Betondorp, a modernist garden village in Amsterdam

Although the Netherlands had remained "neutral" during WW1, the effects of the conflict fought on its borders was felt throughout the country. The effects of war were indirect and mostly immaterial, although the conflict lead to a high demand for housing, especially in the cities. Between 1919 and 1921 and enormous house building campaign was instigated by central government The capital city of Amsterdam took some 6% of the investments. In 1921, however, a housing shortage of 13% remained. In the beginning house building was executed by housing associations, that had been created in 1901. From 1921 the rules were changed to speed up house building by making grants and premiums available to private house builders. The ideal was to let people build a house for their family, but the premiums mainly benefitted construction firms and investors.

Amsterdam combated the housing needs by developing new garden villages on the outskirts of the existing urban fabric and strongly directed their planning and development -even if the initiative lay with others (i.e. housing associations, housing cooperatives and building firms).  These garden villages were mainly built north of the Y: Tuindorp Oostzaan, Tuindorp Nieuwendam, Tuindorp Buiksloterham, Tuindorp Volewijk and Tuindorp Buiksloot. Only one was developed in the Watergraafsmeer, a polder (drained in 1629) that had been incorporated into Amsterdam in 1921. The name Watergraafsmeer translates as the lake on the artificial (dug!) watercourse and relates to long straight stretch of the present-day river Amstel, basically a canal linking the original river that flowed east with an inlet on the Y.

At the time the Watergraafsmeer was annexed by the city of Amsterdam the oval polder contained some houses and the Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats, a large cemetery. The first urbanisation plan (1907) was drawn up along the lines of Amsterdam-South as designed by Berlage. This plan was incorporated into the regional plan for Amsterdam. Realisation of the plan started in 1921 with development of the Watergraafsmeer garden village.

This Tuindorp Watergraafsmeer is situated east of the cemetery south of the central road that cut through the polder. As a result of the lack of skilled brick layers, the high wages of builders and the high price of traditional building materials (bricks) it was decided to make this project an experiment in construction in concrete. Hence the colloquial name for the garden village, Betondorp, which translates as "concrete village". Although Betondorp was pioneering, the first examples of construction in concrete can be found in Tuindorp Oostzaan.

The 1921 plan comprised of a large garden village around a central square with shops and amenities. The layout by Gratema and Versteeg was distinctly Unwinesque in approach. The new suburban satellite was planned with some 2000 houses of which 900 would be built in concrete. The rest would be built using brick and were designed in a typical idiom referencing vernacular architecture. Versteeg was also the architect of these brick houses.

Betondorp is most noted for its concrete building in a decorative style that references New Objectivity in its treatment of the building mass and the rhythmic placement of windows and doors. All buildings were erected under supervision of the municipal structural engineer A. F. Bakhoven jr.  The two most important architects that are responsible for the distinct style of the buildings are J.B. van Loghem and D. Greiner. The first concrete housing was occupied by 1924. In 1929 all building work was finished. Later it emerged that some buildings were of substandard construction and were plagued by leaks. These buildings were torn down in 1954 after the addition of wooden cladding proved unable to remedy the problems. The building were replaced by some meagrely executed blocks.

The current garden village Watergraafsmeer shows a typical layout. It is located adjacent to the cemetery Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats (1). A wide canal forms the partition between the two. It is connected to the Middenweg (2) the central axis of this polder. At the heart of the garden village a large garden square is located (3) called Brink. All the shops are still located around this central public space with a garden court for the elderly (h) between a social club (c) and a library (L) on one side. The impressive  school (s) was located off another square. The substandard housing (4) has been replaced but is shown here in outline. There were no churches planned in this new community, however two were built (indicated by k) directly after WW2.

Watergraafsmeer garden village is interesting as it shows how an Unwinesque approach to designing public and private space and the use of accents in the spatial entity of such a housing area work irrespective of the style of architecture chosen. Grey boxes with flat roofs work equally well as vernacular architecture. Batadorp in Best is another clear example of this!

Urban Nature: coming up through the cracks

Urban(ised) areas often have a specific flora, due to specific growing conditions found there. This can be the result of a difference in microclimate, availability of water, soil type, presence of a suitable vector for dispersal, presence of suitable pollinators and the lack of predation. As urban areas are warmer due to the heat-island-effect one can see plants usually associated with the Mediterranean in Belgium and Central Germany and central European species in South Sweden. As these plants often have variable flowering times they provide more food for, for instance, insects, so the populations of hoverflies, bees and bumblebees can be considerably higher in the city then in the countryside!

The Welsh Poppy (Meconopsis cambrica) grows in the hills and mountains of Britain, France and Spain, but is equally at home in the shade of an old city wall in Würzburg. Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare) is a striking plant with its blue flowers. This relative of the forget-me-not can quickly colonise barren sandy or gravely soils. Here it grows happily in a German parking lot. Nonesuch (Medicago lupulina) is also known as Medick or Bur clover. It can be found in the wild in pastures on sandy soils, but it also grows very well between the wide gaps of this half-open paving (aimed at reducing rainwater run-off and promoting water infiltration).

