During your daily walk to reach those 10,000 steps, you can pay some extra attention to street art. In the De Velden area, for example, you can view Elisabet Stienstra's monumental artwork De Figuurtoren (The Figure Tower) (2019).
1. EIGHT METERS HIGH
When Stienstra was commissioned for a work of art for the new building in De Velden (Oosterparkwijk), she found that the space lacked a vertical element. This is how the idea arose to design a sculpture in a tower-like shape. De Figuurtoren (The Figure Tower) would eventually reach a height of no less than eight meters. The work narrows towards the top, creating a spatial effect. Because The Fighouse is such a striking appearance because of its length, the sculpture has acquired a second function: as a meeting place.
2. FC GRONINGEN
As the name suggests, De Figuurtoren is made up of human figures. If you count properly, you can see a total of eleven. That number refers to the illustrious football history of De Velden: the stadium of FC Groningen used to be on the site of the residential area. Stienstra has therefore incorporated two football players into the image.
3. AMSTERDAM SCHOOL
They are almost at the top of the tower and are therefore somewhat difficult to identify: the two architects in De Figuurtoren. They are H.P. Berlage and H.J.P Schut, who developed the plans for the Oosterpark district in the 1920s on the basis of the principles of the Amsterdam School's architectural style. This is also the reason that the statue is made of granite: that was a characteristic material for the Amsterdam School.
4. GRANITE FROM CHINA
Granite was a new material for Stienstra, but it suited the spot in the park where the statue would be placed, next to a large granite staircase. Stienstra eventually found the right stone for De Figuurtoren all the way in China, where she also executed the sculpture.
5. FOAM
The first version of De Figuurtoren was made of styrofoam. To design the sculpture in its true size, Stienstra started working with the cheap and super light material in her studio in Amsterdam. To give the look of the end result even more the feel of granite, she then covered it with a very thin layer of plaster.