Java Island is a residential area built in 1997 by architect Sjoerd Soeters, known as the postmodern architect of the Netherlands. Together with thirty hired architects, he designed an urban development plan with 1,500 homes and facilities. It consists of large, closed building blocks that are divided into so-called 'stamps', apartment buildings with between twenty and thirty homes. The building blocks are separated from each other by transverse canals, on which canal houses are placed. These cross canals are reminiscent of the canals in the historic city center.
Each narrow, high facade is different, but has a modern design. This also applies to the Venetian-looking bridges over the canals. Nine bridges were designed by the Belgian artist couple Guy Rombouts and Monica Droste. They designed a new alphabet, 'Azart', a visual script in which each letter is replaced by a line. The winding figures in the bridge railings always form a word. The name of the alphabet refers to AZ-art (A-Z for alphabet and art for art) and to the word hazard (fate, adventure). And: Azart is Russian for inspiration or passion in the game.