ALMERE In 1976 the new town Almere was founded on the reclaimed land of the Flevopolder. The separation of the different types of traffic and the widespreaded single-family neighbourhoods made it difficult to create high quality urban spaces. Almere has long been, above all, a concentrated suburban settlement of single family houses. Within thirty years the city has grown rapidly and has now approximately 188.000 inhabitants, claiming its position as fifth-largest city of the Randstad.

This created the need to restructure the centre of Almere city, in order to cope with the new demands and densities. Based on a masterplan by OMA, a second (pedestrian) level and new functions have been introduced, creating a higher urban density. New mega-blocks, apartment-buildings, a theatre, leisure and retail shops have been designed by various local and international and architects, like for example SANAA, Christian de Portzamparc, Gigon Guyer and David Chipperfield.

The young city has always experimented a lot with different sorts of housing types. These experiments often resulted in new neighbourhoods with remarkable architecture. After 'The Reality', 'The Fantasy' and the 'Film quarter', the 'Eilandenbuurt' (Island District) is the most recent and outstanding example. Under the title 'Gewild Wonen' ('wished living') different architects incorporated the issue of flexibility into their designs. The private clients were highly involved in the design of their future homes, an uncommon situation in the Dutch architecture practice.

New city centre Almere // architecture walk information / contact

Almere "Gewild Wonen" // architecture walk information / contact

www.almere.nl (city´s internet site, also in english)

Architecture by Alsop & Störmer Architects, de Architecten Cie, Benthem Crouwel, David Chipperfield, Claus en Kaan, Cees Dam, Jo Coenen, DS landschapsarchitecten, Gigon Guyer, Van Greiner en Van Goor Architecten, Herman Hertzberger, Koers Zeinstra Van Gelderen, Teun Koolhaas, Mecanoo, OMA Rem Koolhaas, Christian de Portzamparc, Jan Dirk Peereboom Voller, Marlies Rohmer, Van Sambeek en van Veen, SANAA Kazuyo Sejima, S 333, UN Studio Van Berkel & Bos, Atelier Zeinstra van der Pol and many others