Slotervaart. A name that echoes through Amsterdam’s history. Do you know how this area got its start? Slotervaart, short for Tuinstad Slotervaart, sits in Amsterdam’s far west. The area takes its name from the Slotervaart canal itself. Houses first appeared here in 1955.
Slotervaart is more than just houses. A hospital, Slotervaartziekenhuis, opened in 1976. The Netherlands Cancer Institute, or NKI, followed in 1979. Slotervaart was part of Slotervaart-Overtoomse Veld from 1990. It was renamed Slotervaart in 2004. Then, in 2010, it became part of Amsterdam Nieuw-West.
Slotervaart is part of the Westelijke Tuinsteden. It owes its existence to the Slotervaart canal. Construction started in 1954. It finished in 1965. The Municipality of Amsterdam drove the project. Cornelis van Eesteren was the architect.
Slotervaart has a mix of buildings. You will see low, medium, and high-rise structures. The sawtooth houses stand out. Their zig-zag facades earned them the name Bluebanddorp. This came from the Blue Band margarine packaging. A blue band framed the roof. The Sloterhof complex, built in 1959, is a national monument.
Klarenstraat shows how to update post-war buildings. Owners transformed it into unique homes. Art fills Slotervaart. “De Staalman,” a large brown bear, stands in Staalmanpark.
Johan Huizingalaan is the district’s main street. It is a “dining street” with many restaurants. You can find various national cuisines there. Office complexes line the street. Some are in apartment buildings. Others are near the A10 motorway. The Rieker Business Park is also nearby. The old IBM factory is now home to start-ups. It once made typewriters.
Slotervaart faced big changes in the 20th century. Amsterdam annexed Sloten in 1921. Sloterdijk was part of Sloten. The city needed land. The General Expansion Plan of 1935 included garden cities. Cornelis van Eesteren planned Slotermeer, Slotervaart, and others. An artificial lake, the Sloterplas, would connect them.
Farmers had to leave to build these garden cities. The statue “De verdwenen boer” remembers them. It stands on Molenwerf at Sloterdijk’s edge.
Amsterdam built Station Amsterdam Sloterdijk in the 1950s. It served the garden cities. The station opened on June 3, 1956. It stood on the village of Sloterdijk. Part of the village was torn down to build it.
The A10 highway also changed Slotervaart. A viaduct crossed the railway line. The highway ran through Sloterdijk. More of the village had to be demolished. Office towers rose around the A10. They became part of Westpoort.
Today, the St. Peter’s Church remains. A few houses stand along Spaarndammerdijk. They contrast with the glass and concrete buildings. Slotervaart’s story is one of change. It shows how Amsterdam has grown and evolved.