F o r u m

So what is there to say about thecurrent state of Dutch architecture,having compiled the 2013-14Architecture in the NetherlandsYearbook? First, having seen some900 projects, myself and fellow editors Tom Avermaete, LindaVlassenrood and Edwin Oostmeijerfound ourselves cheerfully pushingat an open door: architecture isalive and well in the Netherlands.Second, after all the euphoria of‘Super Dutch’ architecture, it isclear that the Netherlands hasbecome a rather typical Europeancountry. Looking for best practicewe saw a reflection of constructionoutput that differs little from thatof other countries. There is nodominant tendency in Dutch archi-tecture anymore.

We found big icons – architecturefor mayors and aldermen thatexpresses prosperity, self-conscious-ness and progress in more or lessbelievable ways – and small icons:often rather watered-down versionsof well-known examplars. There are individual houses that bearwitness to the idiosyncrasy of theirclients. And there are those smallcommissions in the arts where thesignificant creative opportunitiesare immediately exploited.Uniqueness is a given in all thesecases, but things are completely dif-ferent in the larger volume sectorsof the industry – the architecture of offices, housing and schools.Architects must respond to the con-ventions of building and dwelling,and with the collapse of urban policies and design guidance, theDutch architect – just like those inthe rest of Europe (not least post-Thatcher Britain) – has become alonely soul. The architect has beendragged out of his comfort zoneand must earn his spurs in each

Above left Treebeek Centrum housing,Brunssum, Netherlands, by Jo JanssenArchitecten with Wim van den Bergh.Above right Hengelo housing,Netherlands, by Korth Tielens Architecten(ph: Stefan Muller).

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Tradition is tacitly acknowledged but not yet openly embraced by Dutch architects, says yearbook editor Hans van der Heijden.

The Dutch dilemma

project again and again. In complicated public building,

designers often apply a version ofthe current internationalistmodernism. Its open language isuseful in the manipulation of theprograms that are permanently influx, and in dealing with the evermore complicated building servicetechnologies. In housing design,long the Dutch arena of innovation,however, we find a reorientation towards older design methods andarchitectonic motifs. Tacitly, thepitched roof has returned.

And this brings us to the thirdaspect. Among Dutch architects‘tradition’ remains a dirty word. It is the hot potato of the Dutch de-sign world. Here the reorientation mentioned above does not gohand-in-hand with architects explicitly declaring themselves and,as a consequence, tradition is not a subject of debate. And that iswhere architectural culture in theNetherlands diverges sharply fromthat of other European countries.Elsewhere the notion of traditionhas been liberated from its negativeconnotations and can be used forwhat it actually means, namely

‘the old habits of large groups ofpeople’. This attitude, which isprevalent for example in industrialdesign, would open the way for a more assertive approach to thevolume building sectors, which areinevitably dictated by codes andconventions.

In Dutch architecture, however,‘tradition’ remains a silent intellec-tual undercurrent. Compare thatto the recent opening of the‘Pasticcio: Continuity in EuropeanArchitecture’ exhibition, curatedby Caruso St John, at the FlemishArchitecture Institute in Antwerp.Almost 1000 people gathered to witness robust arguments to support the colourful continuity of the European architectural tradition. The thesis was illustratedwith a wide variety of projects by architects from different countriesand age groups. Their shared beliefseemed to be that the tradition cannot be viewed a closed beliefsystem, but should be seen as anenergetic and progressive discoursethat transcends generations andborders. This notion of thetraditional has surpassed all sectari-anism (including, for that matter,

the dismissal of modernity). These differences were celebratedin Antwerp, to the dismay of anumber of critics who didn’t knowwhat to make of such a rich mixwith no apparent boundaries.

Dutch architects define their attitudes against the tradition inwhich they operate on a day-to-daybasis. However vital Dutch architec-ture may appear from abroad, itseems clear to me that a betterunderstanding of the ‘old habits oflarge groups of people’ is the keyto working in the harsh Dutcheconomy of today.

Hans van der Heijden is a founder ofRotterdam-based architect biq, and visitingprofessor in sustainable design at theUniversity of Cambridge. He is co-editor of the Architecture in the Netherlands Yearbook2013-14 (nai010, 184pp, £40).

The exhibition ‘Pasticcio: Continuity inEuropean Architecture’ is at de SingelInternational Arts Campus in Antwerp,Belgium, to 7th June.

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