Gerrit van Arkel

Gerrit A. van Arkel was a Dutch architect who designed many of Amsterdam's most prominent Jugendstil buildings.
He moved to Amsterdam in 1883 to become an architect. His designs initially mixed Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance styles but, from about 1894, he adopted a sobre version of Jugendstil. This sobre style of Jugendstil, influenced by the work of H. P. Berlage, was known as the Nieuwe Stijl.
Van Arkel designs are characterized by the frequent use of bay windows and loggias, as well as asymmetrically placed balconies, towers and domes.
His design for the Helios building won third prize at the architectural competition of the 1900 World's Fair in Paris. Twelve of his buildings in Amsterdam were designated national monuments in 2001. The Asscher diamond factory has also been nominated for national monument status, and another 17 buildings in Amsterdam have been nominated to become municipal monuments.

Buildings

Van Arkel's Jugendstil buildings in Amsterdam include:

The Asscher diamond factory on Tolstraat, where the world's largest diamond, the Cullinan Diamond, was cut
The Diamond Exchange on Weesperplein square
The Helios building on Spui square
The Astoria office building of the Eerste Hollandsche Levensverzekerings Bank on Keizersgracht canal
The office building of The Marine Insurance Company Limited on the Rokin
The bakery of D.C. Stähle on Spuistraat