JOURNAL

October 2, 2024

OPEN MONUMENT DAY 2024

A quick flashback

On September 14 and 15, the Central Market Halls were extremely busy, attracting many visitors. Over two days, we organized guided tours, some of which were attended by as many as 80 people at once. The Open Monument Day volunteers did an excellent job conveying the stories, and we look back on another successful collaboration.

Here’s a brief recap for those who attended or those who missed it this year.

We are standing on a site where food was handled and traded for almost 80 years to supply the city’s restaurants and shops. Before this site was developed, there were various markets around Marnixstraat and Rozengracht, each with its own products and origins. For practical, logistical, and hygienic reasons, the idea of covered market halls was already conceived in 1912. In 1926, approval was given for the Central Market Halls project, which included a large hall, warehouses, office buildings, harbors, and more. The Central Market Hall was situated on the former Aschbelt, covering an area of 40 hectares.

The Department of Buildings of the Public Works Service designed the project. This department gained international fame in the 1920s-40s for its pioneering and high-level designs, such as the “Amsterdam School.” The construction of the Central Market Hall was supervised by Nicolaas Lansdorp, who was also responsible for the expansion of the City Hall and the Vossius Gymnasium.

**Design of the Central Market Hall:**
– 100 meters long and 70 meters wide (equivalent to 2 football fields)
– 4 floors
– 32 large warehouses, 90 stalls in the central section, 60 offices on the upper floors
– Users were mainly fruit wholesalers
– Once the largest steel roof span in Europe

The building is constructed in the style of Business Expressionism, where symmetry plays a significant role. It’s a fairly closed, elongated brick building with a clear silhouette. The structure consists of a series of block-like horizontal and vertical volumes that have been pushed together. The only exception to this design is the immense matte black gabled roof with skylights. The predominantly horizontal lines of the elongated building are emphasized by rows of windows, doorways, and soft yellow brick masonry. The vertical elements are formed by the raised corner accents.

A continuous, large-spanned space forms the central hall where fruits and vegetables were traded. This works as a covered square, designed with a strong sense of aesthetics and spatial effect. The hall was only used for trade on the ground floor, so the upper space was mostly empty, enhancing the architectural experience of this interior.

The building features remarkably detailed finishing, seen in the careful selection of materials and colors. Think of brickwork patterns, symmetry, uniformity, rhythm, and repetition. On the ground floor, there are three entrances, with decorative brickwork in the sidewalls.

A distinctive feature of the Central Market Hall was its two wooden paternoster elevators, as well as the air treatment/ventilation systems on either side of the long façade, which were considered highly innovative for their time.

The layout and organization of the site clearly show how the flow of goods was managed with almost military precision. The market terrain has a well-defined grid of symmetry and logic, with each type of food having its own designated area. Although it may have appeared chaotic, it functioned like a well-organized ant colony. The central location of the Central Market Hall on the site highlights its pivotal role in food distribution.

**Human Scale in a Monumental Colossus**
The Central Market Hall blends colossal scale with a human touch. The building stood as a self-contained world towering over Amsterdam West. Its clear silhouette dominated the skyline. Essentially, it is a highly accessible atrium supported, both literally and figuratively, by two wings. The human scale is also evident in the window frames, which, in proportion to the building’s enormous size, give it a somewhat homely feel.

Under the large roof span, everything came together: foodstuffs, producers, traders, and buyers. The detailing considers human proportions, which becomes truly apparent when approached. From the trading floor, decorated glazed bricks on the first floor are visible. Additionally, spaces are designed with people in mind, with special designs and ornamentation applied to the stair railings, tiled floors in the corridors, and the elevators.

This innovative and prestigious project for its time was designed with the highest quality and representativeness. The municipal ambition is reflected in the understated grandeur of the design and the choice of Business Expressionism as the architectural style of the Central Market Hall. The ideals behind the social views of that time are evident in the detailed finishing and the careful selection of materials and colors. A functional layout was combined with aesthetic ideals of proportion and balance, as well as revolutionary building techniques for that time. Consider the brickwork patterns, symmetry, uniformity, rhythm, and repetition, as well as the structural and installation techniques used.