A reflection of society

Abstract

There is a growing urbanization trend in Amsterdam, this causes dwellings to be less affordable. That is why several areas in Amsterdam are being densified. One of these areas is Sloterdijk Centrum, a typical monofunctional office park of the 80’s and 90’s. The municipality wants to transform this park to a lively mixed use area by adding new buildings and transforming existing ones. One of the buildings that has the potential to be transformed is the monofunctional office building De Knip. I choose this building for my graduation project, because it addresses two important current issues, namely transformation and high rises. In my graduation project these problems are addressed by transforming the building De Knip to function as a neighbourhood connected within the city. This was done by creating Collective Private Commisioning groups that live in corridors that function like streets. These streets have a high permeability and adaptability in the high rise and a strong focus on nature inclusiveness in the low rise. Its overall strong dwelling atmosphere created the perfect setting for a lively multifunctional building where people can feel at home, express their identity, connect to their neighbours and where future transformations can be carried out easily due to the prefabricated and adaptive design. This design can stimulate the future transformation of Sloterdijk centrum with the liveliness and dwelling atmosphere that it brings and can be an example to similar office areas.