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Pictures of Antwerp

Started by Swordmaster, December 26, 2012, 01:23:17 PM

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Swordmaster

I'm not known for my skills operating a camera, but I think the object of these pictures will be interesting enough to warrant my sharing them. One day a week or two ago, the weather was exceptionally clear, so I went about in the neighborhood.

I'm pretty happy to live in this city, not least because all these places have a special meaning to me. With my parents living out in the country, I'm now the only remaining member of our family who lives here, which is weird since all four of my grandparents were born here.


Let me start with some of the well-known landmarks.

The "Farmers Tower". The first "skyscraper" in mainland Europe. Beautiful art deco style, finished in 1932. If only I could BAT. . .







What is now the Hilton used to be the first real supermarket in town. All of Antwerp came to buy their stuff here.



You may know our church. Xannepan made a fantastic model of it.





With all the buildings around, it's impossible to get a straight view on its front. Or a straight picture for that matter.



Grand Square/Place/Market/whatever you call it. Much prettier than that of Brussels, of course.



Guild houses. The usual fixture in Flemish cities.



Christmas market in front of the City Hall.


One of my favorite views, the cathedral as seen from the quays.



This elevated walkway on the quays is my favorite hangout. View upstream (south).



Another view from there.



On the way back home. The corner shop has the best fish in town.



This is taken behind my place.



Looking the other way, St George's Church.



Tram-in-road. Note the texture they used here. ;D



These are for Matt (threestooges). Our oldtimer PCC fleet.



Definitely narrower than their American counterparts.



This is my house. I mean, my house is somewhere in this picture :P



Thanks for visiting!

Cheers
Willy

kelis

Great pictures my friend, I love your city, I've been there two times, I like Antwerpen, even more than Brussels !!
I like the new building in the port (MAS) It looks very modern and fits perfectly in the port...and what can I say about the church? It's an amazing cathedral !! and well as a curiosity, I have a good remember of this city because when I back to Holland by road, always I cross the city, your city is pretty close to my dear Netherlands.

Groeten  ;)
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noahclem

Such a beautiful town  :o  It really seems like an amazing place. The pictures are outstanding and I love watching the tramlines and brick streets flow through the streets. The art deco skyscraper is really something. I imagine it's not easy to have a highrise blend nicely into such architecture but it pulls off the feat brilliantly. Almost makes me wish I was a BATter and could work that one out for you--hopefully someone else more talented is inspired by your pictures  ;)   The cathedral is also something special and it's fascinating to see those guild halls. Great work  &apls

sunv123

#3
More stuff from Swordmaster! :D

Your city loooks great, way better that suburban america. :P I agree with Noah, the skyscraper looks fantastic. So.. elegant. The christmas tree is pretty big, though a little bare.
This is what the Christmas tree in my city looks like. The cathedral looks so elegant.. so complex.. so cool. You're lucky to have such a cool city. Suburban america is NOT good.

Hope to see more from this. Too bad i can't BAT either....... Google sketchup is my thing. :P

Provo, a city apart Updated July 4.

mave94

I've never been to Antwerp itself, but I've driven past the city on the ringroad when going on holiday. I remember seeing a lot of churches, how beautiful.  :)
Those photos are wonderful. I especially like the church; it's so beautiful. That tram is also nice; its destination is Hoboken. Is that a neighbourhood in Antwerp? I only know Hoboken as a neighbourhood somewhere around New York.

-Matthijs

WC_EEND

Quote from: mave94 on December 27, 2012, 09:03:15 AM
That tram is also nice; its destination is Hoboken. Is that a neighbourhood in Antwerp? I only know Hoboken as a neighbourhood somewhere around New York.

-Matthijs

Yup, there's a Hoboken in Antwerp as well. I'm fairly sure the one in New Jersey is named after the one in Antwerp (not too much of a stretch if you take into account New York used to be called New Amsterdam).

For the PCC fans, there's plenty of those running around in Gent and Brussels as well. If someone wants pics of those in Gent, just ask and I will deliver.

Xander
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vester

Nice pictures. There is a lot of white(ish) buildings in Antwerp, with just few splash of colors.

Swordmaster

The weather has been picture-unfriendly here; first way too hot and raining, now way too cold and overcast. Yesterday on my way back home I thought this building needed snapshotting, though.


The Our Lady of Grace church on the Frankrijklei (France Blvd), built in 1877. Closed due to danger of collapse. It's part of the Jesuit college which is the white building to the right.







I also took some snapshots at work yesterday. Technically part of Antwerp, too.


Part of the old energy plant of General Motors. Factory now closed  &mmm   The blue square used to hold the GM logo.




The yard covered in snow. One of the great things about railways is they can technically operate 365 days a year. That is, when you have bosses that know what they're doing of course.




