Leendert Cornelis van der Vlugt (13 April 1894 – 25 April 1936) was a Dutch architect in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
. In the architects office
Brinkman & Van der Vlugt he was responsible for the architecture of the
Van Nelle Factory
The former Van Nelle Factory ( nl, Van Nellefabriek) on the Schie in Rotterdam, is considered a prime example of the International Style based upon constructivist architecture. It has been a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. Soon ...
, a listed monument of the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
since 2014.
After the death of the Rotterdam architect
Michiel Brinkman
Michiel Brinkman (1873–1925) was a Dutch architect and the father of Johannes Brinkman the exponent of ''Nieuwe Bouwen'', modern architecture in the Netherlands. Michiel Brinkman is notable for his Justus van Effen housing block complex in Spa ...
in 1925, his son
Johannes Brinkman
Johannes Andreas Brinkman
(22 March 1902 – 6 May 1949), also known as Jan Brinkman,
was a Dutch architect and exponent of '' Nieuwe Bouwen'', modern architecture in the Netherlands.
Biography
Brinkman was born in Rotterdam, Neth ...
, a constructional engineer, took over the architectural office and made Leendert van der Vlugt co-director. The new practice was called J.A. Brinkman & L.C. van der Vlugt, (Vlugt pronounced as "Vlücht").
Architect responsible for the Van Nelle Factory
The activities of the Brinkman & Van der Vlugt office lasted only about ten years because Leendert van der Vlugt has died in 1936 (
Hodgkin's disease
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...
). Shortly after the death of
Jan Duiker in 1935, the Netherlands lost with Leendert van der Vlugt a second young architectural talent. Both architects had created buildings of international rank: the
Van Nelle Factory
The former Van Nelle Factory ( nl, Van Nellefabriek) on the Schie in Rotterdam, is considered a prime example of the International Style based upon constructivist architecture. It has been a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. Soon ...
in Rotterdam by Leendert van der Vlugt and the Zonnestraal Sanatorium in Hilversum by Jan Duiker.
Since the death of Leendert van der Vlugt, there has been a misleading attribution of his work. In all books of architectural history, credit for the design of his buildings has gone to J.A. Brinkman & L.C. van der Vlugt, (sometimes together with Mart Stam). Attributions of this kind suggest that J.A. Brinkman was the creative mind in the practice.
Jacob Bakema
Jacob Berend "Jaap" Bakema (8 March 1914 – 20 February 1981) was a Dutch modernist architect, notable for design of public housing and involvement in the reconstruction of Rotterdam after the Second World War.
Born in Groningen, Bakema studi ...
has dealt with this question in his small book "L.C. van der Vlugt". The fact that Leendert van der Vlugt was the creative architect and not Johannes Brinkman is indicated by the following quotations from Bakema's booklet:
![Rotterdam van nelle fabriek](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Rotterdam_van_nelle_fabriek.jpg)
*Former Van Nelle director C.H. van der Leeuw: "Brinkman Jr. (Johannes Brinkman) played no part whatsoever in the design and construction of the Van Nelle Factory..." (p. 12). It is worth mentioning that Johannes Brinkman (b. 1902) finished his study at the Delft University of Technology in 1931, not as an architect, but as a civil engineer. He probably had less creative ability than his father Michiel Brinkman.
*
Mart Stam
Mart Stam (August 5, 1899 – February 21, 1986) was a Dutch architect, urban planner, and furniture designer. Stam was extraordinarily well-connected, and his career intersects with important moments in the history of 20th-century Europe ...
: "I worked in the Brinkman & Van der Vlugt office as design draughtsman... I didn't much care for the curved building of the office section, but Van der Vlugt was in charge of the project... He gave the instructions..." (p. 16).
*
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
, 30 May 1936: "With the death of Van der Vlugt, modern architecture loses one of its best representatives. I am familiar with Van der Vlugt's outstanding achievement, the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam... A few years ago, I visited the Factory together with Mr van der Leeuw, the director. Later, I met Van der Vlugt at a luncheon... How many works are there in the modern world that can rival the Van Nelle Factory?... The fact that we shall not see him (Van der Vlugt) any more and shall no longer witness the development of his outstanding talent is extremely regrettable..." (p. 17).
To eliminate any misunderstandings about who was responsible for the design work, Leendert van der Vlugt's name should be placed first. The attribution of responsibility for the design of the Van Nelle Factory, for example, could be formulated as follows:
Leendert van der Vlugt (and Mart Stam) of Brinkman & Van der Vlugt Architects; or
Leendert van der Vlugt (Brinkman & Van der Vlugt)
Constructivism
The influence of Russian
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 ...
is evident in the Van Nelle Factory. From 1926 to 1928, Mart Stam was an assistant in the office and was partly involved in the design of this project. Through his communicative skills and many connections, Mart Stam had made contact with the Russian avant-garde in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
in 1922. In 1926, during his first year of work for the Brinkman & Van der Vlugt office, he organized an architectural trip to the Netherlands for the Russian artist
El Lissitzky
Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, ; – 30 December 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Эль Лиси́цкий; yi, על ליסיצקי), was a Russian artist ...
and his wife Sophie Küppers, a collector of contemporary art. They visited the architects
Jacobus Oud
Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud, commonly called J. J. P. Oud (9 February 1890 – 5 April 1963) was a Dutch architect. His fame began as a follower of the '' De Stijl'' movement.
Oud was born in Purmerend, the son of a tobacco and wine merchant. A ...
,
Gerrit Rietveld
Gerrit Rietveld (24 June 1888 – 25 June 1964) was a Dutch furniture designer and architect.
