Courtesy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions
The roundAround project, developed by researchers at MIT Senseable City Lab, in collaboration with the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, is basically a bridge made of autonomous boats called Roboats. The least traditional solution, roundAround, but the most versatile and modular answer, connects the waterway between Marineterrein and the City Center in Amsterdam, allowing the transportation of people and goods.
In the context of the World Architecture Festival 2019, edgeallies, a brand owned by edgearch: Ahmed Abdulaziz Zaidan Consulting Architects has signed off a 4 years participation to the World Architecture Festival as main exhibitor as well as main sponsor for the first Engineering Prize category: For collaborative design by architects and structural engineers.
Pursuant to this objective, edgeallies’ executive board has called for an International Contest of Ideas for the design of its booth for the WAF 2019 Amsterdam event. The project shall reflect the principle of material and technology sustainability, based on the possibility to disassemble and reassemble
Dutch design practice MVRDV has reopened their 2016 project Crystal Houses with a new tenant and façade. Located on the high-end shopping street PC Hooftstraat, Crystal Houses initially hosted a temporary store for Chanel. The project’s jewel-like façade was proposed as a way for Amsterdam to be home to distinctive, upmarket flagship stores without compromising the city’s historical character. Now the project has been renovated and re-opened for French luxury brand Hermès.
Architecture practice zU-Studio has created a proposal for a floating pavilion in Amsterdam's historic shipyard. Designed atop an old Dortmunder Ship, the project was made to be a sculptural object that creates connections between cultures. The structure is inspired by Richard Serra´s sculpture in Museumplein in Amsterdam. The pavilion aims to create a unique Dutch floating experience that brings art and history together.
For ten consecutive years, Vienna ranks first in the Mercer survey on cities with the best quality of life in the world. In this edition to the global ranking, eight Western European cities join the top ten, even when "trade tensions and populist undercurrents continue to dominate the global economic climate", as Mercer points out in its report.
Spring Pavilion Amsterdam; Credits: Switch Competitions
MANIFESTO
Amsterdam has been one of Europe's pioneers of architecture and design, largely because of the 17th century rings of canal houses, gabled facades, windmills and drawbridges. Modern architecture developed organically in Amsterdam between the facades of historical buildings, making it one of the finest blends between Renaissance, Berlage and the Amsterdam School. The city has a very strong cultural and artistic identity. Amsterdam is the most important cultural and artistic center to the north from Paris and between London and Cologne.
Nieuw Land National Park. Image Courtesy of Mecanoo
Dutch design practice Mecanoo has created a masterplan for the world's largest man-made nature park at Nieuw Land in the Netherlands. Last month, the Provincial Government approved the plan with an overwhelming majority. The National Park is located near the metropolitan region of Amsterdam and covers over 29,000 hectares. The new masterplan integrates four nature reserves to secure and protect the future of the National Park.
Cultural flagships, from trendy breeding grounds to iconic cultural palaces, form the core of many urban cultural landscapes. Spaces of Culture is about the new construction and redevelopment of cultural buildings in Amsterdam in the period 2000-2016.
In the construction and development of new cultural spaces in the city, the precise location and architecture play a major role in connecting the venue to the changing needs of the public, the makers and the neighbourhood. Using various case studies, Spaces of Culture shows that the cultural sector could benefit from knowledge exchange between urban planners, developers and the world of architecture.
Hyde Park Residence. Image Courtesy of Romain Ghomari
Manuelle Gautrand has designed a 400 unit mixed housing block for the futuristic Hyde Park district in Amsterdam. The homes are divided into nine buildings that make up "thematic" houses organized around a landscaped island core. Each house stands unique, made of different volumes, materials, colors and heights. Formed around the idea of a village, the project aims to develop ambitious environmental goals while bringing people together to rethink urban life.