8.6.2023

Anna Collection

In 2016, I built a cabin for my mother. It was a turbulent time in our lives as we had recently lost my father to cancer.

I had just finished my Physics degree and was starting the introduction year at the Gerrit Rietveld Art Academy in Amsterdam when my mother asked me to design a multifunctional cabin for her on her forest plot.

I felt that the cabin had to be a place that would ground us as a family. My father’s passing had caused us to float and search for new roots in reality. I wanted to design a place where we would feel connected and where we would feel one. I started dreaming of how we could be surrounded by life instead of being shielded from it.

It took me 10 months to build the first version of Cabin ANNA (then called Garden House). And I had no idea what would happen after I finished it. Some photos were published and everything exploded. Two life changing things have happened since thanks to the exposure. First, I received a scholarship to study at the Architectural Association (AA) in London. Second, I found someone (or rather someone found me) who believed in ANNA. This man, now a dear friend, began to provide the means to develop my concept further. Two more key events followed that allowed me to develop my thinking on why I build ANNA in the first place. I discovered architectural critic and writer Reyner Banham and I met neuroscientist Margriet Sitskoorn.

What I built initially was purely based on intuition, with no knowledge of architecture (let alone architecture theory) whatsoever. All started to make more sense while studying at the AA, when I discovered Reyner Banham. According to Banham, the development of architecture started with fire as the first ‘architectural’ tool we used to create an environment bubble for improved living conditions. It was the first attempt of human beings in manipulating their environment into a safer and more comfortable one. Being modern human beings however we need a bit more than that to truly feel at home. We need a shelter and access to resources like water and electricity. Banham dreamed about creating a standard-of-living package (a term he borrows from Buckminster Fuller), a (high-tech) kit that includes existing and newly invented appliances that allow for comfortable living in nature. A sort of fire-kit 2.0, explicitly without the necessity for a piece of monumental architecture attached to it. Then it hit me. Although ANNA might in some ways be the opposite of what Banham was envisioning, I felt I had been trying to achieve the same thing, just in a low-tech form. I constructed a low-tech standard-of-living package, which would allow for a modern life connected to nature. A platform to live on. A suitcase almost, containing basic elements like a bed, a bath, water and sewage, electricity and of course a fire at the centre. To make all of that more comfortable under a wide range of weather a climate conditions I added the umbrellas. One made of glass, one made of wood, always ready and close at hand to be used for protection and comfort whenever the conditions require. No need for a monumental piece of architecture that cuts us of from our environment.

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When I returned home after my studies at the AA, I met Margriet Sitskoorn, professor of clinical neuropsychology at Tilburg University. My thinking evolved during our countless conversations. She was able to explain why ANNA’s sliding layers, operated by muscle power, are so important to the design. Her reasoning goes like this. The brain is wired to understand what we can do with an object, based on the interaction between the properties of the object and the motor system of the human body. Therefor the brain gets ‘confused’ when the act or movement of the body is not aligned with the action that was set in motion. This is often the case when we interact with electronic devices like computers and iPhones. So let’s say, if ANNA’s layers were operated electronically, you would press a button with one finger and as a result a whole 2500 kg section would start to slide. Your mind has set about the movement of an object, but your body was barely involved. The body and mind are therefore not aligned. But the opposite is also true; when your mind and body are aligned it strengthens the experience.

When you push the layers of ANNA by hand, the body prepares the mind to open up and connect to the natural environment. It’s not just the physical boundaries that disappear, psychological boundaries simultaneously dissolve too. Your inner and outer world become one. You are fully immersed in the moment. In professor Sitskoorn’s terms, our thinking and feeling determine our actions but our actions also determine our thinking and feeling. This is called embodied cognition. And then, when you are fully emersed in a natural environment, your brain can relax and go into ‘default mode’. In this state of reflection, transcendent experiences and recovery processes can get going, both being essential for our mental health. For this reason, a life close to nature, surrounded by an environment that intuitively makes sense is essential for our well-being.

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With this new perspective, I continued to build and further improve the original design. We have now built 10 ANNAs. Each one is better than the one before. We improved the sliding system so it is easy and safe to operate by hand. We also made it easier to assemble and disassemble so you can move ANNA at any time, turning the structure into a tool that can be used anywhere and that sits light in its environment. We made the cabin more durable and comfortable in a wider range of climates, by introducing better insulation and airtightness, without compromising the connection to the environment. Another important step to further develop ANNA towards a standard-of-living package, was a high degree of standardization. This ensures that the cabin can be handled with ease, and manufactured on mainstream CNC machines and assembled by anyone (without schooled labour), anywhere in the world. We also invented more features like, a bed and a bath that fold into, and pop up from the deck. All of these features are operated by hand to increase interaction with the cabin and the environment. From a concept that I created intuitively, we turned ANNA into an actual ‘standard-of-living package’ that allows you to live differently. An authentic tool for you to make any place in nature your home.

Last summer we built our 10th ANNA: ANNA Collection. Together with my team, I worked on refining every detail. That little edge there, the transition here, how you open and slide that element, what you feel when you touch each natural surface. The combination of moving mechanics and materials coming together form a balanced whole. ANNA Collection is my best work so far.

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We are now ready to produce our first ANNA Collections. For the first 10 ANNA Collections, we are in conversation with people who have unique locations around the world. People who recognise and appreciate each detail and who long to connect with nature the way we do. People who want to help us spread our story and be one of our founding partners.

I will personally build these first 10 ANNAs together with my team. We will make sure it is built perfectly and once finished, I will sign to confirm. ANNA Collection only comes with full options: in- floor bath, in-floor bed, mezzanine bedroom, luxury bathroom, outdoor shower, high-end taps and fully equipped kitchen.

Next to ANNA Collection, we have been working on ANNA One. ANNA One is based in the same philosophy, the same high quality, but stripped to the essence. ANNA One comes with the option to order completely flatpack and assemble yourself. Much like a 1:1 scale model building kit. We supply a set of detailed instructions so you can assemble all modular elements – that would normally be put together in our wood workshop – yourself.

The bathroom and the kitchen will be optional for ANNA One. This enables you to make your own choices and install your own kitchen or bathroom if you prefer. By allowing people to build ANNA with their own muscle power we take one step further in the interaction between the human, the environment and the cabin, in line with Sitskoorn her theory.

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