Onderzoek Van der Pekbuurt

VAN DER PEKBUURT | Amsterdam North September 2013, Eindhoven ISBN 978-90-386-3457-9 Graduation Studio ‘Habitat Reloaded’ Supervision by ir. M.W. Musch, prof. dr. ir. P.J.V. v. Wesemael, dipl.-ing H. Yegenoglu.

Editors I.M. Jansen (Iris) J.T.R. Pulles (Jim) R.J. Sipkema (Rinze) Final Editors I.M. Jansen (Iris) J.P.J. Schobers (Jolanda)

TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface 05 Founding of the Van der Pekbuurt 06 history of reclamation 06 planning of amsterdam noord 09 the garden city movement 12 Transformation in time 14 transformation 1917-1932 14 transformation 1933-1968 16 transformation 1969-2013 20 analysis district 24 green structure 26 infrastructure 28 functions 30 analysis neighbourhood functions 32 infrastructure 34 street profiles 36 ownership 40 Present Conditions 42 fragment volewijck playground 44 fragment mosplein 56 fragment van der Pekplein 70 Conclusions 80 References 82 3

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PREFACE

Van der Pekbuurt in relation to the city centre of Amsterdam scale 1:20.000

This report is part of a larger study, conducted by the graduation studio Habitat Reloaded.

The study treats the developments of social housing in Amsterdam. Based on a chronological order of ideologies in urban planning, four

and the present time. The analysis has been carried out on a district scale and the scale of the neighbourhood. In the third chapter we zoom in on three fragments within the neighbourhood.

This part focusses on the present conditions

neighbourhoods have been analysed. The chosen neighbourhoods involve the Indische Buurt, the Van der Pekbuurt, Slotermeer and Bijlmermeer. This part focusses on the Van der Pekbuurt in Amsterdam Noord and the ideology of the Garden City Movement.

and the way the neighbourhood is perceived nowadays.

The report is divided and structured into three different chapters that describe different phases in the development of the Van der Pekbuurt.

The first chapter deals with the developments in Amsterdam – and Amsterdam Noord in particular – before the Van der Pekbuurt was built. The second chapter covers the morphological and programmatic developments and transformations that occurred between the moment of completion

The research has been an educational expedition in the field of urban design. At the same time it is used as a preliminary research tool in order to come up with more specific topics that can be elaborated in the individual graduation projects that follow.

We hope you will enjoy reading this report.

Iris Jansen Jim Pulles Rinze Sipkema 5

FOUNDING OF THE VAN DER PEKBUURT

1835 scale 1:20.000

History of reclamation The river IJ and Volewijck Before the Van der Pekbuurt was founded, there

Soon after the introduction of the ferry they also provided a barge canal through Volewijck, so people could cross the IJ by sailing boats

To improve the approach of the harbour of Amsterdam, the Groot Noordhollandsch Kanaal was completed in 1824. In that same year they

Reclamation of the Buiksloterham According to the municipality of Amsterdam the problems of the mud fleet in the IJ had to be

have been many changes in Amsterdam, on spatial, social and economical levels. The land to the north of the IJ has been a considerable subject in the discussions of the municipality of Amsterdam for years now. The connection between the city Amsterdam and the land to the north of the IJ has been a critical point of discussion since the fifteenth century. The river was too dangerous to cross for the farmers from the north who wanted to sell their products in the city centre. Therefor, the city of Amsterdam made it possible to cross the river by public transport – a ferry – in 1556. One of the main connections was the route Volewijck-Amsterdam. Volewijck was and is the foreland of Amsterdam Noord, very close to the city of Amsterdam.

and continue their journey safely to the north.

Due to this barge canal, the city of Amsterdam considered Volewijck as their property. The municipality of Amsterdam used the foreland of Volewijck as a gallows field for criminals until 1795. The purpose was to prevent more crimes in the city.

also constructed the Willem Sluizen, a sluice to shut off the canal from the IJ. In 1863 the municipality improved this sluice by developing a new sluice, the Willem III Sluizen. The Noordhollandsch Kanaal lost its meaning after 1850, because the canal was not designed for large international shipping.

Near the gallows field there was a lodge, Het Tolhuis. This location was an important departure and arrival point for boats. The lodge was used frequently, travellers had to stay overnight when arriving after sunset to go to Amsterdam city. During the eighteenth century, Het Tolhuis also became a famous entertainment sport for inhabitants of Amsterdam.

During the nineteenth century, the city of Amsterdam used the Buiksloterham, the water on the east side of Volewijck as a dredge depot.

The mud of the canals in the city centre and the harbours was deposited there. However, the problem was that the mud fleet to the IJ.1

solved. However, this surface was not property of the city of Amsterdam but property of the state.

In 1844 the king gave the rights of this surface to the city of Amsterdam.2 In 1848 there was a revolution in Europe, prices for food were high and there was a lot of unemployment. The city of Amsterdam was worried as well, since the number of unemployment in the city was high. Therefor the municipality of Amsterdam considered the reclamation of the Buiksloterham as a suitable project. The commission of this project collected 74.000 gulden and with the funding of the state they could start the project. However, after one year it became clear it would not cover all the expenses.

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1875 scale 1:20.000

In 1851 the municipality of Amsterdam sold the surface to F.W.J. Beukman with the agreement of the further reclamation of the Buiksloterham.

of Nieuwendammerham as a dredge depot. The kingdom provided this surface; they also needed it for building the Central Station of Amsterdam.

He accomplished this reclamation by the use of a steam engine. The existing land was 224 ha.

F.W.J. Beukman designed a polder structure with one traditional main road. After the reclamation, the land was used for agriculture; there were some small settlements of farmers.

Soon after using it as a dredge depot, the municipality also decided for reclamation of the Nieuwenhammerdam.

After the death of F.W.J. Beukman nine heirs became the new owners of the land of Buiksloterham. Since 1883 the city Amsterdam started to buy the reclaimed land from the heirs.

Therefor the city of Amsterdam became a partial landholder and they were committed with the management of the Buiksloterham polder.

Soon after the reclamation of the Buiksloterham polder, the municipality wanted to use the surface

1911 scale 1:20.000

1. Bureau Monumenten & Archeologie (2003). De Noordelijke IJ-oever, een cultuurhistorische effectenrapportage. p178 2. Krop, A. (1992) Wonen en werken in de Buiksloterham: de geschiedenis van een voormalige polder. p10 7

Housing crisis in Amsterdam

Since the introduction of the Woningwet, the

During the second half of the nineteenth century there was a shift from the countryside to the cities in The Netherlands. People left the countryside to find a better existence as a worker in the growing industries in the city. The extensive growth of inhabitants became a problem for the city of Amsterdam; between 1870 and 1900 the population was doubled. 3 It was mainly caused by the Industrial Revolution in the Netherlands.

Industries were settled in the city centre, next to housing areas. This caused a lot of health and social problems in Amsterdam. The workingclass worked for approximately twenty hours a day with a very low salary. The higher-class owned the houses of the working-class, but the rent was too high. Therefor, a lot of families lived in chambers or attics with too many people. This resulted in health problems and a lot of epidemics in that time.

service ‘Bouw- en Woningtoezicht’ declared several houses in the city centre as uninhabitable, as shown in Fig. 1. Inhabitants lost their houses and the municipality was required to come up with a solution.

Therefor, the municipality had to deliver several plans to solve the housing problem for the working-class. The reclaimed land in Amsterdam Noord, became a considerable destination for the social housing problem in the city centre of Amsterdam. The municipality delivered several plans for Amsterdam Noord, which will be discussed in the next paragraph.

In the end of the nineteenth century the workingclass became more empowered. Associations for the working-class were founded, defending the interests of the working-class. These associations were concerned about the working hours, working conditions and salaries. Government interventions for social housing were necessary.

As a result, the state adopted the Woningwet on the first of August 1902. Main aspects of this Woningwet were: 1. Every municipality is required to have a building and housing supervision 2. Every municipality with more than 10.000 inhabitants have to make an expansion plan, that has to be reviewed every ten years 3. Financial support of the state for social housing.4 1 8

Besides the housing problems, the municipality had to take the rising industries into account as well. The industries were growing quickly during that time and wanted to expand their facilities.

Therefor, the municipality had to search and propose new opportunities for the industries to settle somewhere outside but near the city.

Since the introduction of the Woningwet, the municipality was required to plan the location of industries. Plans were made to use the land on the other side of the IJ as a new industrial area.

plan 1850 scale 1:20.000

Planning of Amsterdam Noord First plan (1850) After a relative short period of time the land in

1850 shows his first attempt to bridge the IJ for the mere purpose of industrial expansion, because it was assumed that the employees

been excavated to support the industry, but does not seem to contribute anything for the houses proposed in this plan.

the north of the IJ was used for agriculture. The municipality of Amsterdam decided, before the introduction of the Woningwet, to destine the land for industrial purposes.5 Due to the economic growth of the city the industries saw the urge to expand. However, within the old city part there was no appropriate place for it. Because the industries were very much depended on water infrastructure, it became obvious to look to the north of the IJ as a potential expansion area.6

would still be living in the old city part.

Eventually none of the design proposals of Galman ever made it through the city council.

The shipping industry would encounter too much hindrance by the bridge due to sedimentation against the bridge piers, which would worsen the siltation of the harbours. Because of this persistent disconnection, Amsterdam Noord did not gain any economical importance.

