IN THE MIDST OF THE UNPREDICTABLE – SEARCHING FOR A PRODUCTIVE ROTTERDAM

The Europan15 NL publication is available now!

It’s the continuing story of the Europan 15 NL competition in Rotterdam that kicked off in 2019. The housing crisis, the climate crisis and the increasing unaffordability of urban centres were on the agendas of all major European cities. The competition’s theme, the Productive City, sought to address these problems.

 

After a 2 year’s period of Covid 19 pandemic this publication presents a story that is both catalogue of the projects as they were when they were submitted in 2019, and a reflection on the continuing process in Rotterdam. We noticed that during the pandemic cities were suddenly used in a fundamentally different way, but among the entries for Europan15 proved remarkably timely for their agile and human-oriented approach. All insights have been collected in this publication which reads as a guideline for a new holistic way of making city.

More information on the winners, runners-up & special mentions via www.e15rotterdam.nl

Partners: AIR, Architectuur Instituut Rotterdam, Gemeente Rotterdam, AM Gebiedsontwikkeling, Dudok Real Estate, Heijmans, BPD Gebiedsontwikkeling, Woonstad Rotterdam
Publication: graphic design Loes Sikkes visualcommunication | editors Martine Zoeteman, Jessica Cullen, Marieke Berkers | photography Frank Hanswijk | event photgraphy Fred Ernst | inside cover Kunstenvliegwerkluchtfoto | printed by Veenman+

The publication is available for free via the naibooksellers shop at Het Nieuwe Instituut, drop by or order your copy!

E16- Dutch WINNER in KARLSKOGA, Sweden

Embrace Karlskoga

Authors: CORNE STROOTMAN (NL), CHRISTIAAN SMITS (NL) – landscape architects Rotterdam, Nederland

 

On the edge of lake Möckeln, between forests and meadows, a sustainable and inclusive district is taking shape that embraces the qualities of Karlskoga. Sustainable: The district embraces all landscape characteristics and existing buildings on the site, giving new functions to the big box stores and increasing the biodiversity of the streams, forests, and meadows. Inclusive: The district introduces a variety of urban typologies that enable different ways of life. Each typology embraces the natural values found around the site, outdoor activities, farming, and biodiversity become the foundation for a shared way of living. The district provides amenities, jobs, and houses, and because of the new Nobel railway to Oslo and Stockholm it entices urban dwellers that are looking to get away from the bustle of the city, into the quiet forests on the edge of a beautiful lake.

E16- Dutch WINNER in RISØY, Norway

The Third Space

Authors: JOHAN VAN LING (NL) – architect urbanist, THIJS DE BOER (NL) – urban planner, CHARLOTTE VAN DER WOUDE (NL) – landscape architect, LYNN EWALTS (NL) – architect; CO: RICK BUURMAN (NL) – 3D designer

 

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Third places “host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home (first space) and work (second space). The infrastructure that was once conceived to connect functions, has changed into a barrier wich seperates the harbour area, cruise pier and residential area both spatially and socially. The Third Space brings these users and functions together in the heart of the island and divides this line into roughly three places, corresponding to the three time layers and users. In all three places, a spatial mix of landscape, urban grid and harbour is formed to create a Risoy specific identity. A mixed zone, which can cope with different uses, quantities of users, rhythms of use, meanings and target groups.

Winners Europan 15 NL – PRODUCTIVE ROTTERDAM

This Europan edition, the challenges in Rotterdam turned out to be popular amongst young architects. From the 901 projects that have been submitted on the 47 European sites in 12 countries, 123 proposals were submitted for the five Rotterdam sites.

 

 

 

Vierhavensblok:
WINNER: Makers’ Maze
Authors: Erica Chladova (CZ, architect), Izabela Slodka (PL, architect).
RUNNER-UP: Platform of Commons
Authors: Alexandra Chairetaki (GR, architect urbanist), Alessandra Farina (IT, architect).


Kop Dakpark:
WINNER: Hybrid Parliament
Authors: Miquel Ruiz (ES, architect), Joan Gener (ES, architect), Adrià Orriols (ES, architect). Collaborators: Daniel Gomez Massana (ES, architect), Ariana Ribas Garcia (ES, architect).
RUNNER-UP: Coop*Work*Park
Authors: Anna Pierotello (IT, architect), Virginia Chiappa Nunez (IT, architect).


