The system of the singel. Paolo Conte

THE SYSTEM OF THE SINGEL. Generator of the dutch urban structure among history, continuity, innovation

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The system of the singel.

Generator of the dutch urban structure among history, continuity, innovation

Paolo Conte 816129 mentor: Emilio Faroldi, Politecnico di Milano mentor: Adrian Aarnoudse architect Politecnico di milano Scuola di Architettura Urbanistica Ingegneria delle Costruzioni Corso di studio in Architettura Aprile 2016 aa 2014/2015

to Alessandro

ABSTRACT

This thesis consists of a project of re-use of some public spaces in Leiden, a city of Southern Holland, with a new fashion district.

Basing on a historical and geo-morphological study of the Low Lands, it is studied initially the importance of the water element for these lands, crossed, as known, from rivers and channels, surrounded by the Northern and Southern Sea (Noord Zee, Zuider Zee), and featured by the drainage system of the polder and from the famous dikes, a fundamental element for the birth of cities such as Amsterdam (the city actually keeps trace of its origin in its name itself: “Amstel-dam” or “the dike of Amstel river”). The research is consequently addressed to the study of the evolution of these cities, with deeper consideration of a peculiar urban portion: the so called singel (from “cingel”, which means “circumference”), which consists of a strip of land and a cannel, the most external to the city.

We investigate the functional evolution of the singel from mere defensive element to connector and facade of the modern city, and then its increase of importance trough the centuries thanks to renovation and building interventions, up to its actual appearance.

From a simple defensive element, the singel becomes through the ages a connector between the old city (the older and mostly consolidated part of the conurbation, endowed of a common city plan) and the most external and modern part of the city, that actually expdanded out of the “belt” of the singel with no predetermined order.

Initially we take into consideration six towns, with comparable features (Alkmaar, Amsterdam, Enkhuizen, Haarlem, Naarden) as for both the urban evolution in general and for the re-use of the singel through the building of public structures such as universities, museums etc.

Later we study more specifically three of them (Haarlem, Amsterdam e Leiden), and finally, even more in detail, Leiden, a city in Southern Holland, area of the project.

This place was studied in loco and by the confrontation with a local architect, is the former flour factory Meelfabriek, situated on the portion of land of the singel, inside Leiden.

It was conceived a re-use of the main elements emerged from the historical analysis of the place, considering the actual necessities of the inhabitants.

The singel was re-projected as a linear park, running all round the city and interconnecting some various recreative spots, or places of cultural interest, accessible for both citizens and tourists even though the circumnavigation of the channel.

In my project the area becomes the new fashion district of the city of Leiden, comprehending on one hand all the steps of the creation of clothes from the design to production and sales, but also the most “cultural” part, relative to fashion (with a catwalk and the fashion institute).

INTRODUCTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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FIRST SECTION: Historical and geographical analysis CHAPTER 1: THE TERRITORY OF THE LOW LANDS

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1.1.

1.2.

1.3.

1.4.

19 22 25 32

Geological genesis and conformation of the land First settlements in the Low Land Dikes and polders History of the Low Lands and urban development

CHAPTER 2: DUTCH CITIES

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2.1

2.2 2.3 2.4

46 47 49 56 62 64 72 80 88 96 110

Dutch cities and cities of the rest of Europe 2.1.1. Typical peculiarities of mercantile towns Partitions and articulation of the urban territory Dynamic of the towns expansion Study of six towns 2.4.1 Enkhuizen 2.4.2 Haarlem 2.4.3 Naarden 2.4.4 Alkmaar 2.4.5 Amsterdam 2.4.6 Leiden

CHAPTER 3: ALKMAAR, AMSTERDAM, LEIDEN

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3.1 Alkmaar

3.1.1 Evolution of the cities

3.1.2 Analysis of the singel

122 123 130

3.1.3 Time of construction of the urban buildings 3.2 Amsterdam

3.2.1 Evolution of the cities

3.2.2 Analysis of the singel

3.2.3 Time of construction of the urban buildings 3.3 Leiden

3.3.1 Evolution of the cities

3.3.2 Analysis of the singel

3.3.3 Time of construction of the urban buildings

133 134 135 146 149 150 151 164 167

SECOND SECTION: General strategy of the project CHAPTER 4: LEIDEN

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4.1 Mapping of public and cultural buildings and analysis of the macro-areas of the old town 4.2 General project strategy 4.3 Study of the project area

4.3.1 Meelfabriek: the former flour factory “de Sleutels”

4.3.2 Zumthor’s project: the Office creative industry

4.3.3 The Singelpark: the “full circle” by the LOLA architects

170 173 174 180 192 196

THIRD SECTION: Project CHAPTER 5: FASHION DISTRICT

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5.1 Concept of the project 5.2 Demolishing, flows and public space

201 202

208 210 212

5.3 The new fashion district, “capacitor” of shopping, culture and atelier 5.4 Public and culture 5.5 Shopping and atelier

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CONCLUSIONS

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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SITOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

Re-use. Singel. These are some of the key elements in my study and in my project, involving the creation of a fashion district inside Leiden, a city of Northern Holland. The portion of land called singel consists of a strip of land plus a channel, the most external to the old city. It derives its name from the word “cingel”, which means “circumference”, “belt”. Starting from being a mere defensive element, the singel became through the centuries a connector between the old city (the historical part of Leiden, the more consolidated one, endowed with a common city plan) and the most external and modern part of the town, which expanded beyond the “belt” with no predetermined order.

The singel owns a double function: on one hand it is a closing element of the old city; on the other hand it connects and works as a facade to the modern town.

After the distruction of the walls that occupied the zone, around XIX century some projects of revaluation of the area were given birth: parks and gardens, beside buildings, even though the city rarely witnessed the foundation of public structures such as universities, museums or other public spaces.

This passage is evident in towns such as Amsterdam, Alkmaar e Leiden.

If in some cities, like Leiden, the “belt” made of the singel expands alla long the perimeter of the town and becomes a unique and finite sistem, in other cities that we will take into consideration (for example Alkmaar Haarlem) this line interrupted and only some parts of the singel were visible. Leiden is the exemplary case that I’m about to illustrate.

I will also present a general frame about some Northern and Southern Holland: Alkmaar, Amsterdam, Enkhuizen, Haarlem, Leiden e Naarden, towns that, as for their history, their city plant and building reveal to share some interesting common aspects. Besides, the singel and its function are, in all these cases, very clear.

Starting from a general framing of the morphological and geographical features of the dutch reason, it will be evident the importance of the water-element for these lands: crossed by rivers and channels, surrounded by the Northern and Southern Sea (Noord Zee, Zuider Zee), featured by the draining system of the polder (a strip of land where the sea water is artificially drained to obtain a more fertile land) and by the famous dikes, a fundamental element for the birth of cities like Amsterdam, actually deriving its name itself from this origin (“Amstel-dam” or “ the dike of the river Amstel”).

Subsequently, I will focus my research and my analysis on the study of the evolution of these towns throughout centuries, studying in deep how the singel got to its actual appearance.

This portion of land, infact, witnessed an increase and a gain of importance through many restructuration and building interventions: where the public space was absent or ruined, a new open-space system was projected, whereas where there were already closed spaces, these were restructured

according to present necessities.

The topic of the singel, thug interesting and rich with implications, has not been actually studied specifically. For this reason for the first part of my work (the research and the analysis, a huge direct commitment on site was necessary. Basing on my preliminary analysis, then, I identified the area of the project: the former flour factory Meelfabriek, situated on the portion of land of Leiden’s singel.

Working in loco collaborating with a dutch architect I could think of a re-use of the elements that emerged by the historical analysis of the region, considering also the most actual necessities of its inhabitants and the history of the place. I decided to consider the singel as a whole, united and “shared”, and therefore projected it in two ways. On one hand as a linear park, running all around the city , interconnecting recreative and cultural spots, made enjoyable for the tourists also by the circumnavigation of the canne (some of this spots are actually already existing. For example, in Leiden’s western part, the Observatory and the Museum). Secondarily, the area becomes the new fashion citadel of the town, which comprehends two aspects: firstly all the steps of creation of a cloth from the design to production and selling. On the other hand the “cultural part” about fashion. This part consists of the theatre (the Catwalk) and the Fashion Institute with spaces dedicated to both temporay and permanent exhibition of the products of the students.

As I’ll show later, my intent was to project a place that could revitalize and revalued the area: a real “citadel” where both tradition and innovation, history and progress could live joint.

FIRST SECTION Historical and geografical analysis

CHAPTER 1 THE TERRITORY OF THE LOW LANDS

NEDERLAND

Noordzee Ijsselmeer Flevoland 18 HOLLAND DUITSLAND

NOORDZEE BELGIE

1.1. Geological genesis and conformation of the lands The aim of the first part of my analysis is to understand the features of the Dutch land from a geological and historical point of view.

The starting point is not closer than the last glacial period, when the melting of the ice released vast masses of water and provoked huge geological consequences. The level of the North Sea rose; the climate of northwestern Europe grew milder; and the land began to sink, a process which is still going on at a rate of approximately one millimeter a year1. A gigantic flood opened the Strait of Dover to the water of the Atlantic, depositing sand from the Channel on its eastern bank. The prevailing winds from the South and the West accumulated the sand in long and soft dunes, creating “Holland’s Westwall”, the first and most essential groundwork of her existence. The dunes separated the sea from the lagoon which formed behind them. The Rhine and the Meuse changed their course.

Gradually the salt water of the sea was turned into fresh river water, and out of the deposits of silt a wide alluvial plain came into being behind the shelter of the dunes.

This is how the Low Countries, the Netherlands, were born, notwithstanding the destructive and constructive influences of nature which continued their violent interaction for many centuries.

What is its geographical shape made of?

The larger part of the country consists of portions of the deltas of the Meuse and the Rhine and of deltaic material from the Schelde. The glacial ridges in the provinces of Drenthe, Oversijssel, and especially in Gelderland, are relatively low, not exceeding 110 meters north of Arnhem. Toward the South, in the Province of Limburg, the non-glacial land increases slightly in height. Before the closing of the Zuiderzee more than a third of the country was lying less than one meter above the average high-water level of the Y (Ij) at Amsterdam. A quarter of the western region, protected by the dunes, is below Amsterdam Zero, reaching depths from 5 to 6 meters below. The dunes stretch over almost 320 kilometers and are fringed by a continuous, wide, and sandy beach. Their average height is 10 to 12 meters, rising to 60 meters near Haarlem. Dune building is still going on, with newer dunes forming mainly seaward and changing seaports into inland towns, even in modern times. New settlements developed on the advancing coastline, such as Egmond aan Zee. The geest grounds, formed of clay and peat, extend approximately parallel to the coast, where the dunes and 1. For these topics, see, for example, L. Cassitto, L’andamento del clima nel lontano passato, ipotesi di evoluzione. Comitato Scientifico AERA, Osservatorio Energia Mario Silvestri, Politecnico di Milano. http://www. fast.mi.it/clima. See also K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe: The Netherlands and Great Britain, Volume VI, The Free Press, New York, 1971, especially pages 392 and following.

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the marshy dune pans meet. These grounds have gradually been drained and planted with trees.

The low fens follow inland; and farther east, in North Holland, the Zuider Zee, the eastern fenland and, finally, heaths, high fens, and meadows along the eastern frontier.

20 Flevo Lacus (Zuider Zee)

1.2 First settlements in the Low Land

Holland, 1604-1607

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1.2 First settlements in the Low Land Now that we have described the geological genesis and the conformation of the land that this thesis is considering, we can move to the consideration of the first settlement and, what interests us more, the birth of towns and cities2. Before something must be explained about the struggle of Dutch people with water, about dikes and polders especially.

The earliest inhabitants of the Netherlands occupied precarious sites in the northernmost part of the country. Before the arrival of the Romans in 47 a.D. they lived on isolated mounds, terpen or wierden, which rise but few meters above the normal tide. On top of these elevations they built their huts. Gradually the terpen increased in height and extent by accumulating the debris of settlement and drift material, offering and fairly safe refuge even during more dangerous tides. The space available for settlement varied greatly; it seems that sites from 20.000 to 160.000 square meters were not unusual. Seaward of the terpen extended the Wadden, the tidal flats, and landward the Wapelinge, the low swamps, isolating the people from the land, which could only be reached by boat along a creek or swamp trail. One of the mounds, which has been carefully excavated, lies near Groningen at Ezinge.

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Plan of the oldest settlement on the terp of Ezinge.

2. For this study, the main text that guides us, among many other, is K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, The Free Press, New York, 1971, especially the sixth volume: The Netherlands and Great Britain.

Today the mound is above the natural soil. Wheeler, in his work about Rome colonies, describes the huts as oblong buildings commonly divided into a “nave” and two “aisles” by internal lines of posts, three or more in number on each side. The bays of the aisles are sometimes partitioned into stalls, and may be fronted along sides of the nave by a low wickerwork rack to carry fodder for the stalled cattle. Where the stalls are absent, a hearth (or two hearths) in the nave indicated human occupation. The whole indicated a simple farming economy of a familiar early medieval type, here going well back into the pre-Roman Iron Age.3

The various layers have revealed different types of settlement. In Phase IV the longitudinal houses were arranged radially, producing an effect not too dissimilar to a ring-fence village, while in Phase I an irregularly clustered Anglo-Saxon settlement has been identified.

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Airview of the terp-village of Uitwierde.

3.R. E. M. Wheeler, Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontier, London, 1954 (1995), p. 69.

Let’s consider this more in detail. A very considerable number of terpen – possibly over one thousand in the northeastern part of the country alone – existed in the first century a.D. This long chain of isolated mounds gradually grew together when the early inhabitants built crude dikes along the edge of the coast. At the same time many of the inland terpen were abandoned because the new settlement sites offered a better food supply4. However, numerous ancient villages and towns of Friesland and Groningen grew up on one or several of the early mounds. Before the first dikes were built the terpen remained the only safe places in the northern part of the country, enabling the inhabitants to survive.

The highest spot was occupied by the church, which rose above the houses of the villages. Church and houses were built of red brick. It has rightly been said that clay was the only available material with which to work. There were clay hills, pottery, and pits to collect the rainwater, sea walls and, later, brick houses and roads made of clay. The building of the mounds may be compared to the building of the pyramids. The pyramid of Cheops has a content of 3.500.000 cubic yards5.

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4. See J. Van Veen, Dredge, Drain, Reclaim, 1962, page 18.

5. See K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, page 5.

Holland, 1608

1.3 Dikes and polders Around a.D. 300 the gradual sinking of the land and the rise of the sea began to cause serious problems. Large masses of water flowed into the North Sea through the Strait of Dover, which had widened and deepened. Violent storms pressed against the shores, and the dunes in the North and in the South gave way. The Zuider Zee, the Flevo Lacus, increased in size when the shoreline broke, and the chain of outer islands fringing the Wadden Zee was created. In the South, the archipelago of Zeeland and the estuary of the Schelde were formed by the constant onslaught of the storms and the waves. The Lex Frisionum (Law Code of the Frisians) of 802 a.D. does not mention seawalls as a defense against the sea. However, the first attempts to build them were made soon after this time, judging from manuscripts of the early Middle Ages. The following oath was contained in the ancient laws: “We shall defend our land with three weapons: with the spade, with the handbarrow and with the fork. Also shall we defend our land with the spear and sword and with the brown shield against every unjust lordship. Thus shall we defend and keep our land from end to end, so help us God”6.

Work on the dikes demanded cooperation. Survival meant a concerted effort, unification, and peaceful coexistence. A so-called dike-peace was enforced: anyone breaking it was sentenced to death, and those who could not work at the dikes hat to leave. “Dike or Depart” was an old saying.

