Sporen van stadhouders: Verblijven en besturen in het westelijke deel van het Binnenhof

In anticipation of the current major restoration of the Binnenhof, the home of the Dutch parliament, building historians conducted research into this historically important complex of buildings in The Hague. This article focuses on the western part of the complex and the role played there by the stadholder and the States of Holland. In the northwest corner of the Binnenhof, an L-shaped Knights’ House arose in the middle of the fourteenth century with a residence for the stadholder on the first floor while the ground floor was used by the States of Holland. In 1585 Prince Maurits took up residence in this part of the Binnenhof and to underline his status had a tower built on the northwest corner (completed 1604). Later he had his accommodation expanded (1620-1621). His successor Frederik Hendrik further expanded the accommodation with an extruded corner containing private quarters for his son William’s wife (Mary Stuart). With the death of William II in 1650, the first stadholderless period (1650-1672) began. The States of Holland seized on this opportunity to reinforce their claim to the buildings by demolishing part of the recent expansion on the Hofvijver side and building a prominent new meeting place. As a consequence of the war with the French in 1672, William III became stadholder and to compensate for the lost space he commissioned an expansion of the complex on the south side (1677-1678). After the death of his wife Mary II Stuart, he had a stately house built for his favourite, the 1st Earl of Albemarle, on the south edge of the Prinsentuin in circa 1695. William’s death in 1702 ushered in the second stadholderless period until the threat of war in 1747 led to the appointment of William IV as stadholder. At this point the accommodation at the Binnenhof was deemed to be too small for the court and plans for a new palace were drawn up. What his father had been unable to achieve, William V accomplished. Existing buildings in the southwest corner made way for new stadholder quarters, but not until the States of Holland had built a new Comptoir-Generaal (money office) a little further away in 1777. In 1779 work on new quarters commenced. They consisted of a representative section in the Binnenhof, an apartment for the stadholder with an entrance on the Buitenhof and a service wing – the Cingelhuis – on the south side. The latter replaced the service wing of the Court of Albemarle. The new accommodation was finished by 1792, but just three years later William V was forced into exile, after which the newly formed Batavian Republic turned the ballroom into a meeting room, which served as the chamber of the House of Representatives from 1814 to 1992. The chamber of the States of Holland has been in use by the Senate since 1849.In anticipation of the current major restoration of the Binnenhof, the home of the Dutch parliament, building historians conducted research into this historically important complex of buildings in The Hague. This article focuses on the western part of the complex and the role played there by the stadholder and the States of Holland. In the northwest corner of the Binnenhof, an L-shaped Knights’ House arose in the middle of the fourteenth century with a residence for the stadholder on the first floor while the ground floor was used by the States of Holland. In 1585 Prince Maurits took up residence in this part of the Binnenhof and to underline his status had a tower built on the northwest corner (completed 1604). Later he had his accommodation expanded (1620-1621). His successor Frederik Hendrik further expanded the accommodation with an extruded corner containing private quarters for his son William’s wife (Mary Stuart). With the death of William II in 1650, the first stadholderless period (1650-1672) began. The States of Holland seized on this opportunity to reinforce their claim to the buildings by demolishing part of the recent expansion on the Hofvijver side and building a prominent new meeting place. As a consequence of the war with the French in 1672, William III became stadholder and to compensate for the lost space he commissioned an expansion of the complex on the south side (1677-1678). After the death of his wife Mary II Stuart, he had a stately house built for his favourite, the 1st Earl of Albemarle, on the south edge of the Prinsentuin in circa 1695. William’s death in 1702 ushered in the second stadholderless period until the threat of war in 1747 led to the appointment of William IV as stadholder. At this point the accommodation at the Binnenhof was deemed to be too small for the court and plans for a new palace were drawn up. What his father had been unable to achieve, William V accomplished. Existing buildings in the southwest corner made way for new stadholder quarters, but not until the States of Holland had built a new Comptoir-Generaal (money office) a little further away in 1777. In 1779 work on new quarters commenced. They consisted of a representative section in the Binnenhof, an apartment for the stadholder with an entrance on the Buitenhof and a service wing – the Cingelhuis – on the south side. The latter replaced the service wing of the Court of Albemarle. The new accommodation was finished by 1792, but just three years later William V was forced into exile, after which the newly formed Batavian Republic turned the ballroom into a meeting room, which served as the chamber of the House of Representatives from 1814 to 1992. The chamber of the States of Holland has been in use by the Senate since 1849. &nbsp

Post-War Building Materials in Housing in Brussels 1945-1975

Review of a book authored by Stephanie Van de Voorde, Inge Bertels and Ine Wouters.Review of a book authored by Stephanie Van de Voorde, Inge Bertels and Ine Wouters

Van punt tot mijl. De vroegere voet-, roede- en mijlmaten in Nederland

Review of a book authored by Gerrit Berends. Boekbespreking van een boek geschreven door Gerrit Berends

