From one of the ugli­est to the smartest dis­trict of Ams­ter­dam — that’s the ambi­tion of the Knowl­edge Mile busi­ness com­mu­ni­ty and inno­va­tion lab. The area is under­go­ing an aston­ish­ing trans­for­ma­tion, grad­u­al­ly mor­ph­ing from a car-clogged road into a hub of intel­lect and cre­ativ­i­ty. Over the last years, the street has become a home for glob­al com­pa­nies, tech star­tups, and styl­ish co-work­ing spaces. Part of the mix are also 60,000 stu­dents from insti­tu­tions like the Ams­ter­dam Uni­ver­si­ty of Applied Sci­ences and the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ams­ter­dam. The Knowl­edge Mile asso­ci­a­tion acts as a net­work to con­nect these busi­ness­es and insti­tu­tions and stim­u­lates them to work togeth­er to improve their sur­round­ings. On top of that, the street fea­tures a col­lec­tion of archi­tec­tur­al icons, rang­ing from Her­man Hertzberg­er’s stu­dent dorm to one of the few Cor­bu­sian build­ings in town and, as a recent addi­tion, a beau­ti­ful new build­ing with large atri­um for the Uni­ver­si­ty of Applied Science.