The Concertgebouw

The Concertgebouw has a roof topped by a golden lyre that marks it from blocks away. It began as a project to bring classical music to a growing neighborhood in eighteen eighty-eight. When the builders dug the foundation, they discovered the peat soil was so soft they had to drive over two thousand wooden piles deep into the ground to keep the structure from sinking. The hall remains famous for an acoustic precision born from those marshy, unstable beginnings.