Dutch Structuralism

オランダ構造主義建築 / late 1950s–1980 / Style / Modern Architecture

A post-war Dutch architectural movement that connected human-scale units through shared places. Rooms, passages, courtyards and changes of level form an aggregate that allows encounters and different uses. Its identity lies in the relationship between a persistent structure and its occupants, rather than modular repetition alone.

Dutch Structuralism — Herman Hertzberger — Centraal Beheer, Apeldoorn; photo: Apdency — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 — Herman Hertzberger — Centraal Beheer, Apeldoorn; photo: Apdency — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Dutch Structuralism — Centraal Beheer, opening in 1972 — W. Punt / Anefo — Wikimedia Commons / CC0 — Centraal Beheer, opening in 1972 — W. Punt / Anefo — Wikimedia Commons / CC0 · CC0

At a glance

Visual cues

Small spatial units aggregated into a larger building
Passages, courts and shared places given the weight of rooms
Voids, steps and openings interrupting a visible grid
Spaces left open to interpretation through furniture and use

Best used for

Balancing individual places and informal encounters in learning or shared work spaces
Creating an exhibition of repeated bays and common routes without prescribing one sequence

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Dictionary entry

Type: Repeat a clear wayfinding system at the scale of each unit.
Composition: Link equal-scale cells and make their intersections shared places; design the gaps as carefully as the rooms.
Material: Keep a concrete or brick structure readable and allow timber, furniture and planting to form an adaptable layer.
Caution: Multiplying cubes is insufficient. Explain occupation and intermediate space; distinguish this movement from Metabolist megastructures and linguistic structuralism.
Further study: Aldo van Eyck — Amsterdam Orphanage / Herman Hertzberger — Centraal Beheer / Piet Blom — unit aggregation and urban roofs

Related entries

Metabolist Architecture (メタボリズム建築)Same Modern Architecture lineage.Compare Dutch Structuralism and Metabolist Architecture
Brutalist Architecture (ブルータリズム建築)Same Modern Architecture lineage.Compare Dutch Structuralism and Brutalist Architecture

Cite this entry

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Link: https://indexstyle.org/styles/dutch-structuralism
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