improvised architecture in amsterdam:industrial squats and collectives

here, finally, is the continuation of this post from last week.  i am utterly infatuated with these images. and i've been trying to sit down and write something intellectual about them but it's made me feel like i am back in college writing a paper.  so i'll just ramble on as is my habit and hopefully convey just a bit of the fascination i have here.

so, a few months ago i stumbled on this website of work by david carr smith.  he'd photo-documented and written about the squats and collectives he'd found in amsterdam.  some still exist today i believe, but some don't.  you should have seem me that day.  it was like i'd stumbled upon some kind of personal nirvana. 

it must first be said- the bottom line reason why i love these pictures is because i admire these folks' aesthetics.  not too intellectual or political.  i share the creative interest of using already exisiting spaces and objects; ones with character and personality.  if there was a book titled "pictures exactly for liane of interior spaces exactly as she likes" it would include all these images.

but the underlying reason why i am so taken is because of how and where they have set up their homes.  these spaces were abandoned industrial buildings.  squatting represents a financial and creative freedom to me.  both in the idea that you have this run-down industrial space to transform into personal living space and that you are allowing yourself to not be beholden to a mortgage.  being a creative person has not meshed, for me, with the way of the world.  i've never lasted long in a 9-5 job.  i've always felt a little oddball this way. and the truth is i spent many years feeling guilty about this.  i don't want to give up or deny my creative desires.  i want to organize my life around them, not push them aside to live as i think others expect. 

so, i'm not going to go on and on here.  and i'm not going to go back and reread what i've written and fret about it not being deep enough.  i do hope, if any of this resonates with you that you will leave a comment because i would love to have a larger discussion about this.  also, there are so so many images on david's site as well as text, explanation, philosophy...so go on over and look around.