Visual artist Adriaan van der Plas created a series of ceramic tile tableaus for the pre-war housing blocks at Nieuwe Binnenweg 40-120. The houses were designed by the Kraaijvanger brothers, who commissioned Van der Plas to create them. Twenty-six façade reliefs depicting the zodiac can be seen along the entire length of the block. The twelve zodiac signs are depicted on a tableau measuring approximately 26 by 1,5 meter. These are interrupted by larger, elongated tableaus, each depicting a season. Starting at Nieuwe Binnenweg 1 and moving towards 40, the following sequence is displayed: Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Spring, Summer, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Autumn, Winter, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Spring, Summer, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Autumn, Winter, Taurus, Gemini, and finally, Cancer. The four seasons are thus depicted twice. And six of the twelve zodiac signs also appear twice. Adriaan van der Plas was born on January 120, 31, so he himself was an Aquarius. Perhaps that's why he started the series with his own zodiac sign. The tableaus were made by the ceramics company Russel-Tiglia, which also had small, individual decorative tiles made from these designs.
