Amsterdam impressions

The iconic canals of Amsterdam are now a tourist attraction. Once of course these canals were purely functional as everything in the manmade Dutch polders. Water cities like Amsterdam were not constructed for their still apparent beauty, but are the only way of efficiently urbanizing low lying sites in the delta. Apart from Amsterdam there are several other dam-cities in the Netherlands i.e. Volendam, Monnikendam, Alblasserdam, Edam, Stellendam, Giessendam, Werkendam, Spaarndam, Muntendam, Schiedam, Ilpendam, Oostendam, Leerdam, Dubbeldam, Appingedam and the well known Zaandam and Rotterdam. The prefix is most often the name of the water that was dammed. In Flanders dam-cities are rare (only Damme on the Zwin). The same can be said of Germany (Potsdam for instance doesn't refer to a dam but is derived from the Slavic for amongst the oak trees).

Amsterdam canal belt 400!

As a result of several conflicts in other parts of Europe the cities in the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands opened their gates to religious and economic refugees. This lead to a rapid growth of the urban population in many of the important trading centres such as Middelburg, Flushing (Vlissingen in Dutch), Harlem, Delft, Leiden, Gouda, Schiedam,  Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Arnhem, Zwolle and Groningen. The republic was governed by a States General wherein all mayor cities were represented. After the fall of Antwerp in 1585 the economic centre shifted from Brabant towards Holland. In Holland several small cities quickly grew with immigrants from the southern Netherlands and the Rhineland.

Amsterdam became one of the most important cities in Europe during the 17th century. This city had started as a humble fishing settlement on the Amstel river in the 13th century. A dam was built to create a secure harbour on the IJ around 1205. The settlement Amstelredamme only consisted of small houses along a dyke on either side of the Amstel river; the Ouwezijds and Nieuwezijds (old side and new side respectively). In 1306 the settlement was granted city rights and in 1340 a palisade was erected around the oval shaped settlement on both banks of the river. This settlement was later expanded by digging a second (1385) and third (1420) moat around it. This was the only way of expanding a water city. Amsterdam was after all located in marshland.

In 1538 a city plan was drawn showing the dam in the Amstel with the Damrak beyond the dam slues and a number of moats encircling the settlement: Oudezijds Voorburwal, Oudezijds Achterburgwal, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal (named after the old and new fortifications respectively) and the Singel (omsingelen means to wrap around or encircle). In 1518 a new outer moat (de Nieuwe Gracht) with city wall was constructed to enclose the suburb of Lastage east of the St. Anthony Gate. East of these city walls several islands were created between 1591 and 93 that would develop into the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam. It was mainly developed for housing in the 17th en 18th centuries, before then mainly warehouses stood here within the expanded fortifications.

The iconic urban shape of the old city of Amsterdam with its fan like structure and rings of watercourses. The semicircular canal-belt is one of the most easily recognizable urban features. Within the old centre we find the Old Church (O), the New Church (N), City Hall (C), the Dam Square (D) and the Damrak (R). The main focus of the city before the canal-belt lay east with the Lastage (L later New Market), the Synagogue (S), the Hortus (H), Natura Artis Magistra (A), Plantage (P) and 's- Lands Zeemagazijn (Z - the Arsenal of the Amsterdam Admiralty). The Singel (s) surrounds the old city. The Nieuwe Gracht (ng) indicates the edge of the eastern extension. The Herengracht (h) surrounded the first extension. The canal-belt proper consists of the Herengracht (h), Keizersgracht (k), Prinsengracht (p) and Singelgracht (sg). Thiscontinues beyond the Amstel (a) as Nieuwe Herengracht (nh), Nieuwe Keizersgracht (nk) and Nieuwe Prinsengracht (np). The canal-belt starts at the Brouwersgracht (b).Beyond the canal-belt we find the Jordaan district (J).

The expansion before 1600 was relatively small in scale, but in 1612 a large speculative expansion (stadsuitleg) was started. This so-called grachtengordel (literally: canal-belt) was penciled in over existing fields and comprised of a series of interconnected waterways with three main watercourses encircling the old city. These three broad watercourses or grachten* were dug in straight sections between new radials fanning out from the edges of the old city. Work started in the west at the Brouwersgracht (Brewers Canal). The first phase consisted of the three main watercourses -the preexisting an widened- Herengracht (named after the Heren Regeerders or Councilors), Keizersgracht (named in honour of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg) and Prinsengracht (named in honour of William prince of Orange). Of these the Prinsengracht was conceived as the most prestigious with larger plots. Between the canals mews were constructed . On these mews stable blocks and servants housing was built at the back of the long and narrow gardens. Beyond the canal belt less prestigious housing was planned. This area called Jordaan follows the old polder parceling. Polder ditches were alternately widened or filled in. The Jordaan area has a parallel structure of strips at an angle to the canal-belt. The area first known as Het Nieuwe Werk (the new works or new piece) once included eleven canals

In a second phase of construction  after 1658 the canal-belt was extended from the Leidsegracht to the Amstel river. The peripheral moat (Singelgracht) around the fortifications was also extended, eventually towards the IJ at Zeeburg at the end of the 17th century. Beyond the Amstel river the canal-belt was continued (1662), but every watercourse had the word Nieuw (new) attached to it. Development of this part of the canal-belt stalled in the second half of the 18th century and the area was used as gardens, a physics garden (Hortus Medicus), a municipal tree nursery (de Plantage) and a recreational area. In the IJ - a large inlet of the Zuiderzee - several artificial islands were constructed to serve as wharfs and shipyards: the eastern islands and docks around 1657 an the western islands and docks around 1615. So with the canal-belt the harbour also expanded outward away from the Damrak.

