AMS MID CITY Graduation Studio: Oud-Zuid Site Book

Page 1

AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE

OUD-ZUID SITE BOOK

CP

COMPLEX PROJECTS D E PA RT M E N T O F A R C H I T E C T U R E

2017


TU DELFT Department of Architecture 2017/18 COMPLEX PROJECTS AMS MID-CITY STUDENTS Jingling Du Eldin Geldenhuys Michal Strupinski Yishan Du Blanka Borbely Yucheng Wu Dermot Horgan Selene Zhuang Muhammed Apaydin CHAIR COMPLEX PROJECTS Kees Kaan RESEARCH COORDINATOR Manuela Triggianese GRADUATION COORDINATOR Hrvoje Smidihen SEMINAR TUTORS Manuela Triggianese Luc Willekens Sebastian Janusz (onsite tutor) Yang Zhang (Assistant) STUDIO TUTORS Steven Steenbruggen Olindo Caso Stefan de Koning Sven Jansse Sebastian Janusz Hrvoje Smidihen Manuela Trigannese Luc Willekens EXTERNAL CRITICS Arie Romein Thijs Asselbergs Aksel Ersoy



TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE p.06....................................................................................................Introduction p.08....................................................................................................Historical Development p.12....................................................................................................Future Developments HARD DATA p.20....................................................................................................Site Data p.28....................................................................................................Landscape p.36....................................................................................................Road Networks p.44....................................................................................................Public Transport p.52....................................................................................................Building Ownership p.62....................................................................................................Site History p.70....................................................................................................Voids p.80....................................................................................................Land Use p.90....................................................................................................Amenities SOFT DATA p.102..................................................................................................Lifestyle p.126..................................................................................................Zuidas - Global District p.146..................................................................................................Slow Motion p.162..................................................................................................Bicycle p.176..................................................................................................Social Justice p.192..................................................................................................Culture p.208..................................................................................................Data p.226..................................................................................................Sports and Recreation SPACE DATA p.248..................................................................................................Johannes Verhulstraat 147-149 p.258..................................................................................................Dentons Boekel Building p.268..................................................................................................Hilton Hotel p.278..................................................................................................RAI Amsterdam - Hall 12 p.286..................................................................................................Ennemaborg p.298..................................................................................................Van Gogh Museum p.308..................................................................................................Minervaplein p.318..................................................................................................Apollohal MATERIAL DATA p.334..................................................................................................Material - Mixed Development p.342..................................................................................................Jewelry on the ring p.350..................................................................................................Materialised public space p.358..................................................................................................Materials of the RAI p.365..................................................................................................Materials of Ennemaborg p.378..................................................................................................Material Evolution - Van Gogh Museum p.386..................................................................................................Material [dis]honesty p.394..................................................................................................Material [re]creation


GROUP VISION p.408....................................................................................................Oud-Zuid is not done p.417....................................................................................................Oud-Zuid Framework 2050 Mobility p.426....................................................................................................Global Amsterdam p.434....................................................................................................Slow Motion p.438....................................................................................................The Super-block Social Reform p.450....................................................................................................Reinventing Social Housing p.454....................................................................................................Work/life balance p.xx.......................................................................................................Ageing/Health in Amsterdam Amenities p.462....................................................................................................Data p.466....................................................................................................Recreation p.470....................................................................................................Culture



Introduction The following chapters provide a thorough analytical overview of the OudZuid area, moving from an urban scale all the way down to detail scale.

The urban planning of the site is organised by axial connectivity, which defines super blocks. This system is broken up by two important barriers: one is the A10 ring, the other is the outer edge of Zuidas. Inside, the city is deemed “done� by the municipality, with the Berlage Plan being part of the city’s historical heritage, while Zuidas is expanding rapidly as a result of economic growth and Brexit.

PREFACE

Our site comprises of several differentareas that are very distinct in their urban and architectural character. Starting out in Oud-Zuid, the quality of housing and public spaces are both high, which makes these neighbourhood one of the least affordable ones in the whole of Amsterdam. Here, the architecture of areas is quite high-end and wellmaintained. Zuidas has a global character, as it is becoming a new international gateway to the area. Buitenveldert is a very generic modernist neighbourhood that detaches itself from the urban fabric of the city, as well as from Zuidas.

Overall, the site is fragmented in its urban character, with missing links between inner- and outer-city zones. The area is also lacking diversity in its amenities and is primarily residential. Due to processes of gentrification and privatisation, social housing is also disappearing, and the area has become very elitist, increasing socio-spatial fragmentation and decreasing social sustainability, making it in desperate need of social reform.

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Historical Development

Plan Zuid by Berlage was drawn up according to the new architectural and urban standards that this Act had requested. As a result, he took into account the quality of public space just as much as the collective idea that he was trying to introduce through his plans for the characteristic perimeter blocks in the neighbourhood.

PREFACE

The first area to get build on our site was De Pijp just after the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s. At the time, the city centre became overcrowded with the high influx of workers, and so the government put in order a socialist housing initiative to provide the working classes with more, and better living conditions. However, areas like De Pijp became run-down and overpopulated quite quickly, and so a housing act was introduced in 1901 to once again improve masses housing environments.

Due to a political shift towards more conservative tendencies, the next area to get built on our site were the private villas around Minervaplein, designed during the age of De Stijl. Later on, Buitenveldert was designed outside of the ring zone during the age of modernism and housing crisis, shifting attention towards more socialist tendencies once again. Zuidas is the product of globalisation of recent years, and this is where we expect most future developments to happen in the upcoming years.

9


10


11



Future Developments

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PREFACE

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ECONOMIC RECESSION 1792 1796 1800

BALTIC MARITIME TRADE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY development of industries + new factories

high influx of working classes

high amount of low quality housing on the city periphery

203,500

14

Ho

regu slu city


ECONOMIC GROWTH 1900 1914 1918 WW I

Housing Act (1901)

regulations to replace slums, extend the city and house skilled workers

1939 1945

1960s

1975

2000

2011 2017

WW II

independence of the Dutch East Indies

Suriname independence

Syrian Civil War

political refugees political refugees from Indonesia economic migration

refugees

Number of Population

850,000 731,300

520,600

15



HARD DATA


HARD DATA This chaper presents objective comparative mapping analysis of the hard data of the site in Oud Zuid. The topics include site morphological and historical development, road network, public transportation, amenities, building ownership, landscape and environment, and other topics that form the physical aspects of the site. A list and description of the sources and research methodologies used can be found in the corresponding chapter of the Oud-Zuid Source Book, titled XL sources.



SITE DATA

dimesion, land surface area, population

Jingling Du

2,1 km

HARD DATA

0-6,000

2,1 km

6,000-12,000

2,1 km

12,000-18,000

2,1 km

18,000-24,000

2,1 km

24,000-30,000

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This first atlas topic focuses on basic information about the site, such as the charateristics of the site, the population density and general demographic numbers of the site area, like the study of the size, structure, and distribution of these populations, and spatial or temporal changes in them in response to birth, migration, aging, and death, population incomes, etc. These data could be analyzed with the data of other topics to learn about the relationships between economic, social, cultural, and biological processes influencing a population. Based on the data provided by the municipality of Amsterdam(https://data.amsterdam.nl/), the density of each neighborhood has been mapped. Its visualized in 5 stages of density. Compared to the average density of Amsterdam (5000 per km2), this area shows much denser. Refernces: Source Book, p. 12-15





BASIC INFORMATION

HARD DATA

Most of the site belongs to the Oud Zuid neighbourhood. Oud Zuid lies on the south part of Amsterdam. It takes 15 minutes to the canal belt, 6 minutes by train to Schiphol and 23 minutes by train to Utrecht CS. It connects with other regions by bus, tram, and metro. The ring road of Amsterdam (A10) is passing through the site. From 1998 to 2010 Oud-Zuid was a city of the municipality of Amsterdam in the Dutch province of Noord-Holland. As of May 1, 2010, it has entered the new Amsterdam-South district. The former city of Amsterdam Oud-Zuid consists of eight districts (divided into 41 neighborhoods). The districts are: Oude Pijp, New Pipe with the Diamond neighbourhood, Museumkwartier with theDevil Island, Willemspark, Apollobuurt, Stadionbuurt, Schinkelbuurt, Hoofddorppleinbuurt. Oud-Zuid (Old-South) is one of the most elegant and well-heeled neighbourhoods in Amsterdam, where impressive manors line leafy streets, and chic boutiques abound. It is also acting as a cultural gateway from a century ago. Because there are Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art and Van Gogh Museum all of which exhibit the highlights of Western art. The Vondelpark is the city’s most popular playground and is a magnet for picnickers and visitors during the summer months as well as the numerous outdoor performances that take place there. The Oud-Zuid residential area is one of the city’s wealthiest district. Zuidas is also an essential part of the site. According to the masterplan Zuidas and the Vision Zuidas Document in the 21st24

Site Location in Amsterdam

century, in the early 1990s, ABN AMRO decided to establish its new headquarters near Amsterdam Zuid station. This decision encouraged Amsterdam to draw up a master plan for the development of Zuidas, which was adopted by the City Council in 1998. The Zuidas masterplan aims to “achieve a healthy balance between living, working, and amenities. It forms the foundation for the current and future development of Zuidas.” After development for several years, the Zuidas has grown to a dynamic new part of the Dutch capital with its high concentration of businesses, public institutions, and housing. The ambition of government is trying to make the Zuidas a popular, diverse residential area. Nearly 2000 housing units have already been built. This master plan will be updated in a Vision Zuidas every few years. The last Vision Zuidas was established in 2015. This is based on a distribution of 24% living, 35% work and 41% facilities. By 2030, there should be a total of 7,000 homes Studio apartments, student housing, midprice and social housing and penthouses with panoramic views.


The population of the whole site is 185,573, and the population of the Oud Zuid is 54,566 The average density of the site is double the average density of Amsterdam, while the density of some area reaches to 5 or 6 times the average. The less dense areas within site are towards to the Amsterdam Zuid station area with less residential houses and more office houses. The area near the station filling with villa also shows less dense. Denser areas appear to spread out around the Oude Zuid and west side of the Oude Zuid. It is surprising that the central city covers more 2nd or 3rd degree of density instead of an expected 4th and 5th. It is probably because there are more tourists, short stayers than registered residents. The map also gives a clear overview of the distribution of inhabitants of the site. Amsterdam has shown the fastest population growth rate among major Dutch cities. The municipality provided prognosis on the development of Oud Zuid. It is expected about 2300 residents will grow

in the coming years. Therefore, a large number of new housings will be build up in Amsterdam. From the diagrams of age percentage above, the proportion of the elder people stays stable. The percentage of 20 to 59 have changed dramatically. From 2006 to 2009, the percentage of the young people was decreased rapidly. After that, the percent began to increase. However, the percent of age from 20 to 39 is almost the same comparing to the ten years ago. There are more residential houses than commercial houses and office houses so that it seems less attractive for the young people. According to the Zuidas Vision Document Ratified by Amsterdam City Council on 9 September 2009, they planned to build more new office buildings. and social housing. Moreover, they wanted to change some residential lands into mixed-use lands to increase the diversity of this area. It will bring more diversity to this district.

HARD DATA

POPULATION

The population of this site consists mainly of Dutch nationals. Some of them are from a very diverse origin. During the 70s,

OUDE ZUID POPULATION PROGNOSIS from 2017 to 2038

25


1.

When we look at the average income of each neighborhood, we could find how wealthy this area is. They have the highest average disposable income in the Amsterdam region. Indeed, the area is known as the richest town in the Netherlands.

HARD DATA

2.

many labors came to the Netherlands as guest labors, and their generations would follow them to stay in the Netherlands. They are mainly from Marrocan, Turkish, Surinam origins, and other western countries. They came from several immigrations flux last century. Since the economic status of immigrants from non-western countries is usually lower than average, there is no wonder they occupy less percent of the whole population in this site.

3.

1. Amsterdam Age Percentage(%)2017 2. Oude Zuid Age Percentage(%)2017 3. Oude Zuid Origins Percentage (%)2017

26


0-30000 30000-38000 39000-44000 45000-111000

HARD DATA

Population income 2017

AGE PERCENTAGE(% OF TOTAL) FROM 2006 to 2017 27


LANDSCAPE

Topography, green, water ,and morphology

Eldin Geldenhuys

HARD DATA

Morphology

Water

Green

Oud-Zuid is one of the most dense areas of the complex project studio. Though in general to the Whole Amsterdam OudZuid is not that quite dense, especially when comparing it to the inner city. The surface of the area is predominantly developed. The city is not planning on any future developments in our research location with exception to the Zuidas. Amsterdam is known for its canals structure, this ring-like structure is easily seen in our research are in the top right hand corner. There are two major canals that are situated in the research area; the Schinkel and Amstel river cutting through the east and west part of the city. There is a large quantity of green found in Oud-Zuid. Some of Amsterdam’s oldest and well-known parks are located in Oud-Zuid. Interesting enough yet not surprising a immensive amount of green location in Oud-Zuid is private green.

Buildings

28

Refernces: Source Book, p. 16-19





AMSTERDAM OVERALL GREEN STRUCTURE

Folk garden parks

City Park

Curiosa

City egde Polders

Sport parks

Cemeteries

Urban parks

URBAN GREEN & WATER SURFACES

18.9

HARD DATA

Green

34.9

40.1

Water

Remainder

9.1 72

25 Amsterdam

OUD-ZUID PARKS

Oud-Zuid

Observing the graphs shown, one clearly conclude that the urban green and water surface precentage located in Oud-Zuid is more or less twice as little as in the total Amsterdam. In our research area there are four parks and one green public square located. All these public spaces have been added to the recreation of Amsterdam over distinct time period and for various reasons. Currently the Museumplein serves as interconnection between the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, and Stedelijk Muse-

32


Sarphatipark was developed in 1877 as a English landscape. Named after Samuel Sarphati. In 1942, the park was renamed “Bollandpark” after G.J.P.J. Bolland, because Samuel Sarphati was a Jew. The old name was restored after the war in 1945. The Dutch painter Mommie Schwarz and his wife Else Berg lived adjacent to the park from 1927 until their deportation to, and execution at, the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942. Some of their last works were landscape paintings of the park. Constructed between 1936-1938 the Beatrixpark was originally a romantic park, after the WWII Beatrixpark has been redesigned into the more modern, style of functionalism. During the German occupation, the park has been called Diepenbrockpark

Originally named the “Nieuwe Park”, but later renamed to “Vondelpark”, after the many Amsterdammers called it Vondelpark due to the statue of 17th-century playwright and poet Joost van den Vondel located in the park. Built in 1865 it is one of the oldest parks of Amsterdam and was inspired by English landscapes of this tme period. Constructed on a muddy dump area, the Vondelpark has to go through the total renovation each 30 years. This is because the actual ground level of the park constantly lowers itself. If these works would not be done, the whole park would be covered by water.

HARD DATA

um and the concert hall. Museumplein hosted the International Colonial and Export Exhibition in 1883. Yet the famous public square was only officially named Museumplein in 1903. Hereafter the public square was constructed into a green space in the busy city

Rembrandt park was constructed in 1976. Initially a site where plants and flowers were grown commercially, the park itself began to develop once the operation moved in 1957. Though it was named in 1958, after the famous painter Rembrandt van Rijn, it wasn’t until the early seventies that the park was actually constructed. Today, though its size is as great as Vondelpark, its neighbouring park to the east, Rembrandtpark remains a favorite with locals due to its slower pace, larger picnic areas and paint-like landscape. The park now serves as a multifunctional public space. 33


HARD DATA

LANDSCAPE OVER THE CENTURIES

Land

1250

1680

1350

1850

1570

1975

1630

2009

Coast

Cities

The earliest recordings of land use in Amsterdam was in 1275. One can clearly observe that the city of Amsterdam has not expanded until the 19th century. Amsterdam seem only to add a outer ring every few century. The city seemed to stay quite centred. The expansion of the city ( as with many Dutch cities) has to do with the introduction of the train, and even further extention during the invention of the automobile in the early 20th century.

34

Roads

Infrastructure

The second observation that can be noted is the intense management of the land, canals and large water surfaces. Centuries ago the Dutch have already started draining water from the large surfaces of land by canals and polders. Lastly one must mention the Noord sea canal that was constructed by the Dutch to increase land mass and give direct access for ships to the North Sea.


POLDER STRUCTURE VS URBAN FRAMEWORK

HARD DATA

Inner city urban framework

Outer city polder landscape Plan Berlage

Polder lines

Original polder

Centuries of historical processing of Amsterdam’s landscape, I was curious about how much of the polder structure influenced the urban framework. Plan Zuid of Berlage is an interesting and unique urban approach when compare to the previous urban expansions of Amsterdam, and I myself though it would be facinating to see if his Plan zuid also follow the polder structure created centuries earlier. My innitial though was that Berlage follow little or almost non

Plan Zuid follows polder landscape Inner city structure

of the orginal polder landscape but after my research of various maps from the beginning, middle and end of 19th century and early 20th century. As indicated in the above images one clearly sees that the polder structure has the same unique ellipse form and polder structure found in Plan Zuid.

35


ROAD NETWORK

structure and development

Michal Strupinski

highway

HARD DATA

main roads

secondary roads

service roads

civic

Analysing the structure of the road network of Amsterdam gives an opportunity to understand how the city, a living organism, operates on a daily basis. Mapping traffic and average timedistance relations allow to discover the movement of the city inhabitants. This set of data unveils preferences of the type of transportation and connected with it current purposes of streets, sometimes very different from what they were originally designed for. It shows issues of certain locations and opportunities of others, especially based on their accessibility. Refernces: Source Book, p. 20-23

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5 10 15

HARD DATA

Amsterdam in 1724

Amsterdam today

40

5 10 15

Amsterdam in 1903


TIME SPENT ON ACTIVITIES in hours per week

76h personal time (sleeping etc.) 5,5h education 33h work+household care 44h free time 8,5h travel

types of transport

2,7h cycle/scooter, on foot

HARD DATA

4,7h car

1h public transport

reason for travel 2,9h school/work

3h leisure

2,5h household activities

41


HARD DATA Efficiency of car traffic - distance that can be passed within 15 minutes.

When we take a look at Amsterdam from 1724 we can see that the bastion wall wraps around the circle of 15 minutes’ walk almost perfectly. Walking became no longer efficient when the city grew bigger, although cycling, on the other hand, was much more convenient. Today almost the whole city is accessible within 30 minutes on a bike. If we consider car traffic (map above), in the peak hours it is probably the only option apart from public transport. Issues of mobility and long travel distance to the city centre, especially from outside of Amsterdam, led to creation a new, business-oriented, centre. 42

Zuidas, located near the souther part of the ring A10, two highways - ‘fingers’ that join Amsterdam with Randstad and proximity to the Schipol airport seems to be a perfect location for a financial centre, not only in the city scale ,but of an European impact. Moreover, it is a convenient location of a huge number of working places for inhabitants of extensive residential areas around it, withing cycling and even walking distance. In a way, Zuidas recreates an idea of Amsterdam Anno 2000 plan from 1966, where a district of highrises emerge near the highway, while the historical buildings are left untouched. The map


When we crop the map of walking/ bicycling distances to the designated borders, it seems that our assigned site is somewhat between two nearlt separate network systems. One is a modern communication hub, right next to the airport and with multiple choices of access, designed for local and international business. The other is one of the most popular tourist destination in the world, oriented around Amsterdam Centraal train station, which is almost the only way of access from outside the city.

HARD DATA

on the left presents differences between accessibility of the two city centres, Zuidas and central Amsterdam, by car. Distance from which it is possible to get within 15 minutes is noticeably bigger in case of Zuidas, moreover it includes three southern highway fingers. It is also a transportation hub, with many connections of public transport, Amsterdam Zuid train station for instance, and a location of many affordable parking lots of the Park+Ride concept.

In between is a dense tissue of streets, used primarily as local roads for residents, but with an equally good acces to both central Amsterdam and Zuidas. below, left: street proportions in Oud Zuid and Zuidas

43


PUBLIC TRANSPORT Train, metro, tram and bus

Yishan Du

HARD DATA

Train

Metro

Analysing the structure of the road network of Amsterdam gives an opportunity to understand how the city, a living organism, operates on a daily basis. Mapping traffic and average timedistance relations allow to discover the movement of the city inhabitants. Tram

This set of data unveils preferences of the type of transportation and connected with it current purposes of streets, sometimes very different from what they were originally designed for. It shows issues of certain locations and opportunities of others, especially based on their accessibility. Bus

44

Refernces: Source Book, p. 24-27





PUBLIC TRANSPORT OVERALL

Train train

metro Metro Tram tram Bus bus

48


TRAIN The ring railway first appeared in a study of 1901 on the improvement of railway connections around Amsterdam. It would alleviate the Central Station of freight movements between the Westhaven docks and the Watergraafsmeer railway yard. Agreements were reached and H.P. Berlage adapted his Plan Zuid to include a Zuiderstation. METRO

TRAM

HARD DATA

In 1960, the Clerx committee concluded that an independent, underground track fot the network’s main lines was the best option.

The unprecedented public resistance to the eastern line of metro system didn’t come to an end until the late 1990s. So the tram and express tram was the most popular way of public transport for a long time in late 20th century.

BUS

The bus system is used more as a shortdistance public transportation, and that’s why the bus line network is relatively even over the whole Amsterdam, and is mainly distributed in regional clusters.

49


H.P. Berlage Plan Zuid, H.P. Berlage the beginning of the 20th century, Plan Zuid 1929

At Berlage was able to draw up an expansion plan for an autonomous city. The ambitiously planned Zuider Station is clearly located with the monumental axis, the Minervalaan, towards the Amsterdam historical centre.

General Expansion General Expansion Plan (AUP)Plan

the General 1935Expansion plan clearly showed concern in a wider context. Amsterdam is described as a lobate city, whose core has extensions like outspread fingers, with radial roads held together by a ring road.

1929

1935

A UT ONOMOUS ZUID STATION PASSENGER GROWTH While the bus data remains the same in these decades, the number of passengers in Zuid Station using train, metro and tram will pick up dramatically as soon as the certain way of transport finish the link to Schiphol Airport.

120.000 100.000 80.000 60.000 40.000 20.000

50

0


on UP)Plan (AUP)

clearly context. ate city, utspread ogether

Opting for Urbanity Structure Plan Opting for Urbanity Structure Plan Infrastructure 2003 construction has to keep pace with

economic growth. During the following period, the inner-city environment spread out along the most important transport arteries. Urban nodes developed in Zuidoost, along the Zuidas and at the airport over the coming decades. Tey are complementary to the urban environment in the city centre.

2003

2018

2020

POLYCENTRIC

TRAIN METRO

TRAM

BUS


BUILDING OWNERSHIP

HARD DATA

private

52

public

Blanka Borbely

This research aims to investigate building ownership, and its relationship to sociospatial and economical processes in the Oud Zuid area of Amsterdam. The first step in collecting relevant data was finding out what different building functions exist in the area currently, and sorting them into different categories. Some of the functions, such as residences, cafes, bars, small shops, hotels, etc. clearly indicate private ownership, while others (such as museums, theatres, transit hubs, hospitals, public libraries, etc.) are most likely publicly financed and maintained. This initial survey was primarily supported by AMS’s interactive maps, which provide very detailed, frequently updated information on each building within the site.

civic

The different categories established are the following: Private (e.g. residences, bars, cafes), Public (e.g. transit hubs, museums, theatres, religious establishments), Civic (e.g. hospitals, municipal functions, educational institutions), and Corporate (e.g. collective office spaces, collective enterprises, non-profit organisations).

corporate

Refernces: Source Book, p. 28-31





HARD DATA Social housing and income imbalances, 2011

social housing

SOCIAL HOUSING IN OUD ZUID This research aims to investigate building ownership, and its relationship to sociospatial and economical processes, as well as migration flows in the Oud Zuid area of Amsterdam, with a special focus on the history and the development of social housing. The different categories of current building ownership are established as the following: Private (e.g. residences, bars, cafes), Public (e.g. transit hubs, museums, 56

much lower

slightly lower

slightly higher

much higher

theatres, religious establishments), Civic (e.g. hospitals, municipal functions, educational institutions), and Corporate (e.g. collective office spaces, collective enterprises, non-profit organisations). The Old Zuid area started to get developed in the late 1800s. The sudden economical growth evoked by the industrial revolution at the time resulted in great migration flows into Amsterdam (Graafland, 2012). The number of city population rocketed within a few decades, and as a result, city governance


Development of ‘Plan Zuid’, 1917

had decided to introduce cheap social housing for the masses beyond the Singelgracht. Among many, different areas of Oud Zuid were also developed at that time. South of Vondelpark, an elegant, yet affordable residential district - along with the Rijksmuseum - was introduced by architect P.J.H. Cuypers, aimed at middle classes (‘Arcam’, 2009). Next to it, the Pijp district was to be developed the same way, and was to become the new centre of the city with beautiful villas, a new station, and rail

However, despite the efforts to make social housing available for the masses, the city remained insanitary and overcrowded. Additionally, it became clear that most of the new extensions were of poor quality, which resulted in the introduction of the Housing Act in 1901. This was composed of regulations to replace slums, extend the city further, and further provide appropriate public housing for skilled workers and their families (Graafland, 2012).

HARD DATA

Development of De Pijp and Vondelbuurt, 1900

lines. However, this plan was turned down by governance as the city could not keep up with its growing population: fast, and cheap solutions became necessary. After the City Council rejected the original plan, it took a more socially- oriented approach instead in order to provide lower income workers with affordable housing. ‘Plan Klaff’ was introduced to the free market by the Director of Public Works in 1876, and as a result, most houses were built to make a quick profit. The building materials used were cheap, and construction methods were simple enough for quick erection of structures. The railway line and the station disappeared from the plans, and the Pijp became a district of long streets with monotone residential buildings. (‘Architectuur Amsterdam’, 2017)

‘Plan Zuid’ by Berlage was one of the first city extensions that was planned accordingly, emphasising socialist ideals. Realised in 1917, its aim was to further ease living conditions in the city centre by adding a new residential neighbourhood, and to take into consideration the quality of public space just as much as the standards of new buildings. Large avenues (not yet made for cars, but for pedestrians and bicycles) were lined with 57


family homes of the Amsterdam School style. Parks and squares were added, and street patterns took precedent from the structure of the inner city. Local housing cooperatives were involved in the development of the plans, and as a result, private estates used to take up only a few blocks in the area. The names of different cooperatives are still carved above the entrances of many housing blocks. Most importantly, the strong social aims of these extensions allowed

low-income people to live better, and in close proximity to the urban centre at the time. Soon, however, the changing political climate around 1930 meant that funding for socialist city extensions and slum clearance was cut, and was replaced by conservative tendencies. Privatisation, and the rise of De Stijl movement meant less and less public housing in the area (‘Arcam’, 2009). The postwar period brought about further influxes of political refugees and economical migrants.