Jan Galman, contractor of the service Publieke Werken, was extremely dedicated to connect Amsterdam Noord to the city centre for which he designed and proposed a total of thirty-six bridges between 1850 and 1880. The plan in

Second plan (1880) Galman’s plans evolved with the changes and needs within society. During the second half of the nineteenth century many immigrants wanted to live in Amsterdam in order to find work in the industries. As a result Amsterdam had to expand its housing stock. This led to the expansion plans of Niftrik and Kalff who suggested a belt around the south of Amsterdam. The design proposal of Galman in 1880 seems to be inspired by the expansion plan of Kalff. The plan mostly incorporated the expansion of houses in the north with a bridge crossing the IJ. Galman included the Noordhollandsch Kanaal, which has

plan 1880 scale 1:20.000

3. Krop, A. (1992) Wonen en werken in de Buiksloterham: de geschiedenis van een voormalige polder. p20 4. Swart, W. (1990). Amsterdam-Noord 1850-1930, De geschiedenis achter de feiten. p17 5. Bureau Monumenten & Archeologie (2003). De Noordelijke IJ-oever, een cultuurhistorische effectenrapportage. p63 6. Krop, A. (1992) Wonen en werken in de Buiksloterham: de geschiedenis van een voormalige polder. p15 9

plan 1891 scale 1:20.000

plan 1906 scale 1:20.000

Third plan (1891) The bridge was not going to be executed, so the destination of the land to the north of

approve such a decision. So the municipality was not really actively involved with the situation of Amsterdam Noord. This changed after the

industry, crossing the IJ would not be a problem and also the ferry connection would then suffice.

Although the bridge was not a necessity

for bridging the IJ and a huge dependency on the ferry. Not until the late sixties this situation changed for Amsterdam Noord. The plan took

the IJ was yet to be adapted again. This time the plan was laid down by a committee; the so-called Commissie ter Bevordering van het Transitoverkeer over Amsterdam.

Their plan consisted of a major harbour expansion within the IJ connected with the old city centre by train without obstructing the passing of ships. Due to the position of the central train station along the IJ, rail tracks were built to what is currently known as the KNSM and Java islands. But the connection with Amsterdam Noord was still missing, even though a part of the reclaimed polder was reserved for industry. Till 1901 industries were able to choose a suitable location to settle, without interference of the municipality; only the landowner had to

implementation of the Woningwet and with the next plan from 1906.7

anymore, the idea was not yet disregarded. The Hoofdkanaal was included in the plan for the future purpose of making a bridge to the north, allowing ships to pass through the canal. As a consequence of this plan the industries were limited to settle along the riverside and canals, since this space was reserved for working-class housing. They would also have to pay land lease to the municipality in order to finance the bridge.8

this drawback into account by reserving parks and open fields in the domain of the yet to be completed canal. The abrupt ending of the canal also introduced a rather recognizable bend in the plan layout. Because, along the canal industries were planned which turned to each other around the corner of the canal. North to this domain of the canal, new housing areas were planned in such a way that they would not obstruct a possible completion of the canal.

This alternating policy was the main reason why the emergence of industries never really came to a vast growth. Instead, the land that was appointed for industry became a housing area.9 As a result a total of 313 temporary houses at the eastern Hoofdkanaal in Nieuwendammerham,

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Fourth plan (1906) At the beginning of the 20th century only a few industries had settled at the other side of the IJ due to the inconvenience in terms of infrastructure and soil conditions. To make Amsterdam Noord a more attractive settlement a new committee, formed by the army, marine, the railway company, chamber of commerce and Publieke Werken, developed an expansion plan as shown in Fig 2. This plan would incorporate industries as well as working-class houses. The idea was based on the assumption that when workers would live in Amsterdam Noord near the

Fifth plan (1914) The plan from 1914 (Fig 3.) is mainly a revision of the plan from 1906. The most important change was caused by the delay of the completion of the Hoofdkanaal, later called the Johan van Hasseltkanaal. This meant a provisional no-go

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plan 1914 scale 1:20.000

known as Vogeldorp, and 224 at the western Hoofdkanaal in Buiksloterham, known as Disteldorp, have been built on areas that were

The Garden Villages advocated by Keppler were considered as the best model to accommodate the working-class. Before going into detail

reserved for the industry. The idea was that these houses would be replaced after seven years when the need for houses has peaked. These “villages� would last for at least five or ten years and would be paid by the government as a result of the Woningnoodwet, which came into being in 1918.

about the Van der Pekbuurt, a Garden village in Amsterdam Noord, the next paragraph will elaborate on the Garden village concept by Ebenezer Howard and Raymond Unwin.

7. Krop, A. (1992) Wonen en werken in de Buiksloterham: de geschiedenis van een voormalige polder. p15 8. Krop, A. (1992) Wonen en werken in de Buiksloterham: de geschiedenis van een voormalige polder. p16

This law was meant to stimulate the housing corporations, since they were not eager to invest in Amsterdam Noord while the chances for profit were too uncertain. Only after the political march of the socialists under the leadership of Arie Keppler, more houses were built according to the Garden Village concept with large governmental fundings.10

9. Bureau Monumenten & Archeologie (2003).

De Noordelijke IJ-oever, een cultuurhistorische effectenrapportage. p67 10. Feddes, F. (2012) 1000 jaar Amsterdam.

Ruimtelijke geschiedenis van een wonderbaarlijke stad.

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The Garden City movement

The care for proper working-class housing finds its origin in the poor social and hygienic conditions that arose in overcrowded WestEuropean industrial cities during the nineteenth century. As a response to these conditions Ebenezer Howard introduced the concept of the Garden City in 1898. The idea of the Garden City concept was to create new independent cities in the countryside, thus combining the advantages of the town with that of the countryside, as shown in Fig. 4. They would provide in proportionate areas of housing and industry surrounded by ‘greenbelts’ in the form of agricultural land or parks. The latter had to make sure that the Garden City would not exceed its boundaries, so that the growth would be limited. Another Garden City would be developed nearby when the first Garden City reached its full population. Each Garden City was intended to be self-sufficient. Howard imagined the Garden Cities as a cluster of satellite cities around a central city of 50.000 people, linked by road and railroads.

The Garden Cities as intended by Howard were never realized as such. Instead, it was Raymond Unwin and his companion Barry Parker who made an attempt to materialize the Garden City concept with the design and construction of Letchworth and Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Under the influence of Raymond Unwin the Garden City Movement evolved and the Garden Suburbs became a leading concept. The difference with Howard’s Garden City is that Garden Suburbs are built on the outskirts of an existing city with no sections of industry. The habitants of a Garden Suburb are dependent on proper public transport from and to the city centre. In that sense the Garden Suburb is seen 12

as the counterpart of the Garden City, since

1. Boundaries and enclosure

Howard was trying to solve the suburbanisation of London with the Garden City concept.

The early developments of the Garden suburbs overlap with the years in which social housing is widely supported in the Netherlands. This led to the Woningwet and the Gezondheidswet in 1901. From 1908 it was councillor F.Wibaut who pleaded for the construction of ‘municipal dwellings’ as a solution for the housing of the poorest. 11 It was only until 1914, when Wibaut (SDAP leader) became alderman Arbeidszaken en Volkshuisvesting, that the Woningwet actually started to work in Amsterdam. Due to the damnation of slums the municipality of Amsterdam had to come up with a solution to bring down the need for housing. In order to increase the production of Woningwet housing, Wibaut founded the Gemeentelijke Woningdienst in 1915.12 Arie Keppler, a socialist and follower of the Garden City movement, was appointed as the president of this new municipal service.

The Woningdienst sought for the ideal of light, air and green places, based on the thoughts of the Garden City movement. This ideology was also at the base of the founding of the Van der Pekbuurt.

J.E. van der Pek and Arie Keppler were the main actors in the design of this garden suburb, or in the case of Amsterdam Garden village, which is no different from the suburb.

It is likely that Unwin’s thoughts on town planning have had the most influence on the founding of the Van der Pekbuurt. A few statements of Unwin in particular seem to have had a profound influence:

Unwin’s deep appreciation of the medieval city reflects in his philosophy on town planning. He stated that there has to be a clear transition between town and country. Where medieval towns needed a wall or a ditch to protect them, modern towns needed to find a different way to create a ‘clean break’ and ‘visual potential for boundary features’.3 This would also result in a form of containment, which was needed to avoid the ‘unbroken monotony of garden houses’ but he also wanted to be able to categorize a place in order to make sense of it.14 2. Traffic According to Unwin streets should to be arranged according to a hierarchy: “Proper organic planning of road systems with a main frame of arterial highways, with secondary roads linked them up … and mere building streets not used for through traffic, will enable roads of many varying widths to be safely used”.15 3. Site design Another key aspect in Unwin’s philosophy is the creation of unique identities of individual neighbourhoods, which can be achieved by the homogenization of the architecture, street layouts, and public spaces in the neighbourhood.

In order to avoid monotony Unwin fell back on Sittesque techniques by using articulation of building lines, setbacks, angled groupings and open greens. Well functioning of the neighbourhood would largely depend on the latter design principles, since the housing groups had to be kept simple and affordable for the working class resulting in standardization.16

As mentioned before, the contrast between

Adjacent and in the north of the administration

Van der Pek designed that to articulate the

the Garden City and the Garden Suburb is the accessibility to the city centre and the fact that a Garden suburb is more depending on facilities in the city centre. Since the planned Garden Villages in Amsterdam Noord are close to the city centre and based on the Garden suburb concept, only few necessary facilities were planned in the Van der Pekbuurt. This, together with the open spaces and the homogenization of the architecture should lead to a neighbourhood with all the characteristics of a village.

The first draft for the Van der Pek neighbourhood dates from the fifth of February 1916 and consisted of 560 working class houses. The design covered the southern area defined by the curve of the Buiksloterkanaal, the Heimansweg, the southernmost part of the Hagedoornweg that was previously the middle road through the polder, and the Laanweg, later known as the Meidoornweg.

building there was room for a market place which ought to be designed just like the Museumplein, a shaded gravel field. To the south of this building there was an open view to a square field that was later known as the Meidoornplein with a clubhouse.

boundaries and entrances of the area.

