IJ Plein 2050

Date: January 2022

Location: Amsterdam, Holland

In collaboration with: Isabel Saffon

Competition: Community 2050

OMA’s 1981 intervention at IJ-plein introduced a bold typological approach to North Amsterdam’s waterfront. Today, the project is cherished as a heritage site, yet criticized for its underutilized open spaces which fail to serve both the residents and the public. Almost suburban in its feel, neither its elongated spaces nor its buildings have a relationship to the water.

The proposal transforms the neighborhood through a typological approach to open space that both draws from the original architectural approach of the plan, while proposing a new ownership structure, a community land trust, to secure community ownership and long-lasting affordable housing. These open space typologies - wild corridors, wetlands, cultural plazas and productive gardens - respect and reinforce the spatial logic of the OMA plan while breathing new life into the open strips running perpendicular to the water. The proposed design approach expands the original streets and green spaces, bringing them to the water and breaking the existing old edge. Each open space experiments with a different approach to the waterfront. The hierarchy of open spaces allows differentiation and attracts diverses uses.