Sluisbuurt in 3D
Amsterdam, NL
Location: Sluisbuurt, Amsterdam, NL
Year: 2024 - ongoing
Program: Digital 3D Mapping
Client: City of Amsterdam
How do you tell the story of an urban plan and keep citizens engaged while the city is still being built? And how can designers, stakeholders and residents track progress together through a shared digital “twin” of the plan? The ambition of an interactive 3D model for the Sluisbuurt is to make the neighbourhood experienceable as of now—before completion—and to communicate the logic of city-building over time. By presenting the Sluisbuurt through a navigable digital model across different development phases, citizens can better understand decisions, sequencing and trade-offs. This strengthens transparency and participation, supports the positioning of the neighbourhood, and helps local residents, visitors and future inhabitants form a realistic impression of what it will feel like to live, stay and move through the district.
The project translates this digital model into the public realm through a series of physical signs placed throughout the Sluisbuurt. Each sign includes a QR code that visitors can scan to access an immersive 360-degree view of the future district on their own phone. The model is built from definitive and approved preliminary designs wherever available, complemented by the zoning plan for surrounding plots that are not yet designed or built, ensuring a coherent and enjoyable preview of the emerging neighbourhood. At key entrance points and along the walking route, short location-specific texts reveal “chapters” of the Sluisbuurt story, linking words to what people see around them and what they will see in the future. Together, the signs form a narrative trail: walking through the district becomes a guided experience in which the Sluisbuurt is explained through images, time layers and place-based storytelling.