The first draft focused only on the southern part of the area, while the plan of November already shows more coherence for the entire plan.

Keppler reserved the northern part of the area primarily for housing corporations. However, in 1917 a decision was made to cancel the planned noodwoningen. As a result J.E. van der Pek also designed the northern part of the area with ensembles around the Lupineplein and the Jac. P. Thijsseplein.17

Five villa-like public buildings were planned among the terraced houses, shown in Fig. 5.

Three of the public buildings on the left side of the access road form the school centre, while the two on the right form the bathhouse and the laundry house. A sixth public administration building was planned northeast of the bath- and laundry house, adjacent to the current Jac. P. Thijsseplein. A library and a room for a small medical service would find shelter in this building too.

Shops were planned as well, twenty-eight to be exact. Most of them were located on the main road Van der Pekstraat and should form some sort of centre. Twelve smaller shops were planned divided over the neighbourhood.

The most important change that was made in the follow-up plan of November 1916 was the displacement of the school centre to the southernmost area with sports fields in the northeast. The displacement made room for Van der Pek to use the angled block at the entrance of the neighbourhood, later known as the Van der Pekplein, as a starting point for a fan shaped area in the southern part of the plan (Fig 6). This resulted in the curved streets Anemoon-, Oleander- and Jasmijnstraat. With this fan shaped areas at the entrances, J.E. van der Pek attempted to follow Unwin’s philosophy by creating clear boundaries and gateways emphasizing the transition.

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11. Krop, A. (1992) Wonen en werken in de Buiksloterham: de geschiedenis van een voormalige polder. p21 12. Feddes, F. (2012) 1000 jaar Amsterdam. Ruimtelijke geschiedenis van een wonderbaarlijke stad. p235,236 13. Miller, M. (1992). Raymond Unwin: Garden cities and Town Planning.

The bath- and laundry house were removed in this plan, as well as the administration building.

And lastly the road that defined the upper boundary of the first draft was straightened out.

p116,117 6

14. http://discoveringurbanism.blogspot. nl/2009/07/raymond-unwins-townplanning-in_06.html

Against expectations, Van der Pek did not use the opportunity to turn the junction, created by the main road and the Heimansweg, into the centre of the neighbourhood, which was a characteristic of the Garden City movement.

Instead he would use the fact that these two roads divided the area into four compartments and he provided each compartment with its own square or centre. The roads were designed to open up at the end, instead of in the middle.

15. Miller, M. (1992). Raymond Unwin: Garden cities and Town Planning. p121 16. Miller, M. (1992). Raymond Unwin: Garden cities and Town Planning. p122 17. Schade, C. (2010). Jan Ernst van der Pek, 1865-1919: pionier van de volkshuisvesting. p90-93 13

1920 scale 1:20.000

1932 scale 1:20.000

TRANSFORMATION IN TIME Transformation 1917-1932 Realisation of the expansion plan of 1914 Around 1920 land in the industrial areas of Amsterdam Noord started to become more popular for companies, which led to the allocation of these lands and simultaneously an economical expansion.

In the course of the twentieth century, Amsterdam Noord evolved into an important industrial area of Amsterdam. Heavy, petrochemical and shipbuilding industries flourished in Amsterdam Noord with Shell as the most prominent industry 14

together with the shipbuilding industry currently known as NDSM. However, the construction of Wibaut’s gemeentewoningen was delayed. The First World War was a hindrance for the housing corporation.

Building materials got scarce and as a result the prices increased drastically. Nevertheless, the need for housing kept growing. That is why the municipality agreed on the construction of the socalled ‘noodwoningen’ in the villages Disteldorp and Obelt.18

Plan for ‘Groot Amsterdam’ In 1921 Amsterdam expanded its territory significantly. The Waterlandse villages Buiksloot, Durgerham, Holysloot, Nieuwendam, Ransdorp, Schellingswoude and Zunderdorp belonged to Amsterdam from that moment on. Dienst Publieke Werken was asked to make an expansion plan for the newly added territories.

A concept, presented in 1924, focussed mainly on traffic issues. Arie Keppler was not content with this plan and presented a counterproposal in 1926, focussing mainly on housing. The plan

built area water transformation

included the construction of the Garden Village

residential areas were built on both sides of the

Buiksloterham and the Bloemenbuurt. He also planned a railway that would connect the train ferry at the Distelweg with Zaandam. The city council never formally treated both concepts. Too many problems were unsolved.19

Mosveld. Transformations regarding the original plans were relatively minor in this period.23

Spatial changes Amsterdam Noord from 1917 to 1932 The Tolhuiskanaal and the Papaverkanaal were extended as a result of the upcoming industries.

Additionally the Buiksloterhamkanaal was extended and connected to the IJ River. A bridge was built over the Buiksloterkanaal to connect the industrial area, the Grasweg, with arising housing areas.20 These housing areas started with the construction of the nooddorp Obelt. Obelt was built on grounds owned by the municipality, near the bathhouse Obelt and next to the IJ River, which was originally intended as a public park.

The qualities of these dwellings were poor and were demolished in 1929.21 The second nooddorp Disteldorp, shown in Fig. 7, was planned as a semi-permanent residential area in the northern west corner of the Van der Pekbuurt. They planned Disteldorp on grounds meant for the industry to make sure that the dwellings would be demolished eventually.

Though they expected the village to last thirty-five years, the quality of the dwellings turned out to be better than expected since the dwellings are still intact.22

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In 1926 a residential school was built in the industrial area, known as Asterdorp. The intention of this village was that after a year people could move to a ‘gemeentewoning’ in a proper residential area, like the Van der Pekbuurt was at that time.24 During the twenties a start was made for the construction of the Florapark. However, shortly after the expansion of Amsterdam in 1921 the municipality decided to use the northern part of the park as a residential area. In this area the Garden Village Buiksloterham or Floradorp (in 1927) and Bloemenbuurt (1932) were built.25

18. De Liagre Bohl, H. (2010). Amsterdam 8

op de helling. p35

19,20,23 Krop, A. (1992) Wonen en werken in de Buiksloterham: de geschiedenis van een voormalige polder. p18 21,22. Krop, A. (1992) Wonen en werken in de Buiksloterham: de geschiedenis van een voormalige polder. p24 24. Krop, A. (1992) Wonen en werken in de Buiksloterham: de geschiedenis van

The Van der Pekbuurt, shown in Fig 8., was built up in the period between 1917 and 1923. Meanwhile, in 1919, the sport fields and playground at the southern border of the Mosveld were marked as a residential area. In 1923 two

een voormalige polder. p26 25. Krop, A. (1992) Wonen en werken in de Buiksloterham: de geschiedenis van een voormalige polder. p28,29 15

1942 scale 1:20.000

Transformation 1933-1968 Around the year 1932, most Garden Villages in Amsterdam Noord were completed. Some Garden Villages like the Van der Pekbuurt changed spatially and socially during time.

Around 1930, the status of the Van der Pekbuurt was extensively good, many families wanted to live there. However, the children playing in the neighbourhood caused some annoyance among the inhabitants. This was one of the reasons that led to occlusion of the public spaces in the Van der Pekbuurt.

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The AUP of Amsterdam Noord Surprisingly soon after the completion of the Garden Villages in Amsterdam Noord, the Algemeen Uitbreidingsplan (AUP), shown in Fig. 9, referred to Amsterdam Noord as an urban planning mistake.26 The AUP was published by the service Publieke Werken. They were convinced that Amsterdam Noord was not designed as described in the plan from 1903.

Therefor the service Publieke Werken did not want Amsterdam Noord to expand. It came to light that the concept of housing and working

1968 scale 1:20.000

in Amsterdam Noord was not developed as planned at all. Apparently the working-class of the industries in Amsterdam Noord did not inhabit the working-class houses. The inhabitants of the new dwellings in Amsterdam Noord were working on the other side of the IJ in the city centre, while the inhabitants of the city centre were working at the industries in Amsterdam Noord. Knowing this, one might conclude that the IJ became congested because the number of travellers crossing the IJ was far larger then expected. But also the shipping traffic increased, which caused

a lot of problems on the IJ..27

built area water transformation

One of the highlights in the AUP was the

The Second World War of Amsterdam Noord

The Structure Plan in 1958

accessibility of the harbour and het connection with the hinterland. ‘’Space was reserved for transport by inland barge and by rail, including the Boogkanaal (‘Bow Canal’) in Noord.’’28 This Boogkanaal was meant as a barge-shipping canal and would be an extension of the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal.

At the same time the Boogkanaal would border the north of Amsterdam Noord. This design was based on defining the urban form and to disburden the IJ from increasing shipping traffic.

The canal around Amsterdam Noord was later used for the construction of the ring A10.

German troops invaded the Netherlands on the tenth of May in 1940. On the seventeenth of July 1943 Amsterdam Noord became a victim of the bombings. The Germans captured an airplane factory, the Fokker manufactory, which became an important target for the allies. To prevent more damage, the allies tried to bomb that factory.

However, on the seventeenth of July the allies missed the target and houses in Amsterdam Noord were hit instead. Especially in the Van der Pekbuurt and the nearby Garden Villages the damage was severe, shown in Fig. 10.

The Van der Pekbuurt was partially destroyed and a lot of windows and doors were damaged too, caused by the air pressure of the bombings.

In the end, in the whole area of Amsterdam Noord 106 houses were completely destroyed, 206 houses were partially damaged and 670 houses suffered some glass and roof damage.

Immediately after the war, they started with the reconstruction in this area.

The Structure Plan for the urban area to the north of the IJ in 1958 was a partial adaption of the AUP of 1935, shown in Fig. 11. “Developments did not exactly take the course that was presupposed during the drawing up of the AUP”. More space was required for housing of the inhabitants of Amsterdam. “The city council

The AUP proposed that the residential areas of Amsterdam Noord would be separated from the industries by greenery. Florapark and Volewijckspark were extended to the greenbelt along the Boogkanaal. Each residential area would keep its own identity.

