Description

Two buildings, long house and courtyard house, by Diener & Diener Architects bring structure into the transitional area of the new housing district in Amsterdam on the two peninsulas KNSM and Java, whose heterogeneous urban concepts converge at precisely this location (see also Piraeus Residential Complex. The courtyard house with its unique plan is a cubic volume, whose eastern elevation is cantilevered across the access road. The concentric organization of the courtyard type and the orientation of the building fabrics in the axis of the peninsula have informed the building. The volume seems to be simultaneously in the grip of static and dynamic forces. This delicate balance is continued in the apartments, which are not hierarchically ordered: with a long rectangular plan, with front or lateral windows and doors depending on location, the individual rooms convey a sense of tranquillity and animation at the same time – much like the entire complex. This is a residential dwelling with a distinctly public character, which is conceived to also embrace ways of living outside of the traditional family model. The apartments, usually 8 per story, are generally composed of three large rooms. There are four types, two for corner units and two for units located at the core (longitudinal/crosswise). The latter feature a central live-in kitchen, which is equipped with floor-to-ceiling sliding elements for opening onto the glazed loggia, thereby linking the living within the unit with the communal space of the entire building, the courtyard.

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Originally published in: Oliver Heckmann, Friederike Schneider (eds.), Floor Plan Manual Housing, fourth revised and expanded edition, Birkhäuser, 2011.