The Evening Gown

The Baljurk – “gown” or “evening dress” – sits in the historical center of The Hague, at a corner that used to follow a curvilinear stream, and has since been made into an angle.  The area had been left unnoticed and unsavory for the past few decades.  Archipelontwerpers, a Dutch architectural office located in the harbor of The Hague, has redesigned the corner as part of the neighborhood’s revitalization plans.  The Baljurk consists of eight historical plots that have been redesigned for retail at ground level and as residential homes immediately above.  Seven of the eight plots had their facades restored to their original 19^th century beauty.  The eighth façade is a contemporary fragment of liquid architecture – a nod to site’s former watery banks.