WINTER SCHOOLMAKING ZUIDAS

MAKING CITY IS ABOUT

“The inevitable process of urbanization presents a huge political, social, economic and ecological challenge. At the same time, cities offer solutions for the tasks that face us in the 21st century.

The city is our future. But only if it is designed, planned and managed better than it is at present”

MAKING CITIES = MAKING (THE) DIFFERENCE(S)

excellent business climate with optimal accessibility, maximum deployment on our cities and urban regions with an integral vision connecting:disciplines (space, mobility and economy)levels of scale (local, regional, national, international)actors (governments, executive organisations, businesses, experts and civil society)

ALLIANCES DESIGN

WHY ZUIDAS?

COLLABORATION IABR - NATIONAL GOVERNMENTAtelier Making Projects: design research in alliances on 7 national projects

Zuidas as one of these in an alliance between:- city of Amsterdam- ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment- SITE Urban Development- three design schools and their students: Yale, AA, TUDelft

winterschool as ‘freezone’ for design research:- with strong connection to the actors involved- with strong universities internationally known and with different specialisations (public-private / inside-outside, new working and living environments, regional scale)

designing on Zuidas as international top location

DESIGN RESEARCH ON ZUIDAS

Zuidas: as an international business district, 6 minutes from Schiphol, with high-speed-train connections, a university around the corner, situated close the centre of Amsterdam.

Design approach that reconciles the immediate reality and opportunities of place, and the aspiration of long term plans.

WINTER SCHOOL

“Life is what happens to you, while you're busy making other plans" Malcolm Smith, supervising Architect Zuidas,

quoting John Lennon

How to develop a strategic framework with it's spatial and programmatic implications, that is resilient to uncertain future developments and at the same time provides and stimulates all the elements of a vital urban centre right here and now

MAIN QUESTION

IN TOTAL

3 Universities Architectural Association London Yale School of Architecture Delft University of Technology

2 work locations World Trade Centre at Zuidas Academie van Bouwkunst

9 lectures 3 times presented for the reflection team Pro-action café (12 experts) 5 visiting critics A total of 103 hrs of work in 8 days

FINAL RESULTS Present an intervention, embedded in a

strategy that answers to all scales, which initiates action in a tangible, seductive and provocative way. 

The presentation should explain itself in a crystal clear way to all types of public and be understood within 2 minutes. 

The presentation is allowed to be in any shape and medium of communication.

14 LESSONS LEARNED WINTER SCHOOL MAKING ZUIDAS:1. Be pragmatic, simple messages 2. Stop the fixation on the DOK model and the railwaystation as being the central

problem 3. Strategic positioning: balance between technocentric and anthropocentric,

lateralisation, global platform. Don't compete globally with your physical basis, think in terms of functions that strengthen the current position in the knowledge intensive services and provide opportunities for these services in the vicinity of Zuidas

4. What is the story of Zuidas in terms of future business. We are longing for a charming Zuidas

5. Stop thinking of urban street life and urban blocks everywhere: open the possibilities of new building typologies: strategies of infill, flexible typologies, opening up building blocks, small scale interventions

6. Make the Zuidas part of the Amsterdam urban fabric7. Develop from the fringes, attach to the urban fabric of Buitenveldert and Amsterdam

Zuid

14 LESSONS LEARNED WINTER SCHOOL MAKING ZUIDAS:

8. Think of axes and routes: Beethovenstraat and Amstelveenseweg, East West connections, a finer network of pedestrian and cyclist routes, mobility solutions at different scales

9. Improve and develop these routes with the emphasis on street life, with small scale interventions/landscape

10. Bring more people to the station area, prolong their stay through shopping, brand stores etc.

11. More focus on developing strategic projects than on an overall strategy: RAI, VU campus, Beatrix park, Olympic stadium

12. Start coalitions of investors and stakeholders: Schiphol, VU, RAI, private investment. Develop and support civic initiatives

13. Rethink the rules of the game, the old ones definitely failed; stop with design rules and zoning restrictions

14. What does the construction of the tunnel and Zuid as being wasteland mean for liveability for the next ten years. Work on temporary projects.