Jury Report Amsterdam Architecture Prize 2015
Marina de Vries, Dirk van den Heuvel and Alex de Rijke
Introduction
Once again, the annual quest to find the best new building in Amsterdam proved to be an exciting and
challenging undertaking. The discussions were intense and the issues addressed were numerous. This was
true of the selection of nominations by the professional jury and the visits to and commenting on the
nominated projects – this year for the first time by a professional and a public jury. The public jury chose a
winner on the basis of their own arguments and wrote their own report.
As is the case each year, Arcam inventoried the entire crop of new buildings and, following two rounds in
which Arcam was advised by its own programme committee and a professional jury, a shortlist of ten
nominations was drawn up. This year, the professional jury consisted of the architecture and art critic
Marina de Vries (Museumtijdschrift), researcher Dirk van den Heuvel (TU Delft, Jaap Bakema Study Centre)
and the London-based architect Alex de Rijke (dRMM Architects, dean of architecture Royal College of
Art). These three took on the task of choosing the building project completed in Amsterdam in 2014 that
they considered to be the most creative response to the current situation in the city, or the most daring
and innovative, or, ideally, the most beautiful combination. They were unanimous in their choice of winner.
The architect who designed and the client who commissioned this project will receive the 2015 Amsterdam
Architecture Prize medals.
Transformations
What was immediately striking this year was that approximately half of the projects completed in the city in
2014 were transformations of existing buildings and locations. Renovation projects were not considered
when drawing up the longlist. Even then the number of redeveloped buildings with a new use, which really
do generate a new experience, was equal to the number of new build projects. This situation had never
occurred previously. It clearly reflects the increasingly self-evident attitude to the economic climate and
recognizing the qualities of the city’s heritage, and the desire and need to revitalize inner-city areas – a
development that started some years ago and which manifests itself more strongly each year.
Whereas in previous years large-scale transformations, such as the city’s major museums, for example,
stood an excellent chance, the trend is becoming increasingly apparent in more modest projects – and also
corresponds with the stagnated development of large building projects. The resultant increasingly wide
range of types of client was also evident this year too.
It became clear during the evaluation of the crop of 2014 that, irrespective of the typology of the project,
all three jury members were looking for high-quality interventions, inventive solutions, energy and
presence, elegance and integrity.
Into town
On Friday 13 March 2015, the professional jury and the public jury together visited the ten nominated
projects. An intensive programme, in which each project’s initiator, client, architect or user were also
present. For the jury members, the day was characterized by a high density of information and impressions,
but above all it was an enjoyable day in energetic and enthusiastic company. Below, in the order of the
route taken by the jury members, are the commentaries on the ten nominated projects.
Early in the morning, the jury visited De Nieuwe
Ooster cemetery. In the revamped entrance area,
the former ‘bier shed’ and the ‘Aula van Leupen’
(1939) have been remodelled by Bierman Henket
architects. Because of the more modest character
of the small hall, attention was primarily focused on
the large hall, where a new elevated cremation
oven has created a new farewell ritual. New
requirements and new rituals called for a larger volume, while preserving the unique qualities of the
existing space. To this end, a relatively modest wing on columns was added to the rear side of the
building. The jury members thought the new farewell ritual, whereby the coffin is raised until it is out of
sight, was an interesting innovation. The original interior of the building is still impressive, while on the
exterior the new addition is powerful due to its elevated position. The jury applauded the fact that the
apparent symmetry of Springer’s original design has been reinstated and the composition improved.
The jury approached the next project via the A10
motorway, which was essential in order to
experience the building. OMA has designed a new
G-Star RAW headquarters on a carpark plinth level
with the motorway. It is an impressive icon for this
Dutch denim brand – even, or especially, when
viewed at speed. The high standard of design
reminded the jury of the need for more high quality motorway architecture; a prolific but debased category
in need of inspiration. They noted that the client and the architect were clearly of the same mind in their
ambition to reinvent the typology, giving rise to an excellent working environment with a panoramic view
of the motorway. The jury thought the design was powerful inside and outside, with a controlled palette
and with a high-quality finish right down to the details. The effect of the building-height glass sliding doors
over the front elevation being closed in order to create additional interior space remained an enigma.
