Eastern Docklands of Amsterdam _ Amsterdamming

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Eastern Docklands of Amsterdam

Posted on 03/18/201101/04/2012 by Amsterdamming

I don`t know about you, but for me the image of a harbor city, with shipyards and docklands, smellinglike sea and where the sirens of big ships can be heard throughout the entire day, well, all these have

always been appealing to me.

The only explanation I have is that, as a child I used to go almost every year to the Danube Delta, a

place that I`ve become totally in love with and where big cargo ships were passing every day in front ofmy eyes, on the Danube River.

Today, I am happy to discover this to a certain extent here, in Amsterdam.

Although the city is no longer the most important harbor in the Netherlands (its place being taken by

Rotterdam, as you may already know), reminders of that period have been well preserved until today,especially in the Eastern Docklands, where they have been successfully reinterpreted for residentialpurposes.

Nowadays, the main harbor activities of Amsterdam are taking place in the Western Docklands, aplace that proved to be more suitable for the modern navy transport as the North Sea Canal situatedthere offered a better direct connection with the North Sea.

Before we see what the Eastern Docklands have to offer, let`s take a quick look back to see what

happened in this area throughout the centuries.

Historical Background

The history of the dockland area dates back to the seventeenth century, often referred to as the DutchGolden Age, a time of expansion and increasing wealth, of international trade and overseas traveling.

It was also a time of war, so any important national and international historical events took place here.



Traces of them can still be found today. For example, the residential building Zilvervloot is a

reminder of the Dutch victory over the Silver Spanish fleet, defeated here.

(http://amsterdamming.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/rietlandpark-amsterdam1.jpg)

This area connecting Amsterdam to the sea was often crossed by smugglers, who avoid paying duty ongoods brought into the city. To prevent this, the city council decided to change it into a military

training ground, but this turned out to be impossible. Then it was decided to use this area near the citywalls for business purposes. Several city windmills were built on newly made islands. The first threewindmills, called Hope, Love and Fortune, were used for sawing wood. They are gone now, but theyare still commemorated in a spectacular new apartment building in the central area of the EasternDocklands.



(http://amsterdamming.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/hoop-liefde-en-fortuin.jpg)

Painter Rembrandt liked to stroll through this area and he made several sketches of it, so we have agood idea of what it looked like, even today. Rembrandts work shows a quiet, picturesque place withthe developing city in the background.

Later on, in the eighteenth century, the dockland areas now known as the Eastern Islands had seenmany struggles between royalists and republicans. The royalists, knows as the axes, were violently

subdued on a day still remembered as the day of the axes. Somewhat later the Dutch republicchanged to a monarchy.

During the time of French government, at the end of the eighteenth century, part of the dockland areawas used by the Napoleonic army for housing and exercise purposes. Some former barracks situated in

the South of the dockland area, are now housing apartments and offices.

In the late nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century (between 1874 and 1927),artificial peninsulas were laid out, from where big passenger and cargo ships left to the former Dutch

East and West Indies, the Americas, Africa and the Near East. This is the reason why some of the newislands were named after islands in the East-Indies, for example Java or Borneo.

At that time, the living conditions were very poor and the Eastern Docklands had been a centre of



At that time, the living conditions were very poor and the Eastern Docklands had been a centre of

social struggle for improvement of working and living conditions. Many strikes took place during thenineteenth and twentieth century. Probably the best-known strike in Dutch history was the railroad

strike of 1903, taking place in this dockland area. The strike was ended by military force, but it becamea symbol for the socialist movement, becoming an influential political movement during the twentieth

century.

In the hunger winter of 1917, during the First World War, the potato riots took place in this area. Manyhungry people stopped the potato trains and distributed the food amongst themselves. The riots were

stopped by military force and contributed to the communist movement becoming quite strong in the

traditional dockworkers quarters.

In World War II, the Lloyd hotel for overseas emigrants was taken over by the Nazis and it became atorture prison for resistance fighters. Partly because of this and partly for more traditional reasons, the

February strike against the Nazi occupation got a lot of support in the dockland area. After the war,the hotel was changed into a prison for Nazis and shortly after it became a youth prison. It remained so

until the 1970s, when social sensibilities could not tolerate this practice any longer.

In the 1970s, the docklands were abandoned by the shipping companies and the decay of the Eastern

Docklands started. Passengers traveled by airlines rather than on ships and general mixed cargo wasreplaced by container and bulk transport.The area had become too small for their needs and they left

for new docks on the Western side of the town. The Eastern Docklands were then taken over by artists,squatters and city nomads, living in old buses, caravans, tents, huts and dens. Thousands of them

created a large alternative community in the docklands. Most of the squatters left in the 1980s, whenredevelopment of the area started, but many artists and houseboat dwellers have remained. The time of

the squatters community has definitely influenced the present atmosphere in the Eastern Docklands.

Recent Development



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After many years of planning and discussion, the municipality started redeveloping the Eastern

Docklands. Following the concept of the compact city, it decided to build with an extraordinarily highdensity of 100 dwellings per hectare for 18.000 people. The high density was also necessary because of

the huge investment in preparing the land for buildings and the infrastructure such as bridges, roadsand public transport. The city council also wanted to stimulate private housing and luxury rented

houses, hoping to prevent the exodus of higher income groups, so mixing of market and social sectors

soon became the new policy.