A man who had to give up put his spade in the dike as a sign that his farm could be taken over by anyone who pulled out the shade and felt strong enough to close breach7. Work, hard and dangerous work, precarious living, and a continuous fight against nature were the order of the day.

Dikes broke again and again, or a polder was lost for a long time.

Catastrophic inundations retarded the development of the country, such as the flood of 1277, which destroyed thirty villages.

Holland, 1617

6. Ibidem, p. 6 7. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 6.

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26

27

28

Holland, 1630

In the following centuries dikes were built along rivers, and excavations for canals were undertaken.

The North Holland Canal, 74 kilometers long and 40 meters deep, running from Amsterdam with the sea, followed in 1865-1876. Dike-dams were origin of a number of towns: Amsterdam developed at the dam across the Amstel; Edam at the dam across the Y. Without the dikes and dams the Low Countries would not exist, and no reclamation of land would have been possible.

Man has widened his sphere of influence over nature by clearing the woods and by regulating the waters. He has made vast territories habitable and protected himself against the dangers of the sea and the rivers8.

The great civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and China came into being by taming the waters and depending on them. The grandeur of Dutch achievements can be compared to these feats of antiquity. The Dutch people alone have been the creators of a new land. Without their work more than 40% of their country would still be covered with water, and the rest would have been difficult to live in. Land has become water, and water land in the perennial revolution of the environment on which the existence of the Netherlands depends. The first efforts, on a larger scale, to regain the territory lost because of inundations date back to the years after 1200. The first Water Boards were set up at this time. After 1500, windmills came into use to remove the water by pumping it into drainage channels or canals.

Windmills along the drainage channels near Massluis, South Holland.

8. Ibidem, p. 7.

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Although a dike is often sufficient in itself to increase the land, since the sea deposits mud and sand on the seaward side where vegetation can grow, to consolidate the land, the areas thus gained are but small. Large territories can be reclaimed only by the total enclosure of a marshy area with protecting dikes. In certain conditions this may lead to improvement of the isolated land, but in most cases the water has to be pumped into outside canals. The land recovered in this way is called polder and is mostly very fertile. During the last hundred years windmills as motive power were replaced almost entirely by pumping stations with steam engines9. This made a more efficient water control possible over large areas with a complicated system of sluices and canals, polders, and dikes.

The Netherlands cover an area of about 3000 kilometers. When, after 1900, it was decided that those areas where fertile land was found should be reclaimed, it was obvious that this would not only supply land for agricolture but would also stimulate trade and industry and other urban pursuits.

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The modern pumping station Lely in the Wieringermeerpolder.

9. See, for instance, B. H. M. Vlekke, Evolution of the Dutch Nation, 1945, p. 3.

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The Afsluitdijk, across the former Zuider Zee, with the Wadden Zee on the left, the new fresh water lake on the right, and the reclaimed polder, the Wieringermeer, in the foreground. The dam is 32 kilometers long.

1.4 History of the Low Lands and urban development

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After we have seen the importance of the water element for this country (and especially the struggle with water, through elements such as dikes and polders) we are now taking into consideration the most relevant historical periods and events regarding Holland.

In the pre-Christian era, one Celtic and three Germanic immigrations penetrated the Netherlands.

The tribes of the second Germanic penetration were the first to fight against the floods. They built mounds, terpen, in the northern part of the country– and used the marshes behind the dunes as summer meadows10.

Caesar invaded the country in 57 b.C. and Augustus, in 15 b.C.. Holland served as the base for the conquest of Germany. German mercenaries settled on the left bank of the Rhine and began to bring large areas under cultivation. The Batavi, allies of the Romans constructed a fortified refuge with a primitive castle11.

The Romans actually preferred overland routes. They built one great road from Cologne to northern France12. During the first and second centuries a. D. Tongeren was the capital of the southeastern territory of the Netherlands. At the crossing of the highway with the Meuse Maastricht grew up. A few small towns on the Rhine came into being: Leiden, Nijmegen, and Utrecht. This town, meaning oude trecht or “old ford”, was mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary as Vetus Traiectum (passage)13.

However, these towns were of little commercial importance.

At the end of the third century the Franks began to take possession of the land between the Lek and Waal channels of the Rhine. This branch of the Franks was known as the Salian Franks. The fortifications on the Cologne-Calais road were strengthened and Under King Clovis (481-511). This 10. Pytheas, the Greek, was one of the first men from the civilized world to visit the Dutch coast. In 325 b.C. he sailed to Cornwall and thence northward in search of amber. He reported that he had seen the “Sea Lung” where ice, water, and the sea rose and fell regularly. See J. Van Veen, Dredge, Drain, Reclaim, 1962, p. 13.

As a Mediterranean man he could not know the tides. His description of this phenomenon as “Sea Lungs” was very expressive, but his contemporaries did not believe him.

11. “The land between the rivers was called Island of the Batavi and was the most important base for the Romans in their subjugation of the surrounding territories”. B. H. M. Vlekke, Evolution of the Dutch Nation, 1945, p. 9.

12. See K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 10 13. See Ibidem, p. 11.

population occupied the whole of the southern and central Netherlands14.

By the end of the eight century the Netherlands were part of the Carolingian Empire, and Christianity had made great advances. Before his time local leaders ruled over large estates, and no administration existed which could unify the country. Charlemagne was the first to control the whole of the Netherlands. He introduced a military and civil administration that changed the character of the local government and the judiciary. Feudalism was slowly taking shape.

In the fifth and sixth centuries the inhabitants of the Netherlands were peasants. Their communal organization was based on village communities which formed a gouw, a district; all gouws, together made up the nation15.

After the Vikings had left the country the terp land was almost forgotten. We know it was often given as fief, and that on several occasions the German kings made their vassals Counts of Friesland.

The territory of Friesland gradually shrank through the rise of Holland as a separate state and of the Saxon principalities in Germany16.

Finally, by the end of the Middle Ages, In this process the provinces of Zeeland, Holland, Friesland, and Groningen were formed.

The history of the Netherlands, so intimately connected with the fight against the sea, differs in many respects from the historical progress in other parts of Europe. Gutkind to compare cleverly and sharply this nation with the others: 14. It has been estimated that around 400 a.D. a few hundred thousand people lived in the whole of the Netherlands: “In Friesland and Groningen – in the terp-land – nearly five hundred terp settlements still exist.

The smaller terpen may have been occupied by three to five farmhouses. On this basis, and taking into consideration the estimate that the Germanic countries had a total population of about three million, the Frisian nation may not have numbered more than a few tens of thousands. The terp land had a fairly high density of settlement compared to the sandy plains of the eastern districts, particularly to the West with its large areas of uninhabitable land”. Ibidem.

15. Gutkind explains and describes this medieval form of social organization in detail: “Neither gouw nor nation were closely knit units. As in the other countries of Europe, only the village community was a living reality, linking its members by consanguinity and common work and providing for all their needs. Pastures, woods, and heath were owned in common, while the arable land was shared out among the inhabitants. Work on the land demanded a far-reaching cooperation, thus furthering the administrative and social unity of the village.

These communities, existing in all German countries, were later called mark”. Ibidem, p. 13.

16. “The sea broke through the dunes, widening the outlets from the Zuider Zee, forming the chain of Frisian Islands, isolating the western part of Friesland, and making the Zuider Zee its western boundary. The town of Groningen extended its influence over the lowlands of the Province of Groningen”. Ibidem.

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What made it different was the internal colonization of the country which went on throughout the centuries and demanded more collective effort than was called for anywhere else. Dikes and dams had to be built, sluices installed, the land drained, and windmills erected before the soil could be tilled. All these works demanded a constant use of all available manpower17.

In Friesland villages and districts became independent after the 11th century, when there was no central administration and the country. About thirty small districts, called grietenijen, were ruled by one of the principal landowners: They were self-governing bodies within an association of free communities, new forms of self-government18.

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Each village had the duty to maintain the dikes protecting its land. The representatives of the villages, the jurors, were responsible for the regulation of the work. The administration of the polder was in the hands of the owners and cultivators of the new land.

It is interesting to point out that from early and primitive forms of administration these district have continued as self-governing institutions to this day.

These small communities could hardly be called towns, although some of them had long and glorious history19. The main trade of the country was concentrated, at this time, in the small inland town of Tiel on the Waal20. In the course of the centuries fortifications were built, and new towns were often founded near or on the site of existing villages, if their location was particularly favorable for trade and for strategic reasons.

It was not before Middle Ages that the Netherlands got to play a really important economic and commercial role: 17. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 13.

18. Ibidem.

19. Nijmegen and Maastricht had grown up on Roman sites. Utrecht, also dating back to Roman times, was made the seat of the first bishop of the Frisians, Willibrord, in 695. Deventer grew up from a small Saxon port, and Groningen from an old royal estate. Leiden and Dordrecht were hardly more than villages in the 12th century.

20. See, for instance, M. De Hoog, The Dutch metropolis, Thoth, june 2013.

The position of the Netherlands, a desolate and remote outpost of the Roman Empire at the edge of the European continent, was of little importance in the Roman period. As a gateway to the open sea it was neglected by the Romans, who preferred land routes to the hazards of long voyages. This began to change in the Middle Ages21.

Trade and commerce developed; the sea and the rivers were tamed with growing success; political and social institutions were more and more stabilized; and important trade routes, connecting the Baltic with Flanders and France, and the Rhineland and Germany with England, met in the Netherlands. As a consequence The country was in the ascendancy. The commercial towns of the early Middle Ages which developed at many important nodal points were the visible expression of the changed situation. They were the forerunners of the flourishing cities of the Renaissance and Baroque and paved the way for the Golden Age of Holland with its cultural achievements22.

The contributions of the Netherlands to city planning were not grandiose squares, monumental churches, or palaces rising as isolated pinnacles above the mass of the simple houses of the burghers23.

Gutkind see here a moment of particular interest, and Holland’s “gift to city planning”: her old cities, towns, and villages jewels of cultural homogeneity [were] surrounded by a mystique and intimacy still felt today. Holland’s gift to city planning as an instrument of a distinctly human pattern of living has been greater than the all-too-much-admired showpieces in other countries. It has created homes to be lived in, not facades to be looked at24.

21. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 18.

22. Ibidem.

23. About Nederland in the “Golden Age”, see also Singelpark. Leiden full circe, LOLA landscape architects, pp. 7-13: “The footprint of the Singelpark is set in the Golden Age, when civic life flourished in all its aspects: economy, culture and science. For almost two centuries the canals and bulwarks that were built in the 17th century formed the façade of the city”.

24. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 14.

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In the early Middle Ages the country was still culturally a dependency of France and the Rhineland.

Local feudal lords promoted the development of numerous communities and they offered favorable conditions for the growth of trade and commerce, besides increasing their own wealth and securing their political influence. This is how many famous towns originated25. Numerous small towns grew under the shelter of the castles of the nobles.

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Plan of the burcht of Leiden.

The transitional character of the 13th century was the cause of many and far-reaching changes. In 25. Thus Alkmaar and Medemblik became frontier posts against the West Frisians who were still unruly. A community grew up around the castle at Haarlem, controlling a strategic site. The old fortress at Leiden, the burcht, was the nucleus of a trading center. The origin of Dordrecht was a small fishing village and a toll house. It is peculiar that, in striking contrast to other parts of Europe, only a few Dutch places were founded ab initio as towns. The granting of a charter was merely a belated recognition of existing facts, with the hope that not only trade but personal prestige and influence would gain from the higher administrative and political status of commercial centers.

the early Middle Ages the marshes of the coastal belt were still imperfectly drained. They served as pastures for the sheep which supplied the wool for home production of woolen goods. The surplus of this production was eagerly taken up by the merchants for trading with countries overseas, causing a period of commercial crisis. Wool production declined and with it overseas trading of the coastal area, that is, of Friesland.

But external changes were perhaps even more important: The Baltic countries began to take an ever greater part in the trade of Europe. This had a profound effect on the Netherlands. The “Yssel towns”—Kampen, Zwolle, Zutphen, and Deventer—acted as intermediaries between the Baltic on the one hand and the Rhineland and Flanders on the other. Friesland, Groningen, Utrecht, Zeeland, and Holland declined in importance, while Amsterdam and some of the smaller towns participated in the trade with the Baltic26.

Nederland commerce was to be the mainspring of the prosperity of the country in the next centuries.

Almost all towns to the east of Utrecht, were members of the Hanseatic League, but those of Holland and Zeeland were not. Their trade did not revive before the middle of the 14th century. Several decades later Technical improvements laid the foundations for the economic growth of the country27.

The end of the 14th century saw the incorporation of the Netherlands into the Burgundian Dominion, which extended as a long buffer state between Germany and France28.

The people of the Netherlands remained “what they always had been”, retaining their individuality, love of freedom, and independence.

The ascendancy of the Netherlands became a living reality in the 15th century: Painting, music, and literature flourished; the towns expanded, and trade and commerce increased. It was a development from the bottom upward, not initiated from above. Its sponsors were the people, not the princes.

26. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 15.

27. Ibidem.

28. Gutkind actually explains that ”in spite of its external political significance, this union was more a change of name in the shifting game of political maneuvering among the feudal lords than a fundamental transformation of the social and economic structure of the country”. See Ibidem.

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It was a popular, not an aristocratic movement, resting on a firm and broad basis. The towns played a leading role and were the standard-bearers of the emerging civilization29.

When in 1506 the Burgundian dominion passed to Spain the Netherlands were united with the Empire. When the Duke died, his son Charles, afterward Emperor Charles V , inherited all his titles and lands30. The Netherlands were drawn into the machinations of the House of Habsburg and their dynastic ambitions. The country prospered, but underneath this prosperity the seeds of coming dangers were beginning to sprout. The size of the farms decreased because their number grew, and the increasing population could not be sufficiently supported. The reclamation of more land was beyond the means and power of small communities.

Nothing was spent on the building of the dikes. In addition to this, all over the continent an antagonism existed between town and country31.

Gutkind and Vlekke well explain that these tensions were the expression of a changing social and economic structure, brought about by the growth of the population and the evolution from the old closed world of the burghers and peasants into new ideas and aspirations:

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The scale was widening, and the interdependence between independent administrative and social units was spreading32.

This conflict finally ended in the Revolt of the Netherlands. The revolt was led by William of Orange, 29. Ibidem, p. 16.

30. See B. H. M. Vlekke, Evolution of the Dutch Nation, 1945, p. 98.

31. Gutkind explains in detail this theme, concerning the rivalry between country and towns: “An ever-increasing proportion of the population had to depend on trade, especially on the Baltic commerce, the fisheries, and their ancillary industries. A small upper class of wealthy people, aristocrats, and capitalists controlled public affairs in the main urban centers, while the lower classes tried unsuccessfully to counteract the influence of the ruling minority. The antagonism between town and countryside was growing. As in other countries, the towns reacted strongly to any attempt by the villages to interfere with their economic supremacy by manufacturing goods on the farms, or by selling beer and wine without regard to the guild regulations in the towns. The rural gentry was on the side of the peasants. The towns, in defense of their economic and monopolistic policy, resorted therefore to the acquisition of the estates of the rural gentry wherever possible and imposed their restrictive practices on the villages�. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 17.

32. Ibidem, p. 18.

who directed “his small, ill-equipped army with consummate skill and unwavering faith�33. His ships attacked the warships of the Spaniards, cut their supply routes, and helped in the reoccupation of the ports. William of Orange was assassinated at Delft in 1584, but his sons and the people continued the fight. Finally, in 1609, the seven northern provinces separated from the South and declared their independence. The Dutch Republic was born but was not formally proclaimed before 1648. The Inquisition and the tyranny of the Spanish Crown were overthrown: A new republican government was installed which was dominated by a small minority, a few thousand members of the urban and rural aristocracy34.

