In Kemerovo (in the museum-reserve "Krasnaya Gorka") and in Moscow (in the A. V. Shchusev Museum of Architecture) this fall, as part of the cross year of Russia and Holland, an exhibition "Life in ideals built" will be held, dedicated to the residential complex erected architect Johannes van Loghem in 1926 for the Kemerovo miners in the Krasnaya Gorka area. Van Loghem belonged to the Amsterdam School, and his Russian structures are a reflection of the unique affordable housing movement that swept the Netherlands at the very beginning of the 20th century. This phenomenon had political and social reasons, and it found its architectural expression in the works of the masters of the Amsterdam School - Michel de Klerk, Pete Kramer, Jan van der Mei and others.
Museum of the Amsterdam School "Het Schip" (Het Schip) is located in a residential complex of the same name in the capital of the Netherlands - the main building of the Amsterdam School, the work of Michel de Klerk.
Archi.ru:
- Among the buildings of the Amsterdam School, most of all are residential complexes, moreover, "social". Who were their customers?
Alice Roogholt:
- In Holland at the beginning of the 20th century. industrialization proceeded at a rapid pace, masses of peasants in search of work moved to cities where there was an acute shortage of housing. Cheap and low-quality houses were built for them, in fact - slums, where conditions were terrible. In response, the Housing Law (1901) was adopted, according to which every citizen had the right to a decent home. The law not only introduced modern building codes, but also required the city authorities to create master plans before starting the construction of new areas.
Thus, the state took care of housing for the people: among other things, it issued loans for the construction of cooperatives, and these cooperatives could be founded by anyone: there were cooperatives of Catholics, socialists, carriage drivers, hundreds of them arose in the first ten years. Of course, the workers who were members of the cooperative found it difficult to deal with financial matters and manage construction, so they were helped in this by various "left" societies. In addition, in Amsterdam, Floor Wibaut, a socialist, owner of a large timber trading company, and a very wealthy man, became an alderman for housing. He took this position to help people implement the Housing Law. In addition, since he came from a wealthy family that collected works of art, he decided that workers should have access to beauty. Therefore, he supported the Amsterdam School and its chief architect Michel de Klerk, because they introduced elements of fine art into their projects, which, thus, entered the life of the people.
Do you consider the Amsterdam School to be an Art Deco trend?
- Art Deco was an international movement, and for people who do not know what the Amsterdam School is at all, we are trying to put it in a global context. But this is a very Dutch Art Deco, moreover, it appeared earlier than the "classic". In addition, the first meeting of the world with the Amsterdam School took place at the International Exhibition of Contemporary Decorative and Industrial Arts in 1925, which gave its name to the Art Deco movement. But by that time, the Amsterdam School had already existed for more than 10 years, from the early 1910s.
However, it nevertheless arose later than the Art Nouveau style, and its difference from the Art Nouveau is in a stronger stylization of natural samples (say, flowers).
Also, the Amsterdam School is ranked as expressionism, but all these definitions are rather arbitrary.
What are the connections between the Amsterdam School and the Dutch architectural tradition?
The changes I mentioned, caused by the "Housing Law", at first aroused the interest not of everyone, but only of the "left" architects who wanted to change the world for the better and at the same time work for new customers - workers - in a new style. They took into account that most of these people moved to the city from the countryside, and in fact there houses are built by their owners themselves, so everything depends on their imagination. If the peasant wants to make not a square window, but a triangular one, he does so, which is typical for rural Dutch architecture. And the masters of the Amsterdam School adopted this way of thinking to make the workers feel at home in the city. Of course, they generally ended up with very modern quarters, among other things, these were three-story buildings, which was considered quite high for that time, but their projects also contained the fantasy and humor of the rural tradition, for example, the same windows of funny shapes.
How did the Amsterdam School feel about functionality?
- This is a very difficult question. It is important to understand that the Amsterdam School did not begin with a manifesto, but developed naturally: its first manifestations can be found around 1911-13, and then not everyone liked them. An important starting point can be considered the 1915 conference in honor of the birthday of Hendrik Berlage, the largest Dutch architect and innovator of the early 20th century, a supporter of the primacy of function. Many of its participants condemned the Amsterdam architectural experiments: they build asymmetric buildings, use tiles on the facades, lay bricks not horizontally, but vertically! In response to this criticism, architect Jan Gratama called himself and other innovators the Amsterdam School for the first time, emphasizing its connection with this city - the birthplace of many important cultural phenomena.
