The award recognises research into multifunctional designs for quay walls, developed using the transdisciplinary Research Through Design method. In the Research Through Design process, designers, researchers and practitioners from academic partners, industry stakeholders and the City of Amsterdam collaborate on new solutions for the future of urban quay walls.
Within this approach, research and design are deliberately interwoven. Designs are developed, evaluated and refined iteratively until they meet various technical, spatial and social requirements.
Applying this method within an infrastructure project such as Multifunctional Quay Walls is relatively unusual. However, it is precisely by linking design and research so closely that innovative solutions emerge which better address the complex challenges of urban space, such as climate adaptation, biodiversity and the quality of public space.
The designs developed are intended for use in Amsterdam, where they will be tested in fieldlabs from 2027 onwards. In this way, the city serves as a testing ground for trialling and further refining innovative quay wall concepts.
Rohan Daniel (EngD researcher in de Research through Design team) explaining the multifunctional quay wall research.
Pictures by Guy Ackermans
About Multifunctional Quay Walls
The Multifunctional Quay Walls project seizes the opportunity to link the necessary replacement and renovation of quay walls to broader urban transitions and challenges. By treating a quay wall as a multifunctional element, solutions to challenges in areas such as sustainability, quality of life and biodiversity are integrated into the quay. This ensures that scarce public space is used more efficiently and is better prepared for the future. In this project, the municipality, AMS Institute, researchers, designers and practitioners from local authorities, engineering firms and contractors are working together. Amsterdam serves as a testing ground for developing, testing and improving innovative and scalable solutions. From 2027, the first prototypes of multifunctional quay walls will be built here.