A small number of Calvinists controlled public worship. The masses had no say in the affairs of their country. Yet, despite this all-too-usual outcome of a revolution and its failure to replace an oligarchy by a democracy, some achievements had been consolidated: the limitation of arbitrary power by the government, and the preservation of privileges won in the fight for civil freedom and independence.

The seven northern provinces, which had separated from the South and formed the Union of Utrecht in 1579, were Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Friesland, Groningen, and Overijssel. It was a loose organization for finance, defense, and a few other purposes. In the first half of the 17th century the provinces of Holland and Zeeland became the undisputed center of the commerce of Europe and the world, and Amsterdam occupied the pre-eminent position as the capital of one of the greatest city-empires known in history. Of about one and a half million inhabitants of the Netherland Republic, about 100,000 lived in Amsterdam and more than half in the two provinces35.

The Dutch overseas dominions were not acquired by piratical exploits or by supplanting the Spanish and Portuguese traders but by superior Dutch seamanship, better ships, and greater financial resources accumulated over many years from the Baltic trade, the river trade, and the fisheries, to which were added the financial means of the Calvinist merchants driven from the southern cities by the Spaniards.

The textile industries, a very important aspect in our research and our project, expanded at the same time, particularly at Leiden and Amsterdam, Haarlem and Rotterdam. The urban masses hardly shared in this prosperity. Women and children, whose labor was cheaper, furnished a large proportion of the workers: 33. See K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 17.

34. Ibidem, p. 19.

35. See Ibidem, p. 17.

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children six years of age and over were forced to work as long as daylight permitted their exploitation […] In Amsterdam contagious diseases which took the lives of thousands of poor people, never afflicted the “burgomasters, aristocrats, ministers of the Church, or town officials.” Apparently predisposition for the disease had something to do with undernourishment and miserable living quarters. The dwellings of the poor were not so neat as the rooms we see in Vermeer’s paintings, their clothing not so fine as that of the ladies and gentlemen portrayed by Rembrandt36.

An enormous capital was concentrated in the hands of a few merchant-princes, while the middle class also profited from this affluence, and the general standard of living of the well-to-do rose. It was not beyond the capacity of the Dutch people to throw their net of commercial and political influence over almost all parts of the then unknown world within the short span of forty years. Gutkind well summarizes the worldwide trade spread:

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They founded New Amsterdam (1625); Capetown (1652); Batavia (1619); Smeerenberg, the first summer settlement in the Arctic; discovered Tasmania and New Zealand (1642); were the first to trade with Japan; controlled the south coast of Asia; conquered Pernambuco and the northern coastlands of Brazil; occupied part of the West Indies; and settled in the Hudson Valley and the southern tracts of Africa. At the same time, their farmers and craftsmen went to England, France, Brandenburg, Sweden, Denmark, and Russia37.

36. B. H. M. Vlekke, Evolution of the Dutch Nation, 1945, p. 178.

37. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 20.

In the Treaty of Westphalia of the year 1648, which ended the Thirty Years’ War, the existing boundary between the northern and southern Netherlands was recognized, leaving the northern parts of Flanders and Brabant and the town of Maastricht under the jurisdiction of the States General38.

But even if that young Republic occupied a privileged place in the councils of Europe, its empire beyond the seas was on the decline: Possessions in the West, with the exception of a few minor colonies, were lost. However, the eastern dominions prospered and were consolidated. Trade brought great profit but contributed also to a saturation which weakened the former initiative39.

After the rapid rise of the Netherlands and her Golden Age, the 18th century was an era of retrogression: Expansion could not go on indefinitely, for prosperity and stagnation are never too far apart. The dominant minority grew smaller but more and more selfish40.

The provinces refused to pay their contribution toward the building of new ships, and the increasing size of the warships posed a difficult problem. Plans were made to construct naval bases and improve the harbors, but could not be executed against opposition by the vested interests. Whereas the leading citizens of the 17th century had been ready to make sacrifices in the national interest, to work and fight for the maintenance of the state and to increase trade and wealth by new investments, the 18th century was a period of relaxation.

38. “Internally, the treaty secured supremacy for the city of Amsterdam over all other towns and provinces of the state and, for the dominant minority of burghers, supremacy over the Prince of Orange. The War of Liberation had made the office of the stadhouder hereditary in the House of Orange, thus increasing the prestige of these would-be monarchs. The States General, now supreme in their power, decided not to appoint a successor to the late stadhouder but to keep in their own hands the control of all civilian and military matters�. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 21.

39. Ibidem.

40. Ibidem, p. 19.

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The country rested on its laurels. The moneyed class wanted to enjoy what they had accumulated, the more so as the prestige of the Republic seemed to be secured. Dutch trade and shipping declined. The decline of Leiden and Haarlem spelled the doom of Holland’s economic prosperity41.

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This retrogression proceeded at an accelerated rate after 1730. Workers left Leiden and Haarlem in mass. Contemporary sources reported that houses were pulled down and streets and lots turned into gardens and meadows. Amsterdam was saved only because trade with the West and East Indies was flourishing, and the accumulated capital of the merchants was still sufficient to prevent a collapse of commercial activities.

After the defeat of Napoleon, the Netherlands, divided were unified under a king, as a bulwark against France. But this unity did not last long. Under the influence of the July Revolution in France in 1830, the Belgian kingdom separated from Holland. The Netherlands became a democratic kingdom. Her prestige and a considerable measure of prosperity and stability were restored, more or less surviving World War I, to be shattered again by the invasion of Holland in 1940 and the loss of her East Indian possessions.

41. Ibidem.

Holland, 1622

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CHAPTER 2 THE DUTCH CITIES

2.1 Dutch cities and cities of the rest of Europe The skyline of Dutch towns in the past was very different from the varied and lively silhouette of old towns in other parts of Europe. The country is flat. There is nothing to attract the eye, no hills, no valleys. Only the straight lines of the canals, or the long rows of willows, or a few clusters of bushes and trees interrupt the landscape. Here and there the man-made landmarks of a steeple or the turning arms of a windmill appear above the horizon42.

With this words Gutkin evocatively describes the impression that a dutch town would make on an ancient visitor. He adds:

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A gentle melancholy broods over the land and a slight, almost immaterial mist floats in the air, making everything distant. Stillness and repose, peaceful outlines and mute colors dim the vision. The pale light, the heavy atmosphere, and the struggle between shadow and sunshine produce a restlessness of the sky and an animation of nature which seems to forbid any intrusion of man-made works43.

An interesting element of Gutkin’s study is his comparison between Dutch and European cities: The powerful accents of San Gimignano, the syncopic variety of Rothenburg, or the ascending rhythm of Santiago de Compostela are unthinkable in Holland. The skyline of a Dutch town is modest, without any pronounced accents44.

Later he defines this as “an introvert skyline�. Just as the Dutch nation did not indulge in an outward demonstration of greatness, although it did many great things, its art and city planning did not glorify a few eminent men or create ostentatious edifices and grandiose cities. All were considered alike and equal-men, houses, and cities. Gutkind interprets the artistic consequence of this feeling: The love of color in the Dutch people made their towns a living protest against the colorless monotony of their landscape: they painted their houses or bordered the windows 42. Ibidem.

43. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, page 21.

44. Ibidem.

and doors with white, making them stand out sharply against the black walls45.

The Dutch people and artists were masters of detail, of the most minute finish, and of a penetrating reality.

The increasing wealth of the Dutch towns was expressed in numerous public buildings, such as the town halls of Amsterdam and Maastricht and the Mauritshuis at The Hague. But the more usual task of the architects was the town house, with its narrow and high facade and pointed or step-gables.

Most of the houses are built of brick, without plaster, and have only two windows on each floor.

2.1.1. Typical peculiarities of mercantile towns In contrast to other countries of Europe the majority of Dutch towns were not founded as one coherent unit by the will of a single personality or an entrepreneur. Most of the communities which grew into towns developed gradually from an existing settlement, if and when social and economic conditions were favorable. But the sites on which the towns stood were, in many cases, man-made and planned according to the collective efforts of groups in the fight against a hostile environment. This distinction is essential, for it gives Dutch towns an almost unique place in the history of city development. In other countries suitable sites were chosen, improved, and enlarged for urban settlement. Only very rarely had the settlers created the ground on which their future houses could be built. The artificial sites exerted a certain influence on the layout and growth of some towns. Consequently the appearance of Dutch towns is sometimes less casual than the towns of other European countries. Towns on newly created or expanded sites were, in general, more systematic, while those on already existing and higher ground, especially in the older parts, were more irregular.

A negative characterization may be more appropriate: Dutch towns were sometimes laid out, developed less haphazardly, and expanded less sporadically than their contemporary urban communities in other parts of the Continent. A more general and more outspoken tendency to plan them deliberately and on a comprehensive scale was not evident46.

It was not until the beginning of the 13th century that the development of towns grew steadier and the selective process began to consolidate. Industries attracted people to the urban communities.

45. Ibidem, p. 22.

46. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 22.

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The towns owed their growth and success in large measure to clothmaking which, together with its ancillary industries, employed the greatest number of urban workers. Although Dutch towns of the 13th century could not compete with the cities of Flanders which had risen to powerful and populous places on the basis of a flourishing textile industry, the Dutch municipal organizations enjoyed special privileges that furthered the clothmaking industries: In 1277 the weavers of Dordrecht had their privileges confirmed, and the town received the staple-right in 1298, a prerogative essential for its growing trade. In Middelburg a similar development took place; privileges were granted in 1271 and 128547.

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Street scene, showing houses with pointed and step-gables. The Seven Works of Charity by the Master van Alkmaar (1504) in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

47. R. Eberstadt, Stadebau und Wolnungswesen in Holland, 1914, pp. 5-6.

During the 13th century the urban trades grew in numbers. The guilds gained in importance and received special privileges. Weavers from other countries settled in Dutch towns, whose prestige, economy, and population rose. We see again how production, sales and commerce, key themes in our project, are vividly by the second half of the 14th century a turn in favor of the Dutch towns set in. Trade and industry shared equally in this development, which spread to the Baltic and, in connection with the Hanseatic League, to the other countries of the Continent and to England. The towns expanded, and again the textile industry – centre of our studies and project - played an important role in this process. The number of its workers grew considerably in such towns as Leiden, Amsterdam, Haarlem, and Delft. In the 15th century Dutch textiles could successfully compete in the world market. Haarlem, and especially Leiden, were the leading textile centers. Dutch textiles became a synonymous of high value all around Europe: The fact that Dutch textiles were mentioned as superior manufactures together with the famous Flanders products is proof of the great advance Dutch cloth making had made at the end of the Middle Ages. The goods from Leiden were so much valued that the town had to fight against misuse and imitation of its trademark48.

Medieval city planning expressed the social and economic rise of Dutch towns: an energetic growth in the 12th and 13th centuries, and a fast expansion in the 14th century. The foundations for many institutions were laid in these centuries or the sale and the division of the urban land, the layout of the streets, the expansion of towns, and the type of houses.

2.2 Partitions and articulation of the urban territory During the 12th and 13th centuries, fields, meadows, and pastures were often included in the urban area when a town expansion took place. In comparison with the agricultural land outside the walls their total extent may have been small, but when incorporated into the town they constituted a large portion of the urban terrain which had to be partitioned for its new purpose as building plots. Urban conditions demanded the divisibility of land. The first and main division of the urban area was mostly related to an existing road or an intersection of roads. These primary streets determined the main division of the land, while the rest of the urban area lying between the principal roads had to be opened up by secondary streets.

48. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 24.

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The division of the land varied considerably, according to the different classes of the population: To the east of the church the building density was high, and the rows of houses were close together; the plots were narrow, with small backyards partly built-up. Here was the nucleus of the town, with the church, market, and town hall, where the poorer people lived. In the other sections of the town the building blocks were deep, regular, and with large interior open spaces. The streets were straight or slightly bent, and two canals with several branches ran through this quarter. Here the better districts developed, and houses occupied by the nobility were often built as defensive strongholds surrounded by a large open space49.

In general, the houses stood on the periphery of the building blocks, leaving large open spaces in the interior. Gradually this changed, and block by block this transformation can be followed. A row of houses was erected parallel to the street, in the interior of the building block, or at right angles to the main street, or irregularly on the boundary of a part of the terrain that was partitioned off. Narrow footpaths or passages through the front houses led to the buildings in the interior.

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The next stage is illustrated by the division of the urban area in the town of Middelburg. The circular nucleus is intersected by a main street. The terrain outside the nucleus was divided by residential streets, apparently following the old boundaries of the plots and ending in some places in a cul-desac or cutting through to the next secondary street. A considerable portion of the urban area within the walls was still available for the future use and not yet opened up by streets. In general, the houses occupied the outer line of the building blocks while the interior was reserved for gardens. Large parts near the walls were left without buildings, probably also for future use. There were no canals. The old moat surrounding the original nucleus was filled in and used as a street when the town expansion of 1260 was carried through.

Utrecht instead may serve as an example of the third stage of the development of an urban area, particularly of a large-scale layout. A great proportion of the land was owned by the clergy, the monasteries, the nobles, and the patricians. The peculiar distribution, and especially the numerous large plots, were due to the almost completely stationary size of the town; hardly any, or only insignificant, town expansions took place during Middle Ages. The area available since 12th 49. Ibidem.

Plan of Franeker, from Joan Blaeu’s Toonneel del Steden van de vereenighde Nederlanden, Amsterdam, 1649.

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century was sufficient for the increasing population. It was not before the 13th century that a certain demand for more land made itself felt. In the 14th century.

New streets were laid out, cutting through the large estates, and were often named after the families who had owned the land; or narrow and low houses were built between two existing “fortresses� where artisans and other lesser folk would settle and profit from the convenience of the nearby water and road traffic. But this was not the only way the urban area was developed. Passages, lanes, and cul-de-sac streets were widely used as access to the interior of the building blocks50.

Utrecht was unique in this respect. Every street had numerous narrow passages or connections to a close, the whole forming an impenetrable maze of buildings and lanes. In general, however, the building density was low, especially in comparison to present conditions, even in the districts with a relatively great number of small and narrow houses.

Alkmaar may serve as a fourth example. The layout of the old part is more or less the same as in the Middle Ages, except for a few grachten that were filled in and converted into streets, some of them still in the medieval period. Expansions toward the east took place through the reclamation of new land. The development of the urban area of Alkmaar proceeded along entirely different lines to the other three towns described above. The small houses were restricted to the less important side streets. On the other hand, there was a definite tendency to regard the building block as one unit and develop it correspondingly, from the surrounding streets inward.

Medieval terminology distinguished several types of streets, and there were quite precise regulations about them. So-called pothuizen, low and small sheds projecting into the street, were also a common feature of old Dutch towns, serving as storerooms or workshops.

From the 12th and 13th centuries on, all important towns were fortified. A rayon, an open belt where no building was allowed, surrounded the walls. The width of this belt varied between 150 and 300 meters. Existing buildings in this space had to be pulled down, and urban trades were barred from this belt.

Some of the towns, developing from a small old settlement, had no market squares when their trade Plan of Middleburg about began to increase. In such cases space had to be gained by reclaiming land or by vaulting a 1550 by Jacob van watercourse. In Rotterdam and Zwolle for example.

Deventer.

50. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 25.

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Plan of Utrecht about 1572, from Braun and Hogenberg’s Civitatis orbit terrarum.

Plan of the old center of Alkmaar.

2.3 Dynamic of the towns expansion The 14th century was a period of town expansion: Suburbs were incorporated; harbors were built; new districts were laid out; and fortifications were strengthened and extended. Town expansion and compulsory acquisition of the land were almost synonymous51.

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At the end of the XIII century some innovations regarded the moat and fortifications. In the beginning the towns had the right to acquire land only in connection with the building of new fortifications.

