Structuralism
in architecture
Structuralism is a movement characterized by buildings with a geometric structure composed of often small units that are related to the human dimension.
![Maquette Centraal Beheer Apeldoorn](https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/630b67e497b68755919758ba/6356ecc6f10eab354cbb159e_maquette_centraalbeheer.png)
![Maquette Centraal Beheer Apeldoorn](https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/630b67e497b68755919758ba/6356ecc6f10eab354cbb159e_maquette_centraalbeheer.png)
Structuralist projects share the designers' appetite for experimentation and the pleasure of designing homes and offices in a particularly spatial way. Voids, split-level sections, inner streets, flexible floor plans, affordable and characterful homes, attention to traditional details and honest, natural-looking materials are shared ingredients of this special architectural period.
History
It was architect Herman Hertzberger who introduced the term structuralism in 1966 when presenting his competition design for the Valkenswaard Town Hall.
After that, the term was gradually adopted in the professional literature and was described as an architectural movement from the 1959-1980 period. In structuralist buildings, small-scale, mixed functions, communality, equal social relations and adaptability by users come together.
The designers responded with this to the separation of functions and the planned and technocratic building practice that were characteristic of the reconstruction of the Netherlands after the Second World War. They found it too sterile, too one-sided and too rigid and they formulated a poetic and more humane alternative, of which the article 'The story of another thought' by Aldo van Eyck in the magazine Forum (1959) was an important driver.
aldo van eyck - herman hertzberger - aldo va eyck - herman hertzberger
examples - examples - examples - examples - examples - examples
Amsterdam Orphanage
![Amsterdam Orphanage Bird Eye View. Geometric Kasbah](https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/630b67e497b68755919758ba/6310fa5eea994c3621da312a_burgerweeshuis_birdeye.jpeg)
#kasbah
Centraal Beheer
![Man working at Centraal Beheer Office designed by Herman Hertzberger.](https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/630b67e497b68755919758ba/63a21361945e5e5c17481a02_interieur_cb.webp)
#office
Rozendaal
![Plans for the Rozendaal Park buildings. Beautiful half moon shapes.](https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/630b67e497b68755919758ba/63a223026e14ea1fdf63f8ab_overzicht_maquette.webp)
#neigbourhood