OASE AAN DE ZUIDAS
In 2012, the municipality of Amsterdam launched a competition for a temporary building in the Zuidas, the office district along Amsterdam’s ring road. The winning design was OASE. A cultural center, an urban camp site in summer and a open gallery for outdoor art in the winter, it was an oasis in the Zuidas. The design was not embraced by the users in the immediate vicinity; campers contrast sharply with lawyers and project developers. Erik Hehenkamp developed the building into a cultural center, and the lawyers raised objections.
In 2012, Anke Hendriks presented a thesis on OASE, titled “Dit Is In” (This is Cult). Anke Hendriks’ thesis—a graduation study for Amsterdam University in social studies—researches the relationship between temporary use and vibrancy in the Zuidas.
This research report is included in Manifesto, the Cult Foundation publication of research on the possibilities of site-specific art and performance in public space—December 2025.