Gradually this was extended to all cases where land was needed in the public interest. Before the 16th century, when fortifications had become more complicated, town expansions were relatively simple and not too expensive. But when the defenses had to be strengthened to withstand the new technique of far-reaching firearms, the military engineer’s design of the enceinte determined town limits, and the extension of a town became a difficult and costly business. The growing population required the use of still-existing open spaces within the walls; gardens and yards were built over, and the number of stories increased.

The open spaces and gardens disappeared, and the spacious layout gave way to overcrowded districts. The medieval city did not survive the new era of military proficiency52.

From the 16th century to the middle of the 18th century the Netherlands was one of the leading countries in trade and industry. Her spreading commerce and her growing manufacturing activities contributed equally to the rise of towns and cities. The Renaissance period was featured by new theories of city planning were applied, especially in connection with the improved system of defense 51. There were the heerstraat, the principal street; the steeg, a general term for street; the slop or slopje, a narrow lane or passage; the gracht, a navigable waterway; and the sloot, delve, or groeve, a narrow and shallow ditch. See Ibidem, p. 26. The most general distinction was usual between public and private streets.

Quite a few town councils issued regulations fixing the width and sometimes the direction of the public street, as well as the size of the projecting parts, such as cellar entrances, steps, windows, and upper stories. They did not interfere with private streets; these remained the property of the owners of the land on which they were laid out.

52. Ibidem, p. 27.

adopted by many towns. It was the age of the Ideal City and the beginning of the Cult of the Street.

Italian architects and theorists developed a discipline of city planning almost diametrically opposed to the pragmatic achievements of the foregoing centuries. In Holland these ideas took root only slowly and gradually and, as usual, only details were applied in practice: Streets were widened and straightened, plots were acquired for this purpose, and new roads were built A symbolism of numbers, as an element of city planning, began to play a role in the design of fortifications. The military engineers were especially devoted to this intellectual game53.

The interior of the towns began to fill up, the building density increased, and the available open spaces and gardens gradually disappeared. With the great increase in population, some towns like Amsterdam, Haarlem, and Leiden extended their urban area; others, like Utrecht, concentrated on improving and developing their old districts by building new streets and regulating the older ones by pulling down houses or removing projecting parts obstructing this amelioration.

In the 17th century, housing conditions in the various towns differed in accordance with the extension of the urban area. The spread of new ideas and the search for ideal solutions, which had occupied Italian architects since the middle of the 15th century, reached Holland about 150 years later. At the beginning the new outlook was reflected only in detailed improvements, but toward the end of the 16th century and, above all, during the 17th century, the pace quickened. Furthered by the great economic and political advance of the country, a new epoch of city planning began.

This was the Golden Age of Dutch architecture and urban renewal and was more pragmatic and less theoretical the its Italian counterpart.

53. Seven was the number of the United Provinces; thus, seven bastions were built in some of the fortress towns, such as Willemstad, Coevorden, Deventer, and Enkhuizen. Groningen had seventeen bastions corresponding to its seventeen counties, influenced by the sacred character attributed to this number. See K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 27.

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Some of the protagonist of this renovation are Simon Stevin (1548-1620) and Menno van Coehoorn (1641-1704). Their ideas on city planning were not particularly ingenious, following the general trend toward symmetry, repetition, and rigidity. Stevin was first of all a mathematician, but he was also director of the Waeterstaet and later quartermaster-general. It was therefore not surprising that he based his fortification and city planning theories on the square, on complete symmetry and purity of form, on lijcksijdicheydt, and was inclined to sacrifice needs of defense to theoretical conclusions.

I feel the inclination to order the bastions and walls on one side of the town just as on the other and, if I have to do it differently owing to the location of the place, it breaks my heart54.

Plan for an Ideal City

by Simon Stevin, from Material politicae, published in Leiden, 1660.

He maintained the best solution would be to lay out a town on level terrain as a “quadrilateral rectangle in order to accomodate within it rectangular building blocks, plots, houses, awards, markets, and squares which, in any other shape, could not fit in.” He rejected polygonal and radial layouts.

The interior of Stevin’s Ideal City was traversed by canals forming two large rectangles. The presence of foreign merchants was especially welcomed by Dutch economists. They were therefore lodged in the most favorably situated parts of the town and had their establishments around the central squares.

The smaller markets for special commodities were distributed symmetrically at a short distance from the center. Stevin thought that only a bad ruler would reside outside or at the periphery of the town.

He also believed that the extension of a town should be carried out symmetrically, beginning at the shorter ends, and that “all four sides of the building blocks should be occupied by houses so that through this arrangement the symmetry can be preserved.

Stevin’s Ideal City was quite unlike any of the utopian schemes of the Italian architects. Its severe rigidity and puritanical simplicity expressed a way of life permeated by Calvinist austerity and democratic equalitarianism. Stevin was also a military engineer who had introduced sluices as a means of defense. All in all, Stevin’s work represents an important and interesting aspect of the revolution in city planning that began with the Renaissance, and especially of the characteristically Dutch response to the challenge of a new era.

54. In his treatise he defended symmetry in a lengthy apology, referring to the Greeks and Romans, to Serlio and Vitruvius, and to the proportions of the human body.

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60

The Ideal House designed

by Simon Stevin, from the Material politicae, published in Leiden, 1660.

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The housing situation in the 18th century.

2.4 Study of six towns A explained before, I structured my research and analysis as a sort of “zooming�. Now that we considered and got to know more or less in detail of the Low Lands from the point of view of geology, geography, history and urban evolution, we take into consideration six towns, we’ll study deeper.

The reason of the choice is not only the availability of documents, studies and interesting projects about them, but because they share, as we will see, some interesting features, such as the evolution and and characteristics of the singel inside them.

As Gutkind explains, it is fundamental not to consider any dutch city in itself: All cities together form the framework within which the structural changes of the growth or decline, the origin or the stagnation of cities have been operative55.

It is like a mosaic: each small piece is part of the whole, and only all together present the complete picture.

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55. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 70.

Noord Holland Enkhuizen Alkmaar

Haarlem/Amsterdam Naarden Leiden

Zuid Holland

Nederland

2.4.1 Enkhuizen

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Enkhuizen, Province of Noord Holland, lies at the tip of a peninsula on the western shore of the Ijsselmeer, at the narrowest point of the inlet of the North Sea into the Zuider Zee. The Ijsselmeer makes up one part of the city’s landscape, and the polder Grootslag the other.

Enkhuizen was originally a small fishing village. The floods of 1287 which contributed to the formation of the Zuider Zee (1170-1410) enhanced its position as a coastal town and port. It received a charter in 1355 granting, among other privileges, the rights to embank land outside its dike and to hold an annual market. In 1396 Enkhuizen was used as a naval base for attacks against Friesland by Count Willem V; its first wharves were constructed for this purpose. As early as 1307 there is mention of Enkhuizen trading with Hamburg, Amsterdam, England, Denmark, and the Baltic countries; however, the volume of this trade in the 14th century was insignificant. The extraordinary growth of the herring catch in the 15th century brought great prosperity to Enkhuizen, which at that time ranked second to Amsterdam as a port city of the Netherlands. Almost all its inhabitants were engaged in seafaring industries.

The period of greatest prosperity lasted from the middle of the 16th century to the middle of the 17th century, when its population increased to 40.000, and the fishing fleet was one of the largest in this part of Europe. Merchants built offices and warehouses, and products previously traded elsewhere began to gravitate to Enkhuizen. The town had an early dairy market; the first weighing hall was built in 1394. In 1494 and 1577 new weekly markets were held, but by 1624 marketing functions began to decline. Agriculture was suffering from seawater flooding and poor drainage so that vegetable gardening and cattle raising were carried on at a few higher places near the town, but only for the local supply of the citizens.

enkhuizen

Plan of Enkhuizen, 1581

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The growth of Enkhuizen, beginning in the Middle Ages, has been steady, and several extensions of the urban area and the harbor belong to this period. The greatest extension was undertaken about 1590, when a New Town was built in a wide semicircle around the old nucleus, doubling the original urban area, especially in the north and east. The plan for the new quarters was designed by Adriaen Anthonisz, military engineer and burgomaster of Alkmaar. Strong fortifications with bastions were erected. The streets crossed each other at right angles. The plan of 1590 shows the low building density of the old town. With the exception of two or three areas, most building blocks have large open spaces in the interior, but after the extension, the large blocks of the old town were subdivided and densely built up, side streets with small houses and narrow and short plots were laid out, and the building density increased considerably.

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Plan of Enkhuizen, 1649

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The rapid decline of Enkhuizen, which became one of the “dead towns” of Holland after 1650, can be ascribed to the following factors: the gradual silting up of the harbor, making it difficult for larger ships to dock; the growing centralization of shipping and trade in Amsterdam; the English Navigation Act of 1651; increased piracy on the Zuider Zee; wars with Denmark and France; and finally, the war with France in 1703, which nearly totally destroyed the fishing fleet.

After 1740 various unsuccessful attempts were made to establish industries in Enkhuizen. From 1750 to 1830 more than 1,600 houses were demolished. At first the plots were used for gardens, but later they were planted with grass. It was only at the end of the 19th century that a revival set in, when Enkhuizen became a rail-boat link with Amsterdam and Stavoren.

Enkhuizen’s growth is marked by the successive building of ship basins to meet the demands of a burgeoning maritime trade. In 1400 the Rommelhaven was constructed, and in 1410 another basin on the south side of town. Both were fortified with towers. In 1542 a third basin, the Oude Haven, was added. Between 1580 and 1646 the basins increased to nine. In 1566 the Wierdijk was built east of the Breedestraat, which runs the entire length of the town for over 750 yards.

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Plan of Enkhuizen, 1911

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Plan of Enkhuizen, 2016

enkhuizen

Zuiderkerk

IJsselmeer

Town hall

Vestinggracht Wilhelminaplantsoen Handvastwater Oude Gracht

Spaans Leger

Compagnieshaven Noorder Boerenvaart Spijtbroeksburgwal Oosterhaven Vette Knol

Breedstraat Wijnhaven Wierdijk Oude Haven

Zuider Boerenvaart Burgwal Buitenhaven Buyshaven

Markermeer

1:10.000

2.4.2 Haarlem [Haarlem] is a pretty compact town […]. A wide watercourse called the Spaarne, which serves as a draining canal between the waters of the ancient Lake of Haarlem and the Gulf of the Zuyder Zee, crosses the city, dividing it into several parts and surrounding it like the moat of a fortress. The internal canals are bordered on either side by large trees, which almost form a green arch above the water, so that every canal seems like a lake in a garden […]. All the streets are paved with bricks, all the houses are of brick, so that one sees nothing but red, red, eternal red, to right, to left, above, below, everywhere one looks,—as if the town had been cut out of a mountain of blood-colored jasper56.

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haarlem

Haarlem, Province of Noord Holland, originated as a manor on the left bank of the Spaarne, northeast of the later town. From this open settlement developed a fortified castle, the Bakenesse, which was chosen by the Counts of Holland as their residence from the 11th to the 13th century.

As early as about 1100, the curia de Harlem became the principal stronghold of the Kennemerlan.

Gradually a settlement grew up near the castle. More and more country people of the surrounding region sought protection and economic and social advantage from the court of the counts, and soon a wide-meshed zone of settlement began to form around the early nucleus. The favorable location at the crossing of the river and the overland route to North Holland attracted increasing numbers of settlers who could not be accommodated on the original site. Moreover, the Bakenesse stood on low-lying and wet ground, and was therefore, apart from its insufficient size, unsuitable for a larger and compact settlement. The obvious choice was the land to the west of the castle where “a higher, drier, and best site” was available57. Here the town began to take shape at the beginning of the 13th century. The market square was situated at the crossing of the old roads. It was called t’Sand, indicating its situation on dry, sandy soil. The original agricultural character of the settlement was preserved for several centuries.

56. K. A. Gutkind, Holland. Vol. II. 1894. Pp. 48, 49.

57. S. Ampzing, Beshrivinge ende lof der stad Haerlem in Holland, 1628.

About the history, and not only, of this interesting town, see also E. de Biévre, Violence and virtue: history and art in the city of Haarlem, 1988, R. J. Hoeksema, Three stages in the history of land reclamation in the Nederlands, 2007 and http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ird.340/full.

Plan of Haarlem in 1578

by Thomas Thomaszoon.

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The 14th century saw a considerable influx of people from the countryside and other towns, among them Flemish dyers and fullers. Economic and political advantages and growing trade and industry were the main attractions. In 1400 the population rose considerably and that was accompanied by a corresponding extension of municipal laws to the zones surrounding the old nucleus.

The early growth of the town around the harbor, at the bend of the Spaarne, and the market was rather haphazard. The area proved to be insufficient and so the first extensions were undertaken.

The core of the old town was the market, a rectangular square almost in the center of the oldest ring of the grachten, and extending East-West. Between 1328 and 1360 the original Bakenesse quarter was included in the fortifications, which consisted of a simple wall and moat; but a further extension had to be planned at the beginning of the 15th century. This almost doubled the urban area, which proved sufficient until the 17th century. The new districts were built on low-lying ground, south and west of the old moat, which was then used as an inner waterway. Canals were dug; long and narrow building blocks were laid out; the level of the land was raised, and streets and steegen (lanes) traversed the new districts. The whole urban area increased and was enclosed by new moats that formed part of the fortifications.

Haarlem suffered great damage during the the XVIth century, and therefore the Council asked the architect. Lieven de Key, to work out a development scheme, which was mainly carried through within the next fifty years. A certain contrast to the older quarters of Haarlem is obvious. The layout is more systematic, more compact. But as a whole it is not inspiring. It is more efficient than beautiful; more economical than impressive. It is a “mixed development� with small houses, churches, hofjes for old men, and a few public buildings. However disorderly, development continued through the 17th century, especially outside the northern canal. There was a new plan in 1644 by Salomon de Bray. He dealt at length with all the disadvantages caused by overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, unlicensed building, and the resulting increase in crime, as well as the haphazard spread outside the walls. The new extension surrounded the older parts on the northern side, with the segment of a polygon and several wide main grachten crossed by a number of small side grachten, and a parallel system of streets. About 1,8 square kilometers were added to the town. Gutkind expresses a clever judgment about the important of this plan: The scheme was a successful experiment in large-scale planning, progressive for its time and even remunerative for the town. But the high cost of the new fortifications made the profit accrued from the sale of the plots illusory and merely increased the taxes which had

Plan of Haarlem in 1647

by Pieter Wils, engraved

by F. de Wit.

Plan for the extension of Haarlem by Salomon de Bray, 1644.

Plan of Haarlem, 1905.

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to be levied upon the citizens58.

Within the urban area the planting of trees along the grachten was introduced as an important element of city planning, especially in the following century. In some cases, the inner courtyards of the homes of wealthy patricians were laid out as gardens, for instance, the Hortus botanicus of the Prinsenhof. In contrast to the rigidity of the street and grachten system and the regimented conformity of the houses, nature added a diversifying and liberating element to the rather dull town plan.

This is a description of Haarlem and its environs at the end of the 19th century given by the Italian writer Edmondo de Amicis:

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From the summit of the steeple the eye surveys all die beautiful country of Haarlem, dotted with woods, windmills, and villages. I saw the two large canals stretching to Leyden and Amsterdam, furrowed by long rows of sad-boats. The steeples of Amsterdam appeared in the distance. I could look over the plain of what was once the Lake of Haarlem, the village of Bloemendael, surrounded by cottages and gardens, and bare downs which defend this little terrestrial paradise from the storms, and beyond the downs the North Sea59.

58. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 73.

