![Olstadion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Olstadion.jpg)
The Amsterdam School (Dutch: ''Amsterdamse School'') is a style of architecture that arose from 1910 through about 1930 in the Netherlands. The Amsterdam School movement is part of
international Expressionist architecture, sometimes linked to
German Brick Expressionism.
Buildings of the Amsterdam School are characterized by brick construction with complicated masonry with a rounded or organic appearance, relatively traditional massing, and the integration of an elaborate scheme of building elements inside and out: decorative masonry, art glass, wrought ironwork, spires or "ladder" windows (with horizontal bars), and integrated architectural sculpture. The aim was to create a total architectural experience, interior and exterior.
Different Modern Movements in the 1920s
Imbued with
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
ideals, the Amsterdam School style was often applied to working-class housing estates, local institutions and schools. For many Dutch towns
Hendrik Berlage designed the new urban schemes, while the architects of the Amsterdam School were responsible for the buildings. With regard to the architectural style,
Michel de Klerk
Michel de Klerk (24 November 1884, Amsterdam – 24 November 1923, Amsterdam) was a Dutch architect. Born to a Jewish family, he was one of the founding architects of the movement Amsterdam School (Expressionist architecture)
Early in his car ...
had a different vision than Berlage. In the magazine "Bouwkundig Weekblad 45/1916" Michel de Klerk criticized Berlage's recent buildings in the style of
Dutch Traditionalism. In this context, the Stock Exchange by Berlage of 1905 can be seen as the starting point of Traditionalist architecture. From 1920 to 1930 different parallel movements developed in the Netherlands:
*
Traditionalism
Traditionalism is the adherence to traditional beliefs or practices. It may also refer to:
Religion
* Traditional religion, a religion or belief associated with a particular ethnic group
* Traditionalism (19th-century Catholicism), a 19th–c ...
(Kropholler, partly
Berlage
Hendrik Petrus Berlage (21 February 1856 – 12 August 1934) was a Dutch architect. He is considered one of the fathers of the architecture of the Amsterdam School.
Life and work
Hendrik Petrus Berlage, son of Nicolaas Willem Berlage and A ...
)
*
Expressionism (
de Klerk,
Kramer)
*
De Stijl
''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body ...
(
Rietveld,
Oud
, image=File:oud2.jpg
, image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921
, background=
, classification=
* String instruments
*Necked bowl lutes
, hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6
, hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum
, ...
,
van Doesburg with manifesto De Stijl/1917 against the "Modern Baroque" of the Amsterdam School)
*
Rationalism
In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy ...
(van Eesteren, van Tijen, Merkelbach with manifesto De-8/1927 against the Amsterdam School)
*
Constructivism
Constructivism may refer to:
Art and architecture
* Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes
* Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in Russia in the 1920s a ...
(
Duiker,
van der Vlugt)
* The specific Brick-Cubism by
Dudok and
Berlage
Hendrik Petrus Berlage (21 February 1856 – 12 August 1934) was a Dutch architect. He is considered one of the fathers of the architecture of the Amsterdam School.
Life and work
Hendrik Petrus Berlage, son of Nicolaas Willem Berlage and A ...
.
The Expressionist architecture of the Amsterdam School was the most successful style of the 1920s. For many foreign architects, Amsterdam was the "Mecca" for new town extensions. But the Traditionalist movement lasted longer, until the 1950s, thanks to the so-called Delft School, represented by Martinus Granpré Molière at the Delft University of Technology. In the 1960s the Rationalist movement was dominant. In a well-known speech, the Dutch Rationalist, Willem van Tijen declared the Amsterdam School a warning example for architects (published in Forum 9/1960-61). After the death of
Piet Kramer
Pieter Lodewijk (Piet) Kramer (Amsterdam, 1 July 1881 – Santpoort, 4 February 1961) was a Dutch architect, one of the most important architects of the Amsterdam School (Expressionist architecture).
From 1903 to 1911 Piet Kramer worked in the a ...
in 1961, no architectural institution or museum was interested in his Expressionist work. For that reason, all his drawings, blueprints and models were burnt.
Origins of the Amsterdam School
The Amsterdam School had its origins in the office of architect
Eduard Cuypers
Eduard Cuypers (18 April 1859 Roermond – 1 June 1927, The Hague) was a Dutch architect. He worked in Amsterdam and the Dutch East Indies.
Biography
Cuypers was trained in the architectural practice of his uncle Pierre Cuypers, the countr ...
in Amsterdam. Although Cuypers was not a progressive architect himself, he gave his employees plenty of opportunity to develop. The three leaders of the Amsterdam School
Michel de Klerk
Michel de Klerk (24 November 1884, Amsterdam – 24 November 1923, Amsterdam) was a Dutch architect. Born to a Jewish family, he was one of the founding architects of the movement Amsterdam School (Expressionist architecture)
Early in his car ...
,
Johan van der Mey
Joan (Jo) Melchior van der Mey (19 August 1878, Delfshaven – 6 June 1949, Geulle) was a Dutch architect best known for the landmark Scheepvaarthuis (Shipping House) building in Amsterdam located at Prins Hendrikkade, 1912.
