Molenwijk

Scroll voor meer info

Scroll for more info

Transformation through differentiation

Informatie

Information

Status: Masterplan delivered 2005, schematic design parking redevelopment 2006
Location: Amsterdam
Client: PWV Wonen & De Alliantie
Team: JDWA ism WeLoveTheCity
Collaboration: Andries Geerse stedenbouwkundige (masterplan)

Molenwijk

In the end of 1966 the construction of the Molenwijk neighbourhood started. Fifteen high rise apartment buildings were projected in a huge park. This testing ground for the –later developed- Bijlmermeer was more than a new city quarter, it was a utopia. But society is less ‘makable’ then imagined. In the Bijlmermeer a integral redevelopment was necessary, but the Molenwijk is smaller and its inhabitants still live with pleasure in the park-like setting. On the other hand the neighbourhood gets less and less popular. It needs a long-term perspective that is based on its basic qualities: comfortable housing, light and space and dwellers who are committed to the neighbourhood. The approach to reach this goal is diverse. The first step is to renovate the housing itself. Then the parking buildings will be redeveloped and the third part of the transformation will be a complete redesign of the park where aspects as safety, visibility and program are important.

For more information about Molenwijk, please contact:

Johan De Wachter

Johan de Wachter is an architect and founding partner at Woonwerk Architecten. He came to Rotterdam after his studies at the Catholic University of Louvain (KUL) and worked from 2000 to 2004 at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA/Rem Koolhaas) on various urban planning and architecture projects and competitions. In 2003 he founded Fün Design Consultancy and was a partner until 2005. In 2005 he founded Johan De Wachter Architecten and in 2011 he started 2DVW Architecten in Antwerp together with Rik De Vooght. In 2023, the agencies are given a new name. With the establishment of Woonwerk Architecten, the collaboration is given further shape. With Woonwerk, Johan works on projects at home and abroad. Johan regularly teaches and has been, among others, a guest lecturer at Delft University of Technology, the Academy of Architecture in Rotterdam and the Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Tilburg. He was appointed associate professor of urban design at Kaunas University of Technology in 2015. Here he leads the design studios with a specific focus on the integral transformation of former soviet residential areas (microrayons). Johan De Wachter was selected in 2014 for the “Europe 40 Under 40 Award”. This award recognized Johan as one of the 40 leading young design talents from Europe. In addition to his work as an architect and teacher, Johan regularly sits on various committees and juries in the Netherlands and abroad. He is currently a member of the spatial quality committee in Breda (NL) and of the environmental committee in Tilburg (NL).

More about Johan