Noctilucent clouds at Amsterdam's Silodam by Jeroen de Jongh Photography

About "Noctilucent clouds at Amsterdam's Silodam"

by Jeroen de Jongh Photography

About the artwork

The Silodam is a breakwater and street in Amsterdam's western harbour area. The approximately 300-metre-long breakwater protrudes into the IJ. Along the Silodam are two former grain silos that now serve as apartment buildings, including the Stenen Silo, a national monument. Also located here is the 2002 apartment building 'De Silodam', a well-known example of modern architecture along Amsterdam's IJ banks. The Silodam is located in the 'Houthavens Oost' area.

The breakwater was constructed in the late 19th century and forms the eastern boundary of the Houthavens built around the same time. In 1896, the grain silo Korthals Altes, better known as the Stenen Silo, was built here. When the Stone Silo became too small, the adjacent Concrete Silo was built in 1952.

Originally, both silos were to be demolished and replaced by new construction, but the industrial heritage was saved when the Stone Silo was declared a national monument in 1996. At the turn of the millennium, the silos were converted into apartment buildings. To the west, right next to the Silo Dam, the 90-metre-high new construction project Pontsteigergebouw is being built.

Luminous night clouds are tenuous cloud-like phenomena in the Earth's upper atmosphere. They are the highest clouds in Earth's atmosphere, located in the mesosphere at an altitude of about 76 to 85 km. They consist of ice crystals and are visible from the ground only during astronomical twilight. They are most often observed during the summer months from latitudes between ± 50° and ± 70°.