DEFEND THE NORTHÂ
TRANSFORMING AN UNDERPASS INTO A RIOT OF COLOURFUL THREE-DIMENSIONAL CUBES TOGETHER WITH LOCAL RESIDENTS AND 'VERDEDIG NOORD'
The municipality of Amsterdam requested that we continued our work in Amsterdam-North, specifically in the area known as De Banne. We suggested several possible locations however our main goal was to paint the underpass that connects Banne 1 with Banne 2 with both a footpath and a cycle lane. After some deliberation we received permission from the council to start painting. Together with local residents and Verdedig Noord we transformed the underpass into a riot of colourful three-dimensional cubes which was welcomed by everybody in the community, from children to the elderly.
Before we painted the underpass it was, like most underpasses, full of graffiti. To this day however our work remains untouched, a testament to its success on many levels. For this project we made use of a special floor paint developed by Engels, one of the oldest paint shops in Amsterdam. This paint is thick and sticky and was able to cover even the most problematic of areas without the need for either an undercoat nor sandblasting, a truly remarkable product.
