Due South...
The words “north” and “south” are two striking concepts. We all know the North and South Pole. They are also two of the most important direction indicators for navigating. And for something completely different ... North and South have also become a household name in television through the epic series with the popular Patrick Swayze. Finally, the words north and south are also used linguistically to indicate major contradictions; similar to alpha and omega. So in short: there is much to do about these words. And in Amsterdam that is no different...
The North-South line already appeared in the Stadsspoor Plan in 1968. At the time, the city council decided to start building the current East line first. But due to great social resistance (the well-known Nieuwmarkttrellen) and large budget overruns, the word “metro” became a big taboo in Amsterdam. That is why the Amstelveen line has always been called a tram and not a metro.
At the end of the 1980s, the municipality researched the feasibility of a North-South line once more. The traffic issues in the city’s centre became more and more acute. So, after many debates in the city council, in the House of Representatives and a failed municipal referendum, the decision to construct the North-South line was taken in 1999/2000.
The North-South line opening was originally foreseen in 2011. But due to many setbacks, that eventually became July 21, 2018. Then the 9.7 kilometre line, of which 7.1 kilometres underground, was opened. This made it possible to travel from the North station to the South station in approximately 15 minutes.
The fact that there was so much delay also had its advantage. Already in 1996 the architects of Benthem Crouwel Architects started designing the line’s stations. Thanks to the fact that there have been design updates up to a late stage, the most modern, state-of-the-art materials and techniques were used throughout the entire process. That is why nothing in these stations feels outdated.
Every station on the line is unique. The architecture is determined by the location in the city and the available space in the subsurface. At the same time, all stations are based on the same architectural concept: the shortest possible connection between the underground platform and the street. Very concretely: that means a constant flow of movement to get from the platform to the street and vice versa. Plus travelers must be able to find their way intuitively. Elegant and long escalators play an important role in this. In May 2013, a municipal advisory committee selected an artwork by Harmen Liemburg to be installed at this station. It’s a drawing based on old maps and the various birds that live in and around Amsterdam. The new streets in the immediate vicinity of the station were named after major train and subway stations in other European capitals: Gare du Nord, King's Cross and Termini.
Technical stuff
This panoramic shot consists of 12 individual photos shot in one row. With this rather high number I created some margin to play with the curvatures in buildings structural lines. I rendered the pano with PS CC. This resulted in an image (; with a 15930x6337 of 1.6 GB) that had a lot of nonresponding lines in the roof of the building. This proofed to be a rather big challenge to correct. I needed roughly 5 hours in PS to remedy the major flaws. Further post-production included balancing the lighting conditions, warping the image straight and cropping it (to enhance the symmetry). Finally, I added copyright signs. The latter is, alas, there to stay due to the fact that my photos were frequently copied. So, don't bother commenting on that.
Due South...
The words “north” and “south” are two striking concepts. We all know the North and South Pole. They are also two of the most important direction indicators for navigating. And for something completely different ... North and South have also become a household name in television through the epic series with the popular Patrick Swayze. Finally, the words north and south are also used linguistically to indicate major contradictions; similar to alpha and omega. So in short: there is much to do about these words. And in Amsterdam that is no different...
The North-South line already appeared in the Stadsspoor Plan in 1968. At the time, the city council decided to start building the current East line first. But due to great social resistance (the well-known Nieuwmarkttrellen) and large budget overruns, the word “metro” became a big taboo in Amsterdam. That is why the Amstelveen line has always been called a tram and not a metro.
At the end of the 1980s, the municipality researched the feasibility of a North-South line once more. The traffic issues in the city’s centre became more and more acute. So, after many debates in the city council, in the House of Representatives and a failed municipal referendum, the decision to construct the North-South line was taken in 1999/2000.
The North-South line opening was originally foreseen in 2011. But due to many setbacks, that eventually became July 21, 2018. Then the 9.7 kilometre line, of which 7.1 kilometres underground, was opened. This made it possible to travel from the North station to the South station in approximately 15 minutes.
The fact that there was so much delay also had its advantage. Already in 1996 the architects of Benthem Crouwel Architects started designing the line’s stations. Thanks to the fact that there have been design updates up to a late stage, the most modern, state-of-the-art materials and techniques were used throughout the entire process. That is why nothing in these stations feels outdated.
Every station on the line is unique. The architecture is determined by the location in the city and the available space in the subsurface. At the same time, all stations are based on the same architectural concept: the shortest possible connection between the underground platform and the street. Very concretely: that means a constant flow of movement to get from the platform to the street and vice versa. Plus travelers must be able to find their way intuitively. Elegant and long escalators play an important role in this. In May 2013, a municipal advisory committee selected an artwork by Harmen Liemburg to be installed at this station. It’s a drawing based on old maps and the various birds that live in and around Amsterdam. The new streets in the immediate vicinity of the station were named after major train and subway stations in other European capitals: Gare du Nord, King's Cross and Termini.
Technical stuff
This panoramic shot consists of 12 individual photos shot in one row. With this rather high number I created some margin to play with the curvatures in buildings structural lines. I rendered the pano with PS CC. This resulted in an image (; with a 15930x6337 of 1.6 GB) that had a lot of nonresponding lines in the roof of the building. This proofed to be a rather big challenge to correct. I needed roughly 5 hours in PS to remedy the major flaws. Further post-production included balancing the lighting conditions, warping the image straight and cropping it (to enhance the symmetry). Finally, I added copyright signs. The latter is, alas, there to stay due to the fact that my photos were frequently copied. So, don't bother commenting on that.