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Serious money is moving into the city’s old shipyards, now one of Europe’s most vibrant creative quarters. For ICON 150, Enya Moore went to find out whether the area’s rapid transformations means the designers will eventually be moving out. These photos, by Raoul Kramer, accompany the article Until the 1980s, the north of Amsterdam was a shipyard and home to the industry’s workers. Since the shipping industry went bust, the area has donned many guises, but the promise held by the abandoned spaces and empty warehouses in the North was soon recognised by the Dutch government. And, so the rundown sites, wanted by no one, were offered to the “creative” community who accepted them gladly and made them their own. Today, Amsterdam North (or just Noord to locals) is a veritable patchwork quilt with waterways sewing each panel of the community together. Studios, workshops and music venues are dotted around the canals, hidden in warehouses, tucked away in crevices and pulsing in ramshackle sheds. |
Photography Raoul Kramer
Words Enya Moore |
