I love Noord
On Wednesday January 22nd I went to a
conference in Pakhuis de Zwijger.
I had never been in this centre before, the reason:
most of the conferences are in Dutch.
For once there was a conference in English and the
theme was the North of Amsterdam. I heard about this event on a
website called citiesthemagazine, which is a web magazine about
urban developments based in Amsterdam and founded by an Italian girl,
really interesting materials and nice graphics.
The title of the conference was Facing North. A play
on words: the North appears to me made by several different faces and
for each of them there was a representative bringing his or her point
to the audience.
The first historical face of the north was: a gallows
field. The perfect spot where the authorities could show their power
and what would happen if you broke the rules, towards all the
community (imagine there was no central station, thus a direct
contact with the river).
In the very spot of the gallow field there is now the
Overhoeks tower which will be converted into an entertaining area
with night clubs on the rooftop and the basement. The one of the
basement will be named Hell, keeping track of the former function.
On the back of this tower there is a garden city
built for the working class who was employed in the NDSM werf. It was
the first chance these people had to have decent homes with a garden.
Quite town like environment which has almost anything of the
Amsterdam spirit.
About the NDSM werf, this was an important productive
area, later dismissed and there were no clear idea about what to do
with all those huge warehouses. Some brave pioneers occupied those
spaces instilling new life: designers, artists, artisans, creative
people. They started a bottom-up process which is still on going.
At this moment also developers and urban planners are
interested into getting profit from the appeal of NDSM, and this will
raise the value of the whole area. The pioneers will face the hard
decision to look another cheaper location and gentrification will
take place.
There are active comities and organizations which are
working to don't let this happen. I think it would be a great loss if
the spirit of NDSM would change.
I decided to attend the conference because I am
working in the north of Amsterdam for a year and a half and I also
had the chance to live there for 5 months, to me it was a very
interesting topic.
What people think about this area? I had all the
different range of opinions about it.
Why is this area attracting so many controversial
thoughts?
One of the reason is the clear, neat boundary with
the rest of the city: the presence of the river Ij. In Dutch they
call the north Aan de overkant, on the other side, exactly what it is
indeed.
The river is a physical and psychological barrier.
The physical part: when I first arrived a friend
showed me the ferries going to the other side and we took the one
going to NDSM werf, to go to the Noorderlicht cafe (later it became
one of my favourite places in the whole city).
The short journey with the ferry was a physical
detachment with Amsterdam (the touristic part), you actually go
somewhere else, not just on the other side.
After this first experience with the north I had to
come back there to work.
While looking for a place I stumbled in people's
opinions.
Who was living there was thinking it was awesome
because it was close to the centre and at the same time cheaper than
any other areas next to the centre.
Who was living in the centre, and once in the north,
hated it. The were actually calling it the wrong side of Amsterdam.
I worked in the north while living in the other side
and I really enjoyed the ferry part. It is a moment while you are
taking a break from you damn hurry. You have no choice, you can just
wait to arrive to the other side while contemplating the urban
landscape or the other passengers faces, I am still not sure what I
like most.
After six months I went to live in the North. The
reason: much cheaper and bigger house. The only big regret: distance
from the centre. Luckily, I immediately overcame it, getting used to
bike longer distances. I was amazed by myself.
Now I live in the opposite side of the city, it takes
me 45 minutes to go to work in the north but I don't complain and I
enjoy the journey listening on soundcloud tracks from the djs I
planned to go to listen in the following weekend.
I would go to live there if I had the chance, I
liked it and crossing the river to have fun it's even more exciting.
