The Low Countries. Jaargang 1 bron The Low Countries. Jaargang 1. Stichting Ons Erfdeel, Rekkem 1993-1994 Zie voor verantwoording: https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_low001199301_01/colofon.php Let op: werken die korter dan 140 jaar geleden verschenen zijn, kunnen auteursrechtelijk beschermd zijn. i.s.m. 9 Foreword ‘The triumph of culture is to overpower nationality’ Ralph Waldo Emerson With this new yearbook, The Low Countries, the editors and publisher aim to present to the English-speaking world the culture and society of the Dutch-speaking area which embraces both the Kingdom of the Netherlands and also Flanders, the northern part of the Kingdom of Belgium. The articles in this yearbook, by British and American, Dutch and Flemish contributors, survey the living, contemporary culture of the Low Countries as well as their cultural heritage. In its words and pictures The Low Countries provides information about literature and the arts, but also about broad social and historical developments in Flanders and the Netherlands. The culture of Flanders and the Netherlands is not an isolated phenomenon; its development over the centuries has been one of continuous interaction with the outside world. In consequence the yearbook also pays due attention to the centuries-old continuing cultural interplay between the Low Countries and the world beyond their borders. In a world which is growing ever smaller and becoming more and more interdependent, international, even supranational in character, we regard Ralph Waldo Emerson's statement as a call for independent cultures to look beyond their national frontiers. By drawing attention to the diversity, vitality and international dimension of the culture of Flanders and the Netherlands, The Low Countries hopes to contribute to a lively dialogue between differing cultures. Jozef Deleu Chief Editor / Managing Director Flemish-Netherlands Foundation ‘Stichting Ons Erfdeel’ The Low Countries. Jaargang 1 10 A Paradise for Modern Architecture Recent Architecture in Rotterdam Rotterdam has played a leading role in the field of architecture since the twenties. It is the city in which can be found the housing complex in Spangen designed by J.J.P. Oud, the Van Nelle coffee factory by Brinkman and Van der Vlugt, the Bergpolder flats, the Wholesalers' Building by Van Tijen and Maaskant, the Lijnbaan shopping centre by Van den Broek and Bakema and such textbook examples of modern housing estates as Pendrecht and Alexanderpolder. It is not easy to explain why modern architecture has been able to develop like this in the Netherlands' second city. For the post war period one might argue that the destruction brought about by the German bombing of May 1940 opened the way to an extensive reconstruction of the city. However, it has to be borne in mind that the rebuilding of many other Dutch towns and cities was much less modern in character. Furthermore, this can hardly account for the disproportionately large number of examples of modern architecture in the period up to 1940. Rotterdam has retained its role as the leading city in the field of architecture to the present day. In recent years, projects of every kind have been carried out which are among the most unusual in the country. In this respect it is remarkable that Rotterdam calls on the services of big names from abroad to a lesser extent than cities such as The Hague, Amsterdam, Groningen and Maastricht. Rotterdam tends to give opportunities to young architects. Rotterdam may seem, therefore, to be a paradise for modern architecture, but at the same time this unique modern heritage is frequently treated in a quite lamentable way. Countless modern buildings have disappeared as a result of demolition or been spoiled by tasteless renovation. Oud's work in Rotterdam has been decimated, Van Ravesteyn's masterpiece, the Blijdorp Zoo, is being left to crumble, Van Tijen's Zuidwijk estate and the traditionalist-modern Vreewijk estate by Granpré Molière have both lost their original character after renovations carried out in the name of so-called housing improvement. This catalogue could easily be expanded into an enormous list, for there is certainly little sympathy with post-war modern architecture. If we consider only the most recent architecture in Rotterdam, however, it must be concluded that, as throughout this century, once again remarkable developments are under way. One of the most notable recent projects is the The Low Countries. Jaargang 1 11 High rise blocks on the Weena: at the centre the cylindrical housing complex by H. Klunder (1990). On the foreground the Hilton Hotel by H.A. Maaskant (1964) (Photo by Michiel Ibelings). high rise street which has gone up on the Weena. For years the Weena was a bare open space with nothing but the buildings put up in the fifties and