IJ Plein Urban Planning by OMA | February 17, 2010

After living and working in Amsterdam from 2001 to 2006, MovingCities has returned occasionally back to the city during the past years. In 2008 we interviewed professor Moshe Zwarts on the plans to build a city under the city, in 2009 to scan the destruction of the PostCS-building and to visit the notorious Bijlmermeer-area. This time around we look at the development of the IJ riverbank, the MuziekGebouw and OMA’s 1988 ‘IJ Plein Urban Planning‘-project.

Last year, we visited the area West of Amsterdam Central Station. There, on the Westerdokeiland sits one of the city’s most recent high-density housing developments. In the mean time, the area East from Central Station is being developed into a cultural district featuring the Amsterdam Public Library by Jo Coenen & Co Architekten, the NEMO by Renzo Piano and the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ by 3XN Architects.

With all these developments, going on since the last decade and a half, the IJ – the water formerly known for disconnecting the center of Amsterdam from its Northern area – is becoming a corridor of coherence for urban mobility, housing programs, cultural facilities and turn of the century public buildings. Visible from the Southern bank of the IJ is also OMA’s 1988 ‘IJ Plein Urban Planning’-project. A description:

OMA’s intervention in the IJ-plein site is both urban and architectonic. The urban plan is the basis for OMA’s supervision over the design of seven housing projects, designed by six architects, including OMA. The brief required an explicit visual relationship with the IJ-river and with the historic center of Amsterdam on the opposite riverbank. The urban plan proposes an open configuration of parallel slabs of different height and form, and a triangular lawn.

Area around MuziekGebouw aan 't IJ | February 17, 2010

IJ Plein Urban Planning by OMA | February 17, 2010

Area around Post CS-building | February 17, 2010

Amsterdam | February 17, 2010

Pictures by movingcities.org

http://movingcities.org/

Amsterdam | the IJ

Tuomas Toivonen drives through Finland | February 15, 2010

On Monday February 15, MovingCities was in Helsinki in the morning and Amsterdam in the evening. Driving on Finnish roads, flying over Europe and landing on a balcony in Amsterdam’s Western districts. Some snapshots of a European day of traveling.

Helsinki | February 15, 2010

Helsinki Airport | February 15, 2010

Amsterdam | February 15, 2010

Pictures by movingcities.org

http://movingcities.org/

Helsinki >> Amsterdam

Bijlmermeer | Amsterdam | April 10, 2009

A visit to the destruction of the PostCS-building and to the notorious Bijlmermeer-area, a seventies high-density housing development in the South-East of Amsterdam, was the apotheosis of MovingCities’ recent Amsterdam trip. A couple of snapshots and related Rem Koolhaas stories.

The Post CS-building used to be an old postal service building, located on walking distance from Amsterdam Central Station. Throughout the past four years the building had the flair of a creative concrete box, unassuming temporary in its lay-out, a beehive for creative hipsters, the critical global conference-crew and architects in need for a table and an internet connection. On top, it had possibly Amsterdam’s best urban view on its top floor, from the now legendary Club11.

Post CS | Amsterdam | April 10, 2009

Post CS | Amsterdam | April 10, 2009

Now the cranes have replaced the creatives and the adjacent Amsterdam Public Library had set a new architectural style, ending the concrete-era and introducing the politically-correct-public-building era. Post CS used to be the base of Mediamatic Lab, is a web2.0 agency based which designs social networks, communities and connections with the physical world. Their exhibition-space displayed in 2005 the F.A.S.T.-project (Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory) and outcome of the architecture competition. Later on Bert de Muynck | MovingCties gave in Mediamatic’s Spatial Slide Salon a presentation about his experience in participating in the ‘Capturing the Moving Mind: Management and Movement in the Age of Permanently Temporary War’ an Ephemera conference on the Trans-Siberian train (Moscow – Novosibirsk – Beijing, September 2005).

