Experience Open Monuments Day in Zuidas

The cultural season has started again, including in Zuidas. What can you see on Open Monuments Day?

The Thomaskerk

Don’t be deceived by the austere exterior of the Thomaskerk, wedged in between a car park and a residential neighbourhood, and a municipal monument since 2013. ‘When you go to church’, wrote architect Karel Sijmons in his notes, ‘you need to move from your domestic comfort into another world.’ And it is actually inside the building that it reveals its full glory: with brutalist materials, an undulating roof and unusual internal design, the church is a place for introspection, for art (be sure not to miss the glasswork in the foyer) and, because there’s a youth centre in the cellar, also a place for connecting people.

The Burgerweeshuis

The opportunity to visit the Burgerweeshuis in IJsbaanpad 1 in its current form might almost never have been possible. Part of this structuralist building by Aldo van Eyck was actually very nearly demolished back in the 1980s. And yet this very building, deliberately designed with children in mind (hence its name) had been designed as a cohesive whole. Messages of support to conserve the building in its entirety were received from near and far. Some of its supporters were prominent figures. ‘If there’s any building in the Netherlands that needs to remain standing, it’s this one’, said leading architect Rem Koolhaas. It has had monumental status since 2014.

The monumental courthouse

Between 1972 and 1975, ‘Parnas sub-district court’ became one of the very first buildings on the empty plains still remaining to the south of Amsterdam. Architect Ben Loerakker designed an eight-storey building, significantly taller than any of the buildings nearby Prinses Irenestraat and Fred. Roeskestraat at that time. It also had an extraordinary interior. Although its various functions, such as court rooms and the public desk, were separated from each other, the inclusion of a central foyer three storeys high meant that the design also allowed for connection and interaction: visitors could observe the activity taking place on the higher floors, even if they were not always welcome on every one of them. The courthouse building has had municipal monument status since 2013.

Zuidas Botanical Garden

Even outdoors, there’s plenty to see on Open Monuments Day, including amongst the greenery of the monumental Zuidas Botanical Garden. Designed by the Amstelveen parks manager C.P. Broerse, it was developed in 1967 on the site of the Vrije Universiteit campus. Originally intended for teaching and research in the biology faculty, the garden soon grew into a green oasis for a wider public. Take a guided tour with a plants expert, enjoy unusual snacks and drinks or take a doorstep plants safari through the neighbourhood.

Ommetje Kunst Zuidas Art Tour