De Pijp

De Pijp
Oud Zuid
Neighborhood of Amsterdam
Country  Netherlands
Province North Holland
COROP Amsterdam
Population (2009) 33,120
Time zone CET (UTC+1)

De Pijp (The Pipe) is a neighborhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

De Pijp is located directly south of Amsterdam's city centre and it is part of the borough 'Amsterdam-Zuid'. Most streets in De Pijp are named after Dutch painters, like Jan Steen, Frans Hals, Ruysdael and Vincent van Gogh.

The most famous and busiest street market of the Netherlands, the Albert Cuyp Market, is in De Pijp. It is open six days per week and attracts many tourists. The former Heineken brewery is also a popular tourist attraction. Next to the former Heineken brewery is the Marie Heinekenplein, which has a number of bars and cafes. Along the canal 'Ruysdaelkade' there is a small red light area.

De Pijp is densely populated and has a diverse population, with a relatively high percentage of highly educated people and people living alone.[1] Famous Dutch people who have lived in De Pijp include painter Piet Mondriaan, folk singer André Hazes, design team Marvin Oduber and Monika Oduber, as well as actress Carice van Houten. In 2013, Mano Bouzamour published a much disputed novel about growing up as an immigrant in this neighborhood.

Planning and construction

The older section of De Pijp, called "Oude Pijp," was built cheaply in the 19th century to accommodate a rapidly expanding population. The original plan was idealistic. In the spirit of Sarphati the young city engineer Van Niftrik submitted plans in 1866 for a full-scale expansion belt in the polder area along the edge of Amsterdam, where De Pijp (then called Neighborhood YY), a beautiful new center, would be built.[2] The plan included the construction of the Amsterdam Central Station in the middle of De Pijp, on the current location of the Sarphati Park, with a modern railway along Ceintuurbaan. North of the track there would be large apartment blocks and wide streets, and in the south, an area of villas with green, wide avenues in a star pattern. Plan YY had a grandeur that would equal that of the new districts of Paris and Vienna. However, the council rejected the plan.

A new plan was drafted by Kalff, the director of the Public Works department (Plan-Kalff, 1876). The only thing he maintained from the old plan was the raising of the polder area with about five feet for the drainage and sewage. He refrained from regrouping, so that the street pattern was a copy of the old polder lock pattern. It was all built as quickly as possible, using the cheapest materials (jerry-building). No villas were built. De Pijp became an area of long streets with a typical street wall image: generally four stories with a canopy, the height staggered between the plots, each piece topped with a white roof with a cap and lifting bar, and each house is three windows wide.

The southern part of De Pijp, including the Diamantbuurt (Diamond neighborhood) was built some years later, around 1925. This area was designed according to the Amsterdam School style of architecture.

Geography

De Pijp is located just South of the city center, between Boerenwetering in the west and the Amstel in the east. Its main roads are Ceintuurbaan and Stadhouderskade, running East-West, and Ferdinand Bolstraat, Van Woustraat en Amsteldijk running North-South. The neighborhood is served by tram lines 3, 4, 12,16, 24 and 25. In 2003 the city commenced the construction of the underground Noord-Zuidlijn, connecting the Northern part of the city to the Zuidas in the South. An underground station at Ferdinand Bolstraat is nearing completion.

Canon of Amsterdam

References

External links

Coordinates: 52°21′11″N 4°53′46″E / 52.35306°N 4.89611°E / 52.35306; 4.89611

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