Mi Modern Architecture (MIMOA.eu) is a new online architecture guide to Europe that presents images and texts about buildings as well as Google maps showing you how to find them.
The site, which is currently at beta stage and which is free, allows users to upload their own suggested buildings, or even those they have designed themselves (some projects on the site appear not to have been built yet).
MIMOA currently has listings for 500 buildings across Europe, around a third of which are in the Netherlands, where the site is based.
The site will be officially launched on 20 September at ARCAM in Amsterdam.
Here is some info from MIMOA:
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MIMOA places modern architecture on the map
MIMOA.eu is the new online guide to Modern Architecture in Europe, providing exact addresses and interactive maps. MIMOA is a personal architecture guide for buildings, interiors, squares, parks and bridges. Going to London, St. Petersburg, Tirana or Bilbao? Every city- or architecture visit is planned within a few mouse clicks.
MIMOA (MI MOdern Architecture) is an English ‘user generated’ website and free to use for everyone. Visitors can publish projects, comment on them, and read articles by other visitors, often locals. They can choose their favorites (Mi favorites), mark the projects they’ve already been to (Mi was here) and soon compile and create their own architecture guide (Mi guide).
MIMOA focuses on visiting architectural projects – in real life. ‘The project details always include the complete address, the opening hours and a text on how to get there by public transport’ says Naomi Schiphorst, creative director of MIMOA. ‘Next to photographs and a description, there is basic information like the name of the architect, the year of completion and the function of a building. The projects are all visualized with a pin on a Google Map. The Mi favorites are marked pink and the places you’ve already visited, the Mi was here, are green.’
MIMOA doesn’t only make the planning of city trips easier; it helps ‘small pearls’ to come within reach of a larger public. ‘The most beautiful works turn up in some of the most remote corners of Europe’ says Mieke Vullings, commercial director of MIMOA. ‘Like the sports hall in Bale, a small village in Croatia. You won’t just normally run into buildings like these.’
At the official launch on September the 20th, MIMOA contains more than 500 project-descriptions of architectural objects that have been built or are under construction. But the database grows every day, because everyone, from architecture-lover to architect, can contribute new projects. An editing team makes sure that all information is correct, concise and complete. The renowned European architecture magazine A10 also contributes the projects their editors write about.
The two Dutch architects, Mieke Vullings (30) and Naomi Schiphorst (29), developed MIMOA next to their ‘regular’ work. The idea was born out of personal frustration. ‘It was so difficult to find architectural objects when you set out to prepare a city-trip’ says Vullings. ‘Hours of aimlessly flipping through architecture magazines, looking for interesting new projects. But as soon as we compiled a list, it was almost impossible to find the corresponding addresses. Whereas for architects it is mainly important to know how the public relates to their work, and less how great it shows at glossy pictures in magazines.’
MIMOA was set up with the support of Syntens (Ministry of Economic Affairs) and Knowledgeland (Ministry of Education, Culture and Science). Acato took care of the graphic design and technical realisation of the website and Movimiento was responsible for the User Experience Design.