Amsterdam: The Latest Architecture and News

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UNStudio has released images of its design for IJbaan, a green, future-proof cable car linking West and North Amsterdam. The result of a crowdfunding campaign started by founders Bas Dekker and Willem Wessels in 2015, the project is to be implemented by 2025, marking the city's 750th anniversary. The “all electric” transport scheme forms part of Amsterdam’s ambition to be a European center for urban innovation, integrating forward-thinking technology with existing public transport modalities.

Stretching over one mile (1.5 kilometers), the cable car links the two thriving residential districts of Amsterdam-West and Amsterdam-Noord through a system of three slender pylons and two stations. The cable car has been designed to accommodate a future third station depending on the pattern of growth for surrounding districts.

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Videos

Late last year, we reported on the progress of world’s first 3D printed steel bridge designed by Netherlands-based MX3D. With the design now finalized, the start-up company has announced that the span of the bridge is now complete.

The final round of structural tests is expected to take place this summer, just three years after the project was first announced. After the structural integrity has been tested, the final design will be modified and the completion of the bridge will follow only a few months after. MX3D hopes to showcase the potential of their multi-axis 3D printer during the Dutch Design Week, and the first of its kind bridge is planned to be installed into its final location in a canal in Amsterdam sometime next year.

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OMA founder Rem Koolhaas has joined his colleague Stephan Petermann and artist Wolfgang Tillmans in calling for ideas on re-branding the European Union, at a time when the EU is experiencing increased pressure from the rising tide of far-right nationalism. Working with a group of artists, creatives, and communications experts from across Europe, the “Eurolab” team will present the outcomes of their initiative at the Forum on European Culture on June 3rd, 2018.

Eurolab argues that, although the EU is a project aimed at peace, cooperation, and solidarity, it has failed to present itself as a progressive, positive organization to European citizens. As support for nationalism and the far-right grows across Europe, Eurolab will embark on a 4-day fact-finding mission to investigate why the voices of European unity are been drowned out by the voices of European division. Going beyond the identification of issues surrounding disdain for the EU, Eurolab seeks to help re-brand the organization, asking “how can cooperation and solidarity be communicated to a large audience in a fresh and compelling way?”

A bounty of technological innovations in the 21st century have led to the theorization and implementation of so-called "Smart Cities," urban environments driven by data, and designed for efficiency. Although most smart technology focuses on infrastructure, a new tech startup named UNSense has been launched with adopts a human-centric approach, focusing on health and wellbeing.

Founded by Ben van Berkel, Principal Architect of Dutch firm UNStudio, and based in an Amsterdam innovation hub, UNSense aims to use technical interventions in the urban realm to improve people’s physical, mental and social health. As an independent, sister company of UNStudio, UNSense will specialize in sensor-driven technology for user-focused architecture – a "software" approach offering a counterpoint to the "hardware" of UNStudio.

How can we plan a better city? The answer has confounded architects and urban planners since the birth of the industrial city. One attempt at answering came in the form of a spectacular modernist proposal outside of Amsterdam called the Bijlmermeer. And, as a new two-part episode by 99% Invisible reveals, it failed miserably. But, like all histories, the story is not as simple as it first appears.

It's time to get your applications ready! Now in its 11th year, the World Architecture Festival will take place in Amsterdam from November 28 to 30. Organizers expect nearly 500 architectural practices to compete for prizes in over 30 categories. The event moves to the historic Dutch city following two years in Berlin.

The Festival is the world's largest live architecture awards event--all shortlisted architecture projects are presented in person by the architects to an esteemed panel of judges. And this year, nearly half of the 120 judges are expected to be women. 

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AMO, the research and think tank wing of OMA, has completed a flexible new exhibition space for the permanent collection of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Named Stedelijk BASE, the bespoke display system is constructed from “very thin yet solid” free-standing steel partitions that interlock like puzzle-pieces to create an open-ended flow for viewing art from the late 19th and 20th centuries.

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