In this 1998 study, ONE proposed a counter-strategy to the inner-city-suburbanization that endangered Eindhoven (as a result of Philips’ move to the High Tech campus) at the time.
Strijp-S would become, on short notice, completely ‘empty’ and would, because it is too big to develop quickly, draw functions that would be better located in other parts of the city (near the station, in the center or on the edge). Strijp-S would negatively influence the development of other sites. That is why ONE have formulated a strategy for Strijp-S that can be characterized as ‘autistic’. The vision starts with creating a non-place in Eindhoven, an area that does not function and that does not have any relation with the surrounding city. This non-place can serve as an incubator for new, unforeseen or temporary developments (what has later been dubbed ‘the creative economy’). ONE called it an ‘experimental dystopia’.
It is the urbanism of ultimate generosity: it does not demand anything from the city, but could in the long term, in a completely unpredictable way, contribute much to Eindhoven as a whole.
Status: Unbuilt
