The Why Factory is managed by Winy Maas of MVRDV. For the eastern conservatory of the new faculty of Architecture his studio designed a ‘building within a building’, which accommodates his colleagues’ offices and meeting rooms. From the outside the object looks like a stand used for lectures and film viewings. At other times students can appropriate the stairs as an informal workspace. With its cheerful, bandstand-like object, the conservatory has become a kind of village square that facilitates contact between students and lecturers.

With a limited budget, MVRDV has managed to realise a ‘building in a building’ that is imbued with a powerful identity. A simple procedure has created a great impact, allowing both the inside and the outside to be used.