From the very beginning of its existence, Amsterdam has lived in constant dialogue with water. A short stroll along its many canals is enough to give the impression that the whole city moves to its rhythm. Narrow townhouses lean over the glistening water, their façades curving at various angles, and the tightly packed rows of buildings look as though they might plunge into it at any moment. Amsterdam’s characteristic crooked houses are not, however, the result of architectural whimsy. Their unusual appearance is the result of a centuries-long struggle with marshy ground, limited space and the weight of history inscribed in the old walls.
A city built on marshes
The history of Amsterdam began in an area that posed a real challenge to medieval builders. The Amstel river delta consisted mainly of peat bogs and wetlands, whilst stable ground lay many metres below its unstable surface. Traditional house foundations quickly proved useless there. So the inhabitants began driving long wooden piles into the ground, reaching the layers of sand hidden deep beneath the muddy soil.
Brick townhouses with solid stone foundations were built on these supports. Over time, a vast network of wooden piles resembling an underground forest developed beneath Amsterdam. The scale of this extraordinary undertaking remains truly impressive to this day. The Royal Palace on Dam Square alone rests on over 13,000 piles! The entire historic city centre, in turn, rests on millions of wooden supports hidden beneath the murky waters of the canals.
The Golden Age and the birth of narrow townhouses
Amsterdam’s most intense period of development came in the 17th century. It was then that the Netherlands was experiencing its Golden Age. The city became a global trading power. Ships from Asia, Africa and the Americas sailed into its harbour, whilst wealthy merchants invested their fortunes in new townhouses along the Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht canals. The land in the city centre was divided into plots so narrow that the buildings had to rise upwards and extend deep into the plots. Amsterdam’s skyline was characterised by slender brick façades with large windows, topped with ornate gables in the Dutch Renaissance and Baroque styles.
In many houses, the top floors served as storerooms, where spices, fabrics and exotic goods imported by the East India Company were kept. It was during this period that the characteristic hooks protruding from the tops of buildings first appeared. The extremely narrow and steep staircases made it impossible to carry heavy chests inside, so goods were hoisted directly from the street using ropes and pulleys. Hoisting beams are still useful today for removals. Furniture and equipment are hoisted up to window height and then through the windows into the rooms. To prevent the chests from bumping against the façades, some of the townhouses were designed with a slight lean towards the canals. This subtle yet noticeable detail had a very practical origin. Today, it is regarded as a distinctive symbol of Amsterdam.
Amsterdam’s crooked houses – where does this phenomenon come from?
Over the centuries, the people of Amsterdam began to notice a worrying phenomenon. Their houses started to lean in various directions. The wooden piles in the ground had been settling unevenly for hundreds of years, and the ground beneath the buildings gradually subsided. During this time, many townhouses were also extended with additional storeys, even though their original foundations had been designed for much lighter loads. This led to a loss of structural stability.
Some houses have tilted forwards, others to the sides, whilst still others now appear twisted or slightly bent into a U-shape. The phenomenon is particularly evident along the Singel and Damrak canals, where whole rows of townhouses seem to undulate. It was there that the term ‘dancing houses’ was coined, and it quickly became a tourist attraction for the city. In Amsterdam, one can also spot differences between buildings from different eras. Older townhouses from the 17th century are more likely to have noticeable tilts, whilst 19th-century designs were already constructed using improved foundation methods. However, even newer buildings remain dependent on the water and the layers of soil hidden beneath the city.
Amsterdam’s crooked houses under threat
The greatest threat to Amsterdam today is water itself – or, to be more precise, the lack of it. Wooden piles remain stable only when they are constantly submerged. When the groundwater level drops, the wood reacts with oxygen and begins to rot. Increasingly frequent droughts, climate change and intensive urbanisation are accelerating the whole process.
The city felt the full brunt of this problem between 2003 and 2008, during the construction of the Noord/Zuidlijn metro line. During the works, some of the historic townhouses began to sink rapidly, causing great concern among residents and conservationists. Amsterdam is, in fact, exceptionally sensitive to vibrations, the movement of heavy machinery and any changes in water levels. Added to this is the natural subsidence of the city under the weight of millions of tonnes of timber, stone, brick and concrete. Although the process is very slow, geotechnical specialists emphasise that Amsterdam is still ‘moving’. The facades along the canals shift by millimetres, sometimes centimetres, and monitoring the buildings requires constant supervision.
Amsterdam’s crooked houses and the city’s salvation
The Dutch have been investing huge sums in protecting Amsterdam’s historic centre for many years. Engineers regularly check water levels, measure wall deflections and inspect the condition of the wooden piles. In many cases, old supports are replaced with steel or reinforced concrete to prevent disaster. The most spectacular work resembles complex surgical operations. Sometimes, an entire townhouse is hydraulically lifted a few centimetres off the ground, the old piles are removed, and a completely new foundation is built underneath it. Such work costs millions of euros, but for the Netherlands, the historic city centre has exceptional cultural and economic value, which is why no expense is spared in protecting it.
Amsterdam’s crooked houses tell us today the story of a city that for centuries has sought to tame the elements of water and earth. Strolling along the canals, one gets the impression that the ‘Venice of the North’ has never stood still. It continues to tilt gently, settle and change, as if the whole city were still undulating under the weight of its own, incredibly fascinating history.
Source: amsterdamlocalgems.com, amsterdam.nl
Read also:Architecture|Interesting facts|Technology | History|Amsterdam|Netherlands|Townhouse|whiteMAD on Instagram