Het bouwblok in de oude stad. Een methodische verkenning

Every city is defined by the sum of infrastructure and urban fabric in the form of blocks. The block is the ideal intermediate scale between the city as a whole and all the individual plots and is an important link between historical town planning and building history. The key focus of this survey was the relation between the size of the city and the number of blocks, and the nature and form of the blocks in relation to the constituent plots and their buildings. In order to study this, a method was developed whereby blocks could be systematically defined. The survey employed the oldest cadastral map dating from 1832 and the cadastral numbers on that map played a key role. The resulting uniformly defined assemblage of blocks formed the basis for this primarily quantitative survey. The study of the relation between the size of the city and number of blocks revealed a remarkable ratio with only a few large cities and a sizeable middle group having between 11 and 20 blocks. For the forty largest cities, the relation between the sum total of blocks and solitary buildings, wet and dry infrastructure was studied. The consistent 4:1 ratio between the total number of blocks and dry infrastructure is a particularly significant finding. Also considered were the average size of a block, its composition, and the arrangement of the buildings within the block. It was found that while one city might have private front steps another did not. The article also proposes a refinement of the concept of the ‘closed block’, with the introduction of ‘perimeter blocks’ (with inner courtyard), filled blocks, and blocks with passageways or rows of charitable housing, dubbed ‘dooraderd’ (veined) or ‘doorregen’ (marbled). The difference between homogeneous and heterogeneous blocks (with atypical inclusions) is also discussed, whereby it is argued that heterogeneous blocks are more susceptible to erosion. Following these theoretical aspects the article concludes with a case study of the city of Deventer, where a block atlas was used to chart the building-historical values in this city. A comparison between older and more recent cadastral maps combined with an analysis of existing buildings, made it possible to identify buildings with hidden values. Those findings have since been incorporated into the city’s redevelopment policy. In addition, the study yielded a more accurate estimate of the number of buildings in Deventer that might contain an older historical core

Marges van de bouwhistorie

Although a considerable percentage of the practising building historians have an academic background, the origin of building history lies in the practical preservation of monuments and historic buildings. The listing of thousands of houses around 1975 gave a strong impulse to the then new discipline. Around 1990 building history completed its pioneering phase. ‘Richtlijnen bouwhistorisch onderzoek’ (guidelines for building- historical research) created a framework for practicable research reports for the purpose of restoration. Because of social developments this discipline – which was initially strongly focused on the Middle Ages – had to widen its scope within a brief period of time. In the first instance the more recent building history from the period 1850-1940 was added. As regards the question whether the same or an adjusted method had to be adopted for it, it is argued here that the research method is not essentially different, despite the fact that the quantity and type of additional information on each building has strongly increased, if the building in its present appearance remains the central point of interest. Recently the field of research was further extended with, in the first place, more attention for the context of the building and, in the second place, greater focus on more extensive, frequently urban areas where research is taking place into the building-historical values still to be expected, which is to result in a value map

De internationale uitstraling van het Vitruvianisme: Erik Forssman en de maniëristische architectuur als betekenisdrager

During the Renaissance, the printed image was an important medium in the circulation of architectural forms throughout Europe. In this process, these disseminated forms gradually changed into ‘local dialects’. Modern research on these forms evolved from a purely stylistic approach to an increased focus on architects and patrons (actors) and, more recently, on art geography. Over time, less attention has been paid to the actual buildings themselves and their meaning. This article focuses on the mannerist period (1575-1625) and the work of Erik Forssman (1915-2011) in a historiographical context.Forssman has made an important contribution to the understanding of the use and reception of architectural treatises. While his dissertation Säule und Ornament (1956) was predominantly theoretical, in his second book Dorisch, Jonisch, Korintisch (1961) he applied his findings to real buildings, coining the term ‘Vitruvianism’ for the reception of classical forms whereby strict application of the rules was secondary to a predominantly meaningful application of the orders within ‘elongated fringes’ of the classical rules.While the focus of research into Renaissance architecture in the Low Countries shifted to early Renaissance (1500-1575) in the south, and (Dutch) Classicism in the north (1625-1700) as well as to the main actors in the design process, the middle period of Mannerism was more or less neglected, unlike in Germany, where the focus stayed on architecture as a bearer of meaning. In his keynote speech at the opening conference in 1989 of the Weserrenaissance-Museum in Schloss Brake near Lemgo (Germany) Forssman reiterated his ideas.It turned out that almost all adaptations of Renaissance forms could be traced back to the Low Countries and that these adapted forms became an export product, not only through prints and treatises distributed all over Europe, but also through itinerant architects and artisans. Reception of these adapted Renaissance (Northern Mannerist) forms led to local dialects. To better understand this, more attention needs to be directed to the actual realization and the intended meaning of the realized architecture. It turns out that often not just one person can be named as ‘auctor intellectualis’ but that a ‘team’ of actors were involved. With the work of Forssman in mind, this article illustrates such a meaningful adaptation by a team of actors with the town hall of Bolsward (1614-1617).A close-reading of the buildings themselves, paying more attention to architecture as a bearer of meaning and to the interaction between ‘imported forms’ and local adaptation by the recipients, can make a significant contribution to the understanding of the ‘complex jigsaw puzzle of architectural exchanges in early modern Europe’

