{"id":9593,"date":"2016-05-08T14:10:15","date_gmt":"2016-05-08T06:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stuif.com\/blog\/?p=9593"},"modified":"2016-05-08T15:58:26","modified_gmt":"2016-05-08T07:58:26","slug":"amsterdam-outing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuif.com\/blog\/?p=9593","title":{"rendered":"Amsterdam Architecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I am back in the Netherlands,\u00a0my friend Inez and I always try to organise an outing. Last year for example, we visited Rotterdam and Dordrecht<\/a>.This time we decided to stay in Amsterdam,\u00a0 and visit some new\u00a0and\/or\u00a0interesting\u00a0architecture. It was a beautiful sunny spring day.<\/p>\n

Our first destination was the new Westermoskee, the largest mosque of the Netherlands, with\u00a0a floor surface of 800 m\u00b2 and a capacity of 1700 people. The plan to build this mosque dates back to 1997, there have been\u00a0numerous\u00a0problems, now it is almost complete, the unofficial opening took place on 1-4-2016.<\/p>\n

I was impressed by the architecture, based on the Hagia\u00a0 Sophia in Istanbul, but in a very “Dutch”, brick-based style. It blends\u00a0very well in the\u00a0surrounding residential area.<\/p>\n

Personally I am really proud of my multicultural hometown, that it has been possible to build this Islamic icon in a “Western\/Christian” environment. \u00a0The opposite might not be easy these days..:-(. Here is a report <\/a> by Al Jazeera about the mosque.<\/p>\n\n\t\t