Surrounded by the growing business area of Amsterdam Zuid, this modernist historic monument from the 60's oozes freedom. The clash of strict, grey, practical architecture of Gerrit Rietveld with the chaotic, colourful, anarchic bustle of art students working in these spaces is amazing. The 5 years I spend here as a student changed my life and shaped me to a great extend to who I am today. Now, temporarily walking these corridors again as a guest teacher, I realise how much I had missed this place since graduating 8 years ago. This is not a common art school. It's a family, a movement with a very personal and radical approach. Many students coming for a temporary exchange end up staying, because after wandering through this twisted Mondrian painting you will never be the same…

It is in the city centre. This former navy area is now partly open for the public. In summer you can swim in the canal there and have a great view on old Amsterdam, the Scheepvaartmuseum and the dead heart centre of Amsterdam. I like it most in winter, silent, grey, a place to mesmorize, walk alone around, meet a local who is walking his dog, than and have a coffee in pension Homeland, the restaurant hotel there. In central Amsterdam the space is rare, and what is there is overrun with tourists and full of local traffic, the trams, a million bikes, cars and pedestrians. That is why I like this place so much, super quiet space in the centre of Amsterdam.

Small bookstore in the center of Amsterdam with the likes of Experimental Jetset, Metahaven and Karel Martens.

The portal between the Leidseplein nightlife area and the Max Eeuweplein is pompously accentuated by a classical looking façade, designed in 1991 by Zaanen Spanjers Architects. On the frieze, supported by columns, the architect has carved an inscription: ‘Homo sapiens non urinat in ventum’ - ‘A wise man does not piss into the wind’. A ‘wisecrack’, disguised in Latin.

Simple but refined dishes. Reserve space for the madeleines!