Bijlmermeer | Amsterdam | April 10, 2009

The last stop of the trip was Amsterdam’s notorious Bijlmermeer-development, a social housing neighborhood designed as a single project built up out of several, nearly identical high rise buildings. In 1986, Rem Koolhaas | OMA wrote a text about this area called “Las Vegas of the Welfare State” and in presented the Bijlmermeer Redevelopment-project.

A lot of information can be found on the plans, and redevelopment schemes, for the Bijlmermeer. The LOT-website offers a summarized version of history of the Bijlmermeer:

Despite harsh criticism, Rem Koolhaas was one of the few to see the potential of the Bijlmer, even if it was more of a symbolic nature: “What Las Vegas is to late capitalism, Bijlmer is to the welfare state.” The Bijlmer came to the media’s attention in 1992 when an El Al Boeing 747 crashed into the blocks of houses.

Bijlmermeer | Amsterdam | April 10, 2009

An extensive history was published in 1992 by Anne Luijten in Archis. In “A barrel of contradictions | The dynamic history of the Bijlmermeer” the author offers a background about to the zoning regulations, changing jurisdiction and responsibilities that have made the area for decades float in-between displacement, destruction, cultural tensions and architectural shock and awe.

A couple of longer pieces have been written about the plans and analysis that were developed in the 1980s by Rem Koolhaas | OMA. A short study about Rem Koolhaas / S,M,L,XL gives an insight in several urban schemes for Amsterdam and Paris in the 1980s. The text quotes a terrific example of Koolhaas’ critical-elusive thinking on the subject: “The Bijlmer offers boredom on a heroic scale. In its monotony, harshness, and even brutality, it is, ironically, refreshing.”

Bijlmermeer | Amsterdam | April 10, 2009

The “Design for the renewal of the Bijlmer Park“-publication was commissioned by Municipality of Amsterdam Southeast in 2007 and gives an overview of the design by Mecanoo Architects (winners design competition Bijlmer Park 2003). In the project proposal the architects state their idea is a development of following Koolhaas-analysis:

As early as 1986, Rem Koolhaas stated that it was the homogeneity of the ground level that had to be dealt with. He lamented the fact that urban life for 50,000 people had been reduced to such innocent activities as taking a walk, dabbling their toes in a pond or fishing.

A couple of snapshots of the present state.

Post CS | Amsterdam | April 10, 2009

Post CS | Amsterdam | April 10, 2009

Bijlmermeer | Amsterdam | April 10, 2009

Pictures by movingcities.org

http://movingcities.org/

Amsterdam snapshots | part III

Westerdokseiland | April 10, 2009

The Westerdokseiland is one of Amsterdam’s most recent high-density housing developments. Located in close proximity to Amsterdam Central Station, the project comprises a series of perimeter blocks based on a development plan by Meyer & Van Schooten Architecten. On Friday April 10, MovingCities visited the project.

The architecture within this block was designed by three selected architects offices, namely Meyer & Van Schooten Architecten, Heren 5 Architecten and de Architekten Cie. According to the project description that can be found on the website of Meyer & Van Schooten Architecten, the project was developed as follows:

This new district next to city centre and Amsterdam Central Station will provide a combined residential and business area with more than 900 new houses, catering establishments. The redevelopment of Westerdokseiland is part of the large-scale development along the south bank of the IJ. The urban plan by Peter Defesche (OD205) made a clear distinction between the buildings along the IJ (high-scale) and on the other hand the city centre side (small-scale).

In 2000 Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten started with the master plan for this block in which almost 250 dwellings and 2500 m2 commercial space together with an underground parking had to be fitted in a very limited footprint. The outcome of the study resulted in the formation of a massive block with inner courtyards (cours). Openings are cut through the perimeter walls to allow views in and out of the courtyards, and enable the apartments to have external views, despite the high density of the block (approximately 300 dwellings per hectare). In order to optimize the aspect of the dwellings, high rise towers were constructed from the inner courtyards and bend over and across the external perimeter volume like periscopes.

