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Entry: Sunday, May 28, 1972
Submitted by:
Jaap Bakema Study Centre
Country:
The Netherlands
Category:
Housing
't Hool in Eindhoven is one of the best demonstrations of Bakema's ideas for housing and his concept of the visual group. The project was developed together with the city of Eindhoven and with employees of Philips, who initiated the planning of the new city district and who asked Bakema to become the architect of their project. The concept of the visual group is based on the idea that each district or neighbourhood should be a reflection of the larger society as a whole, and that each household type from the single individual to the family to the aged couple should be provided with a proper home in such an inclusive district. It is an idea derived from social studies, neighbourhood planning and social engineering policies, that are commonly associated with the Western European welfare state of the post-war period. In Eindhoven this resulted in a living environment characterized by generous outdoor spaces and an unmatched variety of housing types: from highrise appartments to walk-up flats, to all sorts of row houses, patio houses, detached houses and so-called growing houses. The architecture style is a laconic kind of brick architecture with natural painted wood with special attention paid to transitional elements as porches and doorsteps. It is both ordinary and generous in the way it allows for the everyday practices of appropriation by its inhabitants.
Comments: [2]
Entry: Wednesday, May 28, 1947
Submitted by:
Jaap Bakema Study Centre
Country:
The Netherlands
Category:
Housing
For the 1955 CIAM meeting in La Sarraz Jaap Bakema presented a basic grid of the elements for the new city extension of Rotterdam, Alexanderpolder, as produced by the Rotterdam CIAM group of Opbouw. In an attempt to address the general theme of Habitat, which was the key issue for CIAM in the 1950s, it presents a catalogue, that ranges from the smallest element of the single house to the largest of a slab block reminiscent of Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation of 1952. The various typologies accommodate families from all walks of life. Together they create a modern cityscape based on patterns of mobility and the logic of mass production in the building industry.
Comments: [3]