what: kangaroo where: countryside why: i think you know the answer to that.

“I have designed the restaurant in reverse. I’ve started at the end and worked back. My dream has always been to build a restaurant that creates no waste and now I believe I can achieve it!” – Joost Bakker

Last Friday, Romain & I had the pleasure of enjoying breakfast + a catch up with my dear friend Jenni at Joost Bakker’s GREENHOUSE. I’ve been a fan of Joost’s work since learning about him a few years back, and was so excited to hear via gourmet traveller that his latest venture was right here in Sydney. Over the years, Joost has been commissioned to design furniture, spaces, and vertical gardens in his signature style that brings together nature and industry. His focus on sustainability in all his projects is what drew me to his work, and it was such a treat to finally experience one of his creations in the flesh…

For me, stepping inside GREENHOUSE was like stepping into the heart of Amsterdam – from the use of space, colour, decor, and inventiveness  – there is a wonderful air of the unconstrained, which is the very characteristic that I love most about Amsterdam.

While enjoying a doughnut and cuppa, I was fortunate to meet Georgina, one of the talented designers on the team. She spoke about the design and  creation of the restaurant, and how they’d love to find a permanent place for it in Sydney (yes, please!). Thanks to the lovely Georgina, I also got a chance to meet Joost on the rooftop garden + bar…

The GREENHOUSE philosophy is about “lifestyle and the many choices that can be made; from material choices to fashion, food and ultimately waste.” This is evident through the space – everything has been made from recycled materials, including the bathroom doors and jar covered lights…

GREENHOUSE is only open for another couple of weeks, so if you live in Sydney, I highly recommend you go and check it out while you can. Sitting on Campbells Cove, just opposite the Opera House on the other side of the quay, it’s well worth it just to drink in the view on the rooftop terrace, surrounded by strawberries and herbs of all varieties…

Congrats to Joost and his incredible team, here’s hoping for a permanent GREENHOUSE in Sydney!

xx

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photos by Pia Jane Bijkerk & Jenni Booth.

photo by rani nugraha

I’m super excited to reveal that we have our first guest of the year settling into the guest quarters: She’s young, she’s hip, she’s a fabulous friend, and she’s ridiculously knowledgeable on all things amsterdam. Her name is Rani, you may recall I wrote about her here, here and here. Last year, Rani was a wonderful help to me during my book launch. But this year, Rani is embarking on her own creative ventures, and has just launched a new website all about Amsterdam. I have no doubt that it will very soon become the online guide for getting to know the city. But I won’t tell you another thing about it, instead I’d like to send you into the guest quarters to meet her so she can tell you all about her new project.  Then, over the next few weeks, Rani will share lots of great Amsterdam goodies with us, I can’t wait. Welcome to the (blog)house, Rani!

Click here to read Rani’s first guest post.

all text and photography in this guest post by rani nugraha…

“I keep thinking about the day we went cycling around dropping off invitations to your book launch  – I saw so much more in the city than ever and was so inspired – it was like I just breathed in your 3 years of Amsterdam experience in one day trip!”
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The idea for The CITIZN Project had been brewing in my head for months. When it was launched online earlier this week, I wrote the above in an email to Pia, just to tell her it had finally happened, and was reflecting on one particular memory of a day we spent together last year.

Two summers ago, Victoria Hannan kindly introduced Pia and I, just before Pia’s book Amsterdam: Made by Hand was due to launch. A fellow Australian, I had spent some time travelling in London, Helsinki and Copenhagen, finally arriving in Amsterdam without much of a plan or without knowing a lot about the city. Over lunch one rainy summer afternoon, Pia and I bonded over tea and travel tales, and quickly became friends.

I spent those early summer days learning my way around town through guide books, tourist maps and just sheer hopelessness – there’s something to be said about finding your way out of a maze of canals and streets christened with names which you can neither spell nor pronounce.

I was also starting to discover well known hot-spots and must-go places but still felt that I wasn’t really connecting with the city, wondering what I was lacking. I had a home, a bicycle, friends and a job but still felt that I was just floating around a foreign place.

Fast forward to May 2010, when Pia and I were cycling through the tiny lanes of the Jordaan, along the canals of the Nine Streets district and through the city centre, dropping off invitations to her Amsterdam: Made by Hand book launch. Over the course of that day, I became acquainted with the side of Amsterdam that fascinated and inspired Pia as an artist and an author and at the same time, I felt like I was really starting my own dialogue with the city. When we spoke to some store owners, artists, craftsmen, and designers who featured in Amsterdam: Made by Hand, they opened up to us with stories of their crafts, their passions, their stores, their neighbourhoods, and their city. One thing was also clear: They were all enamoured with Amsterdam.

The population here is as diverse as it is charismatic, with it being such a melting pot of creativity, commerce, politics, and culture. I was sure the city was filled with intriguing people, just like Pia and the people featured in her book.

The CITIZN Project was created for residents to share a little about what they love about the city they live in, but equally, I wanted to know more about the people that call this amazing city home. After all, one person’s muse is another’s amusement park: everybody has a different perspective on this bustling global village because of the huge diversity in interests, neighborhoods, nationalities, occupations, and inspirations. A lust for life can be fuelled by sight, sound, taste, or scent, and in my opinion, these things shouldn’t be coveted, they should be shared.

Each person featured in The CITIZN Project shares a little about who they are and the places, events and sounds of the city that shape their scenery.  Ultimately, it’s the people that hold the essence to Amsterdam’s character and The CITIZN Project is just the platform where their stories get told. Over the course of the next few weeks, I wanted to share with you here in Pia’s (blog)house some of my favourite spaces in Amsterdam and shed some light into why I love to live here. With a passion for simple and honest food, live music, impulse vintage purchases and the creative industries, I hope you’ll enjoy my perspective on the place I call home.

x rani

Dutch stylist & jewelry designer Miranda van Dijk has just created a beautiful new collection called hidden memories. I’ve known about it for some time, and have found myself going back to Miranda’s website to take ‘one more look’ a number of times over the past couple of months. Drawn to her new work but again last week, I figured it was about time I share it with you here in the (blog)house…

Inspired by the connection between nature and humankind, Miranda has fashioned brooches and necklaces from cotton fabric printed with old photographs. Above are some of the designs she has been working with, and I’m captivated by all of them, but especially love the necklaces. Miranda sells her work in markets around Holland (she was just part of the Swan Market in Rotterdam this weekend), but her work is also for sale online here.  And you’ll be rapt to know that Miranda is also offering custom creations as part of this collection, just send her an email.

Now I’m inspired to rummage through my old family albums and email some photos to Miranda… mother’s day is just around the corner.