October 26, 2017

Amsterdam third best architecture start-up city

Filed under: Architecture by Orangemaster @ 8:32 pm

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I got to talking with an American tourist on the tram in Amsterdam the other day, which actually goes by the buildings in this old picture, and he asked me if we had a lot of startup companies. I enthusiastically said yes, we’re well know for startups in IT, but I couldn’t really say any more than that.

According to Archipreneur.com, after London and Berlin, Amsterdam is one of the largest startup hubs in Europe. Its diverse population and business-friendly environment, along with a host of opportunities for startups to find mentoring make it a great environment for people working in architecture. And as I would have wanted to say to the nice tourist, the startups are in software development, smart energy and 3D printing, the latter we tend to write about more regularly.

Companies such as Startupbootcamp, founded in 2010, the recently launched Sharing City that connects startups with the corporate world and MX3D who were 3D printing a bicycle bridge for Amsterdam, are a few examples of the architecture scene earning Amsterdam a third place ahead of Lisbon, Dublin and Prague.

(Link: archipreneur.com, Photo of Dam Square, Amsterdam by Unknown, some rights reserved)

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October 20, 2017

Dutch boast world’s first printed bike bridge

Filed under: Architecture,Bicycles,Dutch first,Sustainability by Orangemaster @ 2:49 pm

3D-bridge-Gemert

In June we told you about Amsterdam getting a 3D printed steel bridge, but the town of Gemert Noord-Om, Noord-Brabant has recently had a 3D steel printed bridge for cyclists installed, making it a world first.

The bridge was printed in June at the Eindhoven University of Technology and installed by construction company Royal Bam Group. It is made of pre-stressed and reinforced concrete, which is a feat of sustainability. “With 3D printing, you have more flexibility regarding the shape of the product. As well, 3D printing a bridge is also incredibly efficient: you need less concrete, but there is also no need for shuttering where the concrete is normally poured in. You just use exactly what you need, and there is no CO2 emissions”, explains BAM Director Marinus Schimmel.

And yes it’s a corporate film in Dutch, but you get to see how they made it.

(Links and image: designboom.com, brabant.nl)

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October 4, 2017

Former science museum Evoluon for sale

Filed under: Architecture by Orangemaster @ 11:44 am

Eindhoven’s former science museum Evoluon that ceased its activities in the 1980s and is now being used as a location for events, congresses and temporary offices, is finally up for sale. However, as a national monument since 2013, its new owner will still need to have some connection with presenting technology to the world, as it was originally intended by Dutch multinational Philips.

Nobody really knows how much Evoluon will be sold for, but potential buyers say “more than a few million”, which will also include a huge lot the size of about 10 football pitches.

A while back we told you about a 12-minute promotional film made in 1968 that provides a fascinating insight into the experience of the science museum for people who never got to see the real thing.

(Link: ed.nl, Photo of the first Philips colour TV from 1964 by Philips, used with permission)

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July 28, 2017

Visit the Netherlands’ smallest police station

Filed under: Architecture,History by Orangemaster @ 5:36 pm

Sloten-politie

The smallest police station in the Netherlands is in Sloten, a 10th century village that today remains the oldest part of Amsterdam. Sloten was eventually integrated into Amsterdam in the 20th century and is now part of Amsterdam’s Nieuw-West district.

Built in 1866 the station is apparently the source of some great stories. Until about 1965, constable Freek Raat would let the locals sleep off their hangovers in the station’s 4m2 cell. Even local youth that caused trouble were locked up for a few hours to teach them a lesson.

These days, the small station has been empty and slowly falling in disrepair since 2015. The City Restoration company and Sloten residents want to fix up, which is why they have set up some crowdfunding and as I write this, they have reached 88% of their 50,000 euro goal. Even though the deadline of 1 July has gone by according to the video, it could easily be a flexbile date.

Although the video is in Dutch, it’s about taking a virtual tour. The red fire brigade pole outside the station is said to be the only one left in the country. The goal would be to put a tourist office and shop there with local honey, slippers and what not. The flag of Sloten, which itself means ‘locks’, features golden ones and a cow or some say an ox, however not referring to neighbouring Osdorp (roughly Ox Town). In fact, Osdorp is actually derived from the name Oostdorp (East town) having to do with the fact that way back in the day Osdorp and possibly Sloten were culturally influenced by Haarlem, about 10 km further west, rather than Amsterdam.

(Links and photo: mijnstadsherstel.nl, Oud Osdorp)

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July 7, 2017

Vertical forest to pop up in Utrecht

Filed under: Architecture,Dutch first,Nature by Orangemaster @ 4:13 pm

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In Utrecht near Central Station, in the new district of the Jaarbeursboulevard, Milanese firm Stefano Boeri Architetti will erect the ‘Hawthrone Tower’, a Dutch vertical forest after having won an international competition.

“The 90-metre-tall tower will be covered by 10,000 plants of many different species, aimed at creating ‘an innovative experience of cohabitation between city and nature.’ The green façade will allow Hawthorne Tower to absorb more than 5.4 tons of CO2, scrubbing the air for healthier living conditions for both residents of the tower and the wider city.

Construction will start in 2019 and should be finished in 2022. As well, on the ground floor it will also house a ‘vertical forest hub’, a research centre for the implementation and education of urban forestation worldwide, open to the public.

