Everything about The Stopera totally explained
The
Stopera is a building complex in
Amsterdam,
The Netherlands, housing both the city hall of Amsterdam and the
Muziektheater, the principal
opera house in Amsterdam and the home of
De Nederlandse Opera,
Het Nationale Ballet, and the
Holland Symfonia.
The name "Stopera" is a
portmanteau of
stadhuis (Dutch: "
city hall") and
opera.
The Stopera is located in the center of Amsterdam, between
Waterlooplein square, the
Amstel river and the
Zwanenburgwal canal, on a piece of land called
Vlooienburg which was reclaimed in the 16th century. The building is located on a bend of the river
Amstel. The opera house building is shaped like a huge, massive block, with a curved front facing the city. Its glass facade provides panoramic views of the river from the curved interior foyers.
Next to the Stopera is the Joods Verzetsmonument, a
1988 monument to the Jewish victims of
World War II. A remembrance of the
Kristallnacht is held at the monument every year.
History
The construction of the Stopera was at least 60 years in the making. As far back as
1915 discussions were held about building a new opera house as well as a new city hall. Various sites were considered for the new city hall, until finally Waterlooplein square was chosen.
After a number of ups and downs lasting over 10 years, from a
1955 commission to come up with a proposal to the architectural firm of Berghoef and Vegter to a rejection of them in
1964, the city council finally held a competition in
1967 for a new design. Viennese architect
Wilhelm Holzbauer emerged as the winner. However, plans for the new city hall were put on hold for several years. Similarly, the opera house plans were in flux.
In
1979, the architect proposed that the city hall and opera house should be combined into one complex, so that the National Ballet, alongside the Netherlands Opera, would have a combined performance space.
Architect
Cees Dam took over in
1980 when the Amsterdam city council approved the new design, which was followed by full national approval in
1981.
The Stopera was a controversial project that met with heavy protests, particularly from local counterculture and leftwing groups like the squatter movement and
Provo movement. Riots broke out when construction began in
1982. The project went seriously over budget and ended up costing an additional 112 million
guilders more than originally budgeted.
The Muziektheater officially opened on
September 23 1986; the new city hall opened two years later.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Stopera'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://stopera.totallyexplained.com">Stopera Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
