Bootbewoners Van Amsterdam
Jowi Schmitz & Friso Spoelstra, May 2013
Bootbewoners van Amsterdam Bizar maar waar: het was er nog niet, een boek over de bootbewoners van Amsterdam. Een boek waarin je naar binnen kunt kijken in die huishoudens die in de grachten dobberen. Twintig portretten in tekst en beeld. Van de eerste ‘wateryuppen’ tot de oude schippersfamilie die op een dag aanmeerde en nooit meer vertrok. Van het gezin dat jarenlang rondzwierf tot het eindelijk een ligplaats kreeg, tot de man die als student een huis bouwde op een rotte bak en er nu nog steeds woont, zonder douche en wc. Jowi Schmitz woont zelf op een schip en is gefascineerd door de verscheidenheid van al die bootmensen. Samen met fotograaf Friso Spoelstra trok ze langs zeker honderd boten om de bewoners te leren kennen. Friso spendeerde soms dagen aan boord van een schip. Jowi kreeg rondleidingen en een overvloed aan verhalen, meer dan ze op kon schrijven. Dit boek is voor iedereen met een hart voor water. En ook voor iedereen die zich afvraagt wat die mensen toch in die nattigheid te zoeken hebben. ‘Een steiger verderop zien we een schip dat wil vertrekken. Een ander schip moet ruimte maken. Eerst zit iedereen nog druk te praten en dan valt de een na de ander stil. Ten slotte zitten we met z’n allen een half uur naar die twee dansende schepen te kijken. Die schepen en verder niets. Nou, dat vind ik mooi.’ – Els Erwteman
Waterstudios villa Traverse is near completion
Villa Traverse is near completion, and the construction of another New Water Villa has started .
The construction of the first Traverse villa in The New Water is almost complete.
At this moment the facade builders are finishing the characteristic facade and the interior work will be completed this summer. On the other side of The New Water urban plan, the construction on another modern villa has started. The foundation piles are already in place and preparations on the construction of the basement floor is well ahead. The designs can easily be recognized by its modern and iconic architectural appearance.
Both villas are amongst the first that are equipped with a highly sustainable DuPont Corian facade, Waterstudio is the first office that uses this material in a large scale. It was selected by us because it is a fantastic material to use on and near the water. It also has a modern appearance, low maintenance and has the ability to thermally form the characteristic round and seamless corners of the design.
The materials used in these villas work as a test case for our water villas in the Maldives project.
Waterpark Sneekermeer is completed
Waterstudio’s Waterpark Sneekermeer is completed and ready for recreation.
From parking lots to wetslums
The American institute of architects, Eileen Allaverdian-Orumie, Apr 2013
Blue and orange, and then some more orange. For the past seven-and-a-half years, these two colors have symbolized the two universities that I attended, the University of Toronto and Syracuse University, while studying architecture. Today, I am an intern architect in the “orange nation” of the Netherlands.
At the University of Toronto, I learned to see through the eyes of a contemporary, provocative architect. Most, if not all, undergraduate architecture programs in Canada today are not professional programs in themselves but stepping stones of rigorous training for graduate studies in architecture. I decided to venture all the way down “south” (for a Canadian) to upstate New York where I completed a Master’s degree in Architecture at Syracuse University. There, I saw provocative architecture take form, and most importantly, I learned to find potential and relevance in the ordinary, and that architecture is found outside of the way things appear.
This eventually led to my thesis: Good Things Happen in Parking Lots, where I proposed to redesign the typology of the parking lot into a flexible public space, which could transform into unexpected functions when not in use. I see potential in the banal and overly pervasive infrastructure of the parking lot. Its simple poles, flat ground, and spray paint lines can be imagined to generate a malleable public space.
Think of all the empty parking lots in cities, often near stadiums and exhibition centers that are prime real estate, but underused. By introducing new elements like audiovisual equipment or lights that can easily slide vertically on poles, screens that can span across poles, embedded tent structures, and storage bins for rolled surfaces like turf or water storage that can make ice for skating rinks, ordinary parking lots can become vibrant public spaces.
