Amsterdam
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Utrecht
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Hilversum
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Rotterdam
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Arnhem
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Amsterdam • Utrecht • Hilversum • Rotterdam • Arnhem •
The Netherlands!
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1. Monitor the WhatsApp chat.
2. Stay close to Kev.
3. Don't rush to photograph. Absorb. Take a seat. Feel the space.
4. Stay hydrated.
5. Be on time or get left behind.
6. Avoid photographing strangers.
7. Always know where your Buddy is.
8. Always have at least two Archimarathoners in view at all times.
9. Switch your phone to low battery mode each morning.
10. Listen out for the "Disperse" command.
11. Act like you belong. Confidence is key.
12. Point things out to each other. If you see something, say something.
- “Did you notice...”
- “Why do you think they..."
- We intuitively know a lot about space, but we only make it lucid to ourselves when we say it out loud.
- The thing that you think is obvious, is not obvious to others.
- The question you have, others have. So please ask it.
13. Keep your “Top 5” in the back of your mind.
14. Don’t Die. Your safety is your responsibility. Be mindful of your personal safety at all times.
15. Your belongings are your responsibility. Do not assume that someone else is monitoring your gear. Do not leave your bag unattended.
16. Sometimes things don’t work out. Sometimes buildings are closed. We roll with it. Serendipity is the best part of travel. We embrace it.
17. “Its not what it looks like, its what it does.” What is the architecture doing to improve the human condition?
18. Bicycle riding is optional. Do not ride a bike if you do not feel confident and comfortable. Kevin and Andrew will assist with public transport and walking routes for those not wanting to ride.
19. Riding of scooters is not part of the tour, and not covered on insurance. If you do so, you ride at your own risk.
20. All participants must have signed a Liability Waiver
21. Have fun! -
Your tour buddies are:
🇦🇺 Andrew Maynard
🇦🇺 Kevin Hui
🇦🇺 Baiyu Chen
🇦🇺 John Law
🇦🇺 Fiona Law
🇹🇼 Shangyun Huang
🇺🇸 Luis Garcia
🇨🇦 Stephanie Scandrett
🇦🇺 Eric Lee
🇦🇺 Todd Henderson
🇦🇺 Hongdi Fang
🇦🇺 Jason Chen
🇦🇺 Timos Roussos
🇺🇸 Kevin McCarthy
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Everything on our itinerary is worth visiting however, there are some more worthy of others.
★
INTERESTING
Worthy but if time is limited, they are the first ones to leave out★★
GOOD TO SEE
Definitely worth the time to go visit★★★
MUST SEE
Not to be missed and the highest priority
★★★+
MUST SEE + SPEND TIME
It will take some time at this project
This is our dream list. The itinerary changes depending on group pace, weather and priorities. Enjoy the ride.
Day 01
City: Amsterdam
Accomodation: Park Plaza Utrecht
Sunrise 05:18 Sunset 22:02
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First day! Since we are all staying and starting from Utrecht, we shall meet and greet at 9am at Utrecht station, run though some preliminaries and then travel by train to Amsterdam Centraal station. From there we shall travel to Museum Het Schip to see as a fine example of the Amsterdam School with its beautiful brickwork. Then we head to the housing project Silodam by MVRDV (and depending on whether they have tour available and the duration). After that, we shall head to Borneo-Sporenburg Islands. Masterplanned by West8, it is an interesting urban approach with some houses by famous architects. Depending on time and how hungry we are, we might push on to Funenpark across the railway tracks as there aren’t many food choices around this area. After that, we might go and grab some Surinamese food for lunch which is quite a unique Dutch colonial food with a mix of Indian, African, Indonesian (Javanese), Chinese, Creole, and Dutch influences. After lunch we shall check out Stadgenoot Pavilion by Steven Holl. It’s a corporate office’s canteen so we shall see how far we manage to get close to it. After that we head to ARCAM Architecture Centre and walk past NEMO Science Centre on the way back to Amsterdam Centraal. We will catch a short ferry ride across to the Eye Film Museum. If we have time to spare, we could walk around the IJplein area which was masterplanned by OMA in the 1980s and look at some housing as well. We finish the day probably at some classic Amsterdam “Brown Bars”, dinner and head back to Utrecht. Last train leaves before midnight so best not to go too late.
