Collection
Structuralism Research Programme
The first research programme of the Jaap Bakema Study Centre is a broadly conceived study of the history and contemporary relevance of Dutch structuralism, a movement that sought to return architecture to a human scale. The study will lead to various publications, exhibitions and conferences.
Dutch Structuralism is a movement in architecture in the late '50s and early '60s that renounced the technocratic planning that characterised the post-war reconstruction of the country. Instead, its proponents asked space for the poetic and emotional aspects of architecture, in order to come to a truly dignified living environment. Archives of key Dutch Structuralist architects such as Piet Blom, Jan Verhoeven, Theo Bosch, Joop van Stigt and Herman Hertzberger, and several files relating to Aldo van Eyck, form the core of the collection.
The Structuralist Architectural Drawing 1955-1980 During archival research into the work of architects such as Piet Blom, Jan Verhoeven and Herman Hertzberger for the exhibition Structuralism, we encountered drawings that deviated from the conventional plans, sections and elevations. Instead they comprised abstract structures, geometric patterns with bright colours, visualisations of network-like cities, grids, collages and booklets. Intrigued about the origins and significance of these drawings, curator Ellen Smit initiated a research project and wrote an essay on the outcomes.