For more information on the project, also check the Westerdokseiland-project description on the website of de Architekten Cie and read the recent
“Westerdoksdijk Amsterdam”-publication on Archined (dutch only, but the “Westerdoksdijk Amsterdam”-English google-translated version is worth reading as well).

Westerdokseiland | April 10, 2009

Pictures by movingcities.org

http://movingcities.org/

Amsterdam snapshots | part II

Amsterdam | April 9, 2009

On Thursday April 9 MovingCities arrived for a short stay in Amsterdam. The first day mainly consisted of crisscrossing the city center, avoiding the rain, tourists and creative commercialization of the inner city.

Alternative Multifunctional Underground Space Amsterdam | Zwarts & Jansma | 2008

A little more than a year ago an ambitious plan was launched to realize roads and carparks under Amsterdams historic city centre, which caused a little stir and controversy. At the time MovingCities went interviewing professor Moshe Zwarts from Zwarts & Jansma Architects about his proposals for an underground city in Amsterdam, a plan floating in-between futurism and necessity, the challenges involved in construction and culture, the state of the city, Amsterdam’s ambition to make it to the UNESCO World Heritage List and the possible future of the plan:

MZ: The objective was to find a solution for the ground level of Amsterdam. Today it is almost impossible to walk there as the canals are full of cars. The question that is how to bring all these cars to another level? Strukton calculated that an underground solution would be economically viable when you build about six layers under the city. The argument for this is technical and economical as you need to make walls that are at least 30 meters deep. Going six layers underground means you can create a lot of space, about 6 million square meters. It would not be a good idea to use this space only for cars and parking.

From the “City under the City”-interview with professor Moshe Zwarts, March 2008. For now, a couple of snapshots of Amsterdam.

Pictures by movingcities.org

http://movingcities.org/

Amsterdam snapshots | part I

Leaving Beijing, August 19, 2008

Beijing Airport, August 19, 2008

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, August 19, 2008

Amsterdam, August 20, 2008

Pictures by Bert de Muynck | movingcities.org

http://movingcities.org/

Beijing > Amsterdam

Professor Moshe Zwarts | Amsterdam, March 2008

Alternative Multifunctional Underground Space Amsterdam | Zwarts & Jansma | 2008

Bert de Muynck | movingcities interviewed professor Moshe Zwarts, from Zwarts & Jansma, on the plans his office developed for a city under Amsterdam.

Early 2008 an ambitious plan was launched to realize roads and carparks under Amsterdams historic city centre, called AMFORA (Alternative Multifunctional Underground Space Amsterdam). This is a plan by Strukton and Zwarts & Jansma. This infrastructural plan solves parking problems and contains facilities for sports, leisure and recreation.

The proposal for a city under the city of Amsterdam is to construct a network of 60-meter-deep (195ft) underground tunnels to provide up to 6m square meters of new space in the crowded historic center. movingcities talked with professor Moshe Zwarts, Zwarts & Jansma Architects, about thier proposal for an underground city in Amsterdam, a plan floating in-between futurism and necessity, the challenges involved in construction and culture, the state of the city, Amsterdam’s ambition to make it to the UNESCO World Heritage List and the possible future of the plan.

Read full “City under the City” interview .

http://movingcities.org/

City under the City | Interview

Amsterdam Public Library | Amsterdam, March 11, 2008

Pictures by Bert de Muynck | movingcities.org

In July 2007 the new Amsterdam Public Library opened its doors to the public, officially becoming the largest library in Europe. Designed by architect Jo Coenen & Co, the 28 000m² building includes 7 collection floors and provides storage area for books, a theatre, a readers’ cafe and a restaurant overlooking the city.

Bookcase, by Coenen (Eikongraphia)
New Amsterdam Public Library (Arup)
Jo Coenen

http://movingcities.org/

Amsterdam Public Library snapshots