ECONOMIC RECESSION 1792 1796 1800

BALTIC MARITIME TRADE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY development of industries + new factories

high influx of working classes

high amount of low quality housing on the city periphery

58

203,500

Ho

regu slu city


In combination with the reduction of socialist developments, these events meant that the financially less fortunate got pushed further and further away from the centre. This process is still ongoing today. Looking at the contemporary state of public housing in the area, social/ public dwellings are extremely scarce, except for in De Pijp. Even there, people seem to earn more, or just about what they should on average to be eligible for social housing. Oud Zuid has become

one of the most expensive residential areas in the whole of Amsterdam, which means that even dwellings owned by housing associations are occupied by well-off people.The new business district around the Amsterdam Zuid Station, and educational institutions are highly attractive to newcomers. However, with no affordable housing in the area, questions of social justice related to the structuring of publicly available dwelling opportunities arise.

ECONOMIC GROWTH 1900 1914 1918 WW I

Housing Act (1901)

regulations to replace slums, extend the city and house skilled workers

1939 1945

1960s

1975

2000

2011 2017

WW II

independence of the Dutch East Indies

Suriname independence

Syrian Civil War

political refugees political refugees from Indonesia economic migration

refugees

Number of Population

850,000 731,300

520,600

Timeline of the development of Amsterdam showing maps, migration flows, economical influences, and population growth

59


HARD DATA Property value, 2015

>6000 euros/m2

5000-6000

The area today is one of the most expensive districts in the whole of Amsterdam. The image above illustrates just how much so. Residential buildings are being divided into smaller apartments and rooms for renting. This results in a densification process that no longer takes the financially less fortunate into consideration. Even social housing in 60

4500-5000

4000-4500

3500-4000

2000-3500

the area is occupied by people with high salaries. Looking at the rate at which new developments being put up in around the station, migration trends into the area are not likely to lessen. trategies are needed to avoid overcrowding. De Pijp, as well as Plan Zuid and its later extension were all designed with a socialist incentive. The aim was to provide


all with appropriate accommodation, access to high quality public spaces, and all this within a close proximity to the city centre, where most job opportunities are. After a shift towards conservativism in the political climate, the amount of social housing owned by associations, and the importance of social aims in planning sharply decreased.

According to studies by O + S (2013), for young Dutch people who are well educated, their first choice of city to move to is Amsterdam. This means that the number of young people in Amsterdam is growing rapidly - between the years 2002 and 2013, the number of people aged 15-26 grew by 24,000. Most employment opportunities for starters can be found in or near the city centre, which means that finding affordable accommodation can be difficult for starters.

HARD DATA

Neighbourhoods planned with socialist incentive

Social housing units in 2017

indigenous person - Amsterdammer western immigrant - elsewhere

indigenous person - elsewhere

non-western immigrant - Amsterdammer

western immigrant - Amsterdammer non-western immigrant - elsewhere

Young people by agen when they moved to Amsterdam and their origin: 2002 vs. 2012 - O+S.(2013).‘Understanding Amsterdam’

61


SITE HISTORY

Communities in different periods

Yucheng Wu

HARD DATA

Before 1900

1900-1950

1950-2000

Building is a kind of witness of the history. Mapping the age of the building could display the trace of the city development process. Depend on the trace, the background behind a building, a community and a city could gradually become clear. The analysis was based on the history resource and mapping of building age in research area. According to the result, the city has gone through a unique and unusually distinct series of expansions as its merchant economy boomed requiring more ship berths and warehouses and its population increased demanding more space for housing. Several major expansions that have shaped layout of the city. The main research will focus on four rapid growth phase. Split the elements of picked representative communities and recompose the elements into image of the community.

2000-2017

62

Refernces: Source Book, p. 32-35



64


65


COMMUNITY BACKGROUND

Time: 1870-1890 Plan: Expansion Plan by Kalff The increases in population prior to 1875 were absorbed into a city that had not grown in size since the seventeenth century. High densities led to serious health problems in industrializing cities (poor living condition). same time, more centrally ruled implemented grand classicist schemes such as the boulevards in Paris(1851) and the Ringstrasse in Vienna(1857). New city plan was required to improve the situation(1).

HARD DATA

This community was developed on the Kalff’s plan, it followed the pattern of existing roads and ditches, but the layouts were frequently adapted to accommodate the private’s prefenrences.

road green space public space semi-public

COMMUNITY IMAGE 1. Narrow street layout; 2. Few public space and lacking green space; 3. High density in the community, only met the survival requirement.

66


COMMUNITY BACKGROUND

Time: 1890-1910 Plan: Plan by Jan David Zocher

The expansion also had a very explicit programme. Houses were permitted, while workshops or factories were forbidden. However, the Vondelparkbuurt represented an exception. The norm for Amsterdam was the continuing speculation that dominated the housing market in the city, leading to the related problems of overcrowding and poor hygiene.

HARD DATA

The Vondelparkbuurt in Amsterdam is a good example of a development where enough means were present to let aesthetic considerations play a central role. This new part of Amsterdam was targeting a different segment of the urban population. (2)

road green space public space semi-public

COMMUNITY IMAGE 1. Sufficient public space (including green space), widening street; 2. New type of public architecture (church, theatre) emerging; 3. Low density in the community, a exception based on the support of wealthy level.

67


COMMUNITY BACKGROUND Time: 1930-1940 Plan: Plan Zuid by H.P. Berlage 1914 Around the turn of the century city development became increasingly influenced by the ideas of the ‘Healthy City‘(Baumeister), the ‘Beautiful ciy‘(Sitte), and the ‘Social city‘(Howard). Amsterdam’s Plan Zuid was one of the first examples whereby a public street plan and the architecture of the lots and the building represented a synthesis of public planning policy and art (3).

HARD DATA

The quality of the public space, more public space had been added (wide streets), and the open spaces within the building lots were more spacious through private and communal gardens.

road green space public space semi-public

COMMUNITY IMAGE

1. Increasing public space (including green space), main axies acrossed and connected the community; 2. Sufficient public space and green space, semi-public space, like soccer court; 3. Modified Community based on the plan ideas of France and Germany.

68


COMMUNITY BACKGROUND

Time: 1960-1970 Plan:

The community was developed at the same period with Bijlmermeer. They were the last modernist project in the Netherlans and represented one of the best examples of a plan in which the CIAM ideals and the Garden city of Le Corbusier.

HARD DATA

The schemes contain many advantages: 1. Given the same sun angle and plan area, higher built densities were possible; 2. Less land was needed to realize the same number of dwellings; 3. Improving in quality in terms of daylight, sun, view and privacy (4).

road green space public space semi-public

COMMUNITY IMAGE 1. Increasing public space (including green space), parking area; 2. New type of public architecture (shopping mall) started emerging in few years later; 3. Community was seperated from street layout. Pont, Meta Berghauser, and Per Haupt. Spacematrix. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2010. p.45-55. (1-4)

69


VOIDS

Buildings, Parks, Squares and Meeting Points

Dermot Horgan

HARD DATA

Meeting Points

Squares

Parks

Mapping the void spaces around the built environment in Amsterdam’s Oud-Zuid area enabled the identification of meeting points with-in the urban landscape, these points have been identified through their level of data intensity. A syntaxical system of mapping intensities was emplyed using the parameters of network strength, local/ national monuments, restaurants/ cafe’s and Google beacon locations in order to define points of interest or meeting points across the site. The production of intensity maps enabled us to locate where people are most likely to stop and connect with others or where they go in order to a have relief from the intense urban flux.

Buildings

70

Refernces: Source Book, p. 36-39





DATA ABOUT THE VOID

VOIDS

BUILDINGS

PARKS

SQUARES

HARD DATA

Voids represent the majority of the space in Amsterdam oud-zuid at 62%, while buildings (31%), parks (5.7%) and squares (.95%) are all less than half of this void.

DATA WITH-IN THE VOID 1000

800

600

400

Interior Water

Nature

Argiculture

Recreation

Semi-Built environment

Built environment

Parking

200

The make-up of the building, parks, squares and related spaces in the Zuid shows a surprisingly high quantity of parking at 167(ha) relative to the natural aspect of the site at 29.4(ha). 74


RAPID EXPANSION OF THE ZUIDAS

Zuidas

Stadionbuurt

Oude Pijp

Apollobuurt

Nieuwe Pijp

Scheldebuurt

Zuid-Pijp

IJselbuurt

Hoofddorppleinbuurt

Rijnbuurt

Schinkelbuurt

Prinses Irenebuurt

Willemspark

Buitenveldert-West

Museumkwartier

Buitenveldert-Oost

The trend of people moving to the Zuidas not just for work but also to live becomes apparent in the 2016 city survey with an almost 300% increate in residential housing stock in the Zuid. There is an apparent trent of people moving to the Zuidas to be closer to work.

HARD DATA

Areas of the Oud-Zuid.

2016: 1430 2015: 588

2014: 579

2013: 562

2012: 558

Housing stock in 2016 rose 300% from 2015, while in the previous years the housing remained consistently in line with one another. This sudden increase in residents is not mirrored in the services provided in the area of the Zuidas. 75


02.

03.

04.

HARD DATA

01.

Areas

Syntax models from existing data tracings;

76

Vodis 10.01KL2

Squares 0.154 KL2

Parks 0.9261 KL2

Buildings 4.971 KL2

Total area 16KL2

01. Restaurants/ Cafe’s map 02. Local/ National Monuments 03. Google Beacon Points 04. 3/4G Networks maps

Through map analysis the significance of the void space within the Amsterdam Oud-Zuid area became apparent, Void represents 10.01 KL2 compared to that of the other three categories of Parks space at .92KL2 , Buildings at 4.97KL2 and the least significant Squares at 0.154KL2.


VOIDS

1.

01. Restaurants and Cafe’s form the first mapping, there is a clear relation between social spaces and the activity of eating or drinking amongst friends or simply a gathering of strangers within the public realm. ‘Social activities can be developed around either necessary or optional activities and are conditional on the presence of others: people in the same space, passing each other or looking at each other in connection with other activities’(1) (1) J. Gehl, B Svarre , ‘How to study public life’, Washington, DC: Island Press, 2013,Pg.17

‘For the monument,. It is only conceivable or imaginable site of collective (social) life. It controls people, yes, but does so to bring them together, beauty and monumentality go hand in hand……monuments embody a sense of transcendence a sense of being elsewhere’ (2)

HARD DATA

02. Each Local and National monument within the confines of the site.

2. (2) H Lefebvre, Urban Revolution Now: in Social Research and Architecture Ashgate Publishing Ltd, Minnesota, 2003.

03. 300 Google Beacon’s placed around Amsterdam as a pilot scheme to encourage developers to create app’s for the city that help to guide or inform the occupants in the public realm; can provide us with the nodes in the city that are considered to be the most relevant to the developers of the future and their target audience; us.

3.

01. Johannesvehulststraat Proximity mapping 02. MuseumPlein Proximity mapping 03. Green Route through the central axis of the site.

77


78


VOIDS The standardised translation of the data collected into a series of intensity mappings enabled a methodology of layering in order to identify connective or [dis]connective space. Nodes found at the most dense points of layering could be considered to form ‘meeting points’ in the voids of our site, and thus encourages minor sites of investigation within the larger framework of the city scale. Using historical images to identify traces of the sites palimpsest allows for us to consider the meeting points past before speculating on its future.

Meeting points historical context

HARD DATA

01. Intensity mapping through layered data tracings 02. Layered [dis]connective spaces 03. Historical photos of Amsterdam http://www.oldams.nl/

79


LAND USE

Selene Zhuang

residential

HARD DATA

business

retail & leisure

public service

mixed use

80

As we can see from the land use map, the biggest portion of land use in Amsterdam south area is residential uses. Retail & leisure uses also take up big space in the south of the city, mainly due to the contribution of numerous public parks and sports fields. Solely retail land uses are rather rare in the area. Instead, many of the buildings have mixed uses, such as residential buildings with shops on the ground level. Public services distribute quite evenly around the site, which might indicates a convenient community and high living standard. Last but not least, Zuidas, the new CBD of Amsterdam, contributes a big deal of business functions around the Amsterdam Zuid station. Refernces: Source Book, p. 40-43





HARD DATA

map of neighbourhood in Amsterdam

According to the Gemeente Amsterdam, the city is divided into eight neighbourhoods. Our site is mostly in Amsterdam Zuid neighbourhood. Amsterdam Zuid contributes to only 7.9% of the area in the city, which only slightly bigger than the Centrum area, the city centre and West, the traditional working class residential area. From the trend of land use in the whole Amsterdam, we can see that residential area took the biggest part of amsterdam some 20 years ago. Since 1994, the ratio

of residential area kept decreased every year. On the contrary, the land uses for business and service, and recreation increases year by year. So is the traffic land uses due to the popular Zuidas office area. In late 1990’s, the land use of water surpassed the land use for residential. The semi build-ups dropped dramatically after 2010. This probably indicates the reduction of construction sites. Which means less new building will be finished in the short future.

TREND OF LAND USE IN AMSTERDAM, 1994~2015

%

30.0

25.0

water

20.0

residential

business and service

15.0

forest and agriculture recreation

10.0

traffic semi build-ups

5.0

0.0 1994

84

2000

2005

2010

2015


LAND USE AMSTERDAM 2015

water, 24.90%

residential, 20.60%

retail&leisure, 4.60%

forest and agriculture, 14.40%

business, 10.50%

semi build-ups, 5.50% recreation, 11.80% traffic, 7.70%

forest and agriculture, 3.49%

HARD DATA

LAND USE AMSTERDAM 2015

water, 10.53%

recreation, 15.32% residential, 42.92%

traffic, 9.69%

semi build-ups, 3.17% business, 7.26%

The biggest difference between the land uses of Amsterdam Zuid and the whole Amsterdam is probably the ratios of residential area. Amsterdam Zuid has the highest percentage of residential land use. However, the land uses of water and forest and agriculture in Amsterdam Zuid

retail&leisure, 7.63%

is much lower than de average of the city, which might due to the hight rent price, or the location of the area is rather close to the city centre. The most interesting point is , even including Zuidas, the new CBD of Amsterdam. Amsterdam Zuid has a lower percentage of business land 85


HARD DATA Land use in Amsterdam, 1994-2015

DETAILED LAND USE IN AMSTERDAM ZUID

use than the Amsterdam average. This might be due to the building height of business towers in Zuidas. In the rest of Amsterdam, apart from the strip along the water Ij, most of the office buildings are low-rise buildings finished before the 1970s. They might take up way bigger land area than Zuidas. A more detailed map here shows the 86

different land uses in Amsterdam Zuid. We can see that the more tourist-orientated land uses such as retail and hotel are more condensed in the centrum area, while the more long term and local residential area are quite evenly distributed between the centrum and Amsterdam Zuid station. Amsterdam Zuid area also has a big percentage of parks and sports due to the Berlage(1910s) and AUP planning (1930).


retail & hotel

business

public services

sports field and public parks

waterway

HARD DATA

residential

87


100% VACANT

50%~100% VACANT

<50% VACANT

HARD DATA

RESEARCH PHRASE OF RENOVATION

VACANT OFFICES IN AMSTERDAM ZUID

% RENTABLE OFFICE FLOOR AREA 25

20

15

10

5

0 2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Netherlands

88

2009

2010

Amsterdam

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016


LAND USE

1.

residential amsterdam zuid 43.10% 43.00% 42.90% 42.80% 42.70% 42.60% 42.50% 42.40% 42.30% 2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

01. The residential land use in Amsterdam and the south have been decreasing in the recent decades, while the demand housing purchasing and rental are increasing1. The gap between the demand and supply is getting big. Luckily, the residential land use in Amsterdam Zuid has been bouncing the last few years and hopefully the supply will keep increasing to face population pressure.

2.

business and retail&leisure amsterdam zuid 8.20% 8.00% 7.80% 7.60% 7.40% 7.20% 7.00% 6.80% 2010

2011

2012 retail&leisure

2013

2014

2015

business

3.

02. Land use of retail shops has been declining for five years. Afterall, the vacant rate of shop areas remains rather low or even gradualy decreasing. That could mean a decline in retail sales due to the economic environment, and people’s habit of purchasing, such as online shopping. Vacancy rate of office area is almost 1/5 in Amsterdam, slightly higher than the average in the Netherlands. However, due to the high quality and location of office area supply in Amsterdam Zuid, especially Zuidas, the demand for office area in the south is still quite high, hence the increasing land use of business area, as well as the rent level2.

HARD DATA

1. van der Velden, Lisa. “Aantal beschikbare koopwoningen in Amsterdam daalt in recordtempo.” De volkskrant. February 21, 2017. Accessed September 29, 2017. https://www.volkskrant.nl/ economie/aantal-beschikbare-koopwoningen-in-amsterdam-daalt-inrecordtempo~a4465243/.

2 Sprekende cijfers: kantorenmarkten 2017. Amersfoort: Dynamis, 2017.

traffic amsterdam zuid 9.90%

03. The traffic land use is surprisingly decreasing in Amsterdam Zuid in the recent years while it is increasing steadily in the whole Amsterdam. As the Zuidas is the new centre for business, the pressure on traffic would be a great challenge.

9.85% 9.80% 9.75% 9.70% 9.65% 9.60% 9.55% 9.50% 9.45% 9.40% 2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

1. Residential land use in Amsterdam Zuid 2. Business, and retail&leisure land use in Amsterdam Zuid 3. Traffic land use in Amsterdam Zuid

89


AMENITIES

Education, health, culture, sport

Muhammed Apaydin

HARD DATA

Culture

Health

Education

Retail-Restaurants

90

Oud-Zuid is located on a special part of Amsterdam. On the North is the historical city centre located. On the South-East is Berlage-Plan located. The Westside attached to the Rembrandtpark. On the Southside is the Zuidas located. The amenities in the city centre are mainly serving the tourists and students. The centre of the site especially focusing on the residents of the neighbourhood, but also the surrounding neighbourhoods. The South is focusing rural and international.

Refernces: Source Book, p. 44-47





CULTURE Museumkwartier is one of the neighbourhoods which is focusing on cultural amenities. There are several museums, theatres and other cultural activities settled. Almost all of this cultural activities are on walk distance when you are in the Museumkwartier. This densitiy is nowhere visible and also there are barely cultural amenities outside of the city centre.

HARD DATA

HEALTH In the South is VUMC Hospital located. This is the one of the largest in Amsterdam and is not only Amsterdam, but on some specialities whole county. In the centre there are only small hospitals of clinics. Other larger hospitals are located close to the edges of the city. EDUCATION Two university are located in this part of the site. One is the UvA and is located in the city centre. VU is located close to the VUMC. Higher and primarily education are located in the neighbourhoods that are adjacent to the city centre. RESTAURANTS Most of the restaurant are located in the city centre. There are serving the tourists, residents of Amsterdam and rural. Gradually is this changing. The restaurants are moving the in to the neighbourhoods. What happened in Oud-Zuid and still takes place.

94


SITE IN NUMBERS 1.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

OUD-ZUID

49

AMSTERDAM

175

2.

OUD-ZUID

2

AMSTERDAM

4

HARD DATA

UNIVERSITIES

3.

SENIOR HOUSING

OUD-ZUID

11

AMSTERDAM

14

95


AMENITIES IN AMSTERDAM

EDUCATION

HEALTH

RELIGION

RETAIL/ RESTAURANTS

SPORTS

HARD DATA

CULTURE

96


CENTRALIZATION Clustering amenities is one of the features of OUD-ZUID. If there is an university nearby, it means there should be several more nearby. This repeated itself for other amenities. It is remarkable to notice that this is happening in whole of Amsterdam.

The city centre is still the core of the museums and other cultural activities. If you want to visit a museum you need to be in the city centre. There are no other possibilities. Not even in another neighbourhoods.

HARD DATA

HART OF CULTURE

REUNIFICATION In the city centre there are many restaurants. In the past people went to the city centre to visit a restaurant. This is changing and it is already noticeable in the neighbourhood OUD-ZUID. Many restaurant are established in the neighbourhood. This is valid for other neighbourhoods. For a proper dinner you don’t need to visit the city centre. Is this the beginning of new city centres.

97



SOFT DATA


SOFT DATA This chaper presents objective comparative mapping analysis of the hard data of the site in Oud Zuid. The topics include site morphological historical development, road network, public transportation, amenities, building ownership, landscape and environment, and other topics that form the physical aspects of the site. All the topics are based on personal speculations. For the explanation of the analysis and research methodology, please refer to the Soft Data chapter in the Oud Zuid Source Book.




LIFESTYLE Jingling Du This research tells the lifestyle transition history of the Netherlands from the 19th century by analyzing the transformation of its cities urban planning and social background, trying to make some prediction for the future. By “reading� their physical and spatial characteristics, it documents historical changes. Every corner of the city is saturated with man’s ideas, hopes, fears, dreams, and ideologies. Every change of the urban planning driven by the society or not planned all marked the change of the lifestyle. References: Source Book, p. 52-53; 174-177




SOFT DATA

HOUSING ACT AND PLAN ZUID(19001920S)

106

Overcrowding in inadequate housing was the unavoidable result of the dramatic changes in Amsterdam during the last decades of 19th century. At that time, the Netherlands just recovered from more than a century of economic decline. Thanks to the German industrial strength. Many families flew into Amsterdam seeking for jobs in Harbors, stores, workshops, offices, and factories. The working-class housing was near the place of employment because they lacked both the time and the money to cover the transportation distance. One thing should be noticed is that until the 1920s, most of them walked, and after that, bikes became a household item. Therefore, the worker districts were near the harbor or within the city center. In Amsterdam before 1900, especially in the Jordann, the Eastern Islands, and the Jewish Quarter, there existed a number of bad and dilapidated dwellings lacking sufficient daylight. Most of them were damp, not fire-proof and lacked any accommodation. The floorplan (Fig 2) newly constructed in the Kalff plan(1875) provided an only minimal improvement in amenity but result in the abuse of slum. Small flats with only one or two rooms per family, enclosed alcove instead of the bedroom. Toilets were shared between families or placed in the kitchen. In 1899, 44.8% of all homes had only one or two rooms. 37.4% of the homes were occupied by more than two people were single-room dwellings, which means all kinds of daily activities, like washing, drying, cooking, working, playing and sleeping, were going on in this space. For many working class, not only they

Fig 1ďźšGroot Hemelrijk alley in the center of Amsterdam

A Alcove BR Bedroom K Kitchen K-LR Kichen-living room LR Living room

N Built-in bed niche P Parlo s Sink S Storage WC Water closet

Fig 2ďźšDwelling plans in Amsterdam in 1900


Dr. S. S. Colonel’s reports about the slum in Amsterdam revealed the hazards of poor housing to the educated classes. His ideal of improving the environment of the working-class neighborhood to control the diseases won the support from leading liberals.In the Early in the 20th century, the government considered public health and hygiene as one of its responsibilities. In 1902, Housing Act addressed the perceived need for adequate housing in two ways: increasing quality and increasing quantity, asking for better ventilation, drinking water, fire safety, water closets and even the transition from sleeping cupboards to bedrooms. In late 19th century, poverty was viewed as the result of character flaws. The lower class usually were lazy, crude, emotional and immoral. In 1913, a lecture given by a reformer presented that bad housing caused bad temper, alcoholism, waste of money, neglect of children. Etc. Thus, the better housing was also regarded as a means to reform workingclass behavior. The urban working class was to be encouraged through a variety of means, education, rules, and

Fig 3-1:the preferred dwelling type H.P. Berlage, Algemeene Woningbouw Vereeniging Tolstraat 1912

SOFT DATA

not afford the space and equipment necessary to maintain the bourgeois lifestyle, but their social circumstances constrained their choice. Because of the financial burdens, the elderly were put in institutions. Long hours at workplace made them rarely encountered other family members. The model of the nuclear family could not survive. The children would be sent out to work when they reached the school-leaving age and lived with their employers or in the factory dormitories sharing a small bedroom with four or five workers.

Fig 3-2:Michel de Klerk, Eigen Haard, Zaanstraat, 1918

Fig 3-3:J.C.van Epen, Algemeene Woningbouw Vereeniging 1915

107


housing design to conform to a set of behaviors. For example, the housewives would receive the instruction about the household care. In another hand, the reformers and architects were searching for an improving plan in new districts. Amsterdam’ s reformers insisted on three minimal conditions: the total separation of the workplace from dwellings, the separation of washing and cooking from sitting and living, and separation of sleeping. And then the Amsterdam Housing Council made a study of the most advisable type for the worker’s dwelling(Fig 3) to influence the private developer.

COMPACT CITY CITY(1920S-1940S)

AND

GARDEN

In 1924, the international town planning conference was held in Amsterdam combine the former garden city movement with the town planning movement, which

SOFT DATA

The Plan Zuid of 1915 by Berlage combined the broad thoroughfares with the local street, house fronts of

high aesthetic quality, public green spaces, and water. The quality of these neighborhood built for working class was much higher than those in the canal rings. The workers moved into the new residential area at the periphery of the city, and the workplace was separated from home. When the housing form was changed, workers were forced to adapt to new surroundings, and their behaviors were changed to conformity with a modern vision of urban life.

Fig 4:Amsterdam General Expansion Plan 1926

108


SITE ATLAS


SOFT DATA

focused on urban reform. They believed that the city should be protected against the invasion of industries, and the loss of part of their urban life. Instead of concentric rings, radial expansion was now favored. Zoning was seen as essential. The urban core was destined to become the “city” with banks, cultural facilities, the public administration, and high-quality shops; housing would move to the periphery, and industry would be located in the vicinity of canals or of harbors and also be accessible by train and car. Then the concept of the Functional City came to dominate CIAM thinking after the conference in Brussels in 1933.

