MVRDV

Much progress is being made at Westerpark West as it continues to come to life! Nathalie de Vries, Mick van Gemert, Gerard Heerink and Isabel Pagel visited the site in Amsterdam to check the progress of our masterplan for the neighbourhood. They looked at MVRDV-designed Blend, Salt, and Elephant’s Pepper, where residents are already moved in, and the final landscaping will be completed soon. Blend has expressive bay windows that create extra living space and enhanced views, while Salt and Pepper both have a bold cantilevered shape facing opposite directions. They also saw the construction progress on Elephant's green buildings at Kavel 2b and how the start of construction was progressing on Kavel 3, the largest plot whose seven apartment buildings will form a colourful family. Westerpark West transforms a former office complex into a green, lively neighbourhood of over 900 homes in total. The masterplan, with its landscape designed by Gustafson Porter + Bowman, includes a total of 12 buildings and is located in the Amsterdam Brettenzone, directly to the west of the city’s Westerpark. The diverse architecture of the apartment buildings in Westerpark West is matched by the variety of different communal spaces to create a striking neighbourhood arising in the middle of the city. The masterplan is divided into five plots, with each plot incorporating a different character of green space, from plazas to courtyards. Read more on the project here! https://lnkd.in/e-un9m2t Cc JP van Eesteren

Looking for an activity to do in Amsterdam this Summer? The Arcam Architecture Centre is hosting the exhibition “Form Follows Finance – The City as a Spreadsheet”, which features our very own Valley model! The exhibition explores the costs associated with building and urban development and examines how financial flows influence the appearance of the city. This complex topic is clarified through a historical overview of Amsterdam’s leasehold system, insights into the construction costs of recently completed buildings, and an analysis of the future impact of climate risks on various neighbourhoods in Amsterdam. Alongside the Valley model, there is a video with our Gijs Rikken where he explains how the development of Valley was made possible, and how the decisions related to the topic of the exhibition were made. Find more information on how to visit here! https://lnkd.in/dmdaJkSa EDGE | Piet Oudolf | Deltavormgroep bv | G&S Bouw b.v.

Wishing everybody a nice weekend! And for our friends in France: happy Bastille Day! 🔵⚪🔴 Wondering what this rooster is standing on? Well, it's our masterplan for the Bastide Niel neighbourhood in Bordeaux! Read more on the project here: https://lnkd.in/dGZfUWPR

Ever wanted to march around Rotterdam as a giant? This is now possible in miniature park Madurodam, where a new section focused on the city of Rotterdam opened this week, including the Markthal and Depot! The two MVRDV-designed buildings accompany other Rotterdam landmarks such as the Cube Houses, Euromast, Erasmus Bridge, De Rotterdam, and many more. The new section of the park was opened this week by Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb along with the 16-year-old mayor of Madurodam Noor and Rotterdam’s "child mayor" Dominique. The miniatures are brought to life with a wide range of playful elements. To facilitate this, MVRDV assisted in planning the layout of the new Rotterdam section. This resulted in the Markthal being placed above a path, so visitors can walk through and "ring the doorbell" of famous and lesser-known Rotterdammers to hear from them. Find more information here! https://lnkd.in/ei_wvbZ7 Gemeente Rotterdam | Rotterdam. Make It Happen. | Rotterdam Partners | Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen | KLEPIERRE

Here's Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb touring the Gate M West Bund Dream Factory in Shanghai! This project is the transformation of a former cement factory with a three-dimensional pedestrian network. The mayor visited the city to celebrate the 45-year anniversary of Shanghai and Rotterdam's sister city relationship. Together with the Rotterdam delegation co-led by the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Shanghai, Mr. Aboutaleb also visited the site of the Gate M West Bund Dream Center on July 6 to witness the positive results of Dutch designers practicing in China.   "As a Dutch design office with headquarters based in Rotterdam, I'm proud to see it is actively involved in urban renewal and development in such a prime area and has created pleasant waterfront spaces for the people here", said Ahmed Aboutaleb. "Rotterdam and Shanghai are sister cities with a profound friendship of 45 years. In the future, our exchanges will be more active and comprehensive. MVRDV's Gate M West Bund Dream Center project will undoubtedly add an important chapter to this friendship."   The MVRDV project combines a masterplan and architectural designs for a riverside leisure and culture district in Shanghai known as the Gate M West Bund Dream Center. The plan, currently under construction, will transform a collection of buildings of different styles and time periods, adapting a former industrial zone while making use of the existing structures, thus minimising carbon emissions.   With its design concept centered on the movement of people, expressed through a network of bright orange paths, stairs, ramps, and bridges, the design turns this patchwork of disused and incomplete buildings into a cohesive whole, generating a bustling and lively atmosphere on the banks of the Huangpu River.   Find more information on Gate M West Bund Dream Center here! https://lnkd.in/dUwH32Ra

