Projektbeschreibung
In architecture, working on public buildings is an important endeavor, as these serve the public and are symbols of our collective society. And, in the public character of these buildings,
architecture is not be understood in a singular way, but rather sits right at the intersection of two ideas: that of ´Publicness´ an ´Togetherness´ - it rarely creates either on its own, but it conditions both. ´Publicness´ and ´Togetherness´ describe two distinct but related dimensions of social life. ´Publicness´ refers to the structural and normative conditions that make people, spaces or actions accessible and visible to others. It concerns questions of access, rights, participation, control and visibility and exists on a spectrum rather than as a simple public-private divide. ´Togetherness´, by contrast, names the lived, affective experience of being with others: a sense of connection, mutual presence, or shared belonging. Architecture cannot enforce ´Togetherness´, but it can make it more or less likely. The critical task for architects is not to fail distinguishing publicness with social cohesion, but to carefully align degrees of publicness with opportunities for ´Togetherness´, allowing collective life to appear without prescribing it.
Architects associated with the Structuralist movement—most notably Aldo van Eyck and Herman Hertzberger—placed both ‘publicness’ and ‘togetherness’ at the centre of their work. They employed thresholds to articulate transitions between inside and outside, and between adjacent rooms, thereby composing spatial sequences that facilitate movement and encounter. Drawing on this heritage, our studio will concentrate on the ground floor as the critical mediator between the public realm and the interior. Over the semester, you will develop a design for a community centre - envisioned as an inclusive public venue for all segments of society - situated within the urban fabric of Amsterdam. By combining a cultural or educational facility (e.g. a library, neighbourhood theatre or repair café) with a quotidian amenity (e.g. a small grocery store or post office) under one roof, we will investigate how architectural design can foster belonging and social connectivity.
Learning Objectives
This studio first situates the Structuralist movement within its socio-historical context, enabling participants to engage critically with its theoretical foundations. Through targeted research, sectional-model analysis and an on-site excursion to canonical Structuralist buildings, students will develop a nuanced understanding of how thresholds mediate publicness and togetherness. In the design phase, participants will deploy ground-floor plans, sectional models and atmospheric narration as analytical and generative tools for translating Structuralist principles into a contemporary community centre. Weekly iterative refinement of both plan and model—advancing from the public ground floor to upper levels, and from primary circulations to specialised thresholds—will cultivate a deep grasp of spatial sequencing and programmatic layering. The overarching aim is to synthesise these investigations into a coherent architectural proposal that calibrates degrees of ‚publicness‘ with opportunities for spontaneous encounter and shared belonging.
Organisational Matters
Participation in the assigned excursion is mandatory. All critiques and the final presentation (with Prof. Job Floris) will be conducted in English; weekly supervision with the WiMis may be in English or German, according to student preference. Collaborative work in pairs is strongly encouraged.