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

MVRDV and stadgenoot commissioned 24 architects for almere, netherlands 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.

MVRDV and stadgenoot commissioned 24 architects for almere, netherlands building volumes image courtesy MVRDV