Gridgrounds

Het Breed is a modernist neighbourhood defined by rational residential blocks, 5 stories with “streets in the sky” in Amsterdam North designed by the architect Frans Van Gool in 1963. Gridgrounds creates an elongated public square of 88m x 17m, stretched across the central space so all paths converge here defining a new center for the neighbourhood. The asphalt square is based upon the original neighbourhood grid, which is made visible and tangible through white marking lines.

  At the points of the grid we placed different play elements inspired by the modernist playgrounds of Aldo van Eyck in Amsterdam. To create coherence all objects are painted Breedveld orange and blue, two colours that have been used in a recent renovation of the adjacent buildings. Through the cohesion of the colour, each object achieves a new identity, independent works that collectively form an open-air museum of play elements.

The square is framed by the grid of plane trees and grass and planting along the sides, the rectilinear form is punctured at three points by two green circles (active play space developed with local schools and passive green space that acts as a sustainable drainage point) and a rectangular multifunctional sports court. The low cost materials don’t compromise the quality of the space and the range of possible activities, but rather – here in Breedveld – create a solid and durable playscape that can be use in many unpredictable ways by the many visitors, with a relatively limited economical investment.

Gridgrounds, Amsterdam
Program: public space
Architect: Openfabric, Dmau
Design team: Francesco Garofalo, Daryl Mulvihill, Olivier Sobels, Jacopo Gennari Feslikenian
Area: 4,500 sqm
Completion: 2017