Almere Downtown Apartments

While walking along the street through downtown Almere in the Netherlands, it may seem like an ordinary town. If you look up, however, there is a whole village of houses on the rooftop of the shops. The master plan for the city center of Almere was designed by OMA, and various other architects assisted with the construction of the town. From the street, you catch a glimpse of the apartments resting on top of the stores, but if you go to the balcony at the top of the shopping center, the view changes dramatically. You no longer feel like you are in a city, but it looks like a neighborhood with a front yard. This design allows for a more dense area that can separate the public from the private. It is almost as if there are two cities layered on top of one another.
Mandy Hayden