30 November 2021
THE WINNER!
Listed for 3 Awards, “Haasje Over” was selected last week as the best residential project of 2021 in The Netherlands. We are very honoured but the credit should really go to our outstanding commissioner Jack Hock from Trudo.
THE PULS
27 October 2021
Yesterday we celebrated with our partners VORM, EDGE and the Municipality of Amsterdam the official start of the construction of “De Puls”. From start of the competition to the construction it took the team only 2,5 years time which is a very short time.
25 June 2021
JULIA AT VMX
The Netherlands is for me the epicentre of innovative and moving architecture. When starting to work at VMX Architects, I immediately felt that I was being a part of an impacting firm where storytelling, user experience and meaningful design intertwined. Being in the Netherlands and getting to cooperate with local and international team- workers, is the source of interesting and inspiring interchanges. There, I am able to combine a sense of reality with the freedom of creative thinking. I have had the chance to work on several projects each from various scales and on every single one of them, I was given the opportunity to not only be a part of the making but also to be a part of the reasoning process. VMX has succeeded in establishing a strong sense of trust within the team which is truly applied to new members such as junior architects like me. I believe that architecture is moving forward thanks to passionate and curious individuals and working at VMX is allowing me to enhance both while always pursuing the search for innovative thinking.
By Julia Landreau
2nd June 2021
MITCHELL VAN EIJK
Stadsfotograaf Mitchell woont 18 hoog in Haasje Over: ‘Ik heb perfect uitzicht over de stad’ >>>
11 May 2021
BERNARD HULSMAN ABOUT STRIJP S!
Nice read about our project in the Dutch newspaper NRC by Bernar Hulsman.
25 March 2021
“WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET”
Architects have always communicated through images. In the past mainly on paper, nowadays often digitally. In 2016, Mark Minkjan won the Geert Bekaert-price for architectural criticism with his essay on architecture and the false reality of digital visualisations.
The critique is clear: architects oftentimes market their buildings through flashy renders that show an unrealistic and too optimistic image of the new reality.
It distracts us from asking the questions we should perhaps be asking about the new building. Has the context been properly considered? Is it an enrichment of the built environment? Does it add value that contributes to society? Do we actually need this building?
If eventually, the result comes close to what was offered to begin with, and all these questions can be answered in the affirmative, you may still be criticised. At least having an overly rich imagination won’t be part of it. >>> Mark Minkjan, 2015
By Daniel Bremmer, VMX
23 March 2021
HELLO OLD FRIEND!
We have been recently experiencing some visually dramatic weather in Amsterdam, snow, ice, and spectacular horizontal sunlight offering new perspectives of the city and its buildings. Above, a view of our Casa 400 project, rendered crisply as the sun rose across the frozen canals.
By Conor Murphy, VMX
12 March 2021
COMPLETED!
We are convinced that ‘inbreiding’, or densifying within the existing borders of our cities, is the most sustainable and efficient way to respond to the current demand for housing in the Netherlands. By making use of existing networks and leaving natural areas untouched we stand a chance to create a truly future-proof built environment.
Architecturally, these densifications only make sense when they are site specific. Our recently finalised social-housing tower ‘Haasje-over’ is a successful example: Going beyond the ‘anywhere’ regular housing tower it physically and mentally embraces the industrial characteristics of the famous Strijp-S area. All of this without becoming uninhabitable, rather the opposite.
‘Haasje-over’ acknowledges and re-activates the micro-context. Accommodating a ‘somewhere’ for the vibrant and diverse urban community that started to inhabit the building this month. Welcome to Eindhoven!
Text by Don Murphy, Client: Trudo, Contractor: Stam de Koning, Photography: Marcel van der Burg
See more here >>>
7 March 2021
‘SLOW ARCHITECTURE’
Bijna 5 jaar geleden werkten we de hele zomer door om de competitie voor het Havenkwartier binnen te slepen. Honderden schetsen, maquettes, en modellen volgden. Een bijna eindeloze reeks opties, typologieën, berekeningen, whisky’s en overleggen. Met evenzoveel adviseurs, verhitte discussies, telefoontjes, meningen en presentaties. Bouwen vraagt om geduld. Maar met resultaat. Groen licht voor welstand, bouwvergunning, verkoop en uiteindelijk start bouw. En nu komt eindelijk de eerste ruwbouw boven de grond!
Het Havenkwartier verrijst stukje bij beetje aan de Maashavenkade. Het voelt groots. Veel groter dan ik mij die zomer had kunnen voorstellen. Ongetwijfeld zouden we nu ook dingen anders doen en zien. Zoveel beton? Dit soort prijzen? En wanneer komt die brug eigenlijk? Toch overheerst de overtuiging dat alle aandacht en zorgvuldigheid voor context, schaal en materialisatie zich zal tonen. Dat onze gedachtes, ideeën en ontwerpen zichtbaar worden voor de omgeving. Haar huidige en toekomstige bewoners. Nog even afwachten. Architectuur is blijkbaar iets van de lange adem.
Text door Maarten Kempenaar, foto door Hans Goedhart