Hendrik Petrus Berlage was born in 1856 in Amsterdam. He studied architecture in Zürich and, following an extensive European tour, began his practice in Amsterdam in 1889. He was an architect whose work, characterized by a use of materials based on their fundamental properties and an avoidance of decoration, exerted considerable influence on modern architecture in the Netherlands. The Stock Exchange in Amsterdam (1897-1903), Berlage's best known work, is notable for its rounded Romanesque arches and its forthright use of structural steel and traditional brick, examples of his concern that materials be used truthfully.