UNStudio creates sustainable transport connection

UNStudio have released images of their design for Amsterdam’s future cable car, commissioned by the IJbaan Foundation to establish a new river crossing in time for the 750th anniversary of Amsterdam in 2025. The IJbaan is a grassroots citizens' initiative, snowballing from a 2015 crowdfunding campaign led by founders Bas Dekker and Willem Wessels and now supported by the Municipality of Amsterdam.

The 1.5 km cable car line is conceived as a clean and quick public transport connection, consisting of three slender pylons and two stations. The pylons vary in height to allow for ships passing down the river, and in their form directly reference the port cranes of the city’s industrial past. The stations are intended as destinations in themselves, with Minervastatation acting as a new meeting place surrounded by a vibrant urban plaza, and NDSM Marine station providing a transport hub with a viewpoint, bus stop and bicycle parking.

The passenger cabins have a capacity of 32 to 37, with additional bicycle cabins allowing for 4 to 6 bikes. Bas Dekker stated: “It is expected that this fast and frequent connection between the West and North will not only have regular traffic, but will also have a positive effect on bicycle traffic as it connects the existing bicycle networks on both sides of the IJ.”

The Amsterdam authorities have ambitions for the city to become Europe's example for urban innovation, with an all-electric public transport system linked to existing infrastructure. Ben van Berkel, Founder and Principal of UNStudio, stated: “In Amsterdam you see a growing need for connections across the IJ, with the new metro and bridges….Transport by air also relieves the increasing pressure on traffic and the existing transport network on the ground. It is not only efficient but also fun. People are going to see and experience their city in a whole new way."

Lucy Nordberg
TenderStream Head of Research

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