Editorial
Articles
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The woonerf (roughly equivalent to the ‘home zone’, a residential zone in which cyclists and pedestrians have priority over motorized traffic) first appeared on the scene during the 1970s, at two different locations in the Netherlands: in the refurbished streets of Delft and in Emmerhout, a new development on the outskirts of Emmen. These two examples provide the starting point for two woonerf story lines. The initiatives in Delft were prompted by nostalgia for communal street activities that had been lost as a result of increasing traffic pressure, while the new residential districts in Emmen reflected a tradition in modern urban development associated with a new concept of collectivity. From the outset, therefore, the woonerf had a double character, as an expression of progress and of a wistful longing for things past.
The woonerf (roughly equivalent to the ‘home zone’, a residential zone in which cyclists and pedestrians have priority over motorized traffic) first appeared on the scene during the 1970s, at two different locations in the Netherlands: in the refurbished streets of Delft and in Emmerhout, a new development on the outskirts of Emmen. These two examples provide the starting point for two woonerf story lines. The initiatives in Delft were prompted by nostalgia for communal street activities that had been lost as a result of increasing traffic pressure, while the new residential districts in Emmen reflected a tradition in modern urban development associated with a new concept of collectivity. From the outset, therefore, the woonerf had a double character, as an expression of progress and of a wistful longing for things past.
The woonerf (roughly equivalent to the ‘home zone’, a residential zone in which cyclists and pedestrians have priority over motorized traffic) first appeared on the scene during the 1970s, at two different locations in the Netherlands: in the refurbished streets of Delft and in Emmerhout,...
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When urban designer Niek de Boer coined the term woonerf in Emmen in the 1960s, he linked his new residential vision to a universally recognized concept: the erf (literally yard or estate), which resonated in the collective consciousness as the open area around a freestanding house or the versatile external spaces of a farmyard. Thus, even in its name, this urban planning innovation evoked nostalgic impressions of village life, where all manner of activities could take place outdoors and on the streets. From this perspective, the woonerf can be seen as a typically Dutch development, which was later imitated around the world. Conversely, it cannot be viewed in isolation from parallel and earlier international developments. In the quest for relaxed, green residential areas, there are obvious precedents to be found in Ebenezer Howard’s ideas about garden cities (Garden Cities of Tomorrow, 1902) and their application in England and the USA, and also in earlier philanthropic plans for ideal working-class neighbourhoods, such as the Agnetapark in Delft (1885). Here, the houses were fused into small farm-like volumes, grouped around communal green spaces.
When urban designer Niek de Boer coined the term woonerf in Emmen in the 1960s, he linked his new residential vision to a universally recognized concept: the erf (literally yard or estate), which resonated in the collective consciousness as the open area around a freestanding house or the versatile external spaces of a farmyard. Thus, even in its name, this urban planning innovation evoked nostalgic impressions of village life, where all manner of activities could take place outdoors and on the streets. From this perspective, the woonerf can be seen as a typically Dutch development, which was later imitated around the world. Conversely, it cannot be viewed in isolation from parallel and earlier international developments. In the quest for relaxed, green residential areas, there are obvious precedents to be found in Ebenezer Howard’s ideas about garden cities (Garden Cities of Tomorrow, 1902) and their application in England and the USA, and also in earlier philanthropic plans...
When urban designer Niek de Boer coined the term woonerf in Emmen in the 1960s, he linked his new residential vision to a universally recognized concept: the erf (literally yard or estate), which resonated in the collective consciousness as the open area around a freestanding house or the...
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Woonerf estates are currently attracting a great deal of attention. Not because of their spatial qualities, but on account of the imminent task of restructuring many of them, particularly the bulk of building production from the 1970s and ’80s. There are unexpected ‘gems’ hidden in the mass. The unmistakeable quality of these neighbourhoods is sometimes a product of their overall design and structure – or of the areas arranged as woonerven, although it can also stem from the architecture, or the spatial layout of individual homes.
Park Rozendaal in Leusden, Leyens in Zoetermeer and also Baggelhuizen in Assen and Krekenbuurt in Zwolle are examples of outstanding woonerven. The quality of these estates derives from a wealth of space, the distance between dwellings, the layout of the residential area and the way the residents are able to claim this for their own use. These neighbourhoods also accommodate unusual dwelling typologies, a consequence of horizontal and vertical connections that also create spatial quality. This designed additional space includes such features as hobby tables in the loft, play areas on the entresol and extra rooms for use as residents see fit.
An examination of the layout of these ‘gems’, large and small, reveals subtle transitions from the estate level down to the individual dwelling interior, while collective facilities contribute to solidarity at estate and neighbourhood level. How is collectivity organized or given form? And – perhaps an even more important issue nowadays – how is the residents’ privacy guarded?
This article focuses on the collective sphere of influence in Park Rozendaal in Leusden and Krekenbuurt in Zwolle. The interaction between the private and the collective domain on both estates creates a deliberate balance, which is architecturally expressed by a series of structural elements. These meticulously designed transitional elements play a role in residents’ use and experience of the woonerven, and their spatial coherence. Such elements bring an individual quality to the woonerf’s typology, but are also dated and fragile, unless supported by a careful maintenance plan, as the examples of Park Rozendaal and Krekenbuurt show.
Woonerf estates are currently attracting a great deal of attention. Not because of their spatial qualities, but on account of the imminent task of restructuring many of them, particularly the bulk of building production from the 1970s and ’80s. There are unexpected ‘gems’ hidden in the mass. The unmistakeable quality of these neighbourhoods is sometimes a product of their overall design and structure – or of the areas arranged as woonerven, although it can also stem from the architecture, or the spatial layout of individual homes.
