Martijn van Wijk

Island encounters

An unraveling of Uilenburg, revealing hidden layers and connecting past and present through design


During walks through the city, I found myself on Uilenburg, an island in the heart of Amsterdam. An eclectic collection of buildings from various time periods draws my attention. I later learned that this location indeed has a turbulent history and has undergone significant changes over time. This led me to wonder: how does my intuitive sense of the place relate to its actual history? What methods can I use to capture this? And how can I translate it into a design?   

By capturing my observations of the place through photography and establishing relations between archival materials, cartography, art, and images from others, I uncover findings that reveal hidden layers of the place and enrich my intuition during the design process.   

These collected findings serve as the basis for landscape, urban, and architectural interventions. Together, they weave a layered and intimate narrative that I try to compose in a certain continuity. I add, I overlap, I connect, I reveal, I rotate, I anchor. This creates encounters between the existing and the new, between the visible and the invisible, between land and water, inside and outside.   

In this way, through an intuitive exploration of specific locations, I aim to express the unique character and story of the island while inviting future passersby to engage with the space in a new way. 

  


Graduation date: 12 December 2023
Graduation committee: Machiel Spaan (mentor), Marlies Boterman, Jarrik Ouburg 
Additional members for the exam: Ira Koers, Elsbeth Falk