Nanna Janby Take Five Introducing the Urban Pause to the local train station Nanna Janby nannajanby@hotmail.com
Amsterdam Academy of Architecture Graduation Projects 2016-2017
Architecture
Nanna Janby Take Five Introducing the Urban Pause to the local train station “The simple social intercourse created when people rub shoulders in public is one of the most essential kinds of social ‘glue’ in society” - Christopher Alexander, A Pattern Language This project proposes a new type of train station. A type of train station, which serves both logistics and recreation. The recreation, which takes place at this train station is of a public, metropolitan, non-commercial, and short-term nature. The given name of this recreation is Urban Pause. The Urban Pause brings with it hope for better public social interaction and has been chosen as the theme for this project. The Urban Pause is introduced at Muiderpoort Station in Amsterdam, a location which has been classified the second least pleasant train station in The Netherlands. If the Urban Pause can make it here, it can be employed at other stations too. On a more tender note, Muiderpoort Station has been chosen because of its existing architecture, namely the station hall of 1939 by the Dutch architect H.G. Schelling. Through high windows and a slender filter of tall rectangular columns, this forgotten hall transmits East-West daylight in a strikingly ceremonious manner. The tallness of the hall leads the eye upwards and elevates thought and imagination. The hall as a whole is divided into two levels: A pedestrian ground floor originally packed with programme, and an inaccessible upper level with complete absence of programme. These two levels have inspired the transformation in an essential way, in that they are transformed into spaces for logistics and recreation, respectively. The programme of the new station is aimed at free public movement and meetings, and it can be called a combination between a train station and a community centre. The building area as a whole is island-shaped and accessible from all around the edge. Inspired by Schelling’s station hall, the logistic and densely programmed space of the ground floor is regenerated and materialised in dark colours, mainly a matte grey in-situ cast concrete floor and columns tiled with polished black granite. This to give the impression of a floor-to-ceiling plinth and to add a touch of basement sphere to the space, a sphere which echoes through the surrounding structural elements of the building. The dark colours and the glossy tiles of the lower space contrast the light colours and unfinished surfaces of the upper space, which transmits the East-West daylight through new and taller windows and is programmed - abstractly - with recreation. These two spaces are divided by a large walkable concrete deck, which is clad in oak wood, and which stretches to the outdoors. This creates a sharp division between the two spaces: up and down - as well as a curiosity between them, emphasised by large openings in the deck, allowing visual interaction between them. The physical connections between the two spaces are strategically positioned along the main pedestrian zone of the new station. And with this, the new station provokes awareness of the other option, spurs encounters between people who might not otherwise meet, while presenting its users with the question: Is the real ground level down at the logistic street level or is it up at the recreational level? Graduation date 30 May 2017
Commission members Marcel van der Lubbe (mentor) Jana Crepon Miguel Loos
Additional members for the examination Gianni Cito Rik van Dolderen
Nanna Janby
The transformed station hall. February 20th at 15:30 hrs.
20,0m
2,3m
12,3m
4,6m
15,4m
Architecture
4,1m
80,0m
Program
Absence of program
Architect H.G. Schelling’s Muiderpoort Station of 1939
1939
1980
2015
New design
The station works as an urban transport machine and is strictly supervised by the station manager and the ticket inspector. The station hall is divided into two levels: A pedestrian ground floor originally packed with program, and an inaccessible upper level with complete absence of program.
The square in front no longer serves public transportation and the supervision of the station interior is left to shop keepers and fragmentary inspections. The platforms are accessed through underground tunnels. A young woman was murdered here by a drug addict in panic.
All station interior spaces have been made inaccessible to the public and the station hall is now used as bicycle storage for a private shop. The square in front has been given a WWII monument and a hedge that blocks direct communication between the square and the station. The entire area is monitored by surveillance cameras.
The station is island-shaped and accessible from all sides . The inner spaces are programmed with takeaway shops and community activities, amongst others a library with a roof-top garden, which is visible from downstairs. The supervision of the station is encouraged through day-to-day shopkeeping and it is kept in check by regular inspection visits and some cameras.
Muiderpoort Station through time
Nanna Janby LEGEND STATION AREA ACCESSIBLE STATION AREA STATION ENTRANCE POINT FLOW OF STATION-USERS TICKET MACHINES TRAM-FRIENDLY CURVES (FUTURE POTENTIAL)
SURROUNDING PROGRAM
V
T V
PUBLIC AND PEDESTRIAN-FRIENDLY
T T
V
SEMI-PUBLIC/COMMERCIAL/COMMUNAL
T
PUBLIC AND BIKE-FRIENDLY V
PRIVATE/HOUSING INACCESSIBLE (DIKE BODY)
POND
EXISTING The ground floor plan of the new design
900x1350mm (1700mm)
A0 semi-short (portrait)
Section A-A’
Section B-B’
Section C-C’
01
10 m
Architecture
The new East wing of the station hall. May 22nd at 8:30 hrs.
Nanna Janby
The library garden and watch tower, seen from platform 8 on January 11th at 16 hrs.
The front square. June 24th at 14 hrs. This square is extrovert and has space for the unexpected.
The North-East entrance. April 3rd at 10:30 hrs. This entrance leads directly to the platforms.
Amsterdam Academy of Architecture Architect, Master of Science Urbanist, Master of Science Landscape Architect, Master of Science
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. 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.
Nanna Janby