Park Rozendaal in Leusden, Leyens in Zoetermeer and also Baggelhuizen in Assen and Krekenbuurt in Zwolle are examples of outstanding woonerven. The quality of these estates derives from a wealth of space, the distance between dwellings, the layout of the residential area and the way the residents are able to claim this for their own use. These neighbourhoods also accommodate unusual dwelling typologies, a consequence of horizontal and...
Woonerf estates are currently attracting a great deal of attention. Not because of their spatial qualities, but on account of the imminent task of restructuring many of them, particularly the bulk of building production from the 1970s and ’80s. There are unexpected ‘gems’ hidden in the...
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On 26 June 1968 the Danish architect Jan Gudmand-Høyer published a remarkable article in the Information newspaper under the title The Missing Link between Utopia and the Outdated One- Family House. In this mild polemic he describes how the lifestyles of many Danes have changed radically since the early 1950s as a result of consolidation in a number of social spheres (including consumption, health care and education), new family structures (double-income and single-parent families) and increased car use. The suburban neighbourhoods that were popping up all over Denmark in the 1950s and ’60s did not do enough to accommodate these changing lifestyle patterns, according to Gudmand-Høyer. Private developers were building monotonous neighbourhoods with single-family dwellings (parcelhus) while the government was experimenting with rational high-rises based on prefabrication. Both led to isolation and anonymity. Against this backdrop Gudmand-Høyer advocated the design of new neighbourhoods which would meet these contemporary lifestyles and in which community and identity would occupy centre stage.
Gudmand-Høyer was not alone in his views. They were shared by the Danish environmental psychologist Ingrid Gehl in Bomiljø (1971) and her husband, architect Jan Gehl, in Livet mellem husene (1971). The English translation of the latter, Life Between Buildings, remains popular to this day. Working at the intersection of sociology, psychology, architecture and planning, they both advocated a focus on ‘life between buildings’ and pressed for the reintroduction of what they saw as more humane communal spaces. What constitutes the essence of a housing project is neither a particular type nor a rational layout but the collective space between houses, according to Ingrid and Jan Gehl. Inspired by Christopher Alexander’s research into a pattern language they went in search of concrete architectural elements that provide safe and child-friendly outdoor spaces, in which gathering and community life occupy centre stage. Their examples, many of which were illustrated with photographs, were taken from lively public spaces in urban contexts. The books by Ingrid and Jan Gehl were to leave an indelible imprint on the Danish debate about collective housing projects.
On 26 June 1968 the Danish architect Jan Gudmand-Høyer published a remarkable article in the Information newspaper under the title The Missing Link between Utopia and the Outdated One- Family House. In this mild polemic he describes how the lifestyles of many Danes have changed radically since the early 1950s as a result of consolidation in a number of social spheres (including consumption, health care and education), new family structures (double-income and single-parent families) and increased car use. The suburban neighbourhoods that were popping up all over Denmark in the 1950s and ’60s did not do enough to accommodate these changing lifestyle patterns, according to Gudmand-Høyer. Private developers were building monotonous neighbourhoods with single-family dwellings (parcelhus) while the government was experimenting with rational high-rises based on prefabrication. Both led to isolation and anonymity. Against this backdrop Gudmand-Høyer advocated the design of new...
On 26 June 1968 the Danish architect Jan Gudmand-Høyer published a remarkable article in the Information newspaper under the title The Missing Link between Utopia and the Outdated One- Family House. In this mild polemic he describes how the lifestyles of many Danes have changed radically...
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In contemporary house-building practice there is no mention of the woonerf (a residential zone where cyclists and pedestrians have priority over motorized traffic). No developer would use this term to sell a new project and – let’s be honest – potential buyers would not be convinced by it either. The woonerf, unlike oversized sunglasses, does not seem to have been able to escape the 1970s and make a glorious comeback.
But is this really the case? Has the woonerf truly been banished to the past?
Anyone who takes a good look at contemporary suburban housing projects might cautiously reach another conclusion. For what appears at first sight to be a uniform series of similar dwellings behind varying façades is found to incorporate small examples of districts and neighbourhoods that are decidedly different. These neighbourhoods have introduced a collective domain in a publicly accessible area, as woonerven once did. This has turned the immediate residential environment into a zone that can be claimed by those who live around it and form part of the home area. Although this zone between the private domain of the house and the public domain of the street may be accessed by the public, it is the collective responsibility of the people who live immediately around it, to whom the zone primarily belongs.
In contemporary house-building practice there is no mention of the woonerf (a residential zone where cyclists and pedestrians have priority over motorized traffic). No developer would use this term to sell a new project and – let’s be honest – potential buyers would not be convinced by it either. The woonerf, unlike oversized sunglasses, does not seem to have been able to escape the 1970s and make a glorious comeback.
But is this really the case? Has the woonerf truly been banished to the past?
Anyone who takes a good look at contemporary suburban housing projects might cautiously reach another conclusion. For what appears at first sight to be a uniform series of similar dwellings behind varying façades is found to incorporate small examples of districts and neighbourhoods that are decidedly different. These neighbourhoods have introduced a collective domain in a publicly accessible area, as woonerven once did. This has turned the immediate residential...
In contemporary house-building practice there is no mention of the woonerf (a residential zone where cyclists and pedestrians have priority over motorized traffic). No developer would use this term to sell a new project and – let’s be honest – potential buyers would not be convinced by...
