Osdorp
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Osdorp is the newest of the garden cities in West Amsterdam.
.| Garden City Type: | Mixed (housing association / municipality / other) |
| Country: | Netherlands |
| City: | Amsterdam |
| Years of construction: | |
| Initiator/client: | Municipality of Amsterdam - Dienst der Publieke Werken |
| Architect or related: |
Cornelis van Eesteren |
| Heritage status: | No |
| General condition of Garden City: | Reasonable condition |
General description
Osdorp is the newest of the garden cities in West Amsterdam. It has become a central point for people from the surrounding garden cities as a place to store at Osdorpplein or go to the Meervaart theater.
Of all the garden cities, Osdorp has the most striking skyline, especially when viewed from the lake (Sloterplas).
Cornelis van Eesteren had already penciled in high-rise apartment buildings in his expansion plan, which acted as an aesthetic accent between the low-rise buildings in the other garden cities.
In the 1960s, Osdorp was full of high-rise apartment buildings.
In the 1960s, high-rise buildings met the continuing demand for housing. Torenwijck (literally: the tower district) is also known as the Gold Coast. This move to high-rise also brought new designs. The apartment buildings on Notweg were, at the time, a novelty. They had elevators, chutes and even an ingenious rack to hide laundry on the balcony.
Since the original construction, technological advances and modernization have made great strides, and Osdorp is now home to some fine new construction. The Oklahoma building on Ookmeerweg by architecture firm MVRDV, for example, is an attraction for architecture buffs. The floating floors in particular are worth noting. The aluminum-colored Shooter Tower on the Oeverpad is also very striking.
