Amsterdam

When you travel Europe you end up visiting a lot of historical sites, museums and churches. And with each new city you persist in this activity, no matter how tiresome it is becoming because you must begrudgingly admit that the last offered you some fantastic tale, new colour or a whiff of head tweaking magic. Today here in Amsterdam I managed all three, no less.

(1) The historical site: Fellow bloggers might be interested to hear that I visited the home for two years of the most famous diaryist of them all, Anne Frank. I had always loved her book, not only because it tells the extraordinary tale of a group of people forced into hiding to escape the persecution of the Nazis, but because the author is a natural and gifted writer who so honestly shares the pains of adolescence that will be so familiar to all teenage girls, despite Frank’s unusual circumstances.

Must also commend the site for wanting to not only leave the museum as a legacy to her, but explore racism and discrimination in a modern context. The Tentoonstellingen was an interactive game one could play in the last part of the house, which presented several situations from two sides, and at the end asked you to vote on whether maintaining freedom of speech or protection from discrimination was more important. The cases were as diverse from racist slurs at football matches, politicians rights to discuss matters on the minds of the public and the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The voting in the room was often divided and more than once I hesitated as to which button I should press.

(2) The church: While so many of the churches I have visited in Europe feel more like a historical site, what with all the tour groups moving through, snapping away with their digital cameras, the solemn Sint Nicolaaskerk was still being very much used and had a pervading feeling of sacredness. How bizarre to come out of it and be greeted by rows of fat, middle aged women scantily dressed in lingerie, being “sold” in the red lit shop fronts of the legalised brothels, only one street over.

I have been to many contradictory cities, whose borders contain a startlingly diverse range of people, areas and therefore “vibes”. Mexico City and Los Angeles come into mind. But none in such a small and area as Amsterdam. You can basically see the whole thing on foot, bicycle or tram, yet within a 15 minute walk you can go from funky modern art museums to litter strewn hard core red light district through which stoned out tourists weave in and out to uber posh housing along beautiful canals that are dotted with pristine boutique stores.

(3) The museum: While traveling, one becomes more acutely aware of the colour, shape, textures and vibrancy of both the natural land and the constructed environment, as well as how these work together, and with the people who inhabit it. While standing in the Architecture museum (ARCAM), reading the words of great architects who understand the fine art of manipulating physical material and transforming them into beautiful living worlds, it suddenly occurred to me – architecture is simply extraordinary.

It is the foremost art that comes closest to life, a place where innovative, progressive and inspired ideas can make a direct and immediate impact on people’s reality. Changing space, Creating place, has cultural, social, environmental, commercial, political, artistic, and personal impacts! (What other art can claim this?) If one wants to use art (and by this I include philosophy) to change the world, to implement passion, visions, beliefs, desires, it is most effectively done by changing how ordinary people lead daily life. And architecture does this simply by fulfilling its function.