Oosterdok

Karres en Brands was asked by the City of Amsterdam Spatial Planning Department to contribute to the ‘Amsterdam, Free City’ project as part of the 4th Rotterdam International Architecture Biennale. Nine urban design firms, including karres+brands, created plans in the form of architectural models for various prominent locations in the city. karres+brands was assigned the Eastern Islands area.

The Eastern Islands (Oostelijke Eilanden) of Amsterdam have long been a rather isolated district of the city, surrounded by clusters of infrastructure and waterways. The frenetic activity of tourism and large-scale events in other parts of the city centre has largely passed this area by. It contains a number of enclaves, including the old naval base where Somali refugee and former Dutch politician Ayaan Hirshi Ali sought refuge after being subjected to death threats. 

In the design by Karres en Brands this isolation is further accentuated by restoring waterways and restricting road access, creating a car-free district where the available space can be built upon even more intensively. The remaining public space can be colonised by its inhabitants in an informal manner: when the tyranny of the car is removed, new freedoms are created for the use of space. Just as cloisters and other walled complexes have an ambiguous significance – they are not open, but they can be used to protect people from a hostile outside world – so walled gardens and ‘refuges of free thinking’ within this labyrinthine district function as sanctuaries for artists, writers, politicians and intellectuals who are under threat. In other words, isolation is here utilised as a special quality.

With this plan karres+brands expresses criticism of the increasing levels of regulation and control in a city once renowned for freedom of thought and action. karres+brands shows that urban planning can be the key to restoring freedom in the city.