Rijksarchief (State Archives)

A pile of crumpled paper on a glass base. This genius idea was the basis for architect Olivier Salens' design for a new home for the State Archives. The dream site was found on the grounds of an old Dominican cloister. The contemporary building from 2012 is a symbolic, architectural representation of its contents: paper. The façades with a horizontal interplay of lines and extremely long bricks appear to pieces of paper loosely piled together. The roof? A crumpled sheet ‘wafting up’. While this contemporary building is large in stature, it is in fact graced by humility. Also striking is the contrast between transparent and closed. Just look at the ground floor – a public space couldn't be more transparent. On top, the ‘box’ of the archive, shut tight, brimming full of history and heritage in writing. Will you dive into the archive too?