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 / Cinema

Cinecenter is special to me because I used to work here. It is a great place to see all of your favourite movies.

Amsterdam / Restaurant

A lively hotspot in the heart of Amsterdam in emerald green tones.

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.

Amsterdam / Cinema

Gorgeous cinema near the Rembrandtsplein. Built in the early 1920s in a very rich architectural style that mixes Jugendstil, the Amsterdam School and Art Deco, the cinema was meant to be a temple for cinematography. The entrance and the main auditorium (Zaal 1) are just simply stunning. It’s been recently restored in its former splendor and is now owned by big distributor Pathé Cinemas. Though a lot of people have been criticizing the fact that a beautiful cinema as this is now exploited by a big commercial chain, I sort of like that fact that also the big blockbusters are usually screened here. It feels like the old days where I imagine you’d simply get overwhelmed by the place and the film and its technique. So my advice is: whatever (crap) plays in Zaal 1, just buy a bag of popcorn, sit back and enjoy.

Amsterdam / Place

The portal between the Leidseplein nightlife area and the Max Eeuweplein is pompously accentuated by a classical looking façade, designed in 1991 by Zaanen Spanjers Architects. On the frieze, supported by columns, the architect has carved an inscription: ‘Homo sapiens non urinat in ventum’ - ‘A wise man does not piss into the wind’. A ‘wisecrack’, disguised in Latin.