Retrofit and revive! The Shenzhen Women and Children’s Centre has been nominated for the World Architecture Festival awards, in the category Retrofit. The Shenzhen Women & Children’s Centre transforms an old mixed-use tower into a vibrant and colourful skyscraper hosting a hotel and a wide range of facilities for the welfare of women and children. The building sets an important precedent for repurposing buildings in a city that is soon to see a “great wave of adaptive reuse”. The transformation of the building was achieved while saving approximately 24,000 cubic metres of concrete from the original structure, a reuse resulting in a carbon saving equivalent to 11,800 flights from Amsterdam to Shenzhen. Read more on the project here! https://lnkd.in/d9f97_dN

How can we revolutionise the construction industry to meet the ambitious climate goals of the Paris Agreement? Leading up to this year's Les Rencontres Économiques in Aix-en-Provence, our partner Jan Robin Knikker has written an article on innovative strategies to cut CO2 emissions in construction, ranging from software to expert insights, reuse, and more. Read the article below to learn more! Plus, don’t miss our partner Bertrand Schippan live at Les Rencontres Économiques on July 6! He’ll be sharing his expertise on a panel, discussing how the construction industry can push the envelope in innovation and sustainability. Join us in Aix-en-Provence or online! Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/eiMrRK-X Le Cercle des économistes

A diamond-encrusted façade that glitters in an infinite range of colours! This is the Tiffany & Co. store in Shanghai for which we have designed a jewel-inspired storefront! Located in the Taikoo-Li Qiantan shopping centre, the store’s façade evokes clear associations to Tiffany’s renowned jewellery designs with 6,988 handcrafted glass “diamonds”. The façade has low-energy, colour-changing LED lighting and can thus be lit in any colour, including the trademark Tiffany Blue®, with each colour being brought to life by the refractive effects of the glass diamonds. This was inspired by the bright and colourful light displays of Shanghai’s skyline. The idea was based on Tiffany’s identity and history. The project represents a continuation of MVRDV’s strategy for Tiffany façade designs. It pays homage to the brand’s heritage by placing an emphasis on concepts such as innovative materiality, a strong sense of three-dimensionality, and the ability to spark wonder in onlookers. The façade only uses mechanical connections, allowing it to be completely dismantled and its parts reused or recycled in the future. Each of these glass diamonds is 21 centimetres wide and 13 centimetres tall, weighing 1.5 kilograms. They are suspended on thin steel cables and placed to give a randomly scattered effect, thinning out for greater visibility where needed. Find more info on the project here! https://lnkd.in/eba7cZna 📸 Wen Studio & Tiffany & Co. 

How do we use housing as an opportunity to reactivate previously marginal parts of cities? On July 5 at Cityscape 24 - Upcycle Ancona, our senior project leader Cosimo Scotucci will discuss this question in relation to a number of MVRDV projects in Bordeaux, including the Bastide Niel masterplan and its development La Vallée Verte, as well as Ilot Queyries, itself a testbed for Bastide Niel. Cosimo's lecture will present the audience with a fresh perspective on how formerly peripheral spaces can be used, and how they provide the potential for a new urban vision. Read more here! https://lnkd.in/efuXq5b6 Cc Università Politecnica delle Marche

A rotating house, powered by a bicycle? Only in Almere Oosterwold! Designed by visual artist Joost Conijn, this hand-made, rotating house is one of the latest additions to neighbourhood of Oosterwold. It is warmed by the sun and can be rotated to face away from the sun when needed. And all of this simply by jumping on a bike and pedalling! The project was recently awarded with the Almere Architecture Prize 2024. Winy Maas supported the building application process, advocating for the project as a piece of art for the neighbourhood. The rotating house is part of the Almere Oosterwold neighbourhood, created according to a collective masterplan by MVRDV. Oosterwold is proposed as a radically liberated place where you have the right to define your own living space. Oosterwold celebrates individual desire. You can build whatever you want, in whatever shape you like. The neighbourhood is, however, based on common sense. You can do whatever you want, provided you do not harm others. By not only developing your own plot, but also all the necessary components around it such as infrastructure, energy supply, and public parks, you not only build your own home, but also contribute to the development of this part of Almere. Read more on Almere Oosterwold here! https://lnkd.in/e7qvFYer 📸Kaan Smits | Daria SCAGLIOLA | Tomek Dersu Aaron | Joost Conijn Cc Kunstlinie