Interviews
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In the 1970s Benno Stegeman Architects realized a number of housing projects in different parts of the Netherlands, whose design and architectural construction reflect a clear vision of a different way of living. The first of these, the Meerzicht Project in Zoetermeer, consisted of dwellings in limestone brick with distinctive orangetinted domed skylights. The houses were arranged in irregular patterns along public walkways lined with planting. In the next project, designed for the Krekenbuurt district in Zwolle, the typology was developed to take parking and outdoor facilities into account. A third development of higher density, the Bergenbuurt Project in Capelle aan den IJssel, consisted of small apartment blocks clustered around traffic routes and, as before, areas of planting.
All three developments continue to be very popular with residents and house hunters today, largely, it seems, due to the unity of the architecture and the quality of the communal spaces. What lies behind this success? Is there something we can learn from these ventures that might be useful for future residential projects? We put the question to Benno Stegeman (b. 1930) himself, still active as an architect and currently working on housing developments for central as well as peripheral urban sites.
In the 1970s Benno Stegeman Architects realized a number of housing projects in different parts of the Netherlands, whose design and architectural construction reflect a clear vision of a different way of living. The first of these, the Meerzicht Project in Zoetermeer, consisted of dwellings in limestone brick with distinctive orangetinted domed skylights. The houses were arranged in irregular patterns along public walkways lined with planting. In the next project, designed for the Krekenbuurt district in Zwolle, the typology was developed to take parking and outdoor facilities into account. A third development of higher density, the Bergenbuurt Project in Capelle aan den IJssel, consisted of small apartment blocks clustered around traffic routes and, as before, areas of planting.
All three developments continue to be very popular with residents and house hunters today, largely, it seems, due to the unity of the architecture and the quality of the communal spaces. What...
In the 1970s Benno Stegeman Architects realized a number of housing projects in different parts of the Netherlands, whose design and architectural construction reflect a clear vision of a different way of living. The first of these, the Meerzicht Project in Zoetermeer, consisted of dwellings...
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For many people the term woonerf conjures up an image of 1970s housing characterized by outmoded ideals from a bygone era. Over the decades, the awkwardly meandering structures, the bare outdoor spaces, the cluttered effect and the nondescript architecturehave come under attack. A few examples have retained their appeal, but on the whole, the term, once so influential, has come to stand for stuffy, drab structures, which find little favour with town planners today. Not everyone subscribes to this view, however. Onix Architects is one of the few firms in the Netherlands openly promoting the notion of the erf (yard) as a concept for shared living. Its architecture and terminology combine nostalgic references to small-scale living, rural communities, barns, and so forth with modern forms of communal living. For example, it has taken the typology of the erf and transferred it to a sheltered home zone or woonzorgerf, where people who need care share a sheltered environment thus allowing them to live independently for longer. The ideas were developed in a study called ‘Nieuwe erven: een onderzoek naar kansen voor een zorgeloos dorpsleven’ (New kinds of erven: an investigation into opportunities of living a carefree village life), which was published jointly with DAAD. In Almere another erf development was conceived around a group of veranda houses; in this instance the erf had no shelter function. We asked Onix architect Alex van de Beld about the erf concept and how he believes it can be developed today.
For many people the term woonerf conjures up an image of 1970s housing characterized by outmoded ideals from a bygone era. Over the decades, the awkwardly meandering structures, the bare outdoor spaces, the cluttered effect and the nondescript architecturehave come under attack. A few examples have retained their appeal, but on the whole, the term, once so influential, has come to stand for stuffy, drab structures, which find little favour with town planners today. Not everyone subscribes to this view, however. Onix Architects is one of the few firms in the Netherlands openly promoting the notion of the erf (yard) as a concept for shared living. Its architecture and terminology combine nostalgic references to small-scale living, rural communities, barns, and so forth with modern forms of communal living. For example, it has taken the typology of the erf and transferred it to a sheltered home zone or woonzorgerf, where people who need care share a sheltered environment thus...
For many people the term woonerf conjures up an image of 1970s housing characterized by outmoded ideals from a bygone era. Over the decades, the awkwardly meandering structures, the bare outdoor spaces, the cluttered effect and the nondescript architecturehave come under attack. A few examples...
Case Studies
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In the early years of the twentieth century a solution needed to be found for the poor living conditions endured by bluecollar workers in Helsinki. Ebenezer Howard’s ideas for garden cities in England inspired plans for a residential estate in the Käpylä woods, some 5 km to the north of Helsinki. These specified that the new garden district should be of high quality, both architecturally and socially, and furnish a model for a healthy and productive working life.
Construction of Puu Käpylä (Käpylä Wood) started in 1920. The project was supervised by the experienced architect Akseli Toivonen, while municipal architects Birgen Brunila and Otto-Iivari Meurman were responsible for the overall layout. Architect Martti Välikangas, just 26 years old, was commissioned to give form and character to the district. The designers’ ambitions are revealed by the street names, which are taken from characters in the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic.
Puu Käpylä is laid out in a uniform grid of roads and building zones, on gently rolling hills on either side of a shallow valley. The district is cut in two by the main street (Pohjolankatu), which is wider than the other roads and lined with buildings and rows of trees to give it a more prestigious appearance. A tramline (still a weekday service only) runs through this street, connecting Puu Käpylä with the city.
The workers’ homes were accommodated in wooden buildings of varying lengths. These generally consist of a basement, two storeys and a pitched roof, with entrances in the form of weather-boarded porches on various sides of the volume. The buildings are loosely grouped in diverse configurations through the wooded landscape. The smallest comprise four two-room apartments, each with its own front door. Initially these workers’ homes did not have their own lavatory or bathroom, these facilities were accommodated in small, centrally located buildings which also housed saunas and laundry facilities.