110

This idea influenced the latter extension plan of Amsterdam.Amsterdam’s general expansion plan of 1926 (Fig 4)was designed under the concept of functional city and garden city, and the goal is a compact city. Housing would gradually move to the new neighborhoods in the periphery. The port and the living areas expanded to the western direction. Both parts were separated by a wide green belt. Inside the living area, the neighborhoods were separated from each other by green belts. These neighborhoods were to approach the living ideals of the garden cities(Fig 5) and kept the independence of the separate neighborhoods. Besides, the core would gradually absorb more “city” functions. And to solve the traffic problems, ring roads were planned, among them the present highway A 10. The daily transportation began to gradually shift from the railway to the car(Fig 6). The general expansion plan was a unique balancing act. The plan tried to give up the old urban planning custom of pasting new neighborhoods right up against the old city, but also

Fig 5:Photo of Buitenveldert-West Neighbourhood 2017

Fig 6:City Center 1930s

Fig 7:Bijlmermeer Project


Fig 8:Gooi City

SOFT DATA

passed over the concept of satellite cities that grew independently of the urban center.In 1958, the city decided to start a massive expansion from the northern city. Under this decision, in 1965, the city then decided to build a huge urban extension in the southeast of Bijlmermeerpolder far away from the city center(Fig 7). The connection between this area with the rest of the city is a problem. This design was inspired by the functional city ideas of CIAM. This district was characterized by 10-story high-rise in a distinctive hexagonal honeycomb structure and a lot of greenery. It was a forward-looking concept that had a strict separation between living, working and recreating. Part of the philosophy is also the separation of car, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic. THE POSTWAR WORLD (1945-1968) During the period of WWII, when the Netherlands was occupied by the Nazis, the latter soon embarked on the modernization of Dutch building practice. At that time, unlike most other industries, it had hardly benefited from the prewar industrialization. The building industries were still old-fashioned, and the most firms were quite small. Therefore, here began the large scale of standardization and industrialization. After the occupation, the building industry was hoped to steer the Netherlands out of the crisis. A large number of housings were needed, especially the public housing. Gradually, the industrialization of the building industries led to rows of tenement houses that replaced the blocks. Old city fabric disappeared.

Fig 9:Uithoorn in 1960s-1970s

Fig 10:Almere in 2014

111


SOFT DATA

Suburbia

112

When the war was finally over, the country had to face its immense damage. Large parts of the Netherlands ‘industrial facilities had been dismantled and looted. In 1942, there was a ban on all building activities issued by the German authority. It caused the housing shortage, especially the public housing. The lower income groups faced the great difficulties in finding a home. What’s worse, the loss of the Dutch East Indies and Indonesia made the countries lost a large amount of colonies profits used to the investment in facilities construction after the war. Thus, the second wave of industrialization was unavoidable. The blooming industries created numbers of jobs requiring more labor immigrants. A consequence of the choice to abandon the concept of the compact city was the unstoppable suburbia. “To work anywhere and live nowhere” became the Dutch daily life. Suburbanization began in attractive areas in the Gooi(Fig 8) connected to Amsterdam by railway. After 1965, the new housings in the surrounding towns especially in Uithoorn and Almere attracted a lot of the lower middle class by offering decent quality for moderate rents(Fig 9,10).Before the urban planning principles of the 1920s and 1930s were abandoned, new houses were usually added to the periphery of cities or in the villages. In the 1950s to 1960s, the neighborhoods were asking to be part of a brand new urban unit that can cover almost everything they need in daily life. In these new neighborhoods, modernism manifested itself as uniform and homogeneous. The huge housing shortage gave people no alternative to settling in the new neighborhood. The new neighborhood shows a low density

Fig 11:Life magzine 1948

Fig 12:The first Dirk Van Den Broek supermarket at the corner of Kinkerstraat and Bildersijkstraat


surrounded by large and green space. As the total number of its inhabitants grew from 500,000 to 750,000 during the 1950s, the area occupied expanded from fifteen to two hundred square Kilometers. The traffic and transport grew explosively as the city grew bigger.

AMSTERDAM

16% 30%

22%

The Cold war as a battle of lifestyle 32%

BERLIN 26% 29%

13% 32%

SOFT DATA

During the cold war, the world had been divided between two competing systems: capitalism, with the United States as its principal power, and Communism, its counterpart, essentially dominated by the Soviet Union. The cold war is actually the competition of lifestyle between socialism and the welfare state. During the cold war, the western Europe forced to choose sides looked to the USA for the leadership. Its impact on the economy, the military, and the scientific world was tremendous. Marshall plans had greatly enhanced the reputation of the United States by temporarily relieving the country from the serious pain after war, and laying the foundation for economic recovery. The amount of money it devoted into Netherlands during 1948 to 1952 was 3.6 billion Dutch guilders. In addition, the American magazine� Life “(Fig 11)started an international edition in the Netherlands for 80 cents that offered the most appealing view of the American way of life one can imagine: People look very prosperous, addicted to the fun of new consumer society. Consumption and leisure define their lifestyle. The Dutch start to admire the American lifestyle to get rid of the heavy burden of their conventional culture and history. These principles of garden city and compact city are now abandoned. Community concept and the car ownership ushered in a new stage. As most of the facilities

LONDON 21%

2%

44%

33%

PARIS

35%

33%

10% 2%

113


114 SITE ATLAS


required for daily living are concentrated in new neighborhood centers, the link between new settlements and the central region will be weakened, and the role of new communities became the autonomous units. In the 1960s, the neighborhood center was increasingly using the shopping center model, which was invented in American in 1948.Then the Americans have invented another innovation: “supermarket”. In 1953, it also appeared in the Netherlands(Fig 12).

In 1953, there were only cars 300,000 registered in the Netherlands, but by 1962 the number already exceeded 1,000,000. The car became a nightmare for urbanist increasing the volume of unnecessary traffic.Car freed people from the timetable and the limited number of railway lines and allowed them to conquer space in a different way other than the fixed pattern inherent in the railway. Car allowed people to live far away from the places where they worked and would alter the relations between the rural areas and the city. An American lecturer at the Amsterdam conference claimed that since car ownership had become widespread, urban parks were less frequently used. Generally speaking, it appeared that the greater the number of cars, the fewer people needed to have all kinds of facilities within a short distance from home. The massive mobilization of the whole country is now almost complete. The Netherlands has become a car country. With 8 million personal cars, the regional density is very high: 240 cars per square kilometer highway. Kinds of so “American” things, such as daily commutes to and from work over great distances, routine traffic

SOFT DATA

Cars

115


jams, and ailing public transit in rural areas, are full of now the Dutch daily life. However, in Amsterdam, Car ownership and use are much lower than the rest of the country. Only one family out of two in Amsterdam has one car. Usually, one-third in some older communities, compared to the national average is one car per household.The main reason is the bicycle. Comparing the percent of the vehicle use in four cities(Fig 13), we could find the bike is still the most important way of getting around in the city. Bike

SOFT DATA

In Netherlands, the bike started out on the city stage around 1900 and never left. Actually, Amsterdam was designed for bicyclists. In preparation for the general

expansion plan (1934), it looked at how long it would take to reach the city center by bike. Most people in Amsterdam could reach the city center in 20 minutes. Only from the farthest corner of Osdorp to the left, cycling can take more than 30 minutes. In the new neighborhood, bicycle played a decisive role helping build up a connection between the existing and the new city, between residential and work areas. Before and after the Second World War, bicycles accounted for 80% of all modes of travel, still 60% in 1960. In addition, urban renewal has stimulated the population of bicycles since the 1970s as it ensures the possibility and affordability of living in urban centers. The general expansion plan reflected the reality of cycling in Amsterdam at that time, as it accounted for three-quarters

Fig 14. De Pijp 2017

116


Fig 16. Oude Zuid Age Percentage(%)2017

Fig 17:Single(51.3%Oud Zuid)

Fig 18:Family with kids(24.1%Oud Zuid)

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Fig 15. Amsterdam Age Percentage(%)2017

1411-

Fig 19:percent of commercial service>50%

Fig 20:percent of above 65y

117


SOFT DATA

1. Zuidas 2017

of the rides in the 1950s and there was a dramatic drop to a quarter in 1970. At present, 37% of the sports in Amsterdam are cycling, while in urban areas, the old neighborhood is up to 50%. URBAN RENEWAL AND GLOBAL ECONOMY (1970S-THE PRESENT) In this period, for an increasing number of people, life escaped the duality of the two poles that contained it in the past: work and home. Because the density of new districts is usually much lower, thus emptied the city, prompting its decline rather than recovery. The development of a new approach to the problem coincided with an increasing sense of revitalization. By the mid-1970s, most of the Netherlands cities had changed their course: they ended the demolition of abandoned areas, and maintained existing street patterns and banned high rise. Urban renewal has developed into a favorite area for Dutch architects, many

118

of whom were inspired by Marxism. Urban renewal marks a huge change: an attempt to stop the outward trend toward the suburbs. The mix of functions was seen as valuable and encouraged wherever possible. Thus, the scene of decline for decades, inner cities showed surprising sign of recovery. In the process of this revitalization, the old citizen gave way to the young citizens because the young urban professionals are more willing to live in inner city and want to invest to renovate the decaying parts of the city, like de Pijp(Fig 14). Why is it so attractive to the yuppies? There was shopping. Shopping became a favorite entertainment for yuppies. Retails and shops were already available at the old city center. The city center is no longer a place of production. They have become attractive consuming places relying on marketing tactics. Implanted in the shopping districts, apartment buildings for the wealthier among them will supposedly provide the spending


power for the shops, art galleries and restaurants. POPULATION From the percentage of the household structure in Oud Zuid (Fig 17,18), we could find Oud Zuid is particularly popular with families and young professionals. Over 50% of household is single person. And over 50% of family are without a kid. Most of them(Fig 19) are working at the commercial service position.Compared to the rest of parts of Amsterdam(Fig 15,16,20), the Oud Zuid is a relatively young district. Only the villa part and Zuidas have an aging population. However, in the future, more social housings and rental housing are planned to be built in Zuidas. It will balance the population structure in the future.

FUTURE

SOFT DATA

Figure 21: One of the happy city experiment “Happy Street “in Vancouver, focused on small scale interventions have become a popular way to enhance public life in cities – humanity’s most widely adopted habitat.

To develop the smart city, Amsterdam City Council introduced the 2040 master plan. It includes developing office parts into mixed-use residential communities, redeveloping industrial; riverfronts and building more high-rises, windfarms and public transport networks.The overarching goal is to densify existing communities and build new suburban business, commercial and residential districts that maximise space as efficiently as possible within the A10 ring road encircling the city.ZuidasCurrently, the Zuidas is still an incoherent part of the Amsterdam. Though there are much enthusiastic from the city council and private investors to develop it into a new city center of Amsterdam, the Zuidas is merely at the very beginning of that. The 119


SOFT DATA

120

WTC and the main offices of ABN-Amro and ING are located among the out-ofdate stations, a university sports center and numbers of vacant lots. The ultimate ambitious for the Zuidas is to make it a business center, as an opportunity to lure highly desirable knowledge workers to the city and as a new center for Amsterdam and the Randstad urban conglomeration. Even more in the future vision, the economy of the Netherlands could highly depend on the Zuidas.But before the great goals are achieved, there are still question remain: How a business center can also become another city center, after the historical center of Amsterdam? Usually, a city center serves all section of a city’s population, but a business center is some elegant place-like the first class in an airplane-which do not have to serve everyone. For the moment, visions for the future of the Zuidas still involve a new urban society of highly educated knowledge workers with a strongly international orientation. Different from the current center of Amsterdam, of where a mix of housing, employment, and facilities with high density, the potential for the socio-cultural mix is particularly limited. The assortment of shops, the cafes, dwellings, and offices will be aimed at residents and visitors with above-average incomes, turning the Zuidas into a center for a specific group of Amsterdam residents. According to Jan Winsemius , urban-design consultant, the existing centers like Amsterdam were never “conceived” and could not be brought to another area, so a new identity needs to be developed in Zuidas, besides the salespoint of a hustle and bustle business area.Nowadays numbers of new trends for cities in next generation are being discussed, here are some proposals for the Zuidas which I think

meet the need of it. Optimal recycling More effective recyclingAs a part of the circular economy, the optimal recycling aiming to change the way of in which we produce, consume and create waste in a city, by making recycling more accessible to individuals. In the case of Zuidas, that means a more sustainable strategy of urban design and architecture. According to the EU commission, moving towards a more circular economy can result in estimated EU business net savings of up to EUR 600 billion and 2 million new jobs. That could be a chance for Zuidas to become a well-known center in next generation. Accessibility Design Accessibility design is the urban design that not only takes into account the full spectrum of other-abled (including elderly, disabled, and handicapped) individuals, but also different transportation methods used by all of the people, then creating a user-friendly urban and domestic environment. Now the Zuidas already has a train station in it and Schiphol airport nearby, next goal could design a multilayer transportation system, providing accessibilities to all of the people who want a visit, work and live in the city. The Happy city The Happy City is the concept that cultivating “urban joy” can dramatically improve the city on an emotional level, using the method from infrastructure and economy. Threatened by the high pressure of modern urban working pace, especially in the knowledge economy-



122 SITE ATLAS


In Betweens: They feel at home in intermediate statuses and have grown up with transformation and change. To deal with this, they have developed their personal strategies for handling uncertainty. In order to solve this problem, they developed a personal strategy to deal with uncertainty. They often move around in their work life as freelancers or project staff, often using “collaborative” workplaces and participating in social centers. Young Globalists: Their identities are defined by work and career. They have gained international experience since childhood. They are highly mobile and have pronounced inter-cultural competencies. Some may even have several homes or are regular commuters through many countries. These are the people that may be approached by the international consulting firm.

still active. They usually have enough passion or fascination to continue participating in social life. They gather in university lecture halls and travel around the world or live in cities rather than in rural areas. They are engaged extensively and are very willing to work, be they social commitments or as part-time or part-time jobs for the company. Silverpreneurs: For them, becoming part of the world means working in particular. Moreover, they do not want to give up. They often start their second career, again bringing new qualities to their lives. This includes a Swiss surgeon who realizes his dream of life by becoming a truck driver. However, Silverpreneurs usually will become an independent consultant in previous work environments. What they find especially interesting is their ability to teach their experiences and expertise again within the exciting company project.

SOFT DATA

which the Zuidas is going to developedpeople are more easily to get anxiety and tired. The happy city focuses on creating better working and living environment to give a happier lifestyle to citizens.

Latte-Macchiato families: These young start-up families have left their traditional family roles. They may also be called “new city avant-garde” to foster a sustainable and hedonistic way of life. For them, the family does not mean sacrificing their previous way of life. Design, convenience, and sustainability are the main factors in their lives. Both partners usually have jobs, sharing the responsibilities of family. As a result, Latte-Macchiato families need supportive home services - from nursery to laundry. Greyhoppers: They have retired but are 123


WHERE URBAN PLANNING MEETS CITY LIFE

SOFT DATA

Lifestyle organizes the endless possibilities that a consumer society offers and provides a basic rhythm for life. Life does not simply happen to us, we produce it.

124

What are the challenges contemporary urbanism having to meet? In the Netherlands - and indeed most of the Western world - the prospect of a shrinking population and decreasing economic growth appear to be the most pressing issues. Town planning can greatly contribute to a more sustainable world, and the means it needs to do so are at the heart of the discipline, in the form of rational zoning, that is, the design of urban patterns that minimize the need for traffic. “Densification� is often promoted as a means to achieve this. - though, obviously, everything depends on where it occurs.




ZUIDAS: GLOBAL DISTRICT Eldin Geldenhuys The Zuidas property node is growing at a exponential rate. A driving force being huge yearon-year increase of employees and inhabitants. The Zuidas station is the fastest growing railway station in the Netherlands with the long awaited arrival of the North-South Rail Line due in 2018. Sustaining growth in train traffic on the Schiphol-Amsterdam-Almere route is experienced while more than 250,000 passengers are expected to make a daily return trip. Parallel to the growth in railroad traffic a huge increment in tram, bus and vehicle traffic is expected to integrate within the Zuidas infrastructural node design - developing the Zuidas (station) towards a modern mobility hub with huge future potential. However the posing question: “ What will this future strive to be?� References: Source Book, p. 54-55; 178-181




WORLD & DUTCH ECONOMY

GDP 2016 (USA) €15,9 trillion

SOFT DATA

$

1.8%

Industry

7%

20.3%

Services

19%

Other Services

Industry

44%

Commercial Services

Argiculture

78.1%

130

33%

Non-commercial Services

GDP 2016 (Eu €17.3 trill


DP 2016 (Europe) €17.3 trillion

GDP 2016 (China-Japan) €13,8 trillion

SOFT DATA

¥

The European Union is the most powerful global economic region in the world. Its densely populated core host Europe’s top five business centres. The GDP of the European Union is estimate at 17,3 trillion euro’s. Within this European economy, the Netherlands economy is a crucial and prosperous one that mostly depends on foreign trade. There are three major contributors to the economical structure of the country. The largest and most

dependent part of the economy is the service sector which contributes 78.1% to the GDP which generates up to 80% of the workforce. The industry sector contributes 20,3% to the GDP and employs 18% of the workforce. Lastly agriculture is 1.8% of the total GDP and consist of 2% of the workforce. Thus exchange of information and goods rather than production is becoming crucial for the economy of Europe especially the Netherlands. 131


EUROPE’S CITY CENTRES AND AIRPORTS Therefore proximity to the major hubs the Zuidas should be an integral part of trade and information is most cru- of the city of Amsterdam. Being built cial for the location of businesses, op top of the major highway and railfrom small scale offices to headquar- way that connect the centre with the ters of multinational cooperations. airport, this development bridges the rift between two parts of the city that The Zuidas, located between Schiphol, the were once separated by infrastructure lines 4th largest airport of Europe, and the city To reinforce the potentials of the Zuidas location and to serve future needs, the existing incenter of Amsterdam represent the perfrastructure must be improved. Frequency will fect example of a global business location. be increased drastically and the passenger Zuidas has everything one long for; per- movement is expected to rise more than five fectly connected by all modes of trans- times the current rate. Extra highway lanes port to any destination on the planet as well as train tracks are need to support and embedded in the culture of a small the enormous influx of people movement. historical town. By the time it finished,

SOFT DATA

Charles de Gaulle Airport (CGS) 65,933,145 passengers Hearthrow Airport (LHR) 75,711,130 passengers

Schiphol Airport (AMS) 63,625,664 passenger Frankfurt Airport (FRA) 60,786,937 passengers

Amsterdam Brussels Frankfurt

London Paris

35 min

Paris

Brussels

Brussels Zaventem Airport

20 min

London

15 min

London Hearthow Airport

Amsterdam

15 min

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Frankfurt

Amsterdam Zuidas

12 min

6min

Travel time from airport to city centre

132

Paris Charles de Gaulie Airport

Frankfurt Airport

Amsterdam Schipol Airport


2030 Amount of road at Zuid/WTC

2005

2015

2030

Amount of railtracks at Zuid/WTC station

8 trains per hour

18 trains per hour

17 trains per hour

2005

2015

2030

Metro

x5 34,200

YEARS

Tram

Train

118,000

x5

x5 40,000

130,000

9,100

57,000


ZUIDAS AS EUROPE’S LARGEST INTERCONNECTING HUB

AMS Zuidas

Berlin

Brussel

SOFT DATA

Frankfurt

Paris Zurich As the Zuidas becomes a financial hub of Amsterdam and Netherlands it’s well coordinated infracstructure and mobility network such as the high speed train systems implimented in the near future, the Zuidas would become part of a European high speed network. Connections between European financial and services centres and hubs located in Brussels, Frankfurt, Paris, Berlin and Zurich. Inventions like the Hyperloop which travels at 700mph might change the daily lives of employes living and working in Europe. One might live in Zurich or Frankfurt but commute everyday to the Zuidas. With increasing independance of Great Britian

134

with it’s Brexit movement more multinational businnesses and companies will be situated in Europe, accumulating from the seamless trading network. Social borders will essential desepear and a new European community might be realised. Zuidas thrives as mobile and vibrant environment. Movement is part of the culture in Zuidas(dok). business conducted is on a global scale and a large variety of residents (national and international) people with different lifestyles. luxury homes for long and short term living for foreigners with all comfort.


135


SOFT DATA

AMSTERDAM INTERVENTIONS

136

The extremely expensive and large-scale development proceeding in Amsterdam south alongside the Zuidas is not unknown to the city of Amsterdam. In the past Amsterdam has made courageous and gigantic infrastructural interventions to strengthen international competitiveness in a world where spatial economic conditions are constantly changing. Zuidas’ strive to become a international location is comparable to the development of the “Grachtengordel” in the 17th century, the 19th century North sea canal and the schiphol development in the 20th century.


17th century development of “Grachtengordel�

Excavation of 19th century North Sea Canal

Development of Schiphol in the 20th century

Creation of Zuidas as international city center.


2030

€6.200 million

€1.240 million 2005

2030

SOFT DATA

2005

€3.000 million

€100 million

INVESTING IN ZUIDAS

8th position on Mercer’s international ranking of world cities in Europe

More than 240 international investors attracted

138

Returns of 3.7 percent on housing, retail and

much interest that for every square metre of real estate there is 15 times the amount of investment capital available.


The majority of developments are privately funded. Government investment has increased by 30 during the last 25 years, as for the private investment only five times. yet the Dutch government financed the most of the infrastructure located in the Zuidas which was a catalyst for private funding. By 2030 the public funding will be one third of the total investment in the Zuidas. These number reveals that comapnies and people trust this location with their money and do see a potential for a great return on investment. With the excellent infrastructure implimented in Zuidas more Dutch and global companies and businesses join the financial mile district. This need to invest and occupy a headquaters in Zuidas by companies is strengthen by the Brexit innitative. multinational offices located in London would have to secure a building plot in Europe, the Zuidas would seem a prime location for this future investment. Although a mixed use enviroment was proposed in the Zuidas originally, not as many square meter of residential space has been built as predicted due to the recent recession in 2008 many investors played it save by investing in office buildings to guarantee their return on investment. Yet more private inestments are realised as planned, functional diversity will inhabit all zones of the area. Top European brands, stylish restuarants and exculsive cafe’s and shop would be shattered all around the district entertaining office workers during luch breaks and in after hours. Ultimately creating a vibrant, attractive 24 hour area.


INTERNATIONAL POPULATION 53,000 employees

Companies: 1150

Catering: 459

Services: 11739

Offices: 25701 Shops: 139

SOFT DATA

24,000 employees

1000 employees

2005

2030 609

Built 200.000m2

SE RV

To be Realised 400.000m2

HOU SIN G

ES IC

To be Realised 600.000m2

450

851

Built 1.000.000m2 671 OFFICES

Built 900.000m2

To be Realised 300.000m2

362

Division of functions

289

7,332

347 5,898 499

207 139

9,887

336

350 4,396

1,340 1165

267 30 9

12

8

13

11 18

11 18

81 87

53 66 96 96 Zuidas Population Diversity 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 (2005-2017) Zuidas Population Diversity (2005-2017)

140

56 71 100 2010

200 225

294

322

168 2011

2012

2013

2014

419

2015

2016

2017


ZUIDAS is a prime international location for living, working and recreation. It is located in the vibrant city of Amsterdam, only minutes away from one of Europe’s leading international airports: Schiphol Amsterdam Airport. Zuidas is best known as a top-level international knowledge and business centre. Over 700 companies, many of them leading names, are already established here. It is less known that Zuidas also provides an excellent residential environment, with ample hotel and leisure facilities. Nearly 1,500 housing units have already been built. With around 7,000 homes by 2040, Zuidas is one of Amsterdam’s most prominent housing location. As Amsterdam’s population is growing by 15,000 inhabitants each year, immediate decisions are needed.


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ZUIDAS STATION’S STRUGGLE AS GATE TO AMSTERDAM For many decades the Amsterdam South Within the “vision for Zuidas” made station has never really considered as a by the municipality of 1998 and 2004 it front door to the city of Amsterdam. Yet tries to make the South as a “top locawith this article one can recognize that tion” by adding attractive housing and times are changing and the Zuidas sta- a cultural milieu. But with the recession tion has earn to become the 21st century of 2008, investor halted with investing doorway to Amsterdam due to its status in most of the buildings of the Zuidas, of becoming one of the social, dynamic with a little still playing it save by inand financial hubs of Europe. When re- vesting in offices buildings. All cultural flecting on the history of the station one related buildings and most of the houscan observe amount of potential prob- ing projects were canceled. Among lems that lead to the station never receiv- these investments were Musical theater ing its status as doorway to Amsterdam. Van den Ende and the Design Museum. When observing Berlage’s Plan Zuid of 1914 , he placed Amsterdam South station at the bottom of the his north-south axis. Berlage wanted the station to be a large monumental station which would take centre stage in the new urban plan. The station was to be quoted: “ a second central station of Amsterdam.” Oddly enough city planners at that time did not agree with Berlage, only 61 years later a simple train station was realized. The out of place villa district located just north of the Zuidas was originally planned to be part of Plan Zuid but was replaced by a villa district probably because at that time it was located on the edge of the city giving a luxurious view over the countryside. But with the extension of the city i.e. the a10 highway and sixties and seventies housing projects built just south of the villa district, this area has become out of place and made the South station a odd place to enter the city of Amsterdam. If Berlage’s original plan was executed or kept in mind by future city planners, the (monumental) axis would have given Zuidas station more confidence and purpose to become a doorway to the city. 142

Finally to achieve the status of global hub Amsterdam south station must acquire a high speed train system. Without this significant investment the hub can not support its mobile citizens, businessmen and tourist and hope to become the new gateway to the city of Amsterdam.


WELCOMING LANDMARKS As Zuidas becomes part of an European network of hubs, and might even grows to become the most influenctial and largest hub, the Zuidas must acquire a landmark that welcome its mobile loyal citizens, mobile businessmen and eager to explore tourists. There are similiar landmarks worldwide which have these noticable trademarks:

?

The statue of Liberty became an icon of freedom and of the United States of America, and was a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad. The statue would be the first thing the foreigners would see when entering New York city by boat during the 19th & 20th century.

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The Arc de Triomphe has always been welcoming sight to French soldiers returning to Paris from battles in foreign lands. Famous victory marches around or under the Arc have included the French in 1919, the Germans in 1940, and the French and Allies in 1944 and 1945.

One of the most iconic and recognizable sign’s in America and probably around the world. the Las Vegas sign greets millions of visitors each year. The sign has become part of the Las Vegas culture and goes hand-in-hand with it’s famous slogan: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” One of the newest aditions to the City of Rotterdam, the Central station building does not dissapoint when approaching and exiting the train station. The building’s colossal size and strong triangular-like form displays power.

143


SOFT DATA

ZUIDAS’ COLOSSUS OF RHODES

144

In conclusion I believe that we are currently only acknowledging the establishment of the Zuidas as a multi-disciplinary hub. The Zuidas however has the potential to become an internationally acclaimed integrated and mobile network amid other major European city hubs. Multicultural boutiques and entertainments surrounding office space of globally renowned organizations and companies. Various well-connected infrastructural options are available to the inhabitant and visitors of the Zuidas. With this in mind a building complex flowing from a masterminded architectural design will visually display the mobility of the global district known as the AZD (Amsterdam Zuidas District), but also illuminate the economical strength and global culture of the hub.




