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yvoschaap 50 minutes ago [-]
My grand-grand father was responsible for building 6,000 houses of which the Mercatorplein (one of the example article images) was central. If Dutch you should read more about how this Amsterdam neighbourhood was build here: https://www.heerevanderschaar.amsterdam/bouwondernemer/plan-... (the non-Dutch will appreciate the photos).
Berlage the architect is always mentioned as the creator of Mercatorplein (same in the article "his housing around the Mercatorplein"), which is always funny to me given architects don't build but are hired by building entrepreneurs like Van der Schaar who actually was responsible for it all, which in the history books get almost no credit.
lordgrenville 2 hours ago [-]
> ATTENTION. The books are accessible only via the Tor Browser. Follow the guide HERE.
First time seeing this. Is this a piracy thing? Hiding from AI scrapers?
Bosustir 5 hours ago [-]
I can see why the functionalists pushed back against some of this. The detailing must have been expensive and difficult to maintain.
Jaxan 3 hours ago [-]
Back then materials were expensive and labour was cheap (relatively speaking).
telesilla 30 minutes ago [-]
I just watched a short doc about NYC architecture in the early 20th-century and it had the same conclusion - you'll see extraordinary stone work up high where no one sees it except the neighbours. The labour was cheap, and so we have these beautiful buildings from those periods, and today's buildings are just practical unless the owners are lovers of beauty. Chicago, where I recently did the architecture tour on the river (highly recommend) still builds some great things, but only downtown I think where it pays off by making a desirable office destination for companies with big pockets. Is that the case for other cities? London and Dubai the same, Shanghai?
DonHopkins 4 hours ago [-]
[dead]
ggm 6 hours ago [-]
Bit of a cheat putting Zaanstraat and Hembrugstraat in without noting they're both part of "Het Schip" and basically opposite ends of the same development.
The museum tour is fantastic. Well worth it. Reminded me of a Bauhaus working class housing interior design on display in Berlin.
If you like this kind of thing, the Rietveld Schröderhuis in Utrecht is well worth a trip. It's de Stijl not Amsterdam school but also fascinating.
postepowanieadm 4 hours ago [-]
There was a living and working exposition in Breslau, some flats were build using the experience: used to live in one of them and despite all but one pieces of furniture were gone it was the best flat i lived in: not the biggest by any mean but it's layout and dimensions were just right.
ggm 3 hours ago [-]
My memory is they did polished concrete for the kitchen workbench, which you'd pay a fortune for now!
I wonder what the Karl Marx Hof in Vienna is like inside?
DonHopkins 5 hours ago [-]
That left-wing politics is part of what makes Het Schip so cool: a "workers' palace", commissioned by a socialist housing association. They believed that working people deserved beautiful homes, with elaborate brickwork and thoughtful design -- not just somewhere cheap to sleep. I love taking visiting friends around Spaarndammerbuurt and into the museum.
The top one, Wilhelmina Drupsteen's "De Vrouw 1813-1913", advertised an exhibition organized by the women's movement, including the campaign for voting rights. Dutch women wouldn't get the vote until 1919.
The front poster, Albert Hahn's "Stemt Rood!" ("Vote Red!"), shows a worker raising a pickaxe while pinning down an octopus representing capitalism and its evils. His boot is planted on a tentacle. The lettering names capitalism, anarchy, famine, the suffering of war, and food profiteering. Still painfully relevant issues today. Makes me picture the tentacles of Trump and his owners, Putin and Netanyahu, getting thoroughly stomped and pickaxed by progressives winning democratic elections, and how Iran resoundingly won Trump's war by causing regime change in the United States.
The gift shop doesn't carry the cardboard hats anymore, but I once got one modeled on Het Schip's phallic brick tower, like the Pope's mitre, only too tall to wear indoors.
>In early 2026, the exterior woodwork of Het Schip (the homes and museum) was painted. While scaffolding components were being hoisted into the courtyard, the tower's finial was struck, leaving it tilted. It took a while, but at the end of October the finial was finally removed for repair. The top is temporarily covered with plastic.
>Het Schip was designed by architect Michel de Klerk. The book "Een kunstwerk van baksteen" ("A Work of Art in Brick", 2018) describes the tower: "The tower can be seen as a characteristic Amsterdam School form. It enhanced the building's sculptural qualities and plays an important role in its overall appearance." Housing Department director Arie Keppler was rather surprised by the tower's presence: "There had occasionally been passing remarks about the lack of a tower in this part of the city. Imagine the astonishment when he unrolled his plan!"
Then we go to Grand Hotel Amrath in the former Scheepvaarthuis: Amsterdam School extravagance built for shipping companies rather than workers. They've let us explore the lobby, and you can rent the lavish historic meeting rooms. Look at the stained glass and woodwork, and don't miss the paternoster lift.
