J. J. P. Oud

Dutch architect

• Born: February 9, 1890
• Birthplace: Purmerend, the Netherlands
• Died: April 5, 1963
• Place of death: Wassenaar, the Netherlands

Oud is one of the founders of functional modern architecture, which through subtle techniques he imbued with an elegance and style achieved by few other architects. With a pronounced social commitment, Oud specialized in handsome yet low-cost housing and public buildings.

Early Life

J. J. P. Oud (owt) showed an interest in architecture at an early age. Possibly because of the ferment involving architectural styles at the turn of the century as well as a decided turn toward social commitment by the more progressive European states, an architect friend of his father suggested the son concentrate on the technical rather than aesthetic aspects of architecture. Consequently, Oud studied at the Rijks Normal School for Drawing Masters in Amsterdam and the Technical School of the University of Delft. He then worked as a designer with architectural firms in both the Netherlands and Germany. His basic training was thorough, especially in the technical aspects of architecture and in the knowledge of building materials. While still a student, Oud designed his first building for a member of his family.

While at Delft, Oud came under the influence of Hendrik Petrus Berlage, an early functionalist and considered to be the founder of modern Dutch architecture. Berlage emphasized structural rationalism in architecture involving simplicity of form and clarity of structure. According to Berlage, the aesthetic qualities of a building should derive from these guidelines and the building materials themselves rather than from deliberate ornamentation. A pioneer in city planning and an early environmentalist, Berlage stressed continuity and harmony in the urban fabric. His most noted building, the massive Stock Exchange in Amsterdam, while completely modern in concept, in its use of plain and glazed brick, hewn stone, and iron visually was in harmony with the existing buildings of the old city. Probably the greatest influence Berlage had on his pupil was his firm belief that architecture is art, not technology and engineering. It was an admonition that Oud never forgot.

Life’s Work

In 1913, Oud established himself as an independent architect. His early designs were derivative, reflecting Berlage’s influence: handsome and functional but not particularly distinguished. The change came in 1915, when Oud became aware of the work of the cubists and their message that it was not the object that was important but the emotion it transmitted to the spectator. To impart the message effectively, the cubists designed a universal language of fundamental forms: the cube, sphere, triangle, and circle. At this time, Oud met the aesthetic theorist Theo van Doesburg. Their friendship and collaboration effected the change in Oud’s architectural style. In 1917, with other architects and artists, notably the abstract painter Piet Mondrian, they formed a revolutionary art group called de Stijl (the style) and published a magazine by the same name. Although Oud would become known as a de Stijl architect, the greatest influence on him would come from Mondrian’s adaptation of cubism called neoplasticism. Neoplasticism did not make use of figurative elements but restricted design to the right angle in horizontal-vertical relation to the frame using primary colors together with white, black, and gray. In 1917, Oud designed a group of seaside houses for an esplanade above the beach at Scheveningen that were little more than cubic masses clearly showing the influence of neoplasticism. The project was never executed and probably could not have been without extensive modifications. The one building that Oud designed and had built completely in the neoplastic manner was the Café de Unie in Rotterdam, now destroyed.

In 1918, Oud became the architect for the City of Rotterdam; he was commissioned to help solve an acute housing shortage. At the time he had become aware of the Neue Sachlichkeit (new reality) movement in architecture precursor of the International Style and its message that the course of architecture would be determined by social and technological forces necessitating the development of the techniques of standardization and mass production.

Between 1918 and 1925, various socialistic Dutch governments sponsored comprehensive building programs whose primary objective was making housing for everyone a social right. The programs helped Oud achieve the architectural designs for which he is best known: three low-cost housing projects. All showed the de Stijl influence yet demonstrated the basic precept of functionalism, namely that form follows function, and as such Oud’s designs were integrated into the broader more practical idiom of the International Style. The projects were working-class housing in the Hook of Holland (1924), residential housing in Kiefhoek (1925), and experimental housing the Weissenhof Settlement, Stuttgart, Germany (1927). Oud’s sound technical training enabled him to make the often impractical de Stijl ideas reality. Although starkly austere, the designs of all three projects differed from the often impersonal rectangular International Style in that they bore the unmistakable Oud touch: meticulous workmanship, exquisite proportioning, and subtle, integrated ornamentation. Rounded corners softened the angularity of the buildings of the Hook of Holland project; integrated gardens lent a bucolic aspect to the Kiefhoek development; and even though the Weissenhof project, with its severe carefully syncopated geometric forms, most clearly showed the cubist influence, it was limited to the street facade. The rear had charming gardens overlooked by traditional balconies. It was at Weissenhof that Oud raised the minimal worker’s dwelling to a work of art.

The Stuttgart exhibition, coordinated by Mies van der Rohe, was devoted to single-family houses designed by the leading architects of the time, including Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. Oud’s project was among the most admired, and in 1932, when the New YorkMuseum of Modern Art mounted its seminal exhibit that defined modern architecture and the International Style, Oud was one of four European architects whose works were displayed.

