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In 't land van belofte Taverne, Eduard Robert Marie

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Publication date: 1978

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Citation for published version (APA): Taverne, E. R. M. (1978). In 't land van belofte: in de nieue stadt. Ideaal en werkelijkheid van de stadsuitleg in de Republiek 1580-1680. s.n.

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Download date: 12-11-2019 Summarr- utopian tractates.Thel projected In thepromised land: in the newcin' architectonicand spatial *hole r itself. Another maniÍèstationof th Idealand realit.vin Dutch city planning cal and arithmetical svstemsthat rvere built. The circle rvasthc id r -;8o-r68o block, and other Írred ratios gore and building units. These tor.rr deducedfrom Platonicand Pvthar In the secondhalÍ'ofthe sirtccr citl' planning reached the \ortl Simon Stevin, notablv his L"un,ltt ofcities; c. r6oo),contain evidcnr The historl'of citv planning in the Dutch Republic has receivedlittle Italian sourcesof trvo kinds: arcl seriousattention to date.That is not to sav that the handbookson citr and the scienceof Íbrtification, lr planning simp[_vprss Holland bv. Quite the contrlrr': both Gutkind cin'. The inÍluence of Stevin's and Mumford devotelong chaptersto the seventeenth-centurvexten- demonstratedin the u'orkingsoÍ'r sion of Amsterdam, rvhich thel' see as a triumph of Baroque citv maticque,an engineeringschool r planning. The idea of establishinga scienti These authoritiesand others, such as Lavedan and Rraunfels,basc neerswas conceived jointlv br Ste their interpretationof the historicalmaterial largelv on Gerald Burke's latter'sprojected reorgrniz;rtion o survev of the clevelopmentof the Dutch ton n, publishedin r 956, u'hich philologicaland historicalstudies in its turn reliesheavilv and too oÍten uncriticalll' on the pioneering sius. During the earll' decirdesoÍ' studl' b1'Brusmans and Petersof r 9 r o. The upshot is that our imageoÍ' engineeringschool u asan intern:r lJutch seventeenth-centurvcitv building is founded on turn-of-thc and a streamofliterature on the sr ccnturv historiographl'reflecting thc contemporaneousideas and ideals It can be shorvnthat Leiden at of suchthinkers and irrchitectsas Sitte. F-berstadt.Horvard. Stiiben and fortification but also-despite thc Berlage. print until r6.19 of the ideal citr -\ prime exarnpleof a one-sidedirnd tendentioushistorical judgment bl the countlesscommissions cr. of the development of the Dutch town is the fascinating book on vevors for fbreign-mainlv Drnis Haarlem bv the Austrian historian NIax Eisler (tgt+). In the spirit of flung fortressesand rvalled tou ns Sitte, Eislcr contraststhe bctter qualities of mediaevalHaarlem with \\,a],-the!' rvere b1'engineers unÍrrn the negative aspectsol' l:rter developments.The worst offenilers in In the Republic itself the conc Eislcr's vieu lvere-]acobvan Campen and Salomon de Brar', architects planning are n'ruchscarcer, if onlr with an outspokenaÍlnit1' for Itrlirn Renaissancenotions of building tv here to build from scratch.\\'he and planning. Eisler'sjudgments are all guided br, his lirrthright rejec- in the various extensionsof Dr tion of classicisticcitv planning and all it meant for Holland. Around r63o, u'ith the rise of I)ut The roots of classicisticcitv planning can be found in the theoriesof \r'enotice a striking rebirth of int architecture,fortification and civil engineeringthat came out of Itall' planning rmong architects(Jacoh starting *'ith Alberti in r45o and reaching a larger and larger public de Bral'and others)and in variou through the publication of illustrated treatisesin the centuriesto Íbl- stantine Huvgens, Hendrick \Ior 5.t+ low. These books were relatedto particular kinds of philosophicaland theoriesis the nlan for the ertens utopian tractates.Thev projectedan imageof the idealcin'as a rational architectonicand sp:rtialwhole retlecting the stratificationof societv itself-.Another manifestationof the classicisticideal is in the geometri- cal and arithmetical svstemsthat undcrlal the fNetherlands. The u'ritings of Simon Stevin, notablv his l,'undeoirdeningh tler steiltn (On the ordering of cities; c. r(roo),contain evidencethat his thinking uas modelledon Italian sourcesoftlrrr kinds: architecturaltheorr (Cataneo,Palladio) and the scienceof Íbrtification,rvith its indirect reflectionsoÍ'the ideal citl'. The influence of Stevin's theories on Dutch prrcticc can be demonstratedin the uorkings of the so-calledNederduvtsche \hthe- maticque,an engineeringschool attached to Leiden Universitr' (r6oo). The idea of establishinga scientifictraining school for militarr engi- neers\vas conceived iointlv bl SteYinand Prince Nlaurits irspart ol'tl.re latter'sprojected reorganization of the militarr', an aim inspired bl the philologicalancl historical studies art and architecture, rve notice a striking rebirth of interest in Renaissancetheories of citl' planning among architects(Jacob ran Campen, Pieter Post, Salomon de Brav and others) and in various branchesofthe government (Con- stantineHuvp;ens, Hendrick \'loreelse).Unmistakabll basedon those theoriesis the plan for the extensionof Haarlem u.orkedout bv Salo- 545 mon de Brar in 16-1-3and r66riz and published b1'him, sith.rn viouslJ'existing situation. That extensir-ccommentar\', in r66r. De Brar''s plan is seldom cited br utter lack of political sa)'on thr historiansof citr planning in the Republic; their favoredexample is thc area,who were driven out to th( r 6 r -i plan firr the -\msterdamcanals, lvhich is commonlv consideredthc modularity, the canalsform a sh embodiment of everl'thing Dutch in seventeenth-centurr.cin' plln- of the old citl'. Seenin this ligh ning. red, with Mumford, a mature \- The long chapter on the seventeenth-centurvextension of Amster- accurateh'describedas a geome dam in Lervis Mumford's influential book of 196r, The cít.1,i, 71t,,,rr'. lined versionofthe traditional ! s'aslargelv responsible for the riseof the m)'th of the radialcanal plan a' In opening our evesto the c: a brilliant piece of urban design. This view has little foundation in master plan, the Amsterdam s historicalfact. Insofar as a careful investigationof the documentshrs policiesof other Dutch torvns,s' allorvedme to reconstructthe actual decision-makingprocess, rvhich I cut. A closelook at the varrous have interpreted in terms of the demographic,economic and cultural industrial towns as Leiden irnd chanp;esthen taking place in the citv, the onll' possibleconclusion it town like Utrecht, revealsthe sl that there was no overall plan at all Íbr the extensionof Amsterdam in rvell-organizedexpansion. the seventeenthcenturv. The link MumÍbrd postulatesbetrveen tht: Urban expansionin the Dutcl meteoric economic gro\r'th of the citl' starting in the mid-sixteenth tural airs or propagandisticdi: centur!-and the developmentof a radicalll' neu'and eÍïcient planning necessit-vto safeguardthe prosp, method is historicalll' untenable, deriving from an utterlv subjective wasthe spatialconsequence oftl view ofthe nature and function ofcitl'planning. as possible,in the interestsof in The so-calledcanal plan of r 6 r 3 wasnever formulated and discussed ing a reserroirofcheap. inst,rnt asa unitarv design.What lal.behind the seventeenth-centurvextension of economicreturn and militarl 'canal wasthe need for adequatefortifications. It is nearlv certain that the much ground uithin the citr '' plan' that the tolvn carpenterStaets is supposedto havesubmitted was \{arolois had written in I6I5: nothing morc than a finished proposalÍbr a semi-circularfortificrtion good reasonto supposethat it u The city'authoritiesu'ere actualh'opposed to the formulation af a full- destrovingth:rn constructing.' Íledgcdplan bascdon an olerall conceptionof thc citt's future shape, The groxth o[I-eiden in thre dictating the use of ground and mapping out streetsand canals.The demonstrationof hou' projecti, framing of sucha plan rvasadvocated b1'former burgomaster Hooft, but determinethe precisemoment, hc *'ls a fiercecritic ofthe rvar,thingsu'ere actuallv being done. N{ost illustrative is the r6,14ert 'fhe slstcm of canalsthat u'e knorv u'asconceived and designedbr' interestsbetween cloth manuÍàc the merchant-cityfathers themselves, rvho certainll did not seeit asan capital,and the patricianclass oÍ integral part of a total