UGLY PLACES OF AMSTERDAM: EUROPARKING
MARCH 21ST, 2022
Illustration by: Olga Turno.
The series ‘Ugly Places’ explores the hideous, dark and neglected corners of Amsterdam’s architectural underbelly. In this episode: Europarking, Amsterdam West.
HAVE YOU HEARD OF EUROPARKING?
It’s a car park, a gas station, a bus station, an overpriced bar, a shelter for people experiencing homelessness and notably, it was the site of an installation of 500 naked people created by an American artist Spencer Tunick in 2007.
Its modernist features intrigue in contrast to the typical pre-war Dutch architecture characteristic for Marnixstraat and trendy Elandsgracht. It also surprises with how many roles it plays.
What are you, Europarking?
A BIT OF HISTORY
Europarking was designed by Piet Zanstra and is also known by the name of ‘Zanstra’s buttocks’, due to its peachy curves facing the canal.
Image: Supplied/Olga Torno
The site was previously owned by Hendrik Tabak, a shady figure in Amsterdam’s history. Tabak was imprisoned after the war for collaboration with German Nazi occupiers. Apparently, he was selling them vegetables and providing space for their vehicles. Tabak owned buildings in the central parts of Amsterdam, many of which he demolished to create parking lots and garages after he got out of prison.
In the 1960s, Tabak commissioned Zanstra to design the building. At that time, Zanstra was already a renowned architect in Amsterdam, having designed post-war modernist buildings inspired by Swiss architect Le Corbusier. If you are not familiar with Le Corbusier’s impact on twentieth-century architecture, just think of any post-war building with limited to no decorations, string windows and a very functional layout.
Not only did Zanstra love Le Corbusier, he was also part of a Dutch architectural organisation known as Groep’32. Groep’32 that distanced itself from ‘New Objectivity’, an architectural current that emphasised the use of glass and straight lines to compose complicated and elaborate compositions.
Instead, Groep’32 focused on simple shapes and functionality with a twist. And you can really see the twist in Europark’s majestic curves that harbour up to 700 parking spaces.
IS EUROPARKING UGLY?
Europarking is a refreshing and surprising change from the narrow, highly ornamented Dutch canal houses that all, in essence, look the same. Europarking is a car garage, and it can, even should, be considered a jewel among car garages.
Is it ugly? Yes. Yes, it is. But which other city can pride itself to have Zanstra’s very own buttocks on display in plain sight!
SEE MORE
For a photo of Spencer Tunick’s art installation (2007) at Europarking — see here.
