lots of people, trees and market stalls

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Oct 12
On Friday I saw Transmutation at AFFR, 50 minutes of limestone mining, quarrying and processing. It was essentially a @machinepix.bsky.social super cut which was perfect after a long week's work
youtu.be/gV2O81SHJMU
TRANSMUTATION - Trailer - Bêka & Lemoine
YouTube video by Beka Lemoine
youtu.be

matthew-cook.bsky.social
Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Oct 12
I spy Delft. I'm curious what you will be getting up to during your time here!