On the forecourt of Het Archief on Robert Fruinstraat there are eleven bollards (traditional 'Amsterdammertjes'). Artist Maarten Janssen made a temporary installation consisting of 11 PVC casings, which are placed over these bollards. The casings have a triangular, square or pentagonal base and consist of one, two, three, four or five segments. On the other side of the entrance of the building there is a 12th element, namely a concrete bollard with a pentagonal base and consists of one segment. The work with the title The Synthetic Upperground is a weatherproof version of an earlier version (The Cardboard Upperground) that Janssen made in MDF for the exhibition Flat & Square in The Archive. The works respond to the aesthetics of the building by architect Albert van Stekelenburg and to the indifferent treatment of the environmental artwork by Peter Struycken from 1969. The Cardboard Upperground was received with great enthusiasm by visitors to the exhibition and the users of the building, which gave the artist the idea to produce the work in synthetic material (PVC). The Synthetic Upperground was unveiled on Friday, March 7, 2025.
