Articles

Breton 'enclos'

It was in the spring of 2002 when we traveled through Brittany with our friend Jan. As a building historian, he was aware of the existence of the so-called parish enclos: walled parish estates from the 16th and 17th centuries. Now that the initial astonishment has passed, we thought it would be good to visit a number of enclos again over 20 years later and share this experience with you.

History Architecture Art

Görlitz and Bad Muskau

Borders in motion

Crossing borders is fun and exciting. Since European integration and the Schengen Agreement, national borders have become less noticeable than they used to be. Although that has been changing again in recent years, especially in Germany. A good place to experience this is the city of Görlitz and, more than 50 km farther north, the Fürst Pückler Park in Bad Muskau.

History Urban planning Landscape

Lisbon

Legacy

The famous places that tourists can most easily find are often very crowded. For us, it is always a challenge to look further…to search for less well-known places that are also worth visiting. In Lisbon, we found such a place at the Gulbenkian Museum and its garden. We asked several friends whether they knew of it, and it turned out they didn’t. More reason to share our experience with you!

Architecture Art History

Attersee

An enchanting lake

We are not people of mountains and lakes. We prefer going to the coast and to rivers, where there is more movement. Still, every now and then you are tempted to go to a lake after all. When we heard about the Sommerfrische at the Attersee (cool summer retreats) of Gustav Klimt and Emilie Flöge, as a way to escape the heat of Vienna, that was a good reason to go there ourselves.

Landscape Art History

Vienna

Rotes Wien (Red Vienna)

If one speaks about housing, one often refers to the model in Vienna. But what is that Viennese model? We will take a walk through history of housing in this city.

Architecture History Urban planning

Schokland

Learning from Schokland

The news broke in November 2025: after careful consideration, the municipal council of Moerdijkin the Netherlands sees opportunities for expanding the industrial estate only if the village of Moerdijk eventually disappears. Can Moerdijk learn from Schokland?

History Landscape Urban planning

Weimar and Glasgow

Architecture intertwined with craftmanship

Something continues to attract us to the Arts & Crafts movement. The combination of architecture, interior and furniture design from the perspective of craftsmanship: creating a Gesamtkunstwerk. In Weimar, you can find that work in Henny van de Velde, and in Glasgow in Charles Rennie Mackintosh, although his work has not always been well preserved.

Architecture Art

Southwest France

Modern medieval life

We continue to be fascinated when looking at a series of the same phenomenon. By making comparisons, you learn what binds the series and where the differences lie. Whether they are buildings such as Gradierwerke (see our story ‘Where salt production, branches and cures come together’) or air watchtowers (our story ‘The watchers of time gone by’), or cities. The bastides, medieval new towns in southwest France, form such an interesting series.

History Urban planning Architecture

Metz

The mirrors of the city

We are very interested in the history of cities and buildings. The challenge is to find new angles to highlight this. In Metz, we were given a wonderful opportunity to help tell the story of the city through its stained-glass windows.

Architecture Art Urban planning

Warfhuizen

The watchers of times gone by

You can come across things in the landscape that you can’t quite place. Sometimes they are barely recognisable because nature has taken over. In other cases, you see just enough to spark your curiosity. That’s what happened to us with an air watchtower in the Hogeland region in the province of Groningen, Netherlands.

Architecture Landscape History

Rome

In Search of the Modern in the Ancient City

Our latest ‘JE reis’ story was about Rome, and we decided to linger a bit longer in this city. Most people go to Rome to discover its ancient history. But there is more to see. Our quest led us to modern and contemporary art and resulted in some beautiful discoveries.

Architecture Art History

Rome

The invisible city

There are different ways to discover a city. Preparing well before you go helps you to find your way and understand what you see. If you want to delve deeper, you look for the stories of the city. Some of those stories can be found in cemeteries - the burial grounds – as we found in the city of Rome.

History Urban planning Architecture

Oosterhout and Voorschoten

Where have the sisters gone?

It is hard to imagine that there were visible religious figures in daily life in the Netherlands. But just like churches, many monasteries close each year. What we want to know, is where have the sisters gone?

History Architecture Landscape

Hoog Soeren

Freed from Veluwe anxiety

The Veluwe never appealed to us. Still, it’s good to give such an area a chance. We did just that. And guess what? There’s a spot in the Veluwe that particularly resonates with us: Hoog Soeren. It also led to some exceptional accommodations to stay.

History Art Landscape Urban planning

Broek op Langedijk (NL)

Poldering in the Lowlands

We have long experience with land reclamation in the Netherlands; a large part of our country consists of polders. You can still beautifully observe the results of this in Broek op Langedijk (NL) and also in the Audomarois (FR) in French Flanders.

History Landscape Urban planning

Poundbury (UK)

The battle of two brothers from Luxembourg against modernism

It's quite remarkable when you find yourself in a suburb of Dorchester (England) and suddenly think of a suburb of Helmond (Netherlands). Then you find out that the urban designers for these two suburbs come from Luxembourg and are brothers.

Architecture Urban planning History

Maarssen

Roof for the body and view for the mind

There are buildings that fascinate you from the very first moment. Then you want to know more about it, to understand it. We both felt that way from the very beginning about the Priory Emmaus at Buitenplaats Doornburgh in Maarssen. The building was designed in the style of the Bossche School by architect Jan de Jong. Particularly notable is that a visit to the architect's own house in Schaijk helps you to better understand the priory.

Architecture History Art

Bologna

The red, the learned and the fat

‘What is your favourite city?' is a question we are often asked. We can never limit ourselves to just one city because there can be so many different reasons to appreciate a city. But to be honest, Bologna in northern Italy is definitely one of our favourites. Well, why is that? Because it's a city where 'being' and 'staying' has been elevated to an art form. Modern life in a historical setting.

Architecture Art History Urban planning

Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog

Borders

There's something about borders between countries. Sometimes a border is visible as a line or a fence, but other times there's nothing to see. For instance, a border might run straight through a house. It intrigues, it simmers. A place of differences and disputes, a place for smugglers. One of the most fascinating border areas is Baarle, where the Netherlands and Belgium meet.

History Urban planning

Cádiz

Don't judge a book by its cover

While many tourists manage to find their way to Andalusia, not many make it to the city of Càdiz. The city and its buildings don't receive high ratings in travel guides, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth a visit.

Architecture History Urban planning

Glückstadt and Friederichstadt

"Kings' towns" in Schleswig-Holstein

Two towns, almost 100km apart in the federal state of Schlesweig-Holstein in northern Germany, were both founded by members of the Danish Royal Family in the beginning of the 17th century. They don’t look alike; they have their own history.

History Urban planning Architecture

Helenaveen and Griendtsveen

Brabants and Limburgs Peatlands

A unique peatland area where the development of the landscape and the villages of Helenaveen and Griendtsveen are closely intertwined.

Landscape Urban planning History

Klein Maarslag and Groot Maarslag

Surprises in 'het Hogeland'

The area known as the Highland (Het Hogeland) has caught our attention for a quarter of a century. How an orchard, a graveyard and a vineyard come together.

Landscape History