Archinect - News

Flatpack homes offer Dutch first-time buyers chance to get on housing ladder

2013-05-13T18:36:00-04:00

Choosing your dream home has become as simple as picking furniture from the Ikea catalogue for residents of Nijmegen in the Netherlands, where a neighbourhood of affordable architect-designed kit houses has just been launched. Aimed at first-time buyers, the city's "I build affordable in Nijmegen" initiative has paired 20 architects with building companies to produce about 30 designs – from detached timber cabins to redbrick terraced houses – with a construction cost of as little as €115,000.

From 8A Architecten, the archtiects, "8A designed houses for first time buyers for the IbbN-program in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. ‘IbbN’ stands for ‘Ik bouw betaalbaar in Nijmegen’, translated in English as ‘I build affordable in Nijmegen’. This is a special program for first time buyers on the housing market who like to build their own house. With this program everyone with an income between € 30.000,- and € 47.000,- a year, gets a chance to build their own house."

More information about the project can be seen here, at it's dedicated website: www.ikbouwbetaalbaarmet8a.nl

Going With the Flow

2013-02-14T11:12:00-05:00

Another way to phrase it is that hard decisions need to be made to cope with rising waters and severe weather. Notwithstanding the obvious difference between a group of farmers on a Dutch polder and communities in the Rockaways or Coney Island, good government makes those decisions while giving affected residents adequate knowledge and agency: the ability to make choices, and the responsibility to live by them.

MVRDV Completes the Glass Farm

2013-01-18T14:42:00-05:00

MVRDV just completed the Glass Farm, a multi-purpose building in the village square of Schijndel, the Netherlands. The exterior is printed glass with a collage of typical local farms; a monument to the past but 1.6 times larger than life. The architects see this concept as a possible contemporary response to retro-architecture whilst respecting the public's wish for vernacular authenticity.

New New Amsterdam: Would Some Giant Dutch Sea Gates Have Saved New York?

2012-11-01T11:46:00-04:00

“They really don’t treat the water in this kind of eggshell kind of way that they do in the United States,” Mr. Chakrabarti said. “They reclaim the land, use dredging material, do a whole variety of things to reshape the shoreline, like we first did when we were New Amsterdam. The Dutch have unrivaled experience in dealing with flooding. They really know how to shape the water’s edge, and I think we really have to rethink the way we deal with the water’s edge, given what’s happened with Sandy.”

Architect and planner Vishaan Charkrabarti, director of Columbia's Center for Urban Real Estate and a partner at SHoP, has a novel idea to save New York from the next big one: Build some giant sea gates around the harbor, like they have in Rotterdam. Also, a barrier island or two would be good.

Stedelijk Museum's 'bathtub' awash in awkwardness: Review - latimes.com

2012-09-28T19:57:00-04:00

An overscaled monument flagrantly aloof from its surroundings, the addition is a laggard symbol of an era when the Netherlands, like this country, was awash in capital for boldly sculptural new projects. As such it's a reminder of how slow architecture can be. The $159-million extension is the architectural personification of boom-time thinking.

Guus Beumer named director of new architecture, design and e-culture institute

2012-07-30T21:31:00-04:00

The institute will begin operating on 1 January 2013, after the merger of three official industry institutes: the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAi); Premsela, the Netherlands Institute for Design and Fashion; and Virtueel Platform, knowledge institute for e-culture. Beumer is expected to begin work this autumn.

James Bond-style Pond and Parking Garage Entrance by HOSPER

2012-07-26T18:07:00-04:00

Earlier this week, we featured the urban square design GENK C-m!ne by Dutch landscape and urban design firm HOSPER. Here's another project by them we really enjoyed: an almost 8,000 square foot ornamental pond on top of an underground parking garage which rivals any James Bond supervillan lair. The fascinating garage entrance, which has won multiple design awards, is part of the larger urban and landscape master plan HOSPER drew up for the land of the historic Hageveld Estate, near Amsterdam.