In the early years of the twentieth century a solution needed to be found for the poor living conditions endured by bluecollar workers in Helsinki. Ebenezer Howard’s ideas for garden cities in England inspired plans for a residential estate in the Käpylä woods, some 5 km to the north of Helsinki. These specified that the new garden district should be of high quality, both architecturally and socially, and furnish a model for a healthy and productive working life.
Construction of Puu Käpylä (Käpylä Wood) started in 1920. The project was supervised by the experienced architect Akseli Toivonen, while municipal architects Birgen Brunila and Otto-Iivari Meurman were responsible for the overall layout. Architect Martti Välikangas, just 26 years old, was commissioned to give form and character to the district. The designers’ ambitions are revealed by the street names, which are taken from characters in the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic.
Puu Käpylä is...
In the early years of the twentieth century a solution needed to be found for the poor living conditions endured by bluecollar workers in Helsinki. Ebenezer Howard’s ideas for garden cities in England inspired plans for a residential estate in the Käpylä woods, some 5 km to the north of...
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During the 1930s and ’40s the Swedish builder and inventor Eric Sigfrid Persson (1898-1983) developed a number of extremely progressive housing projects in Malmö. (Persson invented the perspektivfönster, a wide, easy-to-clean hinged window for high-rise buildings.) His visits to New York and the American suburbs convinced him that the high-rise approach did not constitute an appropriate solution for new housing estates. Together with a number of architects, whom he himself personally appointed, Persson designed and built a new estate, Friluftstaden (the open air city), where people would have an opportunity to live in contact with the earth, nature, vegetation, sun and air, in the middle of the city of Malmö.
The estate is laid out in parallel strips of terraced housing, with a north-south, orientation. The Köpenhamnsvägen divides the district in half; a secondary road meanders through the residential areas. The houses are not situated on the street but on green areas. They face alternately east or west, and are staggered in relation to each other, thereby creating a sheltered, private area – the solgård (sun garden) or friluftsrum (open-air room) from which the estate derives its name – at the front of every house.
The zigzag configuration elegantly solves the privacy issues associated with terraced housing with the same orientation, removing the need for fencing between the gardens. The white plastered sun gardens are separated from the communal green area by a low wall, with privacy guaranteed by small height variations and profuse planting. Only half the dwellings in the adjacent strips face the green zones, making these relaxing areas for games and socializing.
There are four types of dwelling, all one and a half storeys high, of varying form and size. The two smallest types are deep and relatively narrow, with a living room, kitchen and dining area on the ground floor, and one or two bedrooms plus bathroom on the first floor. In the less deep but considerably wider types there is a separate dining room on the ground floor and a spacious landing on the first floor. The friluftsrum opens directly onto the living room, an idea which Persson brought back from America, together with the use of continuous expanses of grass.
During the 1930s and ’40s the Swedish builder and inventor Eric Sigfrid Persson (1898-1983) developed a number of extremely progressive housing projects in Malmö. (Persson invented the perspektivfönster, a wide, easy-to-clean hinged window for high-rise buildings.) His visits to New York and the American suburbs convinced him that the high-rise approach did not constitute an appropriate solution for new housing estates. Together with a number of architects, whom he himself personally appointed, Persson designed and built a new estate, Friluftstaden (the open air city), where people would have an opportunity to live in contact with the earth, nature, vegetation, sun and air, in the middle of the city of Malmö.
The estate is laid out in parallel strips of terraced housing, with a north-south, orientation. The Köpenhamnsvägen divides the district in half; a secondary road meanders through the residential areas. The houses are not situated on the street but on green...
During the 1930s and ’40s the Swedish builder and inventor Eric Sigfrid Persson (1898-1983) developed a number of extremely progressive housing projects in Malmö. (Persson invented the perspektivfönster, a wide, easy-to-clean hinged window for high-rise buildings.) His visits to New York...
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In the 1950s K.H. Gaarlandt, mayor of Emmen, brought a number of innovative architects and urban planners to his village, to supervise its development and expansion. The motto of this project was: ‘Emmen shall be a town, ok, as long as it stays a village!’ The arrival of the Algemene Kunstzijde Unie (AKU, now Akzo Nobel) synthetic thread factory allowed this village in the northern province of Drenthe to rapidly evolve into a regional centre of industry with new housing estates and community facilities.
Urban designer Niek de Boer directed development of the Open Green Town concept which formed the basis for Emmen’s expansion plans. This dictated that the town should be made attractive both to the region’s former peat workers and a new middle class that had yet to be recruited. The introduction of unusual themes in this period, such as the integration of nature and landscape, traffic-free woonerven and careful design of the communal space, won Emmen international renown. The first expansion zone of Angelslo was followed from 1960 by a second zone, Emmerhout.
The experimental urban design innovations introduced in Angelslo were further developed in Emmerhout and applied in radical ways. The plan unequivocally chose to exclude motorized traffic from the residential environment wherever possible. Provision was made for only two kinds of traffic space, vehicular streets and woonerven. The vehicular streets are designed to be exclusively used by motorized traffic: they are bounded by earth embankments with green planting and have no sidewalks. The woonerven are almost entirely free of motorized traffic, allowing children to play and residents to interact without impediment. Vehicles are parked in special parking bays or clustered parking garages in open spaces of varying design, while the houses are all situated on an informal network of footpaths with playing and seating areas. These form part of a network of paths that branch into the green lobes between the residential districts, which are connected in their turn with the surrounding landscape.
