The other day I traveled out of Paris to visit the Villa Savoye at Poissy.
It had been raining most of the day; when I arrived at the house, the sun had just emerged through the clouds. Being on the roof terrace; listening to the rustle of the trees in the tranquility of the grounds, as the sun shone brightly on the beautiful, clean white lines of this timeless modernist masterpiece - a moment I won't forget anytime soon. Sublime!
I am now in the Netherlands and going to go eastwards. I'm wondering if there are any other must-see houses, buildings or museums in this country. In Amsterdam there is a Rietveld designed cafe in the middle of the park, and I will take a train to Utrecht to see the Rietveld Schroder House. I have recently left Brussels, I understand it has a lot of art nouveau stuff but there was nothing in particular that I understood to be worth a visit. The people at the tourist information centre were awful.
I will be travelling to Germany in a few days, and suspect you would suggest I stop off in Weimar for the Bauhaus, although I will be spending most of my time in Berlin. Please let me know if you have any further recommendations for Germany and the Netherlands for modernist architecture (and any museums I may not have heard of?) Also do you know any reputable architectural tours guide/groups in these countries?
Thank you all so much - hope the sun is shining where you are
Berlin
Go for Hansaviertel, the area around Hansaplatz. Arne Jacobsen, Le Corbusier and tons of other people built there in the 50ies for an international exibition on city planning.
http://www.berliner-hansaviertel.de/bauten.htm
There is very early Neutra stuff deep in the west, don't find the link right now, but it's in Zehlendorf.
The Area around Alexanderplatz is turning quite ugly, but a couple of gems hidden there:
http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Datei:Berlin_-_Haus_des_Lehrer...
If you need a list of furniture shops, just say so, i'll be more than happy to help you out.
Amsterdam Spaarndammerbuurt!
Not midmod, but very much worth seeing, and also somewhat off the tourist track.
http://rogershepherd.com/WIW/solution3/deKlerk.html
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