Amsterdam Amsterdam Design and architecture— —Design and architecture Amphibious architecture High and dry Silodam, Centrum Design and Housing block Silodam was inspired by the 19th architecture and 20th-century grain silos on the — Sites to docks of Oude Houthaven just to the northwest of Centraal station. behold In 1995 Rotterdam-based studio mvrdv – also responsible for the Chanel shop (see page 80) and Tennisclub IJburg (see page 124) – was commissioned to design a dense living complex in the empty port. Finished in 2003, the monumental building looks like a stack of shipping containers Amsterdam’s architecture servicing the surrounding silos. Steigereiland, IJburg dates back to the 14th The site houses 165 commercial Floating houses century and when you and residential units of varying imagine the city it’s hard sizes, occupied by a cross-section With the city’s housing shortage, not to think solely in terms of financial categories (and also, architects have been looking to of canals, bridges and therefore, of Amsterdam’s society). the water, developing practical mvrdv created internal streets and but good-looking floating homes. windmills. But the scope central shared spaces, including Nearly 75 of them now dot the of design in the Dutch a restaurant, library and viewing artificial island cluster of IJburg capital is wider and more deck. There’s also a small harbour in the city’s east. A network of diverse than the postcards for residents to moor their boats. aluminium-surfaced jetties work as might have you believe. Tours can be booked in advance. footpaths and create a link between The brick-heavy work Silodam, 1013 AW the two and three-storey dwellings, of the Amsterdam School, silodam.org which range from social housing to cha high-end abodes. as espoused by Eduard od nn o e One cluster was designed by F l Cuypers and his acolytes, REM Eiland, Noord — Marlies Rohmer Architects, using is of particular interest, The original Rigged up as a restaurant studio is now a glass and synthetic materials that blending expressionism private dining resemble steel. The base is a hollow with art deco and art Standing on 12-metre-tall stilts, area cement cube, which is poured in nouveau. At the same the red-and-white chequered rem one go and takes into consideration time, members of the Eiland was erected in 1964 and heavy pieces of furniture such as movement were careful to then towed 9km offshore into the pianos or bathtubs (a thicker slab of North Sea where it was anchored concrete on the opposite side acts apply socialist ideals that to the seabed. Its purpose was Kraanspoor, Noord as a counterweight). Once finished, buildings should benefit to house the pirate broadcasting Glazed look the houses are pulled along the all, not just the elite. station Radio and TV Noordzee canals by barge to their destination. A respect for the city’s but after government objections the Dreamed up by Trude Hooykaas, Haringbuisdijk, 1086 VA architectural history has station was dismantled by the Royal founder of oth Architecten, on a rohmer.nl also led to the repurposing Dutch Navy a few months later. It bicycle ride (how very Dutch) in of structures that would eventually resumed broadcast as 1997, Kraanspoor faced numerous otherwise have lain idle, a legal station and was on air until roadblocks, including objections 2006, when it was again dismantled. from city hall. The 270-metre- themselves becoming In 2011 the boxy three-storey long glass office building took a a symbol of the city’s structure took up a new residence decade to complete and appears pleasing juxtaposition of in the IJ harbour just north of the to float three metres above a old and new. And there’s city and opened as a restaurant. decommissioned crane track on plenty of modern and It still features the original the IJ river. contemporary design to footbridges, signal lights and Hooykaas wanted to preserve catch the eye too, from lifeboat, while the former helipad the area’s industrial heritage while is now a terrace offering great (if giving it a new lease on life. The brutalist accommodation windswept) views back over the building’s façade is a wraparound blocks to innovative city from ust over 20 metres up. transparent second skin of movable solutions to the city’s 45-2 Haparandadam, 1013 AK glass louvres that afford spectacular housing shortage. +31 (0)20 688 5501 views of the IJ river. remeiland.com Kraanspoor, 1033 SE 104 105 Amsterdam Amsterdam Design and architecture— —Design and architecture Old meets new Updated greats Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Eastern Docklands Top of the charts Daniël Stalpaert, who also Canteen Building, designed the town hall (now the Eastern Docklands royal palace), used his trademark Lofty ideals austere