The far end of the MSC home terminal (google maps). Antwerp is MSC's biggest European hub.






At our yard, some decomissioned material. This old diesel was a classic staple of our company until the late 1990s.




Type 57 sitting next to some type 20s. An old favorite of mine, this type of electric engine has a whopping 7,000 HP. Not bad for a 1975 build; in fact they were the strongest engines in Europe when they entered service. Even more, they were the first engines in the world using semi-conductors. (The things with which you dim the lights in your living room.)










Quote from: kelis on December 26, 2012, 01:49:14 PM
Great pictures my friend, I love your city, I've been there two times, I like Antwerpen, even more than Brussels !!
I like the new building in the port (MAS) It looks very modern and fits perfectly in the port...and what can I say about the church? It's an amazing cathedral !! and well as a curiosity, I have a good remember of this city because when I back to Holland by road, always I cross the city, your city is pretty close to my dear Netherlands.

Groeten  ;)
Thanks Jonathan, great to see you like the city. I'll surely get to the MAS and take some pix from the roof when the weather gets better.


Quote from: noahclem on December 26, 2012, 02:39:50 PM
Such a beautiful town  :o  It really seems like an amazing place. The pictures are outstanding and I love watching the tramlines and brick streets flow through the streets. The art deco skyscraper is really something. I imagine it's not easy to have a highrise blend nicely into such architecture but it pulls off the feat brilliantly. Almost makes me wish I was a BATter and could work that one out for you--hopefully someone else more talented is inspired by your pictures  ;)   The cathedral is also something special and it's fascinating to see those guild halls. Great work  &apls
Thanks Noah. I think the pre-WW2 highrises do a much better job blending in, anywhere. Most of the 60s and 70s architecture is pretty awful here. It's too bad for us America got the lion's share of Art Deco highrises.

I've only shown the tip of the hat, really. Antwerp always amazes me with its extensiveness. In most cities of this size (500k pop), the center is usually concentrated, with bars, shopping and sights all within walking distance. Here, it's all spread out across a comparatively large area. Most people only ever see the usual suspects: they walk from the station through the shopping street to where the bars are, and then go back. They miss out on most of the essence of the city.

I'll be sure to include more tram pictures for you ;)


Quote from: sunv123 on December 26, 2012, 04:15:36 PM
More stuff from Swordmaster! :D

Your city loooks great, way better that suburban america. :P I agree with Noah, the skyscraper looks fantastic. So.. elegant. The christmas tree is pretty big, though a little bare.
This is what the Christmas tree in my city looks like. The cathedral looks so elegant.. so complex.. so cool. You're lucky to have such a cool city. Suburban america is NOT good.

Hope to see more from this. Too bad i can't BAT either....... Google sketchup is my thing. :P
Thanks Victor. But you're comparing oranges and apples. Suburban Europe is just as dim as yours; Antwerp is a comparatively large city however. Though I would disagree with your appreciation of suburbs. Their purpose is to provide quality living conditions for relatively low prices; not an interesting scala of architecture and sights. And they're quite successful in that regard.


Quote from: mave94 on December 27, 2012, 09:03:15 AM
I've never been to Antwerp itself, but I've driven past the city on the ringroad when going on holiday. I remember seeing a lot of churches, how beautiful.  :)
Those photos are wonderful. I especially like the church; it's so beautiful. That tram is also nice; its destination is Hoboken. Is that a neighbourhood in Antwerp? I only know Hoboken as a neighbourhood somewhere around New York.

-Matthijs
Thanks Matthijs. Hoboken is an area south of Antwerp, in the "polder". It's part of the city, one of nine districts; nr 7 here:




Quote from: WC_EEND on December 27, 2012, 02:04:13 PM
Yup, there's a Hoboken in Antwerp as well. I'm fairly sure the one in New Jersey is named after the one in Antwerp (not too much of a stretch if you take into account New York used to be called New Amsterdam).

For the PCC fans, there's plenty of those running around in Gent and Brussels as well. If someone wants pics of those in Gent, just ask and I will deliver.

Xander

Actually this is unlikely. The etymology is uncertain, but it's probably derived from a native name. Hoboken, Antwerp was such a tiny insignificant hamlet at the time Hoboken, NJ was named that the link would be really curious.

Thanks for visiting!


Quote from: vester on December 29, 2012, 03:46:26 PM
Nice pictures. There is a lot of white(ish) buildings in Antwerp, with just few splash of colors.
Thanks Arne. The light colored buildings are part of Parisian influences you see in Brussels and Ghent as well. Even in the suburbs, many w2w buildings are beige/light gray as part of that. Brick colored buildings are much more common in the Netherlands.