At Syracuse University, I also assisted teaching freshman history, theory, and in my final year, design. I enjoyed getting to know a large number of designs at a time while being a student myself. In critiquing others’ work, I was also able to critique my own, while feeling like I was getting a break from it. I am grateful for the opportunity to teach at Syracuse, and hope to be in a position to teach again one day.
Two years ago, through Syracuse University Study Abroad Programs, which has one of, if not the best, study abroad options in the US, I spent some time in The Netherlands. Although positions are scarce today for young architects in The Netherlands, the opportunities still remain unique.
For the past months I have been working at Waterstudio, a firm led by Koen Olthuis, that designs and builds architecture on water. What attracted me to this studio was how uniquely Dutch their design ethos was and how the firm is based on a concept and vision that is actually similar to my own. Although as a Torontonian I have never thought to design floating buildings, I was drawn to Waterstudio because I think they see water the way I see parking lots, as something underused that has an untapped potential for improving city life.
Floating architecture can not only combat rising water levels. What I find particularly fascinating is the possibilities for flexibility and planning for change. Floating architecture can be transported as functions become obsolete. The firm is working on building a floating, movable platform for a wetslum in Bangladesh. Interestingly enough, there are plans for Waterstudio to design a floating complex for Oswego, New York, near my alma matter.
Needless to say, the learning experience I have found in the Netherlands is unique and I have significantly grown a designer in the past two months. As an emerging architect, the discipline has challenged me for the past eight years and is surely continuing to do so.
The possible applications of international internship experiences open the door for many opportunities. This is the great thing about being an architect: you don’t know where it will lead you. There are so many venues to explore, like public spaces in dead infrastructures or floating buildings, but as long as you open your eyes to see great things, you can only go great places
From ‘sustainability to sustainaquality’ – The Five Lagoons Project
Marinaworld, Charlotte Niemiec, March 2013
Nestled in the Indian Ocean between Minicoy Island and the Chagos Archipelago, the Maldives comprise a chain of 26 atolls made up of islands and reefs. Tropical weather, white sand and clear water make the islands a popular holiday destination and a haven for divers but, while the surrounding ocean teems with life, home to coral reefs, eels, sharks, turtles, dolphins, manta rays and over 1,100 other species of fish, rising sea levels pose serious threat. Charlotte Niemiec reports on an ambitious community and tourism project aimed at keeping the Maldives afloat. The average ground level in the Maldives is just 1.5m and the island’s president, Mohammed Nasheed, has warned that even a ‘small rise’ in sea levels would eradicate large parts of the area. Envisioning a future for its people of “climate refugees living in tents for decades” the Maldivian Government has teamed up with Netherlands- based company Dutch Docklands International in a Joint Venture Project to build a solution to the problem in the form of man-made floating islands. The ‘5 Lagoons Project’ will provide housing, entertainment and guest complexes for visitors to the Maldives, expanding its footprint and further bolstering the area’s tourist economy. A star-shaped hotel and conference centre – the ‘Green Star’ – symbolises the Maldives route to combat climate change. Its many five- star facilities will include pools, beaches and restaurants. A ‘plug and play’ system allows for each leg of the star to be private islands. The Ocean Flower will open mid-2014, with removed for easy refurbishment and a temporary one floated in and placed in position. It is hoped the centre will play host to international conferences on sea level rise, climate change and environmental issues. It is scheduled to open in 2015. Across the water, relaxation is to be found at an 18-hole floating golf course. With panoramic ocean views, golfers can enjoy the driving range, short games practice areas, putting greens and a 9 hole par 3 Academy course. A separate area on the island provides romantic homes and townhouses in Venetian style, in a village offering boutiques, ice cream parlours, restaurants, bars and ultra- luxury palatial style villas. Movement around the island – assembled in archipelago form – is via bridges or glass tunnels in the ocean, which give guests the opportunity to enjoy the area’s sea life up close. A marina of international standard will also be built on this island. Amillarah – the Maldivian word for private island – will consist of 43 floating islands offering luxury $10 million villas for sale to the public.
