Paradiso

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

The building "Paradiso" was built according to a design by G.B. Salm in 1879-1880 as a building for assemblies of the Association de Vrije Gemeente. It is a building on a rectangular ground plan and rectangular in construction with two main focal points: the main entrance section treated as a Romanesque western tower on the Weteringschans side and the semi-circular section on the Singelgracht side. All facades are very regular in division and balanced in composition. Internally is the former church hall which presents itself as a three-aisle basilica: in the exterior recognisable as single-aisle hall, columns have been introduced, above which are ambulatory galleries. The "central aisle" of the church hall is covered by a wooden barrel vault with painted decoration. The cast-iron columns which support the central vault are connected to the outer walls by means of open-worked connecting arches. Narrow coupled round-arched windows on the ground floor (which are repeated in the western section) and broader and higher, undivided, round-arched windows on the upper storey. The entire building is in itself and in its detailing a combination of Romanesque and early Christian architectural conceptions and as such connects to the historicizing architectural movements from the years 1850-1860. Due to its location in a bend of the Weteringschans, the building is moreover a determining element in the townscape at that location.