AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

 

If you’ve paid any attention to architecture rags, blogs or lectures in the past decade it has been hard to miss the eye popping projects coming out of the Netherlands. Rem Koolhaas’ OMA helped pave the way for the next generation of designers by demonstrating that nothing attracts a tourist quite like a sleek new building designed by the hottest new architect. The reality is that the building boom of the last 15 years has enriched Amsterdam’s image and carried on a tradition of fostering great design and not shying away from taking chances.

HISTORY 

Het Schip (the Ship) is DeKlerk’s master work. It is located in a cluster of his other residential buildings in the Westerpark area northwest of the city center. Taking cues from his western counterparts Wright and Macintosh, DeKlerk designed everything in this building from the door knobs to the type face on the graphics. He gave birth to the Amsterdam school and raised it on a hardy diet of socialism. He designed for the working man and put him on equal standing with his employer. Het Schip was designed with a post office at the northwest end. It was unusual at the time for a post office to be located in a working class neighborhood since it was common for workers to neither read nor write. It included a banking service for cashing and depositing checks. DeKlerk’s aim was to put an end to the cycle of working 14 hrs/day for seven days a week, then drinking away the earnings on pay day. The post office is now a museum where well-informed docents provide scheduled guided tours.

The residential red brick buildings with organic expressive forms and simple ornament throughout the city speak to DeKlerk’s influence. The school was built on principles of redefining architectural style and righting social injustices. This later gave rise to replication of the style. 

Sonnerveld House, Brinkman / van der Vlugt - Rotterdam, NL

Rotterdam Van Nelle Factory, Brinkman / van der Vlugt - Photo by F. Eveleens

Under the influence of the Bauhaus movement, architects such as Jan Duiker, Berlage, Rietveld Johannes Brinkman and JA van der Vlugt lead a functionalist movement exploring extensive use of steel and glass, the most notable of which were Duiker’s Sanatorium in Zonnestral and Brinkman / van der Vlugt’s Van Nelle factory in Rotterdam. 

Much of The Sanatorium was recently beautifully restored. Portions of the interior remain unfinished. After touring the interior, Duiker’s mastery of the trade in his short career is clear.  

Willem Dudok was a prolific and largely self-styled Dutch architect. Between 1920 and the early 1970’s he borrowed stylistic moves from the Amsterdam school, the functionalist and Viennese secessionist movement and even elements of Frank Lloyd Wright’s prairie style. 

Following principles espoused by LeCorbusier’s manifesto, starting in the early 1960’s  Aldo VanEyck and then Herman Hertzberger built the structuralist movement exploring a more humane urbanism and structures of concrete and steel with distinctive  humanist elements. 

The open stairwell of Hertzberger's Willemspark Montessori School serves as a gathering space for the surrounding classrooms. The design takes advantage of every corner of this multi-level facility with storage containers, desks, seating or shelves. The design was flexible and adaptable to the needs of the future. In the late 1980’s Rem Koolhaas and his contemporaries brought a design under deconstructivist influence that remains visible in in the designs of today's architects.

The Music House and Hotel Movenpick

ZEEBURG - The Eastern Docklands includes the following areas: 

·         Oostelijke Handels kade

·         Java Island/KNSM Werf

·         Borneo-Sporenburg

After the shipping industry transitioned from mixed cargo to container shipments in the 1960’s ships grew and trains replaced ships for personal travel. Shipping companies moved their terminals west of the city and the east docklands were largely abandoned in the 70’s. These docklands east of the Central station were an opportunity for the City of Amsterdam to keep businesses and higher income families in the city. The City implemented programs to promote well-designed, mixed-use, socially mixed, sustainable buildings. This program broke a pattern of urban infill with low-income residential buildings. The result brought more revenue to the city, provided more livable communities and served as a breeding ground for talented, young Dutch architects.

The Library by Joe Coenen, Conservatorium by Architects CIE and NEMO Science Center by Renzo Piano in the Oostelijke Handels kade serve as the gateway to all things east of Central Station. Along Piet Heinkade east of the library is the Music Center by 3XN, Movenpick Hotel by Claus en Kaan and the cruise terminal. 

Further east on this road are old warehouse building conversions housing numerous restaurants, clubs, offices, galleries, studios and an art school.

Esplanade on Java Island

Soeters Van Eldonk Ponec architecten were responsible for the master planning of Java Island. Whimsical one-off bridges cross four canals that divide the island. Clusters of residential courtyard buildings use tree lined esplanades for pedestrian and vehicular waterfront access and quiet, secure courtyards on the interior for balconies and playground areas. Building on the success of this project the architects went on to plan the Sluseholmen project in Denmark.

