Publication on a century of architecture and spatial developments in Bergen NH
Around 1900, Bergen was a sleepy farming village on the inner dune edge of the Dutch coast. A few decades later, it offered a sampling of contemporary architecture, famous Dutch writers lived there and the painters of the Bergen School received (inter)national appreciation.
External impulses made Bergen a breeding ground for art and architecture.
Pioneers of this development were mayor Jacob van Reenen and his wife Marie van Reenen-Völter, who manifested herself as the Helene Kröller-Müller of North Holland.
She attracted artistic minds and founded Bergen aan Zee, in which H.P. Berlage was involved. Jacob focused on the development of the village. Uncovering the beauty of Bergen worked. No other coastal village has a Ruined Church and the landscape – polders, forest, dunes and beach – is nowhere so unspoilt and rich in contrast.
The book Bergen architectuur. De Amsterdamse School voorbij is the first overview of these developments, with the main emphasis on architecture. It explains the richness of architectural styles of Bergen of 2022, which has undiminished suction on architects and clients.
The starting point of the book is that a century of architecture in Bergen is exemplary for the development of Dutch architectural history, which can be called special for a village.
On the basis of A Canon of Bergen, buildings by architects Frits Staal, Johan van Loghem, Jan Rietveld, Sjoerd Soeters, Joris Molenaar, Jo Coenen, Patrick Fransen and Ben van Berkel, among others, are reviewed. The building projects in this first part are richly illustrated with photographs by John Lewis Marshall, including drone footage and recordings during the blue hour.
In the second part, From farming village to pleasure ground of art and architecture, the historical context of the buildings from the canon is sketched and the spatial developments and architectural styles are discussed on the basis of thematically arranged photographs by Jetty Min. This diptych is more closely forged together by cross-links in the text and the image references.
Beyond the Amsterdam School
The architectural-historical starting point of the authors is that many architectural styles manifest themselves according to timelines of ‘impulse’, ‘elaboration’, ‘dormancy’ and ‘revitalisation’. The canon opens with villa De Ark in Park Meerwijk by Frits Staal, an early example of the Amsterdam School. Ninety years later, Sjoerd Soeters’ House I – incorporated as an ‘icon’ on the front cover of the book – gave a strong impulse to a rebirth of this architectural style in Bergen. However, Soeters’ building also has contemporary and personal additions. It goes beyond the Amsterdam School.
This also applies to all the other buildings that followed after The Ark. This touches on the core of the book and the motivation of the authors: Bergen has much more to offer in terms of architecture than Park Meerwijk, about which much was published at the time and later.
But as far as architectural publications were concerned, it was often largely limited to Park Meerwijk. An exception is the Dune House, which has been listed in the canon, completed in 2009, which has won awards and has been included repeatedly in international retrospectives on several occasions.
Initiative
On October 29, 2022, the first copy of the volume Bergen architecture was presented to the mayor of Bergen, Lars Voskuil, in Museum Kranenburg. Before Maarten Min could do so, he was surprised by the mayor with the Muze medal, as a token of appreciation for his great merits in the field of art and culture for Bergen.
Together with his wife and partner Jetty Min of the architectural studio Min2 bouw-kunst, which has been known in the Netherlands for some time, Maarten Min has been working for a long time on the content of the book. As co-authors, they involved the architectural historian Marcel Teunissen and the designer Ad van der Kouwe in the book.
With photographer John Lewis Marshall and publisher Paul van Mameren of Lecturis, the project team was complete in 2020.
The objective of the team is to introduce interested parties and professionals to the old and young heritage of Bergen through the book, but also to inspire clients. A second ambition is that the book is the prelude to recognition of the cultural-historical values of Bergen, among other things by anchoring in the Dutch architectural history.
Bergen Architecture
We would like to begin this News page of the new Min2 website with the presentation of the Book: Bergen Architecture.
If you are interested, the book is still available in the Dutch language. ISBN:9789462264519
Publication on a century of architecture and spatial developments in Bergen NH
Around 1900, Bergen was a sleepy farming village on the inner dune edge of the Dutch coast. A few decades later, it offered a sampling of contemporary architecture, famous Dutch writers lived there and the painters of the Bergen School received (inter)national appreciation.
External impulses made Bergen a breeding ground for art and architecture.
Pioneers of this development were mayor Jacob van Reenen and his wife Marie van Reenen-Völter, who manifested herself as the Helene Kröller-Müller of North Holland.
She attracted artistic minds and founded Bergen aan Zee, in which H.P. Berlage was involved. Jacob focused on the development of the village. Uncovering the beauty of Bergen worked. No other coastal village has a Ruined Church and the landscape – polders, forest, dunes and beach – is nowhere so unspoilt and rich in contrast.
The book Bergen architectuur. De Amsterdamse School voorbij is the first overview of these developments, with the main emphasis on architecture. It explains the richness of architectural styles of Bergen of 2022, which has undiminished suction on architects and clients.
The starting point of the book is that a century of architecture in Bergen is exemplary for the development of Dutch architectural history, which can be called special for a village.
On the basis of A Canon of Bergen, buildings by architects Frits Staal, Johan van Loghem, Jan Rietveld, Sjoerd Soeters, Joris Molenaar, Jo Coenen, Patrick Fransen and Ben van Berkel, among others, are reviewed. The building projects in this first part are richly illustrated with photographs by John Lewis Marshall, including drone footage and recordings during the blue hour.
In the second part, From farming village to pleasure ground of art and architecture, the historical context of the buildings from the canon is sketched and the spatial developments and architectural styles are discussed on the basis of thematically arranged photographs by Jetty Min. This diptych is more closely forged together by cross-links in the text and the image references.
Beyond the Amsterdam School
The architectural-historical starting point of the authors is that many architectural styles manifest themselves according to timelines of ‘impulse’, ‘elaboration’, ‘dormancy’ and ‘revitalisation’. The canon opens with villa De Ark in Park Meerwijk by Frits Staal, an early example of the Amsterdam School. Ninety years later, Sjoerd Soeters’ House I – incorporated as an ‘icon’ on the front cover of the book – gave a strong impulse to a rebirth of this architectural style in Bergen. However, Soeters’ building also has contemporary and personal additions. It goes beyond the Amsterdam School.
This also applies to all the other buildings that followed after The Ark. This touches on the core of the book and the motivation of the authors: Bergen has much more to offer in terms of architecture than Park Meerwijk, about which much was published at the time and later.
But as far as architectural publications were concerned, it was often largely limited to Park Meerwijk. An exception is the Dune House, which has been listed in the canon, completed in 2009, which has won awards and has been included repeatedly in international retrospectives on several occasions.
Initiative
On October 29, 2022, the first copy of the volume Bergen architecture was presented to the mayor of Bergen, Lars Voskuil, in Museum Kranenburg. Before Maarten Min could do so, he was surprised by the mayor with the Muze medal, as a token of appreciation for his great merits in the field of art and culture for Bergen.
Together with his wife and partner Jetty Min of the architectural studio Min2 bouw-kunst, which has been known in the Netherlands for some time, Maarten Min has been working for a long time on the content of the book. As co-authors, they involved the architectural historian Marcel Teunissen and the designer Ad van der Kouwe in the book.
With photographer John Lewis Marshall and publisher Paul van Mameren of Lecturis, the project team was complete in 2020.
The objective of the team is to introduce interested parties and professionals to the old and young heritage of Bergen through the book, but also to inspire clients. A second ambition is that the book is the prelude to recognition of the cultural-historical values of Bergen, among other things by anchoring in the Dutch architectural history.
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