On the north bank of the river IJ, on the former NDSM wharf – de Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij – the municipality of Amsterdam wants to build their fourth grammar school.
Three volumes, the main building, lower and higher grades, have been placed next to an existing slope, which is used as bicycle storage. The loose composition of the four buildings recalls the ancient Greek agora, as an enclosed outdoor space within the city.
The grammar school, with its emphasis on Greek and Latin, now becomes an oasis of knowledge within the industrial landscape. The agora, as gathering place, now serves as schoolyard. It is surrounded by stoas and other buildings, which are used for teaching, akin to the ancient Greek world.