Hidden in Plain Sight: Indonesian Influence on Amsterdamse School

A small building that stands out. When you visit Amsterdam and are standing on the water of the IJ, behind the railway station, you can’t not notice it. It’s cute. It’s quaint. It’s weird. But what is it?

The little building on the IJ is mostly referred to as the “NACO-huisje”, or sometimes as the “Kantoor van Koppe’s Scheepvaartagentuur”. It was designed by architect Guillaume la Croix (1877–1923).

This weird wooden house on concrete stilts was built in 1919 to house a shipping agency, as the wording on the building still (or again) shows. From here, packages and people went on boats across Zuiderzee to places like Kampen and Lemmer in the nort-east of the Netherlands. Later, it was used by a bus company, who’s busses departed across the IJ.

It was located on a pier directly behind the railway station. But over time this became an area that people rather would avoid, until it was decided to give it a total make-over. The building was taken elsewhere and slowly started crumbling on a yard outside of Amsterdam.

But people remembered it and wanted it to come back. Finally, it found a new home east of the station.

What makes this building so special? It was designed by one the architects of Amsterdam School architecture, a style that dominated Amsterdam in the 1910’s and 1920’s. It is known for it’s attention to detail, sculptured facades and use of decoration. Inspiration was often taken from Indonesia, then the Dutch colony of Nederlands-Indië (Dutch East Indies). Indonesian architecture, textiles, sculpture and decorative objects could be seen in colonial exhibitions, museums and private collections in the Netherlands. Through these unequal colonial networks, Amsterdam School architects and designers adopted Indonesian forms, colours and symbols into what later became celebrated as a distinctive Dutch style. The story of Amsterdam School architecture therefore cannot be told without also acknowledging the Indonesian cultures and crafts it borrowed from.

In this case, tribal architecture from the island of Sumatra was the inspiration, where both houses and ships of the Minankabau and Batak tribes have similar wave-decorations and overhanging pointy roofs. But there is also a similarity to the wooden houses of the fishing villages north of Amsterdam, that can be seen in places like the former island of Marken.

Want to see more buildings in Amsterdam School architecture? Check out the nearby Amrath Hotel on Prins Hendrikkade or Gebouw Batavia opposite the eastside of the railway station. You can also visit Het Schip Museum or Het Stadsarchief for more information about Amsterdamse School.

Written by Christiaan Offerhaus and Katie Teele