Visserijplein:
WINNER: Rambla + Kapsalon
Author: Guillem Colomer (ES, architect).
RUNNER-UP: Productive Void
Authors: Michael Daane Bolier (NL, architect), Dorus Meurs (NL, architect).
SPECIAL MENTION: Rotterdam Housing-Hub
Author: David Tantimonaco (IT, architect).


Groot IJsselmonde:
WINNER: Hartland
Authors: Zuzana Jancovicova (SK, landscape architect), Davor Dusanic (SI, landscape architect), Katarina Labathova (SK, architect), Ida Bjallerbæk Pedersen (DK, architect).
RUNNER-UP: Semi-Urban
Authors: Gijs De Haan (NL, architect urbanist), Corné Strootman (NL, landscape architect), Vincent Peters (NL, landscape architect).


Brainpark I:
WINNER: Team Brainpark 
Authors: Wouter Keizer (NL, architect), Ule Koopmans (NL, architect). Collaborators: Douwe Strating (NL, architect), Lieke De Jong (NL, landscape architect), Anna Decker (NL, sociologist).
SPECIAL MENTION: Building upon Brainpark
Authors: Kevin Westerveld (NL, architect), Nima Morkoc (NL, architect), Hedwig Van Der Linden (NL, architect), Lars Kloeg (NL, architect).
SPECIAL MENTION: Elegy for the Office Park
Authors: Andrea Bit (IT, architect), Maciej Wieczorkowski (PL, architect), Robert Van Der Pol (NL, landscape architect).

Looking for up to date information about the winning Europan 15 Netherlands’ projects? Head on over to www.e15rotterdam.nl for more details!

Launch Five E15 Sites in Rotterdam

New Gateways to the Productive City

Europan NL, Rotterdam Architecture Institute (AIR) and the municipality of Rotterdam are proud to propose five locations for Europan 15. All five have been designated ‘high priority’ development sites by the municipality.

IN SEARCH OF ‘GOOD GROWTH’

Rotterdam is growing. The city aims to build 50,000 new homes in the next decade and to vigorously enhance the quality and energy performance of the existing built environment. In short, Rotterdam is looking for ‘good growth’: building a compact, circular, productive, healthy and inclusive city with equal opportunities and high quality of living for everyone. It aims to be a vibrant and welcoming place for people of all walks of life, ages and beliefs. Citizens of Rotterdam should be able to live productive lives by working, learning, caring or in any other way contributing to the development of the city and its narratives. Therefore, it is important to remove barriers, to increase connectivity, to collaborate on ‘making city’ and to move forward on the rich Rotterdam tradition in architectural experiment and innovation.

RADICAL RENEWAL OF SPATIAL POLICY

For Europan 15, five sites have been selected within the city of Rotterdam that could catalyse opportunities on multiple levels. Places that could enhance the city’s social resiliency and contribute to ‘good growth’. These five sites will be a testing ground for the new Rotterdam vision and regulatory framework on spatial and socioeconomic developments, called the Omgevingsvisie (Environmental Strategy). This framework is currently being drafted by the municipality. Because of its holistic approach, it should accelerate innovative spatial solutions and sustainable socioeconomic developments. It is supported by an extensive participatory process and an action research program. The Europan 15 sites have been selected to implement this process, through research by design and its aim of implementing exemplary projects. The five assignments are in line with the theme of Europan 15 and the central themes of the Omgevingsvisie: Productive, Inclusive, Circular, Healthy and Compact City.

PUBLIC LEARNING PROGRAMME

In addition to the Europan 15 competition process, there is an extensive public learning programme, including public events, workshops, masterclasses and a storytelling campaign. Europan 15 is initiated by Europan NL, Architectuur Instituut Rotterdam, the municipality of Rotterdam and aims to connect a strong network of committed and innovative private parties.

JOIN THE COMPETITION

This period is a crucial moment in de urban development of Rotterdam. For the municipality, the possibility of acquiring diverse new ideas, testing the scope of the Omgevingsvisie, and at the same time providing opportunities to young talent, is the main reason for the cooperation with Europan 15.