59. E. De Amicis, Holland, 1874, p. 266.

Plan of Haarlem, 2016.

haarlem

De Grote of St. Bavokerk (Church)

Schotersingel

Kloppersingel

Kinderhuissingel Garenkokerskade Nieuwe Gracht

Spaarne

Bakenessergracht Leidsevaart Burgwal Herensingel Raamsingel Kampersingel

1:10.000

2.4.2 Naarden naarden Gooimeer

Naarden, Province of Noord Holland, lies in the northwest of a sandy district close to the Ijssel Lake, the former Zuider Zee. This southeastern part of Noord Holland is undulating, its soil consisting of sand and gravel mixed with loam. The district is called Het Gooi and covers about 116.000 square meters. Naarden itself is only 20.200 square meters.

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The remains of a burial site have been discovered in the center of the Gooi, indicating a prehistoric occupation of the site. The first settlement, mentioned in 900 a.D., was situated in the north of the Gooi. It appears to have been a small village on the shores of the Zuider Zee, two and a half kilometers east of the present Naarden. About 1330 it was raised to the status of a town by the Count of Holland. This old Nardinc or Naerden was not a peaceful place. The old town was burnt down and completely destroyed in 1350. Only two days later the Count of Holland, Willem V issued a proclamation to build a new town and to make fortifications around this town.

The first primitive defenses were replaced by brick walls. However, the new fortifications did not save Naarden from repeated attacks. Frequent fires, especially one in 1490, destroyed large parts of the town. During the War of Liberation Naarden was one of the earliest towns to revolt against Spanish tyranny. In 1572 the town was captured and set afire. The citizens were massacred in a bloodbath of unbelievable cruelty. But later Naarden was again inhabited, and the building of new fortifications was begun60.

Onze Lieve Vrouwe Kerk (Our Lady Church)

Fort Ronduit

Naardertrekvaart Singel Arsenal, Barracks Bastion Oud Molen Ravelijn Nieuw Molen-Oud Molen

Bastion Nieuw Molen

Stadhuis (Town Hall) Ravelijn Oranje-Promers Bastion Katte Barracks, Cannon basements Ravelijn Katten-Oranje Oude Haven Nieuwe Haven Bastion Oranje Barracks, Mortier Casemates Utrechtse Poort Ravelijn Oranje-Promers

Ravelijn Turfpoort-Nieuw Molen Mortier Casemates Bastion Turfpoort

Bastion Promers Barracks, Military hospital Ravelijn Promers-Turfpoort Karnemelksloot

Bussummervaart

1:10.000

The oldest plan of Naarden (1560) by Jacob van Deventer, showing the first fortifications (13501572), and the gridiron layout.

A more efficient design of walls, bastions, and moats was introduced. The new Naarden was laid out as an irregular pentagon whose points were formed by small bastions. The northwestern moat of the old fortress was used as an inner harbor, connected by a waterway with the new moat and the outer harbor on the Zuider Zee. This system was completed in 1606.

The third fortifications were built during the years 1673-1685 after Naarden was captured by the army of Louis XIV. The result was a mixture of two methods, the French and the Dutch systems of defense. The military engineer Paen and the architect Dortsman were responsible for the final Naarden in 1630 by Nicolaas Herbertus design.

60. A document of March 4, 1579, reports that the work was entrusted to Thomas Thomasz, burgomaster of Bonifatius, with the second Haarlem and fortificatiemeester, and the military engineer Adriaen Anthonisz. It was carried out according to fortifications (1579-1673) the “old Netherlands fortification system�. See K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 55. and the outer harbour.

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The new fortifications had the form of a star with six bastions, five ravelins, and a double moat surrounding about three-quarters of its circumference. The east and west dikes were extended through the inner moat as heavy brick walls and safeguards against flooding during extremely high tides. The watergates to the inner harbor could be closed by a bulkhead of strong wooden beams. Only two gates gave access to the town. A garrison of 4000 men with 400 horses was considered adequate for defense. Arms were stored in the arsenal built in 1688 in one of the bastions.

The fortress was still in use during the Napoleonic Wars. A royal decree of 1915 declared Naarden an open city. This is the military history of a small, though not unimportant, fortress town whose role was played out long before the present “achievements� in genocide made defense and protection of individual cities a tragic impossibility.

The economic history of Naarden can only be regarded as a by-product of its development as a fortress. In the 15th and 16th centuries its inhabitants were agriculturists or cattle breeders. Many farmers settled inside the walls where they lived in greater safety than in the country. The town was favorably situated on the edge of peat bogs for pastures whose peat served as fuel, and of sandy soil that offered arable land and provided wood for building and fuel. There were a few

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Naarden in 1690, Keith the third fortifications (1673-1685). An official drawing of 1690.

Naarden in 1702.

Naarden in 1730.

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mills for grinding oats and rye, a modest wool industry, and wool trade , especially with the Baltic Naarden in 1748. countries. The authorities supervised the quality of the textile products, as in other Dutch towns. Wool was washed near the town and spun outside the walls. Only waving, dying, fulling, and dressing were carried on in the town. Spinning was a welcome additional support for the villagers of the Gooi since the poor soil yielded only an insufficient income. When the wool industry declined, the weavers began to turn to the manufacture of linen. Naarden flourished as a textile center in the 15th century before Leiden became the most important textile city of Holland. The wool industry was organized as follows: wool was purchased by the weavers, the weversbazen, who had it washed and spun by others. In their own small workshops they produced the woven material with the help of one to three journeymen, the gazellen. Then the dyers, fullers, and cloth makers had their share in the work and, finally, the finished article could be sold. The weavers were small employers who distributed part of the work to wage laborers.

When the cloth merchants of Amsterdam extended their trade and gained a footing in Naarden, the independence of the Naarden weavers was gone. They were forced to work up the material which the Amsterdam clothiers delivered to them at piecework rates and became just as dependent as the dyers and fullers. However, during the 17th century weaving at Naarden increased. Wool, linen, cotton, and silk were manufactured. The silk industry was founded and developed by French emigrants, the Huguenots. The reasons for the decline of the textile industry in the first part of the 18th century were the policy of the Amsterdam cloth merchants, who found cheaper producers elsewhere, and the departure of the Naarden weavers, who settled in other parts of the country where opportunities where more favorable. Finally, the industry was transferred to Hilversum, about 5 miles south of Naarden. The only wealthy inhabitants of the town at the end of the 18th century were a few old aristocratic families and some farmers.

During the Middle Ages, Naarden was the seat of the higher judiciary of the district. It also was the agricultural-administrative center of the commons. In the 14th century the Count of Holland had granted the inhabitants of the Gooi the right to use as commons the land not cleared or privately owned or under cultivation. This right applied mainly to woods, marshland, and pastures.

The period of the French Revolution was an unmitigated catastrophe for Naarden. During the siege of 1813-1814 it suffered heavy damage. Industry ceased to exist; the town became a refuge for the destitute and homeless, and the number of inhabitants fell to 1800.

Naarden in 1900.

Naarden in 2016.

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naarden Gooimeer

Onze Lieve Vrouwe Kerk (Our Lady Church)

Fort Ronduit

Naardertrekvaart Singel Arsenal, Barracks Bastion Oud Molen Ravelijn Nieuw Molen-Oud Molen

Bastion Nieuw Molen

Stadhuis (Town Hall) Ravelijn Oranje-Promers Bastion Katte Barracks, Cannon basements Ravelijn Katten-Oranje Oude Haven Nieuwe Haven Bastion Oranje Barracks, Mortier Casemates Utrechtse Poort Ravelijn Oranje-Promers

Ravelijn Turfpoort-Nieuw Molen Mortier Casemates Bastion Turfpoort

Bastion Promers Barracks, Military hospital Ravelijn Promers-Turfpoort Karnemelksloot

Bussummervaart

1:10.000

2.4.4. Alkmaar Alkmaar, Province of Noord Holland, is situated in the midst of marshes and lakes, about 38 kilometers north-northeast of Amsterdam. The name, meaning “all sea,� is first mentioned in the 10th century and refers to the original location of a fishing village. The first charter was granted in 1254.

The early medieval town stood on a sand tongue which extended into the clay and marsh area at the Northwest edge of the Schermer Lake, through which ships could proceed to the ports of Hoorn, Medemblick, and Enkhuizen on the Zuider Zee. To the North a dike road connected Alkmaar with West Friesland.

The division of the urban terrain has been described in detail in Chapter 3. Here it may be sufficient to add that more recent developments have hardly changed the traditional character of the town.

The original division and the shape of the building blocks are more or less the same as in the Middle Ages. There are a few more arbitrarily laid out alleys or lanes giving access to the interior of the building blocks.

alkmaar

Plan of Alkmaar, 1450.

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Map of Alkmaar, 1573.

Map of Alkmaar, 1673.

In 1528, Alkmaar secured from Charles V the right to build a wall in connection with the extension of the urban area and “for this purpose to acquire by assessment houses, trees and other woodland and to demand freight services.�61 An interesting example of an early increment-value tax is known of the year 1558. The town had no market square, a shortcoming it had in common with other old towns. When the extension of the weighing house became necessary, it was decided to lay out a suitable square, and to demolish seven dwelling houses for this purpose. The 2.565 florins which this involved were apportioned among 119 landowners in the four adjoining streets, whose land increased in value through this development.

The main axis, the Langestraat, of the original geest town connected the Grootekerk and its monasteries with the quay, the Mient. Secondary, narrow streets ran parallel to this axis or crossed it at right angles. The town hall was situated near the western end of the Langestraat and the weighing house on the Mient.

Map of Alkmaar, 1558.

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Map of Alkmaar, 1603.

Map of Alkmaar, 1905.

61. R. Eberstadt, Stadtebau und Wonungswesen in Holland, 1914, p. 72.

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Alkmaar’s prosperity rested on its fertile hinterland. Dairying, brewing, sail and rope making, and other minor industries were the main source of its wealth. When a town extension became necessary the only area available was to the East. Consequently, a part of the Voormeer, a shallow section of the Schermer Lake, was reclaimed and developed as a gracht town. Exact dates are not available, but it may be assumed that the work, including the walls and the moat, was completed before 1560.

The Oude Gracht became an inner waterway, losing its function as part of the outer defenses, and two grachten connected the Mient with the new harbor. The old town stood on a slightly higher level than the new extension which was laid out very systematically and with utmost regard to the artificial nature of the terrain.

From 1685 onward, after the reclamation of the surrounding swamps, Alkmaar acquired a considerable trade. It grew from an inland port to an important market center in the midst of polderland, no longer surrounded by marshes and lakes. Alkmaar is the center of cheese export, a function it has performed for many centuries.

Airview of Alkmaar.

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Alkmaar in 2016.

alkmaar

Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk (Saint Lawrence Church)

Stadhuis (Town Hall) Afgesneden Kanaalvlak

Hoornsevaart

Singelgracht

Noordhollands Kanaal

Langestraat

Cheese Markets Voordam Mient

Oudegracht

Nieuwlandersingel Baangracht

Waag (Weigh House)

Luttik Oudorp Verdronkenoord

Molen van Groot (Windmill)

Nieuwlandersingel Schelphoek Baansingel

1:10.000

2.4.5 Amsterdam Amsterdam, Province of Noord Holland, is the capital of the Netherlands but not the seat of the government, which resides in The Hague. The reason for this functional division has a historical origin62. The State General, representing the seven provinces of the Republic, each with full autonomy and its own capital, had always assembled at The Hague since 1595. When the Dutch kingdom was founded after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, it was feared that this assembly would lead to a revival of provincial power and to a weakening of the new and unified administration of the country.

Consequently, Holland, the largest province, was divided into Noord and Zuid Holland, and since Amsterdam had been the most important city of the most important province, it was decided to honor it with the title of “capital”. However, the representatives of the provincial governments, in their capacity as government of the Netherlands, remained in The Hague, where they had resided since 1595 and established their administrative apparatus. Let’s consider some older historical aspects.

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amsterdam

As the result of the great flood of 1287 Noord Holland was surrounded on three sides by the sea – the North Sea and the Zuider Zee, which had formed at this time. The first inhabitants of this village, which extended on both sides of the Amstel, built a dam about 400 meters from its mouth, and called it Amsterdam63.

At about the same time dikes were constructed along the banks of the Amstel to regulate its course, and along the Ij and the Zuider Zee. Before these works were executed the land was unfavorable for permanent settlement. The dikes made it habitable and protected the hinterland against tidal waves. The first settlers established their homes on the dikes along the two banks of the Amstel and the dam. This dam, which is still called “The Dam”, is the center of Amsterdam, with the royal palace, the Nieuwe Kerk, and the central commercial district. The city is first mentioned in 1275 in a document granting it exemption from certain taxes on goods passing through the country. This references proves that not only fishermen but also traders lived there at the time, and that it was a center of transit trade, most probably carried on with the hinterland. The latter assumption is based on indirect evidence, though the conclusion seems to be fully unjustified by inference. At any rate, the region must have been inhabited long before the settlement of the 13th century.

62. http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visiting/about-amsterdam/history-and-society.

63. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 66.

Amsterdam, 1200

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Amsterdam, 1224

The oldest authentic map of Amsterdam (about 1544)

by Cornelis Anthoniszoon.

The town is limited by the Singel on the west, and the Kloveniersburgwal and the Oude Wal on the East.

This theory rests on the fact that as early as 900 a.D. the fishing rights of Wormer, a small village about thirty kilometers north of Amsterdam, were rented by the Bishop of Utrecht.

In 1204, the lord of Amstel, who held the settlement in fee, built a castle at the site of this early village. Protected against the sea, the town grew around this castle and a dam constructed by the lord’s successor. It received a charter in 1300 giving it judicial assessors and a bailiff. In 1342 more privileges were granted, especially exemption from tolls by land and water, in return for the payment of certain annual dues.

Three modest extensions were carried out in 1367, 1380, and 1450, enlarging the urban area by about 1,5 square kilometers to the East and West of the original settlement on the Amstel. In 1481 and during the following years, the city was surrounded by walls with towers and gates and with palisades on the sea side – that is, roughly the present location of the Central Station. It was densely built up, mostly with wooden houses with thatched roofs, a source of repeated fires in most medieval towns at this time. An ordinance of 1521 tried to put an end to these dangers by ordering the demolition of all wooden structures and thatched roofs, but this improvement encountered considerable difficulties in practice owing to the high costs involved. In accordance with a fire regulation issued in about 1400, heavy fines had already been imposed before 1521 on “anyone who fixed candles at the walls, his home or at wooden parts.”64

Amsterdam, about 1558, drawn by Jacob van Deventer for Philip II. 64. http://www.hollandhistory.net/history_of_amsterdam/history_of_amsterdam.html.

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The first dikes along the Amstel delineated the original form of the old Amsterdam and served as bases for the streets which, running on a higher level than the surrounding land, limited the urban area to the western and eastern sides. The city developed therefore as an elongated U, with the Amstel, the outer grachten, and the principal streets all running parallel in a south-north direction. The first extension added a gracht on either side of the original core, parallel to the already existing ones, and an area of about 150.000 square meters. The second and third extensions followed the same principle, turning the existing outer grachten into inner grachten which were then used for shipping, traffic, loading and unloading.

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Amsterdam, 1625

During the 16th century the importance of Amsterdam rose steadily. The War of Liberation, caused a great increase in population. Around 1600 industry and commerce received a fresh impetus then the Dutch began theirs voyages to the East Indies, and Amsterdam became the entrepôt for Indian products. Within a century it was one of the richest and most prosperous cities of Europe, with a population of about 50.000 in 1600, rising to 200.000 in 1700. To cope with this rapid population growth a new extension was undertaken. It added 5,4 square kilometers to the urban area, increasing it to 7,2 square kilometers. This area proved to be adequate for the next two and a half centuries. The famous “plan of the three canals” gave Amsterdam its characteristic form and remarkable beauty.

