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This year's brief challenged students to reacquaint and re-adapt man-made waterways that traverse complex urban environments, focusing on canals and their tow paths. These routes were once functional but now serve as physical and psychological boundaries, separating water from land, artificial from natural. Historically, the city turned away from these areas, favouring parks and gardens. As canals became obsolete, these industrial routes fell into disrepair. However, an urban renaissance has seen these sites reclaimed for residential and commercial purposes.
This studio encouraged students to establish their own speculative direction and research focus. They explored a range of media, grounding their ideas in reality or exploring flights of imagination. While taking into account site constraints and critical precedents as a starting point, students were also encouraged to push beyond typological, material, and performative conventions. Emphasising the importance of change and flux, students considered how their projects would respond to weather, climate, human activity and even evolve over time, allowing for spatial configuration changes throughout the proposal's lifetime.
The device explores the visceral connection to the tow path and its textures, teaching valuable lessons through touch and recording friction.
Hotaru is a constellation of interactive nomads floating along Regents Canal, capturing water vapor from the air. During the day, Hotaru has an ethereal and crystal-like appearance, while at night, it emits a soft illuminance.
Regent's Canal offers a variety of social environments and contrasting scenery, representing diverse urban cultures. This activity generates waste. Ambitus aimed to explore the relationship between urbanisation and litter density in the water.
Embrace is a device that monitors and quantifies human interaction through proximity data collection. This aimed to explore whether humans give the robotic creature the attention it longs for and whether Embrace will be accepted in this space.
The Glomad is an interactive glowing orb positioned along the banks of Regent's Canal, designed to measure and encourage interaction with daily commuters who pass by. It uses lights to provide a visual response to kinetic stimulation.
This project blurs boundaries with a brick veil façade, allowing movement of people and water. A slow transition between indoor and outdoor is created, concealing the gallery yet enticing exploration.
The proposed project is a luxury wellness, relaxation spa and sports centre in Ijburg, Amsterdam. It aims to meet the growing demand for healthy living and recreational activities in this newly developed residential community.
Snakes and Ladders is a creative reuse project located in the northern bay of the heritage shipping wharf NDSM. It is a kindergarten that challenges the status quo of educational design through its unique vertical spatial arrangement.
Monolit, emerging from Ijburg's artificial sands, transforms commuting habits. Five spaces harmonise bike upcycling, fitness and exhibition.
Here We Meet aims to combat despondency and stagnation among the residents of Ijburg by promoting cross-generational interactions. Well-connected communities not only recognise their power to inspire societal change but also take action.
The vibrant colours and fresh scents create Ijburg's own Garden of Delight. The immersion with nature, provided by the glass garden, offers residents an experience they have been deprived of while living in a monochrome grey environment.