SLOW MOTION Michal Strupinski Cities do not change as quickly and radically as some science-fiction authors imagined in the 70’s and 80’s. A few decades have passed and we still don’t have flying cars, hover skateboards and every piece of land covered in skyscrapers. What does change, however, is how we move around the city, although maybe not in as spectacular way as we expected. 80 years ago hardly anyone owned an autmobile, 40 years ago cars completely re-shaped our cities and today we realise it’s clearly not the transport of the future. In the next 40 years central Amsterdam might still not be covered in futuristic skyscrapers. We might go to the same restaurants and tourist might still make photos near the I amsterdam sign. What will be undoubtedly different though is our transportation habits and in effect the public realm, so higly influenced by them. References: Source Book, p. 56-57; 182-185


Communication Central Amsterdam is surrounded by the A10 highway ring, developed from 1962 to 1990. Attached to it are five highways linking Amsterdam with the rest of the Netherlands and the Randstad urban area.

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The ring takes the heaviest car traffic and, wrapping around the historical centre, protects its narrow streets from flood of vehicles. Transit traffic goes around the city instead of through the middle of it and cars moving to regions such as Zuidas doesn’t interfere much with movement inside the city. The ring is also the transition point for those travelling from outside the city. Well connected on international level, especially thanks to the Schipol airport, the city have to deal with an immense number of people. Instead of getting stuck in traffic jams along the canals travellers can follow advices of most tourist guides “do not take your car into the city centre� and park their cars on on of the P+R facilities located around the ring. Personally, my only trip to Amsterdam by car during the morning peak hours was so annoying due to traffic jams that the Arena parking lot was a blessing, and I would rather burn the car rather than try to get it on the other side of the ring. Therefore, the inner circle of the city is the realm of slow motion - pedestrians and cyclists. When we consider that 22% of commuting that belongs to the cars(explained later in this text) focuses mostly on and beyond the ring, the centre belongs to the people much more than it would seem from the statistics. 148


149

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Density

150

If we compare Amsterdam to other European cities it might not feel as a huge metropolis. Much smaller than London and much less dense than Paris it could seem like a tiny town next to it’s bigger brothers. However, when we compare these cities from the individual, pederstrian perspective and not by raw numbers Amsterdam looks completely different. Firstly, it is the use of public transport. London and Paris have higly developed metro systems, while the one in Amsterdam is hardly visible. In fact, it covers less than 5% of daily commuting in the city. In Paris it is 20%. In effect, this 20% dissapears from the public realm of the streets and sight of co-commuters. In Amsterdam all the movement happens on the level 0 of the streets and sidewalks, narrowed down even further by canals. Secondly, it is the use of bicycles. A cyclist maintain a much more direct contact with the street life than a car driver or a passenger on a bus. He acts almost like a slightly faster moving pedestrian - he can stop at any time, wherever he wants, he can change direction or speed and is not limited too strictly to rules of traffic (especially in Amsterdam, sweet Gods). He contributes to the public life, but also takes considerably more space than a regular pedestrian. That means, the same amount of cyclists create a feeling of much thicker traffic than pedestrians. Finally are the cars. With 22% of daily commuting Amsterdam has significantly less car traffic than London, although it is still twice as much than in Paris. Despite fearsome parking fees in the centre the city is flooded with vehicles, although it’s quite a way below Eurpoean capitals average.

bus/tram metro

Paris

car walking and cycling

bus/tram metro

Amsterdam car

walking and cycling

walking and cycling

bus/tram metro

London

car


The density of Paris is 21.000 people per square kilometer, four times more than Amsterdam’s. However, if we’d like to calculate a more subjective density of daily traffic, with consideration of the factors above, the proportions are not so drastic, even if we take 15,6 milion tourists in Paris and 5,3 milon in Amsterdam into account.

20%(as mentioned earlier) of commuting in Paris is done by metro, which reduces street level traffic. Only 10% are the cars, a transport that take much more public area than all the others combined. Pedestrians make up to 53%. Pedestrians in Amsterdam are only 30%, but another 30% and much more space are the cyclists. Only 5% vanishes from the street level with metro and 22% is the use of cars.

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Around 25% of Amsterdam area is water and 64% of the land is open space (104 sq km). In Paris, thanks mostly to Haussmann, there is only 32% of open space (33,6 sq km).

When we transcript these numbers into volumes taking up streets Amsterdam is no longer four times less dense than Paris. The calculation, despite being rather rough, is still able to show that the most dense city in Europe has only (more or less) 1,7 thicker daily traffic than Amsterdam. Despite being supported by the raw numbers this calculation is highly subjective and reflects the feeling of dense traffic from perspective of a cyclist or pedestrian on street level only - as it has the strongest impact on the street public life.

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Tools

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To encourage slow movement a city needs specific tools that are used by the pedestrians. In contrast to cars and public transport, people walking or cycling are actively participating in the street public life. They do not have a strictly fixed path to follow, more likely a general route that might change depending on current needs, mood or even boredom. Unlike using a bus or metro, they need to pay attention on the way and actively navigate in the city. Kevin Lynch in his book The Image of the City defined basic elements that allow a pedestrian to read the urban structure of the city and translate it into a mental map that, according to Lynch, we automatically draw in our minds whenever we move around any space.

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The elements that he calls paths, edges, nodes, districts and landmarks are nothing else than means to create a communication system based on walking. A city of continuous blocks not different from each other is not walkable, as a traveller might get lost at any point of it, or even decide not to walk at all, if there is nthing that would grab his attention on the way. In the way-finding process a specificly interesting role play the landmarks. The are reference points on the path and together they form a sequence that allow a walker navigate in space and sucessfully reach its destination point.


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Transition One of the most prominent examples of transition points in Amsterdam between international, large scale and high speed movement to the local scale of pedestrians and cyclists, is Zuidas. Located around a piece of southern ring and close to two highway junctions is a significant communication node merging together many types of transport. How does the connection work though? Is the transition node a connection between outside and inside city, or a destination itself? Maybe the transition is in fact a breach in continuity of movement and it alienates the inside and outside city.

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Images on the right present the most probable and efficient walking way from the area near one of the P+R parkings to the Dam Square. The street sections show somewhat drastic change in perception the moment a person leave the financial area and walk into wide green boulevards of neighbourhood of suburban character.

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The way is not clear, and to find the right path the person would need to know the area quite well. Even then, however, it could get lost on the way. The path lacks significant places of reference points until the Museumsplein, where the walkability visibly increases - a more clear idea of destination appears and the pedestrian becomes the main character of mobility rather than insignificant being. 1.

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An example of connection increasing walkability is the axis of Louvre - La Defense in Paris. It is a strong visual connection between two very distant districts of much different purposes one is the financial centre, the other one of the most popular tourist destination. In the middle is the meeting point - the Arch of Triumph, tying the point together and creating a strong reference point or, following Lynch, a landmark and a node.

As mentioned in ‘The rediscovery of pedestrian 12 european cities’: “The length of pedestrian streets does not affect the willingness of people to use them.”

Although the axis is way too long to be a standard path for casual weekend walks, it does support walkability.

No one reads this. Today I had some scrambled eggs and bacon. God I love bacon. (31.10.2017)

A pedestrian might walk just a fracture of the whole axis itself, but the visual connection gives a feeling of integrity between the current location and the distant one, as it is a single, coherent urban form.


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In the area of southern Amsterdam, Oud Zuid, H.P. Berlage designed an axis in the centre of his urban plan from 1915. With two major landmarks on both ends it seems that it was meant to create a connection between the new region under construction and already existing part. I see a strong similarity of purpose between the wide, green boulevard designed by Berlage and ChampsElysees of Paris, especially today when around the Amsterdam Zuid station the new financial centre emerged, analogical to La Defense. The pedestrian axis of Berlage doesn’t take part in connecting the city. The problem lies not in its location, but in lack of attractors that could encourage its use. Separation of functions along the axis does not support public life that would need connection with the plinth of the buildings to create a pedestrian movement.

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While cars did not take over the boulevard itself, it dominated its ends - the landmarks. The southern station hardly exists to an observer from the street level and the highway overpass does not support public life near it.

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On the other end the Hilton hotel stands in place of an originally planned art school. It plays hardly any function in the public sphere and a large parking in front of it annected what could be an interesting square and attractor for pedestrians coming from Amsterdam Zuid station. Even though Minervaplein is strictly designed for pedestrians - the

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bridges above the canals are definitely too narrow to allow cars - it’s structure and connection potential is ironically not noticeable to a passer-by. Rijksmuseum and Museumplein could be an example of a public space designed as a walkable gateway into the city and then murdered with a horrific amount of cars, cabs and buses. Its transformation revealed its true potential as not only tourists come to take a picture of I amsterdam sign, but also locals - even just to sit on the grass and enjoy a rare pleasure of a not-rainy day.


Perhaps the solution for communication of the city and detachment of the centre from it separately developed satellites does not need to rely only on hi tech technologies, self-driven cars, hyperloop or taxi drones. To avoid Amsterdam becoming an open-air museum, as stated in the 70’:“Amsterdam (...) faces severe decay because the city has not been able to create the right balance of functions in its core.”

A connection is needed, such as between Zuidas and Museumkwartier. A connection made with the oldest existing transportation on foot. As mentioned earlier, this type of communication involves necessary elements and tools, just like any other transport. The investigation on what does it take to allow or improve walkability in the city, especially from architectural perspective, will be one of the topics in further chapters. Michal Strupinski

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How could the Berlage axis work if the cars were gone from its landmarks?

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SLOW MOTION

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Cities do not change as quickly and radically as some science-fiction authors imagined in the 70’s and 80’s. A few decades have passed and we still don’t have flying cars, hover skateboards and every piece of land covered in skyscrapers. What does change, however, is how we move around the city, although maybe not in as spectacular way as we expected. 80 years ago hardly anyone owned an autmobile, 40 years ago cars completely re-shaped our cities and today we realise it’s clearly not the transport of the future. In the next 40 years central Amsterdam might still not be covered in futuristic skyscrapers. We might go to the same restaurants and tourist might still make photos near the I amsterdam sign. What will be undoubtedly different though is our transportation habits and in effect the public realm, so higly influenced by them.

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BICYCLE Yishan Du In Amsterdam, most people travel by bike, and for good reason. In larger towns – with more than 10,000 inhabitants – a cyclist will on average reach his destination 10 percent faster than a car driver. Plus it’s calmer, cheaper, you don’t have any delays or traffic jams to contend with and you get to really take in the city. In the issue of Plan Amsterdam, mobility has seen a massive increase in Amsterdam since the 1960’s. This has had a substantial impact on the city’s infrastructure, notably the realisation of a cutting-edge cycle network. Although the bicycle is an important reason that the city is still easily accessible, there are also some downsides. Parking has become a real problem. This article also delves deeper into the cycle infrastructure. References: Source Book, p. 58-59; 186-191


How Amsterdam became the bicycle

There was a time, in the 1950s a expelled from Dutch cities by the

the Dutch economy began to boom in the post-war era, more and more people were able to afford cars, and urban policymakers came to view the car as the In the 1960s planners viewed t travel mode of the future. Entire the future, and swaths of the c Amsterdam neighbourhoods way for motorised traffic. were destroyed to make way for Photograph: Fotocollectie Ane motorised traffic. The use of aal Archief bikes decreased by 6% every year, and the general idea was that bicycles would eventually disappear altogether.

The Netherlands – possessing few hills and a mild climate – had 100 a great tradition of cycling to begin with and the bike was never completely marginalised as it was in some other countries 80

60

40

20 1920

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bicycle capital of the world

e 1950s and 60s, when cyclists were under severe threat of being es by the growing number of cars.

viewed the car as the travel mode of of the city were destroyed to make fic. ectie Anefo/Society for the Nation-

Stop de Kindermoord the First Only Real Dutch Cyclists’ Union

All that growing traffic took its toll. The number of traffic casualties rose to a peak of 3,300 deaths in 1971. More than 400 children were killed in traffic accidents that year.

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Sloterdijk Station Central Station

Beursplein Muntplein Leidseplein

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CURRENT: PARKING HOTSPOTS

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Forecast of bicycle parking at Central station and other hotspots. Graph: Department of Infrastructure, Traffic and Transportation

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CURRENT: BICYCLE NETWORK IN ZUIDAS

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Zuidas cycling network vision

Legend untangled route with no or little car traffic and a minimum of barriers route along major road with destinations route on wish list potential untangled route (D en E on the map) not (yet) realized of temporary out of order)

A high share of cycling in the modal split offers great benefits for the accessibility, livability and livelihood of the Zuidas. But the increase in car traffic and the increasingly densely-built area form a significant threat to the safety and comfort of cyclists as well as the flow of all forms of traffic. In order to better accommodate the growing numbers of cyclists, the Zuidas needs more bicycle facilities (both routes and parking) while the growth of car traffic should be restricted. The Network of Cycling Routes 1. The cycling network should become more densely meshed. The current mesh size is (much) larger than the recommended 300 meters (with the A10 being the important bottleneck).

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2. The bicycle routes must be direct, safe, fast and comfortable. 3. Distinguish untangled routes (i.e. those with no or little car traffic and a minimum of barriers) from routes along major roads with destinations. 4. In many places, bidirectional bike paths are necessary along the major roads in order to achieve a good flow and an easy access to destinations. 5. All plans for the Zuidas should include a proper traffic study in which the networks for cyclists and pedestrians are a priority. 6. Increasing the number of North-South cycle routes between Buitenveldertselaan and Amstelveenseweg should be a priority as should an East-West cycle route (as unbundled as can be) between the De Boelelaan and the A10 (the Mahler route).


Bicycle Parking

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Stalls and route information system in Zuidas

7.Attractive through routes in the Zuidas, as well as good links to (long-distance) cycling routes to surrounding areas, should be preserved and improved upon in order to facilitate long distance cycling. Bicycle Parking 1.Meet bicycle parking needs and ensure adequate management. Parking at Public Transportation Hubs 2.Distribute bike parking facilities among various entrances which can be accessed from all directions and design a smooth passage between the bike parking areas and the station platforms. 3.Develop a reliable and robust referral system to indicate available bike parking locations. 4.Make the cycling routes around Amsterdam Zuid station bidirectional so cyclists can flexibly access available bike

parking locations. Parking in Residential and Commercial Areas 5.Not only the government, but also those who generate a demand for bike parking (businesses, home builders, railways) are (financially) responsible for bicycle parking facilities. 6.(Indoor) bicycle parking facilities must be at least as accessible as parking garages are for cars. Ambitious and International 7.Promote bicycle usage in the Zuidas and discourage car usage. 8.Allow the Zuidas to profile itself worldwide as a leader in sustainable mobility in a highly-urbanized area and give the bike an important role in championing sustainability. Work together with Zuidas businesses and institutions in order to accomplish this.

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FUTURE: CHANGE FROM BELOW What if ten percent of car space in the city goes to pedestrians and cyclists? Mobility is and remains a huge topic. The car is becoming an increasingly prominent place. It’s all about proximity and ‘experience’. Technological developments reinforce this trend. By 2025, the citizen refurbished the city by car. 1. BACK THEN. We thought the future lifestyle is car The fifties were a low point for cycling in Amsterdam. After the war, politicians on the left promoted public transportation, while politicians on the right championed the car. By the early sixties, cars were clogging up Dam Square. Rembrandtplein and Leidseplein were being turned into parking lots. It went from bad to worse: the original design of the IJtunnel featured an additional tube for pedestrians and cyclists but this was scrapped when Mayor Van Hall famously predicted: ‘Twenty years from now no one will ride a bicycle in Amsterdam.’ 2. NOW. 2015: The turning point The downside of the growth of car traffic did make us think, but did not lead to structural changes. But 2015 we can see

Public transport network in Zuidas

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FROM CAR/H TO PEOPLE/M2

as a turning point. Cities compete again for quality, even though some smaller cities still enter for free parking (the first quarter free: that draws full halls). The unlimited growth deadline has come to an end. Space for the car is no longer a priority and other elements are more important in our policy: environment, health, sociability and balance between work and leisure. We need our environment again and we use that as well. At the beginning the question was still what happens if we return 10% of the car’s space to the cyclist and pedestrian. Now we see that we have come to the point that it is not just a question of giving back (as a deliberate act of a city council) but getting back : it is coming to us and our city councils. That is what we are


Legend Current network Basic network Secondary network Residents, emergency Private cars & public transport Pedestrian & cyclists Motorised transport road

saying. 3. Learing from elsewhere Amsterdam sees in various places the response to those developments. Many of these reactions have begun bottomup, but slowly but surely a broader sequel. Case: Vitoria-Gasteiz In ten years, the north-Spanish VitoriaGasteiz transformed from an automobileoriented and polluted city to (one of its own) one of the most cycling and walkingfriendly cities in Europe. Particularly interesting in the approach of VitoriaGasteiz is the concept of Superblocks, which extensively and structurally transforms car spaces into residential and public spaces. To be accessible and attractive to

citizens and visitors, urban planners wanted ‘careful traffic planning’ within neighborhoods, streets with attention to biodiversity as a structural element and space for non-motorized traffic and accommodations. Superblocks are a conscious combination of Better Mobility, Better Public Space: they know a fast speed regime (10 km / h), urban distribution is being used and the city wants to replace private transport by electric (partial) transport. Where first 36% of the public space was intended for the pedestrian, it is 71% after launching the Superblocks. There is 33 km of footpath in the city and 91 km in the so-called Green Belt: a green ring around the city. The proportion of cars in the modal split decreased sharply, more and more cycling.

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Mobility network: Basic roads and super-blocks

Bicycle network in Zuidas

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FUTURE: E-BIKE AND ITS VARIANTS What if...

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In 2025, tram and metro are well used and walking and cycling are hugely popular. The car is no longer the symbol of freedom and convenience in the city. Road safety and air quality have been significantly improved since 2015. The walking and cycling family expanded Getting older or having a disability will decrease the possibilities for selfemployed mobility over time, but this process has been delayed by the possibilities of the e-bike. Since the development of the safety bicycle in 1885, the technique of the bicycle has become increasingly sophisticated, with the base of the popular vehicle remaining more or less stable for a long time. Although the first ideas and patents already in the 90s for an electric bike 19 ecentury, it was only in 1998 that a first twowheeler manufacturer tackled the further development of the electric bicycle. This was the Dutch company Sparta. During this period, the development of better lighter batteries was a spearhead. With the ever lighter and smaller of the batteries, the application capabilities increased enormously, leading to the creation of a range of vehicles that no longer belong in the rigid categories of pedestrian, bicycle, scooter, moped, car ‘. Instead, there was a spectrum of vehicles that we now consider to be the “walking and cycling family�. There were also increasing numbers of elderly and disabled people on custom bikes in traffic. Where the tricycle and tandem previously triggered some feelings of embarrassment, we have happily passed that station for a long time. What the popularity of the e-bike and its variants has offered to our society Because people increasingly chose 172

a form of (e) bicycle transport and walking, whether in combination with the train, tram, metro or car, they made opportunities in our cities and for society. Some opportunities have been more used and strengthened over the past few years than others, and this also varies by city and region. The discussion that was launched in 2010 on the safety and comfort of cyclists with different speeds on the cycle path led to various studies, after which a lot of discussion was discussed in 2016 about the speed of vehicles in the city and the use of space by the various vehicles. Following the results of these studies and the discussion, a maximum speed 30 mph was introduced for all vehicles in the city, which further elaborated the job for the e-bike and its variants. This led to the changes in the layout of streets and roads within the built-up area that are still being carried out in refurbishments. Studies show that this has benefited road safety. Elevated cycle lanes This is the outline for a proposal for a new kind of elevated cycle way. The sky cycle way is an elevated cycle network which reduces commute time for travel for cyclists. This network turns any city into a flat Amsterdam or Cambridge. it is believed to be the lowest cost for installation for any personal rapid transit system. Reduced journey times by using the elevated nature of the network it is not necessary to stop at each junction. This reduces journey time and significantly reduces energy consumption. Safety Unlike at grade cycle networks, The elevated cycle network with Lighting at night, with limited entrances and exits, with constant surveillance camera and a dedicated security team means a stronger safety environment.


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HOVENRING, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 2012

The Bicycle Snake, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2010-2014

Xiamen Bicycle Skyway, Xiamen, China, 2016-2017

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NETWORK: CHOICE INSTEAD OF MIX

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As the city wants to facilitate the rapid growth in bicycle use in recent years and aspires to even more growth, it needs to rethink parts of its infrastructure: a system in which, in general, no more than a couple of different modes of transport take precedence in a single street; for instance, superblocks and elevated cycle lanes. This kind of system will partly replace the principal networks policies that tried to facilitate all the different modes of transport in a street, irrespective of its width. The new approach calls for clearer and more specific choices: bicycles could take precedence over cars on one street, but be banned to give more room to cars on another street. Finding new ways to design our roads according to this new principle is the challenge ahead of us.




SOCIAL JUSTICE IN OUDZUID Blanka Borbely Increased globalisation, inner- and crosscountry migration flows result in compositions of highly mixed demographical groups coexisting in close proximity from one another. There is consequently a common tendency on our site that newcomers and low-income people are being pushed to the peripheries of dense urban nodes. While there are still a number of social housing blocks in Oud Zuid that are owned by housing associations, they are continuously occupied by generations of families, and are therefore not accessible for new arrivals. This can increase the emergence or the enhancement of conditions such as social marginalisation and stigmatisation. This research is an investigation of how social housing is related to questions of economics, politics, and urban- and architectural planning in and around the Oud Zuid area. References: Source Book, p. 60-61; 192-197


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Increasing disparity in the architectural and urban fabric of Amsterdam According to contemporary urban theory, cities can be understood as nodes of condensed urban centrality, made up of a variety of different economic, cultural, and social densities. The question of what constitutes as ‘urban’ and what is understood as ‘rural’ is being revisited. (Brenner, Schmid, 2013). An emerging notion is that ‘the urban unfolds into the countryside just as the countryside folds back into the city’. (Merrifield, 2011) This creates a much loser definition of city borders. To give an example, Amsterdam as a whole can be considered as one dense urban node in its national context, but it can also be divided into different, smaller entities, made up of concentrations such as specified functions or demographical groups. This is partially a result of decentralisation. Areas such as Zuidas, the museum district, or the old city centre are all, in their own ways, urban nodes, tied together by less specified, or less dense urban fabric. Districts and boundaries therefore need to be rethought. This cannot be done based merely on statistics, but also by taking into consideration consequent socio-economical mechanisms as well. Urban development in world cities such as Amsterdam right now is primarily governed by economical factors, and therefore the dynamics of mobility happen along the main axis of financially lucrative areas. Developers tend to put enhancing competitiveness and tourism, as well as attracting the most profitable businesses at the forefront of city planning. Governmental influences and policies are key in influencing these processes, but as long as they overlook 178

the one-sidedness of such strategies, the urban fabric will continue to become more and more fragmented. Increased globalisation, inner- and cross-country migration flows result in compositions of highly mixed demographical groups coexisting in close proximity from one another. There is consequently a common tendency in cities that newcomers and lowincome people are being pushed to the peripheries of dense urban zones. (Hall, Savage, 2015) While there are still a number of social housing blocks in Oud Zuid that are owned by housing associations, they are continuously occupied by generations of families, and are therefore not accessible for new arrivals. This can increase the emergence or the enhancement of conditions such as social marginalisation and stigmatisation. Moving along the main axis of Oud Zuid, the changing architectural character of different zones is a clear reflection of the social status, and sometimes of the occupation of residents and users. There is a notable gap between the social position and income of the residents of the outer city areas and of the inner city districts. In cities such as Paris or London, the differences between central nodes and peripheral zones is even more striking. In many cases, areas outside the inner areas tend to be extremely badly maintained, and primarily populated with disadvantaged, marginalised minorities. In Amsterdam, differences in quality of public space and architecture is perhaps not as visible as it is in the former mentioned urban areas. However, if the complexity of urban assemblages is further reduced to the factors of statistics


The redefinition of city borders

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Amsterdam in 1850 and in 2017

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and financial factors as the city grows, the future development of the city is at risk of exhibiting increasing disparity as well.

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The history of social developments in Our Zuid The Oud Zuid area today is primarily residential. It is one of the most dense districts within the City of Amsterdam. Demographically, it is mainly composed of a mixture of wealthy, educated Dutch, and other Western population. In contrast, however, most of the housing in the area was initially built with a very strong socialist incentive in order to to provide the working- and middle-classes with good quality, affordable housing. Much of the urban planning for the area was developed by Berlage after the introduction of the Housing Act in 1901. Housing associations worked closely with a labour-oriented city governance and with planners to directly respond to the needs of the newly arriving workers. However, the plans went further than satisfying basic needs for dwelling, such as providing sanitary conditions or access to fresh water. Berlage aimed to create a built environment that improved the lifestyle of its residents by providing them with generous, rational, high quality private and public spaces. Architecture and urban planning were designed together, and with the aim of generating an atmosphere that emphasised the ‘collective’. Urban spaces are therefore more plentiful, produced by concentrations of grand avenues, monumental squares and buildings. The arrangement of streets, blocks and green strips is highly geometrical - it is based on two pentagons, and has two axes. 180

Amsterdam city center, 2017

Buitenveldert - Amsterdam suburb, 2017

Paris city center, 2017

Bagnolet - Paris suburb, 2017


There are a variety of dwelling typologies present, such as villas, maisonettes, and bigger housing blocks accessible through communal staircases. Each of these was attached to different social positions at the time. Due to the socialist planning tendencies present, however, the most common typology is the latter one, accounting for 75% of the total of structures in the area. The typical workers’ housing is the socalled perimeter block. Its form derives from the architecture of the garden city movement, combined with explorations of the plasticity and sculptural qualities of brickwork. The result is a merger of an ordered, monumental layout on the urban scale with the traditional Dutch attitude towards more picturesque expressions on an architectural level. The overall

outcome was a neighbourhood where social status was slightly differentiated, but not through the quality of housing or the public realm, rather through architectural stylistic expression.

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De Dageraad social housing, picture by Klaas Schoof, 2017

Correlations between the level of social justice and the changing urban fabric Considering this, the current fragmentation within the socio-spatial fabric of the Oud Zuid and adjoining outer neighbourhoods in relation to the level of social justice executed can be questioned. Today, as the prices of the properties within the old Berlage plan went up, the working classes live outside the ring zone, in lower-quality modernist blocks, separated from the inner city by vast spatial barriers such 181


as intense infrastructure and the new business district. This means that certain amenities related for instance to culture or to education are less accessible to them. This can get in the way of social integration or of finding work.

