Pythonbrug Bridge, to the east of the city and a symbol of renewal
We move away from the canals. and we propose three routes through areas of the city outside the bucolic image of the chocolate houses of Amsterdam . They are the ones that run through the architecture, design and bridges named after reptiles of **Oostelijke Eilanden (the Eastern Islands) ** ; the emerging art, the colorful containers and the converted industrial spaces of the old shipyards of the NDSM ; and the shopping and nightlife that are the watchword of the Pijp.
THE EASTERN ISLANDS
Their names suggest exotic and spicy places, but the islands of Java and Borneo , along with those of KNSM and Sporenburg , are just 2 km from the central station and their place names are nothing more than a memory of the times when Indonesia belonged to the Netherlands. The four peninsulas or islands (eilanden) form the Oostelijke Eilanden , an old dock area built between 1870 and 1930, which was always isolated from the city and fell into disuse when the shipyards disappeared. The yes in a referendum gave them a new opportunity, that of rise from its ashes and become something new, neither more nor less than one of the most exclusive residential areas in Amsterdam.
Things were done in a big way, the squatted buildings were evicted and, before launching with the pickaxe and the concrete, ideas were heard, buildings were protected... and, of course, some limits were set. Since then the eastern islands are a showcase of architecture and design that should not be left out of the routes through the city of the contemporary traveler. One of the good ones could start at the ** Amsterdam Architecture Center **, the best place to learn in detail about any aspect of the city's architecture and landscaping, hire themed tours, attend talks or see exhibitions.
Afterwards you can visit the museum NEMO whose content, ideal for children, is dedicated to science , and whose continent, an imposing emerald green copper ship, bears the signature of Renzo Piano. The views from its roof terrace are perfect to get an idea of the expansion of the area, as it happens from the **cafeteria of the municipal library**.
NEMO Science Center
After taking a good nap of panoramic views, it is worth exploring the Muziekgebouw (Music building). The best concerts of modern music or reinterpreted classics are scheduled there. Continuing along Piet Heinkade Street, you reach the Hotel Lloyd . European emigrants stayed there while they waited for the ships that left for America, and before it was restored to its original function, it was first a prison and then an art studio.
A few meters further on, two contemporary constructions stand out. On the one hand, there is the zinc façade and geometric lines of the Ballena Building , a housing and office complex with an underground park and a garden, of Frits van Dongen . On the other hand, the pythonbrug (Python Bridge) which, with its suggestive undulations, communicates with borneo . No large company was at the helm of the remodeling of this little island, but individual projects were those that, adapting to height regulations (9.20 m in total, of which 3.50 had to be ground floor), passed from paper to brick. Always paying homage to the traditional houses of the historic center in the key of the 21st century. Of all its streets, Scheepstimmermanstraat is the most representative, and in it number 120, the most spectacular, where a ditch grows wide, crossing all the floors of the house.
To know the architecture and landscaping of the city
Going back and crossing the other bridge you reach the java island and to its extension the island KNSM (acronym for Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot-Maatschappij, the Dutch shipping company). Sjoerd Soeters was in charge of the reorganization of the port area of Java, while the project of the four transverse canals was the work of 19 young architects known as the young heroes, including the Andalusians Cruz and Ortiz. Its mission was to build new houses with aesthetic criteria similar to those of the classic canal ring houses: measures 4.5 m x 16 m x 9 m and a rear garden. For their part, many of the former KNSM warehouses have become contemporary art galleries and shops where to find objects brought from other seas.
NDSM
When the eastern islands architectural plans began to become a reality and the new houses were inhabited by families, two things happened: that many of the squatters who had paid a symbolic price for the shares of the old buildings where they lived, now drive convertibles; and that artists who did not arrive on time had to look for new, much cheaper places to set up their studios. We lost track of the first ones. The seconds took the gear and repeated the operation, moving now to the western islands: to the NDSM , the most underground center of the capital today.