Crowded by towers: Regensburg

Regensburg grew out of the Roman fortress on the Danube known as Castra Regina and was at the peak of its importance during the Middle Ages when it was one of Europe's main trade cities and an important banking centre. Because of the sharp economic decline after 1550, combined with little devastation during WW2, this city today gives us a glimpse back in time. Regensburg was and remains famous for its cityscape of towers. These are not just church towers, but also many so-called Geschlechtertürme (a term best translated as: towers of the noble families). Nowadays some 40 of these medieval towers remain.

These medieval high-rises can reach up to 50 metres and date mostly from the 12^th, 13^th and 14^th centuries. They were part of residential complexes within the Free City of Regensburg built by noblemen as their urban residence. All were built around a courtyard accessed by a gate from the street, often through an impressive square tower. The towers not only served a defensive purpose, but also strived to demonstrate power and wealth. As a result of all these towers Regensburg was nick-named "The most northern Italian city".  

Many of the Romanesque and Gothic building have changed their appearance over the centuries, so the towers built by the noble families don't look (anything) like what they would have looked like when they were first constructed. Goldener Turm (1260) seen from the inner courtyard. In the middle Baumburger Turm (1270) with its striking colour. Das Goldenen Kreuz (1250) -shown on the right- started life as part of the Weltenburger House and was changed into a Guesthouse for visiting noblemen by joining it with two neighbouring houses.

Re-inventing the wheel: London's cycle super highways

Modelled on the successful Vélib scheme of Paris, Mayor of London Ken Livingston announced a new cycle hire initiative for London in 2007. Transport for London drew up proposals after discussions with transport commissioners from Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Lyon, Munich, Oslo and Vienna. The resulting 2008 proposals were hailed as revolutionary. That is revolutionary within a British context as such schemes were first pioneered on the continent as early as the 1960s.

The new Mayor of London Boris Johnson, himself an avid cyclist,  quickly adopted the scheme as his own. Operations started in 2010 with 5,000 bicycles and 315 docking stations spread across Inner London. The bicycles and docking stations were designed and built in Canada and are copied off the per-existing Bixi scheme operating in Montreal. Mr Johnson also negotiated a sponsorship deal with Barclays Bank which includes blue cycle paths and bikes reminiscent of the company colours.

Another important political exercise was the creation of so-called cycle super highways to make London more accessible for cyclists. This development is still ongoing, but has been plagued by accidents (many deaths on designated routes) and local resistance to chances in street layout and traffic arrangements. Ignoring already established practices in Denmark and the Netherlands TfL looked towards American cities to find inspiration for designated, safe cycling routes. Sadly European cities are much more comparable to the cramped streets of London than the spacious grid-cities of the US. The planning is also haphazard and routes are badly aligned with dangerous crossings and sometimes poor connectivity. The result has indeed -the so desired- uniquely British character, but isn't cost-effective, poorly executed and often sub-standard when compared to Dutch and Danish examples. An internship for London traffic planners in Odense, Enschede, Utrecht or Eindhoven would be advisable!

Since 2015 another bank -Santander- has taken over the sponsorship of the cycle hire scheme, so the blue colour is slowly phased out and replaced with Santander-red. One such cycle super highway, basically a cycle lane painted blue, here running along the Thames in Pimlico. The cycle hire scheme has a logo in blue modelled on the TfL Underground logo.

Ossulston Estate, Viennese flair in Somers Town

Most planned estates from the 1920s do not include amenities. Ossulston Estate is the exception to the rule with a tavern included in the scheme in reflection of similar continental schemes. These especial functions are included in the lowest sections of the Super Blocks and always frame an entrance to an inner courtyard.

The white render on the facades is reminiscent of the Carl Seitz Hof and modernist architecture. Here structured render is applied to enliven the visual perception of the block. In the axis of the north court a large gate gives access to the street beyond. The facade is also symmetrical. The new planting is rather sparse compared to Viennese examples.

The largest part of the estate is composed of 6 storey blocks of flats that link together around courtyards. The balconies look out over the adjoining courtyard, that in this case is completely paved. The horizontal lines of the architecture reduce the visual height of the buildings.

Large gates give access to the complex. Each perforation of the block is emphasised in the architecture and placed in a central axial position within the spatial composition and facade. The facades have a ground floor in natural stone thus breaking the visual height of the building. The facade is composed of repeated symmetrical groupings of elements (i.e. windows, balconies and chimneys).

The same compositional devices are employed on the facades facing inner courtyards. The whole complex is very reminiscent of the Carl Seitz Hof (formerly known as Garden City Floridsdorf).

The windows have a rectangular shape with a strong vertical aspect, but they are arranged in horizontal ribbons on the facade. Widow bays break the surface of the facade and segment the facade. The shops that were part of the original scheme still function. Again this special function sits besides an entrance to an inner courtyard.

By playing with the height of the various sections of the Super Block, Topham Forrest creates visual interest and reduces the visual impact of what would otherwise have been a massive structure. It also provides him with opportunities to emphasize certain parts of the building and thus exaggerate the gateways to the inner courtyards.