Presentation on the future urban development of Almere, with models, artist impressions and film.

Stretching for 32 kilometres, the A10 Circular Road is the longest construction in Amsterdam. As a result of its length, the Circular cuts through a wide variety of urban environments, and if only for that reason it is an exceptionally interesting guide for an exploration of the city. This is no doubt one of the reasons why the A10 Circular Road is currently being swamped with spatial design projects.
For ARCAM, these developments were a reason to start conducting research into the Circular. Motivated by a desire to become better acquainted with this ‘construction’ and everything connected to it, materials were collected that frequently opened up surprising new perspectives regarding the Circular. This includes photos of unexpected urban landscapes in the margins of the A10, elements from daredevil student plans, relevant images from the road’s trajectory in the past and more and less realistic perspectives of the future – perspectives from both the present and the past. The initial findings of this research have been collated for this exhibition, to complement a series of scale models of segments of the road trajectory. They provide a characteristic portrait of the A10’s striking and captivating personality, a phenomenon with a fascinating history and a promising future.

Parking policy: a riddle. Made possible by Waaijenberg Mobiliteit.

Since the statue 'Amphitrite' left for a permanent place on KNSM Island, ARCAM has an extra platform. ARCAM invites everyone to propose an exiting temporary installation.

‘What is so avant-gardist about Croatian architecture of the 20th and 21st centuries?’, Adolf Stiller (Viennese architect and critic) once asked himself. To answer this question, the exhibition CONTINUITY OF THE AVANT-GARDE was put together in collaboration with the Croatian architecture magazine Oris and was on show at ARCAM during the fall of 2009.
The exhibition showed projects from three distinguished periods: the thirties, the fifties and sixties and the nineties up until 2009. The focus was on villas, housing blocks, schools, churches, monuments and infrastructure projects in cities such as Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik, with work by, among others, Frane Cota, Stjepan Planič, Nikola Dobrovič, Ivan Vitič, Kazimir Ostrogovič, Hrvoje Njirič and 3LHD.
The exhibition was accompanied by an English-language catalogue, with a foreword by Andrija Rusan, publisher and editor of Oris.

More activities concerning this exhibition:
* At the opening on Friday September 18 there was a symposium about Croatian Architecture.
* Check www.mimoa.eu for a selection of the projects in the exhibition.
* Part of the exhibition was on show during the museumnight 2009.
* Read more in the press release.

De name 'Gecekondu' is a 'built-in-one-night' house in Turkish and refers to the summer hotel of DUS architects that will be on the ARCAM ISLANT for one month. Made out of bags it is easily transportable and promotes informal use of the city.

During the whole month everyone was invited to stay in the hotel for free, in exchange for a contribution of the 'Gecekondu Guestbook'.

For the online guestbook with the results, check: www.dusarchitects.com/gecekondu.

The French artist Pierre Mansire realized work on the ARCAM ISLAND.
'Mobile...Immobile' was an art installation that creates an evolutive visual fresco inside the Arcam building. By placing heliophores (coloured mirrors) on the island, the sunlight, wind, clouds, and of course the rotation of the earth made a changing spectacle.

Pierre Mansire is an alter-contemporary artist, whose favorite medium and material is light. He is the initiator of the artistic movement Slow Future ( alter-futurism ) and co-author of the Slow Future Manifesto ( 2009 ).

This project contained an exposition and a publication about the triangular area of Amsterdam, IJmuiden and Zandvoort. It focused on the opportunities of the water and the importance of the harbor and the Noordzeekanaal for this part of the Metropolitan Area Amsterdam. The public became conscious of the idea that Amsterdam is actually located at sea and will be seduced to go into the region with a colorful map. Professionals were triggered to look at the area differently and to search for new ways to make use of it.

Thursday July 2nd adolescents from Amsterdam Slotervaart presented their urban plan for Jacob Geelbuurt in Amsterdam Slotervaart at Lage Kade from ARCAM. They give their vision to give inspiration to the urban planners that work on the renewal of the area.
At the festive opening the participants presented their design and a professional jury has pointed out the winner.

At Creative Urbans talented youngsters get the opportunity to develop a vision about urban planning and public matters.

In the run-up to national Architecture Day on 28 June, ARCAM was showing an exhibition with the theme ‘City on Wheels’. An exhibition about Amsterdam’s urban space, in which the focus was on the relationship between the ground level and everything that runs and rolls over it. A presentation, thus, about the bottom half metre of the public space. The recurrent theme in its organization is the requirement that the ground level should be accessible to all possible modes of conveyance. Which is why the exhibition centred on the questions: how is the ‘floor’ of the city designed and how can ‘Amsterdammers on wheels’ make use of it in many different ways? Think, for example, of the kerb, which is an obstacle for wheelchair users, but which for skateboarders, who ‘ollie’ over it, cannot be high enough.
The exhibition included photos, films and sounds of all manner of wheels. A special ‘street’ laboratory made it possible to experiment with a variety of paving materials, from the familiar concrete paving stones to the granite cobblestone.

Part of Dystopia is a fragment of the work of artist Patrick van Vught. Dystopia is a city made waste in plaster.
See for more information: www.patrickvanvught.exto.nl

Installation on the ARCAM island.

In association with the Amsterdam Environmental Centre, ARCAM presented the results of the MCA study 'Working together on a climate-friendly city'. This study involved the search for a series of concrete images, interpretations and elaborations that relate directly to the compact, climate-proof city. Experts in design studios ARCADIS, Klimaat in de Stad (Alterra Wageningen), Bureau B+B, bureau SLA and Stadgenoot, together with a panel of citizens, are drawing up urban plans for the city’s De Baarsjes district.
Also on show were the results of a study by Atelier Rijksbouwmeester, which in June 2008 commissioned a fictitious project for a multifunctional building on the Zuidas. Onix, Erick van Egeraat, Architectenbureau Paul de Ruiter, 51N4E and VMX Architects present their designs and showed that architectural diversity is possible even with high sustainability requirements.
Finally, ARCAM decided to put its own building under the microscope for this exhibition. Just how climate-friendly is this building, completed in 2003? And what can we do to improve its sustainability?
In addition to the results of the above studies, the exhibition also included innovative, original and spectacular examples of ‘climate-friendly construction’ in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region.

Prior to the opening on Friday 13 March there was a debate 'Working together on a Climate-friendly city'. On tuesday 7 April Ton Matton gave a lecture and on tuesday 12 May ARCAM organized the debate The city's heading 4 about the sustainable Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.

The exhibition 'A City for the Future' was also on show at 'Archikidz' May 30 and was part of the festival 'Sustainable Amsterdam' on June 6 2009. From June 7 on, the part on the Amsterdam neighbourhood De Baarsjes by Environmental Centre Amsterdam, will be presented in the district council office of De Baarsjes.

The exhibition is travelling since march 2009 and is shown at the key architecture institutes in India. Also interactive discussion have been organized between students and professionals about the future of 'their' cities making use of the concept of 'future maps'.

A competition has started for the new furniture in the Vondelpark. A jury nominated five designs for benches, streetlights and kiosks. The designs are made by Martijn Al & José Vorstermans, Bureau Poelmans Reesink landschapsarchitectuur and Sinds 1416 graphic designers, Totems, Anouk Vogel Landscape Architecture en Serge Schoemaker Architects. On show at ARCAM were models, drawings and impressions of their furniture.
The winner of the design that reflects best the 'green and contemporary soul of the Vondelpark' is Anouk Vogel.