Amsterdam Room On The Roof by i29

Dutch interior design firm i29 turned the small tower of the large Bijenkorf in Amsterdam into a studio for resident artists working with the Rijksmuseum. The project called Room On The Roof won the World Interiors News Award 2015.



The background: a large department store boasting a long-held tradition that is working with the  Rijksmuseum on an innovative project in Amsterdam. The project: Room On The Roof by Dutch interior design firm i29 - which our readers know for their visually impacting design solutions - inside the small tower of the “De Bijenkorf” (The Beehive) building in Dam Square.





The team from i29 have set up an environment with a rarefied atmosphere in the tower of the monumental building designed in 1957 by Marcel Breuer and overlooking Dam Square. The Room On The Roof sits at the top of the building and offers stunning views over Amsterdam city's rooftops.





Here i29 has created a unique space - two worlds that intersect by playing with architectural scale and spatial perception. Everything is underscored by the contrast between a vertical wooden installation - a kind of box turned on its side and set into the wall - that houses what residents need for routine activities and includes kitchen facilities, a workbench and a bed...contrasting with the pure white living room area outside the box. In the middle of these two areas is an old black wrought iron spiral staircase which has been given a new lease on life.





All of this sets up a creative tension giving the interior design project a kind of fairytale dimension (think Alice in Wonderland). A series of artists will occupy the space, using it as a base to work on their projects, in a unique partnership between the large De Bijenkorf department store and the Rijksmuseum. This very striking Visual Marketing operation won the design team the World Interiors News Award 2015.

Christiane Bürklein

Project: i29, www.i29.nl
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Year: 2015
Images: © Ewout Hulbers – courtesy of i29 and v2com
Othre projects by i29.nl on Livegreenblog: Mediaxplain, Home 09, Shop02/Frame Store
More information about the initiative: www.roomontheroof.com