pannekoekstraat 104 / rotterdam / the netherlnads
URBAN SYMBIOSYS. Europan 6
Groningen - first prize
The site is located in Groningen along the Starkenborghkanaal within an area characterized by the mix of housing and industrial buildings. A revitalization of the area is proposed by introducing new typologies based on the mix of living and working functions.
The new urban development consists of two main elements:
1 A solid plinth that shelters facilities, living and working dwellings and business units that unifies the whole urban intervention, defines a new public space, and sets up a dialogue with the urban scheme by Berlage that dates from the 1920s.
2 Three glazed volumes composed of dwellings, designed as light and transparent 'crystals' that sit like precious jewels on a solid base, thus emphasizing the contrast between heavy and light, opaque and transparent, and rough and smooth.