In Nieuw West, the Staalmanpleinbuurt is a show
case of ideas about the restructuring of this hitherto
unpopular 1950s neighbourhood. The jury were
welcomed into the dwellings, in the back garden
and onto the roof of a reoccupied block of flats.
On the outside, the building is low key, but the
transformation is radical. In the project Klussen op
de Klarenstraat, the jury clearly saw the current
period represented in its recognition of the
building’s existing qualities and flexibility as regards
layout, as well as the wishes of the individual occupants, who realized the project through collective
commissioning and are therefore jointly responsible for their own dwellings and immediate surroundings.
The role of Vanschagen Architects was modest, effective and decisive for the success of this
transformation project. A neglected and typically unpopular apartment block type has been imaginately
recycled into desirable housing.
Another transformation project, but of a completely
different order, is De Hallen in Amsterdam West.
Notwithstanding the many obstacles along the way,
this former tram depot has been saved and
converted for a range of new uses by the Stichting
TROM and Architectenbureau J. van Stigt.
The new interventions, such as, for example, the
linking of the complex with the neighbourhood by
means of passageways and a new street, are subtle
and strategic at the same time. Inside, the jury
observed that the various sections derive their strength from the fact that the original structure has been
left intact. A cultural dynamism has been programmed inside the architectural basis, which not only gives
the district a new heart with a mix of social and commercial functions but, moreover, also connects the
various surrounding neighbourhoods. In the jury’s view, a very significant project on many fronts.
The next building on the jury’s route was the
community school Brede School Houthaven, with
its robust and characteristic exterior. Designed by
the Architectenbureau Marlies Rohmer, it is one
of the first permanent buildings in the Houthaven
residential development, which is being built on
piers in the IJ. The jury commended the architect’s
ambition to develop a personal language with her
oeuvre, coupled with a focus on the social
significance of her projects. They noted a multiplicity
of measures aimed at facilitating vibrancy, both inside and outside the building. The striving for
sustainability is evident not only in the building’s energy neutrality, but above all in the design aimed at
ensuring a long life for the building and providing flexibility for multiple use.
The jury saw a manifestation of the changed role of
the architect in De Ceuvel in Amsterdam Noord. A
growing collective (an initiative of Space & Matter,
DELVA Landscape Architects, Studio Valkenier,
Smeelearchitecture, Jeroen Apers.Architect,
Metabolic, Bureau Broedplaatsen, Gemeente
Amsterdam) has transformed a polluted site into a
creative and social hub, where houseboats are
reused, connected by a jetty walkway above
vegetation that will cleanse the soil within ten years.
While the architectural content of the intervention is expressly limited and the aspects of process and
transience are exploited in all manner of ways, De Ceuvel is wonderfully successful in breaking with the
customary complexity of transformation processes. The jury commended the project’s impact.
Another location in the city that has had a public
character since 2014 is Artisplein. The jury regarded
the opening of part of the zoo as a generous gesture
by Natura Artis Magistra, in their aim of a better
integration of the park and the city. To this end, the
removal of existing buildings was deemed essential.
Artis found an excellent partner in the designer
Michael van Gessel, who has created unity (the
design of the floor) and transparency (an aviary, with
meadow landscape and birds, as a partition) for the
site. Finally the recreation of polder farm elements completed the unusual urban composition with intimate
scale, materiality and wit.
The jury applauded the master plan that is to create
a new campus heart for the University of
Amsterdam’s buildings on Roeterseiland. The canal
that bisects the island is no longer a barrier, but
rather is a central axis on which the entrances are to
be situated. Building B/C was completed in 2014
and represents only a phase in a long-term trajectory.
