- Articles
Gerdesiaweg housing
On the opposite side of the same road (Vredenoordlaan) one finds the answer, given perhaps not completely convincingly, yet as an attempt to create a form of its own, in the block of flats with windows extending from floor to ceiling, which certainly deserves praise. The new residents still feel somewhat ill at ease owing to their exposure to the people outside, and some of them have tried to screen off the lower areas of glass. We do not wish to claim that the only true form for new housing has been discovered here, but at least we see a conscious choice for a new form of construction and not a contorted version of old models, which may have lacked fantasy, yet owing to changes that did not stem from the inner conviction of the contractor, have certainly not increased in beauty.
De Tijd, 16 May 1949
Bay windows
A remarkably broad stretch of greenery ran through the centre of the reconstructed area of Kralingen. It was flanked on both sides by blocks orientated north-south, with their short ends facing the green strip. The only exception lay to the west, where an L-shaped project was realized, thereby closing off the neighbourhood behind it, which extends as far as Goudse Rijweg. It consists of one short and one short block along Gerdesiaweg (then called Vredenoordlaan) and a block on Frits Ruysstraat. At the rear is a shared garden. All 116 dwellings are accessed from shared staircases. There are no fewer than 17 different dwelling types. The small block on Frits Ruysstraat has a pitched roof and contains shops at street level. The corner café has a lean-to roof. The elongated blocks were characterized by bay windows with glazing that extends from floor to ceiling and is subdivided into square panes. At the top is a recessed roof level with a continuous balcony.
“The fourth floor of these blocks is reserved for newly married couples," we were informed, when we enquired about some new blocks along Vredenoordlaan. The newly married couples who are eligible for that elevated level will have at their disposal a long living room, a small bedroom, a kitchen and a storage space. The living room can easily be split into two spaces. Residents must carry out this alteration themselves.
The residents below have more space, because they can make use of two en-suite rooms, a side room and a kitchen with shower unit. The apartments on the second and third floors have one additional room, located above the entrance to the staircase.
Het Vrije Volk, 30 September 1948
Optimistic
In terms of construction, the structure is fairly traditional: it includes brick partition walls and little use has been made of concrete. Wooden and steel frames were fitted. The blocks look modern and optimistic, especially on account of the balconies and large expanses of façade glazing. Photos of the project regularly appear in publications about post-war reconstruction architecture. However, it was only published in a special issue of Forum magazine dedicated to housing. One page, with a one-line commentary by compiler Van Tijen: ‘Towards the limits of openness in housing’.
J.W. Jansen, director of the ‘Good Living’ Foundation: “People are barbarians when they furnish their homes. (…) Everything that is simple and pure and true is lost in all that gaudiness. That’s how we live, victims of imitation, in our houses. Nothing is ours, everything is given to us, cliché people that we are, forced on us by the furniture retailer who did not enquire about our taste, but furnished our room according to the ‘fashion’ of the day”.
“Therefore go take a look at Vredenoordlaan 95a,” urged Professor Van den Broek. “Judge for yourself: in this model home you will find a specimen, an example of how to furnish a house: in harmonious colours, fabrics, furniture, in harmonious simplicity.”
Het Vrije Volk, 21 February 1949
Good Living
One of the apartments was furnished by Stichting Goed Wonen (Good Living Foundation). Set up to promote a new housing culture, this foundation existed from 1946 to 1968, and its goal was to liberate Dutch interiors from poor taste. Instead of heavy oak furniture, flowery wallpaper and Persian carpets, people had to switch to light, functional furniture. Honest use of materials, simplicity and functionality, chairs of cane or tubular steel, whitewood closets and responsible products by manufacturers such as Gispen, Pastoe, De Ploeg and Tomado. Naturally, that aligned perfectly with the ideas of the architects and industrial designers of the post-war period. Goed Wonen was also the name of the foundation’s magazine, published from 1948 to 1970. Van den Broek was involved in its establishment. It is not unclear whether the model house convinced many people to buy responsible modern furniture, as paternalism of this kind did not appeal to everybody.
Today
The homes were renovated between 1983 and 1985; the facades were plastered and the timber frames replaced by PVC. The open loggias on the rear facade can be closed off with glass screens.