Enter the Europan 15 competition and contribute to Rotterdam’s search for good growth and the urban work-and-live environments of the future.

 

Follow Europan 15 NL via: www.e15rotterdam.nl

Winners announced for EUROPAN 14 – PRODUCTIVE AMSTERDAM

We are proud to announce winners for Europan14 NL. We thanks all of the participants for their great work!
Learn more about the winning projects

First Jury Phase

On September 28 and 29 the nine international jury members, the representatives of the city and the project leaders of the different Europan locations came together for the first round of judging. Sabine Labesque and Eric van der Kooij from the city of Amsterdam gave an informative presentation of the development and the planning context of Amsterdam in general. Future planning challenges the city has to cope with were addressed as well as the ambitions to steer more on densification, mixed uses development and spatial quality. For each location they and the project leaders gave insights in the site specific situation, addressing cultural values, social structures and economic activities followed by a selection of different approaches for the locations where the project leaders could react to.
The jury and the city representatives were delighted with the amount of interessting proposals. Also the way the participants dealt with the complex assignments representing a bundle of inspirations how to spatially approach the theme for the different sites was enthusiastically received. The range of possible outcomes differ from urban design guidelines, development strategies to small scale interventions in architecture or public space. The Europan submissions show a lot of valuable and interesting research of the locations as well as very different spatial qualities that were achieved in the proposals, presented in impressive drawings and diagrams. The entries varied on the range from mega structures, grids and superblocks to subtle infill’s of the urban tissue and strategies with a lot of freedom in development, acupuncture approaches and ‘soft’ programming. In most of the entries the link between big and small scale is the main focus in their approach and some of them even were integrating landscape and the bigger urban scale in the design schemes.
After the presentation the jury started discussing all entries of the different locations and continued doing that the following day. As result of this intensive session the jury selected 5 to 6 entries per location out of all 113 entries which are going to be presented on the Europan 14 ‘Forum of cities and juries’ in Helsinki end of October by representatives of the jury, the city and europan NL. The goal of that presentation is to discuss the different entries to create a shared culture on the results and to promote the meetings between the representatives of sites and experts at European scale. The findings of this meeting will be brought to the second jury round which will take place at 3rd of November. Then the international jury comes together again and will present the final winners and runner up’s for every location to the city representatives, explaining their conclusions and giving advise for possible implementation of the specific locations.
On 1st of December the winners will be published on the websites of europan.nl and europan europe. 

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113 entries for five locations in Amsterdam!

On 1 September the Technical jury came together to review the 113 entries that Europan received for five sites in Amsterdam. This review is a preparatory step before the national jury comes together for the first time.

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The technical jury was pleased to see the diversity and quality of the responses to the competition theme. Based on the different conditions of the five locations the received entries came up with a variety of special project ideas and development strategies, addressing the public quality of the specific place.

The technical jury welcomes the interesting and valuable new perspectives on the development of the city. The entries will lead to fruitful discussions between jury members and the city representatives, giving new impulses to the development of the city.

The national Jury will meet end of September and on 3rd of November will be the final selection of entries with afterwards a public expert-meeting on ideas for innovative commissioning. The announcement of the winners is on 1st of December.

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Extended deadlines

The deadlines for Europan 14 have been extended. Teams can now register their participation before june 30 2017. The submission deadline has been extended to 9 july 2017

On 10 July 2017, we will publish a temporary listing of the submitted projects. We invite all the participants to make sure their projects stand on that list – if not, they will have to contact us before Wednesday 12 July, with supporting evidence of submission (print screen of the submission process, with date & time).

A definitive listing of the submitted projects will be published on Friday 14 July 2017.

The Shortlisting of entries by the national juries will be done from July to October 2017, and followed by the Forum of the Cities and the Juries in October 2017 (the place & dates are still to be confirmed).

After the second round ot the jurys to select the Winners, Runners-Up and Special Mentions, the results in the 13 participating countries will be published on the European website on Friday 1st December 2017.

Call for submissions to Amsterdam – Sluisbuurt

Open call for Architects and Urban Planners up to 40 years. First prize €16.000 + Design assignment. All shortlisted designs will be exhibited and published.

