View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE

provided by University of Groningen

University of Groningen

Willem Marinus Dudok. Architect-stedebouwkundige 1884-1974. Bergeijk, Hermandus Dijnandus van

IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record

Publication date: 1995

Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database

Citation for published version (APA): Bergeijk, H. D. V. (1995). . Architect-stedebouwkundige 1884-1974. V+K Publishing/Immerc.

Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons).

Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum.

Download date: 12-11-2019 Sum mery

!íillem Marinus Dudok

architectand town-olanner (t884-t974)

Willem MarinusDudok (t884-t97$ can be regardedas one oíthe most remarkablezoth century architectsin the .His majorworks were built duringthe periodbetween the two World wars. Althoughhe neverintervened in the discussionsabout modernarchitecture in the Twenties; retrospectively,he can be consideredas an importanttransitional figure between modern and traditional building.Dudok is especiallyknown for the outstandingquality of his work in ,where he arrivedaíter a short careerin the army and a positionas city-engineerfor the cityof .During his periodin Leidenhe not onlydesigned schools, bridges and otherwork in commissionoíthe city but collaboratedon projectswith J.J.P.Oud, whom he had met shortlybeíore in Purmerend.Together they built worker-housingin Leiderdorp(r9t4-t9r5) and the oíficeíor the "LeidsDagblad" (r9r6-r9r7), which showsan expressiveuse of brick.The two men remainedliíetime íriends. Fromr9r5 till r954Dudok was in chargeoíthe PublicWorks CounciloíHilversum. As such, he wasresponsible for the designoí manypublic buildings, among them schools,slaughterhouses, cemeteries,policestations, etc. Thanks to thesebuildings and his many residentialquarters in this city he definedthe íuturetown-scape to a greatextent. He advocateda closelyconcentrated city with restrainedgrowth and limitedextension, therefore, bound in form. The posslbilityof indefinitegrowth he consideredonly as a potentialplanning nightmare, which would ruin the surroundingnature. Forother cities Dudok designed several recognized and exceptionablebuildings like the Dutch StudentHouse at the Citéuniversitaire oí (t927-ty9) andthe departmentstore "',with it's longexpansive glass-walls, in (r928-r93o, destroyed). Yet, his name is attachedmost oíten to one outstandingbuilding - the Town Hall of Hilversum(r9r5-r93r). With this work the architect achievedinternational renown. This buildingscomplex articulation oívolumes, the moderatearchitectural languagein whichíunctionalism is combinedwith romanticismand the useoíthe traditionalbuilding materialbrick (the famous yellow Dudok-brick), are íeatures that characterizemuch oíDudok's later architecture.The initialideas íor the town halldate backto r915,he beganby makingdesigns in the style of Berlageand the Amsterdamschool. ln t94 he reachedthe definitivesolution for this buildingwhich was to becomea meccaíor manyyoung architects. In manyways Dudok tried to arriveat an architecture that retainedcharacteristics írom the AmsterdamSchool, neoplasticism and functionalismamong them. Besideshis work for HilversumDudok took advantageoíthe opportunitiesgiven to him to plan and build in manyother cities. Due to the factthat primaryattention has alwaysbeen focused on the Town Hall oíHilversum theseproiects have remained almost completely ln the shadow.The columbariumat !íesterveld(t925-t926), the HAV-Bankin Schiedam(r93r-r935), the Officefor "de Nederlanden"in Arnhem (tgll-tglg), the Citytheaterin (ty7-r94r), areall workswhich are crucialto his developmentbefore t94o and are hardlytaken into conslderation.Yet, undoubtedly,they constitutemasterworks in Dutcharchitectural history. Anotheraspect of his work whichdeserves more attentionare the varioustownplanning proposals DudokwasaskedtoelaborateforHilversum(íromrgr5onwards),theHague(t934-t942;t945-t952), Alkmaar(942-t94), Velsen(r945-i952) and Zwolle(r948-r953). Although his plansrarely found opportunityíor execution,they Ieft their imprintsupon the work oí manyarchitects and plannerswho followed.Furthermore, for Dudok,the relationshipbetween city-planning and architecturewas always integral,as evidencemost of his projects.In townplanningprinciples Dudok was influencedby CamilloSitte and RaymondUnwin. His workingmethod followed from the largeto the small scale. The first sketchesoía buildingwere typically perspectives, made in orderto addressthe visualefíect of a built objectwithin the cityscape.Inversely, in an interiorwalk through of the townhalloí Hilversumthe sensationofgoingthrough a city is felt,for he alsoadhered to the principlesoíLeon BattistaAlberti that a houseshould be a smallcity and the citya big house. Of the periodaíter World War ll, buildingswhich havehardly found acknowledgmentare the administrationbuilding íor the RoyalDutch Steelworks at Velsen(t947-r95t), with its extraordinary glassbridgeover the street,and the townhallofVelsen f949-t96). At the end ofhis career,aíter having leít his positionin Hilversum,Dudok worked on a largenumber oíprojects for a realestate developer. The tensionwhich characterizedhis pre-wararchitecture is oíten lackingdue to a searchfor clariíying simplicity.Although the qualityof theseprojects remained highstanding, especially compared with the architecturalpoverty in the Netherlandsin thosedays, they neverhad the innovatingcharacter oíhis work from beforethe war. The scopeofthis dissertationwas to givean overallview ofthe work and the personalityof Dudok.Large space has therefore been given to quotationsfrom the architectspublished and unpublishedwritings. ln the prefaceand aíterwordI havetried to givea characterizationof DudoksposÍtion. 'lonely He consideredhimself as on the fair' and íelt that he was not verymuch understoodin the Netherlands.In the firstchapter | íocussedon his earlybuildings, on his problemswith historicalstyles and his initialstruggle for powerwithin the cityof Hilversum.The periodtill the finalproject íor the townhallof Hilversumsis discussedamply. The secondis dedicatedto the schools,a themethat was long dominant in his oeuvreand that producedsome beautifulresults. Schools were seen by Dudokas a meansto add somethingspecial to a neighborhood.They formed an importantcenter around which he arrangedhis housing-proiects.He dedicatedmuch attentionto their íorm and situation.They were considereda wayto educatedthe population.The third discusseshis major projects,among which the townhallof Hilversum,the proiectsíor the townhallsoí Leidenand ,the warehouse De Bijenkorfin Rotterdam.The íourth chapterof my book is on town-planning,it is alsothe centralone, becausethe logicin his thinkingalways went from the largepicture to the smaller.Although in the beginningDudok was much influencedby the Carden-Citymovement and stressesthe aestheticvalues oía city,he slowlyrecognÍzes the importanceoímobility and of the specialcharacter of a city.This leads him to applymore and more the principlesoíthe C.l.A.M.-townplanning.The fifthdeals with housing and showshow much this topic was connectedwith that oíthe cityform.The dissertationfinishes with a longcaÍ.alogue raisonée in whichthe processoí eachbuilding is discussed,the way it was received indicatedand the locationoíarchive material and a bibliographyoíthe items is given.