Center For Modern Music
3XNielsen won the international architectural competition for the new Music Center in Amsterdam; Centre for Modern Music/BIMhuis in 1997. The music house is situated at the head of a pier facing the fjord Ij, yet still closely connected to the inner canal city.
The proposal consists of a plinth with the shape of a huge set of stairs with two music-boxes; the BIMhuis for jazz and improvised music, hovering over the plinth, and the heavy Ijsbreker for modern music, cutting into the stairs.
The BIMhuis seats app. 300, the Ijsbreker seats app. 800. All elements are unified by a one-story roof sheaf. In the large scale the CMM has weight as an urban landmark facing the Ij, but in close-up the scheme is dissolved into individual elements. The complex is to be conceived an urban park with a rich variety in public life a place for everyone.
Contractor: BAM BV, The Netherlands
