Amsterdam Community Center

Q: What was the concept behind the project?

A: The concept behind this project is to create a community center that will attract and serve as a beacon of community for both locals and immigrants by responding to existing sites and cultural traditions.Three important existing conditions were highlighted and responded to which shaped the overall design and layout of our building. The response to culture is reinforced by providing program spaces that focus on collaboration and interaction. In order to encourage collaboration and discourage ownership, there are no living quarters in the building.

Q: What was the intent behind the organization of elements across various levels (Architectural, Site,

Urban)?

A:  The intent behind the organization of elements was the response of the existing conditions and the encouragement of collaboration. Public and private spaces are intertwined in order to encourage collaboration and more public spaces are placed on the main road of the site in order to attract people passing by.

Q: How many iterations were tried to arrive at the final outcome?

A: There is no final or set number of the amount of iterations it took to arrive at the final outcome, but it was an extensive process with each iteration changing multiple times. Multiple stages of the design process had changes from our overall objective to our footprint of the building all the way to our presentation layout. It was a process that made our final project what it is and there are no regrets for how long it took and how many great ideas had to be scrapped for the sake of producing a coherent project. 

Q: What is the expansion plan of the project?