Cheers
Willy

rooker1

Both sets of pics are fantastic and very impressive.  Outsiders looking in always find other cities interesting I find, but I think most of you that live there take for granted the architecture there as I do here where I live.  And this is why we always want to go on vacations other than where we live.....so we can get out and experience life in other cities.  Great pics and thanks for sharing.  I hope we get another set very soon.

Robin
Call me Robin, please.

noahclem

Really nice pictures Willy!  It's funny how much the snowy railyards look like the ones I drive over in Oulu every now and then in winter. The timeless scenes of your home town gain a special character with a bit of snow and I'm glad you decided to share these with us. Try to keep warm  ::)

Swordmaster

I was going to grab a specific set of pictures but it's way too cold to walk all the way there. So some shots from the 'hood instead.

I have no idea why the edges of my images always slant inwards. Must be the lens or something. Can you tell I'm a dummy at this?



The police tower. Nice HQ for a police squad.




I like this three-layered picture.




St Augustinus church.




Can't leave this one out today.




Different perspective.




City library.




On the opposite side, Carolus Borromeus. Typical Jesuit architecture, and probably our second most famous church.




I have no idea what this is, even if it's nextdoor.




We also have modern architecture, if you were wondering.




The back of the French opera. The street to the left is where I live.








Quote from: rooker1 on January 18, 2013, 03:57:14 AM
Both sets of pics are fantastic and very impressive.  Outsiders looking in always find other cities interesting I find, but I think most of you that live there take for granted the architecture there as I do here where I live.  And this is why we always want to go on vacations other than where we live.....so we can get out and experience life in other cities.  Great pics and thanks for sharing.  I hope we get another set very soon.

Robin
Thanks Robin, at your service. I hope you enjoy these as well.


Quote from: noahclem on January 18, 2013, 03:00:52 PM
Really nice pictures Willy!  It's funny how much the snowy railyards look like the ones I drive over in Oulu every now and then in winter. The timeless scenes of your home town gain a special character with a bit of snow and I'm glad you decided to share these with us. Try to keep warm  ::)
Thanks Noah. I think railyards look pretty much the same anywhere in the world, apart from size. ;)



Cheers
Willy

noahclem

Nice pics again Willy  &apls  I particularly enjoyed the Carolus Borromeus and the 3-level pic. The police tower seems to be an appropriately policey-looking brutalist design and I love the stairway on the modernest building. But where'd the trams go? And why do the trees keep photo-bombing your pics?  :D  Always a pleasure to have a look around your city.

rooker1

These are the kinds of pictures I really like to see.  Any one can take a picture of a city and make it look pretty, but when you just take real life pictures in everyday circumstances, these are the ones I like most.
Great pics, thanks for sharing.....again.

Robin
Call me Robin, please.

Swordmaster

These pics are from last spring. I was playing around with some effects in the GIMP, which reminded me of them. These were taken at the border of city and port, near the old docks.


One of my favorite buildings here, the customs house.




This inlet was an old lock, connecting the first docks with the river.




As you can see, ain't no ship gonna sail through it no more $%Grinno$%




View on the riverside.




View on the other side; our "beach" and the highrises of Left Bank. Port in the background.




Funny how these fellows take their cars everywhere.




Old pier near the Maritime Academy.




From a tad further upstream.




View on the "Petrol". One of the biggest petrochemical centers in the world.




This old grain processor is a listed building. I need better pics of this; it's massive. But I figured I needed at least one tree-bombed picture for Noah :D




This "bunker" is actually a depot of the customs service.




Another listed building further on.




And to close off, this one for our good friend Jonathan (kelis). It's a recently built museum. I still need to get on the roof, though.






Quote from: rooker1 on January 27, 2013, 03:24:29 PMThese are the kinds of pictures I really like to see.  Any one can take a picture of a city and make it look pretty, but when you just take real life pictures in everyday circumstances, these are the ones I like most.
Great pics, thanks for sharing.....again.

Robin

Thanks Robin! When are you gonna post some? ;)


Quote from: noahclem on January 27, 2013, 08:08:39 AMNice pics again Willy  &apls  I particularly enjoyed the Carolus Borromeus and the 3-level pic. The police tower seems to be an appropriately policey-looking brutalist design and I love the stairway on the modernest building. But where'd the trams go? And why do the trees keep photo-bombing your pics?  :D  Always a pleasure to have a look around your city.

Thanks Noah. Carolus Borromeus is an amazing building. I should get some shots of the interior before too long. No trams here either, they don't run this far north :D  Next time I'll think of it.


Cheers
Willy

art128

Beautiful pictures, Willy!
Antwerp is definitely a city I'll visit!
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noahclem

Awesome pictures Willy  &apls   The tree bombs are of course appreciated and I'm always fascinated by Antwerp and its waterways. The buildings featured are all interesting. I think I would like to be the guy with the car on his boat (which appears to be both his workplace and house as well). He really ought to install a barbeque and hot tub though  :D