Cafe Batavia 1920 makes a great stop for a drink and lunch in another Amsterdam School building, if it's not overrun with obnoxious British football fans.
There's also De Dageraad, the housing complex designed by Michel de Klerk and Piet Kramer around P. L. Takstraat and Burgemeester Tellegenstraat. More beautiful homes for workers, commissioned by a socialist housing association.
The best thing to do is to just ride a bike randomly around town all over the place, looking at the architecture and parks and canals. Here are a few of my recent rambling rides, including wandering around Spaarndammerbuurt and Het Schip, and flood filling every road in De Pijp:
Berlage the architect is always mentioned as the creator of Mercatorplein (same in the article "his housing around the Mercatorplein"), which is always funny to me given architects don't build but are hired by building entrepreneurs like Van der Schaar who actually was responsible for it all, which in the history books get almost no credit.
First time seeing this. Is this a piracy thing? Hiding from AI scrapers?
The museum tour is fantastic. Well worth it. Reminded me of a Bauhaus working class housing interior design on display in Berlin.
If you like this kind of thing, the Rietveld Schröderhuis in Utrecht is well worth a trip. It's de Stijl not Amsterdam school but also fascinating.
I wonder what the Karl Marx Hof in Vienna is like inside?
https://www.hetschip.nl/en/visitors/locations-opening-hours/...
The museum is amazing, and the gift shop has treasures like this set of historical posters.
https://www.hetschip.nl/webshop/souvenirs/set-historische-po...
The top one, Wilhelmina Drupsteen's "De Vrouw 1813-1913", advertised an exhibition organized by the women's movement, including the campaign for voting rights. Dutch women wouldn't get the vote until 1919.
The front poster, Albert Hahn's "Stemt Rood!" ("Vote Red!"), shows a worker raising a pickaxe while pinning down an octopus representing capitalism and its evils. His boot is planted on a tentacle. The lettering names capitalism, anarchy, famine, the suffering of war, and food profiteering. Still painfully relevant issues today. Makes me picture the tentacles of Trump and his owners, Putin and Netanyahu, getting thoroughly stomped and pickaxed by progressives winning democratic elections, and how Iran resoundingly won Trump's war by causing regime change in the United States.
https://x.com/AmoneyResists/status/2118357108643234240
The gift shop doesn't carry the cardboard hats anymore, but I once got one modeled on Het Schip's phallic brick tower, like the Pope's mitre, only too tall to wear indoors.
https://wittebouw.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Amsterdam_He...
They're repairing the wrought-iron "tree of life" on top of the tower, which was accidentally struck during maintenance:
https://www.facebook.com/MuseumHetSchip/posts/pfbid0HQDNrwXU...
>In early 2026, the exterior woodwork of Het Schip (the homes and museum) was painted. While scaffolding components were being hoisted into the courtyard, the tower's finial was struck, leaving it tilted. It took a while, but at the end of October the finial was finally removed for repair. The top is temporarily covered with plastic.
>Het Schip was designed by architect Michel de Klerk. The book "Een kunstwerk van baksteen" ("A Work of Art in Brick", 2018) describes the tower: "The tower can be seen as a characteristic Amsterdam School form. It enhanced the building's sculptural qualities and plays an important role in its overall appearance." Housing Department director Arie Keppler was rather surprised by the tower's presence: "There had occasionally been passing remarks about the lack of a tower in this part of the city. Imagine the astonishment when he unrolled his plan!"
Then we go to Grand Hotel Amrath in the former Scheepvaarthuis: Amsterdam School extravagance built for shipping companies rather than workers. They've let us explore the lobby, and you can rent the lavish historic meeting rooms. Look at the stained glass and woodwork, and don't miss the paternoster lift.
https://www.amrathamsterdam.com/en/information/history/the-s...
Cafe Batavia 1920 makes a great stop for a drink and lunch in another Amsterdam School building, if it's not overrun with obnoxious British football fans.
https://manchesterhistory.net/architecture/1920/batavia.html
And then Tuschinski, an extravagant mixture of Amsterdam School, Art Deco, and Jugendstil.
https://celluloidjunkie.com/2017/10/19/cinema-of-the-month-p...
There's also De Dageraad, the housing complex designed by Michel de Klerk and Piet Kramer around P. L. Takstraat and Burgemeester Tellegenstraat. More beautiful homes for workers, commissioned by a socialist housing association.
https://items.amsterdamse-school.nl/details/objects/54
The best thing to do is to just ride a bike randomly around town all over the place, looking at the architecture and parks and canals. Here are a few of my recent rambling rides, including wandering around Spaarndammerbuurt and Het Schip, and flood filling every road in De Pijp:
https://ebike-safari.com/?lat=52.3905&lon=4.8737&zoom=16&rid...