OverHolland 4: Architectural studies for the Dutch city

In the fourth edition of OverHolland, the research into the architectonic makeup of the capital is extended to infrastructural projects. Just like other buildings, infrastructural works also manifest themselves expressly in the city as artefacts with an unmistakable physical and material presence. Bridges, dikes, overpasses and tunnels for cars, trains or subways contribute to the built-up identity of the city just as much as public buildings and residential areas. The projects analysed in this edition of OverHolland illustrate this view. The main role of the design in similar urban artefacts is discussed by François Claessens and Endry van Velzen under the denominator ‘the urban project’. Instead of a design and urban planning approach, which often remains abstract and vague due to its large scale, the authors make a case for an approach to urban transformation on the medium scale that works with concrete proposals open to discussion. Next, three articles hold the concrete architectonic form of a few large infrastructural projects in Amsterdam up to the light. Ed Taverne discusses the early 20th century breakthrough of the Raadhuisstraat against the background of the attention for the city’s image in the painting as well as the architecture of that era. Then, the attention is focussed on two current projects, which, given their size and signiï¬ cance, exceed the scale of the city by far. Roberto Cavallo analyses the current transformation of Amsterdam Central Station, which he places in a series of interventions since its original construction at the end of the 19th century. Filip Geerts lines up the developments of the everexpanding structure of Schiphol. This book also features architectonic interventions in obsolete industrial buildings. By analysing a few design proposals for the Tate Modern in London, Tamara Rogic´ attempts to formulate various architectonic approaches for dealing with existing artefacts. Finally, under the heading Polemen, Henk Engel gives his critical view of the recent Team X research at the Delft University of Technology, with an adaptation of the lecture delivered at the Keeping the language of modern architecture alive congress, held in Delft in January 2006.