The third edition of our series of FA-discussions on Wednesday, June 15 at De Verdieping, a cultural project space located in an abandoned printing plant in Amsterdam, covered three different examples of fiercely debated architecture; buildings that were or are doomed to fail due to their location in the built environment, their time of conception and usability.
Maybe the most famous Dutch example of how opinion-forming on architecture works is the ‘Zwarte Madonna’, a former 350-appartmentblock in the inner city of The Hague. The building by architect Carel Weeber was heavily criticized during its life span (1985-2007). As several government departments in 2001 made a decision for the extension of their office blocks in the direct vicinity, the curtains fell for the black lady. However, public opinion altered after this decision. Some inhabitants resisted moving out, delaying the demolition process for almost six years. Attempts from their side to ‘pimp’ the building failed. According to one critic, painting the Zwarte Madonna would be equal to ‘putting lipstick on a gorilla’.
(Zwarte Madonna. Photo taken from 