classical style for Het Scheepvaartmuseum (The As the name suggests, this was once National Maritime Museum). Built the canteen building for the now as a naval warehouse in 1656, it defunct Royal Dutch Steamboat opened as a museum in 1973 and Company – but new life was was renovated from 2007 to 2011; breathed into the site in the early it was during this time that its 1990s. The city council divided courtyard was roofed with 1,200 the original space into eight loft pieces of glass. The design was apartments, which it sold off for inspired by compass lines on old symbolic sums to artist squatters. mapping charts, with leds placed “We used old ship ladders to on each of the 868 “knots”. provide an individual entrance for 1 Kattenburgerplein, 1018 KK each loft,” says Koen Crabbendam +31 (0)20 523 2222 of Casa Architecten, who worked on hetscheepvaartmuseum.nl the initial brief. The artists renovated the lofts themselves and owned the properties under the condition that they did not sell them for the first 10 years. Once the decade was up, some of the properties soon went for more than €1m. 1-15 Levantplein, 1019 MA Rijksmuseum, Oud-Zuid Gebouw 27E Marineterrein, Oost Refreshing the past Military planning Ten years of renovations to Pierre Dutch architecture bureau sla Cuypers’ 1885 neo-gothic building was tasked with transforming this were completed in 2013; the main former military academy into hall is now an open courtyard by a setting fit to host the EU Council Seville architects Cruz and Ortiz. during the Netherlands’ presidency “There’s so much light now, it’s back in 2016. Before that, the a whole different mentality,” says 13-hectare marine base had been gallery director Taco Dibbits. closed for more than 300 years. Teams dug beneath sea level to “There was a lot of mystery find more space and height for the surrounding this site, particularly glass-roofed courtyard. “In the since it’s right in the city centre,” Netherlands as soon as you put says Peter Van Assche, lead a spade in the ground you need a designer at bureau sla. The façade Ok you lot, you’re sailor, not a builder,” adds Dibbits, Crystal houses was redesigned, each window referencing the trouble with going to have to gaining oversized wooden louvres breathe in — building on reclaimed land. Another notable façade by abstractly representing European Now a concave tier of studio MVRDV (see page 105) flags. Spread out over three Portuguese stone is overlooked by is the Chanel shop on the floors, the building’s large, open a pair of towering new minimalist PC Hooftstraat retail strip. spaces are now used as various porticos nudging up to the walls The design team developed types of workspaces that are either of Cuypers’ outspoken original. Venetian-made glass bricks open to the public or rented out The interior design, lighting and and a transparent high-strength to start-ups. staging of works was refreshed by glue to build an extra storey on Marineterrein, 5 Kattenburgerstraat, Frenchman Jean-Michel Wilmotte. top of the brick original. 1018 JA 1 Museumstraat, 1071 XX mvrdv.nl +31 (0)20 261 3656 +31 (0)20 674 7000 marineterrein.nl rijksmuseum.nl 106 107 Amsterdam Amsterdam Design and architecture— —Design and architecture Residential Stedelijk Museum, Oud-Zuid Key players Living legends De Oude Kerk Added extras — The city is a hotbed for graphic- It may not be as grandiose as AW Weissman’s Stedelijk Museum design talent and the Stedelijk gothic cathedrals elsewhere was completed in the Dutch Museum has brought some but De Oude Kerk is neo-renaissance style in 1895 but big-industry names into its fold nonetheless impressive (and various additions have been made over the years. Alumni include also the oldest building in to it over the years. The most Wim Crouwel, who designed Amsterdam). Wood was the ambitious was finished in 2012 by the museum’s branding from primary material used during Benthem Crouwel Architects and 1963 to 1985, and typographer construction to ensure that the took the form of a large white-and- Willem Sandberg. foundation wouldn’t overload glass wing known affectionately as stedelijk.nl and sink: a very real concern the badkuip (bathtub). for a city built on peat swamps. “We wanted our design to The church was consecrated at include an urban-planning the beginning of the 14th solution,” says Mels Crouwel, century and operated until founding partner at Benthem 1951, when it was closed due Crouwel. To achieve this the team to concerns about the integrity reoriented the main entrance by of the foundations. 180 degrees to face Museumplein. Extensive restoration took “In doing so it created an active, place between 1955 and 1979,` common ground for the first time and again between 1994 between all the square’s cultural and 1998.