Amsterdam (Rough Guide) - Martin Dunford [54]
At the top of Zandhoek, cross over the canal and then turn left along Zoutkeetsgracht; another left turn, this time onto Planciusstraat, returns you to the pedestrian tunnel near the Haarlemmerpoort.
The Jordaan and Western docklands | The Scheepvaartsbuurt and the Western docklands |
The Westerpark and Westergasfabriek
Beyond the Haarlemmerpoort, off to the right, the Westerpark is a small park running alongside a narrow sliver of canal with a small lake and some formally planted areas. At its far end, the Westergasfabriek is a complex of red-brick nineteenth-century buildings that was formerly a gasworks, then a venue for acid house raves in the 1990s, and has since been renovated and is finding its feet as an arts and entertainment complex. There are a number of arts and media related businesses here, several galleries, a cinema and a number of places to eat and drink, as well as the Huis van Aristoteles – a giant play area for kids (see "Parks and farms"). You can get in from the park but the Westergasfabriek’s main entrance is on Haarlemmerweg.
The Jordaan and Western docklands | The Scheepvaartsbuurt and the Western docklands |
Het Schip
On the north side of the park, before you reach the Westergasfabriek, a pedestrian tunnel leads under the railway lines to Zaanstraat, the southern edge of a working-class neighbourhood that stretches north to the busy Spaarndammer Dijk boulevard. Taken as a whole, this part of the city is really rather glum, but hang a left on Zaanstraat and you soon reach Spaarndammerplantsoen, the site of Het Schip, a municipal housing block which is a splendid – and pristine – example of the Expressionistic Amsterdam School of architecture. Seven years in the making, from 1913 to 1920, the complex takes its name from its ship-like shape and is graced by all manner of fetching decorative details – from the intriguing mix-and-match windows to the wavy brick facades and ornamental sculptures of which the bulging “cigar” turret is its most self-indulgent. The architect responsible was Michael de Klerk (1884–1923), who also designed the two other housing blocks on Spaarndammerplantsoen, though Het Schip is easily the most striking. De Klerk reacted strongly against the influence of Berlage, whose style – exemplified by the Beurs – favoured clean lines and functionality, opting instead for much more playful motifs.
De Klerk installed a post office in Het Schip and the interior, with its superb multicoloured tiling, has been restored and now serves as the small Museum Het Schip (Wed–Sun 1–5pm; €5; www.hetschip.nl; bus #22 from Centraal Station). Through the use of multimedia, short films and leaflets, the museum looks at the living conditions of the city’s proletariat at the start of the twentieth century, in relation to the history of the Amsterdam School. The museum sells a pamphlet for self-guided tours explaining the architectural highlights of the complex, still used as social housing today. Half-hour guided tours (on request; €2.50) take you inside one of the restored residences and up to the turret, which serves no purpose other than being an aesthetic touch by de Klerk. Politically motivated, de Klerk and his architectural allies were eager to provide high-quality homes for the working class, though their laudable aims were often undermined – or at least diluted – by a tendency to overelaborate. For details of de Klerk’s other major commission in Amsterdam, the De Dageraad housing project, see the section "De Dageraad". Across the road from the museum, the pleasant Lunchroom