The Eemhuis
Description
The recently completed Eemhuis is the cultural centre of Amersfoort and an extraordinary and inspiring complex. The building is located just outside the city walls. Through the beautiful 14th-century Koppelpoort you reach the New Town on the Eem. The building houses four organisations; Archief Eemland, the Eemland Library, Kunsthal KAdE and Scholen in de Kunst. Together, these institutions are expected to attract some 450,000 people a year to the area, which is half of what the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao attracts a year.
New city heart
Amersfoort has grown from some 80,000 inhabitants in 15 years to 160,000 inhabitants today, partly due to its designation as a VINEX location. A demand for new facilities thus arose. The old industrial area on a branch of the Eem river on the edge of the city centre was the right place for this. Thus, a second (cultural) city heart was created.
Volkspaleis
Neutelings Riedijk Architects from Rotterdam designed the Eemhuis with an eye on the cross-pollination between the various functions. The urban plan assumed that these would be arranged next to each other on the square. The architectural firm immediately overturned this plan. Like layers of earth, the functions are now on top of each other, making them directly dependent on each other for their access. On the ground floor and in the basement is Kunsthal Kade. Diagonally on top of this, from the ground floor to the second floor, is the Eemland Library. On the third floor is the Eemland Archive in a beam-shaped volume. Finally, on the fourth floor is Scholen in de Kunst in three cantilevered box-shaped volumes.
The façade of the Eemhuis has 24,000 small and large spheres. These give the building an unprecedented sparkle even on a partly cloudy day.
Maximum number of participants: 25.
Speaker(s)
- Toska Topper (The Eemhuis)
- Peter Bijvoet (DGMR)
- Eric Thijssen (Neutelings Riedijk Architects)
Location
Eemplein 71-77, 3812 EA Amersfoort
Organiser
Construction
Name and contact details for information
Terry van Ditmars at the e-mail address below