Early life
Rietveld was born in Utrecht on 24 June 1888 as the son of a joiner. He left school at 11 to be apprenticed to his father and enrolled at ni ...
,
Cornelis van Eesteren
Cornelis van Eesteren (4 July 1897, Alblasserdam - 21 February 1988, Amsterdam) was a prominent Dutch architect and urban planner. He worked for the Town Planning department of Amsterdam (1929–59) and was the chairman of the CIAM (1930–1947 ...
and others. According to Sophie Küppers, Mart Stam told them about "his" factory in the course of the excursion. The influence of Russian Constructivism is evident at different parts of the building: the idea of using large letters on the roofs, for example. The aspect of Constructivism may possibly have come from Mart Stam. On the other hand, the fascinating rounded architectural forms (in the office tract and the roof structure) are attributable to Leendert van der Vlugt.
Complications Authorship
The years 1926-28 were full of hectic activity for
Mart Stam
Mart Stam (August 5, 1899 – February 21, 1986) was a Dutch architect, urban planner, and furniture designer. Stam was extraordinarily well-connected, and his career intersects with important moments in the history of 20th-century Europe ...
(b. 1899). In addition to his work for Leendert van der Vlugt, he was occupied with the houses for the
Weissenhof Estate
The Weissenhof Estate (German: Weißenhofsiedlung) is a housing estate built for the 1927 Deutscher Werkbund exhibition in Stuttgart, Germany. It was an international showcase of modern architecture's aspiration to provide cheap, simple, efficie ...
in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, with a competition for a water tower and with the first steel cantilever chair, not to mention his contacts with his Russian friends and his participation at the first
CIAM Congress. In retrospect, one can say that the works dating from this period are among Mart Stam's best. The question arises, whether Leendert van der Vlugt, the more experienced of the two architects, had any hand in the design of the houses in Stuttgart. The great elegance one finds in them is also evident in buildings by Leendert van der Vlugt, but not in the later works of Mart Stam. The question is justified, for in his history of architecture,
Kenneth Frampton
Kenneth Brian Frampton (born 20 November 1930) is a British architect, critic and historian. He is the Ware Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, New York. He has be ...
raised it in a reversed form. A lot of architects and historians have perhaps allowed themselves to be impressed too much by Mart Stam's brilliant perspective drawings. Another question would be why the well-known Dutch Forum Group did not undertake a reappraisal of Leendert van der Vlugt similar to that accorded to Jan Duiker. One explanation might be that the Forum editor, Jacob Bakema, the youngest member of an architectural practice with a long tradition and ongoing development (Michiel Brinkman / Johannes Brinkman / Leendert van der Vlugt / Johannes van den Broek / Jacob Bakema), was not really interested in a reassessment of Leendert van der Vlugt.
Reinstatement of Leendert van der Vlugt
The architectural database archINFORM contains a short biography of Johannes Brinkman, which begins as follows: "Johannes Andreas Brinkman: Dutch architect, who rose to fame with the erection of the Van Nelle tobacco factory in Rotterdam, designed in collaboration with Mart Stam and one of the outstanding industrial buildings of the 20th century..." This is a commonly held view that can be found even on the internet site "Great Buildings Online". It would be a welcome addition for the history of architecture, if the Dutch Architectural Institute
NAi in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
made an official declaration concerning the correct design attribution of the Van Nelle Factory. A further step would be a re-evaluation of Leendert van der Vlugt, which might also lead to an adequate monograph on that architect.
According to Graham Livesey, "the figure of L.C. van der Vlugt remains one of the most overlooked figures of 1920s European architecture."
Buildings (selection)
![Rotterdam kralingseplaslaan38](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Rotterdam_kralingseplaslaan38.jpg)
*School for Trade and Industry (nowadays Wiebengacomplex) in
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
, 1922
*Buildings of the Theosophical Association in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, 1925–26
*
Van Nelle Factory
The former Van Nelle Factory ( nl, Van Nellefabriek) on the Schie in Rotterdam, is considered a prime example of the International Style based upon constructivist architecture. It has been a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. Soon ...
in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
, 1927-30 (with Mart Stam / structural engineer: Jan Wiebenga)
*Van der Leeuw House in Rotterdam, 1928–29
*National Telephone Box, 1931
*Boevé House in Rotterdam, 1932–34
*Sonneveld House in Rotterdam, 1933–34
*
Bergpolderflat
The Bergpolderflat in the Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine ...
in Rotterdam, 1933-35 (in collaboration with Willem van Tijen)
*
Feijenoord Stadium
Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same n ...
in Rotterdam, 1935–36
Leendert van der Vlugt was responsible for the design of all these schemes. The Bergpolder Apartment Building achieved international recognition thanks to Van der Vlugt's personal style. From 1925 onwards, design responsibility can best be formulated as: Leendert van der Vlugt (Brinkman & Van der Vlugt).
Bibliography
*
J.B. Bakema, "L.C. van der Vlugt", Amsterdam 1968, (English edition).
*Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers, "
El Lissitzky
Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, ; – 30 December 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Эль Лиси́цкий; yi, על ליסיצקי), was a Russian artist ...
", Dresden 1976.
*
Herman Hertzberger
Herman Hertzberger (born 6 July 1932) is a Dutch architect, and a professor emeritus of the Delft University of Technology. In 2012 he received the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Biography
Herman Hertzberger was ...
, "Lessons for Students in Architecture", Rotterdam 1991.
*Graham Livesey, "The Van der Leeuw House: Theosophical Connections with Early Modern Architecture", Calgary 1998.
*Anne Backer (ed.), "Van Nelle - Monument in Progress", Rotterdam 2005.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vlugt, Leendert Van Der
1894 births
1936 deaths
Architects from Rotterdam
Modernist architects