De Bazel

De Bazel is a listed/protected historic building on the west side of the Vijzelstraat in Amsterdam (at number 32), and stretches from the Herengracht to the Keizersgracht.

The building was the most important work of the Dutch architect Karel de Bazel and was built from 1919 to 1926 as the head office of the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM).

The building is centered on two light-courts, and its inner details bear some resemblance to works of American architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan.

Almost all interior parts of the building, such as floor mosaics, frames of the airducts, telephone booths, room decorations, as well as its furniture, were also designed by de Bazel.

The materials, massing, scale, interior details and exterior sculptures all mark this building as a good, although late, example of the Dutch variety of Brick Expressionism.