This site is an extensive reflection on Rem Koolhaas’ book ‘Delirious New York’,starting with a series of articles, published in ’93 in dutch architectural magazine OASE. The main article was called ‘Beyond the Senses’. This was translated - inspired by the Panoramical Table of Dutch expressive artist Tiong Ang - into a design for the Amsterdam Houthaven Area. I proposed a loose grid with huge buildings in the shape of mythical creatures standing apart. Next to a Pop Arena and a monument for Erasmus or Spinoza like a Statue of Care&Liberty or a Symbol for the Freedom of Thought. I see them reflected in this magnificent Rembrandt painting - The Nightwatch, when it was hanging in the Dam Palace, around which this city is surrected. Says one (Spinoza=captain Banninck-Cocq) to the other: "We have to take care of this city, personified by this sparkling little girl!".
So it happened. After Rembrandt en Spinoza, Amsterdam became a magic city. Cradle of The Enlightenment. Home base of the companies that conquered a colonial empire by means of the seven seas. City where the whole world wanted to travel to, driven by a TRAVELSYNDROME. City wheren an escapeclause was developed from the harsh reality in East and West. City as a secluded cultural space for us WILD ONES from the West. City for the most constant renewal of Urban Architecture and now an experimental field for sustainable TRANCEMODERNISM, by invitng Rem to make a futuristic plan for the Y-embankment.
Let me be your guide by way of this site to enter and explore this excepional cityZone. Like Stalker in this movie from the same name by Tarkovsky. Not a Zone in decay like in the movie. But flourishing like a dishevelled exotic tapestry of flowers. But flowers will wither away and a tapestry gets torn....
