Home » IJburg – Living on Reclaimed Islands
IJburg is Amsterdam’s largest housing extension and will eventually count 18.000 homes. It consists of 7 artificial islands in lake IJmeer, which are being developed in phases.
The creation and realization of the first 4 islands started in 1999 and was finished in 2011; the second phase started in 2013. A large variety of housing typologies, including urban housing blocks, row houses, individual family homes and even floating homes, characterizes the islands.
In some areas IJburg is exempt from the supervision of the municipal beauty commission, granting homeowners total freedom in designing their dwelling.
On this tour we’ll explain why and how the islands were created, how their shape was determined and what the specific challenges were. We’ll also let you know about the urban concept, housing typologies and social background.