The churches are almost empty, but religion is undergoing a comeback in the city. One example is Kleiklooster, a modern-day ‘monastery’ in the 60’s apartment block Kleiburg in the Bijlmer. I met with one of the founders, Johannes van der Akker, who will also be a guest in my live talkshow Stadsleven on Sept. 27th. And… they also brew beer!

Cities all over the world are trying to take back public space from cars and give it back to people. Barcelona has thought up – and implemented – a new urban strategy, as radical as it is simple: the superblock, or in Catalan superilla. “Every city should try something like this”, says Sílvia Casorran, mobility expert and a resident of Poble Nou, the posterchild of Barcelona’s riposte to the car – and to the city’s excessive air pollution. Bordered by the sea and mountains, Barcelona is Europe’s third densest city, after Paris and Athens.

All over the world, cities are trying to take back public space from the car. Barcelona has invented the ‘superblock’, where through traffic is banned to make space for playgrounds and gardens. I went to see the superblock in the neighborhood Poble Nou. Where four lanes of through traffic used to drive, there are now gardens, benches and playgrounds. “All cities should try this”, says neighborhood resident Silvia Casorran.

Het Stadsarchief in Amsterdam heeft een tentoonstelling samengesteld uit het oeuvre van fotograaf Dolf Toussaint. Hij woonde zijn hele leven in de Jordaan, maar was ook een vertrouwde verschijning in de gangen van het Binnenhof. De tentoonstelling raakt mij persoonlijk, om twee redenen. Omdat ik moest denken aan mijn (enige) ontmoeting met hem, én omdat ik verrassend veel raakvlakken ontdekte tussen zijn werk en mijn eigen leven in Nederland.

De tentoonstelling – t/m 4 nov. te zien – is liefdevol en zorgvuldig naar thema ingericht – ook al weet je dat er voor elke foto honderd andere konden hangen, de man heeft een lange carrière gehad en was waanzinnig productief.

The Portuguese city of Porto was European Cultural Capital in 2001, and one of the projects that spawned was the Casa da Música by Rem Koolhaas’ OMA. It took longer than expected –  it didn’t open until 2005 – and it went way over budget, from 31 million euro’s to 111 million. But the result is spectacular, combining hard materials like concrete, glass and aluminium with soft surfaces like the Noridc pine wallsof the main hall with goldleaf motifs and the lovely wavy glass wall around it. One thing did surprise me: the Soviet-style furniture along the walls. Watch my vlog and judge for yourself!

The Belgian capital of Brussels has upped its cultural offerings with Kanal Brussel, a new contemporary arts center in collaboration with Centre Pompidou in Paris. Kanal is housed in an enormous former Citroen garage, I spoke with director Yves Goldstein about how kanal showcases Belgian art and asked him: what’s in it for the Pompidou? He also showed the winning entry by architects NOA/EM2N/SERGISON BATES, the result of an international competiton, for the renovation of the 38,000-square-meter ‘glass cathedral’ Art Deco building.