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To understand how this is related to architecture and urban planning, it is important to gain a general understanding of what social justice actually is. As defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), social justice is closely related to personal safety, health, sanitation, access to clean water, shelter, energy, food, education, etc. While these are undoubtedly major factors that all should be met to achieve an appropriate level of life quality, it might also seem reductionist to assume that satisfying these basic human needs across different social groups is enough to reduce sociospatial disparities. David Harvey for instance emphasises that social costs need to be taken into account alongside efficiency, meaning that if, for example, a social group is put at a disadvantage compared to other groups for the sake of short-term profit, said demographic is likely to become a source of inefficiency later on (1998). Referring back to the examples of bigger world cities, if newcomers and low-income people are being pushed further and further away from urban nodes, upcoming generations in these neighbourhoods grow up gated from local communities. As a result, their integration into the workforce, can become difficult, along with decreasing the level of sociocultural encounters between them, and local communities. Following Harvey’s analogy, this, on the whole, results in an 182

economical disadvantage on a wider, national level. Latter definition, although broader than a mere listing of material goods that influence social justice, is still quite financially-driven. Nancy Fraser has a different take on the issue, stating that there are two basic forms of social justice, one being recognition, the other redistribution. Latter has a similar meaning to Harvey’s, meaning that it is about the just assignment of material goods. Fraser says, however, that this alone cannot be successful enough in creating socially sustainable, wellfunctioning societies. She emphasises that for that, it is important to achieve a state ‘where assimilation to majority or dominant cultural norms is no longer the price of equal respect’ (Fraser, 1996). Deborah Leslie and J. P. Catungal (2012) go even further, integrating the previously mentioned ideas, but also stating that social justice is also very much connected to flows of power, opportunity, procedures, and culture. It is also interesting to see that nowadays fragmentation does not only exist between Oud Zuid and its neighbouring districts, but also within the site itself. Though seemingly a homogenous elite neighbourhood, Hall and Savage point out that even within such areas, there are so-called ‘micro geographies’ that are strongly tied to architectural spaces. Their studies show that within similar urban landscapes, people’s range of social contacts is highly limited to others with close socio-spatial approximation to them, and to people with similar occupations. Businessmen will, for instance, primarily congregate in



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business districts, designers and artists in the cultural district, lawyers in the law district. The question then rises: how can architecture and urban planning influence these issues, and can it help with decreasing social disparities within, and surrounding the Oud Zuid area?

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While making affordable housing available to newcomers who have the potential to contribute to the local economy was strongly considered during the planning and construction of the residential areas in Oud Zuid, the changing conditions in housing prices, social fabric, and political factors will not allow for the integration of newcomers, and of middle- or lowerincome people in the area today. As mentioned before, there are strong spatial barriers separating people residing in the inner city from people living in the outskirts of the area. Outside the city ring zone, a big percentage of affordable housing also tends to be tied to a strong modernist architectural language, which can create stigma. A previous example of this in Amsterdam is for example the case of the Bijlmer, which exhibited failure of design, but also of policy making. Therefore it should be at the forefront of city developments to improve the quality of peripheral neighbourhoods through introducing contemporary architectural interventions and amenities that attract locals, as well as newcomers. It is also important to note that top-down architectural and urban planning alone cannot be effective enough. Bottom-up approaches that encourage community involvement can result in more personal proposals that directly serve communities’ needs.

Possible future tendencies Following the main axis of the Berlage plan, there are a number of different social housing types to be observed. Plan Zuid contained many buildings commissioned by the municipality under the leadership of the Social Democrats, such as ‘De Dageraad’. De Dageraad was originally a cooperative, operating bakeries and grocery stores in the area, before they established their housing association to place 294 residential units in the area for employees. The relationship between these cooperatives and the workers was at the time was therefore quite personal. The architecture of the ‘De Dageraad’ building is similar to other building blocks of the Plan Zuid. Designed in the Amsterdam School style by Michel de Klerk and Piet Kramer in 1918, it has a unified shape and facade to emphasise the community feeling. Tenants were part of a collective. Similarly, modernist areas such as Buitenveldert have a unified architectural language, however, the political background, the attitude towards planning, and the relationship between workers and cooperatives has changed by the time such social housing units were erected. The relationship between workers and employers became less direct, and more corporate. Standardisation and cheap materials became common, and in many cases lead to decreased building quality and bad performance. These types of homes can be less future-proof, and less sustainable. Buitenveldert has generous public areas, just as Plan Zuid, but most of the free space has no public function, and the


Past tendencies In the past, especially after the Industrial Revolution, and up until the end of the 20th Century, the working industry and housing associations worked closely together to provide arrivals with appropriate accommodation, as well as work. This process was closely monitored by the municipality. Many times, cooperatives in the city were both employers and managed dwelling opportunities for their employers. This close relationship later on losened, and housing associations are much more commercialised today. City governance still continues to monitor both their, and the working industry’s activities, although the two are treated as two separate issues.

Presently, the relationship between the working industry and housing associations is distant. It is no longer general practice for arrivals to be able to find accommodation through their employers. Due to the general housing shortage, and specific policies, there is currently an insufficient amount of dwellings that are available to rent. Therefore finding accommodation in close proximity of workplaces is a struggle in Amsterdam, especially in densely built-up areas, such as Oud Zuid. In response, platforms such as Airbnb have become the main providers for short-term solutions in the housing market.

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Present tendencies

Future tendencies According to analysis done by Capital Value in 2016, while the number of dwellings will continue to grow, the number of available rented housing will decrease. As most of Oud Zuid is too densely built up, construction projects are more likely to take place in peripheral areas, where the housing stock is aging (e.g. Buitenveldert). Meanwhile, apartments in the Oud Zuid area might get further divided to suit the needs of short-term tenants. It could be possible that in the future, employers and housing associations will once again develop a closer relationship out of necessity and for practical reasons.

185


Structure of the Dutch Residential Market, Statistics by CBS, 2017

greenery is negligently maintained. It is primarily residential due to modernist zoning, with the exception of small retail spaces that sometimes occupy the ground floor areas facing busier roads. It feels like a completely separate entity from the rest of Amsterdam. The blocks along De Boelelaan have recently been renovated and given new office functions on the sides facing Zuidas. Despite this slight transition between the business district and the residential area, the latter blocks still act as walls dividing two completely different worlds. Working and dwelling are no longer connected, at least not in the case of people who live in Buitenveldert. 186

Most housing developments in the area are happening in Zuidas at the moment. A research by Capital Value (2016) indicates that due to an increase in external migration balances, the demand for affordable housing is growing faster than expected. They also found that even though in reaction, the housing stock is growing, these changes can mainly be seen in the owner-occupied sector, while the percentage of available rented housing will decrease and become more and more insufficient. This is partially due to construction levels, but is also a result of too many rental houses being withdrawn


Airbnb listings in Oud Zuid and Buitenveldert, 2017

from the market by both housing associations and investors. They predict that the biggest shortage is to be seen in Amsterdam in 2020. In 2015, a new Housing Act was introduced, as the government was of the opinion that housing associations have conducted too many activities that fall outside their core task. The new Act therefore severely restricts the housing associations’ sphere of activity to perform services of general economic interest (SGEI [DAEB - Diensten van Algemeen Economisch Belang]). They are now also each restricted to an assigned working area. As a result of this, housing

entire home

room(s)

associations are selling properties that do not fit the target group (non-SGEI), or are outside of their assigned sites. At the same time, they are facing huge difficulties, due to the great demand for new developments, while also having to transform and redevelop their outdated houses. In order to be able to keep up with the demands of the market, they need investors. These are generally banks, however, they are not yet willing to provide financing for housing that is non-SGEI. This means new difficulties for newcomers, and lower-, and middle187


SOFT DATA

income people who are looking for rented housing. Therefore, the question arises whether there should again be a stronger relationship between employment opportunities and dwelling, in order to allow future employees to be able to find affordable housing. Otherwise, the demand for rented housing will be insufficiently substituted by solutions such as Airbnb. The above map shows the latest statistics regarding the number of available flats, houses and rooms advertised on Airbnb. The Buitenveldert area has 160 listings, out of which 73.1% is for entire houses/ apartments. The total number in the Oud Zuid area is 1,010, out of which 82.3% is for whole properties. Due to the trends described by Capital Value, these amounts are expected to grow, although new regulations now restrict owners to rent out whole properties for more than 60 days as of 2017. The Buitenveldert district, however, has a rapidly aging housing stock. As a result of the new Housing Act, it is likely that many of the structures there will get sold or redeveloped. The stakes are high for the renewal of such areas. Questions of social justice and sustainability should be taken into careful consideration. There are already experiments to bring housing, work, and residents closer together once again. Some of the blocks next to Zuidas in Buitenveldert for instance have been redeveloped into mixed-use buildings that now have work spaces along with residences. It is questionable, however, how effective this in itself is for encouraging social integration. Cohousing projects can sometimes be good examples of this, as they recognise that developments that are not responding to community needs, and are separated 188

from local communities either spatially or by architectural and urban language are sources of inequality in social and economical terms. These kinds of projects make integration difficult, and are therefore not socially sustainable. Most co-housing projects are fairly new, and therefore their long-term effect is yet too difficult to evaluate. Two of the more popular examples in Amsterdam are the Vrijburcht organised by CASA Architects, and the redevelopment of a housing block in the Bijlmermeer by NL Architects and XVW Arcitectuur. They, however, do not offer rental accommodation. They are based on the concept that everyone buys and apartment within the unit, and then redevelops it according to their individual needs. In terms of revitalisation, the latter example seemed to be quite successful. The Bijlmermeer used to be a no-go area, deemed to be dangerous and badly maintained. This caused some of its blocks to become almost completely uninhibited. The renewal project has seemed to at least somewhat turn this perception around, however, the new residents may not have been that disadvantaged to begin with in terms of social connections, work, or budget. On the bigger scale, the project has nevertheless attention to the whole neighbourhood, and created a more positive image of it. The same is true of the Vrijburcht, although the area was not as troubled as the Bijlmermeer to begin with. These projects are ‘social’ in the way they create a more active community involvement and take the whole neighbourhood into account, however, they seem less socially involved when it comes to helping people who are being pushed out of inner city zones. Still, some of their ideas might bring us closer to a solution that could in other forms encourage socio-spatial integration.


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The redevelopment of a housing block in the Buitenveldert by Hans van Heeswijk Architects, 2017

The redevelopment of a housing block in the Bijlmermeer by NL Architects and XVW Arcitectuur, 2017

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INCREASING SOCIAL JUSTICE Increased globalisation, inner- and crosscountry migration flows result in compositions of highly mixed demographical groups coexisting in close proximity from one another. In the past, especially after the Industrial Revolution, and up until the end of the 20th Century, employers and housing associations worked closely together to provide arrivals with appropriate accommodation. There is consequently a common tendency that newcomers and low-income people are being pushed to the peripheries of dense urban nodes, such as Oud Zuid. Therefore finding accommodation in close proximity of workplaces is a struggle in Amsterdam, leading to questions of social justice in relation to the redistribution of material goods, flows of power and opportunity. If social housing no longer enables social groups falling outside the elite to find affordable housing within dense urban nodes, what solutions can provide alternatives?

190




CULTURE IN OUD-ZUID Yucheng Wu Based on the Oud Zuid area, its development requirement offers a unique opportunity to link the regional economy with international networks and, taking into consideration a specific spatial profile, to promote new patterns of a regional city. The Zuidas is not only emerging asa a business centre of international significance, its favourable position in the traffic and transport system provides it with optimum conditions for evolution into a varied urban-centre environment. The culture of the Netherlands is diverse, reflecting regional differences as well as the foreign influences built up by centuries of the Dutch people's mercantile and explorative spirit. The Netherlands and its people have long played an important role as centre of cultural liberalism and tolerance. References: Source Book, p. 62-63; 198-203



R e m b r a n d t a n d Va n G o g h : A s k a foreigner, and he calls these two as the cultural emblems of Amsterdam. Already because of the millions of visitors from the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam can be called an international cultural center. But of course, the culture offer is broader than that. Museum collections That Amsterdam is famous for many foreigners for its museum collections and the architecture along the canals of course - is not that strange. This also applies to other cultures such as Paris and Saint Petersburg. For people who are not powerful in local language, visual arts are easily accessible, unlike theater or literature. But that is certainly not the only reason. Many Amsterdam museums coin in special exhibitions. In addition, the museums are regularly updated which has the disadvantage of being closed for a long time. World summit Also in the field of performing arts, Amsterdam has a reputation i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y. A m s t e r d a m - b a s e d companies like The National Opera, The National Ballet and the Royal Concertgebouw Workshop are among the absolute world summits. In a sense, these companies are hardly known as Amsterdam: the dancers and musicians come from all over the world. It is remarkable that also Amsterdam's Theater Group, exclusively trendy Dutch actors, throughout the

world, can find successes • from Vienna to Wuzhen. Of national importance Other aspects of the cultural life in Amsterdam count less internationally. But in the Dutch context they are definitely important. For example, publishing, journalism and the film world have their center of gravity in Amsterdam. For radio and television, this is not the case: for historical reasons, they are located in Hilversum. Nevertheless, there seems to be a trend to broadcast from Amsterdam locations, especially in talkshows and cultural programs. Cultural interest Of course, culture is not just a matter of producers: it is the consumers who ultimately determine what is viable. In that regard, the relatively young and highly educated Amsterdammers do not let themselves be untrue. They are active museum visitors and go to cultural events such as the Grachtenfestival and the Uitmarkt. Additionally, there is still room for a remarkably large number of bookstores, and the conclusion is clear: more than any other city, Amsterdam deserves the name 'cultural capital of the Netherlands'.

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The big two

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1506-1555

1566-1648

The Netherlands Netherlands The under Charles V

Revolt and the Rise of the Republic

Charles V

1500

Miracle Year

Charles V united the loosely connected territories. In so doing, he laid the foundations for a prosperous, centrally governed state.

1550

1780-1810

1810-1848

Patriots, Batavian Republic and the French

Kingdom of the Netherland

Batavian Republic

1800

The Dutch Revolt, or Eighty Years War, is the term given to the armed struggle of the Northern Netherlands to shake off Spanish rule. The Dutch Republic emerged from the conflagration as a robust sovereign state and the economic powerhouse of Europe.

1600

1885

1850-1918

Rijksmuseum constructed

Modernisation

The Netherlands shook off French in 1813. A new constitution was adopted - a monarchy - and until 1831 a union with Belgium. The country was ruled by a king with absolute power. In 1848, revolutionary reforms set up a constitutional monarchy instead, and this remained so.

In the late 18th century, economic crises raised tensions in the Republic to new heights. Unrest culminated in 1786 in civil war, revolution, coups, foreign intervention and in 1810 in annexation by France. These turbulent years laid the foundations for a fresh start for the country, with a centralised state and a monarchy.

1850

In 1885 the current was Rijksmuseum building designed by PJH Cuypers completed. The Dutch Archaeological Association in 1918 brought the brochure about reform and management of our museumsout. This called for a division of the Dutch Museum of History and Art in an art and history museum.

In the 16th century, the Dut Europe’s premier cargo shippe they followed Spain and Port beyond Europe to areas in East and the West where Sp Portugal had for the past cent a monopoly on the lucrativ there.

Industrialisation in the Netherlands

1900

N e w h e a v y i n d u s t r y, r a and other technical inno transformed everyday life. O slavery was abolished in 186 in the Netherlands, the long for universal suffrage ended in which men and women were vote.n.


1595-1640

1600-1690

1650-1715

The Dutch Overseas

Golden Age of the Republic

Republic at war with its neighbours

The route to the Indies

tury, the Dutch were r cargo shippers. Then pain and Portugal far e to areas in the Far est where Spain and the past century held n the lucrative trade

n d u s t r y, r a i l w a y s chnical innovations eryday life. Overseas, olished in 1863. While nds, the long struggle frage ended in 1922 in women were able to

1650

Scholarship in the Republic

"Where else in the world can one enjoy all the comforts of life and all the interesting things that a person might wish to find? What other country is there in which one can enjoy such perfect freedom ...?"

1935-1945 Second World War

1700

1973 Van Gogh Museum

On 10 May 1940, German troops invaded the Netherlands. In the Dutch East Indies, the war began with the Japanese invasion of Java in March 1942. The Japanese imprisoned some of the Dutch and mixed race population in internment camps where conditions were appalling.

The Dutch Republic often found itself at loggerheads with surrounding countries. Maritime wars with England, also drawn into major European land wars, and often against the French.

1750

1945-2012

Invasion

1950

The War of the Spanish Succession

Postwar period: affluence and emancipation

Reconstruction - welfare state

2000

By the time the Second World War ended in 1945, Dutch society had utterly changed. Apart from the tremendous personal losses and material damage, the economy was all but destroyed. Yet the Netherlands recovered with surprising rapidity.


CULTURAL ARCHITECTURE

SOFT DATA

Five of the six most visited museums in the Netherlands are in Amsterdam. In addition, there are dozens of smaller, often specialized museums. In other words: Amsterdam is a real museum city. This is partly because of the Amsterdammers themselves: 59% of them went to a museum at least once in 2014. But the high museum density is also due to the huge flow of tourists. Some Amsterdam museums, such as the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum, mainly attract foreigners. Others focus on topics that mainly appeal to Dutch people, such as houseboats, old trams or life and the work of writer detective Appie Baantjer.

198 198

To accommodate the still growing group of visitors, some Amsterdam museums have recently refurbished or expanded their buildings.


SITE ATLAS

Photography History Art Theme

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MUSEUMPLEIN

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The Museumplein is a public space located at the Museumplein are three major museums – the Rijksmuseum, Va n G o g h M u s e u m , and Stedelijk Museum – and the concert hall C o n c e r t g e b o u w. T h e space is also used for (mass) events such as festivals, celebrations, and demonstrations.

Throughout the decades have Amsterdammers and tourists Square used daily for recreation and rest. The grass plains invite you to play football , frisbee and picnicking while under the plane trees and around the basketball court for at least four decades, petanque is played. There is also a redesign since halfpipe widely used.

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Rijksmuseum, 1885

Rijksmuseum after restoration, 2014 202


RIJKSMUSEUM al museum had undergone such a major renovation. In the nineteenth-century, Pierre Cuypers was almost as decisive for the image of the Netherlands as water and clouds. He was an architect who was proud of his Catholic background and made it clear in his work. That earned him a split image. According to the Protestant and liberal vision would Cuypers Netherlands with its neo-Gothic architecture lead back to the Dark Ages and the fleshpots of Rome. For Roman Catholics Cuypers was half saint, whose buildings radiating their new self-consciousness.

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The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is one of 16 national museums in the Netherlands . The collection offers an overview of Dutch art and history including works by 17th-century Dutch masters such as Rembrandt , Vermeer and Hals . The museum is located since 1885 in the Rijksmuseum Building , designed by the Dutch architect PJH Cuypers. Over the years, the museum building was remodeled many times, so of lost in much of the original character. Partly because of the increasing number of visitors the museum did not meet the needs of a leading international museum. In 2003 started a major renovation; Never before a nation-

VISITOR ANALYSIS Visitor to Netherlands

Visitor to the museum

12.8 m 10 m

28% 2000

2013

Visitor ratio

1.11 m 2000

Museum Netherlands

2.24 m

48%

2013

Visitor ratio

Museum Netherlands

17.5%

11.1%

2000

2013 203


Main museum, constructed in 1973

204

New wing & Alteration, after 1999


VAN GOGH MUSEUM

The museum is one of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh dedicated museum, the Paulus Potterstraat and the Museumplein in Amsterdam. The collection of the museum contains more than two hundred paintings, drawings, five hundred and seven hundred letters from Vincent van Gogh, as well as his collection of Japanese prints, and the library includes more than 23,000 works.

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The museum consists of two buildings:

the main building which opened in 1973, and the new wing opened in 1999. The main building was in 1963-1964 by order of the State of the Netherlands (RGD) designed by the Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld. The new wing, designed by Kisho Kurokawa. It is a natural and titanium clad elliptical building, made of concrete, which half is in the ground. Through an underground passage, which serves as the main entrance, as well since 2015, it is connected to the main building.

VISITOR ANALYSIS Visitor to Netherlands

Visitor to the museum

10 m 7.8 m

27.5% 1997

2000

Visitor ratio

1.02 m 1.31 m 1997

Museum Netherlands

12.9%

28.8%

2000

Visitor ratio

Museum Netherlands

13.1%

1997

2000 205


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THE FUTURE OF CULTURE IN OUD-ZUID

206

Museums are no longer just places that store and preserve objects of significance and value, but are increasingly becoming places where visitors can have an aesthetic, intellectual, learning, even fun experience. Digital technology for cultural heritage enables conveying, creating and sharing information amongst a wider public that is involved actively and dynamically in the processes of creating, interpreting, sharing and appropriating heritage knowledge. Museums are called to improve upon and find new ways to present content in order to convey knowledge and engage visitors.




DATA IN OUD-ZUID Dermot Horgan ‘DATA DRIVES ALL WE DO’ From each boulevard of the Oud-Zuid one gains a new view toward the looming towers of the Zuidas; Originally planned in the early 1990’s, this area corresponds exactly with the booming and relatively new typology the data center, a space in which the intangible data of our everyday lives is stored, processed and marketed. In this chapter I hope to investigate the history of this phenomenon, its relation to the city of Amsterdam and speculate on the potentials of a new typology of data for the Amsterdam of 2050. References: Source Book, p. 64-67; 204-209


210


211


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A LANDSCAPE OF DATA It’s been 26 years since Tim Berners-Lee invented the ‘online’ resource of the World Wide Web (WWW), entirely changing the way in which we store and access the information that in the 21st century effects every aspect of our everyday lives.

grew 142% between 2005/06. This jump coincides exactly with the greater access to internet that occurred in the Netherlands between 2005-2011, giving the Netherlands the highest percentage of households with access to internet connection in Europe. (Home Internet access rate

Until 1990, in Amsterdam the idea of having an information resource other than the physical spaces of the city library or archive would have been unimaginable, yet in a period of one generation the contents of these physical spaces is quickly becoming a digital resource with the physical copy simple being stored within the libraries of our city. For example a benchmarking exercise in the book ‘Library Statistics for the TwentyFirst Century World’ compared five of the largest libraries of the Netherlands finding that in one library alone the percentage of digital journal access

highest in the Netherlands, Centraal Bureau voor Statisiek)

The Evolution of DATA.

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A library can act as an example of the changing typo-requirements of our age, in many ways automation (or our data landscape) is creating the great disappearing act of our era; the address book, a map, keys, a newspaper, airline tickets, travel agents, highstreet shops.... perhaps even our physical banks are under treat. Yet, Steve Denning; director of the Scrum Alliance, suggests that this is the first time we place the power in the hands of the consumer. Finally we have both the choice and the information


about these choices when it comes to online decision making. Customer feedback is driving opinion and this ‘self-organisation’ is leading to positive hierarchical changes in our cities, we are the generation moving towards a horizontal and no longer vertical society. Unlike many cities Amsterdam chooses to embrace the idea of smart technology within their cityscape, The concept of ‘the internet of things’; a series of connected smart devices within our cities to help city dwellers and tourists alike with everything from wayfinding to notifications about free parking spaces in your neighborhood, this isin’t the future of smart cities but rather it is the present.

inhabitants themselves; ‘In just six weeks the community-owned network was funded and implemented by volunteers without the help of a telecommunications company’ (Thomas Ricker, Theverge.com) Perhaps then we can predict a future shift to an entirely user implemented and ‘horizontal’ way we design, use and benefit from data in Amsterdam.

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With this in mind what is most interesting about Amsterdam is the way in which this technology is being implemented, not by the large corporations as we might expect (vertical hierarchy) but rather the Public ‘LoRaWAN’ gateways in Amsterdam

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AMSTERDAM RUN ON DATA

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“The impact of this migration to the Cloud is huge, and the business world doesn’t always appreciate what’s involved.....It tends to focus on privacy and security issues because we understand these better, but we also need to consider the availability and reliability of these systems, not only for safety-critical services in case of disaster, but also for the services we use in our daily lives, such as banking.” (Prof. Lago, AMS business magazine, Pg.102) Perhaps we can imagine an Amsterdam in which the increasing demands on data have a positive effect on the environment? If we look at the Amsterdam and Randstad area, there are 180 ‘data hotels’ covering more than 240,000 m2 of area. If we could harness the heat energy of this area in order to create a positive effect on the environment. The creation of an entirely circular system by 2050 is entirely possible. If we look to a fossil free future with a large increase in Data storage then we should be looking for a connective solution. Stijn Grove, director at Dutch Data Center Association notes that if we were

to look at the input of green energy, an fully optimized data system and an output of ‘waste heat’ ‘‘this byproduct has the potential to heat over a million households in the Netherlands. The best news: we’re offering it for free, so why aren’t we making better use of the energy that’s already there?’’ Thus; it seems there is a clear potential for an Amsterdam run on the clean energy of data. But perhaps the key to truly utilising the existing data network is for us to re-think the entire system of how we use everyday data. What if we didn’t accept that our data is stored in huge warehouses outside of our cities? What alternatives do we have to the generally accepted centralised data centers? If we were to have ‘pools’ of data centers, in which the storage of data becomes an integrated part of our cities, critical data would remain part of the state’s domain but private and personal data could remain part of this community resource, which we could both choose to sell like any other resource or retain as private; all the time we too could benefit from the energy produced within these spaces.

Santander Data Center Loeb Capote Architects

214


215

SITE ATLAS


POLITICS OF DATA Cambridge Analytica When we talk about persuasive data and the use of BIG data, an immediate example of the commercialization of data would be Cambridge Analytica, a company founded in 2013 as a data mining and analysis company focusing the analysis of social data as a method of creating targeted advertising.

SOFT DATA

This method of analysing social data in order to profile individuals who in turn can be targeted with user specific advertising. This advertising has been recently used by the Trump campaign in order to target a profiled audience to vote in their favor. The same tactic is rumored to have been employed in the recent Brexit campaign with the Leave. EU’s communications director Andy Wigmore saying: “Because using artificial intelligence, as we did, tells you all sorts of things about that individual and how to convince them with what sort of advert. And you knew there would also be other people in their network who liked what they liked, so you could spread. And then you follow them. The computer never stops learning and it never stops monitoring.”

When we look at Amsterdam and the future of the Netherlands in Europe, we could speculate on the extreme scenario (perhaps not quite unimaginable) of The Netherlands as an independent state. How then is Data that was once part of the collective European society reprivatised? Well, if we take Britain as the current example.... the reality is that it essentially isn’t. The British government are implementing a ‘General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)’ which is attempting to mirror the Swiss model: Switzerland accesses the EU single market via a regularly updated bilateral agreement. Its data protection laws mirror the EU Data Protection Directive and so have been recognised as ‘adequate’ by the European Commission. So in order for Britain to continue to process EU citizens data it must entirely meet the EU’s ‘adequacy’ requirements for data protection. It’s thus fair to say that in any scenario with Amsterdam playing a key role in commercial Europe it’s connection to Europe will always remain tied through its collection and storage of Data. Data and how we continue to process it remains the fundamental and intangible connector between Amsterdam and the European Union.

