Eindhoven is full of life
from a past purely industrial still artistic present masterfully recycled. The Dutch city of Eindhoven has known how to take advantage of his own circumstances with a good dose of urban life Y cosmopolitan attitude.
It is possible that, when reading 'Eindhoven', you had to resort to a map to locate the place I speak of. I do not blame you, we've all been through that . Once located in the south holland and about an hour and a half from Amsterdam, the second thing you should know is that this city It is famous for various reasons. but, above all, for being a state-of-the-art technology and design center what is the use of inspiration to half the world
This is not a literary device. Erik van Gerwen, the director of the Tourist Office from the area, shows off his chest by confirming that “in matters of design, only Milan is ahead of Eindhoven ”.
young and dynamic
And he continues: “we are the incubator of trends that are about to arrive in Europe”. Faced with such a statement, I remain silent and take note while, inside me, a tremendous desire to start walking its streets.
I am surprised, and in what way, the connection of Eindhoven with the electronics and lighting company Philips , who was born, grew up and became strong in this city during the century XIX, until, in 1998, he moved to amsterdam .Today, the history between Eindhoven and Philips has soaked to the bone in the city culture to turn it into a pole in full creative fizz for businesses, designers and craftspeople in a wide variety of fields, from distillery and craftsmanship to graphic design or Street art.
Philips Museum in Eindhoven
Rising from its ashes like a phoenix, this place does not respond to the typical Dutch city pattern , not even to the typical city pattern.
It's fresh is young and it moves so fast that sometimes it seems that it is difficult to keep up with it, hence there are not a few artists who have decided to move here to develop their careers, such as the Spanish Nacho Carbonell .
This Valencian, famous for his unconventional work and also for having conquered Brad Pitt with your collection Evolutions 08/09, is one of the best examples.
But this is only the beginning, there is more, much more, and the proof is in the fashion district of the city, the Strijp-s.
The Glow Festival fills Eindhoven with new trends
Away from the center of Eindhoven, I find this neighborhood where the former Philips factories, and to which the rest of the world did not have access, unless you were an employee of the company. Here the patents they were jealously guarded.
Nowhere is Eindhoven's makeover more apparent than in the neighborhoods of Strijp-S and Strijp-R. And it is that the inactive space that housed the electricity giant has today been converted into residential lofts , co-working spaces, boutiques and restaurants.
Headquarters of the design week (the most important event in the city next to the glow-festival ), is the place of second chances, of art, of the transgression and to start over.
Here I discover the amount of new stuff that can be created from other old ones, especially when the desire and ideas find their balance point. I am convinced that this is precisely what has happened with the best patisserie in town, cakeclub . There, in addition to testing their spectacular pastries, you can't stop doing Photos like crazy.
The same thing happens to me Gusj Market , a space with objects of vintage air decoration, thanks to which to curse the airlines that charge per checked bag, because here you want to buy everything.
I also discover, located in the main square of the Strijp-s, under a large cover and a cozy interior that in its day was a boiler room, the restaurant Ketelhuis . It is the ideal place to measure the gastronomic pulse of the city, delivered to a market kitchen without shrillness
With your strength restored and wanting more, you have to go in, walk around and shop at ** Urban Shopper ,** a kind of covered market where you can find everything from old pieces of furniture to a barbershop or a post office. It is, perhaps, the most hipster place of the city, with permission of the master of recycling Piet Hein Eek .
The icon of ecodesign in Eindhoven (and throughout the Netherlands) has created -sorry, recycled- an essential space in the Strijp-R neighbourhood, where it has a studio, a shop, an art gallery and a restaurant with marked New York airs.
Here, the real art is that of recycling, word (and deed) of Eek, whose designs are today a little more accessible to the halls of the rest of the world after having signed a collection a couple of years ago for Ikea.
It's late and although I have a -I sense- delicious dinner waiting for me in ** Kazerne I do not want to leave Eindhoven without having visited one of its most curious hotels, the ** Blue Collar Hotel .
So after visiting Piet Hein Eek's atelier and falling into the temptation of some other purchase in his shop, I return to the Strijp-S and settle into one of the high seats in the endless lobby bar bar of the Blue Collar to then ask me: "What is a girl like you doing in a hotel like this?"
And it is that the rogue establishment of the city is pure Rock And Roll, as evidenced by his extensive music schedule and the numerous elements that can still be seen from the old factory in which it is located, a building known as 'Clock Tower'.
If you're brewer This is also your little paradise. This is what my companion of reeds and fatigue confirms to me, Erik van Gerwen, while he confesses to me that this is your preferred hotel . Reasons, of course, are not lacking.
Night falls, it rains and the weather is quite unpleasant. “Typical for this time of year” , they tell me in the lobby of my hotel, a newly opened NH Collection located in the very center. spacious and modern, his thing has been to arrive and kiss the saint, since he has the most fashionable place in the city in the last of the building. GO , as this rooftop is called, also has the privilege of serving gin and tonics with best views in the area and he does it from a nothing superstitious floor 13.
But before I launch into the night, which is also young and interesting, I have a table reserved at Kazerne, the real one place to be from the city. this ancient industrial bunkhouse has been masterfully converted into a art Gallery, where a restaurant with view kitchen who also just got a brand new chef.
Charles Blankers sign a signature menu with abundant italian influence based, of course, on the product. In his menu there is no lack of dishes such as oysters, burrata or tournedó with foie, delights to enjoy while watching the latest exhibition of an emerging artist who is sure to have a promising future. same as to Eindhoven.