It was worked out by the Council Architect, Frans Hendrikszoon Outguns, the Council Surveyor, Lucas Sinck, and the Council Master-Builder, Hendrik Jz. Staetz. It incorporated many features typical of the contemporary city planning: systematic and regular division of the land, and a unified development of the urban area as a whole65.

Although modified in accordance with the existing layout and the natural features of the terrain, its basic form is derived from the radio-concentric layout of the Ideal Cities of the period: it is just one half of the usual “geometric spider” pattern. The peculiarity of Amsterdam is that waterways, not streets, were the principal elements of the plan.

Three wide grachten, the Heerengracht, Keizersgracht, and the Prinsengracht, and a number of radial canals form the framework of the new plan. The three main grachten surround the central part, not as semicircles but as broken lines, a device making it possible to give the building blocks a regular shape.

The new residential area of about 5,2 square kilometers was reserved for the wealthy citizens. A district for the less well-to-do and for French refugees, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, was added to the western side of the extension in the Jordaan, a corruption of Le Jardin. Here the radial canals and streets were not focused exactly on the center, and therefore intersected the Prinsengracht not at right angles but at acute angles. This deviation resulted from the previous division of the land, which had consisted of large meadows and fields and whose original canals and roads and footpaths had been preserved. This area was developed by speculators who, unlike the Council in other parts of the city, did not bother to prepare it properly by raising it above the usual Amsterdam 65. K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 67.

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level. An industrial district was laid out in the Eilanden, a part of Amsterdam’s island area. On the East, between the Binnen Amstel in the South and the Houtkoopersburgwal in the North, the foreign quarter grew up, with a large Jewish population consisting mainly of refugees from Spain and Portugal. Here were the houses of Rembrandt and Spinoza and the Portuguese Synagogue.

Most of the 4000 houses giving Amsterdam its extraordinary architectural appeal were built during the second half of the 17th and during the 18th centuries. Numerous warehouse were erected at the principal harbors and the Brouwersgracht. New fortifications with twenty-six bastions were constructed. The medieval center underwent a complete transformation as old buildings and streets were replaced by new structures and canals. Implementation of the plan was entrusted to the Council Architect, Daniel Stalwart (1615-1676). His task demanded the greatest energy and foresight and considerable specialized technical skill and experience, since the whole city rests on piles rammed through the mud and bog layers into the firm clayey ground, sometimes more than 15 meters deep for larger buildings.

Houses along the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam.

Like Venice, Amsterdam is one of the most artificial cities. Both were built on islands, and both were wrested from the sea through the utmost resolution and perseverance of a people determined to continue the work of their predecessors and make their city a symbol of the achievement which the unison of collective and individual wills alone could produce. Seventeenth-century Amsterdam was not the product of an arrogant and self-glorifying aristocracy like Versailles, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Pienza, and many other Residence Cities. It was the work of the merchant princes who dominated the City Council. These men were certainly proud of their wealth and influence, but they used their power for peaceful ends, applying the same principles which had made them prosperous capitalists and entrepreneurs to the development of their city. Their professional rationalism convinced them that only a systematic conduct of their affairs in general, and efficiency in detail, coupled with the advantages of double-entry bookkeeping, could guarantee success in the long run. This attitude introduced a strong element of systematic planning on a large scale, of the right choice of the available means, and of precision and foresight. These were exactly the same methods which the merchant princes felt should also guide the renewal of their city. The cooperation of private and public initiative, of private and public capital, was the natural result. The municipality had to control the individual actions of its members and coordinate them in order to produce the maximum result.

This conviction was justified in the light of their personal experience and the spirit of the times.

However, the unfortunate by-product of this procedure, as so often in the history of capitalism, was

Amsterdam, 1649

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that the poorer classes profited least from this benevolent paternalism. The development of their residential districts was handed over to profit-seeking speculators, the City Council shutting its eyes to their asocial and predatory activities. Thus the seeds were sown for slum quarters and a rootless proletariat. This is the other, the less pleasant, aspect of cooperation between public and private capital which should be considered if the general plan of the city is to be evaluated correctly.

Seventeenth century Amsterdam was a city of merchants, for the merchants, by the merchants. As such it achieved a greatness and architectural harmony expressing in purity the ideals of this class and this period.

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In 1609 the city was authorized by the States General to expand its urban area and acquire land by compulsory purchase. Consequently, ordinances for the compulsory acquisition of land, an increment-value tax, and building bylaws were issued. Equipped with these instruments the Council, through its architect Stalpaert, developed a zoning plan which, from the very beginning, fixed the use of the urban land and the type of buildings in the newly settled areas. Prices were adjusted correspondingly. The cheapest locations at the periphery of the city were allocated to the poorer classes.

Shops and offices were mainly established at the radial streets where the plots brought higher prices for business enterprises. The piece de resistance was the belt of the three grachten which was developed as the most elegant residential quarter. The interior of these expensive building blocks had to remain free of buildings. Bylaws, issued in the years 1612 to 1663 and still in use today, fixed the distance between the backs of the buildings at 48,7 meters and forbade the erection of dwelling houses between these “interior building lines.� Garden houses and pavilions were permitted. The average plot had 7,9 meters of frontage and could be built up to no more than 56 percent. Noxious trades, such as blacksmiths, brewers, coopers, dyemakers, glass blowers, soap-boilers, stonecutters and others, were excluded from this area. A further ordinance of considerable importance prohibited the subdivision of the plots within this district by inner passages, slopjes or steegjes.

Amsterdam, 1698

105

A period of relative calm followed the great building activity of the 17th and 18th centuries which had not only increased the urban area but had fundamentally changed the face of the city through the erection of numerous new buildings. This lasted from about 1780 to 1860. Then Amsterdam began to grow again, a development continuing to the present. The North Sea Canal (1865-1876), 24 kilometers long, connecting the city with the North Sea, stimulated the revival. The fortifications were demolished. New extensions outside the Singel Gracht, the outermost canal surrounding the city, were carried through without a well-considered plan, and the buildings in this area were below the standard of those in the inner town. Amsterdam’s population rose from 250.000 in 1850 to 500.000 in 1900.

For Gutkind, old Amsterdam is perhaps “the most perfect example of a systematically planned city”:

106

Amsterdam, 1835

It is an irrefutable proof of man’s ability to master his environment, if his will is strong enough to translate his vision into the reality of brick and mortar. Amsterdam is one of the very few cities which imposes a clear image upon every visitor, an image on a large scale that clings to the mind and embraces the city as a whole. This is perhaps the greatest achievement of the master planners of the 16th and 17th centuries66.

Amsterdam, 1908 66. Ibidem.

Amsterdam, 2016

107

108

amsterdam

Oude Kerk (Old Church)

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)

Brouwersgracht Ij Singel Herengracht

Damrak

Keizergracht

Oosterdok Oude Waal

Prinsengracht Lijnbaansgracht Singelgracht Rokin

Dam

Oudeschans Oudezijds Voorburgwal

Paleis op de Dam (Royal Palace)

Oudezijds Achterburgwal Kloveniersburgwal Amstel Amsterdamse effectenbeurs (Exchange of Amsterdam)

Central Railway Station

1:20.000

2.4.6 Leiden Leiden, Province of Zuid Holland, on the confluence of the Rhine, Mare, and Vliet, stands on a site where about 800 a.D. three small hamlets (perhaps only a group of farmhouses) were situated. This early settlement was called Leithen, meaning aan de Wateren, ‘’on the water,” a term preserved in the later name of Leiden. The hamlets occupied a strip of high ground on the left bank of the Rhine, where the inhabitants were secure from flooding.

leiden

110

Leiden, 1294

The medieval town developed around the burcht, which served as a refuge in times of danger. It was surrounded by palisades and later by brick walls. Its situation on an artificial hill between the branches of the Rhine was favorable not only for defense but also as a strongpoint from which the surrounding country could be watched and easily dominated. Owing to its advantageous position on three rivers the town grew steadily.

At the beginning of the 13th century an extension of the urban area became necessary. Its main features were the Breestraat, a dike street, a church, and the residence of the Counts of Holland, built on lower ground because the dike was too narrow to accommodate larger buildings, apart from the street67.

About 1300 a charter was granted. According to local tradition, large numbers of textile workers from Flanders, in particular from Ypres, had immigrated to Leiden. The available area was insufficient for the greatly increased population. At the end of the 13th century, in 1294, another extension, south of the burcht, took place. This second extension transformed Leiden from a dike town to a grachten town: Four canals, running parallel at distances of 45 to 60 meters and crossed by narrow lanes, were laid out. However, this system was not the result of a newly and systematically conceived plan but was merely the adaptation of the existing division of the polderland to its use as an inhabitable area. The old sloten, the ditches, were deepened and widened, while the higher access roads which crossed the ditches at right angles were used as side streets68.

Thus, the inner structure of the extension was determined by the formerly existing subdivision of the polder. The building density within the new addition was low, with many open spaces in the interior of the blocks. A third extension was begun in 1355 and a fourth in 1389 to the North, west, and south of the burcht. The extension of 1389 took more than thirty years to complete. Grachten, a few streets, and long and narrow building blocks divided the new area, which was densely settled in a short time. At the beginning of the 14th century the population had passed the 10.000 mark, and Leiden was the largest city in the Netherlands.

67. See K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe, p. 77.

68. Ibidem, p. 78.

111

112

Leiden, 1386

During the 16th century the trades, especially – once again - the textile industry, continued to expand. A growing number of weavers and other workmen from all parts of the country, from Flanders, France, and Germany, settled in Leiden. About 1556 this prosperous development was temporarily interrupted when local and foreign competition caused a decline in the textile industry.

Half the working population had to live on subsidies. After the siege by the Spaniards in 1581 the recession was overcome, and the textile industry began to thrive again, though on a new basis, that of cheap and light woolen stuffs brought in by immigrant Flemings69.

113

Plan of Leiden in 14th century, showing the three extensions of the urban area.

69. http://www.historyofholland.com/leiden-netherlands.html

114

Leiden, 1576

After a few decades the urban area within the walls was overcrowded and slums developed.

A new extension was unavoidable. It was begun in 1610 and added 340.000 square meters at the northern side of the town. As a first step, canals and walls with four bastions were built.

Streets and the laying out of plots followed in 161270, in a manner that “appeared suitable to the greatest advantage and embellishment of the town.” Straight roads and rectangular blocks were characteristic of this extension. However, the pressure of the mounting population on the available space was so great that soon a shortage of small houses, with all the typical disadvantages of overcrowding, developed. As Orlers described it: One turned to the demolition of large and beautiful houses and to a subdivision of the plots into small sections. Thus four, six, or eight small houses were built on the site of one large dwelling, and whole new streets were laid out71.

The fifth and last extension took place in two stages – in 1644 and 1659 – to the East. The houses of the wealthy merchants and important offices occupied the streets on both banks of the Heerengracht in the western part of the new development, and rows of workshops and workers’ houses filled the long and narrow blocks in the eastern section. In 1660 Leiden covered an area of 1,6 square kilometers. By 1732 the population had grown to 70,000 inhabitants. But this statistical prosperity was not without serious drawbacks. In about 1634, after a depression of the textile industry, 20,000 people received a bread dole. Ten years before, in 1624, epidemics—at least partly caused by stagnant and polluted water in the canals— took the lives of 14,000 persons. This led to the filling-in of a number of grachten.

Like other towns, Leiden had the right to acquire by compulsory purchase the terrain needed for Map of Leiden, 1670 extensions. In the early Middle Ages this right had been granted only for the acquisition of land needed for fortifications. Later this was extended, through a privilege of 1386, to include all land Plan of Leiden, 1670 required for extension of the urban area in general. One fixed price for all plots was assessed by the municipality, irrespective of different values of the expropriated plots.

Leiden, 1903 Leiden, 2016 70. https://www.cwts.nl/about-leiden

71. J. Orlers, Beschrijvinge der stad Leiden, 1641, p. 50.

115

116

117

118

leiden

Burcht (Castle)

Haarlemmer Trekvaart

Korte Mare Langegracht Oude Vest

Stadhuis (Town hall)

Spuihaven Spuihaven

De Haven Rijn Oude Rijn Groenhazengracht Nieuwe Rijn Doelengracht Breestraat Rapenburg Steenschuur

Binnenoostsingel Zuidsingel Hooigracht

Molen De Valk Molen De Put (Windmill)

Herengracht Oranjegracht Waardgracht Binnenvestgracht

Morspoort Zijlpoort (Gate)

Vliet

Single Rijn- en Schiekade

Trekvliet

Koornbrug (Korn bridge)

Meelfabriek (Project area)

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CHAPTER 3 ALKMAAR, AMSTERDAM, LEIDEN

3.1 ALKMAAR 3.1.1 EVOLUTION OF THE CITIES

122

alkmaar

Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk (Saint Lawrence Church)

Langestraat

123

1450

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124

alkmaar

Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk (Saint Lawrence Church)

Stadhuis (Town Hall)

Waag (Weigh House)

125

1558

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alkmaar

Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk (Saint Lawrence Church)

Stadhuis (Town Hall)

Waag (Weigh House)

127 Molen van Groot (Windmill)

1600

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128

alkmaar

Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk (Saint Lawrence Church)

Stadhuis (Town Hall) Afgesneden Kanaalvlak

Hoornsevaart

Singelgracht

Noordhollands Kanaal

Langestraat

Cheese Markets Voordam Mient

Oudegracht

Waag (Weigh House)

Luttik Oudorp

Nieuwlandersingel

Verdronkenoord

Baangracht

Molen van Groot (Windmill)

Nieuwlandersingel Schelphoek Baansingel

2016

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Alphega apotheek Kruisinga, Fharmacy Brokers & Advisors Restaurant Wereldwijd Plus Wandel4Daagse, event center Hollands Restaurant Moeke Extase Alkmaar B.V., Discoteque

Cheese factory Eyssen Momi-K-Kitchen Art Bever The Beatles Museum

3.1.2 ANALYSIS OF THE SINGEL

Foundation Cultural Square 2000 Bodrum Doner Kebap Huis

Casino The Strip

Clarissenbolwerk 1, powder house

DekaMarkt Snackhouse Kroky B.V. Salon B Parking Café De Brug Bloembinderij Jaap Schipper, Florist

ALKMAAR

Victoriapark

Molen van Groot

Zilte.nl, Shop Café de Bushalte

alkmaar

SECOND SECTION General strategy of the project

Clarissenbolwerk 2015

Frieseweg

1700

Molen van Groot

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3.1.3 TIME OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE URBAN BUILDINGS

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existing situation

alkmaar

2016

Year of construction > 2005 1995 - 2005 1985 - 1995 1975 - 1985 1960 - 1975 1945 - 1960 1930 - 1945 1900 - 1930 1850 - 1900 1800 - 1850 < 1800

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3.2 AMSTERDAM 3.2.1 EVOLUTION OF THE CITIES

134

amsterdam

Oude Kerk (Old Church)

Ij

Amstel

Oudezijds Voorburgwal

1250

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136

amsterdam

Oude Kerk (Old Church)

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) Singel

Oudezijds Achterburgwal Kloveniersburgwal

1544

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138

amsterdam

Oude Kerk (Old Church)

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)

1592

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140

amsterdam

Oude Kerk (Old Church)

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) Jordaan Herengracht Keizergracht

Oude Waal

Prinsengracht

Paleis op de Dam (Royal Palace)

Oudeschans

1649

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142

amsterdam

Oude Kerk (Old Church)

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)

Paleis op de Dam (Royal Palace)

Singelgracht

1835

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144

amsterdam

Oude Kerk (Old Church)

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)

Brouwersgracht Ij Singel Herengracht

Damrak

Keizergracht

Oosterdok Oude Waal

Prinsengracht Lijnbaansgracht Singelgracht Rokin

Dam

Oudeschans Oudezijds Voorburgwal

Paleis op de Dam (Royal Palace)

