A villa patchwork

A residential area with 1600 dwellings is under construction in a former allotment garden complex and industrial estate in Amsterdam Noord. It has been designed in the tradition of the garden villages present in this part of the city.

In contrast to the existing garden villages, the urban design scheme by Rudy Uytenhaak provides for spacious dwellings in a high-density development, and considerable attention is given to the car. De Bongerd, a ‘garden village of the 21st century’, is situated on Zijkanaal I and has a green character. On the edge of the development are tall apartment buildings. On small plots in the narrow, winding streets are urban villas containing two, three, four or eight dwellings. The various types of villas, designed by four different architects, are scattered as blocks over the area.
The blocks designed by De Ruiter (type Teser) have a simple basic plan, which provides for a three-storey quadrant with four dwellings. Each of the dwellings has its own garden. In time, the timber-clad elevations will be partly covered with climbing plants. Aluminium bands create a strongly horizontal articulation of the façade, as a result of which the block forms a unity. (ARCAM/YK)