" ZJA Docking The Amsterdam."
ZJA - Docking Museum - Netherlands
Named Docking the Amsterdam, the proposal will recover and relocate a wrecked historic ship currently sunk off the coast of Hastings, UK without ever taking it out of the water. A museum will then be built around a glass tank containing the wreck allowing visitors to view the 40-metre-long shipwreck from all angles.
This is really interesting, the architecture is determined by the narrative and story of the boat. Though the ship's exposed superstructure has since been destroyed, its hull and contents remain almost completely intact below the sand. The museum has been commissioned to save its remains from any further erosion. The museum is then planned to be built in Amsterdam as this is where the VOC shipyard was located and where the ship was built.
To relocate the Amsterdam wreckage safely, it will be lifted from the seabed using a large basin, or salvage dock, made from steel. This structure will also extract some of the water and sand surrounding the ship.
The basin will then be sailed to Amsterdam, where it will be permanently docked and transformed into an underwater museum.
Above water, the museum will be sheltered by a white, curved canopy, described by ZJA as a "protective blanket". This will be made from tensile fabrics and also shelter a walkway at the top of the steel basin that will provide visitors with aerial views of the wreck. The architecture is built around the subject rather than trying to fit an exhibit in a museum.
Glass will be used to line the walls of the dock that face the shipwreck, allowing visitors to observe it from several angles and watch "live excavating" of the ship by diving archaeologists.
"Visiting this venue is like entering a theatre that stages the investigation in progress and engages the public with the discoveries the divers and researchers do inside the wreck," said the studio.
The discoveries from its excavation will be placed around the exhibition spaces, alongside a series of private research facilities, such as laboratories and training spaces for underwater archaeologists.
This is such an engaging way to present history and I hope to bring not only the underwater element which is feasible into my building but some really strong narrative like this.
