The Ice Palace (Stadhuis Den Haag)

Standing here on the Spui, the building in front of you is hard to miss. White panels, glass everywhere, clean geometric lines that catch the light in a way that earned it a nickname straight away: the Ice Palace. It's a fitting name, and once you see it, no other description really works.

For much of the twentieth century, The Hague's city administration was split across two locations that were never quite right for the job. Municipal staff worked at the old city hall on Burgemeester de Monchyplein, while the city council met separately at the Dagelijkse Groenmarkt. It was a fragmented setup, and as the city grew, it simply couldn't hold.

Alderman Adri Duivesteijn pushed for a solution: one central building, right in the heart of the city. An international design competition followed, and the winner was American architect Richard Meier. His concept brought two twelve-story wings together under a sweeping covered hall called the Atrium. Facing you from the Spui is the round structure he designed to house the public library.

The building opened in the nineteen nineties and has been a landmark ever since. Apparently, when it comes to government buildings, looking like a giant refrigerator is actually a compliment.