The Museum Het Schip is housed in a former primary school at the complex where visitors can view exhibitions and take a guided tour around the building. The tour takes in the old post office, the courtyard garden with slum dwelling mock-up and a 1920s apartment. Book your Museum Het Schip tickets here

Het Schip was designed in 1919 (completed 1921) and contains 102 dwellings, a post office and a meeting hall. The exterior of the building is unconventional to say the least with its bright orange-brown brickwork, sculptures, minarets and exudes a wave-like structure that resembles a ship.

The expressionism of the Amsterdam School style from the likes of De Klerk and Piet Kramer was in sharp contrast to the functional and traditional school of architecture that came before.

The building complex is still in use today providing social housing to Amsterdam residents. By the way, if you want to live there you will need at least 20 years waiting-list time!

In the late 19th century there were concerns over the state of housing and slum conditions of the poor in Amsterdam. Large families were confined to a single room without adequate sewerage or running water. Disease was rife due to the high population density and ill health affected all levels of society.

A mock-up of a slum dwelling is shown on the museum tour.

After the Housing Act (Woningwet) of 1901 it was decided to demolish the slum tenements and start building public housing offering more sanitary and pleasant living conditions for the working classes.

So started construction of planned neighbourhoods around different parts of Amsterdam. These were underwritten by non-profit housing associations run by various parties of either socialists, communists, worker collectives or religious groups.

Het Schip was commissioned by the socialist housing association Eigen Haard. De Klerk’s radical building offered families spacious apartments with separate kitchen and bedrooms, flushing toilets and plenty of natural light. Ground floor apartments had a small garden and shed.

In addition, the building’s post office gave the people access to telephone and postal services. This social engineering of the time gave ordinary people the chance to live in a high quality environment

The tour around the complex last around 45 minutes. The guides are knowledgeable and speak excellent English and they will point out many interesting design features. The beautiful old post office is the first stop on the tour.

The highlight of the Het Schip tour is a visit to an apartment which has been fully restored with authentic furniture and utensils from a 1920s working-class family.

The kitchen was finished in a blue colour to keep the flies away. De Klerk’s vision was of the whole family socialising together at the table in the living room.

This apartment lies underneath the building’s famous tower (which serves no real purpose other than symbolism and decoration) and visitors may have the opportunity to climb up to the attic to see its internal wooden structure.

After the tour you can take a stroll around the building garden courtyard and enter the museum itself. There is a permanent exhibition about the Amsterdam School on the first floor.

Although a bit out of the centre, if you have any interest in architecture or modern history it is well worth a visit to Het Schip.

It is always best to take the tour at 15:00 as it is guaranteed to be in English!

Het Schip also has a small visitors centre at De Dagerad housing project in the south Amsterdam district of Rivierenbuurt – part of Berlage’s Plan South. It is open Thu-Sun 13:00-17:00 with tours available at 13:30+14:30 (Dutch) and 15:30 (English).

The address is Burgemeester Tellegenstraat 128 and separate tickets are required: Book De Dagerad tickets here

It also runs tours of the Shipping House (Het Scheepvaarthuis, now the Amrath Hotel near Central Station) which is another fine example of the Amsterdam School architecture. These are available on request.

Museum Het Schip Essential Info

This article was first published in 2014. Last checked and updated 12 June 2026.

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With its sleek modern design, the building is a wonderful public space for Amsterdam – housing film-themed exhibitions, 4 cinema screens, an auditorium and a bar-restaurant. It replaced the old film museum which was in Vondelpark.

The building was opened by then Queen Beatrix in April 2012 and was designed by Austrian architecture firm Delugan Meissl. The low-rise geometric structure is covered by white aluminium tiles which gives it a striking, stand-out feel on the waterfront.

The venue is the headquarters of EYE Film Institute, an umbrella organisation that administers all aspects of film culture in the Netherlands and holds a world renowned collection of over 50,000 films.

The EYE Film building is freely open to visitors. It houses 4 cinemas (with 620 seats in total) which show mainly classic, art-house and retrospective films. There is a large area on the upper floor for temporary exhibitions which run a few times a year and generally last for 2-3 months.

There is a Restaurant (open daily until midnight) with great views of the water and an outdoor terrace. The auditorium area can sometimes be used for live music.

The EYE Film basement area houses a permanent What Is Film? exhibition which displays items marking significant moments in cinema history. The collection has various film-making equipment including the legendary 35mm Mitchell camera which was invented in 1917.

There are special pods where you can sit in and view film footage on Cinemascope screens; a room surrounded by film fragments and a green screen area where you can make your own film.

To visit What Is Film you need to show a standard exhibition or film ticket. Note, free entry is sometimes given to What Is Film when EYE is between temporary exhibitions.

There are various activities available for children including a puzzle tour and a video tour.

EYE has workrooms for students and hosts various educational activities.

A shop is found near the front entrance desk. EYE Film also has function rooms available for hire.

It is certainly worthy of a visit whether you are a film or architecture fan or just want to come over for a drink and soak up the atmosphere.

Next door to EYE Film Amsterdam is the 80m high A’DAM Toren, a multi-purpose building which includes the A’DAM Lookout panorama deck.

