No matter how you get to Waterlooplein from Rembrandtplein, either on foot or by tram, you can’t help but notice the curved modern structure on the left as you cross the bridge. Although opened in the late 1980s, the building, or at least the idea of an opera house, had been on the city’s drawing board since 1915. Eventually, it was decided that a new edifice could house both the new opera and the new city hall, but bickering about the project continued for decades and became somewhat of a joke among locals until its construction began in 1981 amid protests from squatters, Provos, leftists and other layabouts. Opened in 1986, the Amsterdam Music Theatre is home to both the opera and the ballet, while the adjoining city hall opened its doors in 1988.