Mixed uses and open spaces in the heart of Rotterdam. De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok
03/10/2021.
[Rotterdam] Netherlands
metalocus, RAMIRO ISAURRALDE
metalocus, RAMIRO ISAURRALDE
Located on the busy corner of Meent and Westewagenstraat, in Rotterdam, is the Grand-café Dudok, an iconic coffee shop in the city named after the architect of the building in which it is located, the Amsterdam-based Willem Marinus Dudok.
The work, begun in the 1940s, condenses the work that the architect had been doing so far, with a great presence in its surroundings and an almost industrial aesthetic to simultaneously house homes and offices.
The building was commissioned by De Nederlanden van 1845, a life insurance company that had previously worked with Berlage, and now had Dudok as its official architect, with whom it had already made its headquarters in Arnhem.
The work, begun in the 1940s, condenses the work that the architect had been doing so far, with a great presence in its surroundings and an almost industrial aesthetic to simultaneously house homes and offices.
The building was commissioned by De Nederlanden van 1845, a life insurance company that had previously worked with Berlage, and now had Dudok as its official architect, with whom it had already made its headquarters in Arnhem.
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph courtesy of Het Nieuwe Instituut
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph by Grotevriendelijkereus
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph by Marlies Lageweg
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph by Marlies Lageweg
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph by Marlies Lageweg
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph by Marlies Lageweg
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph by Marlies Lageweg
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph by Masha Bakker. © 2021 - Dudok Horeca Groep
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph by Janvan Helleman
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph by Marlies Lageweg
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph by Laura Buijtendijk
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph courtesy of Het Nieuwe Instituut
De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph courtesy of Het Nieuwe Instituut
Interior. De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph courtesy of Het Nieuwe Instituut
Interior. De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph courtesy of Het Nieuwe Instituut
Construction, January, 1952. De Nederlanden van 1845 by W. M. Dudok. Photograph courtesy of Het Nieuwe Instituut
Primera propuesta para De Nederlanden van 184. Dibujo de W. M. Dudok. Imagen cortesía de Het Nieuwe Instituut
"With the creation of this building, [Dudok] has made an honourable contribution to the rebuilding of Rotterdam. We urgently need a new city centre. This building contributes to completing the heart of the city."
Mayor G.E. van Walsum at the opening of the building 1
Willem Dudok's De Nederlanden van 1845 building was a direct consequence of the effects of WWII on Rotterdam. The former headquarters of the insurance company, of the influential architect H.P. Berlage, had been among those affected by the bombing and, although it remained standing, the serious damage to its structure and the loss of almost all its enclosures led the company to make the decision to demolish it in 1960.
The project for a new office building, located only a few blocks from its predecessor, then fell into the hands of Dudok, who at that time already enjoyed an important recognition in the field of architecture and, even more so in Rotterdam, where already he had had the opportunity to build the Erasmushuis dwellings and the De Bijenkorf department store, although by this time only a third of its structure remained standing.
Dudok's proposal went through a long project process, which progressed from more vernacular architectures to the stripped-down and simple proposal that would eventually be built. The building consisted of a pure six-story fenestrated brick volume and a smaller, fully glazed volume that adjusted its scale towards the Westewagenstraat.
"Much criticism, but is it still a beautiful building? In fact, because the interior spaces and the composition of the exterior volumes are wonderfully balanced with each other; because you have the feeling that no stone was laid or any colour applied before the master approved it; because the entire composition is an example of good taste and a sense of proportion. The gently curved roof that crowns the building with such solidity, the pleasant exhibition spaces throughout the Meent, the elegant facades, the general feeling of ease and sophistication that this building exudes, mark it as an element of refined civilization in what is still a fairly unrefined city."
Rein Blijstra for Het Vrije Volk newspaper 2 1953
The two lower levels of the building housed the area corresponding to the company. A rather public area on the ground floor, with a double-height and a mezzanine dedicated to working areas, separated by glass partitions and with views to the outside of both the main streets and the Delftsevaart canal, located on the eastern façade of the play. Four other duplex dwellings were located on these levels, with independent entrances from the galleries of the glazed volume.
