Home Destinations Europe Netherlands Amsterdam Sights Het Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ

Het Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ Review

Read our Amsterdam sights reviews. Or post your own.

Het Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ

Address: Piet Heinkade 1, Centrum, Amsterdam
Phone: 020/788-2010
www.muziekgebouw.nl

Music Building on the IJ

Category: Arts/Performance Venues
Location: Old City Center

Write a review

Fodor's Review:

Just 200 meters from Centraal Station and built on a peninsula on the IJ, this spectacular building was also designed on a ship shape theme, by the Danish architects 3xNielsen. Since opening in 2005, it has become a main concert hall for both classical and jazz fans who covet the "building-inside-the building" as the new home of the famous jazz club, Bimhuis. Dubbed Amsterdam's 21st-century Concertgebouw, it is debatable whether the acoustics can compete with the original concert hall on Museumplein. There's no doubt however that the glass building is architecturally stunning, with its ship's ramp entrance and the zen-like simplicity of its three natural colors (concrete, black, and light maple wood). Floor to roof glass walls guarantee angular transparency and spectacular views into the building and out onto the IJ. The changeable weather that the Netherlands normally suffers from is now taken advantage of, as the openness of the building allows clouds, rain, and light to change the atmosphere inside constantly, in a natural way. Its multifunctional main auditorium seats 735 (standing room for 1500); a smaller auditorium seats 100 people, and foyers and extensive conference and catering facilities lure in business visitors who are not strictly here for the music. Pay a lunchtime visit to chill out in café-restaurant Star Ferry and enjoy the waterfront terrace.

Find more sights in Amsterdam »