Hendrik Petrus Berlage

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(b Amsterdam, 21 Feb 1856; d The Hague, 12 Aug 1934). Dutch architect, urban planner and writer. He abandoned early his intention to become a painter and instead trained in architecture at the Bauschule of the Eidgen?ssiche Polytechnikum (now Eidgen?ssische Technische Hochschule) in Zurich under Gottfried Semper's followers. Semper was a major influence on Berlage, especially for Berlage's emphatic use of a variety of materials and an acute attention to construction. The other major influence was the work of Viollet-le-Duc. After his training Berlage visited Germany and Italy from 1878 to 1881, returning to Amsterdam to become an associate of the classicist architect and businessman Theodorus Sanders, who very soon handed over to him the task of designing. The shop and office-block for Focke & Meltzer (1884-5), Kalverstraat, Amsterdam, was critically acclaimed for its correct application of the Venetian Renaissance style favoured by Semper and for the grandeur of its shopping area, with its unusually large windows. Berlage voiced doubts in 1886 about the imitation of earlier styles, and in 1889 he protested strongly against both imitation and the falsification of materials.

See the Abbreviations for further details.

Amsterdam-born architect, one of the most influential in The Netherlands, who was himself influenced by the work of Sullivan and Wright. He went into partnership with Theodorus Sanders (1847–1927) in 1884, and opened his own office in 1889. His early work was essentially in the Renaissance Revival style, and in the 1890s he produced several Art Nouveau graphic designs, culminating in the Villa Henny, The Hague (1898), a full-blown Art Nouveau work of architecture with furnishings much influenced by the design philosophies of Morris and Pugin. Berlage's most celebrated building is the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (1897–1903), which revealed his respect for the expressive power of constructional arched brickwork. The robust detailing and his love of brickwork and clear expressive functions (such as the kneelers from which the segmental arches in the hall spring, and the junctions between load-bearing structure and metal trusses) made him a precursor of the Amsterdam School, while his writings earned him the respect of the young, aspiring members of the avant-garde. Berlage, like Behrens, designed furniture, graphics, and all manner of artefacts: he was also an important town-planner. Although he was a delegate to CIAM in 1928, he never actually joined, and claims for him as a proto-Modernist are much exaggerated. In fact, when Rietveld asked him to join a group (that included Le Corbusier, Lurçat, Hannes Meyer, and other Modernists) to have a photograph taken at the 1929 CIAM conference, Berlage refused, saying that everything he had built up was being destroyed by the very same collection of people.

Bibliography

• Berlage (1996)
• Derwig & Wert (1994)
• Polano (ed.) (1988)
• Reinink (1975)
• Singelenberg (1972)
• Singelenberg & Bock (1975)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)

"Berlage" redirects here. For other uses, see Berlage (disambiguation).

The Beurs van Berlage (Amsterdam Commodities Exchange)

Berlage

The Hague municipal museum

St. Hubertus hunting lodge

Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Amsterdam, February 12, 1856 — The Hague August 12, 1934, was a prominent Dutch architect.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Works 3 References 4 External links

Overview

Berlage studied architecture under Gottfried Semper at the Zurich Institute of Technology during the 1870s after which he travelled extensively through Europe. In the 1880s he formed a Partnership in the Netherlands with Theodore Sanders which produced a mixture of practical and utopian projects. A published author, Berlage held memberships in various architectural societies including CIAM I.

Berlage was influenced by the Neo-Romanesque brickwork architecture of Henry Hobson Richardson and of the combination of structures of iron seen with brick of the Castle of the Three Geckos of Domènech i Montaner. This influence is visible in his design for the Amsterdam Commodities Exchange, for which he would also draw on the ideas of Viollet-le-Duc. The load-bearing bare brick walls and the notion of the primacy of space, and of walls as the creators of form, would be the constitutive principles of the 'Hollandse Zakelijkheid'. A visit Berlage made to the U.S. in 1911 greatly affected his architecture. From then on the organic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright would be a significant influence. Lectures he gave when returned to Europe would help to disseminate Wright's thoughts in Germany.

Considered the "Father of Modern architecture" in the Netherlands and the intermediary between the Traditionalists and the Modernists, Berlage's theories inspired most Dutch architectural groups of the 1920s, including the Traditionalists, the Amsterdam School, De Stijl and the New Objectivists. He received the British RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1932.

Berlage died at The Hague in 1934. In 1970, the IAU named the lunar crater Berlage after him. ^[1]

Works

Some of his famous works include:

• the Amsterdam Commodities Exchange
• the plan for extension of Amsterdam, the 'Plan Zuid' or 'Plan Berlage'
• the Berlage brug (bridge) in Amsterdam
• Holland House, Bury Street, City of London (behind Norman's Foster's "Gherkin")
• the St. Hubertusslot part of the Kröller-Müller Museum
• the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

References

1. ^ Descriptive data on lunar craters from the United States Geological Survey. (Click on the crater name ) : "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature - Moon Nomenclature: Crater, craters". from http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/ Astrogeology Research Program, U.S. Geological Survey. http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/jsp/FeatureTypesData2.jsp?systemID=3&bodyID=11&typeID=9&system=Earth&body=Moon&type=Crater,%20craters&sort=AName&show=Fname&show=Lat&show=Long&show=Diam&show=Stat&show=Orig. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 

External links

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