KesselsKramer | Het woekert in Tolhuistuin

In conjunction with the arrival of Spring, and with it the spread of life and growth, KesselsKramer have launched a special collaboration with the people of Tolhuistuin (tollhouse garden) in Amsterdam Noord.

Inspired by the vibrant and versatile character of Tolhuistuin, KesselsKramer have created Het woekert in Tolhuistuin (It proliferates in Tolhuistuin); a campaign that embraces the diversity and creative chaos that make this place so unique.

In their campaign, KesselsKramer demonstrate that sometimes letting go of control actually leads to the most interesting and surprising results. Tolhuistuin is a place where everything and everyone is welcome; where art, culture and community come together in a precise symbiosis. The design agency have translated everything Tolhuistuin has to offer into a lively and dynamic, visual style. Not a tightly organised campaign, but rather a celebration of spontaneity and diversity.

Tolhuistuin, in Amsterdam North, is many things at once: it is a cultural podium of restaurants, creative workspaces, expo places, a hip-hop dance school, club, neighbourhood library, and a public garden. It is this proliferation of different things that makes Tolhuistuin so unique. At a time in which Amsterdam, KesselKramer’s city, is being raked and delineated more and more, it is exactly what they need. In this unique campaign Tolhuistuin embraces this essence of ‘woekeren’ (a Dutch word often used to describe the uncontrolled, unplanned spreading of wild plants) as a testament to the beauty of unpredictability.

The positioning of the campaign imagery across the neighbourhood shows that letting go of control can sometimes be a very good thing. Things often only get really interesting when things turn out differently; then one can be surprised, and learn something new. This is exactly why art and culture is so important for the city of Amsterdam.

Matthea de Jong, director of Tolhuistuin, says: “Tolhuistuin is a place for all kinds of arts, people and cultures, with a strong social signature and a focus on the relationship between people and nature. ‘Woekeren’ is a fantastic metaphor to tell that story”. 

To celebrate this controlled chaos, KesselsKramer have translated all of the happenings of Tolhuistuin into a repositioning campaign with its own visual style. In line with the concept, it is not a tightly organised campaign, but a celebration of randomness and spontaneity. 

“If you want to celebrate randomness, you have to show it in everything: from communication to design,” says Gijs van den Berg, creative director KesselsKramer: “We don’t highlight one part of Tolhuistuin, but everything, simultaneously and interchangeably. To really let go of control, we developed a generative design tool for the design that further visually translates, reinforces and communicates this idea.”

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