A short and sweet post this morning with an up-beat theme – praising the Dutch postal system. I love the way the Netherlands have got such a strong record of public art and supporting design – especially with the bold graphic design the Dutch are known for.
And here, in a way that only the Dutch really do, is the latest set of stamps from Holland – all focusing on modern architecture.
The Netherlands – or, as they say, de Nederlands, were of course the country that named us but then buggered off, leaving New Zealand with the name but no great amount of Dutch heritage. And especially not this wonderful refreshing attitude towards modern architecture that gushes out from this small, flat, heavily populated land.
I mean, just look at those stamps. Graphic stylishness, crisp ultramodern architecture, and – shock, horror, open mouthed amazeness – they even have named the architectural practice on the stamp as well! I’m pretty sure that such blatant advertising would be frowned upon here, but luckily, not so over there.
A chocolate fish for anyone who can remember or find an example of modern New Zealand architecture on a NZ Post stamp….
The Dutch also had fantastic design for their bank notes – now all gone and turned into Euros. They had bright and bold colours and graphics all over – especially the 5 (?) guilder note, which featured a bright yellow sunflower.
On the down side though, Holland is covered in nasty scrawling tagging everywhere. Endemic. Almost of plague proportions. At least we’re still on the “scrubbing that nasty stuff off” phase here in NZ.
it’s also interesting that these are recent unbuilt projects and this dutch design has gone beyond the basic bold graphic design with the stamps designed to become 3d models on your screen when you hold them up to a web cam. while we get rugby and the royal wedding.
You must have missed this one then…
http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/new-zealand/2010/slice-heaven
another cool feature recently developed by the Netherlands Architecture Institute http://en.nai.nl/content/703882/3d_architecture_app
@Guy I’ve heard so many Dutch Architects talk about the distinctive Guilders, most very sad to see them go….never mind the immediate price rises that went with it
m-d. You’re right, that had completely slipped by me – and so much so that I assumed it must have been from years ago – but I guess if it is still available, then it must be this year? Some quite cool retro graphics there.
Simon B-K oh how I love the NAI and their love for architecture. I wonder if anyone is doing anything like that Augmented Reality in NZ ? Or a decent architecture guide for NZ on iPhones etc. Sounds like something the Arch Centre or the NZIA might want to do.
Modern, maybe not, but they still have done the odd ‘omage to architecture.
http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/new-zealand/1980/architecture
http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/new-zealand/1999/art-deco-buildings
http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/new-zealand/1979/architecture
And especially this one – gasp!
http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/new-zealand/2002/architectural-heritage
(At least they didn’t use the word ‘iconic’…brrrrrrr!)
And to a lesser extent: http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/new-zealand/1981/beehive-definitive
What about a Christchurch Recovery Stamp set to raise money in a similar way to health stamps?