Listed as a municipal historical monument, De Nederlanden van 1845 was in operation until 1980, when they closed their doors to the public, ten years later to be remodelled and converted into the Grand-café Dudok by H. Kossmann and J. Dijkman. In this intervention, the suspended ceilings of the commercial area (installed in years after the original functions ceased) were eliminated, to install the large dining room of the new premises, which in addition to the apt name, pays tribute to the architect, keeping the original building almost intact and preserving a large part of the furniture and facilities, to provide a sober industrial atmosphere to its interiors.
Although it received criticism at the time, mostly linked to the gradual loss of its functionalist values, Dudok's work has become an architectural (and today also a gastronomic) icon of the city of Rotterdam. The slightly curved roof still perceptible from the narrow streets of the Meent, the connection with the neighbouring canal and the access gallery, are today distinctive details of Dudok's post-war work, and of the Dutch city centre.
NOTES.-
1.- WALSUM, G.E. van (1952) In De Nederlanden van 1845 office building (Café Dudok). Post-war reconstruction community Rotterdam (retrieved; June 11th, 2021, from https://wederopbouwrotterdam.nl/en/articles/de-nederlanden-van-1845-office-building-cafe-dudok)
2.- BLIJSTRA, Rein (March 7, 1953) Het Vrije Volk newspaper (retrieved; June 11th, 2021, from https://wederopbouwrotterdam.nl/en/articles/de-nederlanden-van-1845-office-building-cafe-dudok)
2.- BLIJSTRA, Rein (March 7, 1953) Het Vrije Volk newspaper (retrieved; June 11th, 2021, from https://wederopbouwrotterdam.nl/en/articles/de-nederlanden-van-1845-office-building-cafe-dudok)
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-
- BERGEIJK, Herman van. (2014). "Willem Marinus Dudok : La escuela como obra de arquitectura y urbanismo." Madrid: Cuaderno de Notas, Departamento de Composición Arquitectónica (ETSAM).
- CASTRO, Germán (1966). "La escuela de Amsterdam y el Movimiento Moderno". Madrid: Revista del Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid, Nº. 90.
- GARCÍA GARCÍA, Rafael (1995). "Nueva Objetividad en Holanda 1923-1940." Madrid: Cuadernos de notas. Departamento de Composición Arquitectónica (ETSAM).
- MARTI, Carles & MONTEYS, Xavier (2003). "La línea dura." Transfer. Nº. 7. Barcelona: Outer Ediciones.
- QUIST, Wido, et al (2015). "Het werk van Dudok, 100 jaar betekenis." DOCOMOMO Nederland. Issue, 5. Delft: Delft Digital Press.
- CASTRO, Germán (1966). "La escuela de Amsterdam y el Movimiento Moderno". Madrid: Revista del Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid, Nº. 90.
- GARCÍA GARCÍA, Rafael (1995). "Nueva Objetividad en Holanda 1923-1940." Madrid: Cuadernos de notas. Departamento de Composición Arquitectónica (ETSAM).
- MARTI, Carles & MONTEYS, Xavier (2003). "La línea dura." Transfer. Nº. 7. Barcelona: Outer Ediciones.
- QUIST, Wido, et al (2015). "Het werk van Dudok, 100 jaar betekenis." DOCOMOMO Nederland. Issue, 5. Delft: Delft Digital Press.
More information
Architects
Client
De Nederlanden van 1845.
Dates
Project.- 1942-1949. Construction.- 1951-1952. Renovation.- 1991.
Location
Meent 88, Westewagenstraat 10-48, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Photography
NAI Collection Database - Het Nieuwe Instituut. Janvan Helleman. Marlies Lageweg. Masha Bakker. Laura Buijtendijk. Grotevriendelijkereus.
Willem Marinus Dudok
Willem Dudok was a Dutch architect, born in Amsterdam and established in Hilversum, active between 1910 and 1966.
Willen Dudok's long career, exercised without interruption in one and the same place, is generally illustrated in the history of the modern Movement. With heroic character at times, but more frequently and in the long run very prosaic and modest, his work nevertheless offers us an exemplary summary of the architectural and urban problems of the first half of the century.
