happer Posted October 29, 2014 (edited) I fell in love with canal houses since the first day of my Amsterdam trip this may, and started designing it next morning after return. I did my best to keep all the distinctive features of a canal house. First off all, you can notice that the canal houses are narrow and deep. They were designed so to minimize taxes, which, at that time, depended on the width of facade. Amsterdam is situated on a swamp land, therefore facades were built of light bricks with large windows to reduce the weight. Another interesting feature with windows is that they become shorter from ground floor to the top. This makes an illusion that building is higher than it actually is. Also note some kind of a plaque just above the door. Three hundred years ago, only small percent of people could read, and plaques helped to identify name or profession of the owner. Because canal houses were built narrow, staircases were also narrow, making it a big problem to take furniture and goods up. To solve the problem hooks were placed on the top of the house, allowing to lift what you need and pass it through the window. Red bike. Thanks to many factors, like flat terrain, narrow streets and desire to decrease car-accident deaths Amsterdam became one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world. Nowadays there are more than 400 km of bike paths and 1 200 000 bicycles (even more than citizens). About 100 000 of them are stolen each year, and therefore our bike is securely locked. Pls support this canal house on Lego Ideas: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/83275 (You could also find there story behind the building and more pics, in higher quality) Edited January 6, 2015 by happer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted October 29, 2014 Very nice modular 'happer'.......Brick On ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
amd762mpx Posted October 29, 2014 Nice work, I share the same love for canal houses. Also I live in Amsterdam myself, you included all the details. Well done. Just the big window is not entirely my taste, have you tried different solutions? Love it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ABryant Posted October 29, 2014 I love seeing Dutch MOCs, it helps me draw inspiration for my own modulars. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ER0L Posted October 29, 2014 Wonderful building, already seen on MOCpages. I especially love the colours and the shaping of the gable. I guess usually Amsterdam canal houses are a lot taller than this (at least 2 more floors) but probably that's due to the modular style. Another detail I'm very fond of are those white frames around the windows although I must admit that I don't quite understand how you have fixed them. Is there a "double wall" on the first and second floor or some kind of inner frame? Would be nice if you could tell something about that aspect. Anyhow great building, looking forward to more MOCs from you! And welcome to EB, of course. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happer Posted October 30, 2014 (edited) Wonderful building, already seen on MOCpages. I especially love the colours and the shaping of the gable. I guess usually Amsterdam canal houses are a lot taller than this (at least 2 more floors) but probably that's due to the modular style. Another detail I'm very fond of are those white frames around the windows although I must admit that I don't quite understand how you have fixed them. Is there a "double wall" on the first and second floor or some kind of inner frame? Would be nice if you could tell something about that aspect. Anyhow great building, looking forward to more MOCs from you! And welcome to EB, of course. Yeah, I spend hours designing windows because of my desire to do this Amsterdam Style white frame. You absolutely right, facade has a double wall with 87087 brick (http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=87087) holding 2x4 white tiles Edited October 30, 2014 by happer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheLegoDr Posted October 30, 2014 Very nicely done. I have never been interested in that style of house, but I have also never experienced that city, so methinks my mind will change eventually. (I've never been out of the USA). With that said, you did a great job here. Also, I like the history lesson. I can appreciate that style more now. I never understand why they were built like that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Adolfo Posted October 31, 2014 Nice! I loved the color scheme. Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BricksMcgee Posted October 31, 2014 Really nice! I particularly like the pattern of the paving stones - simple but effective. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg3 Posted October 31, 2014 Nice work!! I especially like the design of the upper storey. Thanks for sharing!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3BrickFriends Posted October 31, 2014 Great building. The positioning of the figures in the first picture is fun. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kristel Posted November 1, 2014 Very nice! I particularly like how you did the top part of the building and incorporated the general information about the canal houses. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NicT Posted November 1, 2014 Fantastic - I have copied those windows already! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
colibri Posted November 1, 2014 Really cute. I like the interesting way you used those minifig feet. It reminds me quite a lot of the buildings I saw when I was visiting the city. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Braunsfeld Posted November 2, 2014 Great, I feel reminded of my visit to Amsterdam earlier this year. The roof design is very good. Are you planning to build some more canal houses to make it a street? And: What is the little sign above the door? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happer Posted November 5, 2014 Are you planning to build some more canal houses to make it a street? And: What is the little sign above the door? Hi, I currently dont plan to do more canal houses. What about sign it's a tile from adventures theme which i used as a plaque (from my description "Also note some kind of a plaque just above the door. Three hundred years ago, only small percent of people could read, and plaques helped to identify name or profession of the owner") Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happer Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) https://flic.kr/p/qnYfXo Made an 1895 scene Edited January 5, 2015 by happer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CityBuilder Posted January 6, 2015 Nice canal house! The periodic minifigures are a great touch too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bradleybrand Posted March 29, 2015 You know the sign? Is that individual custom Lego plate letters or is that a sticker? The building is very good and I really liked, looks like a proper city building Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happer Posted March 31, 2015 The letters are 1x1 tiles which come from official lego set i've got this one http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=4677-1 and this http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?G=850686 , but it was couple more similar Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
