Designing a legacy court

From Open Call to multi-functional basketball court

Anyone who walked across NDSM on a sunny day last year saw enthusiastic dunk attempts, spontaneous competitions and professional moves. Since we worked with our partner 3×3 Units, who are committed to empowering young people through street basketball, have created a 3X3 Legacy Court at the shipyard, it is in full use. By young and old, local residents, artists and casual passers-by. By: Ewa Scheifes, program maker Stichting NDSM-werf

After a year and a half of intensive use, the field needed repair, and we also think it's time for the location to get a new, fresh look. The enthusiasm for the field was also so great that we would like to create an additional 3X3 field so that more people can play. That's why we thought it was the right time to make our long-term dream of transforming the spot where the field lay into a visually appealing, multifunctional living space come true. A space that amazes — for example, is the basketball court also a changing canvas for art? A public place where functions intersect, for example, imagine the field transforming into a festival stage or a hang out and meeting point during events.

For example, is the basketball court also a changing canvas for art?

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In our search for who would best design a suitable and exciting concept for this — do you ask an architect, designer or graphic artist? — during a conversation with 3X3 Unites, the idea came up with a Open Call to launch. Anyone who felt addressed by the call was allowed to come forward and experience was not required, but a sharp vision was. In this way, we also hoped to reach creatives who are not yet on our radar and discover new names unknown to us.

What's next?

Mission accomplished; in the end, we received 25 applications from individuals, duos, collectives and agencies. The submissions came from the community at NDSM, from Amsterdam and the whole of the Netherlands, but also from Copenhagen and Berlin, among others. Our inbox was filled with original ideas for crossovers, declarations of love to basketball as a metropolitan street sport, and visual references for the location. From these submissions, we have chosen three parties that we are most curious about, they were invited to make a sketch proposal.

Our inbox was filled with original ideas for crossovers and declarations of love

Because we like to be surprised and are looking for distinctive concepts, we deliberately chose three parties with different starting points and expertise, namely from architecture, spatial design and visual arts. With them, we shared a briefing with a number of hard preconditions that the concept must meet, and a set of soft values that can be played with. For example, we think of original ways of greening, circularity and sustainability, how festivals can also make use of the site and the multi-functionality of the space.

In the next phase, they will present their idea in a short pitch to the team at the NDSM-werf Foundation, 3X3 Unites and potential other partners, after which we will see which concept best suits the site. This includes whether the preconditions have been met, but also whether the idea emotionally has the “NDSM factor”, matches the appearance and use of the shipyard, and whether circularity and sustainable use of materials were taken into account in the design. The sketch proposals will be presented at the beginning of June, and in mid-June we will know which designer (s) we will be collaborating with to come to an executable design!

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