Amsterdam fans out south from the Amsterdam Centraal railway station. The Damrak is the main street and leads into the street Rokin. The oldest area of the town is known as de Wallen (the quays, this does not refer to the old city walls, the Dutch word for wall being ‘muur’). It lies to the east of Damrak and contains the city’s famous red light district. To the south of de Wallen is the old Jewish quarter of Waterlooplein. The 17th century girdle of concentric canals, known as the Grachtengordel, embraces the heart of the city where homes have interesting gables. Beyond the Grachtengordel are the formerly working class areas of Jordaan and de Pijp. The Museumplein with the city’s major museums, the Vondelpark, a 19th century park named after the Dutch writer Joost van den Vondel, and the Plantage neighborhood, with the zoo, are also located outside the Grachtengordel.
Several parts of the city and the surrounding urban area are polders. This can be recognized by the suffix -meer which means lake, as in Aalsmeer, Bijlmermeer, Haarlemmermeer, and Watergraafsmeer.
Canals
The Amsterdam canal system is the result of conscious city planning.In the early 17th century, when immigration was at a peak, a comprehensive plan was developed that was based on four concentric half-circles of canals with their ends emerging at the IJ bay. Known as the Grachtengordel, three of the canals are mostly for residential development: Those are the Herengracht (Gentleman’s Canal), Keizersgracht (Emperor’s Canal), and Prinsengracht (Prince’s Canal’). The fourth and outermost canal, the Singelgracht (not to be confused with the older Singel), served purposes of defense and water management. The defensive purpose was established by moat and earthen dikes, with gates at transit points, but otherwise no masonry superstructures.Furthermore, the plan envisaged: (1) Interconnecting canals along radii; (2) creating a set of parallel canals in the Jordaan quarter, primarily for transportation purposes; (3) converting the defensive purpose of the Singel to a residential and commercial purpose; (4) constructing more than one hundred bridges.
Construction started in 1613 and proceeded from west to east, across the breadth of the lay–out, like a gigantic windshield wiper as the historian Geert Mak calls it—and not from the centre outwards as a popular myth has it. The canal constructions in the southern sector were accomplished by 1656. Subsequently, the construction of residential buildings commenced slowly. The eastern part of the concentric canal plan, covering the area between the Amstel river and the IJ bay, has never been implemented. In the following centuries, the land was used for parks, senior citizens’ homes, theaters, other public facilities, and waterways without much planning.
Over the years, several canals have been filled in becoming streets or squares, such as the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and the Spui.
Expansion of Amsterdam
After the development of Amsterdam’s canals in the 17th century, the city did not grow beyond its borders for two centuries. During the 19th century, a number of plans were devised to expand Amsterdam, the first of which was initiated by Samuel Sarphati.He devised a plan based on the grandeur of Paris and London of that time. The plan consisted of the construction of new houses, public buildings and streets just outside the grachtengordel. The main aim of the plan, however, was to improve public health. Although the plan did not expand the city, it did produce some of the largest public buildings to date, like the Paleis voor Volksvlijt.
Following Sarphati, Van Niftrik and Kalff designed an entire ring of 19th century neighbourhoods surrounding the city’s centre. Most of these neighbourhoods became home to the working class.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Amsterdam became overpopulated and experienced a shortage of living space.In response to this, two plans were designed which were very different from anything Amsterdam had ever seen before: Plan Zuid, designed by the architect Berlage, and West. These plans involved the development of new neighborhoods consisting of housing blocks for all social classes.
After World War II large new neighborhoods were built in the western, southeastern, and northern parts of the city. These new neighbourhoods were built to relieve the city from its shortage of living space and give people affordable houses with modern day conveniences. The neighbourhoods consisted mainly of large housing blocks situated among green spaces, connected to wide roads, making the neighbourhoods easily accessible by automobile.The western suburbs which were built in that period are collectively called the Westelijke Tuinsteden. The area to the southeast of the city built during the same period is known as the Bijlmer.
Architecture
Amsterdam has a rich architectural history. The oldest building in Amsterdam is het Houten Huysat the Begijnhof. This wooden building was constructed around 1425 and is one of only two existing wooden buildings. It is also one of the few rare examples of gothic architecture in Amsterdam.In the sixteenth century, wooden buildings were broken down and replaced by brick ones. During this period, many buildings were constructed according to the architectural style of the Renaissance. Buildings from this period are very recognizable, since they have a façade which ends at the top in the shape of a stairway. This is, however, the common Dutch Renaissance style. Amsterdam quickly developed its own Renaissance architecture. These buildings were built according to the principles of the architect Hendrick de Keyser.One of the most striking buildings designed by Hendrick de Keyer is the Westerkerk. In the seventeenth century baroque architecture became very popular, as it did elsewhere in Europe. This was roughly during the same period as Amsterdam’s Golden Age. The leading architects of this style in Amsterdam were Jacob van Campen, as well as Philip Vingboons and Daniel Stalpaert.
Philip Vingboons designed splendid merchants’ houses throughout the city. A famous building in baroque style in Amsterdam is the Royal Palace on Dam Square. Throughout the eighteenth century, Amsterdam was heavily influenced by French culture.This is reflected in the architecture from that period. Around 1815, architects broke with the baroque style and started building in different neo-styles. Most gothic style buildings date from that era and are therefore said to be built in a neo-gothic style. At the end of the Since Amsterdam rapidly expanded during this period, new buildings adjacent to the city’s center were also built in this style. The houses in the vicinity of the Museum Square in Amsterdam Oud-Zuid are an example of Jugendstil. The last style that was popular in Amsterdam before the modern era was Art Deco. Amsterdam had its own version of the style, which was called the Amsterdamse School. Whole districts were built in Amsterdamse School, such as the Rivierenbuurt.A notable feature of the façades of buildings designed in Amsterdamse School, is that they are highly decorated and ornate, with oddly shaped windows and doors.
The old city’s center is the epicenter of all the architectural styles before the end of the nineteenth century. Jugendstil and Art Deco are mostly found outside the city’s center in the neighbourhoods built in the early twentieth century, although there are some striking examples of these styles present in the city’s center. Most historic buildings in the city’s center and nearby are houses, such as the famous merchant’s houses lining the canals.
