Amsterdam Architecture Boat Tour: Gables to Modernism

  Amsterdam is an architectural candy store. A boat tour is essentially a timeline you travel through.
  
  ## The Gables of the Golden Age
  Keep your eyes on the rooflines. The shape of the gable tells you the fashion of the era:
  *   **Step Gables (Trapgevel):** Early 1600s, look like stairs.
  *   **Neck Gables (Halsgevel):** Late 1600s, elegant and tall.
  *   **Bell Gables (Klokgevel):** 18th century, shaped like a church bell.
  
  *Tip: The forward tilt of the houses isn't (always) subsidence; it was often intentional ("Op de vlucht") to allow furniture to be hoisted up without hitting the façade.*

  ## The Modern IJ Waterfront
  Leaving the old center, head to the IJ river behind Central Station for a shock of the new.
  *   **EYE Filmmuseum:** Looks like a giant white spaceship or eye.
  *   **Pontsteiger:** A massive U-shaped building that acts as a gate to the western harbor.
  *   **NEMO Science Museum:** Designed by Renzo Piano, it looks like a sinking green ship hull.