Oudezijds Achterburgwal Kloveniersburgwal Amstel Amsterdamse effectenbeurs (Exchange of Amsterdam)

Central Railway Station

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Haarlemmerpoort Demmenie Sport Park

3.2.2 ANALYSIS OF THE SINGEL Marnixbad, swimming pool

Motivaction, research institute Park Politie Amsterdam-Amstelland CafĂŠ Sound Garden

AmsterdamArt.net, art gallery Fire department

Moeders, restaurant

Marnix Parking; Waterkant, restaurant

AMSTERDAM Bus station

Police Headquarters

Hotel Kooyk Theater Bellevue Holland Casino Paradiso, theatre

American Hotel

Windmill De Gooyer

Hard Rock Cafe Muiderpoort

Office building

Foundation State Academy of Fine Arts

Weteringplantsoen

Heineken Weteringcircuit

Company for property management Politie Hyatt Regency, hotel Employment agency InterContinental Amstel, hotel Hotel Iris De Nederlandsche Bank Hotel Notting Hill

amsterdam

Foundation State Academy of Fine Arts Marnix Parking Waterkant, restaurant 2015

Holland Casino Hard Rock Cafe Paradiso, theatre

1670

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3.2.3 TIME OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE URBAN BUILDINGS

148

existing situation

amsterdam

2016

149

Year of construction > 2005 1995 - 2005 1985 - 1995 1975 - 1985 1960 - 1975 1945 - 1960 1930 - 1945 1900 - 1930 1850 - 1900 1800 - 1850 < 1800

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3.3 LEIDEN 3.3.1 EVOLUTION OF THE CITIES

150

leiden

Burcht (Castle)

Stadhuis (Town hall)

Breestraat

1294

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152

leiden

Burcht (Castle)

Stadhuis (Town hall)

Heerengracht Hooigracht

1300

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154

leiden

Burcht (Castle)

Stadhuis (Town hall)

Haarlemmerstraat

1350

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156

leiden

Burcht (Castle)

Stadhuis (Town hall)

1389

1:10.000

158

leiden

Burcht (Castle)

Stadhuis (Town hall) Langegracht

Molen De Valk (Windmill)

1610

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160

leiden

Burcht (Castle)

Stadhuis (Town hall)

Molen De Valk (Windmill)

Morspoort Zijlpoort (Gate)

1670

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162

leiden

Burcht (Castle)

Haarlemmer Trekvaart

Korte Mare Langegracht

Stadhuis (Town hall)

Spuihaven

Oude Vest

Spuihaven De Haven

Binnenoostsingel

Rijn

Zuidsingel Hooigracht

Oude Rijn Groenhazengracht Nieuwe Rijn

Molen De Valk Molen De Put (Windmill)

Herengracht

Doelengracht

Oranjegracht

Breestraat

Waardgracht

Rapenburg

Binnenvestgracht

Steenschuur

Morspoort Zijlpoort (Gate)

Vliet

Single Rijn- en Schiekade

Koornbrug (Korn bridge)

2016

Trekvliet

Meelfabriek (Project area)

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Petit Restaurant De Valk

Pilot Booth

Molen De Valk

Nieuwe Energie, business premises

leiden

Power plant Servicepunt71 Building administration

3.3.2 ANALYSIS OF THE SINGEL Huigpark

Van der Werff Stadscafé

Elementary school De Brug National Museum of Ethnology

Blekerspark Cemetery

Het Paviljoen Morspoort

Zijlpoort Molen De Put Ankerpark Rembrandtpark

Café-Diner de Grote Beer Arsenaalplein Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies

Meelfabriek

LEIDEN

Katoenpark

Linguistic center University of Leiden

Cemetery Groenesteeg

University of Leiden

Hortus botanicus of Leiden

Eco Watches NL

Leiden Observatory Babbels restaurant BMS Network Notaries

Restaurant/Grand Café "De Vriend" Regionaal Archief Leiden

Southern pumping station Café Van Hout

BTP International Artists The foundation Plantsoen Theater

leiden

National Museum of Ethnology Section A

A

C

2015 Meelfabriek Section C

1670 Legend close open B

entrance section Hortus botanicus Leiden Leiden Observatory Sezione B

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3.3.3 TIME OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE URBAN BUILDINGS

166

existing situation

leiden

2016

Year of construction > 2005 1995 - 2005 1985 - 1995 1975 - 1985 1960 - 1975 1945 - 1960 1930 - 1945 1900 - 1930 1850 - 1900 1800 - 1850 < 1800

1:10.000

SECOND SECTION General strategy of the project

CHAPTER 4 LEIDEN

existing situation

leiden

2016

4.1 MAPPING OF PUBLIC AND CULTURAL BUILDINGS

Molenbuurt Noordvest Havenwijk-Noord

Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Oude Morsch De Camp

Marewijk Pancras-Oost

Pieterswijk Pancras-West MEELFABRIEK

Havenwijk-Zuid

Academiewijk

De Waard

Levendaal-West Lavendaal-Oost

Neighborhoods Daycare 15-30 people

Primary school 50-100 people

VMBO <100 people

Clinic (poli-,psychiatric)

Cinema

Daycare 60-75 people

Primary school 100-200 people

VMBO 100-150 people

Hospital

Theatre

Kindergarden

Primary school 200-300 people

HAVO/VWO <200 people

Nursing home

Preschool 15-30 people

HAVO/VWO 400-600 people

Retirement home

Preschool >40 people

HAVO/VWO 600-800 people

Universy

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existing situation 2016

leiden

ANALYSIS OF THE MACRO-AREAS OF THE OLD TOWN

Molenbuurt Noordvest Havenwijk-Noord

Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Oude Morsch De Camp

Marewijk Pancras-Oost

Pieterswijk Pancras-West MEELFABRIEK Academiewijk

Havenwijk-Zuid De Waard

Levendaal-West Lavendaal-Oost

Neighborhoods Retail

Cinema

Residential area

Theatre

Business area Cemetery Park Socio-cultural service

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project strategy 2016

leiden

4.2 GENERAL PROJECT STRATEGY

LINEAR PARK

SHOPPING

MEELFABRIEK

neighborhood Retail New shops Residential area New linear park Socio-cultural service New socio-cultural service Business area

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1700 HISTORICAL CITY

1850 CONTEMP CITY

close

open

174

4.3 STUDY OF THE PROJECT AREA

1700 HISTORICAL CITY

1850 CONTEMPORARY CITY

175

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open

project 2016 1670

176

havenwijk-zuid site

project project 2016

2016

havenwijk-zuid meelfabriek havenwijk-z meelfabr site s

177

project 2016

178

meelfabriek site

project

project

2016

2016

havenwijk-zuid meelfabriek meelfabriek site site residential neighborhood

ankerpark

179

katoenpark

existing situation

meelfabriek

2016

Extension mill, 1947

Boiler house, 1896

Tower of silos, 1968

Cleaning building, 1937

Silos, 1904

Mill, 1931

180 Silos, 1937 Silos, 1955

Silos, 1938

1960 - 1975 1945 - 1960 1930 - 1945 1900 - 1930 1850 - 1900

Flour warehouse, 1937

4.3.1. Meelfabriek: Flour factory “de Sleutels” The area of the project is that of the former Dutch flour factory De Sleutels72. The “Meelfabriek” (literally, in dutch, the “flour factory”) is located on the street Oosterkerkstraat 18, next to the canal the Zijlsingel in Leiden. Obviously, on the singel portion of the town, formerly occupied by bastions which were part of the historic fortifications of Leiden: In 1855 the excises on the mill in the Netherlands were repealed. At the same time a steamroller to roll the grain was invented, which replaced the old mill stones and made the production of flour faster and easier73.

181

Meelfabriek, 1844 72. The main texts that guide is into the consideration and analysis of the project area are two master thesis, discussed at the Amsterdam University in the summer of 2012: M. Van Loenhout, Renovation of the flour factory, Master thesis, Amsterdam, June 2012 and E. van den Berg, Het Herbestemmingproces van De Meelfabriek in Leiden (1988-2008) .Een Onderzoek naar de Waardering van Industrieel Erfgoed, Amsterdam, june 2012. We confronted this two works with other studies and with what we could observe and study directly and working with a local architect.

73. M. Van Loenhout, Renovation of the flour factory, Master thesis, Amsterdam, June 2012 and E. van den Berg, Het Herbestemmingproces van De Meelfabriek in Leiden (1988-2008), p. 29.

In 1884 the flour factory was established by Adriaan Koole and Arie de Koster on a former defence wall. It was build next to the canal Zijlsingel and the street now known as Oosterkerkstraat It was an industrial complex that, as any flour factory, produced flour out of grain. In the past, flour was processed and different types of grain were transported by boat over the adjacent canals.

The complex has now become one of the most important relics of the rich industrial past of Leiden, an historical landmark in the city and is part of the Dutch industrial heritage.

The complex consists of various and large buildings from different periods: The factory is built on the site of the former defence walls. The complex consists of ten buildings, which are built in different time periods and with different purposes74.

All of them all had their own function in the factory process: a boiler house, a cleaning building, one big building with silos for grain, a flour warehouse, a mill, one silo building for the flour, an office with a staff residence, a laboratory, a cycle shed and garage, and a building with workshops75.

182

Meelfabriek, 1900

Meelfabriek, 1910

74. Ibidem.

75. Ibidem, p. 7.

Meelfabriek, 1925

All the buildings of the factory complex were designed by the office of Architects B.N.A. in Leiden.

First, the architect W.C. Mulder (1850-1920) designed the boiler house and the first silos76.

When Mulder passed away ir. B. Buurman (1883-1951) designed the mill and its extension77, the new silos78, the flour storage, the cleaning building, the office with a residence and he worked together with ir. I.M.P. Schutte (1914-2007) on the expansion of the silos, the cycle shed and garage and the last expansion of the silos.

The factory faced a period of great prosperity and technological progress. It was at the time a state of the art steam driven flower mill. The owners took advantage of the latest technologies such as pneumatic unloading grain and installed electric lighting as one of the first companies in Leiden. After World War II the factory entered a period of great prosperity. In the late fifties the factory produced 420 tons of flour daily, accounting for 750.000 loaves of bread.

183

Meelfabriek, 1956

Meelfabriek, 1978

76. See Ibidem, p. 7.

77. The Mill was extended in 1947. See M. Van Loenhout, Renovation of the flour factory, Master thesis, Amsterdam, June 2012 and E. van den Berg, Het Herbestemmingproces van De Meelfabriek in Leiden (1988-2008), p. 18.

78. See Ibidem, p. 19.

184

185

This production accounted for approximately twenty percent of the demand of the Dutch population: Around 1900 the factory consisted of one factory building where all the processes of making flour took place. However, as after the Second World War the production was increased to 20% of the Dutch flour production the factory had to expand79.

Schutte designed the last building, the tower with silos, together with G. H. Bellaard (1926-1994): The tower of silos was added to the complex in 1968 to store the flour in silos instead of sacks. It has eleven floors and a total floor space area of 4400 m²80.

The Dutch company Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Beton en Aannemingmaatschappij (van Waning & Co) of Rotterdam and the HollandscheBetonMij. N.V. was the building constructors at that time.

186

79. Ibidem, p. 33.

80. Ibidem, p. 21.

Meelfabriek, 1980

The steam driven flour mill, founded in 1884 and had to close down due to economic reasons in 1988. The history of this place stopped that year and Meelfabriek is closed since then.

From the nineties Meelfabriek has a new owner, but till present times it is still not in use. Ab van der Wiel purchased De Meelfabriek in 1998. He wanted to preserve the factory and redevelop the site.

One ‘critic point’ of the story of De Sleutels was at the time the factory closed its doors81. Infact the municipality of Leiden could not decide whether it was a monument or not, and if so what the new function should be. It was a “problematic redevelopment process”: After the mill closed in 1988, its future was uncertain. The start of the redevelopment process of the factory was set in a time of new developments in the field of national heritage. It became clear in the 1980s that there was no public support for recognising new monuments built prior to 1850. This was even more the case with industrial heritage monuments82.

Only in 2000, finally and luckily, they made a decision and most of the buildings became listed monuments of the state.

In 2001 the municipality of Leiden developed a list of demands as basis for the design.

This list is based on the urban design plan of Leiden, namely Bestemmingsplan I. In the list the municipality expresses the desire for the redevelopment of the area of the flour factory regarding urban design, infrastructure and planting83.

A plan was made by the municipality for reusing the buildings: Currently there are a lot of vacant buildings available. To reuse these buildings, which may or may not have monumental status, the project has to be financially feasible84.

81. See http://demeelfabriek.nl/ 82. See M. Van Loenhout, Renovation of the flour factory, Master thesis, Amsterdam, June 2012 and E. van den Berg, Het Herbestemmingproces van De Meelfabriek in Leiden (1988-2008), p. 3 83. E. van den Berg, Het Herbestemmingproces van De Meelfabriek in Leiden (1988-2008) .Een Onderzoek naar de Waardering van Industrieel Erfgoed, Amsterdam, june 2012, p. 5.

84. M. Van Loenhout, Renovation of the flour factory, Master thesis, Amsterdam, June 2012 and E. van den

187

That happened not before a period of mistakes and attemps:

Top view, 2014

It’s clear that crucial mistakes were made during the initial years of the redevelopment of the mill factory. This should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the developments in the national heritage sector at the time. People’s attitudes to industrial heritage changed dramatically during this period from detesting it to accepting it. It’s unclear whether the city council at that time knew of the existence of the OHG-model, which was in any case not correctly applied to De Sleutels. This led to a troubled first decade of the factory’s redevelopment85.

On one hand, a design was made by the architect Peter Zumthor to give the existing buildings new purposes and valorize this area again86: Peter Zumthor and Partner are selected to make a redesign for the factory complex. The design is based on the demands of the municipality of Leiden87.

188

De Meelfabriek is ready for a new future and will secure a place in the hearts of Leiden citizens and its visitors88.

On the other hand, as we’ll see later, there is also a project for a park, Leiden “full circle”, from an emerging Dutch office for landscape architecture, based in Rotterdam, called LOLA.

Berg, Het Herbestemmingproces van De Meelfabriek in Leiden (1988-2008), p. 33.

85. Ibidem, p. 39.

86. Ibidem, p. 33.

87. E. van den Berg, Het Herbestemmingproces van De Meelfabriek in Leiden (1988-2008) .Een Onderzoek naar de Waardering van Industrieel Erfgoed, Amsterdam, june 2012, p. 5.

88. Ibidem, p. 7.

Meelfabriek view, 2016

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190

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4.3.2 Zumthor’s project: The office creative industry Zumthor’s project in the Meelfabriek is a plan that I obviously considered, studied and understood before proposing my project. The idea of my project eventually differs quite a lot from the one of the swiss architect. Not because I was critic with some of its aspects, of because I found some weak points, but mainly because of the mere choice of different functions.

In sums, we could reunite the main differences between my project and Zumthor’s one in two points and indicate a general common point. The similarity between Zumthor’s project and mine is that they both propose new functions for the old factory, in order to re-use it. The first difference, instead, could be summarized as multiplicity vs unity: one of the main ideas of my project is to conceive the singel as a unite whole, a coherent theme that connects to Leiden history of tissues and drapery commerce. Even Zumthor, of course, presents a unity and coherence of elements, but they are many more and more heterogeneous: a hotel, apartments, a show room, a restaurant, flats for students, shops, a gallery, apartments for young businessmen…

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The swiss architect projected a mix of functions and spaces, addressed to various scopes and clients.

A plural unity of different functions, as I said, based on the actual necessities of the inhabitants of the area. There are offices, residences, a hotel and even rooms for relax and free time, but not bound to one unique theme.

