citylikeyou — View From My Studio — Amsterdam by Misha de Ridder

Amsterdam / Place

My studio is situated on top of a Fifties concrete modernist apartment building in the Rivierenbuurt in the south of Amsterdam. The best thing is that my building is just one floor higher then the rest of the houses in the neighborhood so I get a good view of the city and the ever changing Dutch skies. What makes my view really special is the view from the balcony on an inaccessible inner garden. The garden is made on the roof of a parking garage of an office building and nobody can go there since there are no stairs or entrance. Once a year the gardeners come with a tall ladder. They are the only ones that enter the garden ever. The nice thing is that still there is a winding path in the middle of the garden for only your eye to trace it.

Address
View From My Studio, Rivierenbuurt, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Photographer Visual Artist

Current city: Amsterdam

mishaderidder.com

Misha de Ridder (1971, Alkmaar, The Netherlands) lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. To search, to disclose and to write with light is what Misha de Ridder does in his landscape photos and videos. He does not seek the comfort zone of the beautiful and picturesque, but of the sublime. De Ridder exhibited at Juliètte Jongma Gallery, Layr Wuestenhagen Contemporary, PhotoEspaña, the Triennial of Photography Hamburg, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, FOAM and The Museum of the City of New York. Photobooks by Misha de Ridder are Sightseeing (2000, De Balie), Wilderness (2003, Artimo), Dune (2011, Lay Flat), Abendsonne (2011, Schaden.com), Falaise (2016, Roma Publications).

More Places in Amsterdam 100

Amsterdam / Club

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?

Amsterdam / Bar

Hannekes Boom is one of the nicest waterfront café in Amsterdam to have a beer when it's sunny. Close to Central Station, the place isn't crowded by tourists, but you need to be there early to get a seat.

Amsterdam / Shop

Where I buy most of my books and magazines for work.

Amsterdam / River

The Amstel river is the main river of Amsterdam. Around 1200 they build a dam in the river and that was the birth of Amsterdam (or Amstelredamme as it was called back then). This dam is now situated under the Dam square, the central square of the city. If you bike from the old city center to the south along the banks of the Amstel, as I do every day on my way to my studio, the city opens up and gives way to a lot of space. If you follow the river it will take you out of town more quickly then you'd expect since it is surrounded by a green corridor that get's larger and greener as you exit the city. In less then half an hour bike trip from the old city you can find yourself in juicy green pastures between grazing cows and sheep. Only the airplanes heading in and out of Schiphol Airport will remind you that the city is near.

Amsterdam / Place

Just a fantastic spot on the edge of the city. Its connection of the Amsterdam-Rijn Canal to the IJ, Amsterdam’s big open water, that was once part of the North Sea, but now dammed in by the Dutch. Sometimes it’s just a relief to leave the prettiness and the cuteness of the Amsterdam canals behind and experience some space. Few people come out here and in summertime it’s just a delightful spot to have a picnic and watch the boats come in.