The southern point of Volewijck would be a good connection point from Amsterdam Noord to the city centre. On that point, “public transport services could come together in a large bus station.”29 “A characteristic of the road structure included in the AUP is the system of rings and radials, grafted onto the spatial structure of the city centre. The proposed road structure shows great similarities with the modern main traffic structure in Amsterdam.”30 One of the most important adjustments of the traffic system in Amsterdam Noord was the ring road around the city, the A10.

The AUP was approved in 1939 by state decision. However, “the AUP was not realized until after the Second World War.”31

9

26. Groot, T.C. (1950) Plan voor IJtunnel. p30 27,33. Krop, A. (1992) Wonen en werken in de Buiksloterham: de geschiedenis van een voormalige polder. p19 28. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. p19

The reconstruction of the Van der Pekbuurt is still visible nowadays. The small detailed changes are visible: the yellow masonry lining, the frames of the windows and the white lining of the roofs. The biggest operation after the war was the west part of the Van der pekbuurt. That part was rebuilt according to a complete different street pattern.32 As a result of the damages of the war, the need for housing grew extensively. Also the main ideas about housing changed, dwellings had to be bigger and every house should have a storage room. In that period of time, “Amsterdam Noord again was considered as a large scale construction site.”33

29. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for 10

urban development. p77 30. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. p74 31. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. p19 32. Bakker, M.M., Poll, F.M. van de.

Architectuur en stedebouw in Amsterdam 1850-1940. p34 17

opted for a quick and relatively inexpensive

from the national government committee to have

expansion.” In 1958 the city council changed its mind about the expansion of Amsterdam Noord. They aimed for an improvement of the accessibility between Amsterdam city centre and Amsterdam Noord. In this structure plan “an urban plaza was designed for Amsterdam Noord, along the banks of the IJ, as a spatial link between the city centre and Noord.”34

three cross-river connections instead of one; the Schellingswouderbrug, the Coentunnel and the IJtunnel. All three were finished eventually, the Schellingswouderbrug was completed in 1957, the Coentunnel in 1966 and the IJtunnel in 1968.

The Structure Plan of 1958 already considered the ring A10 in Amsterdam Noord. However, this A10 road was completed in 1990, instead of the Boogkanaal. During these developments, the Boogkanaal was never realised. In the sixties an upscaling of ammenities and an improvement of accessability were the focuspoints of the city renewal. In respect to this the IJ-tunnel, a hosipital, shopping malls and other ammenities were constructed in Amsterdam Noord.

After the completion of the IJtunnel, also the completion of the Nieuwe Leeuwarderweg, the main road to the north, became a fact.

Department of Stadsontwikkeling considered Amsterdam Noord as a mistake during the AUP in 1935 caused by “the lack of rail connection and the barrier effect of the IJ.”35 Crossing the IJ was the main aspect of the discussion about the development of Amsterdam Noord.

They proposed a bridge or a tunnel as the best solution for crossing the river.

The structure plan from 1958 had a global zoning plan. “The green structure of the plan determines the spatial layout and the partitioning.”36 The areas that had to be built were comparable with the original AUP. Road networks had to be provided in the future.

From 1955 changes had to be made between the interaction of transportation and spatial aspects, because till 1955 the only way to reach Amsterdam Noord from the city centre was by ferry. It is remarkable that “a link across the IJ had already been studied on a number of occasions since 1903, but without result.”37 For example, Publieke Werken published a report in 1931, which stated that a tunnel would be too expensive and had too many disadvantages. “In 1953, following a further survey report, the City Council chose to build a tunnel that connected to the Valkenburgerstraat.”38 They received a reaction 18

11

Spatial changes Amsterdam Noord from 1933

concept did not work effectively. During the war

to 1968 During the transformation over time, the residential areas stayed quite the same. The morphological changes occurred mainly in the industrial areas.

The southwest part of Volewijck is the territory of the Shell industries. Shell started there as the Dordtsche Maatschappij on the foreland of Volewijck in 1868. Due to its expansion they moved to the southwest part of buiksloterham in 1913. Since that time they completed some research buildings, which are still there in 1933.

Between 1933 and 1942 the Shell factory did not undergo any remarkable growth. However, after 1948 Shell industries experienced a major growth as never seen before. Especially to the eastside of the shell territory, the connecting part with the Van der Pekbuurt, has been developed in that time.

in 1940, Asterdorp was used as housing for the refugees after the bombings in Rotterdam. In 1942, the Germans used the village as a prison for German-Jewish families. During the bombings in 1943 Asterdorp was largely destroyed. After the bombings the dwellings were only used as storage. In 1955 they demolished the village, except the gatehouse.

Besides the growth of the Shell industries in the south, new settlements appeared near the Johan van Hasseltkanaal. Different from the Shell buildings, these settlements of separate industries consisted of large-scale buildings. The reason for this settlement was the location; the canal allowed transportation over water, the road provided transportation over land. The road in the north made it possible to reach the location without any transportation through the Garden Villages.

The development in the Van der Pekbuurt was not extensively in this period. In 1942, the upper part of the triangular squares in the east of the neighbourhood was built. The architectural design of this block is different compared to the other buildings nearby. This block is built up as straight terraced housing with partly angled blocks on both ends. This block has just one layer of housing, specially built for the elderly.

In the map of 1968 the western part of the Van der Pekbuurt has finally been completed.

This part of the neighbourhood, the square between the Heimansweg, Geraniumweg and Magnoliastraat has become a diffuse open space. The new design has a public square in the centre, with low buildings blocks of Airey housing.

The design is made by J.F. Berghoef, the exact date of completion of this part of the Van der Pekbuurt is not clear.

33. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. p21 35. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. p76 36. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B.

Remarkable in this industrial area is the demolition of Asterdorp, a village enclosed by a wall of 2.20 meters high. This village was meant as a housing school for the working-class. The village had a high vacancy and in 1938 the municipal housing services declared that this

(2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. p77 37, 38. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. p119 19

1979 scale 1:20.000

Transformation 1969-2013 The first plan after the modification of the AUP that had some importance for Amsterdam Noord was the structure plan. The structure plan originated with parts A and B in 1978. It was the first plan to use sector planning on a national level instead of the local municipality. Part C focused on the ratio between the space destined for industry and the space for housing within the existing city limits. This led to a more dominant housing policy which resulted in some substantial changes in Amsterdam Noord, like the IJplein 20

designed by OMA and the eastern harbour area including the transformation of Java and KNSM islands. The main reason to enlarge the housing production was the increasing individualisation.

Furthermore, increasing the housing stock would mean a better harmonization between housing and employment of workers within Amsterdam and would also supply a broader support base for economic functions which shifted more to the south of Amsterdam. 39 The next plan with relevance to Amsterdam Noord was the Amsterdam Structure Plan from

2013 scale 1:20.000

1991. The plan is earmarked as a compact city plan by encouraging the growth cores and building in or adjacent to the city with preservation of greenery. Also plans for the southern side of the IJ, like IJburg, was highly elaborated for ambitious housing expansions and infrastructure connecting the city centre with it. During this period awareness of problems concerning the variety of population became apparent. Segregation has led to accumulation of a high number of socially disadvantaged people living in neighbourhoods in Amsterdam.

built area water transformation

Social renewal would have to solve this problem

garden villages diminished. Slowly new industries

but is still an on-going process.40 The Open City Plan was a reaction on the previous one except this one points out some exact greenery with natural beauty.

The Florapark and the remaining green along the Noordhollandsch Kanaal were mapped as preservation area. However the Buikslotermeerplein was appointed as peripheral city-centre space crossing the greenery. The motivation behind it was the desire to make a mixed function urban environment in such a sub centre.41 The desire to make Amsterdam Noord more like an urban area was adopted in the plans from around the year 2000, however by different means than suggested in the Open City Plan.

The most current plan that deals with urbanity in Amsterdam Noord is the Opting for Urbanity Structure Plan from 2003. 42 Its predecessor was the Masterplan Noordelijke IJ-oever stating a vision about Amsterdam Noord that combined multiple functions as working, living

settled again, because many of these new industries are smaller and less polluting then their predecessors. From then on also housing can become part of the same area thus mixing the different functions.43

and leisure with urban features as high rise, improved infrastructure and intensifying housing production in urban areas. A coalition formed by Stadsdeel Amsterdam Noord and the central city municipality worked together on redevelopment of the IJ bank including Overhoeks with expensive private owned houses and cheap social housing. The Masterplan Noordelijke IJ-oever envisions a new relation between the industry and housing which should become more mixed and also more urban. According to Stadsdeel Amsterdam Noord the northern IJ banks are poorly utilized while it contains so many qualities. When the shipping industries in the seventies and eighties moved to the west of the western IJ banks the strong relation with the

39. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. p25,27,143,158,159

40. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. p31,166 41. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. p33 42. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. p35 43. Bureau Monumenten & Archeologie (2003). De Noordelijke IJ-oever, een cultuurhistorische effectenrapportage. p12 21

13

12

Spatial changes Amsterdam Noord from 1968 to 2013 IJplein As mentioned above, Part C of the structure plan in 1981 emphasized with building more houses instead of, or replaced by, industries. The IJplein designed by OMA, shown in Fig. 12, was placed on the land of former industry. Amsterdam Noord was intended for social housing hence the design had to incorporate primarily social housing as well. Rem Koolhaas formulated the design as a village urbanity. High-rise or more than four 22

levels was not possible due to budget costs, an elevator would be too expensive. The design layout was orientated to the IJ, which was a first for social housing. 44 Eastern harbour district The eastern harbour area includes the conversion of Java and KNSM islands. The new design was characterized by the same open structure as the IJplein, however this time high-rise was allowed for social housing was less demanded.

