ALMERE In 1976 the new town of Almere was founded on the Flevopolder (reclaimed land). Almere is first of all a concentrated suburban settlement of single family houses. The different types of traffic had been separated (street systems for public transport, cars, bikes and pedestrians). During the years the young city experimented a lot with housing types. These experiments resulted often in new neighbourhoods with remarkable architecture. After "The Reality", "The Fantasy" and the "Film quarter", the "Eilandenbuurt" (Island neighbourhood) is the most recent and outstanding example. Under the title "Gewild Wonen" (wished living) different architects incorporated the issue of flexibility in their house designs.

In 1979 the construction of Almere-City Centre started. The urban plan was based on a grid of mid-rise blocks. Within thirty years the city has grown rapidly and has now approxiametly 170.000 inhabitants. The Centre of Almere City needed to be restructured in order to cope with the new demands. Based on a masterplan by OMA, a second (pedestrian) level and new functions have been introduced, that will create a higher urban density. New mega-blocks, apartment-buildings, a theatre, leisure and retail shops have been designed by various international and local architects.

New city centre Almere // architecture walk information / contact

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

www.almere.nl (nl)

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


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