Retellings

The exhibition ‘Retellings – Building Together with Neighbourhoods’ showcases five new construction projects in Amsterdam Nieuw-West, Noord, and Zuidoost where design and construction are not only done for the neighborhood but also with the neighborhood: Housing Cooperative De Bundel and the Wildemanbuurt (Nieuw-West), Renovation Geldershoofd & Gravestein and Management Cooperative Vreeswijkpad (Zuidoost), and SAMPLE (Noord)

In the lead-up to 2050, 150,000 new homes will be built in Amsterdam and the existing housing stock will be made more sustainable, mostly in Nieuw-West, Noord, and Zuidoost. Here is where the majority of housing protests by residents are occurring.

Arcam’s annual programme ‘Hervertellingen’ (Retellings) seeks design forms where architects, together with residents, can improve on stalled participatory processes in these areas. By layering architectural history (the built city), social history (living experience and protest), and the lived city (oral history), we aim to generate new dialogue between residents, designers, and clients. In five events held earlier this year, we investigated what this method can achieve. Each evening, an architect spoke about a current project, how it relates to architectural history, and how collaboration between architect and (future) residents is initiated. This exhibition presents five new-build projects which are designed not only for, but also with the neighbourhood.