AMSTERDAM SLUISBUURT

SCALES — L - Urban / architectural LOCATION — Sluisbuurt POPULATION — City 835,000 inhab. STRATEGIC SITE — 48.3 ha / PROJECT SITE — 2.29 ha SITE PROPOSED BY — City of Amsterdam OWNER OF THE SITE — Gemeente Amsterdam POST-COMPETITION PHASE — Assignment to refine urban design guidelines

Sabine Lebesque — Department of City Development, City of Amsterdam. Investors Office for Housing/ Team Spatial Quality

1. WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE SITE MUTATION? The Sluisbuurt corresponds to the name for an island that has to be developed from scratch and which is located between the suburb IJburg and the city centre. The urban plan has already been approved last year and in this location a high density mixed use urban fabric will be built, with for Amsterdam measurements, some high rise buildings, combined with mid and low rise. The period of construction will last several years, starting from this year after public tenders for developers.

2. HOW CAN THE SITE BE INTEGRATED IN THE ISSUES OF PRODUCTIVE CITIES? HOW DO YOU CONSIDER THE PRODUCTIVITY ISSUE? Sluisbuurt is planned to be a mixed area, with leisure, housing, productivity and education. Developing housing program remains a safe investment for most of the developers. In the masterplan 15-25% percentage of built program will be nonhousing. How to “finance” these productive spaces? What kind of productive spaces can be combined with housing and working?

3. HAVE YOU ALREADY DEFINED A SPECIFIC PROCESS FOR THE URBAN AND/OR ARCHITECTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE AFTER EUROPAN? The question is how to start the development? So the city will ask the winners to design a multifunctional transformable building that can host some functions (school, parking, work and housing) to set off the development. Furthermore the city would like to organize a workshop with the last teams to work on several themes that need deeper thoughts to continue the process.

“Top Spin”

AUTHOR(S) — Miguel Huelga de la Fuente (ES), Iria de la Peña Méndez (ES), Architects

AMSTERDAM SLUISBUURT (NL) — WINNER

CONTACT — sukunfuku studio, Gijón (ES) T. +34 985874946, info@sukunfuku.com, www.sukunfuku.com

TEAM POINT OF VIEW — The project suggests an evolution towards a more flexible and sustainable urban model, which is transformed to split the rigid and durable elements on one hand: the SUPERSTRUCTURE, and on the other hand those linked to the final use of space, with a shorter life: the GUEST CONSTRUCTION. Setting a time-frame division, the building adapts the program to the population requirements. The footprint of the towers is clearly defined at the street level. The main facilities are placed in the lower levels and the public space is organised around them sorting out the risk of privatization. The activity typically facing the main streets is now transferred to the courtyards surrounding the towers. Unlike the typical high-rise development, with towers resting in a plinth, the proposal here is to emphasize their presence.

JURY POINT OF VIEW — This plan is convincing as it delivers the best organization of the ground floor. The design and the organization of the lower levels of the tapered towers bring quality, spatial and functional diversity to the public space. The design enhances porosity and interaction between the plinth and the towers, where the core program is organized. The massing of the high-rise elements and the distribution of different typologies within these elements respond well to the surroundings. The design approach, demonstrated in the project, could be established as urban design guidelines.

Bouwen in Amsterdam

AUTHOR(S) — Reinier Suurenbroek (NL), Barthold Meijer Timmerman Thijssen (NL), Architects CONTACT — Amsterdam (NL), T. +31 627070948 office@bouweninamsterdam.eu, www.bouweninamsterdam.eu

AMSTERDAM SLUISBUURT (NL) — RUNNER-UP

TEAM POINT OF VIEW — Modern architecture has been missing generous spaces. Quality cannot be expressed in gross/net floor areas alone, how spaces are proportioned is much more important. Our plan samples the proportions of Amsterdam canal houses (the deep plan, the section with the variation in floor heights, the patterns of window openings, the light wells and the way the buildings meet the street) whilst using today’s building methods. By placing a large portion of the volume in slender towers, we offer beautiful views and keep the public realm spacious. Bouwen in Amsterdam uses time-tested architectural typologies to create a new piece of city that avoids overly prescribing the way it will be used in the future. A place where the streets and the buildings can really come alive as they change over time.

JURY POINT OF VIEW — This project is clearly controversial. The problem of density is solved with a few towers. The thin towers are a statement, containing all the programs. The urban fabric, in the remaining space, is focusing on a generous and well-proportioned indoor, and an outdoor space. This project is a conceptual manifesto addressing to the lack of quality present in the inner city, using towers to get the needed density, as well as themes, like using the Amsterdam architecture, being vertically orientated while having a small differentiated plinth with different entrances and a clear relation with public space.