The Chief Government Architect (Dutch: Rijksbouwmeester) is the senior
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
for the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment
The Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment ( nl, Ministerie van Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke Ordening en Milieu or ''VROM'') was a Dutch ministry. It was responsible for policies on public housing, spatial planning, the env ...
(VROM). The Chief Architect's responsibility is to protect and stimulate the
architectural
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...
quality and
urban suitability of government buildings in the Netherlands. The position was previously known as ''Chief National Architect'' (''landsbouwmeester'') and ''Royal Chief Architect'' (''rijksarchitect'').
[ Corjan van der Peet & Guido Steenmeijer (ed): De Rijksbouwmeesters. Twee eeuwen architectuur van de Rijksgebouwendienst en zijn voorlopers. Rotterdam: Uitgeverij 010, 1995]
The Chief Architect provides an architect's view in urban planning projects and national, architectural policy. The architect is authorized to advise the government on relevant issues, either at the request of the government or of his own accord. The idea is also that he will pay special attention and act as a sort of guardian for
monuments and other buildings of value as
cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soc ...
, as well as the use of
visual art
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts ...
in government buildings.
The Chief Architect is officially the chief advisor to the
Director-General
A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals''
) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...
of the
Rijksgebouwendienst, the agency within VROM that manages government buildings. He is also the chief advisor for architectural policy to the ministers of VROM, of
Housing, Neighborhoods and Integration and other ministers with responsibilities in this policy area. He is the head of his own staff bureau, the Chief Architect's Studio (Dutch: ''Atelier Rijksbouwmeester''), which assists him in his duties. Starting in 2005 the Studio also houses three other policy advisors with similar tasks: the Government Advisor on Landscape, the Government Advisor on Infrastructure and the Government Advisor on Cultural Heritage. The four together are the
College of Government Advisors.
The Chief Architect has great influence on urban building projects, as he decides which architects are allowed to bid on projects of the Rijksgebouwendienst.
The position of Chief Government Architect of the Netherlands has existed, under one name or another, since 1806. In that year
Jean-Thomas Thibault was first named Royal Architect. The position was not unique between 1870 and 1920 as several Master Builders held the title simultaneously, each working for a different government service doing some sort of construction. After the formation of the Rijksgebouwendienst in 1924, only one Chief Architect position remained and he was in charge of the actual design work for government building. This changed to the current advisory position in the period 1958-1971, when
Jo Vegter
Jo, jo, JO, or J.O. may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Jo'' (film), a 1972 French comedy
* ''Jo'' (TV series), a French TV series
*"Jo", a song by Goldfrapp from ''Tales of Us''
*"Jo", a song by Mr. Oizo from ''Lambs Anger''
* Jo a fictio ...
was Chief Architect. Following the new definition of the office (which was more neutral), the requests for the Chief Architect's involvement increased. During the 1980s his responsibilities were increased as well and finally it became necessary to create the other three Government Advisorships, to deal with the glut of work.
In 1998 a similar position was created in
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
, the
Flemish Government Architect.
Master Builders
*
Jean-Thomas Thibault (1806–1810; Royal Architect)
*
Bartold Ziesenis (1813–1820; Royal Architect/Imperial Architect/Architect of national buildings)
*
Isaäc Warnsinck (1845–1857; architect-advisor for prisons)
*
Allard C. Pierson (1857–1870; architect-advisor for prisons)
*
Willem Nicolaas Rose (1858–1867; chief architect national buildings)
*
Johan Frederik Metzelaar Johan
* Johan (given name)
* ''Johan'' (film), a 1921 Swedish film directed by Mauritz Stiller
* Johan (band), a Dutch pop-group
** ''Johan'' (album), a 1996 album by the group
* Johan Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada
* Jo-Han, a ...
(1870–1886; engineer-architect of prisons and courthouses)
*
Pierre J.H. Cuypers (1874–1921; architect of royal museum buildings)
*
Lucas Hermanus Eberson (1874–1889; Royal Architect)
*
Jacobus van Lokhorst (1878–1906; government building engineer for education etc.)
*
Adolph J.M. Mulder (1878–1918; Chief Architect of monuments)
*
Willem Cornelis Metzelaar
Willem () is a Dutch and West FrisianRienk de Haan, ''Fryske Foarnammen'', Leeuwarden, 2002 (Friese Pers Boekerij), , p. 158. masculine given name. The name is Germanic, and can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of the name William in English, ...
(1883–1914; engineer-architect of prisons and courthouses)
*
Cornelis H. Peters (1884–1915; national buildings, first district)
*
M.A. van Wadenoyen (1886–1907; government building engineer for education etc.)
*
Johannes A.W. Vrijman (1888–1923; government building engineer for education etc.)
*
Gustav C. (Cees) Bremer (1924–1945)
*
Hayo Hoekstra (1945–1946)
*
Gijsbert Friedhoff (1946–1958)
*
Jo Vegter
Jo, jo, JO, or J.O. may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Jo'' (film), a 1972 French comedy
* ''Jo'' (TV series), a French TV series
*"Jo", a song by Goldfrapp from ''Tales of Us''
*"Jo", a song by Mr. Oizo from ''Lambs Anger''
* Jo a fictio ...
(1958–1971)
*
Frank Sevenhuijsen (1971–1974; ad interim)
*
Wim Quist (1974–1979)
*
Tjeerd Dijkstra (1979–1986)
*
Frans van Gool (1986–1988)
*
Jan Dirk Peereboom Voller (1988–1989; ad interim)
*
Kees Rijnboutt (1989–1995)
*
Wytze Patijn (1995–2000)
*
Jo Coenen (November 2000 - September 2004)
*
Mels Crouwel (October 2004 - August 2008)
*
Liesbeth van der Pol (August 2008 - June 2011)
*
Frits van Dongen (August 2011 - August 2015)
*
Floris Alkemade
Floris may refer to:
People Given name
* Five counts of Holland:
**Floris I, Count of Holland (c.1017–1061)
**Floris II, Count of Holland (c.1085–1121)
**Floris III, Count of Holland (1141–1190)
** Floris IV, Count of Holland (1210–1234)
...
(September 2015 - 1 September 2021)
*
Francesco Veenstra (1 September 2021 -)
References
External links
Chief Government ArchitectRijksbouwmeesterFlemish Government ArchitectRijksbouwmeester voor leken verklaard (pdf)*{{in lang, nl}
13 rijksbouwmeesters in het kort
Urban design
Architecture occupations