The Amsterdam school: beauty as a social ideology

Abstract

Between 1920 and 1940 private individuals and housing corporations constructed more than 80,000 dwellings in Amsterdam, that were added to the then existing housing stock of approximately 140,000 dwellings. The residential complexes designed by the so-called “Amsterdam School”, whose most significant representative was Michiel de Klerk, were amongst the most striking. The most beautiful examples are not remote villas destined for the wealthiest classes, but rented social dwellings built under commission for the housing corporations. They called "Palaces for the workers": beauty as a social ideology. They were built within the framework of new legislation thanks to the collaboration between politicians, architect-planners, housing corporations and architects. They are indicative of a period characterised by social commitment, optimism, dynamism and idealism.

In this article these pillars are addressed in the following order: the 1901 Housing Law, the rise of the housing corporations, the changes in municipal politics and the special events which arose at the start of the 20^th Century. This gave rise to the beautiful blocks designed by the architects of the Amsterdam School within the newly built areas of the city. In recent years considerable effort has been made to ensure the adequate conservation of this architectural legacy and on some occasions to return it to its original pride.