Master planned by Amsterdam’s West 8, the Borneo/Sporenburg development uses the combination of water, safety, security and ease of access to downtown to make this area attractive to young families with jobs in the city. To give the area character the Borneo home owners were able to design their own homes. The result is a funky, eclectic collection of homes right on the canal. 

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

NDSM Werf - Just when I thought I had a grasp on where the action was, my host tells me about this place where there are warehouses in an old shipping/dockyard area called NDSM Werf. It’s across the water but it’s easy to get there with one of the free ferries that run every 15 minutes. There was only time to see the exterior of the warehouses, but what strikes you as you approach the area from the dock are not the warehouses that artists have consumed for studio space, but the colorful freight containers stacked five high and thirty wide to house them. Built as dorm housing, these can be rented for the equivalent of $600/month (a fraction of the going rate in Amsterdam for similar sized units) and they are right where the students want to be. 

Plan and section drawings from OTH Architects

As is usual with areas of the city where artists dwell, word caught on and the businesses and restaurants started to set up shop. One of them, an advertising firm called Dawn BV, is leasing space in the Kraanspoor Building. It has to be one of the sexiest offices on the planet! The architects Ontwerpgroep Trude Hooykas BV propped a glass box on stilts over an existing mobile shipping crane rail superstructure. At 270 meters long and 12.6 meters wide, it’s appropriate that the building took on a train-like proportion. The building is like a super model for me - its looks are all that matter. But scratching the surface this building has much more behind that sexy body, it’s smart too. An all glass building needs some protection from the sun, so the building is surrounded by a dual façade of operable tinted glass sun shades on the exterior and wood louvers on the interior. It utilized the existing structure and crane access stairways. This solution uses existing industrial structure and infrastructure to provide prime office space. It supports the revitalization of a fringe city development and does it without leaving a footprint.

Ijburg - The 1996 brain child of urban planners Palmboom & Van den Bou, IJburg is a new district east of the docklands. It is the next wave of development for the city. Seven islands with 18,000 units are planned for some 45,000 residents. These are the gray and cream colored islands pointing to the upper right in the image above. The first three islands are nearing completion (the gray islands) with homes for 15,000 residents. Phase 2 - the cream colored islands - was rejected by the State Council for environmental reasons (can you even imagine the US EPA ever approving building a new island?) but was resubmitted in 2010 and is awaiting approval. Planning includes four of the artificial islands that will provide 9,000 units and be constructed in several stages.

THE RECIPE

Within each of these developments there is a pattern of elements. They each include a list of key ingredients:

1.       Development started on the foundations of an existing, now defunct industrial site. Once success of the area was proven, the city planned for (and built) additional man-made islands for expansion. From and environmental perspective, the act of constructing new islands to handle growth seems to me a slippery slope.

2.       Existing building reuse is not a pre-requisite but is common.

3.       Businesses, retail, hospitality and residential programs are included in each area.

4.       Tram and/or bus service connect each area to the city center. 

5.       There are clear pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle pathways connections to and within the development.

6.       Project areas are no more than ¼ mile from recreation areas.

7.       Planning incorporates civic or cultural institutions (i.e. schools, libraries, theaters, cinema.)

8.       All have abundant waterfront access.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE

The focus of the development discussion above is largely on design, revenue and growth accommodation. Each is also highly regulated in terms of its consumption and environmental impact Amsterdam and the Netherlands are leading the way with new technology and practice in areas of Energy production, CO2 emissions, waste management and public transportation. The Netherlands have signed on to the EU energy policy and Amsterdam has by 2025 targeted a reduction in CO2 emissions to 40% of 1990 levels. According to an EU European Commission report, they aim to make get there with multiple forms of renewable energy - wind, solar, hydro, bio fuels and bio waste.

A new waste to energy program is diverting trash from expensive landfill sites and is converting it to clean energy in the form of power and district heating. Public bins separate glass and cardboard for recycling but by and large the rest goes in the trash. Consumers do pay a deposit on glass, aluminum and plastic bottles to discourage tossing them but according to this blog and the energy producer AEB the metal is recycled after incineration. The buring cleans and purifies the metal making it more valuable on the market. At 32% efficiency the power plant is well below the most efficient coal fired plants and 1/3 of the peak performance of DONG Energy’s power/district heating plants in Denmark. 

Architectural credits are from the Archdaily Amsterdam City Guide