MoederscheimMoonen to Design New Community Center in Zwolle, Netherlands

2012-07-02T14:07:00-04:00

The proposal by Rotterdam-based firm MoederscheimMoonen Architects has recently won the architectural competition for the new community center ‘Het Anker’ in Zwolle, The Netherlands. The commission results from an invited competition which also comprised the offices Koppert + Koenis Architecten, broekbakema, Jeanne Dekkers Architectuur, and BDG Architecten.

Mecanoo Begins Construction of Onze Droomschool in Dordrecht, NL

2012-04-26T13:18:00-04:00

Today marks the official start of construction of the new building for Onze Droomschool in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, designed by Mecanoo architecten. The new 5,322 m² school brings together education, child care and medical care. [...] In addition to classrooms, the building will house practical training studios, a mediatheque, music studio, sports center and an outdoor Johan Cruijff court for soccer and basketball.

LOLA, Deltavormgroep and Piet Oudolf to Design Star Maze Park Groot Vijversburg

2012-01-27T14:10:00-05:00

Dutch firms LOLA landscape architects, Deltavormgroep, and Piet Oudolf have won the commission for the extension of the historical park Groot Vijversburg in the north of The Netherlands with their submission “Star Maze”. The team has won the commission through a national tender, for which five teams were selected.

Dutch Design Awards 2011: Live Performances + Call for Public Vote

2011-10-12T14:15:53-04:00

With the announcement of the prestigious Dutch Design Awards 2011 being only days away, we're happy to share videos and photos from three live performances created by Rotterdam-based Studio Dumbar. The performances are to promote the Dutch Design Awards categories: Spatial-, Product- and Communication Design.

See the videos of all three performances on Bustler.

UNStudio’s Design for an Observation Tower for ‘De Onlanden’

2011-09-22T14:00:00-04:00

The design for an observation tower for the nature reserve ‘De Onlanden’, situated to the South-West of the City of Groningen, The Netherlands, was presented today to Natuurmonumenten (the Dutch Society for the Preservation of Natural Heritage) [...]. The observation tower is the result of a study into the optimal application of Ultra High Performance Concrete by a case study team comprising of UNStudio, ABT, BAM Utiliteitsbouw en Haitsma Beton.

The Amsterdam Summer Travel Studio

2011-08-17T15:15:00-04:00

University of Kentucky College of Design Assistant Professor Kyle Miller led an eight-week design program in Amsterdam for twelve undergraduate students. The students participated in two courses: a six-credit design studio and a three-credit seminar that comprised a series of intensive design workshops. The primary objective of the design studio was to prototype design and program solutions for large, recently abandoned buildings in Amsterdam.

Mecanoo Selected to Build Noorderpoort College in Stadskanaal

2011-07-19T13:59:27-04:00

Mecanoo architecten has won the architectural selection for the new Noorderpoort regional community college in Stadskanaal, the Netherlands. The 8,500 m² college is like a mansion with beautiful wetlands as a front lawn situated within the town's green heart.

'De Nieuwe Liefde' by Wiel Arets Architects

2011-05-02T20:11:00-04:00

Wiel Arets Architects have shared with us a recently completed renovation/restoration of a former wine storage warehouse located on the edge of Amsterdam’s 17th century UNESCO canal ring.

De Nieuwe Liefde (‘The New Love’) is a theatre and community centre located in a monumental white building on Amsterdam’s Da Costakade that was originally constructed in 1904 as storage space for a local wine company. After falling into disrepair, and in accordance with the last tenants leaving the property in 2007, the De Liefde was completely rebuilt by Wiel Arets Architects and renamed De Nieuwe Liefde. The reconstruction transformed the existing building into a series of new spaces composed of a main hall with seating for 230, a conference room with space for 60, a choir space for 50, a library, a separate restaurant-café and a grand foyer that decompresses into a central circulation void.

Prior to the renovation the building retained many of its original Neo-Renaissance and Art N...