SailOur Floating Toy Museum in Amsterdam

Design draws inspiration from water motifs and refers to Amsterdams architectural icons – past and present – but also maritime-like character of the nearest context with Science Center Nemo, VOC Ship and National Maritime Museum. We imagined Floating Toy Museum as a multifunctional "ship" propelled by sails. We wanted to relate to the idea of moving - floating museum by using the hi-tech interpretation of sails, used also as a double, pro-ecological skin of our design. The building is covered with light shell and white sails, which contrast with solid, wooden interior elements. The shell and curved glass wall create an acoustic buffer between interior and exterior.
The site in Oosterdok area is a popular hotspot in Amsterdam - a perfect place for people, who are avid for new artistic and spatial experiences. Main goal of our project is to promote museum, as an open space for adults and kids, but also to show how diverse and inspirational it can be. Various exhibition spaces on three levels receive diffused light from semi-transparent roof due to combination of voids cutting the longitudinal edges of the museum. Glass walls on the ground floor can be opened on shorter elevations, which allow extending the interior space for outdoor activities, for example to connect exterior space with a café. Simple layouts allow for different arrangements. A revolving "bridge deck" between exhibition spaces is the experimental feature, created for fun of the kids and their parents. Rest of the functional program with educational space on ground floor and administration rooms follow the scheme of internal core, illuminated with natural light from the surrounding void.
The idea of our project is to enable visitors "to sail" through different types of the exhibition spaces and to create an illusion of experimental museum-ship.