Facilities will include a private beach, pool and green area, private jetty and small pavilion on a purpose-built island (the shape of which the buyer can design in advance), situated in the centre of an exclusive, large private water plot just a short swim away from the coral reefs. For those who baulk at the price tag, a separate development, the ‘Ocean Flower’ offers less expensive housing starting at $1 million. The Ocean Flower is located upmarket in the North Male atoll, 20 minutes by boat from the capital and airport, and will offer villas on three different scales. All have private pools and terraces and are fully furnished, while shared facilities include a beach, shops, restaurants, a diving centre, spa, swimming pools and easy access to the surrounding private islands. The Ocean Flower will open mid-2014, with construction beginning soon.
Finally, the White Lagoon project consists of four individual ring-shaped floating islands each with 72 water villas connected. The rings function as beach-boulevards with white sand and greenery. A marina will be built inside the rings and a variety of restaurants, bars, shops and boutiques will be available.
Dutch Docklands is the master developer of the project and it controls the design, engineering, financing, construction and sales. It has appointed Waterstudio.nl as its architectural firm. Dutch Docklands CEO, Paul van de Camp, is excited about the project, viewing it as the beginning of large- scale floating projects in the area. He believes that if the project is successful, it will have proved the ability of the Maldives to combine the preservation of vulnerable marine life while expanding land for the reinforcement of tourism and urban developments at the same time. The project is an equally important one for the company and will be used as a benchmark business model for concepts around the globe. The joint venture with the Maldivian Government, which brings the needs and demands of the nation together with the commercial aspirations of Dutch Docklands is, van de Camp says, a very solid and long- lasting basis for such a big project.
Understandably, there are significant challenges to be faced when building on water. The biggest, van de Camp explains, is logistics: “We build most of the floating structure off-site, in
a production yard outside the Maldives, and larger parts in the shipyards around the Indian Ocean and in the Netherlands To get all the floating products there at the right moment (‘just-in-time’ management) at the final location ready for assembling is a pretty tough task.”
However, building on the ocean also has distinct advantages over building on land, as Dutch Docklands’ co- founder Koen Olthuis explained last year at the UP Experience Conference in Houston, USA. In the open ocean, tsunami waves are mere ripples beneath a structure that floats; water is the perfect shock absorber to seismic waves; and concerns over sea-level rise are eliminated when your home rises with it.
The islands will be constructed using patented technologies, which include the use of very lightweight Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) components and strong concrete structures. In line with Dutch Docklands’ focus on ‘scarless developments’, the materials used are environmentally-friendly, causing hardly any impact to marine life. Paul van de Camp emphasises that any possible impact on the environment is noticed upfront, while the design is on the drawing board. Using the expertise of marine specialists, marine engineers and environmental consultants, the design is adjusted at the first sign of negative impact.
At a cost of over $1 billion and funded by private shareholders, the developments are luxury resorts, catering for the more elite visitor. But van de Camp explains that the 5 Lagoons Project aims to provide a whole range of resort and business activities from reasonably-priced to ultra-luxurious. The Green Star hotel will provide the best-priced rooms, with the floating palaces in the golf course at the top end of the market.
With headquarters in The Netherlands, Dutch Docklands has a long and varied history with water. Its home country has battled against water for centuries – 20% of the country lies below sea level and water is controlled using dikes and canals. Koen Olthuis has a vision of the future in which we do not fight water but live with it and upon it. A man inspired by out-of-the- box inventions such as the elevator, which allowed cities to build up rather than span out horizontally, Olthuis sees water as another platform on which to build. It is his belief that, as so many of the world’s cities lie close to water, we should utilise this space and not just defer to the argument that there is no more space. Paul van de Camp shares this vision of a future in which floating developments are commonplace, creating new space and saving threatened ocean nations
