ARCHITECT'S

The Whale is one of three meteorites that mark the area. Within the same footprint as the 'Berlage' block (50 x 100 m) in Amsterdam South, a program twice as large has been realized. By lifting the building on two sides - the roof lines run diagonally with the movement of the sun - the lower floors get sun and a view under the building. The result is a variation on the closed building block: the inner area is transformed from a traditional private site into an almost public city garden. The elegant, elevated shape conceals the enormous program: 214 apartments with commercial space underneath and an underground parking garage on a plot the size of a football field. Due to its special design, the building offers a different view from different positions and provides an enormous diversity of housing types, especially in the bottom and top edges of the building. Greenhouses offer a wide view of the dense buildings of the Amsterdam city center and the extensive water of the IJ. (© de Architekten Cie)

COLLECTION

DFW