NDSM, Amsterdam

NDSM is a neighborhood on the former grounds of the Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij, the shipyard that once built and repaired vessels here. Its huge industrial halls and working spaces now hold a lively cultural district along the IJ, with galleries, festivals, restaurants and creative organisations. The former shipyard covered 90 hectares, and after it fell into disuse, squatters occupied many of its buildings during the 1990s.

Their organisation, Kinetisch Noord, helped shape the site as a cultural incubator during its regeneration. Look at the broad shipbuilding warehouse: it measures 20,000 m² and rises more than 20 metres, giving you a sense of the scale of the old enterprise. Nearby, the former timber workshop is now the headquarters of Paramount Benelux, while the STRAAT Museum presents changing street-art works on the same terrain.

The monumental shipyard buildings, including the former welding hall, timber workshop, smithy and slipways, received national monument status in 2007. NDSM still carries the drama of its industrial past, but its present life is unmistakably artistic: the former worksite now hosts theatre, exhibitions, public events and the IJhallen flea market, described as Europe’s biggest.