On second hand Zumthor’s project consists of an office creative industry, whereas mine consists of a new fashion district for Leiden. And that’s why before I said that my project also contains a recall to Leiden’s history of tissues and commerce.

Actually Zumthor is not the only architect involved. As a matter of fact, once his masterplan was approved, another dutch architectural study intervened on it: After the master plan was approved, a mandate was given to the successful Dutch architect Bart Akkerhuis- based in Paris - to update the master plan. The plans of Studio Akkerhuis show that De Meelfabriek is going to be a very special place in Leiden89.

89. See http://demeelfabriek.nl/en/architecten.

Model view

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Lastly, a third architect designed the public space:

The public square, the park designed by Piet Oudolf ensures that De Meelfabriek will be interwoven with the city, the water and the future of the Singel Park90.

Also, Further collaboration with Dutch architect Jan Splinter includes designing apartments for young professionals. Landscape architect Piet Oudolf will design the Meelfabriek Garden and the Meelfabriek Square. Piet Oudolf is, among other, known from the High Line in New York. Once a derelict railway line above the city it is now a hugely popular 2.2 kilometer long city park91.

Municipality, The Public Service of Cultural Inheritance and owner made an agreement that the architect has this freedom to make a good design that fits the urban plan of the city of Leiden, as the architect himself explained92.

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now consider his project a little more in detail.

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Peter Zumthor, in general, believes there is beauty and strength in the physical structures of the buildings: The master plan for the redevelopment of De Meelfabriek is designed by the world famous Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. On the basis of his plan it is the belief that the buildings derive their character from their supporting structure93.

He emphasises the structures of the factory buildings as the real monumental values.

In my buildings I try to enhance what seems to be valuable, to correct what is disturbing and to create anew what we feel is missing94.

90. Ibidem.

91. See http://demeelfabriek.nl/en/architecten.

92. See M. Van Loenhout, Renovation of the flour factory, Master thesis, Amsterdam, June 2012 and E. van den Berg, Het Herbestemmingproces van De Meelfabriek in Leiden (1988-2008), p. 41.

93. See http://demeelfabriek.nl/en/architecten.

94. Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture, Basel, Birkhauser, 2006, p. 24

The structure of these monuments is more important than the aesthetics of the building, which makes it possible to allow a certain freedom to design. Therefore the structures will be preserved.: The structures have to become visible to give the buildings a strong identity. All the buildings, except for the boiler house will get a new faรงade. The walls of these facades are non-insulated and have single-pane windows. Therefore, it is not efficient to keep those. The new facades will be transparent in order to highlight these old structures. Any addition or adaptation is done in a different manner to distinguish it from the existing parts95.

Peter Zumthor made a design for the factory with the redeveloping demands of the municipality of Leiden as preconditions.

The lost canal is reinstated. A footbridge connects the new square, Aspen place on the West side with the old factory square on the east side. In the western part new buildings are added. The whole area becomes a pedestrian area and the canal makes the connection with the two squares in east and west. Parking space is provided in a large underground car park96.

As we said, the street level of the complex is designed as public space and is a pedestrian area.

It consists of large open areas with plants and trees and a new harbour. On this level the access to the entrances of the buildings and the underground parking is located, as the masterplan shows97.

Model view 95. Ibidem, p. 41.

96. See Ibidem.

97. See http://www.demeelfabriek.nl/nl/masterplan/

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4.3.3. The park: Singelpark: LOLA’s Leiden full circle The area of the Meelfabriek was Originally an open stretch of land which was built around the city.

As we explained, during the 19th and 20th century this area developed into an industrial belt.

But at the end of the 20th century most of the buildings were dismantled in accordance with the desire of the city council to create a green belt of parks around historic downtown98.

Likewise our project of a linear park running along the singel, the project of a park was recently assigned to the LOLA group of Landscape architects, in order to valorize the green element of this area, also present in its past shape: “The footprint of the Singelpark is set in the Golden Age”99.

The aim of this ambitious project, and the methods kept, are not far at all from mine:

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The vision that lies before the reader is based on the knowledge we obsessively gained in the past two months about Leiden, its history, its challenges and its people. It is based on our conception of city parks, nature and society. We visited and photographed the city extensively, met with and interviewed people, read books and researched the web.

We hope the result is an idea that makes Leiden proud100.

The idea of a new park for Leiden is actually not new nor simple: The Singelpark is not a regular project; it is a rather abstract ideal, shared by the many citizens of Leiden. The ideal can be seen as a comprehensive cloud of ideas and ambitions, a complex sequence of do’s and don’ts that is impossible to capture in just a single image or slogan101.

The park will consist in a mixture of technological design, sport (such as skating), nature (for example with a hortus botanicus with cosmopolitan plants), cultural and information (trough interactive spots).

And of course relax and walk. Baths, garden, historic places are only some of the elements that are planned. And also multiple roots for running and cyclying, house boats etc.

98. Singelpark Leiden full circle, LOLA Landscape architects, pp. 7-18.

99. Singelpark Leiden full circle, LOLA Landscape architects, p. 7.

100. Ibidem, p. 5.

101. Ibidem, p. 13.

The project of the Singelpark is mainly based on four themes: Maximum diversity; Cosmopolitan nature; Intuitive navigation and Free space. It deals with the challenge to combine “unity and diversity (…) control and laissez faire”: We want it all: the question is how we want it and where we want it1.

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Singelpark by LOLA Landscape Architects 1. Ibidem.

THIRD SECTION Project

CHAPTER 5 FASHION DISTRICT

FD

5.1 CONCEPT OF THE PROJECT

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culture

NEW

FASHION DISTRICT

SHOPPING

atelier

5.2 DEMOLISHING, FLOWS AND PUBLIC SPACE EXISTING SITUATION Ankerpark

DEMOLISHING/PRESERVING Zijlsingel

Residences

close

reconnect Katoenpark

Plaza

general FLOWS Theme plaza

project FLOWS open space GROUND FLOOR

1 3 4 5

the old city

2 6 7

the modern city 8

n.

building core point of view

PUBLIC SPACE

INTERVENTION FREE SHAPES FREE RELATION with the outline of the existing buildings

PATIO catwalk

fashion institute PLAZA

flows

PROJECT

SHOP WINDOWS

CATWALK OUTDOORS

entrance

FOR USERS:

RESIDENCE PARK

T TUA T O FLOUR FACTORY RY

CUT

206 PRIVATE PROPERTY

RESIDENCE

SINGEL

CLOSE

AT R USERS:

RESIDENCE PARK WORK

R O CT FASHION DISTRICT I

INSTITUTE SHOPPING

OPEN RE-CONNECT E

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CITY IT PROPERTY

RESIDENCE

SINGEL

5.3 CAPACITOR OF SHOPPING, CULTURE AND ATELIER

fashion museum catwalk theatre

culture

panorama

brand C

NEW

FASHION DISTRICT

brand A

brand B

fashion institute

SHOPPING brand D

brand E

workshop

atelier managment

design

SHOPPING BRAND A OFFICE

BRAND A DESIGNER

NEW

BRAND A HD

BRAND A PRODUCTION

BRAND A WAREHOUSE

storage

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RESTAURANT

5.4 PUBLIC AND CULTURE

BRAND A

catwalk theatre

BRAND B BRAND C BRAND D BRAND E

CATWALK

theatre bike

bike entranc e

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FASHION INSTITUTE, MUSEUM

catwalk theatre

5.5 SHOPPING AND ATELIER

BRAND D

212

AN D

A

BRAND B

BR

BRAND C

PRIVATE SEMI-PRIVATE

OFFICE/ATELIER

PRIVATE

OFFICE/ATELIER

SEMI-PUBLIC PUBLIC

CO-WORKING

SHOPS expo/entrance

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LANTERN

PLAN OF THE GROUND FLOOR

0 10

50 m

ROOF PLAN

0 10

50 m

PLAN OF THE FIRST FLOOR

216

0 10

50 m

PLAN OF THE FIFTH FLOOR

217

0 10

50 m

OFFICE co-working

SECTION A

ATELIER shops public space

218 PANORAMA

RESTAURANT FASHION INSTITUTE OFFICE co-working

classroom

ATELIER

SECTION B

MUSEUM/shops public space

0 10

50 m

A B

C

RESTAURANT catwalk OFFICE

219 co-working OFFICE

ATELIER

SECTION C

0 10

ATELIER Shops public space

50 m

project

meelfabriek floor plans

2016 GROUND FLOOR public space

FIRST FLOOR shops

FIFTH FLOOR co-working

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EXTRA NATURE in free shapes enclosed space within the LANTERNS EXPOSITION of the different brands

DIFFERENT NATURE in the historical buildings; different BRAND SHAPE within the original boundary; different ATMOSPHERE of each brand CONNECTION between the shops

SAME NATURE in the historical buildings one big OPEN SPACE

project

meelfabriek ground floor

2016

221

EXPO/ ENTRANCE LANTERN

222

project

meelfabriek first floor

2016

rainy boots BRAND E trial

bags

BRAND D stage travel city evening office sport

jacket coat shoes

hand towel shower curtain bath towel cosmetic bag bath mat fabric

plate pitcher mug apron tea towel

belt knit top dress shirt skirt socks sun glasses trousers scarf cushion cover jumpsuit boots runner nightgown umbrella vase pillowcase blanket

BRAND B

typical dutch house

wardrobe wc storage

BRAND C â&#x20AC;&#x153;mountainâ&#x20AC;? woman clothes accessories (earrings)

[bedroom] 1 floor

kitchen

garden

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living/dining room running shoes sneakers sport clothes

BRAND A running track

project

meelfabriek fifth floor

2016

Co-working A_work:

1. computer work 2. hand work 3. teamwork

B_meeting:

1. formal 2. informal

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C_informal interaction

project 2016

meelfabriek fifth floor

225

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CONCLUSION

As we considered, the way I decided to consider the singel from a urbanistical and conceptual point of view is not as a heterogeneous molteplicity of elements, but more as a unique and “shared” whole.

With this premise, I re-projected it in two different ways. On one hand it appears to be a linear park, running all around the city and interconnecting recreational and cultural spots. Some of this are already existing in the western part of Leiden: the Observatory, the Museum etc; while others have been projected ad hoc. Furthermore, some of these “hot spots” are enjoyable by citizens and tourist through the circumnavigation of the channel.

Secondarily, the area becomes the seat of the new fashion citadel of Leiden, its new “fashion district”. This is ideated as a non minor occasion to re-valuate and re-qualify not only that space, but also of the culture, the history and the productivity of the whole city (already endowed in the past with a large florid success with commerce, and clothes particularly).

In this “capacitor-citadel” all the steps of the creation of a cloth live and can be met by anyone, citizen or tourist: design, production and sales. Non only. Citizens and tourist, as we said, can also meet the most cultural, ideational and conceptual part of fashion through a theatre (the Catwalk) and at the fashion institute.

There are also rooms for temporary and permanent exhibition of the students’ products. In the internal space the function of the room is used both culturally and professionally.

In addition to this, rom the point of view of landscape and “scenography”, we didn’t disregard the interesting position of the building, and its configuration. Instead, I designed two panoramic terraces and a covered restaurant and in coverage, that allow the visitor to enjoy the surrounding view.

So, in the end, the “capacitor” hosts therefore a unique economical activity through all his “chain”: design, production and sales live joint in this space.

That project wouldn’t ever been born without the direct and constant confrontation with a local enterpreneur. He let me know the clothing and accessories sector from the inside. I could study deeply, a latere, all the productive and commercial aspects of this trade.

The production centre hosts five clothing brands, and any space is conceived ad hoc, in order to adapt specifically to every step of the production. And not only the productive phases connect among themselves, but even, as we showed, production and selling: thug workshop and events,

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clients and consumers may meet the designers, with a meaningful benefit for the marketing of each of the five brands involved.

So, in this meeting and union between old and new, between city tradition and history and economical innovation, the project re-vitalizes and re-actualizes (in a word, â&#x20AC;&#x153;re-usesâ&#x20AC;?) the deep and unique historical and urban value of this peculiar dutch site: the singel.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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S. Ampzing, Beshrivinge ende lof der stad Haerlem in Holland, 1628.

L. Cassitto, Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;andamento del clima nel lontano passato, ipotesi di evoluzione, 2016 E. De Amicis, Holland, 1874.

M. De Hoog, The Dutch metropolis, 2013.

R. Eberstadt, Stadebau und Wolnungswesen in Holland, 1914.

G. Eimer, Die Stadtplanung in Schwedischen Ostseereich, 1600-1715, 1961.

K. A. Gutkind, Urban development in Western Europe: The Netherlands and Great Britain, 1971.

Id., Holland,1984.

R. J. Hoeksema, Three stages in the history of land reclamation in the Nederlands, 2007 M. Van Loenhout, Renovation of the flour factory, 2012 LOLA landscape architects, Singelpark. Leiden full circe, 2012.

J. Orlers, Beschrijvinge der stad Leiden, 1641.

B. H. M. Vlekke, Evolution of the Dutch Nation, 1945.

E. van den Berg, Het Herbestemmingproces van De Meelfabriek in Leiden (1988-2008) .Een Onderzoek naar de Waardering van Industrieel Erfgoed, 2012 J. Van Veen, Dredge, Drain, Reclaim, 1962.

R. E. M. Wheeler, Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontier, 1954.

P. Zumthor, Thinking Architectur, 2006.

Historische atlas Zuid-Holland: chromotopografische kaart des rijks, 1:25.000

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SITOGRAPHY

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http://ab-arch.blogspot.it http://www.amsterdamsights.com/amsterdam/history.html http://www.amsterdamsegrachtenhuizen.info http://beeldbank.amsterdam.nl http://c3c.nl/Webpags/indexpage.html http://code.waag.org/buildingshttp://kaart.edugis.nl https://www.cwts.nl/about-leiden http://www.deepakg.com/blog/2015/01/on-herengracht-and-friends/ http://demeelfabriek.nl/architectuur/ http://www.fast.mi.it/clima. http://www.gahetna.nl/collectie http://gemeente.leiden.nl http://www.historyofholland.com/leiden-netherlands.html http://www.hollandhistory.net/history_of_amsterdam/history_of_amsterdam.html. http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visiting/about-amsterdam/history-and-society. http://www.inter-antiquariaat.nl https://www.kb.nl http://leiden-info.com http://onh.nl/nl-NL/verhaal/8851/verdienen-aan-de-oorlog-adriaan-dortsman-en-de-vestingwerken-van-weesp-en-naarden

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http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ird.340/full http://www.openstreetmap.org https://www.pdok.nl https://www.rijksmuseum.nl https://www.sanderusmaps.com http://www.tedx-leiden.nl/house http://topotijdreis.nl http://www.willemsmithistorie.nl http://wirelessleiden.nl/ 234

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Above all, I want to thank Adriaan Aarnoudse, my dutch mentor. He assisted my researches and my project with attention and sincere passion.

No less gratitude is also for professor Emilio Faroldi, my Italian mentor, who sustained my studies and master thesis abroad, and his assistant, Francesca Daprà, always helpful and kind to me.

The last words of my thesis are a huge “thank you” for all the people who variously contributed to my work and growth: Marco, Michi, Mamma e Papi, Ale, Sere, Davide e Dani, Mari e Tonio, Marti e Giacomo, Rori e Ella, Attila e Giorgino, Manu e Gloria, Gio e Chiara, Anna e Carlo e Cate, Emma e Carlo&Co, Maria e Raffa, Isabella, Bazz, Rafael, Paolo e Elena, Gaby e Treek, Carlo di Rotterdam, Penzi, Teo, Louise, Mena, Gabri, Pie, Samu, Shyreen, Steph, Barbara, Nirul e Susanne, Carolien, Julian, Stan e Remco e Kirsten, Bernie e Franz, …

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