The influence in the plan process shifted more

or less from the municipality to the free market forces. Which is the opposite development during the making of the garden villages. The mixture of social and private-owned housing at the eastern harbour area would become also a process evolving in many garden villages, under the denominator social renewal. As mentioned in the Amsterdam Structure Plan from 1991 the goal behind this renewal was that the mix would provide a decline on the segregation of socially disadvantaged people. Not going into too much detail, for now it suffice to say that in

15

14

most garden villages the joining of the shared houses, consisting of two households, has been succeeded on quite a large scale except for the Van der Pekbuurt. It also seems that social segregation is part of the village, which most likely might have been different when renovation was pulled through. That would be attracted to more people with a different household composition.45

Overhoeks and Buiksloterham The redevelopment of Overhoeks, shown in Fig. 14, refers back to the vision proposed by the Masterplan Noordelijke IJ-oever. The area exist of the Shell headquarter, some campuses with mainly private-owned housing and new facilities like the Filmmuseum the EYE, shown in Fig. 15, and many more are planned. These conditions provide an urban habitat with high-rise buildings and amenities appropriate for a mature district.

Overhoeks makes it in that way a pioneer in Amsterdam Noord followed by urban plans at

the NSDM yard and the northern IJ banks. The houses can reach height of 30 till occasionally 120 meters mostly facing the IJ. Last but not least a part of the Buiksloterham is indicated as transformation area. Housing will stay but will be gradually substituted by working places as ateliers and small enterprises, because the initial separation of functions is too old fashioned and not fitting to the idea of urbanity.46

44,45. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. p144,145 46. Bureau Monumenten & Archeologie (2003). De Noordelijke IJ-oever, een cultuurhistorische effectenrapportage. p14 23

ANALYSIS

DISTRICT/NEIGHBOURHOOD

built area water subject 24

25

1932 scale 1:20.000

1968 scale 1:20.000

GREEN STRUCTURE Originally the greenery takes in an ambivalent role as a physical structure. Between the Van der Pekbuurt and the Garden Villages to north, the green pastures were the borders of the building morphology. At the same time it preserved space for the possible completion of the Johan van Hasseltkanaal. Immediately after the municipality realized that finishing the canal was unfeasible, this green strip transformed into a tiled marketplace, known as the mosmarkt. In the same strip they also constructed a hospital in the west together with some company buildings and 26

houses in the east. The hospital building is used as a hotel nowadays.

In the sixties the greenery had to hand over even more space due to the construction of the IJ-tunnel, which continues in the Nieuwe Leeuwarderweg. The green structure shrunk significantly over the past few decades but retained some of its quality. The Amsterdam Structure Plan from 1991 already mentioned the preservation of certain green structures within the city boundaries, but the Open City

Plan elaborated further on this and appointed the Florapark as a preservation area. The green structure has become more fragmented, because of the construction of the Nieuwe Leeuwarderweg. It also separated the different Garden Villages in Amsterdam Noord physically.

Currently West 8 is proposing a transformation into a singular park discarding the border of the Noordhollandsch Kanaal and the Nieuwe Leeuwarderweg by connecting the park with the surroundings using bridges.

built area water green

2013 scale 1:10.000 27

1932 scale 1:20.000

1968 scale 1:20.000

INFRASTRUCTURE As mentioned before, traffic over the IJ increased significantly and unexpectedly. The accessibility between Amsterdam Noord and the city centre has always been an issue one can imagine that discussions about infrastructure mainly focussed on the lack of river crossings. In 1924 Keppler already suggested that it was necessary to construct an IJ-tunnel. Up until then there were only two ferries that connected the city centre with Amsterdam Noord, both east and west of the Noord-Hollandschkanaal.

It was not until 1968 before the IJ-tunnel was 28

actually built. Before the IJ-tunnel, the Van der Pekstraat and the Hagedoornweg were the main entrances of the Volewijck. This shifted with introduction of the IJ-tunnel. The undeveloped area that was preserved for the Johan van Hasselt Kanaal was transformed into the Johan van Hasseltweg, which became the most prominent connection to the entrance of the Volewijck. Consequently the Van der Pekstraat and the Hagedoornweg lost their original meaning. Earlier in 1958 the city counsel decided to connect the Central Station with the industry

in the west in the form of the Distelweg-ferry.

Although attempts were made to increase the accessibility of Amsterdam Noord, it seems that the area beneath the Johan van Hasseltweg in Amsterdam Noord only gets more isolated. Fast traffic enters Amsterdam Noord on the North of the Van der Pekbuurt these days, while the ferries only give access for slower traffic. The upcoming Noord-Zuidlijn might improve the accessibility, although it is likely that this will improve the connection with the Van der Pekbuurt. There are no stops planned within the neighbourhood.

new ferry routes new roads existing roads/routes train tracks built area water

2013 scale 1:10.000 29

1932 scale 1:20.000

1968 scale 1:20.000

FUNCTIONS From the founding of the Garden Villages till the Second World War, the relation between the social housing and the industries was quite cohesive. A substantial part of the working-class worked at one of the industries along the IJ and lived in the adjacent Garden Villages. The segmentation between living and working is clearly visible on the map.

This relation crumbled away from the moment the shipyards ADM, NSM and other companies moved to other locations, for instance to the west of the IJ. From then on the segmentation 30

became more and more symbolic for the disconnection between the Garden Villages and the surrounding built environment. New industries settled, but their employees did not necessarily live in Amsterdam Noord. Hence a change in social structure arises, causing a social segregation of mostly immigrants.Simultaneously during the city renewal, the existing small-scale shops disappeared and were replaced by largescale shopping centres at the border of the neighbourhood.

The latest developments in Amsterdam Noord try

to redevelop the once so strong relation between industries and its social structure. The aim is to create a mixed urban habitat by introducing small enterprises in the living areas and increasing the number of public services. The new desired urbanity introduces some new cultural amenities and entertainment to Amsterdam Noord as well, like the EYE and the redesignation of the Shell tower into a hotel with nightlife activities.

industry education religious buildings dwellings built area water

2013 scale 1:10.000 31

1932 scale 1:10.000

1968 scale 1:10.000

FUNCTIONS The map of 1932 shows the presence of Asterdorp in the west side of the Van der Pekbuurt. This village was built according to the idea of educating the working-class in order to live a decent and better life. This idea is translated in communal houses, schools and public buildings such as churches, and a monastery.

During the period from 1930 till 1980 the Van der Pekbuurt did not change so much on the spectrum of program. A hotel was built in the north of Disteldorp and the square in the west of the neighbourhood received shape with the 32

creation of two small enterprises. While the physical structure did not change so much the social however did, as mentioned earlier in the analysis of district level.

The immigrants however did change the street view eventually. Small restaurants and cafes along the Hagedoornseweg and the Van der Pekstraat replaced the local corner shops. Especially along the Hagedoornseweg many new shops selling Donor Kebab and other similar food, were added.

Probably this side was more suited for this purpose due to the matter of private ownership.

In the east side of the neighbourhood there was a curious transformation. The monastery changed its function with a library, an office and the Leger des Heils, the new houses directing towards the canal are opening up the formerly enclosed building. In contrary to the apartments and the secondary school really makes the gesture of enclosing the neighbourhood. It’s still unsure which was the smartest move, what tends to connect the neighbourhood with its surroundings.

industry commercial services education religious buildings dwellings water

2013 scale 1:5.000 33

1932 scale 1:10.000

1968 scale 1:10.000

INFRASTRUCTURE The map of 1932 perfectly reflects the intentions of J.E. van der Pek and the influences of the Garden City Movement. As discussed previously in chapter 1, Unwin argued that streets should be arranged according to a hierarchy. There had to be a main frame of arterial highways connected by secondary roads. Streets not used for through traffic had to be designed for safe use.

In the Van der Pekbuurt this hierarchy of which Unwin speaks is clearly visible. J.E. van der Pek designed the Van der Pekstraat as the arterial road, a central axis that divided the 34

neighbourhood in two symmetrical pieces. This road is about thirty meters wide. Subsequently he designed streets with a width between fifteen and 25 meters. These can be seen as the secondary roads, defining the neighbourhood and dividing the area in four quarters. The in between roads have a width of fifteen meters or less, most of them are ten meters wide. These are the tertiary roads for the local traffic.

The transformations in the road system are minor. However, there are two changes worth mentioning. One is the connection of the

Distelweg in the northwest corner with the industry. This connection was made after the arrival of the Distelweg-ferry. Opposite to this is the disconnection of the middle secondary road (the Heimansweg) with the industry. Instead the Heimansweg in the Van der Pekbuurt was now accessible from the Grasweg via the Geraniumweg. With the introduction of the new Volewijck playground the Heimansweg became permanently disconnected from the industry for fast traffic.

existing roads new tertiary roads main artery new secondary roads dwellings water

2013 scale 1:10.000

Public Transport The connection between the city centre and Amsterdam Noord by public transport has always been poor. In order to reach the southern quay of the Van der Pekbuurt one has to travel by tram or metro to the Central Station. From there you can take the ferry and if necessary a bus to the Van der Pekbuurt. Another option is to travel to Central Station and take the bus from there, but this would take longer.

In the future the Noord-Zuidlijn will be another option in public transport to the Van der

Pekbuurt, although there will be no direct stops within the neighbourhood. The stops are planned outside the border of the Van der Pekbuurt. So although there are multiple options that connect the Van der Pekbuurt with the city centre, the area still feels disconnected and isolated in practice.