The four subsequent enlargements of Amsterdam -also known as the eerste (U1), tweede (U2), derde (U3) en vierde (U4) uitleg, were executed between 1578 and 1665. In this period the city grew from 30.000 to 160.000 inhabitants (within the walls) and became the most important trading and industrial centre of Europe (together with Zaandam north of the IJ).In the IJ two new harbour areas were developed on new islands in this sea inlet: the Western Harbour (W) and Eastern Harbour (E).

* The Dutch word "gracht" stems from graft a form of graven and means dug out or cut through. The German equivalent is Graben. Gracht is used for inner-city watercourses as well as moats, dry moats and embankments or quays. There is no true equivalent in other languages. In English the word canal is mostly used although in Dutch kanaal refers to a shipping channel (also known as vaart, which means as much as waterway navigateable by boat). To complicate the matter even further in Flanders the word gracht is used for ditches and other drainage channels. In Bruges the word reien is used, in Ghent they use leien and in Antwerp ruien is used instead of gracht for inner-city watercourses.

Canal by night

 After dusk the canals of Amsterdam change their character completely. No longer distracted by the surrounding buildings the blackish blue ribbons of water become the main focus as they are bejeweled by many coulerful lights.

Nordbahndorfl: eclectic architecture and beyond

The original buildings still stand proudly along the Nordbahnhofstraße. The mansion block-type apartment buildings are built with decorative brick facades. On the corners towers emphasize the street grid. The architecture is typical for the eclectic late nineteenth century revival styles.

A peek into one of the Gartenhöfe. This communal outdoor space is for use of the residents of the surrounding apartments. Although garden court is the literal translation of Gartenhof, it often has a different meaning in Britain and especially in the USA. On the right a good example of how the architects have reduced the apparent scale of the housing development by using rows of separated apartment blocks with differentiated roof shapes.

The Mittnachtstraße (literally: Midnight Street) runs at a 90° angle off the Nordbahnhofstraße and bisects the neighbourhood. It is one of the few streets with trees in it, making the whole neighbourhood very urban in character.

The second phase of construction in 1911 saw the application of a different style of architecture. This is both apparent in the centrally placed bathhouse (left) and the apartment blocks.  The light, smooth rendering of the facades contrasts greatly with the older brick architecture. The stone dressings and plinth make  a subtle connection to the older architecture in colour.

This new block replaced a damaged block of eclectic architecture. It is executed in brick with rendered ribbon panels. Note the different effect this continues facade has on the streetscape and the perception of scale.

The original apartments in the Nordbahndorfl had no private outdoor space. The bring the living accommodation up to modern standards balconies have been added, The courtyard garden is still in communal use by the residents. Waste collection is located here. Most of the space is green and used for drying the washing, playing fields and small vegetable gardens.

The colour and banding of this continuous rendered facade contrasts sharply with the much older eclectic buildings. It is rather unfortunate that such architecture has been introduced here, as it stands apart so much from the original architecture of both the first and second building phase.

An early Gartenhof: Nordbahndorfl, Stuttgart

The old railway station of Stuttgart was built directly adjacent to the old city on the Schloßstraße in 1846. The first station building, a terminus station, was built by Karl Etzel for the opening of the Württemberg Central Railway (Zentralbahn), with its two branches to Ludwigsburg and Esslingen. The building comprised of a station hall, made of wood, covering the four tracks. To relieve the main station a second station was planned further north at the junction of the Gäubahn and Nordbahn railways. Work on this Nordbahnhof (literally the northern station) was completed in 1893. The new station was located near the Pragsattel a high ridge between the Stuttgart-basin and the Neckar river valley.

Between 1894 and 1912 a neighbourhood for railway personnel (Bahnarbeiter) was built directly south of the railway station. On a circa 9,5 hectare plot 890 apartments were constructed in two building campaigns. This so-called Nordbahnhofdorfl (literally: little village by the northern railway station) is a high density development consisting of a series of Gartenhöfe (Garden Courts).

The dwellings, designed by the Königliche Hochbausektion (The Royal High-rise Department) are arranged in large blocks around communal gardens. Originally none of the apartments had any private outdoor space. The two building campaigns resulted in 10 such garden courts. At the heart of the neighbourhood a bathhouse was built in 1911. The whole was developed on a grid plan, that was skewed near the railway bend in the southeastern corner. The gridlines run almost perfectly north-south and east-west.

The seven blocks between the Nordbahnhofstraße and the Krollstraße were built in an eclectic style during the 1890s. The apartment buildings were treated as mansion blocks with very ornate brick architecture. Each building stood separate from the others with an ornate gate in between to give residents access to the communal garden. The buildings built in the early 1910s have a distinctly different architecture. These buildings are rendered and the blocks are longer with fewer openings. Sometimes the openings took the shape of wide passages. As a result of heavy bombardments during WW2 a large part of the original buildings were destroyed. New apartment buildings were erected on the old building lines. These postwar buildings are much less detailed and have fewer openings resulting in long and rather boring street facades. In places the colour of the replacement buildings contrasts sharply with the original buildings.

 

The so-called railway workers village is an urban neighbourhood. In the original design dullness is prevented by punctuating the facades with gates and later passages towards the central courtyards. Of the eastern 20th century section (within the red outline) only a small portion still stands in its original form; much was rebuilt (indicated by the hatching).The original part concentrates around the bathhouse (B). Little public green space is provided, except for a small playground by the bathhouse, the public gardens in the Mittnachtstraße (M) and the now built over allotment gardens (A) along the railway.