In the 1950s K.H. Gaarlandt, mayor of Emmen, brought a number of innovative architects and urban planners to his village, to supervise its development and expansion. The motto of this project was: ‘Emmen shall be a town, ok, as long as it stays a village!’ The arrival of the Algemene Kunstzijde Unie (AKU, now Akzo Nobel) synthetic thread factory allowed this village in the northern province of Drenthe to rapidly evolve into a regional centre of industry with new housing estates and community facilities.
Urban designer Niek de Boer directed development of the Open Green Town concept which formed the basis for Emmen’s expansion plans. This dictated that the town should be made attractive both to the region’s former peat workers and a new middle class that had yet to be recruited. The introduction of unusual themes in this period, such as the integration of nature and landscape, traffic-free woonerven and careful design of the communal space, won Emmen international...
In the 1950s K.H. Gaarlandt, mayor of Emmen, brought a number of innovative architects and urban planners to his village, to supervise its development and expansion. The motto of this project was: ‘Emmen shall be a town, ok, as long as it stays a village!’ The arrival of the Algemene...
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In the late 1950s a reactor for Euratom, the European Institute for Nuclear Research, was built in the dunes near Petten. A piece of land was purchased in the nearby artists’ village of Bergen to provide accommodation for the institute’s expatriate employees. The plans for this location comprised dwellings, a guesthouse and a European School for the children of Euratom’s staff.
In 1965 work was started on the estate whose overall layout was designed by David Zuiderhoek. It contains nine, virtually identical residential units (the nessen, a ness being a promontory or cape of land), situated around an old manor and garden which forms the estate’s green heart. All the houses are accessed by motorized traffic from the edge of the estate; the resulting absence of through roads has thus created a large continuous area in which there is little or no motorized traffic. A complex network of footpaths and cycle paths connects the houses with the green heart of the estate and the surrounding landscape.
Although De Negen Nessen is situated on the edge of the dunes, Zuiderhoek chose to orient the estate towards the open meadows, basing the layout on the existing structure of polders (reclaimed fields) and drainage channels. The network of channels to either side of the manor have been transformed into water features with wide green banks that extend deep into the estate, thereby guaranteeing a harmonious connection with the landscape.
Each residential unit is made up of 19 family dwellings, some connected by garages, loosely grouped around a courtyard. A conspicuous feature is the absence of pavements, which reinforces the informal and green character of the neighbourhood. The houses have been positioned to obtain maximum privacy and reduce opportunities to look inside to a minimum. A small tower with eight apartments accentuates the entrance to the court.
The neighbourhood concept has been applied in the mix of types in every residential unit, promoting the development around every courtyard of a small community, which should reflect society. This concept also dictated that the neighbourhood should not exclusively be a compound for expats, so half the homes were earmarked for local residents.
The homes, designed by architect Hein Klarenbeek, are modern, simple blocks in red brick with wood trim and flat roofs. Kitchens and garages are housed in white-stuccoed extensions with mono-pitch roofs. Over the years changes in the materials and colours used have jeopardized the unified appearance of the estate. To tackle this problem, the Bergen local authority has recently designated De Negen Nessen a neighbourhood for special planning protection.
The homes, designed by architect Hein Klarenbeek, are modern, simple blocks in red brick with wood trim and flat roofs. Kitchens and garages are housed in white-stuccoed extensions with mono-pitch roofs. Over the years changes in the materials and colours used have jeopardized the unified appearance of the estate. To tackle this problem, the Bergen local authority has recently designated De Negen Nessen a neighbourhood for special planning protection.
In the late 1950s a reactor for Euratom, the European Institute for Nuclear Research, was built in the dunes near Petten. A piece of land was purchased in the nearby artists’ village of Bergen to provide accommodation for the institute’s expatriate employees. The plans for this location comprised dwellings, a guesthouse and a European School for the children of Euratom’s staff.
In 1965 work was started on the estate whose overall layout was designed by David Zuiderhoek. It contains nine, virtually identical residential units (the nessen, a ness being a promontory or cape of land), situated around an old manor and garden which forms the estate’s green heart. All the houses are accessed by motorized traffic from the edge of the estate; the resulting absence of through roads has thus created a large continuous area in which there is little or no motorized traffic. A complex network of footpaths and cycle paths connects the houses with the green heart of the estate...
In the late 1950s a reactor for Euratom, the European Institute for Nuclear Research, was built in the dunes near Petten. A piece of land was purchased in the nearby artists’ village of Bergen to provide accommodation for the institute’s expatriate employees. The plans for this location...
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When the land from two Kent farms came up for sale in 1961, project developer SPAN and architects Eric Lyons & Associates decided to take a new step in the realization of their ambitions. They had previously created progressive and successful housing estates in locations such as Twickenham, Blackheath and Cambridge. Now they saw their chance to develop an entire new village that would express a modern vision of life in the country.
The original master plan for New Ash Green made provision for 18 residential neighbourhoods, situated around a shopping centre with communal facilities and a school. In 1969 financial difficulties forced SPAN to withdraw from the project and another project developer with another architect took over completion of New Ash Green.
Although construction of the various residential neighbourhoods and the shopping centre was well under way, Punch Croft was the only full-size neighbourhood in the development to be built entirely to Lyons’ specifications. As such, it is a fine illustration of the original intentions behind New Ash Green: a combination of living and landscape in a modern, luxuriantly green development, the Verdant Village.
The small neighbourhood is organically ordered, with houses grouped around four culs-de-sac, which branch into parking bays with a garage for each house. Around and between the groups of houses is a series of communal, pedestrian-only green spaces. Homes on the edge of the neighbourhood are situated with their front to the outside; deeper in the neighbourhood they are connected to communal green areas by their small, semi-enclosed back gardens.