Naar een cultuurtopografie: ‘Monumenten in Nederland’, de serie

With the publication of the twelfth and last part in July 2006 the series ‘Monumenten in Nederland’ was completed after more than ten years. For the first time in a long while a general survey has thus become available covering the entire Netherlands, presenting a coherent overview of the cultural-historically most valuable structures and objects. Although it comprises fewer volumes, but is of a larger format and contains more illustrations, the series can measure up to ‘The Buildings of England’ of Nicolaus Pevsner, published between 1951 and 1974. In ‘Monumenten in Nederland’ not only protected, but also - if interesting - not (yet) protected buildings are dealt with, not just as such, but also in their historical, architectonic, and building-historical context. As regards the national coverage a great extent of balance was aimed at in the series, so that not only the most important but, on the contrary, all the relevant buildings in every corner of the country are brought up. Thus it has become a Cultural Topography. In the relatively short - by standards of  historic building surveys period of ten years it proved to be possible to look at the entire stock of historic buildings with a coherent vision as regards contents. Consequently, the major historical parameters: place, periodization, style and type have been systematically and consistently dealt with in the whole series. Within the framework of a growing building-historical insight compared to the existing literature some slight corrections were occasionally made. Likewise, materials and constructions were dealt with better. Besides, ample attention has been paid to cultural connections, both of church and parsonage, factory and porter's house, but also in a wider context, such as the branching off from a town hall into law, records and police functions, each in a separate building. Behind spatial developments there often are energetic persons who erected country estates, factory complexes or areas under development with the accompanying buildings. This aspect also received much attention. Due to the consistency in concise description referred to, it became possible to develop a relative cultural measure reflecting a relative order of merit of cultural-historically important towns and villages better than just on the basis of a number of protected monuments. In recent preservation of monuments and historic buildings attention shifted from the object towards the spatial development. In the meantime this balance threatens to tip towards an excess of cultural planology, whereby not just the individual building but also the historical aspect is somewhat lost sight of. With a profound attention for the spatial aspects ‘Monumenten in Nederland’ has focused on the large group of cultural-historically important buildings and objects again and thus it is a 'benchmark' of monuments and historic buildings in the Netherlands on the transition from the 20th to the 21st century

Het bouwblok in de oude stad. Een methodische verkenning

Every city is defined by the sum of infrastructure and urban fabric in the form of blocks. The block is the ideal intermediate scale between the city as a whole and all the individual plots and is an important link between historical town planning and building history. The key focus of this survey was the relation between the size of the city and the number of blocks, and the nature and form of the blocks in relation to the constituent plots and their buildings. In order to study this, a method was developed whereby blocks could be systematically defined. The survey employed the oldest cadastral map dating from 1832 and the cadastral numbers on that map played a key role. The resulting uniformly defined assemblage of blocks formed the basis for this primarily quantitative survey. The study of the relation between the size of the city and number of blocks revealed a remarkable ratio with only a few large cities and a sizeable middle group having between 11 and 20 blocks. For the forty largest cities, the relation between the sum total of blocks and solitary buildings, wet and dry infrastructure was studied. The consistent 4:1 ratio between the total number of blocks and dry infrastructure is a particularly significant finding. Also considered were the average size of a block, its composition, and the arrangement of the buildings within the block. It was found that while one city might have private front steps another did not. The article also proposes a refinement of the concept of the ‘closed block’, with the introduction of ‘perimeter blocks’ (with inner courtyard), filled blocks, and blocks with passageways or rows of charitable housing, dubbed ‘dooraderd’ (veined) or ‘doorregen’ (marbled). The difference between homogeneous and heterogeneous blocks (with atypical inclusions) is also discussed, whereby it is argued that heterogeneous blocks are more susceptible to erosion. Following these theoretical aspects the article concludes with a case study of the city of Deventer, where a block atlas was used to chart the building-historical values in this city. A comparison between older and more recent cadastral maps combined with an analysis of existing buildings, made it possible to identify buildings with hidden values. Those findings have since been incorporated into the city’s redevelopment policy. In addition, the study yielded a more accurate estimate of the number of buildings in Deventer that might contain an older historical core

Mercantile Marine Engineering and Graving Docks Company

Review of a book authored by Lode De Clercq and Steven Van den BorneBoekbespreking van een boek geschreven door Lode De Clercq en Steven Van den Born

Mercantile Marine Engineering and Graving Docks Company

Review of a book authored by Lode De Clercq and Steven Van den BorneBoekbespreking van een boek geschreven door Lode De Clercq en Steven Van den Born