Museum Het Schip ★★★+
Walk (25 mins) OR Bus 48: from Spaarndammerstraat to Barentszplein (15 mins)
Funen Block K Verdana ★★★
Tram 7 from 1e Leeghwaterstraat to Alexanderplein (10 mins)
Stadgenoot Pavilion ★★★
Tram 14 from Alexanderplein to Artis/Holocaustmuseum (15 mins)
NEMO Science Museum ★★
Walk to Amsterdam Centraal (15 mins)
Ferry F3 from Amsterdam Centraal to Buiksloterweg (15 mins)
Eye Film Museum ★★★
Ferry F3 from Buiksloterweg to Amsterdam Centraal (15 mins)
Day 02
City: Amsterdam
Accomodation: Park Plaza Utrecht
Sunrise 05:18 Sunset 22:02
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Another Amsterdam day. Travelling to Amsterdam Centraal and then head to IJburg area, a modern urban development designed to address Amsterdam’s housing shortage. Built on artificial islands in the IJmeer lake east of the city. Starting at the far eastern end with The Couch tennis club by MVRDV and walking through the neighbourhood and arriving at the Floating Housing and Slushuis projects. Next we might head to WoZoCo housing on the other side of Amsterdam depending on time. This is probably lunch time. Afterwards the focus in the afternoon would be in the Amsterdam Zuid area, masterplanned by Hendrik Berlage in 1915 and some 1928 Olympics buildings amongst the listed buildings. Whilst most of the buildings are only visible from the outside only, I think there is going to be an exhibition happening at Thomaskerk (closes at 17:00). After Amsterdam Zuid, we then head to Rijkmuseum (closes at 17:00), more for the urban design. Crystal Houses by MVRDV is nearby and that closes at 18:00. The Stedelijk Museum is open till 19:00. This concludes our Amsterdam component. Drinks at another Brown Bar institution and dinner before heading back to Utrecht.
Slushuis ★★★
Tram 26 from Steigereiland to Numberblockplein (20 mins)
Walk from Numberblockplein to Amsterdam Centraal (5 mins)
Tram 17 from Amsterdam Centraal to Hoekenes (30 mins)
Walk (10 mins)
Thomaskerk ★★★
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1966 - Karel Sijmons
Tram 5 from Amsterdam Prinses Irenestraat to Amsterdam Museumplein
Day 03
City: Utrecht
Accomodation: Park Plaza Utrecht
Sunrise 05:18 Sunset 22:00
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Today we focus on Utrecht and mainly on foot. Starting out from the train station, we will see a few projects in the old town centre before heading south towards Zeven Stegies, a unique historic working-class neighbourhood from the mid-19th Century. We then head further south to the edge of the former fortified town to see a lesser known Amsterdam School style building before heading east towards a few houses by Gerrit Rietveld and MVRDV’s Double House. We have a booking for the seminal Schroder House (pending confirmation) and the quirky Museumhuis van Ravesteryn (pending confirmation). After that we continue east to the Utrecht University’s Utrecht Science Park (formerly De Uithof campus) where we will see a whole bunch of influential buildings from the late 1990s and early 2000s. Most of the buildings usually open late there but it is just on the cusp of summer holidays for universities so I am not sure how late they would open till. We then head back into Utrecht town centre for drinks and dinner.
