If you think modern Dutch building means concrete monoliths, or endless rows of identical post-war blocks of flats, think again. This nifty little guide contains 84 of the Netherlands best buildings completed after 1900, compiled partly on the recommendations of 10 leading architects and other designers.
Of course it includes the classics, like the Amsterdam school ‘Socialist’ housing Het Schip, Berlage’s Stock Exchange in Amsterdam (1903), and designs by household names like Gerrit Rietveld and Rem Koolhaas.
But there are also odd things you might not think off, like the glass sound barrier on the A2 motorway heading into Utrecht and Jan Duiker’s 1934 Cineac cinema on the Reguliersbreestraat in Amsterdam. Even the 1917 cooling towers at the Emma State Mine in Heerlen – the first cooling tower of its type – get a look in.
The texts are in both Dutch and English, so if you want to perfect your architectural expertise in both languages, you can. Our only gripe – the translation is a little too word-for-word in places.
And if you want to check the buildings that didn’t make the final cut – all the lists are included at the end of the book.
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