Post-War Architecture

Semi-detached house that was built ca 1950

NEW BOOK PROJECT 

I have now taken up the plan to document those buildings, starting with the ones in my hometown.
But why would I want to do that if the buildings are ugly and being demolished? Well, obviously I don’t think those buildings are ugly and by pointing out the beauty of them, hopefully people will appreciate them more and start looking at them with different eyes.

Appartment block built in 1955

Post-War Architecture is an architectural style that was used for all kinds of buildings that were built between 1940-1965. In the war, many cities were ruined by bombings and fighting, destroying lots of buildings, leaving the country with a large shortage of houses, shops, offices, churches, factories etc. Already during the war the Dutch government started an ambitious rebuilding campaign, which took until 1965 to complete.

Although building materials were scarce, architects were still able to use materials (brick and concrete specifically) in a playful way, that now easily identifies buildings as being built in the Post-War style. The Dutch government dictated what the buildings should look like, but the architects managed to give each building specific characteristics and made them look individual, even though they were part of a larger theme.

Decorative brickwork and concrete are used to make these to frontdoors look nice. Built in 1952

It is this individualism of the Post-War buildings that I like so much and that makes these buildings worthy of being looked at, admired and protected.

This new book project is still in its research fase. I have started making a list of building in my hometown interesting enough to be photographed and mentioned in the book. I am also digging through the municipal archives in search of original drawings and building permits, which will give an idea of when buidlings were built and who designed them. Over the winter I will take pictures of the buildings in situ.
This book will be written in Dutch and will be published in the autumn of 2012.

It’s now possible to follow my research for this new project via the (Dutch) website that I set up. It can be found at www.wederopbouwarchitectuurinharen.nl.

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Interested in my other books? Please visit My Books, or read the First Chapter of Time Zones, Containers and Three Square Meals a Day.