Lyons designed a range of K series dwelling types (K for Kent) especially for New Ash Green, in order to obtain a wide variety of household types and allow upsizing or downsizing within the village. Nine different dwelling types were accommodated in short rows, some staggered, of three to six dwellings, ranging in size from 80 to 100 m2. With their characteristic mono-pitch roofs, wide façades with red boarding or gray-blue eternite tiles, contrasting plinth and projecting porches, they stand out sharply in their green setting.
The green areas of New Ash Green were also given a distinctive, local style of planting. A carefully designed network of paths connects the green zones through narrow gaps between the blocks of housing, revealing only one ‘garden’ at a time. Lyons described a walk through Punch Croft as characterized by ‘mystery, change, surprise’.
The creation of the new village was accompanied by the establishment of a governing and management organization, the Village Association, with a representative from every neighbourhood. Permission for any change to structures in the village still has to be obtained from the Association, a factor which has allowed Punch Croft to retain much of its original character, despite a number of alterations.
When the land from two Kent farms came up for sale in 1961, project developer SPAN and architects Eric Lyons & Associates decided to take a new step in the realization of their ambitions. They had previously created progressive and successful housing estates in locations such as Twickenham, Blackheath and Cambridge. Now they saw their chance to develop an entire new village that would express a modern vision of life in the country.
The original master plan for New Ash Green made provision for 18 residential neighbourhoods, situated around a shopping centre with communal facilities and a school. In 1969 financial difficulties forced SPAN to withdraw from the project and another project developer with another architect took over completion of New Ash Green.
Although construction of the various residential neighbourhoods and the shopping centre was well under way, Punch Croft was the only full-size neighbourhood in the development to be built entirely to Lyons’...
When the land from two Kent farms came up for sale in 1961, project developer SPAN and architects Eric Lyons & Associates decided to take a new step in the realization of their ambitions. They had previously created progressive and successful housing estates in locations such as...
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The second Nota Ruimtelijke Ordening (Policy Document on Spatial Planning) prompted Leusden’s designation in 1996 as a growth core in the Amersfoort region. A new structural plan formed the basis for the village’s expansion, citing English new towns with their low-density housing. Several years later, one of the authors of the plan, David Zuiderhoek, designed Park Rozendaal, an experimental residential neighbourhood within the plan comprised exclusively of low-rise buildings for the middle classes.
Park Rozendaal forms a clearly demarcated and recognizable enclave, thanks to its highly individual and unequivocal design. The neighbourhood’s plan is based on a series of overlapping circles of the same diameter, distributed over the area in a regular pattern. The housing blocks comprise segments of these circles which are grouped to create small, oval spaces between the blocks. These spaces, the woonerven, are used for parking, play and communal activities. The residents have a say in the layout of the woonerven, so each of these spaces varies slightly.
The only through road in the plan winds between the blocks and the green zone, providing access to some of the woonerven; the remainder are accessed from the outer edge of the neighbourhood. The amorphous space to the rear of the blocks is laid out as a park with communal facilities that include a swimming pool and tennis courts. Areas of water run through the neighbourhood and a large number of footpaths ensure that virtually all parts can be reached without motorized traffic.
Management of all the communal areas, including the swimming pool and tennis courts, is in the hands of the residents and is organized through a foundation in which all 12 woonerven are represented. Maintenance is financed by a compulsory monthly contribution paid by the residents.
The housing blocks, designed by Henk Klunder, contain 478 identical, three-storey drive-in dwellings with a poured wall construction with washed concrete elements and aluminium, sliding French windows. Staggering the façades where the individual houses meet identifies each individual dwelling. Transitions between the private and the communal domain are subtly indicated by small protrusions, a projecting balcony and plant boxes. The windowless side walls are decorated with reliefs by artist Bouke IJlstra.
Each dwelling has its own garden to the rear, bordering on the park. Over the years the original provision for a gentle transition between private and communal has been undermined by the erection of fences. Inside the houses there is plenty of opportunity for individual freedom of choice: each storey can be arranged in four different ways, which amounts to a total of 64 options (4 x 4 x 4). High building costs were ultimately responsible for the original plan’s provision of approximately 1100 houses being reduced by half.
The second Nota Ruimtelijke Ordening (Policy Document on Spatial Planning) prompted Leusden’s designation in 1996 as a growth core in the Amersfoort region. A new structural plan formed the basis for the village’s expansion, citing English new towns with their low-density housing. Several years later, one of the authors of the plan, David Zuiderhoek, designed Park Rozendaal, an experimental residential neighbourhood within the plan comprised exclusively of low-rise buildings for the middle classes.
Park Rozendaal forms a clearly demarcated and recognizable enclave, thanks to its highly individual and unequivocal design. The neighbourhood’s plan is based on a series of overlapping circles of the same diameter, distributed over the area in a regular pattern. The housing blocks comprise segments of these circles which are grouped to create small, oval spaces between the blocks. These spaces, the woonerven, are used for parking, play and communal activities. The...
The second Nota Ruimtelijke Ordening (Policy Document on Spatial Planning) prompted Leusden’s designation in 1996 as a growth core in the Amersfoort region. A new structural plan formed the basis for the village’s expansion, citing English new towns with their low-density housing. Several...
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In 1974 architect Benno Stegeman was commissioned to design a neighbourhood on the Aa-Landen housing estate in Zwolle. This neighbourhood was to reflect 1970s’ ideals which sought new residential forms within a new, democratized and individualized society. The guiding principles derived from themes such as collectivity versus individuality, hospitality and small-scale development.