sixties: the Wholesalers' Building, the modern-baroque Central Station by Sybold van Ravesteyn, the concrete station post office by the Kraayvangers and the chic modern Hilton Hotel by Maaskant. Otherwise there was little on the Weena except one or two kiosks and a deer-park left over from the C'70 cultural event of 1970. It was only in the eighties that this unique tabula rasa in the heart of the city was cleared for the construction of a group of, by Dutch standards, unusually tall buildings. Whilst the scale of the high rise buildings on the Weena and their grouping may be exceptional, their architectural appearance sadly falls short of the urban development potential of this ensemble on the only high rise boulevard in the country. None of the buildings meets the requirements of the famous definition of the skyscraper which the American architect Louis Sullivan gave in 1896: ‘It should be tall, in every inch tall.’ The tower blocks on the Weena are indeed large, but nowhere is this size expressed in an imposing and compelling way. This is most of all the case with the tallest of the group, the double tower of the Nationale Nederlanden Insurance Co., The Low Countries. Jaargang 1 12 The Weena with two designs by Jan Hoogstad: the Unilever head office (1992) and a housing complex (1991). In the background the station post office by E.H. and H.M. Kraaijvanger (1959) (Photo by Michiel Ibelings). designed by Abe Bonnema, which, with its shimmering glass façades, already looked dated at the moment of its completion in early 1992. Among the office buildings on the Weena stand the two tallest housing complexes in the Netherlands, designed by Henk Klunder and Jan Hoogstad respectively. While these tower blocks do compare favourably from an architectural point of view with those around them, they are principally interesting as a phenomenon. They are of a piece with the urban development ideology of the ‘compact city’ which was all the rage in the early eighties. This concept of the ‘compact city’ is based on a high density combination of various urban functions. The idea behind it is that this would provide the basis for a lively city. The building of more expensive accommodation is supposed to provide the richer sections of society with apartments to suit their taste and the presence of these people with means will then stimulate the cultural life of the city. Despite the uncertain nature of these hypotheses - and despite the relatively restricted scope of the whole project - the area around the Weena has clearly become more lively, partly because in several places at street level shops, cafés and sandwich bars have opened. However, the effect of this is only felt at lunch time and on Saturdays. If you The Low Countries. Jaargang 1 13 Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Kunsthal (1992), in the Museumpark, both designed by OMA. On the left the Museum of Natural History, which will be renovated by Mecanoo (Photo by Michiel Ibelings). Mecanoo, café-restaurant De Boompjes (1989) (Photo by Michiel Ibelings). The Low Countries. Jaargang 1 14 visit the Weena after 6 pm on an ordinary weekday it looks the same as any other part of the city: it is dead. It is not surprising that the Weena with its mix of functions has led to no fundamental change in this. The deserted state in the evening of an earlier experiment in mixed functions, the nearby Lijnbaan built in the fifties, underlines the fact that Rotterdammers are not really the sort for a night life on the streets. Nevertheless evening and night life in Rotterdam have made enormous strides over the last few years, partly because café life has received such a strong architectural stimulus. This category of buildings demonstrates a remarkable development in Rotterdam architecture, a development which began with the opening of the Café Lux and the reconstruction of the exterior of the Café De Unie, originally designed by J.J.P. Oud in 1924, with a completely new interior by the Opera office. Since then several places notable for their decor and furnishing have opened throughout the city, such as Zochers which is housed in a nineteenth-century pavilion in the park beneath the Euromast. This café-restaurant has been done up in ‘dilapidated prefab’ style. The very spacious Café Loos has a more traditional layout but is notable for its splendid size. Café Dudok, which is located in old office space within a building designed by W.M. Dudok, takes pride of place for size. This café with an interior by architects Dijkman & Kossman is notable for the absence of glamour and of inconvenient design, which has found its way only into the toilets, where the taps on the hand basins have been replaced by beer pumps. Architecturally, the high point of Rotterdam café design is the café-restaurant De Boompjes by the architect group Mecanoo.