plan for the nerv Amsterdam of the r6oos.The estate.The manufacturers ple extensionreflected and reinforcedthe isolationofthe citl' fathers,rvho combatting the housing shortr took advantageof the miserablehousing situationoutside the old rvalls businessesuould soonbegin to in order to build a pleasantresidential quarter for their orvn small living and uorking conditions. group. The radial canalsmade up onc part of an otherrviseformless to\\'n government are virtualll' campaignof expansion;its onlf inno\.ator\'àspect was the mathemati- the countrv: a new quarter rvoul cal relation betweenits canals,quavs and building lots. In a departure one-sided favoring of textile r from all former erpansionsof Amsterdam, that of r ó r 3 rvasa svstemof vulnerableto shifts in the econo 5.+o water\r'avs,streets !1ndblocks conceived rvithout reÍ'crenceto the pre- overnight; and, by far the most t viousll' existing situation.That this could be done at all is due to the utter lack of political say on the part of the Íbrmer inhabitantsof the area,rvho were drir.enout to the Jordaan.\\tith their straight linesand modularitl, the canalsform a sharp contrastto the planologicalpattern of the old cit1.'.Seen in this light, the ertension can hardlv be conside- red, rvith N{umfbrd, a mature variant of the Baroque town. It is more accuratelr.describedas a geometricall'rrationalized, politicalll'stream- lined versionof the traditional Amsterdam sn.leof expansion. In opening our evesto the causesand cli'cctsof working rvithout a master plan, the Amsterdam situation allo*s us better to judge the policiesof other Dutch torvns,rvhere the courscof evcntsrras less clear- cut. A closelook at the various stagesin the crtension of such tvpical industrial towns as Leiden and Haarlem. :rnd a mcdium-sized rnarket town like Utrecht, revealsthe samepicturc of oflicill resistancetowards well-organizedexpansion. Urban expansionin the Dutch Rcpublic s asnot ;rnr;lttcr oÍ':rrchitec- tural airs or propagandisticdisphr it uls rr militrrr lnd cconomic 'fhe necessitvto safeguardthe prosperitr of-thecitr. impulse to erpand wasthe spatialconsequence ofthe clcsireto kcep thc populationas l:rrse as possible,in the interestsof incrcirscrlcon\unrption and of maintlin- ing a reserr,oirof cheap,instantlr :rr.rillhlc lrrbor.In the interestboth of economicreturn and militarr sccuritr',it rras unrviseto enclosetoo much ground rvithin the citl srrlls. -\s the Íbrtifications authorin' Maroloishad written in r6r5:'To enclosca largearea rvithout having good reasonto supposethat it l'ill eventuirllr be inhabited is more like destrovingthan constructing.' The grorvthof Leiden in three phrses(r6r r, r644, r659) is a perfect demonstrationof horv proiections of hnancirl advantageoperi.rted to determinethe precisemoment, crtcnt lnd characterof citv extensions. Most illustrative is the r644 extension,*'hich gave rise to a conflict of interestsbetween cloth manuíacturers,* ith their rvealthin the lbrm oÍ' capital,and the patricianclass o f regcnts,u ith their holdingsin city real estate.The manulacturers plc:rded íbr thc ertension as a means of combatting the housing shortasc and allafing the rell danger that businessesuould soon begin to Íleethe citl on account ofits wretched living and \4'orkingconditions. The counter-argumentsof the Leiden to\r'n government are virtuallv an echo of those sounded elsewherein the countrt: a new quarter would attract undue numbers ofriffraff; the one-sided favoring of textile rvorkers would render the citl' overll' vulnerableto shifts in the economicclimate, so that it might empty'out overnight; and, by far the most telling of all, the quick constructionof a 5+7 large number of neu' houseswould undermine the real-estatemarket Dutch classicism.This approach and endanserthe livelihoodsof manv inhabitants. antique architecturedevelopcd In Leiden asin -{msterdamthere were thosewho rvereconvinced of Palladio and Scamozzi.