The Amsterdam School built workers' housing so grand the functionalists erased it from history
Between 1910 and 1930, a group of Dutch architects led by Michel de Klerk, Piet Kramer, and J.M. van der Mey transformed Amsterdam with expressionist brickwork — most famously government-funded workers' housing like Eigen Haard and De Dageraad. Though the movement had no theoretical program, its members shared a belief that architecture should be an inclusive art accessible to every class. Functionalists attacked it in the late 1920s and wrote it out of the literature; the 1970s brought a reevaluation and restoration.
The Social Democrats responsible for housing policy in Amsterdam were admirers, for they believed that the work of the Amsterdam School dignified the neighborhoods of the working- and lower-middle-class families for whom they were responsible.
- Bosustir
I can see why the functionalists pushed back against some of this. The detailing must have been expensive and difficult to maintain.
- ggm
Bit of a cheat putting Zaanstraat and Hembrugstraat in without noting they're both part of "Het Schip" and basically opposite ends of the same development.
The museum tour is fantastic. Well worth it. Reminded me of a Bauhaus working class housing interior design on display in Berlin.
If you like this kind of thing, the Rietveld Schröderhuis in Utrecht is well worth a trip. It's de Stijl not Amsterdam school but also fascinating.
- unpleasurable
Some of those look very pleased with themselves.