Information about Dutch architecture

A famous Dutch children's song contains the lyrics: "Amsterdam is a city built on piles". The meaning of the children's song is not that the capital of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is full of houses on piles, but that it refers to the particular problems faced by Dutch builders. Much of the land in the Netherlands is in the deltas of the Rhine, Maas, Schuld and Ems rivers, deposits of soft sediments, and the soil is sometimes particularly soft. There is also peat, which is produced from plant residues that have evolved naturally over thousands of years. If you don't want a building to turn around and sink into loose soil, you have to make the foundation meet special requirements. Fortunately, deep in the Dutch land is a hard sand layer. For centuries, most buildings in the Netherlands (especially behind dams and in dune fields) have been built on piles rammed hard into the hard layer. These piles, which may be 10 to 20 meters long, used to be made of wooden stakes, but nowadays they are mostly made of concrete. The tops of the piles are truncated so that they can be hidden underground, and it is on top that the foundations of the houses are built.

The natural conditions are such that the old riverside houses of Amsterdam and some other cities were indeed built on piles. The same is true of the office towers that dot the modern business districts and the large industrial complexes that are the backbone of the Dutch economic boom. The Netherlands has extensive experience of building in extremely difficult natural conditions. The fact that several Dutch companies have joined forces to take on the task of building the marvelous Hong Kong airport makes sense to the proud Dutch people of this country.

Moreover, the quality of the Dutch middle class is reflected in the city's vision. There were no palaces on the scale of those in China. The churches built for religious gatherings or the offices of state institutions show the tradition of truly large buildings with a communal character. Later on, sports grounds, warehouses, office buildings and factories also appeared. To this day, wealthy people still choose moderately sized housing. You can see the grandeur of the Netherlands in the utilitarian buildings: city halls, headquarters of large companies, factories, theaters. The design of these buildings is quite remarkable internationally. The Netherlands has a number of famous architects who have won large design projects around the world, such as Rem Koolhaas. Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964), a modern architect admired around the world, was also (one of) the founders of a new type of architectural design marked by simplicity and practicality. The modern style without curvilinear ornamentation suited the pragmatism of modern Holland.

Appreciating their works, one can feel that the masters paid equal attention to the art and function of architecture, and space was better extended and utilized. The Dutch architects' exploration of space seems to be slightly related to the topography of the romantic water city of Amsterdam, where the extension of upper space becomes the direction of exploration for the occupants of the city on the water.

As a result, the world's architects and city-builders often organize excursions to the Netherlands, where they come to see the world-renowned examples of Dutch architecture. These examples are rarely stand-alone buildings, but more often entire residential neighborhoods and developments. From the 1920s onwards Dutch architects gradually developed into specialists in the design of public **** housing buildings, attractive and inexpensive residential buildings developed for workers and the emerging middle class. Prestigious housing estates such as the so-called "Amsterdamse School" and the Garden City of Rotterdam continue to be a source of inspiration for architects. The key to design is to make the most efficient use of the limited available space without compromising on comfort and to protect the privacy of families living in detached houses and suites. Ambitious architects don't have to limit themselves to visiting the Netherlands to see the art of town and country planning, urban architecture and building design.