From Gothic to Dutch Renaissance
All over Europe, Gothic churches, veritable stone giants, impress with their height. But in Amsterdam, the marshy ground could not support such buildings. Brick was substituted for stone, and the lack of height was compensated for by greater length and width. The Nieuwe Kerkwhose construction, inspired by Amiens Cathedral, began in 1408, is a fine example. It was also at this time that the first major urban reforms were initiated by the town council. Indeed, as the city suffered several terrible fires, all wooden construction was banned, making the use of brick and tile compulsory.
From 1550 to 1650, a new style developed: Mannerism, or what some would call Dutch Renaissance. This style retained certain attributes of the Baroque, such as curves and ornamentation, while adding elements of classical Greco-Roman style and others from the Dutch tradition. Hans Vredeman de Vries is one of the great masters of this resolutely decorative style. He adorned his facades with scrolls, stone bands and masks. Hendrick de Keyser, on the other hand, played on the alternation of stone and brick, while adding a touch of color. He is responsible for the city's three major Protestant temples, Noorderkerk, Westerkerk and Zuiderkerk.
The Golden Century
As the city entered the 17th century, it enjoyed a period of unparalleled economic prosperity. To keep pace with the growing population, it had to expand. To achieve this, the town council dug three new canals around the port and the old town, and launched a new urban development plan. Inhabitants would be grouped together according to status and origin in buildings whose materials and dimensions the city controlled. The result was a high degree of architectural coherence. Along the Herengracht, the canal of the lords, and the Prinsengracht, the canal of the princes, you'll find superb bourgeois houses. Among the finest buildings are the Bartolotti Huis and the Maison des Têtes. Built in 1622, this mansion is a fine example of Dutch Renaissance, with its façade decorated with niches and columns in white sandstone contrasting with the brown of the brick. At the time, property tax was calculated on the width of the facade, which explains the apparent narrowness of these buildings, often offset by their elaborate depth. At first glance, these brick houses all appear identical, yet many details reflect their profoundly unique character. Look at the richly worked doors, the balustrades and verandas, but above all, take a close look at the gables of these houses. Simple, redented, bell-shaped or scalloped (reminiscent of the neck of a bottle), these pediments are an essential decorative element. Some gables were mass-produced, which is why you'll find them all over town. Finally, if you look closely at these houses, you'll notice a surprising feature. Many of them have sloping facades. This was to protect the facade from the elements and limit humidity inside. But if some of them are leaning, it's often because their pilings are out of breath! Amsterdam's marshy soil necessitates the use of pilings, which pierce the ground up to 7 m and serve as a base for the platform supporting the buildings. Today, they're made of reinforced concrete, but back then they were made of wood... wood that eventually rotted away. The great architects of this Golden Age were Justus Vingboons and the Philips brothers, who designed magnificent canal-side residences inspired by antique styles with pilasters and columns, and of course Jacob van Campen, who designed the Royal Palace or City Hall. Construction began in 1648 and took 17 years. It's hardly surprising that this imposing building, with its classic lines and shapes, rests on 13,659 piles: a true technical feat.
French influence and nostalgia
In the 18th century, traveling merchants became "sedentary" and spent more time in their homes, which explains the particular attention paid to interior decoration, which had to be both pleasant to live in and reflect the owner's status. At this time, wealthy families were succumbing to French fashion. The French architect and decorator Daniel Marot, a Huguenot exiled to Amsterdam, was extremely popular at the time, equipping grand residences with Louis XV furniture. His aim was to strike a balance between interior and exterior. The creations of painter and interior decorator Jacob de Wit were also very popular.
At the end of the 19th century, as the city enjoyed renewed prosperity, a certain wind of nostalgia blew over architecture, and many were inspired by the grandeur of the Golden Age and the Dutch Renaissance initiated by De Keyser. This was the advent of the Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance styles. One of the great architects of this period was Pierre Cuypers. His two best-known buildings in Amsterdam are the Rijksmuseum, built in 1885 in a style combining Renaissance and Baroque, and the Centraal Stationan astonishing brick edifice built on thousands of stilts. This period also saw the development of a rich industrial architecture, as witnessed by the large warehouses of the shipping companies.
Rupture and modernity
In 1903, a new building was erected in Amsterdam: the Stock Exchange. Simple, with a rational use of old (brick) and new (steel, glass) materials, this building is in a way the architectural manifesto of Hendrik Petrus Berlage, considered by many to be the father of modern Dutch architecture. This new architectural language goes beyond the simple structure of the building and concerns the building in its entirety, including its decoration. Berlage works in close collaboration with all trades to achieve an interior design that accompanies and emphasizes the structure without masking it. Berlage was also commissioned by the municipality to design a new urban plan to cope with the city's growing expansion. Berlage imagined residential neighborhoods designed as homogeneous ensembles, often organized around inner courtyards, as well as large avenues and squares to encourage sociability.
