Gridgrounds Square

Het Breed is a modernist neighborhood defined by rational residential blocks, 5 stories with ‘streets in the sky’ in Amsterdam North designed by the architect Frans Van Gool in 1963.

Our proposal ‘Gridgrounds’ creates an elongated public square of 88m x 17m, stretched across the central space so all paths converge here defining a new center for the neighborhood. The asphalt square is based upon the original neighborhood grid and the grid is made visual and tangible through the white marking lines running through space. At the points of the grid, we placed different play elements in-spired by the modernist playgrounds of Aldo van Eyck in Amsterdam. To create coherence all objects are painted Breedveld orange and blue, two colors that have been used in a recent renovation of the adjacent buildings. Through the cohesion of the color, each object achieves a new identity, independent works that collectively form an open-air museum of play elements.


The austerity and monotony of the context are broken by the new playscape while employing the same elements and the layout of the Van Gool plan. The square is framed by the grid of plane trees and grass and planting along the sides, the rectilinear form is punctured at three points by two green circles (active play space developed with local schools and passive green space that acts as a sustainable drainage point) and a rectangular multifunctional sports court.


Given the very limited budget, we chose to focus on primarily creating a well functioning public space, a meeting point for all residents at the centre of the neighbourhood. The careful placement of the elements creates different gathering points for groups big or small. Our material palette takes inspiration from road infrastructure, considerably cheaper than usual open space design materials, asphalt surfaces, white road marking lines, and “traffic orange” (Ral 2009) and “traffic blue” (Ral 5017) colors. Colorful landmarks make the space identifiable from a distance, an important factor in children’s spatial awareness.


The low-cost materials don’t compromise the quality of the space and the range of possible activities, but rather –here in Breedveld- create a solid and durable playscape that can be used in many unpredictable ways by the many visitors, with a relatively limited economical investment.

Project Gallery