(Links and photo: dearchitect.nl, archdaily.com)

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July 3, 2017

Renzo Piano’s KPN Tower in Rotterdam gets expansion

Filed under: Architecture by Orangemaster @ 10:42 pm

The leaning tower designed by Renzo Piano at the foot of Rotterdam’s Erasmus bridge overlooking the Maas River was completed in 2000, and is now set to undergo extensive renovation and expansion as part of the company’s relocation from The Hague to Rotterdam. The renovations will be led by Rotterdam firm V8 Architects, which has involved Piano in the decision-making process.

With a new 20 year lease agreement for the building, KPN have the opportunity to add further enhancements to what is already a distinctive building. The intention is to achieve this in a sustainable manner, creating viable future workplaces from existing offices in the country. The core of the project seeks to maintain the identity and integrity of the existing tower with interventions.

With construction underway, work on the KPN Tower’s renovations is set to be completed by the end of 2017 when we can do a before and after kind of thing. The other notable Piano building in the Netherlands is the Nemo Science Centre in Amsterdam, built in 1997, which is also on the water.

(Link: archdaily.com, Photo of Rotterdam, KPN building by Roel Wijnants, some rights reserved)

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May 19, 2017

The logic of Schiphol’s gates

Filed under: Architecture,Aviation by Orangemaster @ 7:56 pm
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According to Wikipedia, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, aka Schiphol, shifted some 63,625,664 passengers in 2016 and is a major European hub. The question is, have you ever wondered why the gates are lettered B, C, D, E, F, G, H and M?

Now I’ll call the gates ‘piers’. According to Wikipedia, a pier design uses a small, narrow building with aircraft parked on both sides: one end connects to a ticketing and baggage claim area.

There’s a simple explanation for why Schiphol has no Pier A. In English, the pronunciation of A sounds too much like the pronunciation of E in Dutch, which could confuse communication between Schiphol staff and passengers. ‘Access’ and ‘excess’ are both pronounced like ‘excess’ by many Dutch speakers. To avoid any confusion, Schiphol decided a long time ago to forego a Pier A.

And then it goes from H to M, so no I, J, K or L.The I and the J sounds the same in Dutch, but they also look too similar from far away to many people around the world. The sound of ‘I’ in Dutch sounds too much like ‘E’ in English and that could easily go wrong as well. K and L are being saved, but for now, if you fly EasyJet, you’ll have to take a nice, long constitutional to gate M.

In 2019 Schiphol will have a new pier next to Pier B, but what are they going to call it? Stay tuned.

(Link: news.schiphol.com)

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May 2, 2017

Building in Amersfoort has an emoji façade

Filed under: Architecture by Orangemaster @ 9:55 pm

Emoji-Amersfoort

In the Vathorst area of Amersfoort, Attika Architekten from Amsterdam has created a building that features a modern, quirky façade with 22 funny-faced emoji.

“In classical architecture they used heads of the king or whatever, and they put that on the façade, so we were thinking, what can we use as an ornament so when you look at this building in 10 or 20 years you can say ‘hey this is from that year?’. The cast concrete characters express a range of familiar emoji emotions, including the classic sad and happy styles, the instantly recognisable kissing face, and the much-loved heart eyes”.

(Link: designboom, Photo: Bart van Hoek)

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November 12, 2016

World’s most sustainable uni building in Eindhoven

Filed under: Architecture,Sustainability by Orangemaster @ 11:08 pm

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The main building of the Eindhoven University of Technology plans to have “the most sustainable university building in the world” and it will be called ‘Atlas’. Once it is entirely renovated in the summer of 2018, the building’s previous gas connection will have been replaced by a geothermal system which will work with solar panels to provide energy to supply most of the building’s power.

The building will also feature smart LED lighting, controllable by users by way of an app, as well as a triple-glazed curtain wall paired with interior sun blinds, and a ‘night flush’ system that will side windows outwards during summer nights in order to cool the building and purify the air.

(Link: www.archdaily.com, Image by www.tue.nl)

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October 16, 2016

House in Huissen advertised as ‘haunted’

Filed under: Architecture by Branko Collin @ 10:30 pm

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You don’t often see night-time photography on housing sites, but this real estate agent had a special reason. They are advertising their 16th century, 270 square metre farm house in Huissen near Arnhem as haunted.

Whether they are taking their ghoulish inhabitants seriously, remains to be seen. The advert quickly adopts a more serious tone. The house is currently the property of Dutch celebrity Johan Vlemmix who in the first decade of this century unsuccessfully ran for parliament in the hope of becoming Minister of Parties. He bought the house in 2008 from another serial celebrity, positivity guru Emile Ratelband (catch phrase: ‘Tchakaaa’).

Ratelband had to sell the house, or so the story goes, because his wife thought it was haunted. Vlemmix tried to use the publicity in turn by organising ‘horror evenings’ in the old farm.

Having had celebrity owners and having a built in bar and cinema is not helping much so far. In the past eleven months the asking price has already been dropped by 50,000 euro to 350,000 euro. That doesn’t strike me as much, so maybe it is a monster to heat. Whether the prospective buyer will get all the props that were used for the photographs is unclear, but Vlemmix promises to throw in six caskets.

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(Photos: Funda.nl)

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