Coming from a family passionate about musical culture and a great music fan himself, Dudok studied at the Breda Military Academy from 1902 to 1905. After completing his duties in the army, where he served in the engineering corps , is hired in 1913 in the architectural service of the city of Leiden. His first productions in the same place, a high school in Hoge Rijndijk, the headquarters of the Leidse Dagblad newspaper and a group of houses (in collaboration with J. J. P. Oud), reveal the strong influence of Hendrik Berlage.
In 1915, he was appointed Director of Public Works in Hilversum, then a small town.
Closer to the thinking of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School than to his contemporaries in the De Stijl group, he invariably uses materials such as brick, wood and tile or straw for the roofs, which, moving his achievements away from abstraction, they insert them much more naturally into their environment.
Similar to musical compositions, with a certain virtuosity in the rhythmic openings and in the towers articulated in crescendos, Dudok produced three outstanding works in his career: the Hilversum Town Hall (1924), the Dutch pavilion in the university city of Paris (1927) and the De Bijenkorf department store building in Rotterdam. The latter, destroyed in 1940, bursts into the old city center in an unusual way, occupying almost the entire block. It proclaims its modernity with its large glazed surfaces and long horizontal slabs in contrast to a massive angled pylon and a tall tower positioned as a landmark. A similar typology is found in his Parisian project as well as in the Hilversum town hall, where four wings with variable volumes are assembled around a central courtyard.
More compact and concentrated, the Dutch pavilion in Paris lines one of its facades on the boulevard, while in Hilversum the masses dynamically unfold outwards, generously integrating the landscaped space, with a pond, in a calm Olympic atmosphere.
Dudok also built the Utrecht Theater (1939-1941) and the office building of the De Nederlanden van 1845 company, in Rotterdam (1942-1952), the upper floors of which are occupied by houses. He especially runs one hundred and twelve service stations throughout the country and offices for the company.
Willen Dudok's long career, exercised without interruption in one and the same place, is generally illustrated in the history of the modern Movement. With heroic character at times, but more frequently and in the long run very prosaic and modest, his work nevertheless offers us an exemplary summary of the architectural and urban problems of the first half of the century.
Coming from a family passionate about musical culture and a great music fan himself, Dudok studied at the Breda Military Academy from 1902 to 1905. After completing his duties in the army, where he served in the engineering corps , is hired in 1913 in the architectural service of the city of Leiden. His first productions in the same place, a high school in Hoge Rijndijk, the headquarters of the Leidse Dagblad newspaper and a group of houses (in collaboration with J. J. P. Oud), reveal the strong influence of Hendrik Berlage.
In 1915, he was appointed Director of Public Works in Hilversum, then a small town.
Closer to the thinking of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School than to his contemporaries in the De Stijl group, he invariably uses materials such as brick, wood and tile or straw for the roofs, which, moving his achievements away from abstraction, they insert them much more naturally into their environment.
Similar to musical compositions, with a certain virtuosity in the rhythmic openings and in the towers articulated in crescendos, Dudok produced three outstanding works in his career: the Hilversum Town Hall (1924), the Dutch pavilion in the university city of Paris (1927) and the De Bijenkorf department store building in Rotterdam. The latter, destroyed in 1940, bursts into the old city center in an unusual way, occupying almost the entire block. It proclaims its modernity with its large glazed surfaces and long horizontal slabs in contrast to a massive angled pylon and a tall tower positioned as a landmark. A similar typology is found in his Parisian project as well as in the Hilversum town hall, where four wings with variable volumes are assembled around a central courtyard.
More compact and concentrated, the Dutch pavilion in Paris lines one of its facades on the boulevard, while in Hilversum the masses dynamically unfold outwards, generously integrating the landscaped space, with a pond, in a calm Olympic atmosphere.
Dudok also built the Utrecht Theater (1939-1941) and the office building of the De Nederlanden van 1845 company, in Rotterdam (1942-1952), the upper floors of which are occupied by houses. He especially runs one hundred and twelve service stations throughout the country and offices for the company.
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