Amsterdam

Back in 2016, BIG revealed plans for an ambitious mixed-use residential building that resembles the bow of a ship. The project, named Sluishuis, is now finally complete and provides an idyllic and energy efficient community on the waterfront.

Project Harbour Club is an interesting new development that involved renovating and extending a 1901 shipping terminal. Most notably, the project transformed three former industry-sized wine silos into novel rooftop homes.

MIT's Roboats have undergone a number of redesigns in the years since they were introduced in 2016, and the creators have now landed on their final version, a full-scale, self-navigating watercraft they say is ready to be put to work.

As part of a vision for clearer air in the city center, Amsterdam’s fire department is moving ahead with testing of an electric fire truck, with a diesel-powered generator also on board should operators need to call on extra firepower.

Take a walk along the canal in Amsterdam’s Westerdok district, and you may see an unsightly mess of waste gathered at the edge of the canal. What you’re seeing is the work of a new bubble barrier, designed to stop plastic waste flowing out to sea.

MIT’s Roboats have now been demonstrated arranging themselves into shapes that could one day form floating bridges and stages.

High-profile Dutch firm MVRDV has been commissioned to design a new office and laboratory in Amsterdam named Matrix 1. The building will boast significant sustainable features, including solar power and a partially green roof.

MIT has unveiled the latest version of the robotic boats it is developing for Amsterdam that are intended to help move passengers and goods along the city's 165 canals in the near future. The new iteration of these "Roboats" has been given the ability to locate and dock with one another.

​The canals of Amsterdam are an iconic part of the city’s landscape, and the transformed stations once used to control their traffic are now serving as an intimate way to experience them, offering unique waterfront accommodation with a historical flavor. ​

The RoBoat project is planning to get autonomous boats on the waters to ferry passengers and cargo, join together to form temporary floating structures, and monitor the environment. Now the design has been tweaked to be make them smarter, more agile and easier to manufacture.

​A set of upcycled shipping containers have breathed new life into a derelict and underused space at Amsterdam Science Park, stacking together to form a new co-working space for budding entrepreneurs called Startup Village.

Last month, New Atlas took the opportunity to explore just some of Amsterdam's modern architectural highlights, taking in museums, apartment blocks, bridges and bicycle parks along the way. We've put together a gallery of what we saw in a city at the forefront of contemporary building design.​