Street profiles The arterial road was exceptionally wide for the period in which it was designed. Here, again, the influences of Unwin are clearly visible. In 1904

public transport_2013 scale 1:10.000

he argued that the actual roadway and walkway could be reduced to a width with reasonable proportions to the traffic. This way the remaining space could be used for trees, shrubs and grass margins. 47

regional busline

The pictures on the following pages show how the street profiles (primary, secondary and tertiary) in the Van der Pekbuurt have evolved over time.

The widths of the main streets are reduced due to the introduction of the car and additionally the parking lots.

water

city busline dwellings

47. Miller, M. (1992). Raymond Unwin: Garden cities and Town Planning. p119 35

STREET PROFILES 16

17

36

18

19

Main road | >30 m.

Near the Van der Pekplein

1932

1964

pedestrian zone bicycle zone car zone parking zone green zone dwellings

Present 37

STREET PROFILES

20

22

21

23

38

Secundary roads | 15-20 m.

Tertiary roads | <15 m.

1932

1964

Present

39

ownership land_2013 scale 1:10.000

ownership buildings_2013 scale 1:10.000

Ownership land

OWNERSHIP In the first draft of the Van der Pekbuurt the southern part would be assigned to the Woningdienst, while the northern part would be assigned to housing corporations. Eventually J.E. van der Pek designed the whole area commissioned by the Woningdienst and thus the municipality of Amsterdam. At that time Amsterdam already owned the land.

In 1965 the task of the Woningdienst was inherited by the Gemeentelijke Woningbedrijf Amsterdam. With the establishment of the 40

ownership land municipality

Foundation â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Het Woningbedrijf Amsterdamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in 1994 the privatization of the company became a fact.

In 2004 they adopted the name Ymere as a result of the fusion of Woningbedrijf Amsterdam and Wonen voor Allen (WVA). Nowadays Ymere still owns most of the dwellings in the Van der Pekbuurt. A few exceptions in the form of private ownership are visible on the map.

Ymere does not own the land however. This is still the property of Amsterdam. The land on which the dwellings stands are all assigned to Ymere or private owners in terms of land lease.

The fact that hardly any changes have been made concerning the ownership of the dwellings or the lands, tells us something about the development of the area, which stagnated.

Apparently there has not been much room for private initiatives to improve the quality of the area.

ownership landlease

Ownership buildings private ownership building ownership building Ymere built area water

41

PRESENT CONDITIONS The Volewijck playground, the Mosplein and the Van der Pekplein form together three important fragments in the neighbourhood.

These fragments cover a piece of all four parts in the Van der Pekbuurt, even though one does not consider it as four different environments.

Both the Mosplein and the Van der Pekplein are interesting to get your hands on, since they are the main entrances of the neighbourhood. Due to infrastructural changes in the Van der Pekbuurt these two fragments switched roles. To what extend did this development meant something for 42

these fragments?

However, considering the Volewijck playground, this is one of the most curious areas in the whole neighbourhood. It definitely underwent the most developments by far; some have to do with events in the neighbourhood on the scale of Amsterdam or with the bombings in the Second World War. What did these developments mean for the fragment?

roads built area water fragments

1

fragment volewijck playground

2

fragment mosplein

3

fragment van der pekplein

2

1

3

2013 scale 1:5.000 43

FRAGMENT VOLEWIJCK PLAYGROUND This fragment is probably the only exception that can be found in the Van der Pekbuurt. The homogenization in architecture that J.E. van der Pek had in mind for this neighbourhood does not apply here. In the original plan of J.E. van der Pek this area was preserved for a school complex. However, these plans were realized for a short time period on these grounds.

Afterwards, the fragment stood empty for a relative period of time. It took until after the Second World War before the place found a new destination. J.F. Berghoef was the architect 44

of the new houses, while J.G. Rutgers restored the damaged authentic buildings in their original state.48 The public space in between the new houses was marked as a playground area. In the early years the physical implementation of the playground resulted in a small soccer field.

Later it transformed into the actual playground you will find nowadays. The diversity in housing typologies is what makes this fragment a special feature in the Van der Pekbuurt.

Also the increased isolated setting due to infrastructure transformations makes this place different from the rest.

48. Beschermd stadsgezicht AmsterdamNoord, deel 2: 20-40 gordel, tuindorpen en parken, p31

45

traffic direction scale 1:2.000

ACCESIBILITY The infrastructural changes mentioned in the previous paragraph had to do with the disconnection of the industry with this fragment of the Van der Pekbuurt. The Grasweg coming from the industry in the west used to be connected to the secondary road, the Heimansweg, which gave access to the arterial road, the Van der Pekstraat. The plans for the destination of a playground in this area might have been the reason why they decided to cut off this entrance to the neighbourhood. Access for through traffic has been made impossible due to the one-way 46

roads in the fragment, which makes it an isolated setting within the neighbourhood itself. Even the access between the different public spaces within the neighbourhood, in this case the connection with the Lupineplein on the north of this fragment, has been cut off in the course of time. Of course this also serves the feeling of security for the playing children.

The accessibility of the houses are possible both from the front as from the back. The back entrances, attainable by alleys have different characteristics, since some are closed for outsiders and others are not. The intention of Garden Villages is to make open connections between the building blocks, thus connecting the different alleys. What you see now is that most alleys are a dead end, lacking the original thoughts of the Garden Village. This is doing the accessibility and openness of the place as it was intended no good.

one-way road two-way road built area water

accesibility fragment scale 1:2.000

accesibility housing scale 1:2.000

1 door entry 2 door entry pedestrian area

3 door entry

pedestrian acces

4 door entry

bicycle and pedestrian acces

alleys non-accesible

all transport acces

alleys accesible

built area

built area

water

water 47

recreational commercial 48

FUNCTIONS

24

The distribution of functions in this fragment is scarce. Most of the area exists of housing, which strengthens the feeling and character of a village.

There are only two different functions present in this part of the neighbourhood. Although J.E. van der Pek preserved this fragment for the allocation of schools, this plan was never realized. Instead the area houses a recreational function and a commercial function.

The building in the north of the fragment houses the recreational function and supports the playground (Fig. 24). Besides that it also houses scouting and a workplace for the youth of the neighbourhood. Every so often it is used as a meeting place for mothers living in Amsterdam Noord.

25

More to the south of this fragment one can find an exceptional autonomous building (Fig. 25), which was used by the local post office in the former days. Nowadays De Beeld Brigade owns it. De Beeld Brigade is a production company for television, commercials and broadcast design.

49

50

USE OF PUBLIC SPACE

28

The fragment consists of multiple public and semi-public spaces, each with its own characteristics. There is of course the playground in the middle (Fig. 28), two paved public spaces that function as a meeting place, two public gardens and two collective gardens.

The playground is obviously the spindle within this fragment. The children playing in the afternoon or in the weekend is what makes it come to life. Interesting to know about this place is that the parents in this neighbourhood maintain it. This also indicates how important this playground is for them and their children.

Although the playground has an open character because of the low fences, it is bound to opening and closing times. Because it is not really possible to close of the playground, it is not clear how this is controlled.

The paved public spaces in this area mostly serve as a meeting place. The one in the north (Fig. 27) also serves as an entrance of the playground and is used by the children for chalking on the tiles as well.

The same goes for the collective gardens (Fig. 26). In potential these garden can add to the value of a building block or even the fragment and neighbourhood as a whole. However, due to the neglected private gardens and poor maintenance of the collective garden, these places are not appreciated to their potential value. The inhabitants of the area do not actually use the two public gardens in the west, since those serve as an embellishment of the area.

26

29

27

51

30

32

31

33

52

TACTICS

34

It is striking to see that the paved public spaces in this fragment, but also in other fragments, are often used as storage for (neglected) bicycles and in some cases even garbage (Fig. 32). This leaves little room for a qualitative, clean public space and it is plausible to think that this causes the space to be used less intensively.

It is obvious that people do not feel safe in this area, knowing that the level of crime is relatively high in the Van der Pekbuurt. This is visible in the way people furnish the borders over their gardens (Fig. 31), but this applicable in the whole neighbourhood. A good example can be given by the way the corner-building garden in the north is enclosed and how this was done just after the Second World War.

35

Not only physical protection of property, but also visual control is important in this fragment.

The playground, surrounded and enclosed by several building blocks, has eyes focussed on it all day long. When walking in this area, you can figuratively feel the eyes pointing at you. This visual control is done unnoticed, since most people cover their windows with curtains and shades.

53

Authentic 3 storey dwellings Terraced housing 3 storey Airey housing 2 storey 54

TYPOLOGIES As mentioned before the composition of typologies in this fragment is what makes this fragment an exception in the Van der Pekbuurt.

Most buildings were built in the reconstruction period after the Second World War. The authentic building typology that you find in the whole neighbourhood is just sparsely present in this area. The most outstanding and common typology in this fragment is the Airey-dwelling in the west, also known as a duplex dwelling. (Fig. 36) Also the 3 storey terraced housing on the east form an exception in the neighbourhood.

(Fig. 37) Obviously this distracts from the original thought of homogenization in the Garden Villages. This was definitely not the way J.E. van der Pek planned this area. However, it was hard to go against the construction of these dwellings seen the circumstances after the Second World

36

37

War.

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FRAGMENT MOSPLEIN This fragment is one of the entrances of the Van der Pekbuurt and contains one of the typical Van der Pek building blocks, although less typical then one might expect looking at J.E. van der Pekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earlier work. As an architect he build quite a few housing blocks in Amsterdam and in The Hague where the blocks are usually bigger and the buildings higher.

The building blocks higher than three layers are the combined housing and shops at ground level. When you look closely enough you might 56

also notice the very subtle rotation of the building blocks. The effect J.E. van der Pek most likely wanted to achieve is to create a street that has a continuous flow as it was intended to be the most important infrastructural artery, but at the same time he wanted to keep the picturesque feeling. This particular feature was probably the first attempt of J.E. van der Pek as this was his first major large scale design for a whole neighbourhood. The most striking difference compared to J.E. van der Pekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earlier work is the evolution of the garden layout and the treatment

of the building backs, which is an important aspect in the Garden Village.

