In the column “Listen with…”, Soundtrackcity interviews residents of De Pijp about the significance of sound in their lives. What sounds do they hear and what sounds do they find appropriate for their living environment? For this tenth episode, we speak to Ineke, who has lived in her oasis of tranquillity for so long that she no longer even notices the children playing outside.
‘You can hear the school clearly, as it borders our garden. The younger classes, the toddlers, play outside here and, especially when the weather is nice, they rush out the door. The little ones have so much energy, and they have to keep it inside all day. When they come outside, they shout out all their energy. I don’t mind that at all. I’m so used to it that I don’t even hear it anymore.
Sometimes I’m on the phone with someone and they say, “Gosh, what a racket,” and I wonder what they’re talking about. As part of efforts to create a greener environment, the play equipment in the school playground has been changed. There is much more wood, more greenery and fewer paving slabs, which dampens the noise somewhat.
I flew for KLM for 35 years and often had to sleep during the day. I couldn’t do that at the front of the house because of the traffic, and not at the back because of the school. But our bathroom was in the middle, so I would just drag my mattress into the bathroom. It was the only place that was quiet during the day.
There is a busy street at the front of our house, but the person we bought it from said at the time, ‘You come in through the front door and find yourself in an oasis of calm. What’s more, at this height, the noise disappears into Sarphatipark. When I’m upstairs, the traffic noise is louder: through traffic, passers-by talking, and the emergency services. Even more so now that Stadhouderskade is closed.
There used to be a student house next door. One batch of students was noisier than the next and sometimes more approachable than the others. Then I would get a bottle of wine as an apology when the noise continued late into the night. Now it’s all expats living there. I don’t know them, and I don’t hear them either because it’s now very well insulated.
On the other side of the garden, they have converted all the floors of a building into rooms, and you can hear the parties and the talking at night very clearly. In the silence of the night, you can almost literally hear each other.
Listen with Ineke is part of the Listen with… section of Urban Sound Lab, where residents, sound artists and architects listen to the city together. Together, they explore how to create a better-sounding city and how this contributes to the personal well-being of city dwellers. You can find the other episodes here.
