The under construction Amsterdam Zuidas is characterized by a high building density with balanced proportions of living, working and facilities. From an urban planning perspective, the area is laid out according to a grid. By continuing the existing city streets of Amsterdam Zuid and Buitenveldert, these neighborhoods are connected. Of the extended city streets, Minervalaan forms the central axis that is designed as a sequence of squares in the Zuidas.
Central on that axis is the Amsterdam Symphony project, composed of two towers, which, with a programmatic mix of public, semi-public and private functions, makes an important contribution to the metropolitan character of this part of the city. The slender residential tower has a commercial plinth; the wider office tower with a lower section houses commercial, public spaces and an art center. The various functions in the towers are accessed via Mahler Square.
The unity of the two towers is emphasized by the use of red brick and by the grid pattern in the facades in which the windows are placed. For refinement, a stacking of façade patterns is laid over the grid. For the sake of residential quality, the windows in the residential tower are as much as twice as wide as those in the office tower. In the plinth, large areas of glass reveal the commercial and public functions. The expression of the building, with the aforementioned features, unites the residential with the business character and gives the whole an urban appearance.
At just over 100 meters and 29 stories, Amsterdam Symphony is the city's tallest residential tower, an icon that can be seen from afar. An icon also of the extensive real estate fraud, but the people involved in the construction (and who had nothing to do with it either) prefer not to talk about that anymore. Take architect Pi de Bruijn, who with his associate Frits van Dongen of the Architecten Cie designed this residential building and the equally high office tower next door.
Amid all the aluminum, glass and natural stone of the Zuidas, he comes up with brick, five types even, from dark brown below to red, orange and yellow higher up. Masonry in different motifs, with ornaments in it. It seems to be a nod to the renowned Amsterdam School of a century earlier.
That is also De Bruijn's intention. "I wanted to refer to the Amsterdam School, but not make a copy of it. The secret of this spot is that it is exactly in line with Minervalaan, one of the main lines in Berlage's Plan-Zuid. At one end is the Hilton Hotel, and it is a dream to be allowed to build the other end. This is the most beautiful spot on the Zuidas."
"And in doing so, I had only one main idea: this should become a part of Amsterdam, a place for Amsterdammers, where people live. My heart's desire is that my building contributes to connecting the Zuidas with the city. That's why I would have liked to have had a public café on top, a beautiful vantage point, to give a hospitable welcome to those still afraid of the Zuidas. Unfortunately, that didn't work out."
That brickwork was certainly a challenge for the contractor, a combination of Boele & Van Eesteren and Dura Vermeer. "That traditional brick really makes the building stand out," says project manager Frans Wielemaker. "Yet it has become an elegant, slender building." Despite the brickwork, the tower was built quickly: a floor was added every three days. Wielemaker and his people had convinced architect De Bruijn that the brick construction he wanted could be combined with prefabricated facade parts. "It was exciting, brick masonry in precast elements, but it saved almost a year of construction time."
To truly create a residential building for Amsterdam residents, Pi de Bruijn drew four different apartments per floor, each with a different size, view and price. Not cheap, but not unattainable either. An apartment of 112 square meters cost 438,000 euros, a parking space added another 48,000 euros. Gea Dekkers (58) and Huib de Vet (64) occupy a corner apartment of 157 square meters, for which they paid (including parking) 750,000 euros. They look out over the Amsterdamse Bos and see the planes landing and taking off at Schiphol Airport. "We were happily living in the Pieter de Hoochstraat when we happened to cycle past here," Dekkers said. "We loved the model home right away." "We were also a little bored with the neighborhood," confesses De Vet, "especially because of all the festivities on Museumplein." Dekkers: "In any case, we wanted new construction. And we find this architecture very attractive: high-rise, but brick. You really have a big city idea here, and we have a much more mixed population than in Oud-Zuid."
The judges who selected the 10 nominees - residents of new construction elsewhere in the city - were very enthusiastic about this candidate. "This really stands out. The building is well finished, the homes are very nice inside and out. This adds something to the look of the Zuidas."
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