\\'ithin thc irdvirnt;rgcsof a u ell-organizedcitv plan. There $'erecontinualcries important role through his theor 'l Íbr a m:rsterplan that u'ould enablethe authoritiesto establishzoning extensionof Haarlem (r66r). regulltions in and around the citt'. In practice, however, an-vsuch extensionofthe citv first broach, meilsure rras doomed to be ineffective.The cit\ was far too worried In Haarlem aloneamong the c lbout scaringoffpotential buvers,and soldoffnerv lots rvith r,irtuallvno municipal initiative rvas seized binding conditionsat all. expresstheir classicistic-humani The debatesin Leiden casta penetratinglight on the po$'erstruggle Bral.rventÍurthest ofthem all. I I benveen various economic blocs, a struggle that left its mirrk on the bv its centralproposition: thc Íirr qualitl' of the successir,eextensions. In Utrecht things rvent quite not br,internal or incidental Íàt differentll'.Burgomaster Moreelse's plan of r 664 for a lavishextension sixteen-sidedfigure rvhichhe sal of the citl'can be tracedin part to politicaland economicarguments like of the future. His book rras a poli those that had been advancedin Amsterdam and Leiden. The large- He goesinto the pros and consas scaleplan $as to pro\iideUtrecht rvith a new fortificationenclosing vast but he relrtesthem to l consis new tracts of land for suburbs, industrial parks and, as the main humanisticconception of the idc attraction,an extremelv luxurious residentialquarter. While the Am- Seenagainst the backgroundr sterdamand Leiden projectswere direct responsesto spectaculareco- plans, Salomon de Brar''s projr nomic and demographicdevelopments, Moreelse's plan cannot be said pressedin a seriesof sketchcs: to have met a demonstrableneed. It reflectsa humanistic vision of the the greatestsingle contributions citl'derived on the one hand from economicand political thinkers like Giovanni Botero (who alsoinfluenced Pieter de la Court in Leiden) and on the other from the literature on the cíttà ideale: philosophical tractates,utopias, revisions of and commentarieson Vitruvius, writings on military architectureand handbookson architecturaltheorv. The finishedplan for Utrecht can be seenas a humanisticinterpreta- tion of the Amsterdam canal s]'stem.The Amsterdam plan, for all its inconsistenclrmust have servedas the model for the parcelling up of the Utrecht extension,changed be1'ond recognition through elephan- tine enlargementand the admixture of humanistic ideals Moreelse's ideas can onlv be seenas abstractions-theoreticalreflections lacking contact g'ith the socialand economic realities.This took its toll in the political defeatthat his plans finall1-met. Salomon de Brav's exceedingll'detailed and encompassingplan for the extensionof Haarlem wasfar better motivated.De Brat''s solutions too derive in part from the Amsterdam parcelling scheme, but he succeedswhere Moreelsefails-in transforming a humanistictheory'of architecture into a vital organ ofa città ideale. Along with Jacob van Campen and Pieter Post, Salomon de Bray is 548 one of the major representativesof an architectural stream known as Dutch classicism.This approachrvas grounded in the interpretationsof antique architecture developedbv the ltllian Renaissancearchitects Palladio and Scamozzi.Within this small group De Bral' play.edan important role through his theoreticalwritings, including a book on the extension of Haarlem (166r). The book gre$' out of a plan for the extensionofthe citv first broachedin r643. In Haarlem aloneamong the citiesof the Dutch Republic, a cautious municipal initiative rvas seized upon bv architects and survevors to expresstheir classicistic-humanisticambitions Íbr the cin'. Salomonde Brav rventfurthest of them all. His plan is distinguishedfiom the others bv its centralproposition: the form and circumr':rllationare determined not bv internal or incidental factors; thev are Íragments ofl regular sixteen-sidedfigure u.hichhe sau'asthc idealgroundplan for irHaarlem of the Íuture. His book *'asa politicalinstrument Íbr attrininq that goal. He goesinto the pros and consas ther,rvere discussed elses hcrc ls u'ell, but he relatesthem to a consistenttheorv of his o$'n, rooted in the humanisticconception of the idealcitr'. Seenagainst the backgroundof the -\msterdam,Leiden and Utrccht plans, Salomon de Brav's project fbr the extension of ffuirrlem, er- pressedin a seriesof sketchesand commentaries,emerges as onc oÍ' the greatestsingle contributions in the historv of Dutch citl'planning.