Pro European exit vote Unsure 2006 EU referendum support.

216

Anti European exit vote


217

SITE ATLAS


SAFE DATA

SOFT DATA

The paper-era is over, and it is now more important than ever to ensure the safety of our data. It is this critical data, the information that allows us as a society to continue to function that will matter most in the event of a crisis. If we take Estonia for example as a European state that has experienced a Russian led cyber attack in 2007 taking fifty-eight Estonian websites offline at once, including those of the government, most newspapers and many banks. This event has led to Estonia becoming the first EU state to develop a ‘data embassy’ in Luxemburg, a space entirely under the juristiction of the country in which its critical data can be stored in the case of a cyber attack on the country. If we consider the physical proximity of Amsterdam to other major european countries, the neutrality, climate, security,

technical infrastructure and economic strength, it is entirely possible to imagine Amsterdam as a major center for the data protection of other European states. Amsterdam already hosts one third of all the data centers in Europe. We could imagine Amsterdam as an embassy of data integrated as any other physical embassy in our cityscape, hosting the critical information that would ensure the ability of other nations administration,banking and critical services to continue as normal in the event of a crisis; ‘digital continuity’. And while Estonia’s pilot project remains a test on the individual scale perhaps this project could be envisaged a world in which we can safely ensure the continuity of our cities as our world becomes ever more dependent on data to survive.

Fllight times to European countries under 3 hours.

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219


DATA IS THE NEW ELECTRICITY If we accept that data is as profitable as any other resource within our landscape it’s important then to consider the precedent of electricity as an example of where we can learn from and compare with.

SOFT DATA

Untill 1998 Electricity companies were allowed to own electricity networks and also to sell electricity but with the implimentation of the electricity act 1998 ‘new provisions imposing full ownership unbundling of the distribution grids on vertically integrated energy companies’ (Hoofdstuk-Electricity-regulation,Pg.147) Thus ‘unbundling’ required a separation between those who produce and those who sell energy.

220

Dutch energy companies are a majority privately owned industry, but the land on which the extraction occurs continues to be a state owned asset. Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil are the largest gas producer with all the refineries, distribution

and retailing networks privately owned. Yet Gasunie remains an entirely state owned natural gas company with a 50% investment in the distribution company GasTerra, the other ‘half by Shell and Exxon (25% each)’ (ftp.oecd.org) This is before we even consider that 60% of electricity supplied to the Netherlands is provided by foreign supply companies (Essent, Nuon, and E.ON Benelux) which are all either partly or entirely state owned. Now we have a better picture of the complexity of this resource ownership, lets take a look at Data resource ownership. 20% of all foreign investment in the Netherland is data storage related. Data from companies such as Cisco Systems, Palo Alto Networks, Netflix and Tesla is stored in the Netherlands and as we discovered before this information is highly desired by large analytical companies in the production of targeted and persuasive marketing.


If we consider the potentials of this resource in the hands of analytical companies, the vast knowledge that could be gained about each individual’s income, health, living conditions, political history, purchase history etc. could have a huge influence on the way in which both companies and the state make major decisions.

Perhaps it is time for an independent body such as the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) who are responsible for approving all tariffs and for ensuring that prices charged to consumers are reasonable, to consider higher levels of transparency in data storage and use at both the state and private levels.

We dont have to travel far from the Oud-Zuid site to witness exactly this monetization of what we consider ‘personal data’ as a resource. As stated in the ABN AMRO 2017 conditions ‘Processing data includes, amongst others, collecting, storing and using it’ Personal data is certainly no longer ‘personal’ it is as much a tangible resource as any natural resource except in this case the state is less capable of managing what is a global scale resource. To quote ABN:

SOFT DATA

Currently the Dutch state is consolidating their data storage from 64 facilities to 4 major data hubs at ‘Rijswijk, Groningen, Amsterdam and Apeldoorn’ https://data-economy. com/telehouse-now-offering-verisign-ddos-protection-services/ . These spaces are in turn operated by Hewlett Packard Netherlands and HOMIJ Technical Systems; essentially the reverse of how the government dealt with its energy resource through immediately outsourcing the resource of state data to private companies.

‘The exchange of data may mean that data enter other countries where personal data are less wellprotected than in the Netherlands’

General Conditions ABN AMRO Bank N.V 2017

If we are not accepting of a world in which our energy resource is entirely monopolised then why do we accept living in a world where our personal information as a resource is so easily gathered, exchanged and monetised? Perhaps its time for us to get a grip on the value of our data and begin to see it as a very physical resource for 2050. 221


SOFT DATA

DATA DRIVEN CULTURE

222

Data effects every aspect of our lifestyles, from our work life to our down time. How many of us already check our work emails on a Saturday? This is in itself an act of working remotely whether we see it this way or not. According to the Manpower Group statistical indicators 15% of the European workforce can be described as “mobile workers”, thus meaning that they work more than 10 work hours away from their main place of work. It’s now a reality to both earn your salary from home and to spend that salary from home without ever leaving the house. And while this may be economically beneficial, the effect on our social wellbeing could be very broad for example; studies have shown that those with lower involvement in social relationships are more likely to die than those with greater involvement (House JS, Landis KR, Umberson D pg. 241) Yet technology and location based data has also in many ways attempted to solve the issue of social wellbeing with dating and social apps like Tinder and Meetup creating a platform for our social and love lives within the city. Yet it appears the

strongest visual effect that this transition to an ‘online’ future takes place is on our streets, with an increase from 4% to 11% between 2009 and 2015 in all non-food retail revenue in the Netherlands. This has meant a vacancy rate increase of 4% in 5 years across the country resulting in an estimated reduction in commercial floor space of ‘7-9 million square meters by 2025’ (Mckinsay & Company, 2016) This could have a huge effect on the future of our architectural landscape,presently in the Oud-Zuid the predominant typology is commercial ground floor and residential stories. Without a consideration for the middl-ground retailers these store fronts could become filled only with the two least ‘online’ forms of retail, high-end luxury retail and low-end budget, leaving what is currently referred to as the highstreet retailers no longer existing on the highstreet. Perhaps then we move towards a future of empty streets, when our everyday actions are occurring online; besides commerce do our streets then only play host to transport, niche retail?


223

SOFT DATA


A FUTURE IN THE CLOUD[S]

SOFT DATA

As Amsterdam moves towards a ‘smart’ future we need to act now to inform exactly what that future entails and how exactly we as occupants of the city would like our data to be used not to profile us for private gain but rather the to extract the positive potentials of our data. Amsterdam is in the unique position of being able to decide now how it would like to proceed with its data future. With the never ending dialogue that is currently being had on the topic of ‘personalised’ and ‘smart’ data and all of its benifits, it seems as though we’ve lost sight of our privacy as being a great privilege in the twentieth century. With BIG data persuading everything from our political decisions to the way in which we earn and spend money in the city of Amsterdam, it seems were content with all of this information being stored in huge warehouses outside of our cities as long as we continue to see the benefits. Yet it seems, before we know it, we will be left in a world where we no longer individually need to make major decisions as our decisions will have been decided based on our profiled population. It is for us to decide if we are happy with this vision of the future or if we rebel and attempt to regain control of our data in an attempt to consider the posative use that our data (banking, e-commerce, health, political, security etc.) could have on our neighborhoods and lifestyle looking towards 2050. Without consideration for the future of our data we could find ourselves constantly feeding information into the cloud, as long as the cloud meets current European ‘adequacy’ requirements, which in turn controls our every decision, are we left as slaves to the cloud?

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SPORTS AND RECREATION IN OUD-ZUID Selene Zhuang What do you do after work and before sleep? For many people, the answer would be sports and exercises. Indeed, they are a part of most people’s daily routine in this active country. Without paying for private gyms and sport clubs, public sports and recreation facilities are very necessary in our lives. Moreover, in the crowded city, sports landscape act like oasis in the desert. This chapter will focus on varies of sports and recreation space in Amsterdam and especially the Zuid. References: Source Book, p. 68-69; 210-213


SPORTS IN THE NETHERLANDS THE DUTCH ARE ACTIVE Among the 28 EU countries, the Netherlands has always been among the top of the most active. According to the EU research in 2013, the Netherlands is the 5th on the rank of percentage of people participating in sports or exercise at least once a week. What kind of sport do the Dutch people do? As a country with long coastline and massive water system, swimming is certainly the most popular sports. As the country on the bikes, cycling comes second. Surprisingly, only 8% of the population chose to play football.

SOFT DATA

Sports are regarded as leisure and exercise instead of training for competition. In fact, the population active in sport participated in training or competition keeps decreasing. The trend of taking sports for health benefits or as social events makes sports a part in the daily life of the people. However, the Netherlands is still good at sports competitions, such as swimming and speed skating. sailing/rowing/canoein g/surfing 5% skating 6%

SPORTS IN AMSTERDAM swimming 25%

tennis 7%

in-line/roller skating 7%

football 8%

leisure cycling/cycle racing 13%

running/jogging 8% walking 10%

fitness/aerobics 11%

Top ten branches of sport practised, population age 6-79 years, the Netherlands, 2003

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As the biggest city in the country, the trend of sport in Amsterdam is quite different from the rest of the country. Under the urban context, the most popular sports in the city is gym/fitness. Running is the second popular choice and swimming becomes the third here. Living in the city, 44% of people would exercise in their own neighbourhood rather than going further. Which might explain why gym and running are so popular due to the large


The percentage of the population participate in sports or exercise in Amsterdam is higher than the country’s average. Especially in Amsterdam Zuid, 80% of the population do sports or exercise regularly. The Zuid also provide a great deal of public sport facilities. Most of them are in small scales and more spread out evenly in the neighbourhoods instead of within a big sports complex. The Zuid is traditionally considered a more “sporty” area due to the legacy of the 1928 Olympics stadium sitting there. The majority of public sports facilities in the Zuid are football courts. The beloved football club Amsterdam Ajax might contribute to the popularity of football in the city. However, if we count playgrounds as sport facilities, since they

have the same function but only targeting to certain age group, they account for a big number of public sport facilities. In general, parks are also a very popular location for people performing sports and exercises, especially running. Most parks also contain varies other sports facilities, such as fitness and jeu de boules. Amsterdam seems to be lack of proper swimming facilities, which is probably the reason why swimming is the most popular sport in the country but only the third in the city. Most people swim in the open water in public parks and forest in the outskirt of the city. Apart from the only indoor pool in our site, there are only a few paddling pools in the parks and the neighbourhood for children to play and they are only available in summer.

SOFT DATA

number of gyms and parks in the city.

skatepark

indoor swimming pools playground

outdoor swimming pools swimming pool

official outside swimming spots

tennis court

water playground skatepark playground swimming pool tennis court skatepark

football court

playground

basketball court

swimming pool

jeu de boules

tennis court

sports centre

indoor swimming pools

skatepark

football court

fitness

outdoor swimming pools

playground

basketball court

paddling pools

official outside swimming spots

swimming pool

jeu de boules

open green area/parks

tennis court

sports centre

football court

fitness

basketball court

paddling pools

jeu de boules

open green area/parks

water playground

Swimming pools in Amsterdam

football court basketball court jeu de boules sports centre fitness paddling pools open green area/parks

Sport facilities in Amsterdam Zuid sports centre fitness paddling pools open green area/parks

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OLYMPICS AND AMSTERDAM SUMMER OLYMPICS 1928 If one to talk about the sports history in Amsterdam, or even the whole Netherlands, the summer olympics held in Amsterdam in 1928 must be mentioned.

SOFT DATA

In the beginning of the 20th century, public sports events were held and watched wherever there is outdoor green area all over in the city of Amsterdam. Since 1912, the newly found Dutch Olympics Committee started to express the interest to hold a summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Obviously, adequate sport facilities for such a big event were required. The Oude Stadion of Amsterdam completed in 1914 could not hold a running track even if the accommodation was to be reduced. Hence a new stadium suitable for athletics and varies of sports competition must be built.

Architect Jan Wils won the design competition for the new Olympisch Stadion which had a capacity of 31,600. The stadium was completed right before Olympic games opened summer 1928 and remains today. Sitting at the south of Amsterdam, right to the west of Berlage’s Plan Zuid, the stadium is one of the earliest example of Amsterdam School architecture. The stadium has clean and smooth façade around the oval plan constructed with red bricks and streamlined by horizontal steel frame windows. Apart from the remains Olympisch Stadion, varies sports facilities were renovated or built for the summer Olympics 1928. Architect Jan Wils also designed Krachtsportgebouw, the wrestling arena for the summer game, and Schermzaal, the fencing venue. Many of the events were held in the nearby cities in the Netherelands including Amersfoort, Arnhem and Rotterdam. The 1928 Olympic games in Amsterdam was a great success with the support by the city municipal and Dutch Finance Department. The 1928 games was a monument of diversity in the history of Olympics. For the first time, women participated in the Olympic Athletics competitions. Also, the winners of olympic gold came from all continents, from all over the world for the first time. Many traditions of the Olympic games were also established during the 1928 games. The Olympic Flame was lit during the Olympics, as well as the release of peace doves.

Official poster designed by J. Rovers

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SITE ATLAS

WHY OLYMPICS 2028 FAILED

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OLYMPICS AND AMSTERDAM

finished year capacity

SOFT DATA

Timeline of the major stadiums in Amsterdam

THE IN-BETWEEN TIMES However, without the mass coverage of media or business intention as today’s Olympics, the 1928 summer Olympic games did not have much of an influence on the city. In the early 1900s, the Olympic games were merely targeting the selected sport enthusiasts within certain social classes. The success did nothing but simply made a country felt proud of itself since only one big stadium remains today. Most of the venues in the Amsterdam city for summer Olympics 1928 were demolished right after the game, such as Olympic Sports Park Swim Stadium and the Oude Stadion. After the De Meer Stadion of Ajax was built in 1934, until Amsterdam Arena was built in 1996, in the six decades, no big stadium with capacity bigger than 10,000 were built. Apart from the Ziggo Dome which is mainly used for concerts, there are only two big stadiums in Amsterdam today: Olympisch Stadion and Amsterdam Arena. Apart from football and athletics stadiums, there are various sports venues in smaller scale built in the 20th century.

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Such as the ice rink Jaap Eden baan, the swimming pool Mirandabad, and the kick boxing gym Mejiro. But compare to indoor sports venues, the Amsterdamers seemed to prefer outdoor sports parks which provide a bigger range of different sports with real grass. Sloten Sportpark is an all-time favourite since it was opened in 1956. However, Amsterdam was not so successful when attempted for the bidding of the summer Olympics 1992. During the early 80s the Netherlands was facing a downturn in economics, irritated by high unemployment rate, high inflation and high interest. Although the bid was backed by the federal government and endorsed as an official candidate, the Dutch capital was lost to Barcelona. Some said the former International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch showed partiality for his beloved Catalan city. The anti-olympics left wing campaign ran by Komitee Olympische Spelen Nee also had great influenced on the media. Perhaps Amsterdam was not ready for the next Olympic games.


THE BID FOR 2028 SUMMER OLYMPICS

The existing sports venues in Amsterdam, or even in the whole Netherlands, barely fulfill the requirement of the IOC. For example, the biggest stadium in the Netherlands, the Amsterdam Arena, can hold up to 54,033 spectators now, while the requirement of IOC is at least 60,000 spectators. Accommodation for athletes and visitors is also a major problem within the city. Infrastructures such as road network was also a great limitation and some roads must be widened, city traffic and highways should be pulled apart to separate the cyclists and the visitors’ vehicles. It sounded like the whole city or even the whole country needed a makeover to adapt to the “Olympic level”.

facilities

capacity

stadium

75,000

swimming complex

18,000 33,500

sports hall 18,000 (basketball etc.) Olympic Village

-

IBC/MPC

-

sports hall (handball etc.)

18,000

football stadium 50,000

Plan of facilities development in Amsterdam for summer olympics 2028

The Dutch government’s position in the preparation for the bid was rather unsteady. The feasibility study of the 2028 games by Minister of Economic Affairs went through and the minister approved the bidding in 2008. After the budget of 1.1 to 1.8 billion euros was released in 2009, different parties tended to oppose the bidding. Finally, in 2012, the cabinet announced that the government would not support the games. Without the financial backing of the national government, a city cannot even be an official candidate for Olympic games. Los Angeles was the only candidate for summer Olympics 2028 and hence won the bidding. Is Amsterdam ready for Olympic games? I believe the answer is still no. As one of the “European metropolis”, Amsterdam remains quite a small size throughout the hundred years, which is nice and cozy but perhaps not big enough to hold such a big event the Olympics has grown to. Certainly, the scale of the existing facilities is also only suitable for this city with not even a million residents. According to the develop plan for 2028 Olympics, a great deal of sports venues and accommodation facilities must be built in the city. Do we really want to waste the precious land of such a small city for some insightfully white-elephant projects? Moreover, the overall traffic system within the cities in the Netherlands are designed for heavy bike uses, and the existing road system cannot bear the flood of participators’ vehicles. Budget is a huge problem and the government is right not to grant it, since the extra infrastructures would be no use to the Netherlands on daily basis.

SOFT DATA

The idea of bringing summer Olympics back to Amsterdam after a century was first raised attention in 2004, after the success of 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics. Olympic Plan 2028 comprises four phases of the preparation for the summer games was published in April 2006, aimed to bring the whole of the Netherlands to the Olympic level”.

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SOFT DATA

PLAYGROUNDS

Children playing on the street in the 1930s

Aldo van Eyck’s first playground in Bertelmanplein

POST-WAR PLAYGROUNDS

ALDO VAN EYCK’S PLAYGROUNDS

The first playground designed for children appeared in Amsterdam in the 1880s. At that time playgrounds were such a luxury and parents had to pay membership fee to have their children using the playgrounds. And the early private playgrounds had nothing but a wooden sandbox which would start rotten very shortly in the rainy Dutch weather.

After the baby boom following the WWII, the problem of children lacking playing space became more urgent. At the same time, the raising number of vehicles running on the streets put children in danger. Finally, the municipality realised the problem had to be solved. In 1947, architect Aldo van Eyck was hired by the Public Works Department to design public playgrounds. The first Aldo van Eyck’s playground was built in Bertelmanplein, within Berlage’s Plan Zuid area, surrounded by social housing blocks.

The municipality did not consider the children’s need for play space even in the AUP. At the same time, the living condition in Amsterdam was still poor. Many households did not have courtyards for the children to play. Apart from paying the expensive membership fee for the playgrounds owned by community groups, children could only play on the streets or public parks without adequate facilities or supervision.

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The playground contains simply a sandpit. Unlike the earlier wooden sandboxes, the concrete sandpit remains today. Since then, the Urban Development Department wanted public playgrounds everywhere in the city. They often appeared in existing public parks, or empty space in the neighbourhood surrounding by residential blocks.


SITE ATLAS

235 Dijkstraat, before and after the playground was built


PLAYGROUNDS

SOFT DATA

One of the most amazing characteristic of Aldo van Eyck’s playgrounds is that he liked to transform ruins or even rubbish dumps into children’s heaven. Not even children could enjoy the playgrounds, the whole city’s landscape was enhanced. Other social interactions also happened in the playgrounds, such as the meet ups of parents. Among the more than 700 playgrounds Aldo van Eyck designed between 1947 and 1978, no two of them are the same. Every time he received a plan for the new site, he created sitespecific compositions. Inspired by post war sandboxes and children playing in construction sites, sandpit is a classic component in his playgrounds. Other important components in Aldo van Eyck’s playgrounds including climbing mountains, climbing frames and jumping stones. Most people appreciate the public playgrounds very much. They kept writing letter to the municipality and to the architect himself, to express their appreciation or suggest new playgrounds in their own neighbourhood. There were some complains too. Most of them were about the beloved sandpits in the playground. A female resident in Bertelmanplein wrote to Aldo van Eyck in 1950: …And then the sandpit in the Bertelmanplein. It is dirty, very dirty, but the worst thing is that when the sand is raked over in the morning, everything, dog dirt, glass, etc. is thrown back into the sandpit instead of into the wheelbarrow. The material Aldo used to build his playgrounds were first due to economic considerations. Aluminium and concrete 236

sandpit

climbing mountain

jumping stones


climbing frame 1

climbing frame 2

Somersaulting frames

balancing beams

SOFT DATA

honeycomb

were the two main choices of his. Apart from being cheap at the time, these materials also last way longer than plastics. That’s also a reason why most of his playgrounds remain today. The metal and concrete also blend in the city very well, unlike the colourful playgrounds we see everywhere else which are often disconnected from the urban context. The blunt, industrial look of the playgrounds have become a very unique characteristic of Amsterdam. They accompany generations of people growing up in Amsterdam.

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PARKS LOCATION OF PUBLIC PARKS Amsterdam does not lack of public green area. If we do not count the forest, parks contribute 6.8% of the landuse in Amsterdam at the end of year 2015. There are a lot of famous parks in the city, such as Westerpark, Rembrandtpark and Vondelpark. Not only big public parks, there are fragments of green area in the neighbourhoods. In Amsterdam

Zuid, parks even take up 11% of the total landuse. The city does not always have so many public parks though. Before 19th century there was barely any green in the city. Parks were not in the consideration of people in Amsterdam at that time when the city was so packed with trades. Nevertheless, the city boundary was only to the Singelgracht Canal and natural

SOFT DATA

REMBRANDTPARK

VONDELPARK

MUSEUMPLEIN

SARPHATIPARK

BEATRIXPARK

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Vondelpark, Amsterdam

green area was easy to reach. Even today, there is still no big public parks in the Centrum.

Perhaps it is due to the lack of mountains in this country, Dutch people do not seem to have the eager to stand on the top and look at their well-planned gardens.

According to the map of public parks and green area on the left, the Zuid has quite a lot of big public parks including Vondelpark, Beatrixpark and Sarphatipark, as well as the most visited by touristed green area, the museumplein. The allocation parks and greens are quite average in the south. Apart from the big famous Park including Vondelpark and Museumplein, there is also small plazas filled with green surrounding by building blocks.

On the contrary, French people love to have way more power on their parks. The French Gardens are very symmetrical, very baroque, full of calculated geometrics. Jardin des Tuileries in Paris is also an urban park beloved by the locals like Vondelpark in Amsterdam Zuid. If we put the plan of two parks together, we can see the layout of them are very different. Jardin des Tuileries has a very dominating central axis and all the rectangular or round shapes on the plan seem to grow along the axis. The plants, grass and water are rigidly bounded within their shape, with walking path going along them delicately. And in Vondelpark, there is no axis at all. The allocation of plants and grass and the walking paths are like natural extension of the waterway.

AMSTERDAM VS PARIS The Dutch like to have their parks natural. In fact, there are barely any parks with symmetrical baroque plan in the Netherlands. As we mentioned before, Dutch people started building parks in the cities quite late, while the English Gardens were the trend in Europe. With the existing waterway system, trees and walk paths were plan accordingly.

SOFT DATA

Jardin des Tuileries, Paris

When you enter Jardin des Tuileries from Place de La Concorde in the west, on the central aixs at the highest point of the whole park, you can see the whole park with beautiful plan all the way to the Louvre. Walking in the park, you will be amazed by the delicacy 239


PARKS

SOFT DATA

Playground by Aldo van Eyck in Vondelpark

Private Tennis Club in Vondelpark

People doing boxing in Vondelpark

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of the garden plants and the lovely statues along the axis. Everything seems to be under you control and the man power and desire fore beauty dominates all. But when you enter the Vondelpark, no matter which entrance you take, you will see the plants and walking paths and some water. Not as a whole, but as fragments. If you do not know the park well, you will easily get lost in the park, or be amazed by the number of water birds at some random lake. You have to accept the fact that you don’t know where you are in the park, just to get lost in the natural landscape happily. WHAT PEOPLE DO IN THE PARKS

Most of the parks in Amsterdam consist varies of public sports facilities. In Beatrixpark, there are football court, basketball court and fitness machines. In sarphatipark, there is also jeu de boules. Compare to these smaller parks, Vondelpark seems more dedicated for walking and running. There are teahouses, playgrounds, and an open-air theatre. Apart from these, there are also some tennis courts which they belong to a private tennis club. The most popular sport in Vondelpark seems to be running. In summer, when the grass is dry and the paddling pool is wet, there are more people just chill in the park enjoying the rare good weather. However, parks as a free open public space, provide more freedom to various of activities. Apart from walking, biking and running, you can also see people practising boxing or playing frisbee in the big park. Children also love parks. Before the appearance of public playgrounds in Amsterdam, children could only mingle in the parks. Hence the many of the first generation of public playgrounds that we mentioned in the previous spreads also located in parks.



SOFT DATA

THE CITY AS A SPORT VENUE

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In 2050, the public sports facilities will be enhanced, sports will be open for everyone in the city. Traditional sport clubs that differenciate people with their abilitiy to pay the membership fee will not exisit anymore. With the increasing population participating in sports regularly, spots won’t be limited in certain space for certain social group of people. The city as a same will act as a big sport club for everyone.




SPACE DATA


SPACE DATA This chaper presents objective typological analysis of several different buildings and blocks on an M scale. All of these can be found on the site of our site, though some fall outside of the borders of Oud-Zuid. All the analysis is based on personal investigations as well as original plans of the buildings. For the explanation of the analysis and research methodology, please refer to the Space Data chapter in the Oud Zuid Source Book, titled ‘M Sources’.




JOHANNES VERHULSTSTRAAT 147&149 Jingling Du Johannes Verhulststraat 147&149 is located in the Museumkwartier neighbourhood and is a very posh street with high end quirky shops and tiny markets. The area was developed following the construction of the Rijksmuseum. Johannes Verhulststraat runs parallel to the north of the De Lairessestraat. The building was built in 1909 in the typical neo-Renaissance and art nouveau styles .and under the instruction of Housing Act in 1905. It was designed as a residential housing and the ground floor was changed to a cafĂŠ then an Albert Heijn later. References: Source Book, p. 76-81


SPACE DATA

Courtyard 1.3% Basement 11.8%

GFA: 1040.4m2

250

Supermarket 20.1%

Apartment 50.6%

GIA: 927m2

Circulation 16.3%

100%

FAR: 4.09



3860 3860

3200

960 970

2400

3200

960 970

2400

2800

2800

11720

SPACE DATA

11720

1200

2660 1200

2660

Johannes Verhulststraat 149 AH supermarket First floor Plan

5550

1210 1350

4610

1290

Johannes Verhulststraat 149 AH supermarket ground floor Plan

1210 1350

4610

1290

7200 2300

2300

7200 2300

2300

5550

4600 4600

2200 2200

7250 7250 Johannes Verhulststraat 149 AH supermarket Basement Plan

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1800 3400

1800 3600

2700

1400

1200

2170

4900

4900

5800

3100

Johannes Verhulststraat 149 Second Floor plan

4500

6500

2130

6500

6580

Johannes Verhulststraat 149 First Floor plan

5800

SPACE DATA

3100

5010

2850

Johannes Verhulststraat 147 First Floor plan

5010

2850

Johannes Verhulststraat 147 Second Floor plan

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3200

3200

1350

1350

3200

3200

3200

3200

3200

3200

SPACE DATA

Johannes Verhulststraat 147&149 Elevation

3850

2220

10010

Johannes Verhulststraat 147&149 Section

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The faรงade of this building is designed in the neoRenaissance and art nouveau styles compared to the buildings in Berlage plan which were designed in Amsterdam school style.

