UvA buildings | From archery to study halls in the UB
Many a UvA student has spent early mornings and late evenings here. Utter silence, coffee, and sleepy eyes are the norm. We are, of course, talking about the temple of the stressed-out student: the University Library (UB). In this week’s UvA Buildings series, we bring you a two-part series about the building that housed several archery shops, a Roman Catholic church, and the headquarters of the West India Company.
From morning to night, the UB is available to students. Especially during exam weeks, students get in early. It is sometimes so busy that the building and halls are full. But students didn’t always study in Singel 421 through 425, where the main UB building is now located.
- Address: Singel 421 - 425
- The oldest parts date from the 16th century, the modern main building from 1966.
- Designed by architect Jan Leupen
- Part of the UvA since 1860
- The UB houses study areas for students, book collections, and several staff departments such as research and teaching support and the data science center.
Archery
Singel 421, known as the Handboogdoelen, Garnaldoelen, Grote Doelen and Sint Sebastiaansdoelen, is a building from the early sixteenth century. Now it primarily houses offices of the UB, but some 500 years ago people from the archery school practiced here on a shooting range that reached as far as Kalverstraat. In 1672 the archers left and the building became an inn and hotel for a while. In 1860, it became part of the Atheneum Illustre, the forerunner of the UvA. The university library was then still located in the attic of the Agnietenkapel, but in 1881 the books were moved to the Handboogdoelen.
But the Handboogdoelen was not the only archery establishment on the Singel. On the spot where the modern UB now stands, the Singel 425 building, was the Voetboogdoelen archery range. A footbow is an older name for crossbows. Crossbows were so heavy and powerful that the bow had to be held to the ground with the foot to cock it. Beginning in the late seventeenth century, the building was leased as headquarters to the West India Company (WIC) and the Society of Suriname. This is where administrators of the WIC and directors of the Society of Suriname met. The building was called the West India House at the time.
The West India Company played a large role in the slave trade between West Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas through the transatlantic triangular trade. The Society of Suriname was a company that administered colonial Suriname from 1683 to 1795.
The West India House was razed in 1816 to make way for the Roman Catholic Church of St. Catherine. Consideration was given to making the church the cathedral of Amsterdam, but those plans ultimately fell through. The church was demolished in 1939.
Coffee machine architecture
The site lay vacant for about 30 years, until the construction of the UB’s modern main building in 1966. Even during construction, critics considered it one of the ugliest buildings in the city. The Algemeen Handelsblad thought the building looked like “an upside-down cookie jar” and called it “disruptive to the cityscape.” There was talk of “coffee machine architecture,” an informal term that referred to drab, uninspired or boring buildings.
Fifty years on, the UB is now more than just a study center. To help students during busy exam weeks, the UB provides various activities to relieve stress. For example, at the end of January there was a “UB dinner” where students could eat together in the UB cafeteria for five euros. Previous stress-reducing initiatives have met with varying reactions. A few years ago, for example, students could cuddle puppies in the UB for several days. This was supposed to reduce stress among students, but it also drew opposition from animal lovers.
New library
For the past few years, a new UB is being built on the former Binnengasthuisterrein, now called University Quarter. The renovated building is scheduled to open in 2024, although the opening date has been pushed back several times in the past, most recently because of corona. The new UB will be in the old hospital, the Binnengasthuis. In addition to the surgical clinic and the sister house, a new building section will be added at the corner of Nieuwe Doelenstraat. The former courtyard garden will be covered to create an open atrium.
On Thursday, February 16, the UB will host a film screening of the “neo-thriller” Ninth Gate introduced by associate professor of media and culture Blandine Joret. Showtime: 6:30 p.m. in the UB’s Doelenzaal.