Krekenbuurt gave Stegeman a chance to design his own total plan in which urban design, architecture and layout of the communal space formed a coherent whole. The result was an independent residential neighbourhood with a nonhierarchical structure, a fanciful language of forms and a wide diversity of outdoor spaces.
The basic element in the plan is a hook-shaped block of housing composed of attached family dwellings. By setting two of these blocks opposite each other, Stegeman created sheltered central areas with openings to the green zones.
These woonerven accommodate all kinds of usage, such as parking, play and green areas. Specific forms of layout subtly define the various areas with paving and street furniture. The woonerven can only be accessed from roads on the outside of the plan area: thus there are no through roads within these residential zones, whose component blocks are connected with each other by pedestrian paths.
The green zone to the rear of the dwellings is laid out as a communal park, where a great deal of attention has also been paid to the structure, which incorporates children’s play areas, seating areas and green areas. The private gardens to the rear of the dwellings form a part of the park visually, for there are no fences; even the greenery in these gardens is dictated by the overall plan, for residents must choose their plants from a range specified by the architect.
In 1974 architect Benno Stegeman was commissioned to design a neighbourhood on the Aa-Landen housing estate in Zwolle. This neighbourhood was to reflect 1970s’ ideals which sought new residential forms within a new, democratized and individualized society. The guiding principles derived from themes such as collectivity versus individuality, hospitality and small-scale development.
Krekenbuurt gave Stegeman a chance to design his own total plan in which urban design, architecture and layout of the communal space formed a coherent whole. The result was an independent residential neighbourhood with a nonhierarchical structure, a fanciful language of forms and a wide diversity of outdoor spaces.
The basic element in the plan is a hook-shaped block of housing composed of attached family dwellings. By setting two of these blocks opposite each other, Stegeman created sheltered central areas with openings to the green zones.
These woonerven accommodate all kinds...
In 1974 architect Benno Stegeman was commissioned to design a neighbourhood on the Aa-Landen housing estate in Zwolle. This neighbourhood was to reflect 1970s’ ideals which sought new residential forms within a new, democratized and individualized society. The guiding principles derived from...
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For the northern perimeter of Farum, a village to the northwest of Copenhagen, architects Tegnestuen Vandkunsten designed a new kind of housing estate that combined communal and private institutions, plus considerable interweaving of collective and personal environments, in a coherent whole. The plan caused quite a stir during the 1980 youth biennale at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Vandkunsten designed the plan as an alternative to contemporary forms of new building, with their fixation on outward appearance and style, through a return to fælleskab (fellowship) and a more earth-based form of living.
The plan comprised a series of U-shaped groups of housing around a communal stretch of grass, facing south side by side in a comb layout. These expanses of grass are connected by a communal park that extends diagonally to the south and is bordered on either side by similar clusters of housing. An extra residential group in the centre divides the park into two parts which both lead to a southern access road and several communal facilities, including a school.
The project consists of a total of 137 dwellings, in 11 different types ranging from one to two-and-a half storeys. The higher central section to the north also incorporates several stacked dwellings, which open to the street via short galleries. On the corners are small towers with areas for communal use. Several larger community centres are distributed through the park.
The houses lie on narrow streets, where motorized traffic is permitted but not allowed to park; this is provided for in parking bays along the northern access road, where there are also several small areas with bicycle sheds and storerooms. Thus the residential streets remain free for children to play and residents to interact. The streets are flanked by strips of gravel in which some dwellings have a small front garden.
All dwellings have a private garden to the rear, bordering the communal grass area. Garden and grass are separated by a low hedge or bushes, retaining an open relationship; many gardens even have permanently open access to the grass. The grass area is so large that pressure on privacy is generally not an issue.
In addition to a front and back garden there is a third garden available to residents who wish to make use of this facility: to the south of the communal grass areas are plots of lands where residents can keep a kitchen garden or a flower garden. The character and location of these diverse gardens appear to reinforce social cohesion in Fuglsangsparken considerably. To quote a (female) resident: ‘I sit in my front garden beside the street and talk to the neighbours opposite; in the back I talk to the neighbours on that side and when I go to my kitchen garden I talk to the people who are working there beside me. I know people everywhere in Fuglsangsparken.’
For the northern perimeter of Farum, a village to the northwest of Copenhagen, architects Tegnestuen Vandkunsten designed a new kind of housing estate that combined communal and private institutions, plus considerable interweaving of collective and personal environments, in a coherent whole. The plan caused quite a stir during the 1980 youth biennale at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Vandkunsten designed the plan as an alternative to contemporary forms of new building, with their fixation on outward appearance and style, through a return to fælleskab (fellowship) and a more earth-based form of living.
The plan comprised a series of U-shaped groups of housing around a communal stretch of grass, facing south side by side in a comb layout. These expanses of grass are connected by a communal park that extends diagonally to the south and is bordered on either side by similar clusters of housing. An extra residential group in the centre divides the park into two parts which...
For the northern perimeter of Farum, a village to the northwest of Copenhagen, architects Tegnestuen Vandkunsten designed a new kind of housing estate that combined communal and private institutions, plus considerable interweaving of collective and personal environments, in a coherent whole....
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Almere-Buiten Oost, the most northerly extension to Almere, is composed of a number of neighbourhoods that are separated from each other by broad areas of green. Recently, several independent and more experimental, small-scale neighbourhoods were created in a relatively young strip of woodland. One of these projects, designed by Onix architects, set out to create a new form of living.
