FREE STATE

A place to express and explore street art

The project site is located next to Muiderpoort Station in Amsterdam, positioned at the corner of a building block with two faces: one towards the city and one towards the neighbourhood.

The underlying theme is "encounter" or "disturbance." It’s a building for everyone, without differences. The target group of urban youth in Amsterdam East feel connected to the street and are engaging in specific interests known as street art. These activities are often undervalued because they are associated with mischief. At the same time, they are part of the community and lack a space where they can take their passion seriously to truly develop as an artist.

This building is given back to the street art and functions as a Free State — a place with own values as a community, where lessons are taught and where artists in residence can live. Graffiti, street fashion, and hip-hop are the three disciplines that will be experimented and reflected here. The large, open facade, along with the plazas and streets, invites people from the neighborhood to engage with the street art and the artists.

The layers of the building block consist of a shell and a core, where large-scale events can be held as a place for reflection. The concrete supporting structure spreads throughout the site, anchoring the facades like a decor for the city. This structure symbolizes the boxed-in society and societal rules that this target group challenges and reinterprets. Each group interacts with the rigid construction in its own way. With own forms and materials as a hypothesis, they are working with the structure to create three own identities within the block.