De Appel is thrilled to present the new publication Drafting futures, remembering a building by Rosa te Velde.

Drafting futures, remembering a building explores, connects and recalls the many lives of one building in Amsterdam Nieuw-West over the span of more than sixty years. From when it was first built as ‘CSG Pascal’, a hypermodern school building; through its near demise when it was reformed as ‘Calvijn met Junior College’; then, its designation as a refugee shelter; and to its current, temporary status as a creative ‘hub’, known as ‘Broedplaats Lely’ and home to de Appel. Plans for the future are constantly made and unmade – what will this place become? How does this building help to understand the ideologies behind city planning, segregation and gentrification?

How does this building reveal the different guises of the ‘politics of forgetting' and how to work against them?

Many thanks to all the brilliant people who shared their memories and materials to help make this all possible. The publication is available in our shop at de Appel and on our webshop.


Rosa te Velde is a designer, researcher and educator. She is interested in unravelling the social and material conditions of designed environments and their hidden politics.

Author: Rosa te Velde
Editor: Hannah Cheney
Design: Bardhi Haliti and Zuzana Kostelanská
Publisher: Stichting de Appel, Amsterdam, 2021

English/Dutch, 16,8 x 11,8 x cm, portrait, pb, 288 pages,
ISBN 978–90–73501–86–7, €15,-

For any questions or requests regarding the publication, please contact our editor Hannah Cheney.