3 May 2012

The low houses on the other end have disappeared - as have the windows and walls of half of the flats on either side. It took a while to get there, because they found asbestos in the foundations that had to be removed first. Apparently, that job is done. The authorities expect the buildings to be gone by the end of June.

A Room With A View

It is now 29 December 2012 and the shrubs and bushes have been removed, as has the children's playground, by the municipality men. The flats are now empty, the rooms and doors on the ground floor boarded. The demolishers are waiting for the the new year.

A Room With A View

Amsterdam, Slotervaart, November. This picture was taken by my cousin Tineke during a visit to our aunt - tante Katja - in November 2011. It is the small park that tante Katja has had for a view for the past fifty years. In those fifty years, as the trees grew older and bigger and (I like to think) happier, the place looked more pleasant every year.

But that is about to change: enter urban renewal. Slotervaarts (a borough in the west of Amsterdam) has decided the two buildings on the left and right of this picture will be demolished and replaced with other forms of housing. The park will be divided into garden plots. The green grass will make place for fences, garden sheds, tiled terraces and garden brownies.

Take a good look. This is about to disappear.