Beurs van Berlage
| The Beurs van Berlage is a building on the Damrak, in the centre of Amsterdam. It was designed as a commodity exchange by architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage and constructed between 1896 and 1903. It influenced manymodernist architects, in particular functionalists and the Amsterdam School. It is now used as a venue for concerts, exhibitions and conferences.At the end of the 19th century, Amsterdam was doing well. Trade was flourishing and a growing number of people decided to move to the city.In 1896, the Amsterdam administration therefore decided to allow the construction of the new stock exchange to go ahead after all. The honour of developing this new building went to architect and urban designer Hendrik Petrus Berlage.Berlage designed a completely new building, its bell tower carrying the ‘Beursbengel’ (exchange bell) being the most prominent element. Berlage, being a staunch socialist, believed the stock exchange trade had a short lease of life. Yet he found a smart and creative solution for this dilemma: inspired by the Italian Palazzo Pubblicos, he decided to design the new stock exchange building in such a way that it could serve as a grand communal home, a public palace, after socialism had triumphed. He therefore built a sort of symbolic city hall, a ‘public palace’ that could temporarily serve as a stock exchange.Since 2008, the Beurs van Berlage has been a limited partnership with four equal shareholders, namely the Municipality of Amsterdam, De Key, Amvest and MAB Bouwfonds. With the arrival of shareholders, it is the Beurs van Berlage’s mission to become the most inspiring meeting place in Amsterdam. That is why the building not only hosts cultural and social activities, it also serves as a conference and events centre.
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