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traffic direction scale 1:2.000

ACCESIBILITY Quite remarkable is that the Van der Pekstraat does not offer a passage towards the two ensembles of building blocks. The ensembles are better accessible by non-vehicular transportation.

Parking is only possible in the Bremstraat and the Sleutelbloemstraat. Within the ensemble it seems that walking would be the only real option here to reach the back gardens. Nowadays these alleys are often dead-ended and neglected while it used to be a more open and interconnected system of passages.

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It is quite obvious that the Van der Pekstraat is a symmetry axis, resulting in two almost identical ensembles. However, with the introduction of the car the streets have been treated differently in each ensemble. One side consists of only one-way direction streets, while the streets in the other part are accessible from both sides.

Another aspect of accessibility is the entrance of the individual buildings. The concentration of shared housing with four doors lined up together in one porch is more dominate at the most outer sides of the fragment. The houses at the Van der Pekstraat have a two-door entrance porch more often. This is because the typologies differ there.

one-way road two-way road built area water

accesibility fragment scale 1:2.000

accesibility housing scale 1:2.000

1 door entry pedestrian area

3 door entry

pedestrian acces

4 door entry

bicycle and pedestrian acces

alleys non-accesible

all transport acces

alleys accesible

built area

built area

water

water 59

catering commercial 60

FUNCTIONS

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The main functions in the fragment are of a commercial nature. The original Amsterdamse School buildings rounding the corner of the Van der Pekstraat (Fig. 38) contained commercial activity from the beginning. Nowadays one can buy groceries and fast food at the ground bounded extensions. The left building has been renovated and received back some of its stature, while the building on the right is still in a bad shape.

The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;high-riseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; building blocks (Fig. 39), containing a multitude of functions with on the west side mostly bars, are actually a compromise of J.E. van der Pek and Publieke Werken. The rule was to maintain a maximum of three layers in order to be more connected with the ground level, giving access to the outside. However, the

39

exception here was allowed where an extra layer underneath would be given a commercial activity and three levels of dwellings would be on top of this layer. The state of the cafes and bars in particular gives a deserted impression while the dentist and the Islamic foundation seems to keep the place neat. As part of the urbanisation of the neighbourhood some new developments are happening like the emerging of small businesses advertising their company on the windows. This is quite a strategic move, since Ymere is working on a plan to move the market, now located at the Mosveld, to the Van der Pekstraat where these small businesses could benefit from.

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USE OF PUBLIC SPACE The public space is pretty fragmented in this area. The largest public spaces are the sidewalks on both sides of the Van der Pekstraat. This space (Fig. 42) was intended as promenade with a lot of outdoor activities. The trees mark a line and form the border of the sidewalks. Over the years they have grown to an impressive height, creating quite an iconic image of the Van der Pekstraat.

42

40

At one point the building blocks deviate from the alignment. The offset of these building blocks create a forecourt on both sides of the street. However, these areas are more or less considered as no-man’s-land, which is why it is completely empty and without personality.

43

In the street-layout designed by J.E. van der Pek – following the ideology of Raymond Unwin – the public space in the Van der Pekstraat was treated as being one square or continues space, since car traffic did not dominate the image of the street back then. At times when the street would be without traffic, the space would transform into one open space where people could stroll on the sidewalks or along the plantations in the middle of the street.

41

The triangular plantation with shrubs also provides an area for strolling. This small rose garden is developed by a delegation of inhabitants. It is designed for the elderly and therefor located adjacent to the elderly dwellings.

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44

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45

TACTICS Half public, half private are the collective gardens in between the building blocks. The first experiments by J.E. van der Pek in the Indische Buurt show his idea to create a beautiful green, accessible open space within the building block. However this idea turned out to be a fiasco as children, playing in these huge gardens, turned it into a complete wasteland. Some intermediate models show the evolution towards what has become the model of the Van der Pekbuurt, which is private owned gardens adjacent to the houses. This way people could not wreck other peoples outside space . The open character of the spaces in between the building blocks has turned into a labyrinth with high fences (Fig. 45), which results in a visual closed off space. It provokes some surprisingly moments when a collective garden reveals itself. These gardens are maintained by the municipality and currently form the best Garden Village feeling in the whole area.

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48

47

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Corner 3 storey dwellings Authentic 3 storey dwellings Authentic 3 storey & shop Mixed typology 66

TYPOLOGIES The dwelling types are currently seen as very small and only suited to a very limited number of household types. There are two exceptional typologies in the neighbourhood that can be found in this fragment: Type G and Type W.

50

Type G does not have the characteristic entrance porch, but two regular doors next to each other.

The living room is facing the street while the kitchen is facing the backyard, which is quite the opposite from the dwelling layouts in the Western Garden Cities. This is an aspect related to social security. However, many people close of the view towards the street for either protection in the form of railings and fences or curtains to get more privacy.

Type W is four levels high and has a commercial space at the ground level. Different from most typologies in the neighbourhood this type has three entrances. Two with a central staircase leading to the apartments upstairs and the other as a direct entrance into a space that is intended for shops and other facilities.

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FRAGMENT VAN DER PEKPLEIN This fragment is one of the three typical areas in the Van der Pekbuurt. It contains three important public spaces and recognizable buildings blocks of this neighbourhood. The coherence between urban design and architectural design is quite apparent; the concept of public, collective and private spaces as seen in the neighbourhood were unique for that time. In this fragment of the Van der Pekbuurt, you can identify this very concept, like the private inner gardens that are accessible from a small alley. The Meidoornplein, Jac P. Thijsseplein and the Van der Pekplein as 68

public spaces, defined by it surrounded buildings.

The Van der Pekplein can also be acknowledged as the main entrance of the neighbourhood. From there the central axis, the Van der Pekstraat, begins, which is one of the main transportation roads and divides the neighbourhood into four parts. With the border in the north of the Heimansweg and in the south of the Meidoornweg, this fragment is within one of the four parts of the Van der Pekbuurt. In the southern part you see the typical concept of the

angled streets of the architect J.E. Van der Pek. By twisting these streets, this became one of the characteristics of the neighbourhood. So the sightlines would be short and he was convinced it gave the neighbourhood its picturesque identity.

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traffic direction scale 1:2.000

ACCESIBILITY As mentioned before, the artery to the Van der Pekbuurt is the Van der Pekstraat. A two way street, with separated lanes for bicycles and pedestrians. The separate lane for bicycles and the safe crossovers make this street unique in this neighbourhood, comparing to the smaller angled streets between the building blocks.

Remarkable are the small angled streets within this triangular fragment. The width of the streets did not change during time, but transportation did. The main type of transportation of society 70

nowadays is by car, however, this neighbourhood was not originally designed for car traffic. During time parking lots were placed and the image of the original street profile changed. This resulted in narrow streets, with parking lots on each side.

Therefor, it is odd that the streets nowadays are still used as a two way street.

The Van der Pekstraat and Meidoornweg are commonly designed for a larger quantity of transportation, what encloses the fragment. The other streets are all easily accessible by car and bicycle. The car and bicycle are using the same

lanes, while for the pedestrians a separate lane in front of the dwellings is designed. It is remarkable that during time, there is no development according to safe crossovers for pedestrians.

Even near the open pedestrian areas, the Jac P. Thijsseplein and the Meidoornplein are not surrounded with any safe crossovers.

The dwellings are attached to the pedestrian lanes in every street. Every house in this fragment is reachable by its own front door. Due to the different typologies you also see a differentiation of entering.

one-way road two-way road built area water

accesibility fragment scale 1:2.000

accesibility housing scale 1:2.000

1 door entry 2 door entry pedestrian area

3 door entry

pedestrian acces

4 door entry

bicycle and pedestrian acces

alleys non-accesible

all transport acces

alleys accesible

built area

built area

water

water 71

Community center Services Catering Bed & breakfast Commercial 72

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FUNCTIONS The main buildings in the Van der Pekbuurt are used as dwellings. J.E. van der Pek designed some exceptions like the dwellings with a commercial space on the ground floor.

Also in this fragment the original design had some of these exceptions; some of them still remained. For example the small Italian restaurant Il Pecorino on the Van der Pekplein (Fig. 52) became a small hotspot for tourists and inhabitants. This restaurant also ensures activity on the van der Pekplein. Besides that, Ymere, the housing cooperation in the Van der Pekbuurt started with a new concept, for the tenantless dwellings. They rent some houses in this area as a bed and breakfast (Fig. 51). You can recognize those houses in the whole neighbourhood by the orange front doors. Ymere also provided for some services in this fragment. The housing

53

cooperation wants to make sure that there are services for the inhabitants through the whole neighbourhood.

An older function in this fragment is the reading house (Fig. 53) that is settled on a central spot on the Meidoornplein. Its prior function contained a community centre for the Van der Pekbuurt.

All of these functions provide more activity and control in the fragment but obvious also for the complete neighbourhood. In this time, the Van der Pekbuurt is in need for more activity in public spaces and social control. Nowadays those functions are quite hidden within the fragment, and the angled streets do not make it possible to make those functions visible from the outside.

51

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USE OF PUBLIC SPACE This fragment contains three larger designed public spaces besides the open street pattern.

The Meidoornplein (Fig. 56) is a very obvious green square on the Meidoornweg. The reading house in the centre, enclosed by high trees, accentuates the square. Dwellings on three sides enclose this square, or actually it can be considered as a small park. On one side the Meidoornplein is connected to the Meidoornweg and the smaller park behind it. The Meidoornplein is not a typical public space for the concept of the garden villages. The ideal of the public spaces in the garden village is the typical seclusion of the space, like you see with the Jac. P. Thijsseplein.

