Safety, Warmth and Comfort inside a ‘Big Body’ of Jonas

Jonas is located in the heart of IJburg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. IJburg is a collection of artificial islands around the city, mainly providing housing environments for families. Consisting of 29.500 m2 mixed-use program and public space, the project completes the center of IJburg, which is organized around a marina. The name Jonas is a reference to the legend of Jonas and the Whale, a tale about adventure, intimacy, shelter, security and comfort inside a ‘big body’. Jonas is a sturdy building with a warm heart.

Jonas is also an iconic, sustainable and attractive structure that stands out from the surrounding buildings – even by virtue of its special siting on the strip of land and the remarkable program it contains. The building shapes themes that matter here: water, quayside and maritime craft. At the same time, by embracing the ‘soul of the site’ and rendering it visible, Jonas looks like it belongs here. 

The irregular composition of window openings gives the impression that they undulate gently across the facade. That makes Jonas just a little bit different: slightly distorted, slightly strange. The building is like a stone, but made of black zinc; the grid is not regular but distorted; the facade does not stand on the ground but is floating; the building is not orthogonal but lozenge-shaped. That makes the building both familiar and alienating, sculptural yet rational, recognizable yet innovative.

 Materials provided by Orange Architects and Felixx Landscape Architects & Planners

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