Flexible buildings in the compact city of Amsterdam: The Appeltjesmarkt

There is a transition in the development of cities. The car-based urbanization is shifting into a pedestrian and bike based urbanization. This is the effect of the transition in society because the fossil-fuel based society is changing into a renewable energy-based society. Cities want to densify instead of expand to deal with energy and transport more efficiently and to not affect the landscape. A new city model arises which I call for the convenience the compact city. It puts an end to the CIAM concept in which live, work, recreation and mobility are strictly separated and introduces a mix of functional urban areas. The interrelation between functions and buildings is subject to change and therefore the following research question: What should the architectural design of buildings comply with in order to fit in the urban fabric of the compact city?The main conclusions are:- Buildings of the compact city should combine several functions to create vibrant areas. - Due to the fact that the city is constantly changing the buildings should be flexible in every aspect to be able to adapt to possible future functional changes. - Because of the limited space, public spaces are an important part of the compact city. - The term energy should be a part of the architecture.designI used the conclusions of my research and the analysis of the intervention area as the base for my design. The outcome is an ensemble of three buildings surrounding a public square opening up to the water. One of the buildings makes a gesture to the existing parking garage by cantilevering over the garage and therefore it becomes part of the composition. Each building combines working and living in different ways. The floorplans are designed in a way to give the user as much freedom as possible to arrange it to their own wishes. This flexibility is also to be found in the structure of the buildings. The concrete casco, which is designed with as few as possible ongoing walls, offers freedom in the choice of layout variants. The facades are designed in a neutral way with respect to the underlying functions and thereby avoiding an explicit residential atmosphere. This will allow possible future functional adjustments without losing the identity.