An urban dream
Author(s)
Tania Concko (FR)
Pierre Gautier (NL)
Client(s)
De Zaanwerf C.V.
Competition team
Tania CONCKO (FR)
Pierre GAUTIER (NL)
Europan 2 Zaanstad
winner
1997-2000
The prize-winners were to supervise the development plan, and build the base (car park and collective spaces), canals and public spaces as well as four buildings (2 high-rise buildings along the Zaan and 2 low-rise buildings along the Oostzijde). As islands, platforms are totally surrounded by water? They are threaded together by the boardwalk along the River Zaan. Without the boardwalk the platforms could float away with the current of the river.
As drawbridges, the steel portals mark the entrances to platforms from the Oostzijde to the collective exterior space on the platform. The single-family houses are accessed from this space. Here, too, are the entrances to the vertical mounting points for the high residential blocks and the entrance space to the car park, combined with a storeroom for the waste container. Wooden grating gives the space a maritime atmosphere and gives form to the transition between the collective exterior space and the private housing. The Oostzijde also gives access to the public boardwalk. This runs between the islands, over the water, and comes out at a boardwalk which runs parallel to the Zann, just in front of the building. The boardwalk as a parade ground makes the Zaan accessible once again for citizens, as an urban facility without direct connexions with the collective spaces on the platforms.
Two other teams of architects worked with them on the different buildings, following a rationale of architectural diversity based on common strict principles and cultural dialogue.









Site informations
Zaanstad
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