Amsterdam asks teams to generate a vision of productivity in a new multi-functional neighbourhood. Designs should follow the Europan 14 theme: Productive Cities

Register your participation before June 19th!

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HOW CAN SLUISBUURT CONTRIBUTE TO THE PRODUCTIVE CITY?
On this location, the task is to generate a vision of productivity for a new multi-functional district that is more than just a label. The challenge is to give spatial expression to contemporary patterns of productivity, living and working in our modern cities. Vertical mixed- use that can be applied at the scale of a block, the scale of a street and the scale of a neighbourhood. The city considers that productivity in Sluisbuurt could be diverse and ‘unexpected’. The competition seeks design proposals that can accommodate flexibility, future trends and possible changes in use.

CITY STRATEGY
Over the last 20 years, intense housing production has taken place in Amsterdam-Oost as old districts and former dockland areas were upgraded and regenerated. The site for the competition is located on Zeeburgereiland and in the future it will link the centuries-old Indische Buurt with the new residential districts in IJburg and Amsterdam’s eastern docklands. Today, Amsterdam is under pressure to expand because it is recognised as an attractive international city. It is trying to find its own way to navigate these market forces. Sluisbuurt has been conceived as a compact city extension and while tall buildings characterize the vision, at street level the neighbourhood should feel typically Amsterdam.

Click here for more information & registration.

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Call for submissions to Amsterdam – Piarcoplein

Open call for Architects and Urban Planners up to 40 years. First prize €16.000 + Design assignment. All shortlisted designs will be exhibited and published.

Amsterdam asks teams to propose a transformation of a parking lot into a vibrant mixed use urban quarter. Design should follow the Europan 14 theme: Productive Cities

Register your participation before June 19th!

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 HOW CAN PIARCOPLEIN CONTRIBUTE TO THE PRODUCTIVE CITY?

Work-related functions characterise the area but the quality of buildings and in-between spaces are poor. After the economic crisis, the city successfully initiated a series of bottom-up regeneration strategies. Looking to the future, the site requires further transformation. The question is what to do and how to do it? For the municipality, this is an open question, but one in which the theme of productivity can be explored in the widest possible sense in search for, perhaps, radical solutions. The site is surrounded by productivity. How can this influence and help orchestrate a new vision for the area?

CITY STRATEGY
The long-term strategy is to transform Sloterdijk Centrum from a monofunctional business area into a vibrant, mixed-use urban quarter. Recently, redundant offices have been converted to hotels, student housing, short stay accommodation, retail and other amenities. These changes have been guided by some of the most flexible zoning policies in the Netherlands. Sloterdijk Centrum’s location mid-way between Schiphol international airport and the city centre helps to ensure that it will continue to be a dynamic area. There is no clear final image in sight but the large amount of infrastructure will remain a given.

Click here for more information & registration.

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Call for submissions: Amsterdam H-buurt

Open call for Architects and Urban Planners up to 40 years. First prize €16.000 + Design assignment. All shortlisted designs will be exhibited and published.

Amsterdam asks teams to improve the productivity of this mono-functional neighbourhood and propose a socially inclusive development model. Designs should follow the Europan 14 theme: Productive Cities.

Register your participation before June 19th!

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HOW CAN H-BUURT CONTRIBUTE TO THE PRODUCTIVE CITY?

On this location, traditional light manufacturing industries such as a car wash and bakery already exist. These can stay, but a more comprehensive exploration of productivity is asked for in the competition. These ideas are needed in order to create a meaningful social and economic place in the city, which despite a recent influx of new residents it remains characterized by relatively high unemployment and high poverty. There is a need to attract private investment and from the perspective of the city, this be can achieved by proposing good design that is innovative and financially feasible.

CITY STRATEGY

The site is located in Amsterdam Zuid-Oost, an area characterized by mono-functional residential neighbourhoods and office undergoing transformation. High-rise residential buildings have been demolished and replaced by new blocks with a more human scale. Before the financial crisis, the municipality subsidised socially inclusive projects. In the current development model, the city would like to partner with developers to find new ways to safeguard strategies that can protect and nurture inclusive urban development. There is a desire to change the mono-functional area into mixed live/work neighbourhood that can foster the low-income economy.

Click here for more information & registration.

