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Roelof Hartplein, Amsterdam

The scale of the achievement of the housing built in Amsterdam between 1915 and 1940 is impressive. It is estimated that over 90,000 homes were built in total and managed by the municipality, housing associations, cooperatives and charities. Much of this filled the area which is known today as Amsterdam Zuid, built to a planContinue reading “Roelof Hartplein, Amsterdam”

Betondorp; Amsterdam’s concrete village

Betondorp is a garden village in Amsterdam Oost, constructed between 1923 – 1927 during a period of intensive house building across the city in which thousands of homes were constructed by cooperatives, associations and the city council. It is part of the larger Tuindorp Watergraafsmeer garden village which consists of two distinctive areas. One halfContinue reading “Betondorp; Amsterdam’s concrete village”

Amsterdam, International

There are maps, plans, diagrams, lists of articles and books, buildings to photograph, streets to explore, biographies to read and historical timelines. And yet sometimes the occasion is just to drift, pulled by the hidden psychic energy of what lies beneath the city streets. And unplanned, into Amsterdam East. It feels more anarchic than theContinue reading “Amsterdam, International”

In Amsterdam

In a bookshop is discovered ‘Brandscape’ by Anna Klingmann, published by MIT Press. It is an American book, published in the United States, and has the paper quality and object-weight that suggests something worth reading. Brandscape will be added to the catalogue of keywords that are being put together as a guide to the cityContinue reading “In Amsterdam”

To Europe

Billions of pounds have been spent on networks, servers, databases, computer equipment, satellites, cloud storage, web services and labour power. And yet due to a fire at Rotterdam station, no-one at the Eurostar check-in can tell me if there are any trains going to Amsterdam. I am presented with a vague, semi-apocalyptic vision which suggestsContinue reading “To Europe”

Goodge Street

A politics of formulas, reading from the same script, here and there a word has faded, or been erased and a new one fitted in; but it’s a schema. Faces are airbrushed from the record. There is a sub-text of the embrace of loneliness, the strange day dreams that so many conjure up but expressContinue reading “Goodge Street”

Take to the Streets

There are three themes to this walk, housing, labour and capital. They will be interwoven into the fabric of the streets. We will visit four housing estates built by the London County Council and so we will start with a little history. 1 The London County Council A number of key determinants combined to facilitateContinue reading “Take to the Streets”

London Belongs to Me – or does it?

London Belongs to Me is the name of a rather good book by Norman Collins. It’s a rambling novel about London life before, during and after the Blitz with a cast of strong and intriguing characters. Who could write a book today with such a name? The film of the book is much chopped andContinue reading “London Belongs to Me – or does it?”

Notes on Hamburg and its Housing

One of the pleasures of arriving at a port-city is the first impression, the immediate surfaces, the familiar-strangeness. The roll of the train into the station; cinematic movement, office blocks, bridges, viaducts the electrical infrastructure of the inter-city and suburban railways, glimpses of an earlier time, when capital took different forms, red brick buildings withContinue reading “Notes on Hamburg and its Housing”

Hufeisensiedlung, Berlin

Berlin is waking up. In every house and apartment bells are ringing, chiming, clanging. The sleepy population rises from their beds; big comfy doubles with another human close beside (some loved, others not so much, if at all), single beds, bunk beds, sofa beds, mattresses on the floor, piles of rags in unusual corners. TheContinue reading “Hufeisensiedlung, Berlin”