When we cannot identify with our own living environment, we feel like a stranger in our own city. And this influences the extent to which we feel free to participate, contribute, and take our responsibility to the city and the people around us.
In 2017, the Bijlmerbajes, the former prison in Amsterdam-Zuidoost, was transformed into living space for refugees. The old cells remained in their original form, serving as sleeping quarters, and long, dark corridors connected different spaces together. In addition to this residential function, studio spaces were offered inside the building. We decided to move Studio L A into the former prison to engage up close with a situation in which we felt a social and inclusive design perspective was necessary. We made it our mission to investigate how the building could become a more humane place where refugees could get a sense of home after an often traumatic and alienating time in their lives. Over the period of just over a year, we carried out various interventions to make the building more livable. We applied signage to add clarity into a building which, until then, was only used by experienced prison guards and therefore, not built intuitively at all. And we furnished a living room to compensate for the lack of personal space and common meeting rooms within the living quarters.
The biggest challenge of our work in the Bijlmer Bajes consisted of our attempt to remove the metal bars which were placed on the window of every sleeping room. These bars made many of the residents feel as if fearful period of fleeing and uncertainty had ended with their imprisonment, whilst having committed no crime. We talked to the owner of the building about the possibility of removing these bars, and we found an iron dealer who was willing to strip them at low cost. However, the owner strongly opposed the process and renamed the bars “sun blinds”, claiming they were part of the buildings’ heritage. In our inability to physically remove the bars due to these obstacles, we made a movie about the process instead – named
Blinds
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. This film led to seven critical parliamentary questions in the Dutch Parliament about acceptable living conditions in refugee centers.
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, we analyzed asylum seekers housing through a spatial lense both focusing on living together within the walls of an AZC and the bond that can be made with society through related public spaces. We take into account several current dilemmas: the influence of unpredictable influx of asylum seekers on the budgets of the Dutch central authority for asylum (COA), the consequences of repurposing buildings such as prisons for residential purposes, and the design requirements for more humane, friendly spaces. In addition, we consider human factors such as the importance of diversity within the group of employees for understanding the experience and culture of residents, and the effect of, for example, guard uniforms. Currently, asylum seeker housing is seen too often as a temporary emergency shelter with minimum requirements for comfort and quality of life. In practice, however, people live longer than 1,5 years or longer in these spaces. Our advice is aimed at removing the sense of captivity as a result of architecture amongst its residents and opening the doors to society so that the newcomers can make a good start in creating a new home.
As architects, we want to bring our visions to life in the built environment. But in parallel to building, we believe it is important to introduce relevant, contemporary and critical topics within the discipline of architecture. By initiating and participating in discussions on social awareness within the field, we can make innovative steps towards better commissions, policies and more inclusive spaces. That is why initiating films, debates and research is an important aspect of our studio. The ‘Inclusive Education’ file gives more insight into the projects in which we use different strategies for social awareness from a spatial perspective.
On November 5, 2017, Studio L A appeared in the episode
VPRO Tegenlicht: City for Sale?
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. We were interviewed on our perspective on the growth of Amsterdam. In the episode, we spoke about the rapid commercialisation of Amsterdam. The city is becoming increasingly expensive and, as a result, inaccessible to a growing group of original and new residents. This is a consequence of non-inclusive policy-making. Because a city that serves as a business model for property owners cannot be an inclusive, diverse city where different people meet.