In 1933, Oud resigned as architect for the City of Rotterdam and resumed private practice. In 1938, his admirers were startled and some outraged by his design for a massive building in the Hague housing the offices of the Shell Oil Company. The de Stijl manner had given way to monumentality, symmetry, and ornamentation. Over a concrete skeleton, Oud fashioned a mantle of wheat-colored, hand-fired bricks, sandstone, and Majolica in novel decorative patterns. Toward the end of his life, Oud explained that his stockpile of ideas needed to be expanded and that the dispute between the old-fashioned and modern in architecture must end. It is a tribute to the greatness of Oud as an architect that in his Shell building he anticipated and was a pioneer in a movement in architecture beginning in the 1940’s called “The New Empiricism” marked by a movement from established modernity and the enrichment of newer structures with patterns and traditional styles.

Between 1938 and his death in 1963, Oud either designed or designed and completed fourteen major projects. Among these was the charming Bio Resort Village near Arnhem for disabled children and the Congress Building in the Hague, a major complex incorporating assembly halls, theaters, recreational areas, and a hotel. The village is an exercise in miniature of city planning as can be seen in the organic relationship of the buildings. The cubist influence can be seen in the buildings’ geometric forms. Oud’s fondness for integrated ornamentation can be seen in the mosaic that he commissioned from the Dutch artist Karel Appel and incorporated into the circular conical-roofed central administration building.

In 1955, Oud was given an honorary doctorate by the Technical University of Delft. The year before, he had moved to Wassenaar, near the Hague, where he continued to practice architecture until his death.

Significance

Oud’s greatness is derived from not only his skill as an architect in the modern manner but also his demonstrating that such architecture, while functional, can also be handsome and individualistic. Because of the relatively small number of buildings designed by Oud, there is a tendency among some critics to dismiss him as a major architect. Overlooked was that Oud was an artist and a meticulous craftsman. Each work was an individual creation, not to be altered to meet later exigencies. To be admired is Oud’s strong social commitment, especially in the design of public housing that was not only serviceable and handsome but also, through techniques such as prefabrication and the innovative use of space, remarkably inexpensive. Another indication of Oud’s greatness as an architect is his versatility, his ability to move from the stark rigidity of neoplasticism to the more traditional New Empiricism with no loss of artistic integrity.

Bibliography

Museum of Modern Art. Modern Architecture International Exhibition. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1932. Although Oud’s professional career had not reached the halfway point at the time this important exhibition was mounted, the projects for which he is most admired were completed. The book has a well-written essay by Russell Hitchcock on Oud, especially on his development as a de Stijl architect. The book contains a series of excellent black-and-white photographs of Oud’s major works.

“Recent Works of a Pioneer: J. J. P. Oud.” Progressive Architecture 42 (June, 1961): 72. Enthusiasm for Oud’s earlier works often obscures the fact that he worked steadily until the time of his death on major projects that would have daunted a much younger person. Photographs and models for his Resort Village in Arnhem and the Congress Hall in the Hague, unfinished at the time of Oud’s death, illustrate his mastery of conceptualizing large complexes.

Tafuri, Manfredo, and Francesco Dal Co. Modern Architecture. Translated by Robert Erich Wolf. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1980. Throughout his professional life, Oud either worked with or was influenced by other artists and architects. This work is particularly valuable in differentiating modern architecture with which Oud is associated from earlier movements. It also gives details on the influence of other architects such as Berlage and the nature of his associations with the de Stijl group.

Taverne, Ed, Cor Wagenaar, and Martien de Vietter. J. J. P. Oud, Poetic Functionalist, 1890-1963: The Complete Works. Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Nai, 2001. Comprehensive overview of Oud’s life and work, including sketches, drawings, photos, and descriptions of realized and unrealized buildings. Also features essays analyzing Oud’s work, as well as Oud’s own articles and correspondence.

White, Michael. De Stijl and Dutch Modernism. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 2003. Examines de Stijl, including the work of Oud and other architects and artists, and the movement’s relationship to Dutch modernism.

Wiekart, K. J. J. P. Oud. Translated by C. de Dood. Amsterdam: J. M. Meulenhoff, 1965. Probably the only available work in English on Oud that spans his entire career. Contains an excellent monograph on his aesthetic and professional development. Of particular interest are the details of his designing techniques: his attention to the most minute details in a design, even to the size of kitchen tiles; his selection of materials; and his specifications of workmanship. Contains an extensive bibliography, a list of all of Oud’s projects and completed works, and forty-four black-and-white photographs of completed works, projects, and plans.

“The Work and Writings of J. J. P. Oud.” Architectural Design 33 (July, 1963): 308-309. Oud was a prolific writer as well as a shrewd and witty observer. Unfortunately, few of his writings have been translated from Dutch and German, both of which he utilized. This article contains selections from his writings dating from 1918 to 1957 and gives a valuable insight as to his reasons for modifying his architectural styles. There are twelve photographs of his works, including furniture and the delightful but now-destroyed Café de Unie.