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Call for submissions to Amsterdam – Transformatorweg

Open call for Architects and Urban Planners up to 40 years. First prize €16.000 + Design assignment. All shortlisted designs will be exhibited and published.

Amsterdam asks teams to reconsider the relationship between education and living near a industrial district. Designs should follow the Europan 14 theme: Productive Cities

Register your participation before June 19th!

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HOW CAN TRANSFORMATORWEG CONTRIBUTE TO THE PRODUCTIVE CITY?
The municipality is seeking an inspiring architectural vision that can bring together the aspirations of the municipality, who intend to promote the creation of a new mixed-use neighbourhood, and the desires of the stakeholder, who intend to expand their building and in doing so, support increased multifunctional uses on the site. Design proposals for the public space should increase the attractiveness of the location, help foster synergies between education and entrepreneurship, and make visible the changes taking place in the area.

CITY STRATEGY
The site is located in Sloterdijk 1 development plan, an area in the eastern part of Amsterdam’s Port-City where in the long term, 40,000 homes will be built by 2040. The municipality wants to transform and convert this area into a coherent mixed-use urban district. Initially, the municipality is focusing on the area between Transformatorweg and railway tracks which will, over time, become a mix of living, working, educational and commercial facilities. The municipality wants to develop the area together with the existing owners and users. The first steps in this collaboration pro- cess has just started. 4,500 new homes will be realised in Sloterdijk 1 by 2025.


Click here for more information & registration.

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Call for submissions to Amsterdam – Papaverdriehoek

Open call for Architects and Urban Planners up to 40 years. First prize €16.000 + Design assignment. All shortlisted designs will be exhibited and published.

Amsterdam asks teams to reconsider the relationship between work and living on the 0.15ha site. Designs should follow the Europan 14 theme: Productive Cities

Register your participation before June 19th!

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HOW CAN PAPAVERDRIEHOEK CONTRIBUTE TO THE PRODUCTIVE CITY?
A mix of new and traditional manufacturing industries is emerging in the area, which is being transformed from an unsightly industrial district into a ‘Living Lab’ model showcase for the circular economy. The municipality is working with developers, private owners, housing associations, businesses, and utility companies work to create a neighbourhood where raw materials and energy are re-used as much as possible in the same area. Experimentation, research and innovation are actively encouraged and implemented. Activities in the area are very diverse: from new creative industries to a dance school and car repair shops.

CITY STRATEGY
The site is located in Amsterdam-Noord, which has a different scale and structure than what most outsiders associate with Amsterdam: it is more open, spacious, industrial and raw. The site offers many opportunities to act as a pivot or hinge point between neighbourhoods in the north and south, and as a gateway to the Buiksloterham. The study area is characterized by spacious commercial buildings that are rapidly turning into living and working areas (ratio 50:50) where the sturdy industrial character remains. The municipality would like to retain many of the existing businesses in the area after the transformation process has been completed.

Click here for more information & registration.

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Participants take a first look at the sites

On the 20th of april 2017 there was the opportunity for participants to visit the Europan NL 14 sites accompanied by the project managers from the municipality. Among other things, the site brief and area were discussed on this useful day.

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New Europan NL secretary appointed

We are happy to welcome Bas Lagendijk to the Europan NL team. Bas studied spatial design at the Willlem de Kooning academy in Rotterdam. Before joining Europan NL, Bas helped to develop the international profile of Beijing based MAD architects, was the press officer for OMA, and worked as a co-writer for the Lego Architecture Studio set (21050). He is a regular guest critic and taught at Tsinghua University in Beijing and the University of Technology in Xi’an.

Workshop with stakeholders to discuss E14 theme

“Productive Cities” is the theme of E14. How to integrate some of the production activities in the city – such as the production of food, energy, low skilled services, new industrial products – to enhance new relations between citizens?

How to involve the actors? How to manage the tensions emerging from the new relations between producing and living? How to integrate all the production cycles considering distribution, waste and consumption? These are just some of the questions that were discussed with site representatives and stakeholders during this workshop.

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Workshop participants:

Representatives from gemeente Amsterdam, Representatives from Europan NL, Key stakeholders for each location, Representatives from Europan NL’s support group ( kinderen van Europan), Specialist consultants expert in ‘productive city’

 

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