Although they adopted some of Berlage's ideas, the founders of the Amsterdam School - Piet Kramer, Michel De Klerk and Johan van der Mey - rejected his rationalism as austere, and instead advocated greater creativity. Political and aesthetic, this movement was as much a rejection of the nostalgia of past centuries as it was a desire to enable the most disadvantaged to live in decent housing. The first building to bear the Amsterdam School stamp was the Maison de la Navigation. With its proliferation of ornaments, sculptures and small friezes on the façade, breaking with monotony, the building is a manifesto of what some would call Dutch Expressionism. The architects of this movement conceived of their buildings as sculptures, the smallest details of which had to be chiseled out. One of the finest examples of this architecture is Michel De Klerk's Het Schip. This rental complex, a veritable workers' palace, stands out with its chromatic effects of bands of brick and colored tiles. With its curves, the building gives the impression of undulating. The complex includes a school, a garden and even a post office, for which Michel De Klerk designed the woodwork, ironwork and earthenware. A total work of art. Another fine example is the De Dageraad complex, which multiplies forms and motifs in an upward thrust, transforming the building into a temple of modernity.
Just as the members of the Amsterdam School had opposed Berlage, certain voices were raised against the movement, criticizing its exorbitant construction costs and, above all, the impracticality of its creations, in which form took precedence over function. As a result, a certain functionalism developed in the city's new suburbs. Steel, glass and concrete are used in buildings where, this time, form bends to function. Layouts were more spacious and, above all, more practical.
Contemporary architecture
Today, Amsterdam has become a showcase for contemporary architectural vitality, with the most innovative creations dotting the city. In 1997, Renzo Piano endowed the city with an astonishing green shell NEMO, the science museum. Here, Renzo Piano recalls the city's maritime past, offering original architecture and a breathtaking view of the capital. The banks of the IJ River are also home to some incredible buildings, such as the EYE, the film museumwhich, like an elegantly aerodynamic vessel, symbolizes the moving image. Since 2002, a strange metal creature has been standing near Bijlmer-Arena station: ING House, with its 16 slender legs, looks as if it is ready to pounce. In 2005, Amsterdam opened a new temple to music, the Muziekgebouw aan't IJa steel cube enclosed by a 24 m-high glass roof, into which a black cube, that of the Bimhuis dedicated to jazz, fits, the whole being unified by a vast roof reaching towards the horizon. In 2012, Dutch architect Mels Crouwel endowed the Stedelijk Museum with a new wing that many refer to as "the bathtub", due to its geometric structure, as if resting on a large, luminous hall.
Among the city's inseparable elements are its floating homes. From superb sailboats to aquatic cabins, in the 60s these homes were highly prized by "provos", non-conformists fighting against real estate speculation. Today, they are very expensive to live in, especially as the town council has banned new dockings, driving up the price of existing homes. And yet, they remain highly representative of a certain art of living in Amsterdam. The municipality is well aware of this, and is planning to house some 75,000 people in hundreds of cruise ships docked in the port! For centuries, architects and town planners have been developing ingenious ways of coping with the elements. The new neighborhoods that have sprung up, like artificial islands, are still proof of this today. The islands of IJburg are linked to the mainland by the elegant steel Enneüs Heerma bridge. The floating Waterbuurt district on the island of Steigereiland is one of the finest examples of the city's commitment to sustainable architecture. It comprises 150 floating homes built from non-polluting materials. On the water, but also in the heart of the city, the municipality is encouraging the use of wooden structures and green roofs. One of the major projects for the future is the construction of a 50 km tunnel with parking areas and services, which would divert traffic from the current ring road, in order to limit air pollution in the city.
The dutch design
Now celebrated the world over, Dutch design is the heir to the arts and crafts in which the country has excelled over the centuries, notably in the 17th century with the rise of Delft earthenware and luxury marquetry. Berlage, like the members of the Amsterdam School, were also strongly influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement of Englishman William Morris, who advocated a return to traditional craftsmanship against mass production. Producing total works, they anticipated design in a way. But the true father of Dutch design is undoubtedly architect and cabinetmaker Gerrit Rietveld. As part of the De Stijl movement, influenced by the geometry of the painter Mondrian, Rietveld designed simple, uncluttered, highly geometric objects, aiming for pragmatism and rationalism. His first major work, which became a cult favorite, was the Red and Blue Armchair of 1919, which he covered with solid primary colors in 1923. He also designed the Zig-Zag Chair in 1934. Today, new designers are following in his footsteps, while defending an assertive modernity. The collective Droog Design collective promotes the use of recycled materials and resource-saving, creating innovative, humorous furniture. From this collective has emerged a key figure in contemporary design: Marcel Wanders. Known the world over, the designer bridges the gap between the traditional and the industrial by bringing up to date techniques that are sometimes a little forgotten, as with his Knotted Chair, from 1996, which combines aesthetics and sturdiness by using the macramé technique. Marcel Wanders founded the MOOI studio-gallery to help designers realize their dreams. The result: astonishing, colorful creations, sometimes surreal and oversized, but always totally uninhibited. This MOOI has become one of Amsterdam's design temples.
