SLAPPED X CraneSessions

Faralda Crane Hotel is a boutique hotel and event space built into a converted industrial tower crane at the former NDSM shipyard in Amsterdam Noord. The crane was acquired by Dutch entrepreneur Edwin Kornmann Rudi in the late 2000s, when it was facing demolition. Restoration ran from 2011 to 2019 under an architectural vision based on Bernard Tschumi, the Swiss French architect known for the colour coded folies of Parc de la Villette in Paris. Following that approach, the crane was returned to its original blue grey and yellow, with new architectural additions picked out in red. The hotel opened in 2013 as the crane's second life, and the work continued as a music studio, a corporate venue and the wider infrastructure were added. At the top sit three suites called The Mystique, Secret and Free Spirit, reached by a small panorama elevator that stops directly in the suite. For music, the key space is the Faralda studio, which hosts resident nights, private events and CraneSessions, an underground music platform that has grown over more than a decade through relationships with respected names in electronic music. Its roster includes Black Coffee, Tale of Us, Bonobo, Maceo Plex, Nina Kraviz, Marcel Dettmann, Skrillex, Armin van Buuren, Jamie Jones, Adriatique, ARTBAT, Seth Troxler, Rüfüs du Sol, Joris Voorn and Dubfire, among several hundred others. The sessions are presented as premium live streams, and Faralda Factory is a production made in collaboration with recognised artists. The venue is not only a club setting. It is also used for brand activations, product launches, boardroom meetings and private dinners, and it is an officially appointed wedding location. It has welcomed festival showcases during Amsterdam Dance Event, including the EXIT Festivals showcase on 21 October 2022. A second tower crane, currently in Rotterdam, is planned to join the NDSM site as Faralda Crane II.