Van der Mey wa ...
and
Piet Kramer
Pieter Lodewijk (Piet) Kramer (Amsterdam, 1 July 1881 – Santpoort, 4 February 1961) was a Dutch architect, one of the most important architects of the Amsterdam School (Expressionist architecture).
From 1903 to 1911 Piet Kramer worked in the a ...
all worked for Cuypers until about 1910. In 1905 Amsterdam was the first city to establish a building code, and the city hired Johan van der Mey afterwards, in the special position as "Aesthetic Advisor", to bring artistic unity and vision to its built environment.
Van der Mey's major commission, the 1912 cooperative-commercial
Scheepvaarthuis
The Shipping House ( nl, Scheepvaarthuis) is a building on the western tip of the Waalseiland near Amsterdam harbour that is one of the top 100 Dutch heritage sites and generally regarded as the first true example of the Amsterdam School, a styl ...
(Shipping House), is considered the starting point of the movement, and the three of them collaborated on that building. The most Amsterdam School buildings are found in this city. The movement and its followers played an important role in Berlage's overall plans for the expansion of
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
.
The most important architects and virtuoso artists of the Amsterdam School were
Michel de Klerk
Michel de Klerk (24 November 1884, Amsterdam – 24 November 1923, Amsterdam) was a Dutch architect. Born to a Jewish family, he was one of the founding architects of the movement Amsterdam School (Expressionist architecture)
Early in his car ...
and
Piet Kramer
Pieter Lodewijk (Piet) Kramer (Amsterdam, 1 July 1881 – Santpoort, 4 February 1961) was a Dutch architect, one of the most important architects of the Amsterdam School (Expressionist architecture).
From 1903 to 1911 Piet Kramer worked in the a ...
. Other members included Jan Gratama (who gave it its name),
Berend Tobia Boeyinga
Berend Tobia Boeyinga ( Noord-Scharwoude, 27 March 1886 - Amsterdam, 6 November 1969) was a Dutch architect noted for his Calvinist church buildings and as a practicing member of the Amsterdam School.
Life
Boeyinga was the son of a Calvinist ...
, P. H. Endt,
H. Th. Wijdeveld, J. F. Staal, C. J. Blaauw, and P. L. Marnette. The journal ''
Wendingen
''Wendingen'' (Dutch: ''Inversion'' or ''Upheaval'', literally ''turns'') was an architecture and art magazine that appeared from 1918 to 1932. It was a monthly publication aimed at architects and interior designers. The booklet was publis ...
'' ("Windings" or "Changes"), published between 1918 and 1931, was the magazine of the Amsterdam School movement.
After De Klerk died in 1923, the style lost its importance. The De Bijenkorf Store in
the Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
by Piet Kramer from 1926 is considered to be the last example of "classic" Amsterdam School Expressionism.
The influence of the Amsterdam School continued in the
Dutch East Indies, where one of its leading proponents was the pioneering
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n architect
Liem Bwan Tjie.
Interior design
The Amsterdam School style spread beyond architecture to encompass interior design, with the result that items ranging from furniture and carpets to lamps and clocks were produced. Interest revived in the 1970s as well as at the beginning of the 21st century.
References
Bibliography
*Wim de Wit, ''The Amsterdam School - Dutch Expressionist Architecture 1915-1930'', The MIT Press, Cambridge Mass. 1983
*Maristella Casciato, ''The Amsterdam School'', 010 Publishers, Rotterdam 1991
*Joseph Buch, ''A Century of Architecture in The Netherlands'', NAI Publishers, Rotterdam 1995
*Martijn F. Le Coultre, ''
Wendingen
''Wendingen'' (Dutch: ''Inversion'' or ''Upheaval'', literally ''turns'') was an architecture and art magazine that appeared from 1918 to 1932. It was a monthly publication aimed at architects and interior designers. The booklet was publis ...
1918-1932'', V+K Publishing, Blaricum 2001
utch edition*''
Wendingen
''Wendingen'' (Dutch: ''Inversion'' or ''Upheaval'', literally ''turns'') was an architecture and art magazine that appeared from 1918 to 1932. It was a monthly publication aimed at architects and interior designers. The booklet was publis ...
'', Dutch architecture and art magazine.
Expressionist architecture
Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts that especially developed and dominated in Germany. Brick Expressionis ...
is the main theme: Amsterdam School (
de Klerk,
Kramer),
Mendelsohn,
Finsterlin,
Feininger et al. Edited in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
and
Santpoort
{{Infobox settlement
, name = Santpoort-Zuid
, settlement_type = Village
, other_name =
, native_name =
, native_name_lang = nl
, image_skyline = 37110 Ruine van Brederode ...
, 1918-1932. Countermovement to the ''
De Stijl
''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body ...
'' movement in 1917.
External links
ArchimonThe Amsterdam School museum, located in Het Schip(in Dutch)
Amsterdam School of architectureoutline and pictures
{{Authority control
Brick Expressionism
Dutch architectural styles
Buildings and structures in Amsterdam
Brick buildings and structures
Expressionist architecture
Modernist architecture in the Netherlands
20th-century architectural styles
Articles containing video clips