SOUTH AXIS

AMSTERDAM, 1998

A part of the ring of infrastructure around Amsterdam will be lowered underground and covered by an enormous urban deck. Maxwan was asked to develop a prototypical masterplan structure that could be situated on top of the bundle of highways, railways and railway-platforms and that could accommodate various programs. Other elements include a smart phasing proposal that limits inconvenience for residents while the plan is being executed, and a network of public spaces and parks that connect the South Axis to the surrounding city.
In addition to this, we developed the ultimately flexible urban block. This building type can be used as housing and/or office space alike. Because these buildings could be converted depending on the market conditions (multi-user high density flexible superblock) the investment would keep its value. The key to success turns out to be a (potential) vertical connection (elevator + escape stairs) at 20 m intervals.