Johannes Verhulststraat is not a very busy commercial street. Only one tram line is passing by in front of the building. And the most of buildings in this neighborhood are mono-function building: residential housings which are used to be occupied by the working class.

The AH supermarket is on the ground floor of this building serving the surrounding neighbourhood. All supermarket in this area are all very tiny fitting in this historic residential buildings.

SPACE DATA

Johannes Verhulststraat 147&149 is located in the Museumkwartier neighborhood near the Vondelpark. There are many multi-functions building in this neighborhood with some high end quirky shops, tiny markets and small offices.

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DENTONS BOEKEL BUILDING Eldin Geldenhuys The Zuidas property node is growing at a exponential rate. A driving force being huge yearon-year increase of employees and inhabitants. The Zuidas station is the fastest growing railway station in the Netherlands with the long awaited arrival of the North-South Rail Line due in 2018. Sustaining growth in train traffic on the Schiphol-Amsterdam-Almere route is experienced while more than 250,000 passengers are expected to make a daily return trip. Parallel to the growth in railroad traffic a huge increment in tram, bus and vehicle traffic is expected to integrate within the Zuidas infrastructural node design - developing the Zuidas (station) towards a modern mobility hub with huge future potential. However the posing question: “ What will this future strive to be?� References: Source Book, p. 82-85


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HILTON HOTEL Michal Strupinski The Hilton hotel plans come from 1958, and the building was opened in 1962. It was the first international hotel to open in the Netherlands. It is located on the intersection of the two major streets of Berlage’s Plan Zuid, Minervaplein and Apollolaan. The building scale dominates over the surroundings, granting a broad view from the rooftop terrace and making the hotel a distinctive and visible element of the city. It’s location and a large waterfront makes the building a common location for various events, such as the classical music festival Grachtenfestival. References: Source Book, p. 86-89


WERK IN UITVOERING

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location plan

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facade 1:1000

groundfloor plan 1:1000

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SPACE DATA typical floorplan 1:500

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SPACE DATA section 1:500

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st

SPACE DATA

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No. 1 274


ORIGINAL PROPOSAL

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No. 2

ORIGINAL PROPOSAL

ea

h ut

no

st

st

rth

we

Apollolaan 138

SPACE DATA

ea

h ut

no

st

st

rth

we

Apollolaan 138

No. 3 275

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RAI AMSTERDAM HALL 12 Yishan Du In Amsterdam, most people travel by bike, and for good reason. In larger towns – with more than 10,000 inhabitants – a cyclist will on average reach his destination 10 percent faster than a car driver. Plus it’s calmer, cheaper, you don’t have any delays or traffic jams to contend with and you get to really take in the city. In the issue of Plan Amsterdam, mobility has seen a massive increase in Amsterdam since the 1960’s. This has had a substantial impact on the city’s infrastructure, notably the realisation of a cutting-edge cycle network. Although the bicycle is an important reason that the city is still easily accessible, there are also some downsides. Parking has become a real problem. This article also delves deeper into the cycle infrastructure. References: Source Book, p. 90-97


SPACE DATA Urban context

280


SPACE DATA Floor plan

281


SPACE DATA

Section A-A

East facade

282



SPACE DATA

The view to Hall 12 from the ”I amsterdam”

The view to the south entrance

284


Axonometric drawing



SOCIAL HOUSING IN BUITENVELDERT Blanka Borbely Buitenveldert is one of the few areas relatively close to Oud Zuid which still has affordable housing available. We speculate that with the aggressive expansion of Zuidas in the upcoming years, this area will highly like get redeveloped, or demolished to give way to new builidings. It is necessary to investigate the existing typologies in the area in order to determine what the appropriate plan of action should be, if the aim is to provide social classes aside from the elites with high quality dwelling solutions in the future. References: Source Book, p. 98-101


SPACE DATA

Location Plan

circulation 7%

dwellings 87%

GFA: 3958 m2

288

GIA: 3250 m2

garages 5%

FAR: 0.8



5

10

0

5

10

SPACE DATA

0

290


SPACE DATA

West Section

1st - 3rd Floor Plan

291


5

10

0

5

10

SPACE DATA

0

292


SPACE DATA

East Elevation

West Elevation

293


SPACE DATA

0

5

10

0

5

10

After the completion of ‘Plan Zuid’, Amsterdam was still facing a housing shortage, despite the big-scale socialist housing initiatives. As a result, the Algemeen Uit breidingsplan, or in English General Extension Plan was introduced in the year of 1935. Buitenveldert, and the following building in it was built according to the designs of this planning movement. These structures were part of a vision for the growing city until the year 2000. The structures in the area were meant to be erected quickly to provide immediate solutions. While their materiality works with the classical Dutch building method of brick construction, their shapes are a lot more simplicistic according to the modernist design ideas of the time and 294

South Elevation

North Elevation

due to the use of mass production methods. Inset balconies provide provide small private outdoor spaces. The primary structure is repetitive, and uses pre-fabricated concrete. The internal floor plans of the flats are also repeated. The generous spaces between the blocks serve the prioritasion of the car as a main mode of transportation as imagined by modernist planners, or alternatively as greenspace shared between blocks. Additional indoor parking is also provided by garage spaces attached to the sides of buildings, making the overall shape of the blocks into an L-formation on the ground level. Ceiling height is relatively low at around


SPACE DATA

Aerial image of the site

Aerial image of the site

2.7 meters, and the windows tend to be smaller than the ones of the classical Amsterdam dwelling types, though the plan is no longer as deep as it used to be be back then.

The buildings in the area are clear subjects to aging, and would ideally need some redevelopment to make better use of the plots through densification.

Regarding its programme, the building is homogeneous and serves only as a dwelling unit, with additional garage spaces for the residents and minimised circulation. 295





VAN GOGH MUSEUM Yucheng Wu The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is one of the Netherlands’ most popular museums. The ever-growing stream of visitors required intelligent solutions for these buildings, which were designed by Rietveld (1973) and Kurokawa (1999). The design consists in broad outlines of a further elaboration of the elliptical wing of the building that Kurokawa had built in Amsterdam in 1999. Kisho Kurokawa Architect and Associates, the firm founded by the late Kisho Kurokawa and designer of the temporary exhibitions wing opened in 1999, prepared the draft design for the new entrance hall. Hans van Heeswijk Architects then elaborated on this to create a solution in which the existing wing and the new structure form a surprising new whole. References: Source Book, p. 102-107


SPACE DATA changing rooms 10%

sports halls 64%

GFA: 15175m2

300

office 7%

GIA: 11658m2

circulation 15%

FAR: 1.3

100%


SPACE DATA

Van Gogh Museum Bird View

301


SPACE DATA

Facade_East side

Plan_Ground Floor

302


303

SPACE DATA


SPACE DATA

Section_Rietveld building

Section_Exhibition Wing

304


Another feature is the stepped construction of the volumes and the vertically expanding void in the central atrium. In order to get as much daylight as possible on the exhibition floors, a terrace-like structure has been created in the atrium as well as a spacious plinth on the ground floor so direct light is also possible here. The resemblance with the end result is striking. Just like the ‘staged’ stairwell on the Museumplein side, the staircase of ‘De Hoeksteen’ is placed separately from the closed main volume and consists entirely of glass.

In 1990, the new wing of the Van Gogh Museum projected was considered to be very necessary in order to facilitate a growing number of visitors. In the Kurokawa plan, the main entrance will be moved to the new wing, slightly sunk into the ground level, at the Museumplein. In this recessed ring there are stairs and a circular narrow pond strip that separates the audience from the edge of the ‘sunken garden pond’. The exhibition building consists of two exhibition halls and a closed exhibition cube where the ‘print exhibition’ is provided. 111

In 2015, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam— one of the Netherlands’ most popular galleries— officially unveiled its new all-glass entrance hall. The addition, which was designed by the Dutch firm Has van Heeswijk Architects. The new entrance building is the largest glass structure in the Netherlands in which glass fins (beams and millions) and double glass units are elements of the building’s main structure.

SPACE DATA

The first design of the museum is subject to two important starting points. First, the van Gogh museum had to be as much a daylight museum as possible, with skylights illuminating the paintings. And secondly, the building volume had to remain in keeping with its surroundings, the Stedelijk Museum and the villas on Museumplein. The space for ‘visual expression’ mentioned in the first Intermezzo took shape in the program, as did the wish to alternate the collection with works by contemporaries in temporary exhibitions.

305





MINERVAPLEIN Dermot Horgan The Minervaplein building originally gained planning consent in 1932, having requested a permit in 1931. The Building block forms part of a series of eight social housing blocks of similar scale enclosing the actual square or ‘plein’ of the Minervaplein. The architect C.J. Blaauw was granted permission from the ‘commissie ‘zuid’ as part of the H.P Berlage general [revised] masterplan ‘PlanZuid’ of 1917. The building is referred to as having a ‘austere variant of the Amsterdam School style’, having fallen into the later stages of the Amsterdam school style it appears far less idiosyncratic to the previous Amsterdam school variants. The square was not entirely complete untill 1958 on account of the Second World War. References: Source Book, p. 108-115


SPACE DATA

TYPOLOGY RESEARCH

310

Apartments 66%

Circulation 6%

GFA: 17635m2

GIA: 16,326m2

Basement 11%

Courtyard 7%

Attic 10%

FAR: 3.80


SPACE DATA

MINERVAPLEIN

311


312


Minervaplein Elevation

Minervaplein Section

313


13,000

13,000

SPACE DATA

13,250

13,500

14,500

314

10,000

15,500

15,500

17,000


Subtle expression of the Amsterdam style, appropriate to the scale of the social housing block was important to the overall aesthetic of this powerful movement.

The Minervaplein also can be read in the context of increased mechanisation of the construction process. Wim de Wit notes that ‘he was unable to disguise the fact that his blocks were actually accumulations of identical dwellings’, generally the acknowledged tone was that this building block was not a positive addition to the movement.

Decorative stone work presents an attempt to individualise this social building block, the use of motif and ornament was generally presented as an integration within the built architecture of the earlier Amsterdam school work while here we see a last attempt to fight against rational standardisation.

SPACE DATA

Building ‘blocks’ or complexes built around the time of the Minervaplein were considered by the author Maristella Casciato to represent the ‘hayday of the Amsterdam school’, while she places criticism on the Blaauw building as representing ‘the severity stripped of the effervescence of previous years’.

315





APOLLOHAL Selene Zhuang The national monument was built in 1933, at the intersection of the three main waterways in Berlage’s Plan Zuid. The modern architecture was designed by architect Albert Boeken and is considered to be the most important project. The main hall was intended for tennis, exhibitions, sports demonstrations and meetings. The complex is an early example of steel frame constructions: a construction of welded steel trusses makes it possible to create a large, free span. The walls have no supporting function and are partly made of concrete with clean masonry and glass. A cinema, a hotel, and a cafe restaurant were added to the complex later. References: Source Book, p. 116-122


SPACE DATA changing rooms 10%

sports halls 64%

GFA: 4113m2

Spatial Data

320

office 7%

GIA: 3916m2

circulation 15%

100%

FAR: 1.41


SPACE DATA

Northwest facade

321


SPACE DATA

Section

Southwest facade

322


323

SPACE DATA


Plan

324 SPACE DATA


SPACE DATA Section

325


326 SPACE DATA


327

SPACE DATA





MATERIAL DATA


MATERIAL DATA The following chapter further decipts the blocks analysed in the Space Data Chapter. Here, the quality of the buildings is studied through a series of detail drawings that focus on materiality.



Johannes Verhulststraat 147&149, material study.


MATERIAL - MIXED DEVELOPMENT Jingling Du Different materials used in mixed-function buildings The selections of material are related to the functions of the space. This building has experienced the several changes of functions. Thus, the facades are also changed with time. Besides, in this neighbourhood, although the facades of those mix-function buildings are changed, followed the city fabric instead of the modernist typology. References: Source Book, p. 126-131


MATERIAL: MIXED DEVELOPMENT

Regarded as the poshest neighbourhood in Amsterdam, Oud Zuid has a decadent mix of culture and shopping. Lodged between De Pijp and Amsterdam West, Oud Zuid begins just south of Stadhouderskade at Museumplein and fans out to Amsterdam’s Ring highway. In a way, Johannes verhulststraat is a geographical mirror to the horseshoe formed by the canal ring. The street was built around 1900 in an agricultural area with ditches, fields and meadows. At least two farms have been demolished for the construction of the street. Between 1900 and 1903, project developers such as Exploitatie Maatschappij Aurora were building blocks of houses on the street with mansions, building flats and shops, designed by architects such as L. van der Tas, SP Herfst, J. Lenderik, JWF van Schaik, A. de Geus van de Heuvel, HT Staring, G. Voorvelt and LD Popp in the neo-Renaissance and art nouveau styles.

We can see the materials used in this building and surrounding neighbourhood. The Dutch brick is noticeable. The brick, made from clay dug from river banks or dredged from river beds and fired over a long period of time, was known for its durability and appearance. Traditional Dutch brick architecture is characterized by rounded or stepped gables. In case that the original residential housing was changed to other functions like retails, museum. They will change the façades of the building to make them more attractive and distinguishing. For example, the colors and the materials will be changed. And the windows would be enlarged for the displace functions.

Johannes verhulststraat 147&149 public space.


Bricks 240X100X60

Metal hand rail

Painting

Wood

Johannes verhulststraat 147&149 material study


over the world are overwhelmed by mediocre glass boxes, which leading to a generic cityscape,But the original of these glass-steel building, if tracing back to the industrializtion time, was actually designed to indicate the unique sprite of modernity-Zeitgeist. If the building tcould be the hint of sprite in certain time ,the re-evaluate the value of local material and technology could be next stepwith the rising callback for localism.

MATERIAL DATA

Based on the needs of supermarket, the structure of ground floor was changed to the steel structure, then clad in bricks. It is unique but common in this neighbourhood to use the standardized construction methods and elements to follow the original typology. On the contrary, in Zuidas, there are full of high-rise, fancy office buildings filled in big, international company. Corporate modernism has developed into the vernacular of office architecture, dominating business districts across the world—its design formula not much changed by local culture, time or climate. For exmample the business parks all

Steel connection details

338


MATERIAL DATA wall & windows details

339


MATERIAL DATA

Buildings in Oud Zuid

Buildings in Canal Ring

340


MATERIAL DATA

Johannes verhulststraat 147&149

Offices in Zuidas

341


MATERIAL DATA

Vinoly building facade panel material study.

342


JEWELRY ON THE RING Eldin Geldenhuys Expression of Zuidas landmarks The Zuidas financial mile has quite a noticeable typology which distinguished itself to other district in within the city of Amsterdam. At this certain point the skyline is covered in corporate office buildings, illuminating their 24/7 business attitude. Yet when observing these jewels located on the A10 one realizes that the materials choices considered by architects give each building its own individual allure and (guilty) pleasure to be the tallest or most extravagant. References: Source Book, p. 132-135


Jewelry on the ring

MATERIAL DATA

The Zuidas with all due respect is not the most eventful and interesting space of Amsterdam. Quite simply at this moment is filled with offices buildings and services related to corporate lifestyle. Services like accountancy, banks and law firms, so of the boring professions but which generate quite large amounts of money. Luckily for these financial gurus there’s a solution to making there buildings packed with cubicles more interesting by getting their offices buildings design by world known architects. Designing attractive and decorated glass boxes alongside the a10 highway.

344


Spiral extraction leading towards external public

Southern facade entrance

Vertical profiling accentuate spiral extraction

MATERIAL DATA

The Viñoly building located just outside the Amsterdam South station is known for its vertical spiral extraction alongside the building. The extraction moves alongside the building connection its outdoor “public” spaces. The external facade is covered with a glass curtain wall consisting out of vertical profiles. These vertical profiles accomplish two visual qualities. The first aspect is that the profiles accentuate the verticality of the building. Secondly it emphasizes the extraction alongside the building because the vertical profiles are only located on the other facade and not on the inner facade.

345


MATERIAL DATA

As previously mention the envelope of the building consist out of a outer facade curtain wall. The facade is constructed out of a stacking element system. The Vertical profiles of the curtain wall is emphasized with a vertical jagged triangular profile. Where as the horizontal profile is hardly seen from a far due to its slenderness and black color. These attributes of the curtain wall maximizes the upwards expression.

346

Close-up detail of Vinoly building envelope

Curtain wall profiling


Capitalism is strongly displayed here. Through structure and material choices one can experience these aspects of capitalism: Bigger and stronger structures representing an individual going further in his profession than the average Joe, decorative and elegant facades mirroring someone aspiring to close a deal or beat the competition.

When comparing the facades of Zuidas with Oud-Zuid (especially Plan van Zuid), one clearly notices the difference between global and local, modern and traditional, high and low rise, white collar vs blue-collar workers. Buildings in Zuidas are much more transparent, cold and blue-green while OudZuid seems closed-off, warm and red-orange. Yet it this visual expression of global competitiveness of the Zuidas is changing as the municiaplity’s future development plans are to increase housing and amenities. Creating a balance between offices and other functions

Modern vs tradi-

MATERIAL DATA

The high rise building share an ambience of architectural competitiveness which seems quite encourage by one another. Each time a new building is built in the Zuidas it seems to be either taller, more decorative or even both. What is so captivating is that through the architecture one can see, touch and experience the core characteristic of the businesses and people that work and together daily in the Zuidas.

Unfortunately the negative aspects of capitalism is seem through the architecture as well: glass transparent box with little unique inside them representing superficial relationships and business deals, Zuidas high rise discriminating the traditional low rise buildings, looking down on them, emphasizing the division between super wealth individuals and them middle class.

White vs blue-collar workers

High rise vs low

Cold vs warm

Zuidas in comparison to Oud-Zuid

347


MATERIAL DATA

Skyline Zuidas

348

Claude Debussylaan

“The Rock”


Recently built Risdential buildings

Standard Oud-Zuid facade

Symphony Towers

Typical Plan van Zuid facade

Mahler 900

MATERIAL DATA

Johannes Verhulststraat

349



MATERIALISED PUBLIC SPACE Michal Strupinski In this chapter I analysed details and materials solutions used in the building of Hilton hotel in Oud Zuid. I focused on elements corresponding with public space, creating facades of the streets and how details are used to affect perception of the pedestrians. References: Source Book, p. 136-139


MATERIAL DATA

Hilton hotel lies in the middle of Oud Zuid, on one end of a major axis, the backbone of the Plan Zuid designed by H.P. Berlage. It was created and developed mostly in the 20’ and 30’ of the XX century, on of the major developments of the Amsterdam School. Therefore, the majority of the surroundings of the hotel are examples of this architectural movement. Despite steel constructions common to modernism, the most common material for the fasades is brick, complimented with masonry details referring to historical architecture of Amsterdam. Hilton hotel was built much later, in the 60’. Its structure is different and does not try to imitate historical construction. However, the brick is used as form of cladding, filling the space between the windows as if it tried to prove that it still is part of the Oud Zuid. Its mass, though, and a rather commercial approach to the details makes the building completely out of scale in comparison to the surroundings and there is hardly, if any, correspondence with the buildings near Minervalaan and Apollolaan. I’m very bored, so I’d like to mention that I had pancakes for breakfast today (26.01.2018). The building consists of two main elements: the groundfloor volume and a 10 storey mass of the actual hotel on top of it. The groundfloor combines several functions apart from the main hall of the hotel, such as a restaurant, club and a gym. There are three concrete canopies there over the entrances and the walls between them are cladded with a red-brown brick, with details that could suggest some Amsterdam School influences. The second volume, consisting mostly of hotel rooms, is a rather typical structure for the 60’, however what would usually be plaster - spaces between the windows - is gray brick in here.

352


MATERIAL DATA

side entrance 353


MATERIAL DATA

front entrance - original sign 354


MATERIAL DATA

window detail 355


There is hardly influence of the building on the public space, except its size that becomes a reference point. The plinth is designed to serve its purpose - allow easy access for the guests coming out of their cars or taxis. The whole area in front of the building is a private car park, effectively detaching the area from the street.

MATERIAL DATA

Hilton is, in comparison to the surroundings, out of scale, in a non-corresponding style of a commercial mass and does not keep the line of the street frontage due to the location of the car park that creates a void in a otherwise dense urban tissue of Oud Zuid.

356


357

MATERIAL DATA



MATERIALS OF THE RAI Yishan Du In this chapter I analysed details and materials solutions used in the building of RAI Amsterdam Complex as well as its surroundings in Oud Zuid. I focused on elements corresponding with public space, creating facades of the streets. References: Source Book, p. 140-147


2. Hall 1- Europe Complex

3. Hall 11- Holland Complex

4. Elicium Centre

MATERIAL DATA

1. RAI Car Park / Benthem Crouwel Architects

360

5. Entrance cross road


5

MAIN ROAD

HOLLAND COMPLEX

EUROPE COMPLEX

1

3 MATERIAL DATA

EUROPE COMPLEX

2

4

361


MATERIAL CHOICE

MATERIAL DATA

RAI Amsterdam has a rich history. What started out in 1893 as Vereniging ‘De Rijwiel-Industrie’ (Association ‘the Bicycle Industry) has, over slightly more than a century, developed into a leading international exhibition and conference organisation. The RAI Amsterdam complex situated on what is commonly referred to as the southern axis (Zuidas) of Amsterdam is nowadays one of the busiest trade fair and conference centres in the world. “Holland Complex” consists of Hall 10,11 and 12 in RAI Amsterdam’s 12 multifunctional halls. Hall 12 is located near to Hall 11 and the Holland Restaurant, and is located opposite Hall 10. The Holland Restaurant provides a view into Hall 12 which has a surface area of 9,035 m². The ceiling of the hall has two different heights.

South Facade

362

RAI Amsterdam believes in the power of connecting. Since 1893, RAI Amsterdam has actively tried to create the right context for inspiring meetings to take place in and strong ties to develop in. As the facilitating party, RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre creates the ideal conditions for inspiring meetings to take place in and strong ties to develop in. As the organising party, RAI Exhibitions connects context, content and communities utilising national and international consumer and professional trade fairs.


Aluminium

Blind

Vinyl panel

MATERIAL DATA

Clear glass

363


5

1 MATERIAL DATA

2 3 4

Entrance C

364

6


2. Glass curtain wall

3. Vinyl panel

4. Concrete

5. Steel truss

5. Glass curtain wall with blind

MATERIAL DATA

1. Semitransparent Vinyl panel

365



MATERIALS OF ENNEMABORG Blanka Borbely The materiality of Buitenveldert and its other architectural expressions fall outside of the categorisation of the Oud-Zuid area, as well as of Zuidas. The buildings are clad in brickwork, however, they do not relate to the ornamental use of the material in the city center, neither to the more contemporary use of it which we can see in the globalisisng Zuidas. Additionally, the details of buildings seem cheaply done, without character, and uniform within the neighbourhood. References: Source Book, p. 148-155


MATERIAL DATA

Location Plan

368

The following chapter contains an analysis of the materiality and the details of the modernistic housing blocks of Ennemaborg. It is a comparison of the above two aspects between different neigbourhoods on our site.

door. The entrance to any building gives a very important first impression of its overall quality and architectural character. It is shared by all residents, and can contribute to expressing things like social status.

Namely, it investigates how the materiality of Buitenveldert relates firstly to OudZuid, as well as to Zuidas, of which it will likely become a part of by 2050. Secondly, it looks at the quality of housing in these areas by highlighting and examining a crucial common detail, the front

Most of our site is covered by designs by Berlage and other similarly minded Amsterdam School style architects. This means that brick is mostly used in a creative, sculptural way to form visually expressive ornamental facades. Ornamentality is also present in other areas



370 MATERIAL DATA


MATERIAL DATA 0

1

5

Facade section

371


MATERIAL DATA

Window detail - Ennemaborg

372

of Oud-Zuid, such as Willemspark and De Pijp, although the architectural expressions there are more similar to the classical dwellings of the old city center. The brickwork of these zones are generally represented by vitality of ornamental shapes and colours.

When brick is used, it is generally done according to more contemporary design trends. One can find a wide variety of different colours, textures, and patterns in this area that are more expressive of international trends then they are of local traditions.

Zuidas, however, has a completely different character. It has more globalized expressions, and therefore many times the materiality of buildings there disregard the common use of brick in the city, opting for more contemporary and commercial solutions.

Buitenveldert is much more uniform in its use of patterns and materiality then the other two areas. The brickwork is simple, and the same colour and patterns are used for every block in the area. There is no variation, ornament, or individuality between different housing units. The bricks


Window detail in Oud-Zuid

Building in Zuidas

Materiality of the building on the left

Building blocks - Ennemaborg

Material of the building blocks - Ennemaborg

MATERIAL DATA

Building in Oud-Zuid

373


MATERIAL DATA

374

Oud-Zuid

Zuidas

seem to be of poor quality, and pointing is done crudely. Joints between different elements of the envelope, such as edges between the brickwork and openings is also lacking detail. The materials used for the entrance door are primarily for purposes of durability. The simple red brick is mixed with ceramic tiles and aluminium plates that serve as protection against wear and tear, and the weather. These, however, create a very aged expression that is of poor quality. The entrance is not

inviting or pleasant to look at. It seems like a mere necessity. In contrast, the entrance doors of OudZuid were normally manufactured to be sculptural and of high quality. They are quite ornamental, with clear influences of the Art Deco movement. The architecture of Zuidas is even more relevant for the future of Buitenveldert then the expressions of Oud-Zuid, as the


MATERIAL DATA Zuidas

Buitenveldert

two areas are expected to merge by 2050, and so the modernist neighbourhood will have to assimilate to the international character of the global district. In Zuidas, entrances to different living blocks are clearly given a lot of thought. Unlike the entrances of smaller developments in Buitenveldert, or of the perimeter blocks of the Berlage Plan, here entrances are very generously sized, and stately. They have a corporate, contemporary character. They are generally quite open, and

relate to the public realm through introducing a seamless transition between the street and inner courtyards/airy entrance halls of the buildings. It is important that whatever new buildings replace the old housing stock in Buitenveldert relate better to their environment, partially through material expressions that take into consideration tradition and global influences. They will also have to create better transitional zones between private and public, creating a more invitin atmosphere. 375



The materiality of Buitenveldert and its other architectural expressions fall outside of the categorisation of the Oud-Zuid area, as well as of Zuidas. The buildings are clad in brickwork, however, they do not relate to the ornamental use of the material in the city center, neither to the more contemporary use of it which we can see in the globalisisng Zuidas.



