Michael van Bergen New Life for the Dead A building in the city where life and death are united once again. Michael van Bergen VAN BERGEN ARCHITECTURA michael@vanbergenarchitectura.nl www.vanbergenarchitectura.nl +31 6 58968896
Amsterdam Academy of Architecture Graduation Projects 2015-2016
Architecture
Michael van Bergen New Life for the Dead A building in the city where life and death are united once again.
My project answers the question how we as a society can deal with death in a modern way. In my research paper, I demonstrate how we prefer to banish death from our thoughts, from our daily life and from our city nowadays. The project ‘New Life for the Dead’ is about a a building where life and death are united once again, in the centre of the city Amsterdam. It is a building where the funeral and the burial are connected once again. As an architect, I went in search of how ‘space’ could be of added value in these types of vulnerable situations. We all recognise the exaltation that we feel in w church, or that we only start talking in a lift when the doors open. It was precisely those tangible, physical emotions that I sought, using them to compose a building. The building was designed on the basis of three spatial principles. The first is that spaces melt into one another in a natural way. The second is that you consciously enter a space through physical transitions. The third makes a link between two routes, as a result of which you can design your own ritual. With such a sensitive theme, it is necessary that you immerse yourself in the direct environment and the users of the building. In my assignment, I made a building in Amsterdam for Amsterdam. In order to connect life and death once again, I went in search of the ‘tangible life’ in the city as we now know it. For example, like the passage through the Rijksmuseum, the shelter of the Begijnhof and the Blauwe Theehuis, where a wedding on the upper terrace coexists with the park visitors below. They find their recognisable translation in my building. I worked two years on my graduation project. I interview many people who have lost their loved ones, visited many cemeteries in the Netherlands and abroad, and sought contact with the funeral and burial industry. The sudden loss of my brother-in-law and ex-girlfriend brought with them an unsolicited deepening of insight. In my vertical building, the history of the funeral finds its home. And the new developments provide modern ways to deal with death. A funeral procession over the canals. An arrival at a sheltered, sunken square surrounded by trees. A unique rope lift that can form part of a ritual through manual operation. A free funeral that builds subtle relationships with the city. A ceremonial funeral in the tree tops. An intimate cremation space in which you see the clouds outside in line with the oven. A cemetery as a stacked park. Memorial chapels where coloured glass urns let the light inside, where you can read a book and look out over the city. An upper layer where you can celebrate life with panoramic views over water and park. And a place with views over the city centre, where you are free to do nothing for a while. The building consists of four main materials: wood, brick, cement and metal. I tried to express my love of these materials in my scale models, in the same way that I expect them to be used in the building. In line with the design ideas, the materials also had to come from Amsterdam soil: Amsterdam elm wood, from which the Ritual Route was devised and translated into the building model, and brick made from clay sources from the Noord-Zuidlijn metro extension, which is between 70,000 and 120,000 years old. That is what I made my urban model from. The building model can be completely disassembled, as a result of which you experience the thoughts behind the building, layer by layer. For the complete project book, please send an email to: michael@vanbergenarchitectura.nl Graduation date 17 12 2015
Commission members Laurens Jan ten Kate (mentor) Ira Koers Jeroen Atteveld
Additional members for the examination Lada Hršak Rik van Dolderen
Michael van Bergen
Architecture
BIJZONDERE PLEK IN AMSTERDAM
[1]. location Marnixplantsoen [2]. former Palmkerkhof 1655-1875 [3]. funeral procession over the canals [4]. coming together on a square in the shelter [5]. free funeral [6]. cycling through the building [7]. celebrating life [8]. projection at the location
[9]. urban model 1:500
[10]. building made from ceramics 1:500
Michael van Bergen
[1]. creating space with volumes (Peter Zumthor)
[4]. pile of excavations as source of inspiration ‘creating space’.
[2]. distinction between main and ancillary space with three steps (Adolf Loos)
[3]. breaking down the ritual (Herman Zeinstra)
Architecture
[1]. around the dead
[2]. directed towards the dead
[3]. taking a walk from place to place
[1]. free funeral
[2]. ceremonial funeral
[3]. cemetery as a park
[4]. celebrating life
[3]. the dead in the memorial chapel
[4]. view over water and park
[4]. view over the city centre
Image caption
Michael van Bergen
Amsterdam Academy of Architecture Architect, Master of Science Urbanist, Master of Science Landscape Architect, Master of Science
With the inclusion of the course in Urbanism in 1957 and Landscape Architecture in 1972, the Academy is the only architecture school in the Netherlands to bring together the three spatial design disciplines under one roof. Some 350 guest tutors are involved in teaching every year. Each of them is a practising designer or a specific expert in his or her particular subject. The three heads of department also have design practices of their own in addition to their work for the Academy. This structure yields an enormous dynamism and energy and ensures that the courses remain closely linked to the current state of the discipline. The courses consist of projects, exercises and lectures. First-year and second-year students also engage in morphological studies. Students work on their own or in small groups. The design
projects form the backbone of the syllabus. On the basis of a specific design assignment, students develop knowledge, insight and skills. The exercises are focused on training in those skills that are essential for recognising and solving design problems, such as analytical techniques, knowledge of the repertoire, the use of materials, text analysis, and writing. Many of the exercises are linked to the design projects. The morphological studies concentrate on the making of spatial objects, with the emphasis on creative process and implementation. Students experiment with materials and media forms and gain experience in converting an idea into a creation. During the periods between the terms there are workshops, study trips in the Netherlands and abroad, and other activities. This is also the preferred moment for international exchange projects. The Academy regularly invites foreign students for the workshops and recruits wellknown designers from the Netherlands and further afield as tutors. Graduates from the Academy of Architecture are entitled to the following titles: Architect, Master of Science; Urbanist, Master of Science and Landscape Architect, Master of Science.
Architecture
Architects, urbanists and landscape architects learn the profession at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture through an intensive combination of work and study. They work in small, partly interdisciplinary groups and are supervised by a select group of practising fellow professionals. There is a wide range of options within the programme so that students can put together their own trajectory and specialisation.