Arriving at NDSM
Ferries are taken from the city, and on the way (it takes less than ten minutes) you can still see many vestiges of its shipping past: the REM restaurant , in an old clandestine radio, an abandoned submarine or a Greenpeace ship . The ferry disembarks next to the IJ Kantine , where the former shipyard workers went to eat, and which continued to be their meeting point when their activity ceased. In 2005 it was restored giving it the current look, which is still very industrial, and is great to come on a Sunday to eat a salad or a sandwich while looking at the port from its windows.
Great for lunch on a Sunday overlooking the harbor
The history of the building Kraanspoor it also has to do with the old shipyard life . It is now a cult office building for architects, due to the rationality of its forms and its glass façade of more than 15 meters, so intelligent that it makes it one of the most sustainable in the world . Lovers of the 'eco' are also the promoters of Pllek , a restaurant opened by a film entrepreneur whose rooftop they grow their own vegetables. Many of their waiters are young aspiring actors, who serve in a relaxed and inspiring atmosphere, where guys in flower shirts, horn-rimmed glasses and latest-model macs 'finish' a script, while a couple rehearses a love scene or a mother young girl plays with her three-year-old twins dressed as rockers on the small beach, which is accessed from their windows.
Kraanspoor, at NDSM, reflects old shipyard life
The MTV studios are on this island. And that shows. As the presence of the students, who here do not live in residences or shared apartments, but in the 194 cabins of the Rochdale one , a ship built in France in the 1970s for the USSR, or in colored prefabricated containers of around 25 m2 with a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, for which they pay around 400 euros a month. Its libraries and work rooms are also not entirely conventional . What were industrial warehouses yesterday, today have mutated into coworking spaces, where conceptual artists, cabinetmakers, photographers, designers and creators of decoration workshops rub shoulders and where there is also enough space for a skate park.
Oslofjordweg, student residences of about 25 square meters
THE PIJP
To get to the Pijp it is not necessary to take the ferry. just one short walk from the museum quarter , or from the Heineken factory to find an area of Amsterdam that has nothing to do with the rest and where it is also worth bringing the magnifying glass closer. It was precisely the beer factory, founded in 1896, that marked the origin of this neighborhood, whose name translates as pipe (perhaps because of its elongated shape). In the Pijp they were built housing for workers , and more than a century ago the Albert Cuypmarkt , the largest street market in the Netherlands, where everything from food to fabrics from all over the world is still sold.
After World War II he received immigration from Suriname and Indonesia , peppering its streets with its own colors, smells and flavors, which seduced young entrepreneurs in the following decades. The trend has only increased: the Pijp exudes freshness, its terraces vibrate, and it is willing to take risks of laboratory experiments that do not fit in other areas. Above all, in what has to do with the night. Here is the trendy Japanese restaurant, the Izakaya where everyone wants to reserve, and that plays with flavors of Latin America and livens up the evenings with cocktails and live DJs. Or the Bazaar , a restaurant in a former mosque serving Arabic food. EITHER The Butcher , the alternative hamburger restaurant located in an old butcher shop, which communicates with one of the best cocktail clubs in the city. But it is not that simple, to enter you have to dial a code on the door that changes every night and that only a few know.
The trendy burger joint
Another secret that is already spread by word of mouth among hipsters is the store Vredespijp Art Deco , where you can buy vintage clothes and furniture and that also has a space to have a drink. But, if there is one that cannot be missing, that is hutspot a new concept store which has become the most original commercial space in the entire city. With two dollars and in two days , and with a lot of desire and a lot of criteria, it was launched by a quartet of young people. Your intention is select special items and give space to other young designers who simply “have beautiful and useful things to show the world” . The offer ranges from bicycles with bamboo frames brought from China, to Japanese firefighter coats from the 60s, or handcrafted sweaters made in Rotterdam by a design student, as well as a meeting space. Good ideas and a lot of dedication: an equation that always gives results, despite the fact that, sometimes, the initial variable of “few resources” sneaks in or the word “crisis” shows its teeth.
*** You may also be interested in...**
- Amsterdam Guide
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The city's trams also serve as housing