A UFO with a family history

Architect Stefan de Bever has known the Evoluon since childhood. His father, Leo de Bever, designed the iconic building together with Louis Kalff. Lydia Halders spoke with Stefan about his childhood memories of the Evoluon, the building's remarkable history, and his view on the future of the Evoluon and its surroundings.

Can you tell me what your connection to the Evoluon is?

I am an architect and have been working in Eindhoven for about 25 years now. The Evoluon opened in 1966, which was also my birth year. My father, Leo de Bever, was one of the few architects in the region at the time, and I believe also a prominent one. It is therefore no coincidence that he eventually had the opportunity to work on the Evoluon together with Philips.

What role did your father, architect Leo de Bever, play in the creation of the Evoluon?

My father left for America in the early 1960s and went to study at Cornell University. There, he also immersed himself in the architecture of world's fairs. He probably acquired that grand thinking primarily in America. And moreover, he met my mother from New York there.

What is your first personal memory of the Evoluon?

I think my first memory of the Evoluon is primarily sensory: so sound and smell. You can find all those sounds and videos from the past on YouTube. When I hear them, I get completely sentimental. I don't quite smell the Evoluon then, but I certainly hear it. The sounds, the crowd, and the children. When I arrived at the museum, we almost always went past the director first. Then my brother, my mother, and I were let loose in the museum.

You are now involved in the Evoluon yourself as an architect. How did that role come about?

I took over my father's company in 2000. Eventually, I became involved in the future plans for the Evoluon. This also concerns activating the park in the right way, with a good balance between nature, people, and society, and with respect for the existing buildings. In addition, we are of course also working on adding new buildings.

How do you view the preservation and further development of the Evoluon, both as an architect and as the son of Leo de Bever?

The Evoluon naturally has an enormous history. On behalf of my father, there is also a piece of authorship attached to it, and I feel the responsibility to cherish that. I see myself as a guardian of the heritage, in a positive sense.

What, in your opinion, makes Next Nature a good fit for the future of the Evoluon?

I think it's great that Next Nature ended up here. It really has the potential to be part of the area's new future. You need meeting places, places where people come together. And we can also literally show the world the latest developments from the Brainport region.

How far along are the plans for the future of the Evoluon now?

We have come quite far already. Unfortunately, much is not yet public. There is a lot of bureaucracy involved. I think it used to be very different. Back then, you had Frits Philips, Louis Kalff, and Leo de Bever, my father. And probably another builder. That was about it. In addition, Frits Philips really wanted to create an exhibition building for the people and his employees.

What can we learn from the way Frits Philips, Louis Kalff, and Leo de Bever collaborated back then?

Frits Philips himself didn't know much about architecture. But I think it was precisely his way of communicating that gave architect Louis Kalff and my father the freedom to think big. That ultimately proved to be very important.

What does the future of the Evoluon look like to you?

I do have a vision of what the area could look like in the future. Sixty years ago, we placed this UFO here in Brabant. That is highly exceptional. I am not afraid to think big myself, and I hope we can hold onto that ambition together. That ambition should actually be maximum. The Evoluon has the potential to become a wonderful social hub where people from the neighborhood, but also people from all over the world, meet. It is not just about this place or about Eindhoven: the entire region should be represented here. This place simply has that potential.