De Kameleon is a supersized housing block including a new shopping center and plenty of parking in the area formerly known as Bijlmermeer.
The Bijlmer is the one area in the Netherlands that sometimes is considered a ghetto. At the moment the area is going through a radical renovation process: an attempt is being made to turn it into a regular Dutch suburb. Standard low-rise housing is introduced that replaces the 10 storey apartment buildings but also the green spaces in-between them. In spite of the new format, the Bijlmer remains exotic: it is the place to be for a sensational Roti or sundried Bats.
The Railway Museum of the Netherlands is situated at the rear of Maliebaan Station in the city centre of Utrecht. Considerable thought went into how the museum relates to its surroundings. The building consists of a large hall plus three exhibition rooms whose volumes project through the sloping roof. The outer wall is built in brickwork with window strips that are filled with glazing, grilles or sections of weather-boarding according to the interior functions. The structural frame resembles a rib cage, and is supported by columns which branch upwards like trees.
The City of Almere presents today its plans for the Floriade 2022 candidature. Almere is one of the four Dutch cities left in the race for the prestigious horticultural Expo which takes place once every ten years in the Netherlands and is currently open in Venlo. The MVRDV plan for Almere is not a temporary expo site but a lasting green Cité Idéale as a green extension of the existing city center. The waterfront site opposite the city center will be developed as vibrant new urban neighbourhood and giant plant library which will remain after the expo. The ambition is to create a 300% greener exhibition than currently standard, both literally green and sustainable: each program on the site will be combined with plants which will create programmatic surprises, innovation and ecology. The site with a vast program such as a university, hotel, marina, offices and homes will at the same time be more urban than any other Floriade has been before, literally constructing the green city. The Nederlandse Tuinbouwraad (NTR) will decide in October which city will be organizing the next Floriade in 2022.
The commission (September 2007) consisted of a detached house on a plot in residential area Overgooi in Almere, at the foot of the Gooimeer dike. The family wanted, except for transparency and privacy, a strong integration of the plot with the building as opposed to a block on a mound. The house is a two-story building with traditional planning, living on the ground floor and sleeping upstairs. The building is divided into three parts: a two-storey main entrance building facing the front garden, a patio and connecting hallway as an open area in between, and finally the living area in a one-story volume in the middle of the plot.
Within in de urban scheme of KCAP – Kees Christiaanse for the Science Park in Amsterdam, 24H>architecture was commissioned to make a proposal for one of the five housing projects, called ‘the Twins’. The location is situated between the Oosterringdike and the Caroline Mac Gillavrylaan.
Situated in the urban planning area Nieuw Leyden, the project includes two separate houses combined into one single looking volume. Both houses, practically identical on the inside, are designed as one entity on the outside, only the two entrance doors reveal the presence of two homes.
Facade Exterior (Image Courtesy Marcel van der Burg)
The city of Almere has a sheep population of about 80 sheep. The sheep are mobilized to keep the powerful weed “acanthus” or “bears-breech” that grows in the “vroege vogel” – forest and “kromsloot” – park in Almere under control. To centralize and house this population, a sheep stable was needed. The stable is designed with an a-symmetrical homogeneous cross-section. The part of the building where the sheep reside is relatively low; the high part is situated above the (public) pathway and the hay storage section, making it possible to store a maximum amount of hay. This shape also creates a natural flow for the air inside the building, which is refreshed by two slits at the foot of each long side of the building.
The commission (March 2008) consisted of a detached house with outbuildings on a plot in villa park ‘de Noordzoom’ in Lelystad, at the foot of the Enkhuizen – Lelystad dike. The family wanted, like many others, light, air and space.
The house is a one-story bungalow, while the site asked for a response to “living at the water.” The latter is accomplished by making a veranda along the entire length of the building (south), at the most important rooms of the house; from bedroom, to wardrobe, to the master bathroom, to hobby room to the kitchen and finally to the dining- and around the corner the living room. Along this line, there is a transition from water to veranda, to completely glass facade, with doors behind which all mentioned areas are.
The project “Black & White Twins” experiments with the spatial and visual integration of compact collective housing solutions in the new exclusive urban development of Blaricummermeent, which is mainly formed by single-family houses and villas. The twin buildings provide affordable apartments within small-scale housing blocks, four levels high, minimizing the footprint of the intervention, the volume of the buildings and therefore their physical impact in the residential area.
diederendirrix wins the architect selection for the Community School Reigerlaan Eindhoven!
Community School Reigerlaan Eindhoven aims to be the new name for school where several functions will be housed. Currently, the building is only in use as a elementary school. The existing buildings on the site consists of a monumental building and an outbuilding (nursery school) plus temporary units with 6 classrooms. The main building and outbuilding are registered as national monument, dating from 1915 and 1927 respectively.
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