In a sense, the masters of the Amsterdam School were in opposition to Berlage, since he attached much more importance to functions. And for them, its architecture was too simple, rigid and strict, they strove for freedom of expression. But this was not a feud, Berlage collaborated with them. He created several master plans for new residential areas and allowed young experimental architects, with their innovative and even turbulent formal language, to design residential complexes there.
But we must not forget that this opposition - functionality and "fantasy" - still exists in Dutch architecture. The country's main architectural university, Delft University of Technology, is a stronghold of functionalism, so the Amsterdam School is ignored there, not considering it worthy of study. While the chief architect of the Amsterdam School, world famous Michel de Klerk, never studied in Delft, but was educated in the workshop of Eduard Cuypers, where he entered at the age of 13: he was born into a very poor family and had to start working early.
Of course, the problem of function for the Amsterdam School is still acute. Our museum is located in the former post office in the Het Schip (Ship) residential complex, built by de Klerk (1920–21): this is the most famous building of the Amsterdam School, and many people, architects and others, come to see it. Once a Japanese tourist asked me: "Is it possible to visit the church in" Het Schip "?" I replied that there was only housing here, but there was no church, and the famous tower, which he took for a church one, was made just like that. He was so struck by this news that he even turned pale: "How could a non-functional object become famous?" But why, say, every church should have a tower, and vice versa - what is the function of a church tower? And the function of the church in general? And if you look at it from the other side, everything in the world has its own function.
The apartments at Het Schip have strange corners, unusual spaces. If you talk to the old-timers, they will tell you that, for example, over the front door they had a "mezzanine" with two windows, where they played in childhood, even put up a tent there. A strange detail, as if without a function - but if you think about it, you will understand: these windows illuminate the corridor all day, and artificial light is not needed. Therefore, I use the word “non-functional” with great care: sometimes we just do not immediately understand de Klerk's intention.
In addition, one must remember that he considered himself not only an architect, but, first of all, an artist. In addition, he told people: "I am not the person who will decide for you what is best for you." Since all apartments are different in layout, residents could choose what suits them. Moreover, the rooms did not have predetermined functions, so the dining table could be placed both in the conventional "dining room" and in the kitchen, for example.
We have already found out how the Amsterdam School began, and how long did this direction last?
- If you remember the Kemerovo project, about which we made an exhibition, these houses for miners were built by the master of the Amsterdam School, Johannes van Loghem. And when he returned from Russia to the Netherlands in 1927, the Delft architects called him a functionalist, recognizing as their own: if he had remained faithful to the Amsterdam School, he would have nowhere to return. In 1923, de Klerk died, and this, in fact, was the end of this trend (although at the Paris exhibition in 1925 the best works of him and other representatives of the Amsterdam School were shown with great success). It turns out that its main period of activity is very short, fruitful and therefore looks like an explosion - from the end of the First World War, 1919 to 1923. Its traces can be traced back to 1935, but then there was a crisis and the Second World War, and after it there was no Amsterdam School. of course it was gone.
"Het Schip" and other residential complexes of the Amsterdam School are still used for their intended purpose, people live in them. But these are also architectural monuments. How is the issue of their preservation being resolved? After all, the tenants are probably not very satisfied with the level of comfort according to the standard of working housing in the early 20th century, and want to remodel their apartments?
- Yes, Het Schip is still an inexpensive housing, and it belongs to the same housing cooperative that ordered it to de Klerk - Eigen Haard.
However, the level of comfort depends on many things: what quarter do you live in, is there a bakery on the corner, did you manage to arrange the furniture in the apartment, do you have pleasant neighbors … Not everything is determined by architecture. However, many of the complexes of the Amsterdam School were renovated about 20 years ago, and at the same time the layout of the apartments has changed: it is clear that people want to arrange a modern kitchen and bathroom. Therefore, we had to completely renovate the apartment belonging to our museum, returning it to its original state.
