Plans for an ambitious hundred million euro ’art palace’ in the fast-growing business district on the southern edge of Amsterdam were unveiled on Wednesday, reports the NRC.

The plans for a 500 square meter cultural hall along the lines of the Grand Palais in Paris and the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels were presented by an advisory committee commissioned by Amsterdam city council.
The working title for the new cultural centre is Amsterdam Expo. The committee hopes the building will be finished by 2014 and will house international “blockbuster” exhibitions.
The plan replaces an earlier initiative to build a museum of design in the business district. Amsterdam city council and the ING bank had pledged to invest 24 million euros in that museum and it is hoped this money will now be used for the new plansreports the NRC.
The council’s executive for cultural affairs, Carolien Gehrels, has given her approval to the new proposal, the paper says.