Rapp+Rapp: De Kroon

The Dutch city is not the most evident landing site for high-rises, let alone for the phenomenon of the skyscraper. In The Hague, the spot occupied until a few years ago by Carel Weeber’s famous Black Madonna now houses two colossal, 145-metre ministerial towers, flanked by a 125-metre residential building, De Kroon (The Crown) – this edifice is the magnificent subject of this book. De Kroon, a skyscraper in The Hague designed by the architecture firm of Rapp+Rapp, is an unconventional type of high-rise for both the city and the Netherlands as a whole. Bernard Colenbrander sheds light on the urban planning history of The Hague's city centre and positions De Kroon as a European skyscraper in a global context. A unique building, beautifully portrayed in photographs by Kim Zwarts.