Amsterdam

Canals of Amsterdam

We noticed that all of the buildings sort of tilt forward along the streets...our guide said that there were actually several reasons for this. First, you can also notice the little pulleys attached to the top of the facades...this was used to haul stuff up to the top floors of the "row houses" because they are so cramped and the stairs are honestly almost vertical.

The windmills of the Netherlands. The city keeps building and developing new areas of the Netherlands by creating new islands where the city and suburbs can expand. Because these places are way way way below sea level, they have developed a system of windmills that constantly pump water out of the areas and that is the only thing keeping these new developments from sinking back into the water. If these windmills are to stop working, the entire place would be submerged again (about 200,000 people live here).

P.S. Thanks for the rain boots mom, they were really handy here. Amsterdam is very rainy and cold and windy.

A really ugly building that my professors insist is a wondrous marvel of modern architecture.

The really ugly (and tacky) housing development.

Brian Williford...this is one sketchy guy. (hehehe)

Riding around Amsterdam on bikes. We have decided that engineers (or maybe architects) need to develop a new type of bicycle seat that is actually bearable to sit upon for more than 3 hours (we rode for 8). We rode around all of Amsterdam and at the end of the day, the guide said we'd ridden about 40 km (something like 25 miles). OOOOUCH. But it was a lot of fun.

PRECIOUS little Dutch children were everywhere! And they're all blonde and happy (Dutch children are the happiest in the world, but its because their parents are so liberal). Everyone in Amsterdam rides bikes, so when the parents take the kids around with them, they have these cute little seats with a mini little handle bar set up for the kids on their bikes' handle bars. It is too cute.

A row of Amsterdam housing. Amsterdam is known around the world as a prime spot to find the most innovative and funky architecture. They are constantly building new projects and trying new experimental designs and they get away with it because unlike the rest of Europe (and the world) the Dutch do not build with the intention of having that building last forever...they build something and then in 15-30 years they tear it down if its not successful. The cost of construction is also 1/3 less here than anywhere else in Europe. They also use really cheap materials and construction is fairly shoddy and quick...as a result the buildings don't wear very well.

The Clemson biker gang (lol).

Its hard enough trying to keep everyone together on walking tours...it was near impossible with 25 retarded college students on bikes. Janis and I were in the restroom towards the end of our lunch break and we came back out and realized that everyone had left us...we had no phone, no itinerary, no map, and no IDEA where we were. Thankfully some people noticed we were missing and came back. Still it was about 5 minutes of quality freak-out time.

A housing development that has a shuttered facade that kind of resembles my project this semester.

These apartments are an example of the 'experimental' architecture that is frequently done in Amsterdam.

This was a really cool art and mixed media museum/gallery. The front and back walls were made of this multi-colored glass that was really beautiful when you saw it from far away (and up close) in the context of the other buildings around it.

There was a large stadium seating area that filled maybe 1/2 of the entrance level where you could eat or read or whatever.