De Pijp

De Pijp (; English: The Pipe) is a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is located directly south of Amsterdam's city centre and it is part of the borough Amsterdam-Zuid, in a part of the city known as the Old South ( ''Oud Zuid''). It is served by De Pijp metro station. Most streets in De Pijp are named after Dutch painters, like Jan Steen, Frans Hals, Ruysdael and Vincent van Gogh. Diamantbuurt, Nieuwe Pijp and Oude Pijp are the three districts composing the area.

The busiest street market of the Netherlands, the Albert Cuyp Market, is located in De Pijp. It is open six days per week and attracts tourists. The former Heineken brewery is also a local tourist attraction; the former town hall of Nieuwer-Amstel is one of De Pijp's most notable monuments. 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 district.

De Pijp is densely populated and has a diverse population, with a relatively high percentage of highly educated people and people living alone. Notable people to have lived in De Pijp include painter Piet Mondriaan, folk singer André Hazes, as well as actress Carice van Houten. In 2013, Mano Bouzamour published a much-disputed novel about growing up as an immigrant in this neighbourhood.

History

The older section of De Pijp (nowadays 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 centre, would be built.

The plan included the construction of the Amsterdam Centraal station in the middle of De Pijp, on the current location of the Sarphatipark, with a modern railway along the 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 Jan Kalff, Director of the Public Works Department (''Plan Kalff'' of 1876, also known as the ''19e-eeuwse-gordel''). The only thing he retained 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 most houses are two windows wide.

The southern part of De Pijp, including the Diamantbuurt (literal translation: Diamond neighbourhood), 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 centre and the Weteringschans, between Boerenwetering in the west and the Amstel in the east. Its main roads are Ceintuurbaan and Stadhouderskade, running from east to west, and Ferdinand Bolstraat, Van Woustraat and Amsteldijk running from north to south. The neighbourhood is served by tram lines 3, 4, 12,16, 24 and 25.

In 2003 the city commenced the construction of the underground metro ''Noord/Zuidlijn'', connecting the northern part of the city to the Zuidas in its southern borough. The metro line and an underground station at Ferdinand Bolstraat called De Pijp, was completed and began service in July 2018.

References

External links

Geschiedenis: oude buurtindelingen van Amsterdam

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Neighbourhoods of Amsterdam
Former boroughs of Amsterdam
Amsterdam-Zuid
Red-light districts in the Netherlands