Maan over Ameland

Maan over Ameland is Bert de Laaf’s public art installation on bridge 485 over Amsterdam’s Oosterdoksdoorgang. Its unpainted stainless-steel body joins a circular disc to a tall pole. The busy junction connects De Ruijterkade with Piet Heinkade, while stairs descend towards the IJ quay and traffic uses the IJtunnel below. Bridge 485 carries the sculpture above the waterway.

Artist Bert de Laaf developed the work after a Rijksakademie-funded study trip to the Wadden island of Ameland. A study trip to Ameland supplied the idea. Amsterdam commissioned the work in 1969 for bridge 485, and the finished sculpture was installed there in 1971. First, both legs stood on a small mound. Construction near Amsterdam Central Station sent the artwork into storage in 2002, before the rebuilt bridge brought it back in 2012. Workers then bolted the sculpture to the northern span, matching the artist’s preferred position.

The disc represents communication through sound and sight. De Laaf imagined it as a sound box with an eye, while the pole receives and sends signals like an antenna. RVS304 lets the 5,500-kilogram form flex in wind, giving the bridge a moving landmark beside Amsterdam’s traffic.