West8 / Profile

Adriaan Geuze is the director and chief designer of West8 urban design and landscape architecture. He teaches at the University of Wageningen and presents lectures worldwide. With his partners he leads an international team of 70 people in Rotterdam and New York, working on large urban and landscape projects all over the world. He managed to turn an old Amsterdam harbour into a vibrant urban area. Transforms Governors Island in New York into a successful tourist destination. And came up with a coherent vision for the Toronto Central Waterfront. In each project water is key.

Madrid Rio Project

In 2011, after 6 years of working,  a team of architects from Madrid: Burgos & Garrido, Porras & La Casta, Rubio & Álvarez-Sala and West8 from Rotterdam finalized the Madrid Rio Project. For decades a highway had been polluting this extremely dense urban area of 10 kilometres along the river of Madrid, obstructing any development. It had to go underground, using 23 kilometres of tunnel, so that the area could be redesigned from scratch. Ancient bridges were completely renovated. And new bridges were added. The mayor of Madrid, Gallardon, wanted fast results, but the building of the tunnels turned out to be an unpredictable process, that demanded the constant flexibility of the designers. Source: DutchDFA.

This film is produced by Dutch Design Fashion and Architecture (DDFA). TheDDFA-website, www.dutchdfa.com, shows short documentaries about (landscape)architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands.