Connecting Water and Memory: Reshaping the Poetic Space of Canals in Amsterdam

Abstract

Amsterdam is a poem about water, it sings in people’s mouths, and flows in the canals. Language and people are the carriers of memory and the symbolic composition of poetry. Travellers to Amsterdam end their journeys with the water because all the names of places in Amsterdam are related to water. Poetic images also have their matter. The people of Amsterdam have fought against the invasion of water and controlled it by moving water through canals. Canals were gradually developing and become the substance of the poetry. Today, there is a disconnect between the understanding of the water as a system (canal/sleuth/lock/gates…) since the controlling mechanisms have moved to the outside of the city. This thesis is an attempt to reconnect people with memories of the canal through architecture design. The designs include a new fish market, a rain wall and a pool floating on the canal.