Utrecht Central Library ★★★
Day 04
City: Utrecht
Accomodation: Park Plaza Utrecht
Sunrise 05:18 Sunset 22:01
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Whilst yesterday was focused on Utrecht and Rietveld’s work, the main focus today is the city of Hilversum and the works of Dudok. Hilversum is also only 20 minutes away from Utrecht. We shall head straight to the Media Park station for which a bunch of buildings in the late 1990’s are of interest, especially Villa VPRO and NTR Headquarters both by MVRDV at the same time. The buildings are not accessible but we can walk around them. The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision looks to have some interesting spaces (I have never been) but not sure if entering the exhibitions will offer any special spatial experience, will play it by ear. It opens from 10am. From there we can walk to Snelliusschool of Dudok but it is also exterior only. We have a booking for a tour at 13:00 of Hilversum Town Hall which is by far Dudok’s most famous work. After that we shall get back to Utrecht and there are a couple of housing projects on the outskirts in the west that’s worth checking out. Back to Utrecht old town for drinks and dinner.
Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision ★★★+
Day 05
City: Rotterdam
Accomodation: The Usual Rotterdam
Sunrise 05:22 Sunset 22:03
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Today is a big day as we are relocating from Utrecht to Rotterdam with all our belongings. Trains a frequent at every 15 minutes for the 37 minutes journey. There are also a few things we don’t want to miss with pre-purchased tickets. When we arrive Rotterdam, we shall head straight to the accommodation to drop off our bags before heading to the Museum Park area with a couple of Modernist houses such as Chabot House and Sonneveld House. We can get tickets to see the interiors of Sonneveld House at Nieuwe Institute which I was told is also definitely a must to check out. We will walk past the big silver bowl that is the Depot Boijmans van Beuningen Museum is really an art archive building by MVRDV, we will try to poke our heads in to see what we can see. Kunsthal Rotterdam, an early but quite definitive OMA building that is not to be missed. Then we explore the area around where the ‘dam’ of Rotterdam was with the iconic but touristy Kijk-Kubus housing, Rotterdam Central Library and Markthal Rotterdam where we could have lunch. Since most museums are not open on Mondays, we shall head to the newly opened Fenix Museum, last booking is for 16:00. We should be heading to Fenix from the ‘Dam in de Rotte’ area no later than 15:20. We then go back to our accommodation and check in then look for drinks and dinner.
Day 06
City: Rotterdam
Accomodation: The Usual Rotterdam
Sunrise 05:21 Sunset 22:04
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This is a big day. Deep diving into Rotterdam’s post-war architecture history as well as one of the latest buildings that just opened. Starting at Centraal train station, we will see some of the large projects in the surrounding area, then heading east towards the Hilton Hotel and across to Benthemlein Watersquare, an urban square that’s designed as a drainage basin in case of flood. Then we head south through Timmerhuis by OMA and walk past the facade of De Bijenkorf department store by Marcel Breuer, ending up at the important urban street mall of Lijnbaan by Van den Broek & Bakema. Around there is also the urban square Schouwburgplein by West8 and Kruisplein housing by Mecanoo (their first project). Then tthere is Cafe de Unie, a 1986 reconstruction of the original 1925 De Stijl architectural cafe designed by J.J.P. Oud which was destroyed in World War II. There are lots of food choices in the area and could have lunch in this area. Or, we could proceed across the Nieuwe Maas river to Wilhelminaplein where there is Foodhallen Rotterdam. Regardless of where we have lunch, we will spend time in this area looking at the developments here from the 1990s to early 2000s, generally heading towards the tip at Hotel New York, the building served as the main office and terminal for the Holland America Line, which transported nearly 1 million European emigrants-many fleeing poverty and persecution-to New York and other destinations in the United States from the late 19th century until the 1970s. A good place to chill and have a drink at the end of the day before heading back.