Architectural beauty and urban allure became important criteria. And there was a widespread beliefthat the city needed a district, not as everywhere else, but with respect for the past. So, the existing

harbor basins were to be preserved and existing harbor buildings re-used. For each island anindependent urban designer was invited. It was this decision that gave the area a special quality

impulse. A significant part of the architectonic talent in the Netherlands, together with renownedforeign colleagues, was mobilized to create a waterfront that is almost matchless. The new living area

has now its own shape, style and atmosphere, without losing its historical traits, offering an excellent

example of how you can mix past with present.

Architecture

KNSM Island



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The urban design of this island was made by architect Jo Coenen. He used the old harbor scene as his

reference and planned huge housing blocks, which was quite unusual in the Dutch tradition.

As an important participant in the architectural debate in Europe, he invited also foreign architects tocarry out his plans. The Germans Hans Kollhoff and Christian Rapp designed the housing blockPiraeus. Despite strong opposition, it was realized and even became one of the highlights of Dutcharchitecture after the second World War.



(http://amsterdamming.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/piraeus_knsm_eiland_zeeburg.jpg)

(http://amsterdamming.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/piaeus-block-knsm.jpg)

Next to it, the Belgian Bruno Albert, standing in a post-modern tradition, designed a building in atraditionalist style named Barcelona.



(http://amsterdamming.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/barcelona_knsm_eiland_zeeburg.jpg)

Jo Coenen himself added a third impressive completely round block to it and the Swiss architect RogerDiener completed the southern quay with a block, partially standing in a harbor basin.

(http://amsterdamming.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/emerald-building-knsm.jpg)



(http://amsterdamming.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/zeeburg-knsm.jpg)

A unique ensemble of old and new arose on the KNSM Island, as many old harbor buildings werepreserved by Jo Coenen. Maybe this is his most important merit, because it constituted a breach with

the practice of demolishing and then developing a completely new housing district at the time.

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/amstelbright/4977520277/)



(http://www.flickr.com/photos/amstelbright/4977520277/)

(http://amsterdamming.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/java-island-amsterdam.jpg)

(photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amstelbright/4977520277/(http://www.flickr.com/photos/amstelbright/4977520277/))Completely different from KNSM Island was Sjoerd Soeters urban design for Java. Soeters preferred a

newly developed district, but at the same time fitting in the Amsterdam tradition. He applied theprinciples of the famous Amsterdam canal district: differentiation and unity. Every apartment there ismore or less the same and at the same time a little different from the next one. So he invited a greatnumber of architects resulting in designs for apartment buildings with enormous variation.



Soeters was also fascinated by the phenomenon of height differences in Amsterdam, originating from

the numerous small arch-bridges over the canals. So he cut the long island into four pieces and hadfour narrow canals dug, which of course needed a number of bridges, from big ones for through traffic,to very small ones for pedestrians and bicyclists.



Despite scepticism from the cultural establishment, with his urban design Soeters created a modernlook alike of old Amsterdam with the sense of the canal district and, despite all variations, maintaing anamazingly unified street facade.



No wonder Java Island got widespread admiration.

Borneo-Sporenburg Island

The city of Amsterdam was worried that too little families with children would move to the EasternDocklands, considering the high rise (altitude) of buildings on KNSM and Java. So for the twin islands

Borneo-Sporenburg it decided for low rise.



In an attempt to create high building density, despite the low rise, urban designer Adriaan Geuzedesigned special types of houses. He replaced the usual gardens by roof terraces and mini patios.Moreover, he planned three huge buildings in the sea of low rise, thus creating an urban setting andthe desired high building density as well.



A tourist highlight is a small canal with free parcels, where citizens could build their own house andlook for an architect of their own choice, quite unusual in the Western Holland.



More Buildings



Identity and SpiritThe Eastern Docklands have been transformed from harbor area to a lively housing, culture andrecreational district. The maintained harbor structure and the many harbor buildings that were saved

create a recognizable identity and continuity with the foregoing. This respect for the spirit of thelocation, in combination with the variety of new architecture and the waterfront landscape, representsthe true charm of the Eastern Docklands.

Art

Between the decay of the old port and the recent redevelopment of the Eastern Docklands, many artistsmoved into the area in search for affordable work space. They squatted the harbor buildings left behind

by the shipping companies and used them as their studios.

The atmosphere of freedom in the half deserted area, the openness of the waterscape and the rich



The atmosphere of freedom in the half deserted area, the openness of the waterscape and the richhistorical associations made the Eastern Docklands a perfect location for creative activities. As theDutch writer Geert Mak described it, the docklands were a rough wonderland, harboring squatters,artists and city nomads. Many of the old artists still live and work in the area and their influence isunmistakably recognizable in the culture belt that grew on the banks of the IJ.

Here is a video about the Eastern Dockland of Amsterdam (Oostelijk Havengebied):

(Photos: the Internet)

This entry was posted in Architecture, History and tagged alternative, amsterdam, architecture, artists,dutch fleet, Dutch Golden Age, eastern docklands, IJ, netherlands, ships, shipyard, squatters, strikes,trade, warehouse, western docklands. Bookmark the permalink.

3 thoughts on Eastern Docklands of Amsterdam

1. Pingback: Westerdok | Amsterdammingtrinachka says:09/20/2013 at 6:08 pmI didnt quite make it to the Eastern Docklands (though Id heard thats where the realAmsterdam is), and I wish I could have. Just one more reason to return, I guess :)

ReplyAmsterdamming says:



09/20/2013 at 6:10 pm

Eastern Docklands, Western Docklands there is a lot to see in this city and a lot of reasons tocome back, yes!

Reply

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