Steven Broekhof

Bring me back my AmsterdamPoetics of restructuring

somewhere in Moscowsteven@felixx.nl31 6 16 75 07 14

architect/researcher at Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/steven-broekhof/25/942/55

Architecture

Graduation date03 07 2013

Cities are growing enormously, Amsterdam is one of them. The demand of housing, the influx of new residents is mostly placed on free unfilled plots or positioned in the suburbs of the existing city. The tendency is that the historic city centre is being dominated by commercial functions. This commercial pressure results in housing being more and more expelled to the edge of the city. This has the consequence that the dynamics of the historical city center is determined by the so-called spectators. The city center loses its meaning for the people of Amsterdam.

The premise of this project is designing a strategy where living and shopping can reinforce each other. With this approach the historic city center regains a function as a place for both spectators and involvers and retakes its position within the entire city fabric.

The location is a warehouse in the very heart of medieval Amsterdam. The existing building is built in the 70’s and consists out of a frame structure: a so-called pilotis plan. This structure provides a strong flexible carrier and can be manipulated in an easy way.

After extensive research, next to the possible urban connections with the existing context, five instruments are defined that together ensure this building will become part of the urban fabric.

By strategically cutting and slicing in the existing building structure, routes, physical and visual connections (3) between the different users: retail (1) and housing (2), as well as (semi-) public and private courts (4) are created as identity carriers and destinations of these routes. The public courts contain see-throughs orientated to important landmarks of the city and are supported by special functions (5) attached to these spaces.

Every house is positioned between a public and a private court which creates a formal and an informal side. Retail is wrapped in housing from the first floor, so housing is reconnected to the street again. By cutting and slicing, the building can be used in different ways and functions as a 3D urban plan.

Cum Laude

Commission membersMarcel van der Lubbe (mentor) Petar ZaklanovicFloris Alkemade

Additional members for the examinationMadeleine MaaskantHerman Kerkdijk

Steven BroekhofBring me back my AmsterdamPoetics of restructuring

Steven Broekhof

Architecture

Retail (1)

Altogether

Housing (2) Courts (4)

Public routes (3) Privat routes (3) Special program (5)

Collective roofgarden/-terrace

Concept

‘Spectators’

‘solution today’ ‘mix’ ‘mutually reinforcing’

‘Involvers’ ‘Existing frame structure (pilotis plan)’ ‘Matrix for cutting holes’

‘Location : C&A-building Damrak’Structure vision 2040 Municipality of Amsterdam

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Steven Broekhof

Private Court ‘housing’ (section A) Semi Public Court ‘playground’ (section B)

Section A Section B

Public Court ‘citysquare’ (section A) Private Court ‘kitchengarden’ (section B)

Architecture

Scenes / dwellings / shopping / moments...

Steven Broekhof

Nightimpression

Impression from Nieuwendijk Impression from Damrak

Architects, urban designers and landscape architects learn the profession at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture through an intensive combination of work and study. They work in small, partly interdisciplinary groups and are supervised by a select group of practising fel low professionals. There is a wide range of options within the programme so that students can put together their own trajectory and specialisation. With the inclusion of the course in Urbanism in 1957 and Landscape Architecture in 1972, the academy is the only architecture school in the Netherlands to bring together the three spatial design disciplines.Some 350 guest tutors are involved in teaching every year. Each of them is a practising designer or a specific expert in his or her particular subject. The three heads of department also have design practices of their own in addition to their work for the Academy. This structure yields an enormous dynamism and energy and ensures that the courses remain closely linked to the current state of the discipline.The courses consist of projects, exercises and lectures. First-year and second-year students also engage in morphological studies. Students work on their own or in small groups. The design projects form the backbone of the cur riculum.

Master of Architecture / Urbanism / Landscape Architecture

Amsterdam Academy of Architecture

On the basis of a specific design assignment, students develop knowledge, insight and skills. The exercises are focused on training in those skills that are essential for recognising and solving design problems, such as analytical techniques, knowledge of the repertoire, the use of materials, text analysis, and writing. Many of the exercises are linked to the design projects. The morphological studies concentrate on the making of spatial objects, with the emphasis on creative process and implementation. Students experiment with materials and media forms and gain experience in converting an idea into a creation.During the periods between the terms there are workshops, study trips in the Netherlands and abroad, and other activities. This is also the preferred moment for international exchange projects. The academy regularly invites foreign students for the workshops and recruits well-known designers from the Netherlands and further afield as tutors.Graduates from the Academy of Architecture are entitled to the following titles: Master of Architecture (MArch), Master of Urbanism (MUrb), or Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA). The Master’s