Tag Archives: stairs

Magasin Horaz New Department Store in The Hague

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Magasin Horaz New Department Store in The Hague

A new and lovely department store has been opened: Magasin Horaz in The Hague. Why is Magasin Horaz special? The shop itself: it’s divided into separate rooms in a historical violin workshop (from Josef Joachim Vedral, violin maker) built in 1700. The goods: a mix of, well, everything; carefully selected by owner Horas Simanullang. Browsing the store you can feel the fun it’s owner has with filling his store, we think that’s very special! Magasin Horaz has a small selection of high quality goods like menswear fashion (Comme des Garcons, Van Slobbe Van Benthum) bespoke designer objects, (cook) books, interior design items, some top notch foods and sooooo much more. The back of the store houses a small art gallery with a new exhibition every two months. You can also have a drink in the “Red Room” and sit outside on the patio if you like. The shop has yet to have a “Grand Opening” but it is open already!

Shopfront seen from the inside
Old violin store
Things not for sale at Magazin Horaz
men’s fashion
Things not for sale at Magazin Horaz: poetry from 1900 (image courtesy of Magazin Horaz)
The stairs to nowhere
The red room
owner Horas Simanullang
The Gallery

The stairs to nowhere are showcasing items from the store.

The Hague: the city where queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands live. Magasin Horaz is situated in the old part of town: the center in the Molenstraat, a stones throw away from the Royal Palace Noordeinde, that’s where the Dutch king works. Visit Magazin Horaz on Facebook

Adaptive Travelers: Stairs to a Non-Existent Fourth Floor

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Adaptive Travelers: Stairs to a Non-Existent Fourth Floor

We, Mimi Blogger Team, visited the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven.
Being the fashion-angels that we are; we went straight to the fashion-exhibition named ‘Adaptive Travelers‘ (more on that HERE) The exhibition, by Modebelofte 2016, was held at the top floor of the Dutch luxury department store “De Bijenkorf” (‘The Beehive’ in Dutch).

De Bijenkorf in Eindhoven
Fashion Exhibition ‘Adaptive Travelers’ by Modebelofte 2016
Fashion Exhibition ‘Adaptive Travelers’ by Modebelofte 2016

But first we had to adapt ourselves to the intricate entrance route. Instead of just taking the store elevator (or escalator for that matter) we had to walk 3 flights of stairs, which are normally only used by employees, to the actual exhibition. After we exited the exhibition, via a parcours set on the roof (fun!), we saw the mysterious staircase leading to nowhere!!!

De Bijenkorf rooftop with parcours set by ‘modebelofte2016’ Notice the C&A logo. C&A is the most cheap clothing company in the Netherlands…
De Bijenkorf facade from the inside
De Bijenkorf facade from the inside
Stairs leadinf to nowhere
image bijenkorf seen from above

We find such a staircase very intruiging, this is the first time we’ve seen such an unfinished build in the Netherlands (which is a mini country with many, very strict rules). In 1960s ‘De Bijenkorf’ store only needed 3 stories, but urban planning was made for 4 stories. From the outside the fabulous building looks much taller than it actually is: the fourth floor is merely a facade. But the plans remain in the form of the stairs leading to nowhere! (Thahanks!! D. Martijn Oostra for this story)

The façade of the Dutch Departmentstore ‘De Bijenkorf” is designed by Giò Ponti (in cooperation withTheo Boosten, Frans Gaast and Mario Negri 1965/1968). Continue reading →