MATERIAL EVOLUTION Yucheng Wu Van Gogh Museum Between the old part and the new wing of the Van Gogh Museum, the different requirements of the lighting, shape, space atmosphere, etc, reflected into the final form, architectural language, the material choice and construction strategies. This chapter may expresses the chainging materlization of the material choice between two different architectural design strategies. References: Source Book, p. 156-159


MATERIAL CHOICE

MATERIAL DATA

The old building of Van Gogh Museum, back to its design stage, the most important requests made by the clients were the scale of this new museum in comparison to the surrounding buildings (especially the neighboring Stedelijk Museum) and to accommodate lots of overhead natural daylight in the main atrium space. Each successive upper floor has progressively less area, making it possible for visitors to see each preceding gallery when looking down through the atrium as they advance upward through the museum; this notion was reminiscent of his previous design for the De Zonnehof museum, but much more complex this time. The most iconic component of the museum interior is the stair case cantilevering into the center of the atrium.

Facade, Van Gogh Museum, Gerrit Rietveld

380

Responding to that varying lighting requirement, there were different strategies and they were reflected into the sky light windoew and the facade materials. The architects mention three advantages of skylight: no reflections, an even distribution of light on all walls and no loss of wall space. While the facade, controling the interior lighting environment of the museum space. Besides to that, the designer Juffermans is also enthusiastic about the choice of materials for the façades. The change of enamelled steel sheet into ‘broken concrete blocks’ ensures that the building gets a ‘modest appearance’ after a few years, and a ‘matt, sober skin’.


MATERIAL DATA

Facade, Glass wing, Van Gogh Museum

3 2 4

1

5

1. Double Glazing 2. Stainless steel mullion 3. Supporting construction for curtain wall 4. Glazing bead 5. Glazing bead Facade Detail

381


MATERIAL DATA

1370

2780

Facade Drawing, Van Gogh Museum

382


Facade_Rijksmuseum

Entrance Hall_Van Gogh Museum

Facade_Van Gogh Museum

Entrance Hall_Stedelijk Museum

Entrance Hall_Gemeentemuseum

MATERIAL DATA

Entrance Hall_Rijksmuseum

383




Minervaplein entrance, material study.


MATERIAL [dis]HONESTY Dermot Horgan Critique of the material decision[s] on the Minervaplein. Through considering the tangible and [in] tangible effects of the material choices, layout and effects of materials in relation to the layering of boundaries across the site; it becomes possible to consider the successes and failures of the Minervaplein at the scale of the detail and individual material. The first site impressions of the space being a thoroughfare but not a successful public space may in-fact lie in the material choices and the effects they have one the individual occupying or passing through the space. References: Source Book, p. 160-165


MATERIAL [dis]CONNECION

MATERIAL DATA

The Minervaplein represents a seemingly successful housing housing project of the Amsterdam school style. But though site observations during the day it becomes more apparent that the public space and green area provided for those who live in the Minervaplein is in fact a very unused public space as those who do not live in the area simply travel through the area not stopping to spend time using the public space. While those who live in the area are materially disconnected from the green space, the use of materials signifying layers of semipublic, public pavement, public road, public pavement and open green space. Each layer is represented through an alternative material [re]presentation meaning that not only are there psychological barriers between the building block and green space but these barriers are physically represented through material choices.

The material choices in relation to the green space seem to , through their design, act not to want to attract the public/ Minervaplein occupants to the public space. It seems so obvious to us but the prevision of seating would drastically alter the use of this space and this would be considered a material choice. William H Whyte states ,in relation to his study on public seating in Norway that ‘This may not strike you as an intellectual bombshell, and, now that I look back on our study, I wonder why it was not more apparent to us from the beginning’(1) he was speaking about upgrading the quality of public seating to encourage more public occupancy in the choosen area of study. (1) Jan Gehl, Cities for People, Washington DC, Island Press 2010, Pg.111.

Minervaplein green area/ public space.

388


MATERIAL DATA Minervaplein folded material study (authors own work)

389


Minervaplein Material[ity] As with all Amsterdam School buildings the emphasis on the craft aspect of the building was always at the center of the discussion. In studying the materiality and its relation to the era of ‘hand’ crafted architecture, it became apparent, through the details, that in fact this building is a steel structure simply clad in brick with the use of standardized construction methods and elements.

In fact, it could be suggested that the modernist buildings of the Zuidas represent a far more honest architectural language in the expression of structure, materiality and public[ness]. Top place the building in its context at its time of design in 1929, this was the same year i which Le Corbusier constructed the Villa Savoye in Paris and Mies Van Der Rohe constructed the Barcelona Pavillion.

Thus it made sense that most books written on the Amsterdam school era that made reference to the Minervaplein suggested that it does not represent a successful vision of the Amsterdam school.

The Minervaplein [structurally] corresponds to the thinking of this era, yet its material cladding attempts to hide or disguise this fact. Thus I would suggest that the building represents a dishonest architecture, attempting to fit into its context and relation to the ‘old Amsterdam’ ideals. Unfortunately this expression has led to the building not being highly regarded in its architectural quality.

MATERIAL DATA

‘Severity stripped of the effervescence of previous years’. The words used by Maristella Casciato in her description of what the Minervaplein added to the language of the Amsterdam school at the time.

Steel connection details (redrawn) Minervaplein

390


MATERIAL DATA Steel connection behind the facade Minervaplein (authors own work)

391


Minervaplein north corner detail

Mies Van der Rohe Barcelona Pavillion 1929

Minervaplein central entrance door.

Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye, 1929.

Approach towards Minervaplein from Stadionweg

MATERIAL DATA

Eileen Gray E1027 House 1929

392


APG building, Gustav Mahlerlaan, Zuidas.

Housing Project,Gustav Mahlerlaan, Zuidas.

Housing project, George Gershwinlaan, Zuidas.

agap2IT Netherlands, Claude Debussylaan, Zuidas.

Coรถperatie The Rock UA, Gustav Mahlerlaan, Zuidas.

MATERIAL DATA

Gustaf Matherlaan,Zuidas.

393



MATERIAL [dis]HONESTY Selene Zhuang References: Source Book, p. 166-170


BRICK WORK

396 MATERIAL DATA


MATERIAL DATA

CURTAIN WALL

397


CLADDINGS

398 MATERIAL DATA


CONCRETE

399

MATERIAL DATA


MATERIAL DATA

ST. NICOLAASLYCEUM Beatrixpark, Amsterdam Architect: DP6 Architectuurstudio Year Finished: 2012

400


MATERIAL DATA

Polycarbonate Translucent Shading

Lightweight Fibre Cement Panel

Perforated Glass 401


APOLLOHAL

Amsterdam Zuid

MATERIAL DATA

Architect: Architektenburo Year Finished: 1933 Last Renovated: 2005

Brick Cladding 402

Prefab Concrete Panel

Vinyl Pane


Vinyl Panel

MATERIAL DATA

Aluminium

Aluminium Clear Glass 403



GROUP VISION


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OUD-ZUID IS NOT DONE We believe contrary to the general assumption and planning of the early 21st century, the Oudzuid area, aside from the Zuidas, is still developing and as with all cities; should continue to develop and alter in accordance with the way in which our lives will develop and alter in the future. Collectively we recognize the following potential thematic commonalities:


GROUP VISION

410

The original merchant economy boomed requiring the effective physical expansion past the city walls in effect creating the area of the Oud-Zuid.


GROUP VISION

The original polder landscape gives form to the existing Zuid area.

411


GROUP VISION

412

Distinctive areas have emerged through the construction of our site at differing times and architectural characteristics, creating fragmentation in the urban fabric.


GROUP VISION

Void space in the Oud-Zuid stands at 62%.

413


GROUP VISION

414

Housing is majority privately owned, while social housing is disappearing and only serves the elites in the area, with the exception of a few blocks in Buitenveldert.


GROUP VISION

The area is highly dense relative to the overall Amsterdam average - the site population is currently 185,573.

415


GROUP VISION

416

The island of the Oud-Zuid is considerably disconnected to public transport relative to its central location, while Zuidas is being planned as a new global node of the city.


GROUP VISION

The A10 ring road running through the Zuidas effectively disconnects two areas, the inner and outer city, acting as the ‘city wall’ of the 21st century.

417



OUD-ZUID FRAMEWORK 2050


Future Tendencies The center of Amsterdam is developing into an open air theatre or tourist spectacle. The Oud Zuid will become immobile socially and architecturally as well.

GROUP VISION

Within the old city center, development is necessary due to the high inflow of newcomers. This will happen behind preserved historical facades, and is therefore highly limited. The inevitable developmental stagnation of the city center combined with the evolving of Zuidas will increase the contrast between historical areas and the peripheries. This will lead to increased social fragmentation, and the lessening of the overall social sustainability of Amsterdam. Prices of properties within Oud Zuid will continue to soar, excluding the elderly, and social groups outside the elites. The A10 will continue to form a barrier between latter areas and places of development outside the center. Zuidas is to become the new global center of Amsterdam, but will likely stay highly disconnected from the urban and social fabric of the rest of the city. The extension of the Zuidas will happen rapidly and aggressively, overpowering areas with less economic power, such as zones with social housing. This will further contribute to the urban sprawl. The Oud Zuid sits on the border of the old city center, but does not relate to peripheral zones in socio-spatial terms. This fragmentation will continue to grow as 420


major developments will continue to be driven by economically already lucrative areas. The lack of cultural amenities and homogeneity of functions in the area further contributes to this disconnection. Our data will inform all our future decisions. Unless public data is put to work for our communities, we continue down the road of corporate controlled data. With the high influx of people into the extending Zuidas area and to the Center, managing mobility around the ring zone can become problematic.

The center will see an aging population who will be unable to maintain their lifestyles and will be likely to be forced to move to more affordable areas outside the ring zone.

GROUP VISION

There will be a remaining disconnect between different modes of transportation.

There will be a tendency to integrate working and living more. We predict the major developments of the Oud-Zuid will take place within the realms of: Mobility

Social reform

Amenities

Global Amsterdam Slow Motion Super-block Social Housing Reform Work/life balance Ageing/Health Data Recreation Cultural 421



MOBILITY


MOBILITY

ELDIN GELDENHUIS YISHAN DU MICHAL STRUPINSKI

We believe that mobility system should be designed according to the scale of the city and that Amsterdam is not a car-oriented scale. Interconnected by high-speed systems in the world scale, the relatively small size of the city allows it to be shaped to the human proportions in the local scale.

GROUP VISION

Therefore in Amsterdam on 2050 the cars will be mostly pushed out beyond the highway ring and Zuidas will become one of the major gates of the city, the place of transition between different types of transport and a meaningful connection point. Furthermore, the North-South connection will be enhanced to maintain coherence within the city. Allowing a free flow of traffic between Zuidas and central Amsterdam will prevent creation of isolated clusters of functions and keep the rapidly growing business centre as a part of the city, rather than a disconnected, separate being. In Amsterdam 2050: Transportation by cars would be kept outside the A10 ringroad and the mobility of Amsterdam city would rely more on local-scale modes. The bike prior network on north-south direction need to be completed and improved. Canals will be used to connect the city by attracting tourists to the south instead of isolating them in the historical centre. Slow means of transportation, such as walking and cycling, will dominate local scale of daily commuting. 424



GLOBAL AMSTERDAM ELDIN GELDENHUYS

Schiphol airport will expanding and gain more arrivals and departures in the next few centuries and remain the third biggest in Europe. Due to the excellent connection between Schiphol and the Zuidas, the Zuidas will become a global district within Europe. Attracting many international investors, visitors and tourist.

GROUP VISION

Global shift has happen where more multinational headquarters and offices from London are now located in Zuidas due to close proximity to Schiphol airport.

426


20

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12 r

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2 uur

45 min


The Zuidas will not only have an sufficient influence on the Dutch economy but also be a crucial part of the ever-strong growing economy of Europe. With the close proximity with Schiphol, Zuidas will become an Global district located in Europe. Air travel has become much less expensive between major European hubs. The Dutch government and Europe has improved the connectivity of high-speed trains. Making mobility between Global district more possible.

GROUP VISION

The European Union is experimenting with Hyperloop technology to make travel faster in some parts of Europe. The Schiphol, Zuidas and Lelystad airport connection seems very promising.

428

Madrid


Stockholm

Copenhagen

Hamburg Berlin

AMS Zuidas & Schiphol London Brussels Frankfurt

Paris Munich

Zurich

Barcelona

Rome


On a national scale the Zuidas will become much more of a Centre point within the ns-train service. High-speed train are implement in some situations, Such as The Hague, Zuidas(Schiphol) and Groningen.

Den Helder

The Thalys’ next-generation high-speed train name the “velocity” departures from Rotterdam Central and goes via Zuidas (and not Amsterdam Central Station) towards Brussel and Paris.

Alkmaar

GROUP VISION

Train connection between Schiphol, Zuidas and Lelystad airport has increased. These three locations are part of an interlocking system moving commuters, tourist, containers, imported goods and business related passengers.

Haarlem Schiphol

A C

Leiden Den Haag Cen.

Rotterd

Antwerp Brussel Paris

430


Groningen

r

m ol

Lelystad Airport Amsterdam Cen. Deventer Amersfoort Utrecht Cen.

otterdam

Arhnem DĂźsseldorf Frankfurt

ntwerp russel aris

Maastricht

Enschede

Berlijn


Most importantly the Zuidas takes centre stage on a locad scale. It will become a transporation and transtition point within the city of Amsterdam. The Zuidas will serve as the first transition point for many visitors on their way to Amsterdam or many other cities within the Netherlands. The Zuidas station will become the new doorway to between Amsterdam and Schiphol which welcomes the international community.

GROUP VISION

North-South line is the medium between Zuidas and Historical Amsterdam (previously known as Amsterdam Central).

Tram 432

Tram Tram

Bus

High Quality Tram Connectiontramverbindin Metro Hoogwaardige

Hoogwaardige tramverbindin

Train & vehicle highway

Bus


us

etro binding (HTV) binding (HTV)


SLOW MOTION MICHAL STRUPINSKI

In the book A Pattern Language I read: “Cars and pedestrians need each other: and that, in fact, a great deal of urban life occurs at the just point where these two systems meet.�

GROUP VISION

I think this applies not only to the relation of pedestrians and cars, but to any motion-related topic. The very basis of a city is that it is a compilation of systems and networks. The points where these different structures overlap are where the urban life happens and what binds the city together.

434

To establish connection between thecity parts - that currently seems to be disconnecting more and more - I focus on the major share of daily commuting; cycling and walking that in short were called the Slow Motion. Improving walkability in a local scale and creating interesting public spaces - landmarks - within walking distance generate an open transportation system - a network of walkability.


5

10


Creating connections from a pedestrian perspective involves using a spatial language that an observant can read and use to navigate. An example of such a tool are axes (top, right) that create both physical and visual connections over specific borders. To improve walkability I realised that unlike other types of transport it is not always tied to absolute rationality. Following ideas of Theory of the Derive, the city should allow to be read in a playful way, where usual aims and motives become secodary. (bottom)

GROUP VISION

Public space is not limited to streets. Access to canals opens new perspectives and transforms the water from boundary into a connecting tool. Enhancing the use of canals in the south (bottom, right) could further contribute towards connecting the city.

436


437

GROUP VISION


calisation of Data storage will e the formation of new municipal SUPER-BLOCK YISHANour DU urban context. ta areas within

Localisation of data storage will see the formation of new municipal unicipal data concerns a series of data areaswithin our urban context.

vate, shared and open-source data pes relatingMunicipal to the municipal area.a series of pridata concerns

vate, shared, and open-source data types that relate to the municipal area.

GROUP VISION

ch municipal is connected Each area municipal area is connected to one one another but in case a another, sothe in case of of a problem or critical issue, the entire city would not be efoblem or critical issue the entire fected, only the specific area. In a way, y would this notcreates be affected but a system of localised secust that specific area. In ways this ritywithin the new urban data context. eates a system of localised security thin the new urban data context.

438



MAPPING

OUD-ZUID MANIFESTO

GROUP VISION

Super-block model: starting point

440

1. The cycling network should become more densely meshed. The current mesh size is (much) larger than the recommended 300 meters (with the A10 being the important bottleneck). 2. The bicycle routes must be direct, safe, fast and comfortable. 3. Distinguish untangled routes (i.e. those with no or little car traffic and a minimum of barriers) from routes along major roads with destinations.


GROUP VISION

YISHAN DU

441


INTERPRETATION OUD-ZUID MANIFESTO

GROUP VISION

P+R System 1. The cycling network should become more densely meshed. The current mesh size is (much) larger than the recommended 300 meters (with the A10 being the important bottleneck). 2. The bicycle routes must be direct, safe, fast and comfortable. 3. Distinguish untangled routes (i.e. those with no or little car traffic and a minimum of barriers) from routes along major roads with destinations.

Bicycle prior network 1. Bicycle Plusnet - Public Transport Plusnet = Bicycle prior network

442


GROUP VISION

YISHAN DU

443


MANIFESTO

OUD-ZUID MANIFESTO

GROUP VISION

Waterways: the backbones of city expansion towards north

Manifesto: Recall the link 1. The cycling network should become more densely meshed. The current mesh size is (much) larger than the recommended 300 meters (with the A10 being the important bottleneck). 2. The bicycle routes must be direct, safe, fast and comfortable. 3. Distinguish untangled routes (i.e. those with no or little car traffic and a minimum of barriers) from routes along major roads with destinations.

444


GROUP VISION

YISHAN DU

445



SOCIAL REFORM


GROUP VISION

SOCIAL REFORM

BLANKA BORBELY JINGLING DU MUHAMMED APAYDIN

We expect a future where Oud-Zuid is more homogeneous in terms of its demographic structure than ever. As Zuidas becomes a new global gateway to the city, it will increasingly cater for the financial elite. Meanwhile lower social classes and minorities will disappear even from the near vicinity of our site. The members of the latter groups will have to commute more to their places of work from the peripheries of the city, and will be kept away from opportunities unless steps are taken towards achieving a more equitable arrangement. A reorganisation of affordable housing solutions is necessary in order to avoid extreme differentiation in socio-spatial terms. It should be ensured through different housing solutions that marginalised communities have a better chance at advancement through access to health, cultural, educational amenities and business opportunities. In Amsterdam 2050: - Social housing will no longer provide opportunities for lower classes and for the elderly as new developments around the A10 and in the extended Zuidas will push them outsite dense urban nodes. - The state should provide more opportunities for community-initiated housing development projects. - These will ensure that the inevitable expansion of Zuidas will be less aggressive and more sustainable in social terms. - In the future, employment will become more semi-independent or independent. The urban nomad work style will become more popular, and more residents will have increasingly flexible part-time employment contracts instead of conventional workplace-based jobs.

448


GROUP VISION Areas of advantegous future development around site

Comfortable walking distances - elderly

Multicommercial nodes

449


SOCIAL HOUSING REFORM BLANKA BORBELY

Sociospatial fragmentation is going to be one of the biggest challenges the OudZuid area faces in 2050 due to increased globalisation, the growing role and influence of the Zuidas, and inner- and cross-country migration flows resulting in compositions of highly mixed demographical groups coexisting in close proximity, but spatially separated from one another.

GROUP VISION

While flows of opportunity and power concentrate in the city centre of Amsterdam and Zuidas, the elites will live in Oud-Zuid, and less fortunate social classes are increasingly pushed to the peripheral zones. Housing owned by associations in the area will not create opportunities for affordable and socially just living. Housing needs to once again take a more socialist stance, more carefully considering the needs of demographical groups falling outside the elite in order to minimise socio-spatial segregation and increase social sustainability.

Living Working

450


GROUP VISION Areas of possible community-oriented socially just housing developments, 2050

451


A state funded and community-initiated housing program is necessary to increase the density of the city, stop the urban sprawl, and to keep a healthy mix of different demographical groups to increase social sustainability on an urban scale. The main purpose of the scheme is to allow disadvantaged groups to take control of their living conditions through flexible, bottom-up planning, and to provide them with affordable solutions and improved living contidions.

GROUP VISION

While the new housing sceme will be primarily state funded, it will also provide the opportunity for corporations to donate money for the cause, increasing their corporate social responsibility (CSR). This, however, does not grant them a say in the design or building process. The new initiative should encourage community involvement, and provide flexible, future-proof design solutions at an affordable price.

(re)investment

optional financial investment to improve CSR

rent payed to the state direct control of living environment

452


453

GROUP VISION


WORK/LIFE BALANCE JINGLING DU

The carfree movement will have taken root and Amsterdam will be partly free of cars. Based on such ambition, it requires redesigning places to lessen energy use for transportation through enabling various social practices on a much smaller scale.

GROUP VISION

We could see a future shift away from the high-rise buildings, towards more modest, sharedspace, muti-functions communities.

454

In the future, Friends would be chosen from neighbouring streets, families would not move away at times of new household formation, households would not live apart and any distant family members could not be regularly visited. Work would be found close to where people live. More and more people wants more flexible working time especially the female and the elderly thus they will choose to work from home or nearby co-working space.



In the future, the employment relationship will become more semi-independent or independent. Urban nomads work style will become more popular, and more residents will have more flexible, part-time employment contract instead of the standard workplace-based employment ones. These changes can also bring more people into the labour market, provide equal opportunities to female employee and the elder, and promote competitiveness.

GROUP VISION

Office buildings will be changed. This will reflect a shift from hierarchy to community. Mixing work with other uses is a growing practice. connecting informally with others in and around the building is a plus. Both will make urban mixed-use locations more highly valued.

456

In the future, the office space will be more accessible for both locals and international commuters. And it will also have a close relationship with the neighbourhood acting as a service facility.


457

GROUP VISION



AMENITIES


AMENITIES

DERMOT HORGAN SELENE LIJIE ZHUANG YUCHENG WU

GROUP VISION

We forsee a future in which cultural, recreational and public amenities are all strongly integrated within the public realm.A re-organisation of the existing hierarchical layering of amenities within Amsterdam will mean far more democratic access for all of the cities residents. A re-distribution of amenities within the city, particularly within the Zuidas area, will enable this area to be considered as much part of the overall city of Amsterdam and not a separate detached island. As the Zuidas finds itself as the new ‘front door’ from Schippol to Amsterdam; Data, cultural and recreational amenities can greatly contribute to it as being an important node in the existence of Amsterdam 2050. Through the provision of greater connected cultural and recreational amenities the city of Amsterdam will benefit from a greater collective improved quality of life and social satisfaction. In Amsterdam 2050: - All cultural/recreational facilities will be entirely part of the public realm and thus truly accessible to all, and not seen as a separate activity but rather part of our typical social agenda. - The quantity and quality of recreational facilities will ensure all residents have the opportunity to improve on their health. - Localised Data will ensure the smooth running of all local public services in the future. Everyone will benefit from Data of the public realm, residents can rely of Data to improve the efficiency of their daily activities. - No longer will ALL Data be stored away from the cities in separate ‘centers’ but rather a new paradigm of truly ‘public’ Data as the new Public space will occur. 460


461

GROUP VISION


DATA DERMOT HORGAN

Localisation of Data storage will see the formation of new municipal data areas within our urban context. Municipal data concerns a series of Private, shared and open-source data types relating to the municipal area.

GROUP VISION

Each municipal area is connected to one another but in the case of a problem or critical issue the entire city would not be affected but just that specific area. In ways this creates a system of localised security within the new urban data context.

462


463

GROUP VISION


Open source public data will be collected by beacon points in the landscape that are fed back to the municipality for analysis and research. Data including: Weather, traffic, maps, bicycle, pedestrian, commerce, cultural, population, health and social media data all concern the public realm. This can be analysed and used in turn to create more efficient and safe local environments through digital and physical intervention. The proximity to the Zuidas, which will act as the new gateway to the city of Amsterdam, places this Data municipality as a major collector of mobility data and thus will have a high level of integration with new modes of transportation.

GROUP VISION

Much like energy, the control between state and private data will ensure better control and management of for the benefit of all end users.

464


465

GROUP VISION


RECREATION SELENE ZHUANG

There will be indoor sports halls and swimming pools spread out in a grid everywhere in the city. Outdoor sports will be more encouraged too. Existing trails in the city parks will be kept, while the more area of the grass in between will be turn into outdoor sports fields. There will be car-free running and cycling trails connecting all the parks in the city. So that people can enjoy outdoor sports more easily.

GROUP VISION

The lakes in the city will be connected to some canals and together they form a web of water for sports. Water quality will be controlled and monitored more frequently so that the water will be safer to swim in.

466


467

GROUP VISION


In 2050, all the sports facilities, parks, forests and natural reserves will belong to the municipality. All the residents will be entitled to use the sports facilities. Number of the facilities will increase to ensure that everyone can enjoy the kind of sports as they want. Traditional sport clubs differentiate people by sex, age, social status or wealth will cease to exist. Various of sports competition will be held by the municipality and everyone is eligible to join. Champions can choose to join the national top sports programmes if they wish or keep on enjoying sports with the public sport facilities as everyone else.

GROUP VISION

In 2050, sports will be more implemented in our daily lives, such as social activities. The sports facilities will also be the space for friends’ gatherings or such. Data of people doing sports can be easily shared and used by the municipality to improve the distribution of facilities.

468


469

GROUP VISION


CULTURE YUCHENG WU

GROUP VISION

Combining with the existing culture amenities, new cultural hubs will generated within the potential area in the city, which either near the public space nor the canals in Amsterdam. Depend on the positive culture policy of hte Netherlands, New culture hubs will generate and promote to form the future cultural line and tourism routes in Amsterdam.

470


471

GROUP VISION


Taking Paris as a reference, the tourism visit line is connected with several culture hubs. There is a situation that most culture hubs generated along the Seine river or near the park. I take this relationship as a strategy to search for the most potential place for culture architecture to locate in the future. It represents a interaction among local people, tourists and culture architecture.

GROUP VISION

The mobility is a crucial influential element to the location of culture architecture, it decides if the accessibility is acceptable to people.

472


473

GROUP VISION


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