What do Pierre van Hooijdonk and Rem Koolhaas have in common? The first one is a talented soccer player from Holland who is lately playing in the Turkish League – not for long, since his transfer back to NAC Breda has been announced.
He is being treated almost like a superstar in my country due to his aesthetic soccer and sympathetic behaviour. His club Fenerbahe won the championship title last year and he ended the season as the second top scorer. He quite often appears in prime time news, talk shows and even tv-ads. Little boys on the street are proud to carry a shirt with his name. And I am almost certain that the news about his transfer dismays his fans, especially female ones. Al in all, we Turks love and adore him.
The second one is a gifted and original architect, also from Holland and in 2000 winner of the prestigious Pritzker Prize . also called the ‘Nobel Prize’ for architects. My favourite since I am 20 and as a showcase of modern Dutch design probably one of the reasons why I ended up in this country. Let me tell you, I am not the only one. “What’s the news about his girlfriend, have you seen the design of his building in Seattle, how is his project in China going, did you read his latest book ‘Content’…?” These are hot topics among my classmates from all corners of the world: Singapore, China, Malta, Taiwan, Finland, Spain, Brazil, United States.
Lately, we were honoured by a live lecture of Koolhaas at Berlage Institute. But how strange… none of our Dutch colleagues there? A little questionnaire revealed that some were not interested, and others would not like him that much. A surprise and a big disappointment for me, to learn that my superman was even not appreciated by bouwkundestudenten in his home country!
But really, if not Van Hooijdonk or Koolhaas, do the Dutch ever have a person they praise with full respect and without irony? The queen? A pop-singer, movie-star or writer? Living more than one year in this country I must admit that I hardly can name even one national hero. It feels like one is not supposed to be better than others.
Is this, as some say, the lack of passionate emotions? A result of highly individualized society? Or it is this the egalitarian instinct that has strongly penetrated into everyone’s cells here?
What do Pierre van Hooijdonk and Rem Koolhaas have in common? The first one is a talented soccer player from Holland who is lately playing in the Turkish League – not for long, since his transfer back to NAC Breda has been announced. He is being treated almost like a superstar in my country due to his aesthetic soccer and sympathetic behaviour. His club Fenerbahe won the championship title last year and he ended the season as the second top scorer. He quite often appears in prime time news, talk shows and even tv-ads. Little boys on the street are proud to carry a shirt with his name. And I am almost certain that the news about his transfer dismays his fans, especially female ones. Al in all, we Turks love and adore him.
The second one is a gifted and original architect, also from Holland and in 2000 winner of the prestigious Pritzker Prize . also called the ‘Nobel Prize’ for architects. My favourite since I am 20 and as a showcase of modern Dutch design probably one of the reasons why I ended up in this country. Let me tell you, I am not the only one. “What’s the news about his girlfriend, have you seen the design of his building in Seattle, how is his project in China going, did you read his latest book ‘Content’…?” These are hot topics among my classmates from all corners of the world: Singapore, China, Malta, Taiwan, Finland, Spain, Brazil, United States.
Lately, we were honoured by a live lecture of Koolhaas at Berlage Institute. But how strange… none of our Dutch colleagues there? A little questionnaire revealed that some were not interested, and others would not like him that much. A surprise and a big disappointment for me, to learn that my superman was even not appreciated by bouwkundestudenten in his home country!
But really, if not Van Hooijdonk or Koolhaas, do the Dutch ever have a person they praise with full respect and without irony? The queen? A pop-singer, movie-star or writer? Living more than one year in this country I must admit that I hardly can name even one national hero. It feels like one is not supposed to be better than others.
Is this, as some say, the lack of passionate emotions? A result of highly individualized society? Or it is this the egalitarian instinct that has strongly penetrated into everyone’s cells here?
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