The former Jan Swammerdam Institute is a notorious building because of its modernistic attitude located in an older part of Amsterdam. There are plans to tear it down. The SMART Project Space Foundation has developed an alternative plan which gives room to various cultural initiatives. It programmes video art, art cinema, web art and film, performances, music or other media. ANTARCTIC has designed a structure for this foundation that connects the building with the surrounding and makes a bridge between culture and city.
The Jan Swammerdam Institute is a monolithic structure, solitary as a planet. By designing an extension in the shape of the rings of Saturn the character of the Swammerdam is not impaired but reinforced.
One of the main issues for the future programming of the site was to create flexibility in amount of usable square meters. The deck will be mainly low when there is little new programme and on the contrary it will be high when then there is a large programme. The deck can easily be adapted to extensions during the years, by simply lifting lower parts of the deck.
The building will be split by two through ways, one on ground floor, one on ring level, extending the streets opposite the Jan Swammerdam Institute to the labyrinthic cycle and foot paths on the WG terrain on the back side. These through ways transform the whole building into a monumental gate to the terrain behind the building.
Concept Design
SMART PROJECT SPACE
Extension and renovation Jan Swammerdam Institute Amsterdam NL
Client: Smart Project Space
Texts: Thomas Peutz and Frederick Schutte, Smart Project Space
Graphic design: Arjan Groot, thecoverup/020
Images and photo processing: Julien Kummer
3D visuals: ARCHIWARE
Ring 4641 M2, 16.708 M3
Exhibition Space, Studios, Cinema, Restaurant ‘de Ruimte’, Offices