22 September 2011

Skyscraper/Wolkenkrabber Victorieplein (J.F. Staal)

When I was going out to make this photograph it was very bad weather. Rain, wind, hail etc. It was hard to get a good position for the camera and I almost got hit by bus 15. At last I found a chance to take some pictures but my I expectations were not very high. Later when I came home and saw the images on my computer I was kind of touched. The once so sturdy skyscraper of Staal appeared to me as a vulnerable and sensitive Grande Dame.

The skyscraper is positioned precisely on the spot where the Rooseveltlaan and the Churchillaan come together. On the backside of the building there is a triangle-shaped square called Merwedeplein. A picture of the Merwedeplein is also on this weblog. Anne Frank and her family lived on that square from 1933 till 1942 (when they went in hiding). This means that, when the Frank's lived there, it was a very new and modern neighborhood (as we see also in this film-clip about the Berlagebrug). So many things happened in this Rivierenbuurt district. It's almost as if the Grande Dame of the Victorieplein carries all the stories with her.