the 24 architecture teams with the client, almere city officials and the project teams of MVRDV on site.
© xander remkes

MVRDV have been commissioned to design a masterplan for the olympiakwartier
in the new town almere, netherlands.buildings will be designed by 24 different
architecture offices from europe, japan and america. each selected office will
design two different buildings ranging from 500m2 to 5,000m2. the architect’s
selection consists of a varied group of offices, from young and conceptual to
more established classic architects, in order to create true variety. the projects will
be realized by a group of experienced construction companies under quality care
of MVRDV and stadgenoot who are joint client to the architects, an experimental
way of development.

the selected offices:

2012 architects

atelier bow wow
baumschlager & eberle
BKK-3 architektur
breitman et breitman
bruno. albert architecte & associés
charles vandenhove architecture
cobe 
dierendonck
blancke architecten
edouard françois
guallart architects
herreros
JDS architects
jürgen mayer H.
krier kohl
lot- ek
monadnock
onix
powerhouse company
sadar vuga arhitekti
studio gang
urban think tank
van bergen kolpa architecten
yasutaka yoshimura architects



site plan for buildings of various architects
image courtesy MVRDV

MVRDV will be planner for 60,000m2 work space, 120,000m2 housing (1,000 homes),
15,000m2 education, 2,000m2 commercial space, 2,640 parking spaces and various
public spaces. this total has been split into 93 volumes of which MVRDV will design 45.
the plan demands individual development of the buildings: a dense mix of living and working
leading to a complex urban condition. retail, a public square and communal gardens are
also part of the comprehensive plan which introduces inner city life to the mostly suburban
typology of almere. flexibility is a key objective: all ground floors and part of the office
and apartment buildings are designed to facilitate future change of use.

almere, founded in 1984 on reclaimed land, is growing fast into becoming the fifth largest
city of the netherlands. after realizing a new city centre, almere now builds olympiakwartier
as a secondary centre. the project follows the ‘almere principles’ which are guide lines towards a sustainable city. completion is expected 2016, the larger urban plan is by dutch office mecanoo.


building volumes
image courtesy MVRDV