Check out our guide to other Amsterdam cinemas

Eye Study is part of the separate Collection Centre located nearby at Asterweg 26. It offers the opportunity to study at the Eyefilm historical archive which has thousands of books, digitised films, festival catalogues and industry publications.

There are a limited number of desks and media booths available at Eye Study, which should be booked in advance. It is open 11:00-16:00 (Tue-Thu).

EYE Film Essential Info

This article was first published in 2013. Last checked and updated 12 June 2026.

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It is housed in a compact 3-storey building on the Prins Hendrikkade in the Oosterdok area, not far from NEMO Science Museum and the Maritime Museum.

The building was designed by René van Zuuk Architects and was completed over 2002-2003 at a cost of €1.6 million. It has an interesting mixture of glass facade and a curved zinc-coated aluminium roof and side panelling.

The ARCAM bulding is split over 3 floors and has a floor space of 477m². At street level you will find the entrance and this floor hosts the main (temporary) exhibition and a curtained-off introductory video space.

The small bookshop sells Amsterdam architecture-themed books and walking guides to various Amsterdam suburbs.

On the lower floor at waterside level there is a meeting space which has a wall presentation called Timeline Amsterdam 2000-2025 – on how Amsterdam and its urban landscape have changed since 2000.

On the top floor there is a small exhibition corridor and the glass partitioned ARCAM offices. At the end (on the west side) is a small lounge with seats.

ARCAM is worthy of a visit if you have an interest in modern architecture. Entrance is relatively cheap and a visit will take around 30-60 minutes. The light and airy iconic building offers some pleasant views of the surrounding area.

ARCAM Essential Info

This article was first published in 2025. Last checked and updated on 8 June 2026.

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There are a number of skyscraper towers located around the periphery of the city in the main business district areas – Amstel, Bijlmer, Sloterdijk and Zuidas.

The tallest building in Amsterdam is the Rembrandt Tower in Amstel which is 150m tall. This tower is actually only the 8th tallest building in the country.

The following lists the top 15 tallest buildings in Amsterdam. We then list any buildings under construction that will enter the top 15 upon completion. Finally we take a more detailed look at the top 10.

Summary: Top 15 Tallest Buildings in Amsterdam

Notes: buildings of the same height are ranked in order of year of completion

All are corporate office blocks or residential towers and generally not accessible to the general public – although some may occasionally open their doors on Open Tower Day (Open Toren Dag).

Tall Buildings under Construction in Amsterdam

Top 10 Tallest Buildings in Amsterdam

1. Rembrandt Tower 150m

Completed in 1994, the 35-storey tower in Omval (Amsterdam Amstel) is 150m tall including its 15m antenna. Designed by ZZDP Architects, it has a minor resemblance to the Empire State Building in New York.

2. Mondriaan Tower 123m

Also located in Amstel, next-door to the Rembrandt Tower is the Mondriaan Tower – at 123m tall with 32 floors it was built in 2001. It is an office space for Dutch banking giant Rabobank.

3. Maritim Hotel 114m

The 34 storey Maritim Hotel (opening 2025) is a large congress/conference hotel with 579 rooms. The building in Amsterdam Noord’s Overhoeks district was completed in 2024 and is 114m high. The Maritim and adjacent Yvie residential tower (below) were designed by Team V Architecture.

4. Yvie 107m

The 32 storey Yvie residential tower in Amsterdam Noord was completed in 2024 and is 107m in height. The distinctive sandstone coloured building features large staggered balconies.

5. ABN Amro 105m

This 105m, 25 storey building was opened in 1999 and is Dutch bank ABN Amro’s world headquarters. It is located next to Amsterdam Zuid station.

6. Amsterdam Symphony Towers I/II 105m

The 2 Symphony Towers (I and II) both stand at 105m with 30 and 28 floors, respectively. Completed in 2009 they are also found in Amsterdam Zuid.

7. WTC H Toren 103m

The H tower of Amsterdam’s World Trade Center stands 103m high (28 floors) and was built in 2004. It is part of the large WTC complex of offices, shops and restaurants at Amsterdam Zuid.

8. Amstel Tower 103m

Completed in 2018, the 103m high 30-storey Amstel Tower is part of a complex around Amstel station which includes residential apartments, office space and the Meininger hotel.

9. Valley 101m

The Valley is a 3 tower residential and office complex in the Zuidas district of Amsterdam with a unique terraced façade. Designed by architect Winy Maas of MVDRV the project was completed in 2021. The tallest building (North tower) stands 101m tall and has 29 storeys.

10. ITO Toren 100m

Part of the “Mahler 4” complex in Amsterdam Zuid, the quirky ITO tower is named after its Japanese architect Toyo Ito and is 100m high with 25 floors. It is home to Accenture and other companies and was opened in 2005.

What is the tallest building in the Netherlands?

De Zalmhaven residential building is the tallest in the country which is 215m in height and has 58 floors. In fact Rotterdam is home to the tallest 7 buildings in the Netherlands!

Also see our guide to Amsterdam panoramas for other panoramic viewing points around the city.

Last updated 23 January 2025. This article was first published in 2014 and has been regularly updated.

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