AMSTERDAM, NETHERLAND We…City

Amsterdam is a city with a strong tradition in urban planning. For the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, Amsterdam wants to trigger the imagination by sharing ideas about collective city making. Collective city making means research by design, research by culture and collaboration, exploration and storytelling. This research is shown through an ongoing project: the continuous development of the Buiksloterham, where former industrial brownfields are being transformed into a modern inclusive cityscape.
In this area the city tries to break with its strong tradition of a more formal system of top-down planning. New collectives, pioneers, self-builders and new arrivals together with city-officials experiment with new urban typologies and design methods. The city is currently working on a new masterplan for the Buiksloterham, where it seeks to build upon this DNA of rough spatial quality through industrial heritage, collectivity, activism, participation, and experiment.
Through project-information on pioneer projects, filmed interviews, animations and an interactive element for the biennale-visitor, Amsterdam gives insight into its current ambitions on urban design, density and mixed-use, co-creation, circular economy, sustainable mobility and productive urban landscapes. The We…City entry aspires to tickle the visitor, to show that innovative urban design approaches start with creative urbanites who care about the city’s environment and its diverse characteristics, and thus, to think and reflect on their own habitat.