The Alan Turing
A new piece of Amsterdam has sprung at the Alan Turingplein; an example of urban densification, a mix of private and collective commissioning, social renting and a school all centred around a future green square.
Firmly rooted on the square, the social housing building with its 20 flats creates a strong relationship with the public space and the existing building structures in the neighbourhood. Its ode to the orange-red brick of the 19th-century ring, along with green climbers such as wisteria and a six metre-high masonry portrait of Alan Turing further anchor it to the square and the neighbourhood.
The relationship with the public space is further accentuated by directly connecting the living space of the dwellings and the square, with doors opening onto it. In this way, the margin zone is cleverly positioned between the dwelling and the square. The standard unit floor plan is organised around a central axis that extends from the public space to the back garden or balcony. The balconies protrude outside the gallery, creating a sense of community at the back while also providing a canopy for the ground-floor residence entrances.
The façade is elaborated in different shades of red, orange and pink that create a depth effect in the façade. The façade rhythm is emphasised by a grid of horizontal and vertical bands in protruding brickwork that wrap around the building, along with the external support structure of the rear balconies. Both elements are used to grow wisteria, Tuscan jasmine and honeysuckle. On the side elevation, adjacent to the footpath, Alan Turing's portrait is delicately crafted with dark red gable bricks protruding two centimeters. Alan Turing, the square's namesake, the father of artificial intelligence and the codebreaker of Enigma, also know for his open homosexuality, are still relevant and of indispensable importance at a time when innovation and justice are so essential. His portrait facing the public side is an ode to him, to material and to craftsmanship.
Artwork: Alan Turing in Stone, by Mathieu van Ek
Alan Turing in Stone is an artwork specially created for the building designed by Studio Appelo at the Alan Turing Square in Amsterdam. Alan Turing is one of the most significant figures in computer science. With the rise of artificial intelligence, Turing's contributions to computer science are more relevant than ever. A key principle of this work is that it has been largely created through algorithms. A specific Flemish bricklaying pattern has been chosen to honour the 'pixel', the fundamental particle of any computer screen.
As a basis for the work, I had the most common and recognisable portrait of Alan Turing reproduced by 'Stable Diffusion', a neural network capable of generating and manipulating images from text and visuals. I then translated this image into brick using a self-written algorithm. The fact that the image was generated by a neural network trained on billions of images found on the internet refers to the tradition in art where likenesses of existing historical figures were primarily reinterpretations. If the viewer recognises this image as Alan Turing, this work has passed the Turing test.