Rotterdam Central Train Station ★★
Cafe de Unie ★★★
Tram 3 from Kruisplein to Wilhelminaplein (10 mins)
Day 07
City: Rotterdam
Accomodation: The Usual Rotterdam
Sunrise 05:21 Sunset 22:04
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Day trip to Den Haag in the morning followed by Delft in the afternoon. Den Haag is often mistaken as the capital of Netherlands, it is the seat of government and administrative centre of the country. There are a handful of buildings in the city centre and near the train station worth visiting. The real gems are Kunstmuseum Den Haag by Hendrik Berlage and Pastoor van Ars Church by Aldo van Eyck (awaiting confirmation). If we have time we could squeeze in Foodhallen Den Haag for lunch before heading to Delft. Apart from the train station which is also the City Hall of Delft by Mecanoo, there is also the retrofit of the Delft Old Library which looked interesting. We shall then head to TU Delft, briefly checking out The Berlage Institute, grab a coffee at the Coffee and Bikes parking structure, checking out the Brutalist Aula TU Delft building, the Echo Building and then finishing at the TU Delft Library building which is open till late. We then head straight back to Rotterdam or choose to spend some time in Delft before going back.
Train Intercity from Rotterdam Centraal to Den Haag Centraal (25 mins)
Tram 3 from Spui to Heliotrooplaan (20 mins)
Tram 3 from Heliotrooplaan to Van Speijkstraat
Tram 17 from Obrechtstraat to Kunstmuseum
Tram 17 from Kunstmuseum to Gravenstraat
(15 mins)
Den Haag City Hall ★★
Den Haag Centraal Station ★★
Train Intercity Den Haag Centraal to Delft (20 mins)
Delft Old Library ★★★
Walk (25 mins)
Day 08
City: Rotterdam > Arnhem
Accomodation: Ibis Styles Arnhem
Sunrise 05:21 Sunset 22:04
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Another day of relocation but before we leave, we shall visit the office of MVRDV between 09:00-10:00. We will check out and carry our luggage with us to their office. But before that, for those who are interested, we shall make a visit to a chapel at a cemetery by Mecanoo (30 mins by public transport) which opens at 08:00. From there is it about 20 minutes by partial public transport and walking to MVRDV’s office. After the visit, we shall catch the train from Rotterdam Centraal to Arnhem which usually goes via Utrecht with frequency every 15-20 minutes throughout the day. Once we get to Arnhem, we drop our bags (or see if we can already check in), then there are a few projects to see in the city centre. We do want to get to the Netherlands Open Air Museum which is a bit out of town and reachable by bus. Whilst our usual focus are on 20th century and contemporary buildings of which there are a few there by Mecanoo, the museum showcases vernacular architecture of the Netherlands which might be quite a treat. When we get back to town, Rozet Culture House is open late and we shall find a place to have our final drinks and dinner as many are rushing off on the final night on day 9.
Public transport 30mins to Chapel
Day 09
City: Arnhem
Accomodation: Ibis Styles Arnhem
Sunrise 05:15 Sunset 21:59
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Last day and it’s a chill day. For those leaving us today, best to check out and leave your luggage at the accomodation. Our main focus is going to Kroller Müller Museum which is situated in a National Park and it has Europe’s largest sculpture park and the second larges collection of van Gogh’s paintings. It is a bit out of town and accessible by bus. The entrances to the National Park has small structure by MVRDV, but the museum has some extraordinary buildings including a couple of experimental pavilions such as the Rietveld Pavilion by Gerrit Rietveld and Sonsbeek Pavilion by Aldo van Eyck. We will spend a bit of time at the museum but you are free to go at your own pace. Bus ride is just a reverse of how we got there.
Bus 105 from Arnhem Centraal Station to Otterlo Rotonde (30 mins)
Bus 106 from Otterlo Rotonde to De Hoge Veluwe Kroller Muller Museum (10 mins)
Kroller Müller Museum ★★★+
park entry and museum paid
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1938 | 1977 - Henry van de Velde + Wim Quist (extension)
Sonsbeek Pavilion ★★★
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1966 (rebuilt 2006) - Aldo van Eyck
Bus 106 from De Hoge Veluwe Kroller Muller Museum to Otterlo Rotonde (10 mins)
Bus 105 from Otterlo Rotonde to Arnhem Centraal Station (20 mins)