|
|
|
|---|
|
A birds-eye view of the Amsterdam canal houses.
The canal houses, usually built as residences for wealthy citizens, determine the Amsterdam cityscape. They are characterised by narrow, relatively tall facades, often crowned by richly ornamented gable tops. By and large the development of the canal house facades follows the history of architecture. Typical of the Amsterdam facades, however, is the gable top. The reason behind the characteristic shape of the Amsterdam facades is the fact that the plots were narrow and deep with the narrow side facing the canal. It is crucial to realise that as a result the ridges of the saddle roofs were at right angles to the facades. Ornamental gable tops came to be used as a way to hide the saddle roofs from view. A whole range developed: stepped gables, neck-gables, bell-shaped gables etc. The relatively rare double houses are exceptions to this rule. Their fronts are wider and therefore the ridge of the roof runs parallel with the facade. Consequently, there is no need to hide the "ugly" ridge making the use of cornice-fronts a viable option. (Info from here.) (Picture: Marlene)
|
Gallery
Index
Thank you to 
for this space.
(URL: http://boozers.fortunecity.com/bridge/251/)
*No image(s) from this Web site may be downloaded and used for any purpose whatsoever without prior arrangement (not necessarily payment!).
© All material is copyright M S, unless stated differently.
|
The HTML Writers Guild.
|
KIBANA-SHAKUNAGE (Rhododendron aureum): One of the Alpine Rhododendrons.
Its pale-yellow color is expressed in both the Japanese and the Latin name
(image).
 |
 |
 |
 |