The intervention by AHMM Architects with the
greatest impact, and which received most praise from
the jury, was the removal of the lower four storeys of
the bridge building so that the canal axis is visually
and spatially opened. Inside, in the areas that are to link up with the other buildings, and outside, the
project is clearly a work in progress.
The jury’s attention was drawn to the integration of
a multiplicity of factors in the master plan for
Oostpoort by Sjoerd Soeters and the development
consortium Ontwikkelingscombinatie
Polderweggebied. The jury noted the high density,
the layout of the squares and inner courtyards, the
routes and sightlines along the slightly curved
streets, the height accents – and the lower accents
at the waterside – and the sun penetration. They
commended the fact that the area has been
developed in the face of the prevailing economic forces and that a successful residential/retail area has
been carefully created thanks to the imaginative master plan. The unusual dwelling typologies in close
relationship with the urban spaces also drew the jury’s praise.
The final project the jury visited was the Volkshotel.
The jury admired the inventive transformation by
Studio Steenbruggen, whereby a 1960s building has
been given a new lease of life, and thought it
characteristic of a new form of urban use by a new
group of young urbanites, which calls to mind,
among other things, the culture of freedom and
self-initiative in Berlin. At the top of the building,
they thought the view was a cleverly exploited
unique selling point, while on the ground floor they praised the mix of overlapping functions and
programme. In addition, the jury liked the way the existing concrete construction on the intermediate
floors has determined the division of the corridors and the diversity of rooms and how various interior
designers and artists have given further form to this diversity.
Discussie on the top 4
As expected, the professional jury’s discussion was sharp.
Having considered the ten projects, a top 4 came to the fore.
The Brede School Houthaven was, in the jury’s opinion, a good example of the work of an architect who
goes beyond what the client requests. The building develops Marlies Rohmer’s school oeuvre and is a
social and distinctive contribution to the city. The need for the Houthaven masterplan to be started by a
strong project has been met here.
Artisplein was considered a superb intervention. It demonstrated the conceptual principle of an urban
square in a park with animals, rather than a zoo. Refined and restrained in accordance with a scenography
that works. An intervention that shows exceptional professional skill, achieving maximum effect with
seemingly virtually nothing. This has resulted in a sympathetic filter between the park and the city. The fact
that the client decided to demolish several buildings in order to create a daytime public space was, in the
jury’s view, highly commendable and worthy of emulation.
The jury considered the project Klussen op de Klarenstraat to be very much of our time, an example for
residents, architects, housing associations and financiers. Making an unpopular building type, in a difficult
location in a postwar district, attractive is some achievement. That residents have a say regarding their own
dwellings is, regrettably, still the exception rather than the rule. The project modestly presents a new way
of providing popular new urban housing without recourse to erasure of the old.
The jury found the G-Star RAW Headquarters impressive. An imposing complex and a unique spatial
workplace at the same time. The collaborating hand and mind of the architect and the client are clearly
recognizable. The striving for exceptionally high quality, cohesion and a perfect finish sets a new standard
for the international language of highway architecture.
But what statement was the jury seeking to make?
Winner
The following criteria emerged as the most important for the three jury members:
Representation of the zeitgeist was considered to be particularly important. The jury also thought that the
winner should be an example worthy of emulation, making a positive impact to planning, in Amsterdam
and beyond. The project’s significance for its citizens and contribution to the city was also taken into
consideration. In addition, the jury applauded clients who invent themselves, individually and collectively.
The transformation of an often needlessly demolished modernist building typology was seen as valuable.
Above all, the jury wanted to reward a project where the users are visibly excited about their architecture
For the above reasons, the jury unanimously and proudly award the 2015 Amsterdam Architecture
Prize to:
Klussen op de Klarenstraat
VanSchagen Architecten
VvO Klussen op de Klarenstraat