Ten freestanding ‘house barns’ were situated on a communal green woonerf. Each building volume accommodates three or five attached dwellings. The buildings, the open space and the planting form a whole which echoes the layout of a farm. The dwellings do not have a private garden but a veranda that marks the transition between the private and the communal domain. Setting the houses on knolls creates an obvious distance between the dwellings and the communal area, for this limits glimpses inside while providing an unrestricted view over the communal space from the living room. To the rear the height difference accommodates parking under the building, removing cars from sight. Functions such as entrances, storage and hobby areas are also situated here.
In the finish of the outside walls, Onix referred to the typology of the farmhouse with rear farmyard, in which there is a formal side, with the dwelling and ornamental garden, and a ‘rear side’ where the farming activities are conducted, plus an informal entrance to the house. Thus the Veranda Homes have a rough, functional finish on the side where the entrances and parking facilities are located, while the verandas and continuous roof surfaces on the other side create a more expressive and romantic effect. Each building volume is framed by a ‘collar’, an overhang that flows from the roof surface into the verandas via the side of the building, thereby coalescing the individual dwellings into a unified whole.
The collective garden is a privately managed, semi-public space with an open design and several footpaths leading into the surrounding woods. Contractual agreements prevent the introduction of elements to demarcate boundaries or privatization of any parts by residents. The developer was responsible for maintenance during the first few years required for the greenery to mature.
The dwellings can be accessed by car via two informal clinker roads which lead to the rear of the blocks. Parking spaces for visitors are provided at the entrance to the neighbourhood.
Almere-Buiten Oost, the most northerly extension to Almere, is composed of a number of neighbourhoods that are separated from each other by broad areas of green. Recently, several independent and more experimental, small-scale neighbourhoods were created in a relatively young strip of woodland. One of these projects, designed by Onix architects, set out to create a new form of living.
Ten freestanding ‘house barns’ were situated on a communal green woonerf. Each building volume accommodates three or five attached dwellings. The buildings, the open space and the planting form a whole which echoes the layout of a farm. The dwellings do not have a private garden but a veranda that marks the transition between the private and the communal domain. Setting the houses on knolls creates an obvious distance between the dwellings and the communal area, for this limits glimpses inside while providing an unrestricted view over the communal space from the living room. To the rear...
Almere-Buiten Oost, the most northerly extension to Almere, is composed of a number of neighbourhoods that are separated from each other by broad areas of green. Recently, several independent and more experimental, small-scale neighbourhoods were created in a relatively young strip of...
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In 2004 Tegnestuen Vandkunsten architects won a closed architectural competition, organized by the Danish developer BBB – Bedre Billigere Boliger (Better Cheaper Housing). BBB intended this competition to stimulate the development of new housing solutions that combined cheap and efficient construction methods with contemporary comfort and an interesting environment. The designated location was a pentagonal piece of land around a small pond, on the edge of the village of Kvistgård, to the southwest of the city of Helsingør.
Vandkunsten’s solution combined savings in every phase of the construction process with the spatial quality of tæt-lav building, a typically Danish model consisting of groundbased dwellings, each with a small private garden around a communal area. This has been a common model in Danish house building since around 1970, when the Statens Byggeforskningsinstitut (Danish National Institute for Building Research) organized a competition to design a new type of building development that was to be both dense (tæt) and low (lav).
At Kvistgård clusters of dwellings were set in the gently rolling landscape in strict geometric configurations. Each cluster comprises nine dwellings arranged in a rectangle around a communal inner area. One corner of the rectangle is left open to accommodate nine cars and rubbish storage. A long, winding access road connects the clusters with each other and to secondary roads. A footpath leads to the nearby train station.
The dwellings vary in size from 81 to 163 m2 (net) and are assembled from 5.2 x 5.2 m prefabricated wooden modules. On a footprint of more than 10 x 10 m, each dwelling has a living room and kitchen module with built-in lavatory/ bathroom cubicle, a private garden module and an entrance module comprising a covered outside space with outdoor storage opposite the entrance. The covered outside areas form narrow openings in the building which can be accessed from both the exterior and interior space. Supplementary modules on the first floor accommodate bedrooms, play or office space, an extra lavatory/bathroom cubicle or a roof terrace.
In the largest dwelling type one first-floor module is suspended outside the footprint and thus covers access to the communal inner area. These accesses and the narrow views through to the inner areas at the individual house entrances create a continual visual interaction between the private and collective domains of each cluster and the larger scale of the surrounding landscape.
Each inner area is uniform and simply laid out: a strip of loose-fill surfacing along the rear walls surrounds a rectangular lawn, with sometimes a fruit tree. The designers assume that over time these areas will begin to differ from each other as each group of residents arranges them to their taste. A natural landscape of tall grass and wild flowers between the various residential clusters provides an even greater contrast.
In 2004 Tegnestuen Vandkunsten architects won a closed architectural competition, organized by the Danish developer BBB – Bedre Billigere Boliger (Better Cheaper Housing). BBB intended this competition to stimulate the development of new housing solutions that combined cheap and efficient construction methods with contemporary comfort and an interesting environment. The designated location was a pentagonal piece of land around a small pond, on the edge of the village of Kvistgård, to the southwest of the city of Helsingør.
Vandkunsten’s solution combined savings in every phase of the construction process with the spatial quality of tæt-lav building, a typically Danish model consisting of groundbased dwellings, each with a small private garden around a communal area. This has been a common model in Danish house building since around 1970, when the Statens Byggeforskningsinstitut (Danish National Institute for Building Research) organized a competition to design a...
In 2004 Tegnestuen Vandkunsten architects won a closed architectural competition, organized by the Danish developer BBB – Bedre Billigere Boliger (Better Cheaper Housing). BBB intended this competition to stimulate the development of new housing solutions that combined cheap and efficient...