Borneo Sporenburg,

Amsterdam (1993) 1996-1997

Architecture Almost sixty architects were involved in the developing of the main urban program. In workshops a collective manifest was created. Borneo Sporenburg seemed to offer the perfect condition for the innovative idea of the patio house with 30-50% void. In plan, the facades are designed with a minimum of street / quay exposition. Each house is designed around a void. Patios - Swiss cheese The master plan demanded a 30%-50% void in each of the individual homes. The architects were challenged to develop a typology in which a small patio served for day light penetration and personal outdoor space. This regulation created a series of new building typologies that suited the high density and back-to-back structuring of the houses. The 2.300 patios are the a domain for individual expression and privacy. Most of the patios make an indirect connection to the street and the quays. In the rough and open harbour landscape, the patios offer an unexpected and introverted world. These spaces refer to the 17th century paintings by Vermeer and Pieter de Hoogh. The sculptural blocks also enclose a collective void, courtyard or garden. Most of the patio facades are glass. The front doors are designed within the patio space. From the street, fences and gates lead to these front doors. The fences were part of the urban brief. Sphinx garden The sphinx block, with its narrow courtyard which is both interior and exposed, seemed to be the perfect condition for a poetic garden design. West 8 made a garden as a natural still life. The zinc facades of the building inspired to design six free-standing vases, 5.5m high out of zinc as well. These eloquent hand made vases are positioned on a surface of Norwegian slate, which reflect the silver grey fish skin zinc facades. The other part of the garden is in grass, blues vegetation (Hyrandgia) and tree shaped hedges. Seven large ginkgo trees contrast with the surreal botanic structure against the zinc facades. The courtyard has fences made of steel plates with a graphic pattern of ginkgo leaves. Public Space West 8 also made the design for the public space. To accommodate the variety of architecture and voids, the design for the streets and quays is kept to a minimum. Dutch brick paving and oversized concrete kerbstones is applied to straight and narrow streets. All the existing quay structures had been renovated. A diagonal green strip and two blue stone paved squares relate to the water. The quays will be colonised by the Armada of Amsterdam floating culture. This anarchy will vitalise the sterile 19th century docks. The water is the dominant public space green becomes blue. Two artists were asked by the Amsterdam Committee for Public Art to make an artwork in the plan. Free Parcels Instead of developers, individual landowners were given one of the nicest canals in the masterplan. The municipality sold sixty free parcels through the lottery. In 3x2 workshops all the clients and their architects were coached to a unique urban strip. Professional urban field and national planning authorities followed this initiative with great interest. The strip was an experiment to bring more influence to the landowners. This experiment which started in 1995 resulted in a contemporary equivalent of the canal house typology. In 1999 the plan was realised. Through supervision in each house a double high living (4-8m) facing the water was demanded. This proclamation of individuality became prototype for a radical new strategy in Dutch urban planning. In almost every new planned neighbourhood in the Netherlands free parcels will be integrated. Bridges Borneo Sporenburg has been built with 2500 dwellings (low-rise-high density). Three bridges connect the different neighbourhoods on the peninsulas and become the characteristic features for the development. The two bridges across the 93 meter wide basin have been designed as twins: one central low bridge for cyclists and disabled people and a 12 meter high bridge which provides access for sailboats to the marina in the basin. This high bridge reaches to a level from which the roof landscape become visible and offers a glimpse of the hidden

world of the patios and the panorama on the port. The two bridges have been constructed out of steel with an industrial red finish that is highlighted by the evening light. By welding the two bridges out of many small T-profiles the construction starts to form a skin which gives the bridge its sculptural image. The deck and railing of the bridge have been made out of robust untreated timber creating a dialogue with the industrial steel structure. The cast aluminium lights, shaped like the head of a seagull, hang on one side of the bridge and move with the changing cross section. The design gets it quality by recognition (the nineteenth century steel structure) and alienation. The bridges demand an active attitude. The high bridge with steep stairs provides the 'sitting' on the dock of the bay 'feeling', high above the water, away from the city.