Twenty years of Strijp-S: ‘There’s humour in it, a touch of madness and compassion’
Twenty years ago, the redevelopment of Strijp-S got underway. The former Philips site has grown into a lively urban district that is also drawing international attention, but Strijp-S isn’t finished yet.
While new suburban housing estates were going up elsewhere in the Netherlands, the fences came down at Strijp-S. On the former Philips site, a neighbourhood for living and working took shape. Urban planner and supervisor Antoon Geuze has been involved in the development all these years. In his view, much of the strength of Strijp-S comes from its Philips heritage. “The idea was always to build from the Witte Dame to De Wielewaal in the spirit of the Philips legacy. That means culture, schools, businesses, living and working. There’s humour in it, a touch of madness and compassion. Typically Eindhoven.”
According to Geuze, the district’s greatest strength is how lively it is. “If you only build homes, you end up with a dormitory suburb. That didn’t happen here. It’s lively, there are entrepreneurs, people make noise during the summer holidays. In short: things happen here.”
Twenty years on, construction is still in full swing. A building freeze during the 2008 financial crisis slowed the development down. “We’re only at 60, 65 percent,” says Thijs van Dieren, project director of Strijp-S. “It looks finished, but it isn’t.” In phase 4, between the Boschgebouw and the Glaslaan, construction has started. Woonbedrijf is building 160 homes there and SDK has also started work. Trudo is building Delta and Interesting Vastgoed is converting the Glasgebouw. Altogether, almost 1,000 homes are still under construction.
Strijp-S is also attracting attention beyond Eindhoven. The Guardian recently published an article about the district, and visitors are coming from Asia to see how it deals with cars, gas-free living and the energy of its young residents.
Van Dieren has a clear wish for the coming years: “Hopefully more families will come to live here and other functions will be added. During the day it’s pleasantly busy. In the evenings and at weekends, it could use a bit more life.”