But everyone likes these houses not because of their layout, but because of their attractive appearance, openness to people: it is impossible not to smile when you see a house with a hat, for example (this roof shape at Het Schip is a great example of the playfulness inherent in the Amsterdam school), and this, I think, is no less important than the organization of the internal space. Now, for example, I am observing the opposite trend of modernization: residents are returning elements of the old interior or similar to them - stained glass windows and old doors.
These houses are very popular in the Netherlands, many people are trying to settle in them. Is it possible to attract new tenants to the Kemerovo houses of van Loghem, which are now in poor condition? Perhaps by remaking them in the interests of preserving them from working housing to more "prestigious"?
- If these houses were in Holland, they would be looked at as a gold mine! They stand on a beautiful hill, on the sunny side, next to the river, it is not far from the city, but not in the city … For example, a developer could advertise them as a "Dutch village", put a windmill nearby, plant tulips. And new houses in a different style could be built nearby. For example, in Haarlem, the same van Lochem erected in 1920-22 a small complex of affordable housing "Teinwijk" ("Garden Quarter"). This is a very beautiful place, the Spaarne river flows nearby, and around this complex there are private houses in different styles, including the villa of the architect himself: it is a Dutch tradition to combine buildings for people with different income levels. It is now a very popular area.
It is important to note that in Holland, too, not always and not all monuments were protected: 40 years ago, old factories were demolished or they were abandoned, even the famous Rotterdam "Van Nelle". And then, in the 1970s, young people in search of housing began to settle in such buildings, appreciating their beauty. And now the preservation of these buildings and all other monuments of modern architecture has become extremely popular, has received state support - this is a good advertisement for the country. Previously, tourists came to see the windmills, but now they are interested in "Het Schip" and the buildings of Berlage.
What ideas of the masters of the Amsterdam School are relevant today - for the Dutch and world architecture?
- The main principle is that a building should never be interpreted as a single object, therefore, instead of a separate house, according to the same principles, a district is planned, a residential complex and infrastructure facilities are being built, kiosks, street furniture, and lanterns are erected. The architects of the Amsterdam School represented the ideals of the "brave new world", where art was part of everyday life, and the city became a single work of art. Due to the success of their projects, the city council of Amsterdam has decided that all new housing estates should be built in this style.
And the decision of the exterior of the building should be related to its interior, it should be continued there. Unfortunately, even in the buildings of the Amsterdam School, this was not always observed: soon the political climate changed, and preference was given to more "economical" projects. Due to the instructions of the municipality, developers could not help but entrust the architects with the facades of new buildings, but investors avoided their participation in the design of interiors, which made construction more expensive and more complicated.
For example, the city's Schoonheidscommisie (“beauty commission”) ordered to design the exterior of the complex in the De Baarcies area in line with the Amsterdam School, but did not give any instructions regarding the interiors, and the contractor made all the apartments with the same plan, saving a lot on this. The architects tried to fight this decision, but they failed. But in "Het Schip" you can find at least 13 different options for the layout of apartments.
You founded the Het Schip Museum, a museum of the Amsterdam School, in 2001 and have been running it ever since. What prompted you to take on this project? And how do you attract visitors, because for an architectural museum it is much more difficult than for an art museum, for example?
The complex "Het Schip" is well known among architects: they sometimes come there in whole buses, take pictures of it and go on. At the same time, they can then read a book about this building and the Amsterdam school in general, but the student who is interested in it is unlikely. Therefore, it was important to make a museum for everyone, and this is exactly what happened: our visitors are highly educated and not very educated, small and elderly, from different countries of the world. We conduct excursions, tell interesting stories, arrange workshops on making architectural models for everyone, publish children's workbooks for the Amsterdam School, where kids have to finish drawing architectural elements, and so on.
Of course, traditional museums are needed, where there is silence and the same temperature is always maintained, but not every topic can be presented in this way. Our "Het Schip" is not an architectural museum in the sense that we do not have a large archive, our main value is our building, and we must present it to the public. Yes, it is not easy for us, but we survive - and without external funding, all our income comes from ticket sales. Last year, we were visited by 17 thousand people, but we are located far from the popular tourist sites of Amsterdam, and by chance they do not come to us!
