I've always been inspired by old industrial buildings like factories, but unfortunately such buildings have become rather rare in the Netherlands. At the moment you can still find some of the remains of the old harbour of Amsterdam called the ‘NDSM werf’ on the other side of the river ‘IJ,’ but this area seems to be in transition as well. For the time being the NDSM werf is a creative place where a lot of activities are taking place. The best part for me is the 'Y-helling' to enjoy the (modest) skyline of Amsterdam and to write graffiti.



Surrounded by the growing business area of Amsterdam Zuid, this modernist historic monument from the 60's oozes freedom. The clash of strict, grey, practical architecture of Gerrit Rietveld with the chaotic, colourful, anarchic bustle of art students working in these spaces is amazing. The 5 years I spend here as a student changed my life and shaped me to a great extend to who I am today. Now, temporarily walking these corridors again as a guest teacher, I realise how much I had missed this place since graduating 8 years ago. This is not a common art school. It's a family, a movement with a very personal and radical approach. Many students coming for a temporary exchange end up staying, because after wandering through this twisted Mondrian painting you will never be the same…

De School is my favorite spot in Amsterdam. It opened in January of 2016 on Doctor Jan van Breemenstraat. The place, which used to be a technical school, is more than a nightclub: it’s a restaurant, a café, an exhibition venue, a gym, and many more things. It's owned and run by Post CS BV — the same crew that ran Trouw and Club 11. The nightclub has a capacity of 700 people, and it's located in the institution's former bicycle storage area. The program focuses on local DJs, who are allowed to play extended sets, but international guests also regularly stop by. The ambiance there is so enchanting that it's hard for me to leave even when I can't feel my legs anymore. It's super dark, fog all over the place, super loud, flawlessly music and introspective humans dancing like there's no tomorrow. Who could ask for anything more?

The best place to read a book outside or inside one of the greenhouses and be surrounded by all of these different species of nature.

A few years ago I had a conversation with a staff member from Uytenhaak Architects about concealed texts in Amsterdam, relating to my own work ‘stoned forever’, which is integrated in brickwork in the Olympic Quarter. He said that there is a text in Morse code incorporated into the Droogbak (1989), a residential building by Uytenhaak: ‘Deze muur staat er niet’ (‘This wall isn’t here’). It is located close to the railway line. Rudy Uytenhaak later told me that this was his last opportunity to protest against the acoustic fence that had to be constructed for bureaucratic reasons.