The use of the Meidoornplein nowadays is mainly for dog walkers.

More activity is happening in the enclosed Jac. P. Thijsseplein (Fig. 54). The Heimansweg, the second main road perpendicular to the Van der Pekstraat, divides this square. In this fragment the southern part of this square will be discussed.

The Jac. P. Thijsseplein was originally an empty urban space. Nowadays it is an open playground, surrounded by high trees and wooden benches.

A small fence of 50 centimetres high encloses this playground, which is made invisible by the green bushes and trees. A lot of children from the neighbourhood play here during the day, under the supervision of parents sitting on the benches. The small lane next to the square, created by big trees and the original streetlights in the middle, create an extra-ordinary image in this neighbourhood.

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Further on, there is the Van der Pekplein as a public space in this fragment (Fig. 55). This square is designed as a kind of introduction of the neighbourhood. The square is decorated with a few trees, green lower and higher bushed and a pathway in the middle with benches. The buildings behind define the Van der Pekplein, especially the four storey high buildings containing commercial spaces.

56

54

75

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58

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59

60

TACTICS During time, open spaces, public and private, have been changed in the Van der Pekbuurt. Nowadays, the inhabitants deteriorate the public spaces (Fig. 59), but also their own private spaces. Bicycles are standing everywhere and garbage lies on the pedestrian lanes or in hang in trees. The inhabitants are taping the windows of front doors so pedestrians cannot look inside. On the backside of the dwellings, every ground floor dwelling has its own private garden. Those gardens are attached to an alley, which is sometimes accessible. Some alleys are closed by doors and only accessible by the inhabitants of those dwellings. Other alleys are open, but caused by the high fences; there is no social control in those narrow alleys. There has been a massive change in how inhabitants use their space around them in this neighbourhood.

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Community centre Corner 3 storey dwellings Authentic 3 storey dwellings Authentic 3 storey & shop 78

TYPOLOGIES The main typology present in this fragment is the authentic three-storey dwelling (Fig. 61). This dwelling has been used as a main typology in the whole neighbourhood. The concept of this dwelling is a shared house; each dwelling has two front doors. One front door leads to the hallway of a ground floor housing. The other front door, leads to a small hallway that continues directly in a staircase. This means that two families are living in one house. This typology is recognizable by the additional component of four front doors that stands out of the faรงade.

In the corners of the building block, J.E. van der Pek used another typology. This typology is also based on shared housing but the entrances of the dwellings are on the side, instead of the front.

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In the Van der Pekstraat, J.E. van der Pek used different typologies for the dwellings with commercial spaces on the ground floor. He used this typology also on the Van der Pekplein. The commercial spaces are reachable through a door in the middle of the faรงade. The dwellings above are reachable by the doors on the side of the commercial spaces.

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CONCLUSIONS The physical, social and institutional changes in Amsterdam Noord and in particular the Van der Pekbuurt, can be characterized by four

the municipality to plan Garden Villages in this area as well, including the Van der Pekbuurt. The cheap land acquisition costs and the possibility of

However, the individualisation of the private gardens affected the green open character of public and collective spaces. Additionally,

between the city centre and Amsterdam Noord.

Though, the construction of the IJ-tunnel and the Nieuwe Leeuwarderweg made the Van der

topics: ownership, enclosure, access and social structure.

a settlement of working-class houses next to an industrial area, which would discharge the traffic over the IJ, were the main reasons to choose this area.

the introduction of the car transformed the perception of public spaces into a more urbanized setting. Street profiles were adapted to the car, which resulted in new pavements and the construction of parking places. Furthermore, due to the city renewal, small-scale shops in the neighbourhood disappeared and were replaced by concentrated large-scale shopping areas near the Van der Pekbuurt. Previous activities and life on the streets in the neighbourhood were the result of the scattered location and diversity of small-scale shops, but this disappeared during the city renewal. The city renewal also attempted to connect the city of Amsterdam with Amsterdam Noord, because there has always been a need for better and faster transportation

Pekbuurt an isolated settlement and separated the neighbourhood from the other Garden Villages in the east.

The foundation of the Van der Pekbuurt started with the Industrial Revolution, which occurred in the Netherlands during the second half of the nineteenth century. This caused a housing crisis in the city centre of Amsterdam. Due to the settlement of industries in the city centre next to housing areas, a lot of health and social problems arose. The government had to interfere in social housing. At the same time industries were growing and wanted to expand their facilities. Originally the land on the other side of the IJ was chosen as a new industrial area by the municipality. However, the housing crisis forced 80

The original plan of J.E. van der Pek made the Van der Pekbuurt a stand-alone neighbourhood with clear borders and entrances. It is designed as a homogeneous architectural settlement.

The neighbourhood contained all the necessary facilities a village needs to have to create a liveable local environment. The Van der Pekbuurt is constructed as a neighbourhood with an open spatial urban structure with a green, picturesque and peaceful habitat, just like J.E van der Pek designed it.

In the early days the houses in the Van der Pekbuurt, constructed and maintained by the Woningdienst, were seen as spacious dwellings with a lot of light and air. In fact, at first the municipality thought that they were too spacious for the lower class. Not surprisingly the dwellings were very much appreciated.

However, privatisation and renovation of the dwellings were executed in most Garden Villages, except for the Van der Pekbuurt. This resulted in more expensive housing in Amsterdam Noord, changing the reputation of the dwellings in the

Van der Pekbuurt. Inhabitants of the restructured neighbourhoods with a lower income moved to the Van der Pekbuurt as it is still mostly social

resulting in neglected public spaces and lack of dwelling maintenance. The last couple of years, speculations have been going on about whether

housing owned by Ymere. Hence the social structure in the neighbourhood changed. The fact that the dwellings have not been privatised and hardly been renovated, also left its mark on the neighbourhood physically. First, hardly any individual initiatives are possible without private ownership. Therefor the houses have fallen behind in their development compared to other Garden Villages in Amsterdam Noord. This strengthens the idea that the Van der Pekbuurt has become an isolated and practically neglected settlement.

With the arrival of Overhoeks adjacent to the Van der Pekbuurt this position will only get bigger.

or not the neighbourhood should be demolished.

This leads to insecurity among the inhabitants and for some this is even a reason to move out of their house. There are fewer and fewer people in the neighbourhood who really know each other, which is a bad signal for social security in the neighbourhood. People tend to be more introverted, which can be seen in the way people close of their private property. The consequence of all this is that the number of crimes and vandalism is very high in the Van der Pekbuurt.

Overall it can be said that the concept of the Garden Village is degraded and out-dated in the Van der Pekbuurt and that the glory of old days has been lost.

To conclude it can be said that the stagnation in the development of the neighbourhood is

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REFERENCES books Bakker, M.M., Poll, F.M. van de. Architectuur en stedebouw in Amsterdam 1850-1940. Zwolle, Nederland: Waanders Uitgevers Bureau Monumenten & Archeologie (2003).

De Noordelijke IJ-oever, een cultuurhistorische effectenrapportage. Amsterdam, Nederland

De Liagre Bohl, H. (2010). Amsterdam op de helling. Amsterdam, Nederland:Uitgeverij Boom Feddes, F. (2012) 1000 jaar Amsterdam.

Ruimtelijke geschiedenis van een wonderbaarlijke stad. Bussum, Nederland: Uitgeverij Thoth 82

Groot, T.C. (1950) Plan voor IJtunnel.

Amsterdam, Nederland Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. Rotterdam, Nederland: NAi Publishers Krop, A. (1992) Wonen en werken in de Buiksloterham: de geschiedenis van een voormalige polder. Amsterdam, Nederland: Stichting Historisch Centrum AmsterdamNoord.

Schade, C. (2010). Jan Ernst van der Pek, 1865-1919: pionier van de volkshuisvesting.

Rotterdam, Nederland: Stichting BONAS

Swart, W. (1990). Amsterdam-Noord 18501930, De geschiedenis achter de feiten.

Alkmaar, Nederland: Uitgeverij Bewustzijn

websites

Swart, W. (1992). Van sinaasappelkistje tot kangoeroe-woning, Het Amsterdam-Noord van Arie Keppler. Amsterdam, Nederland: Wijkbouworgaan Midden-Noord

archives

Miller, M. (1992). Raymond Unwin: Garden cities and Town Planning. London, England: Leicester University Press p116,117

http://www.west8.nl/projects/noorderpark_amsterdam

Stadsarchief Gemeente Amsterdam

figures 1. Swart, W. (1992). Van sinaasappelkistje tot

2/3. http://beeldbank.amsterdam.nl

own photography:

kangoeroe-woning, Het Amsterdam-Noord van Arie Keppler. Amsterdam, Nederland: Wijkbouworgaan Midden-Noord 5/6. Schade, C. (2010). Jan Ernst van der Pek, 1865-1919: pionier van de volkshuisvesting.

Rotterdam, Nederland: Stichting BONAS. p. 91 9/11. Jolles, A., Klusman, E., Teunissen, B. (2003) Planning Amsterdam, scenarios for urban development. Rotterdam, Nederland: NAi Publishers.

4. http://scodpub.files.wordpress.com/2011/ 7/8. http://beeldbank.amsterdam.nl 12. www.panoramio.com 13. www.soetersvaneldonk.nl 14. www.asapnetwork.nl 15. www.commons.wikimedia.org16/17. http:// beeldbank.amsterdam.nl 20/21. http://beeldbank.amsterdam.nl 34. http://beeldbank.amsterdam.nl 46/47. http://beeldbank.amsterdam.nl

18-19 22-33 35-45 48-61 own maps: 10

(Pictures mentioned as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Own photographyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; are made by Iris Jansen, Jim Pulles and Rinze Sipkema, on the 4th of March, 2013, the 29th of March and the 18th of April, 2013.)

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