Weekly market - Deventer

One of the most important chartered city rights pertains to the right to organize markets. In large historic cities the various specialised marketplaces still survive in the street names. There are markets for fish, eggs, farm animals in general, sheep, horses, pigs, cows, bulls, calves, butter, cheese, flower, grain, spices, salt, wood, coal, peat and cloth. Some markets were daily (fish, eggs etc.), some were weekly and others were seasonal (often once or twice a year). These old names for specialised markets also indicate the main trades of times gone by. Nowadays the weekly market caters mainly to inner-city residents that can buy flowers, plants, foodstuffs, clothing, dishware and household articles.

Deventer, once a member of the Hanseatic League,  was granted city rights in 956 and held several markets within its walls. At present the historic Brink Square forms the decor of the weekly market with stalls along its length. There is a general market at The Brink on Fridays and Saturdays. Another market is held every Tuesday at the Beestenmarkt (Animal Market).

The stall holders try to display their wares as attractively as possible. I couldn't pass by these blueberries without buying some. The melons also looked delicious, especially sold as ready-to-eat wedges. No Dutch market is complete without some stalls selling flowers directly from the auction.  

Saxon Borg-towns of Twenthe

The area of Twente (Twenthe in English) is located in the east of the Netherlands. The area is part of the Lower-Saxon section of the country comprising of De Achterhoek (literally: the rear corner), Overissel (Overijssel in Dutch) and Drenthe. Historically Overissel and Drenthe formed the Oversticht, the land held by the Prince-Bishop of Utrecht as a direct fief of the Holy Roman Emperor. The Shire of Twenthe formed part of the Lordship Overissel and was first mentioned in 797. The name is said to mean "the two lands", which fits the historical situation as the shire was once divided in an Upper-Twenthe and a Lower-Twenthe. Twente is still known in the Netherlands as De Graafschap an name that literally means The County. A fief known as Graaf (Count) resided in Goor and ruled on behalf of the Bishop of Utrecht.

The fiefs of the Bishop were obligated to provide military support. The noblemen that amassed the bishop's army were also known as Borgmannen. This name reflects their status as Lord of the Manor. A fortified manor house or a moated castle keep was the preferred residence. The name borg is derived from borgen, which means to keep safe in Saxon and is thus akin to the Frankonian burcht a name mostly used for a castle. Borg and burcht are cognates of borough and burgh.

The land consisted mainly of vast woodland and waterlogged moorlands. The soil type is mixed with peat, sand, clay and loam often found intermingled or in close proximity. From about 1000 onwards more land is taken into cultivation creating large communal fields of arable land known as 'essen'. Besides these the area was littered with small individual landholdings known as 'kampen'. Villages and hamlets were always located near the arable fields.

The local strongholds were always located near a river(crossing). It is sometimes unclear if the borg preceded the crossing or a ford on an ancient trail preceded the castle. There were several such strongholds, all located near an important thoroughfare or a river crossing that all have a similar shape. Basically the stronghold consisted of a main building within a paling surrounded by a moat. Within the moat a chapel and store were located. The foundation of such a stronghold invariably lead to the clearing of existing woodland for farmland. These fields took the shape of wide strips of arable land. More often than not the lord would also secure the right to mill grain and build a watermill near the stronghold.

As the area under cultivation grew steadily the means of the local rulers grew accordingly. The existence of tactically placed strongholds meant that people choose to live nearby in a service settlement. As trade expanded the local lord and overlord wanted to secure their take of the gains. This was done by imposing tolls and later by stimulating economic activity. On of the ways to stimulate local production was the foundation of a monastery or convent. This invariably lead to large-scale clearing first of woodland and later of marshland and bog.

Another way of stimulating local productivity was to grant special rights to a settlement, the so-called city rights or charters. Local lords also liked to favour their service settlement and sought to gain from developing it into a small city. This often lead to planned spatial interventions to accommodate this new urban function by laying out a market field and securing the settlement. None of these Borg-towns had a city wall. They are characterised by an oval or circular outline with an outer moat and a paling on top of a bank. At the entrances (mostly 3) wooden gates were built to signify the different status of the settlement and residents within. The residence of the local lord still stood within the town, but no longer on a moated site. The increase in population often also meant an expansion of the industrial capacity by building  anew (wind)mill or expanding the existing watermill.

The third possible phase in the development of a Saxon Borg-town involved the lord leaving the confines of the town and erecting a new manor house along a main road or on the edge of uncultivated land. This move signified the independence of the town. On the former stronghold the small church that had evolved from the manorial chapel was expanded and a city hall was built nearby or on the market square. In this phase the streets are paved and the paling is replaced by a high earth bank.

The three phases in the development of a Saxon Borg-town. [1] First a stronghold (1) is built consisting of a moated site with a residence (a) and a chapel (b) near a river (3). Next to this stronghold new fields (2) are cleared for cultivation. Near a river crossing a watermill (c) is built. [2] In the next phase a town is created within a paling and a moat (4). The chapel is expanded to a parish church (d) and the watermill is expanded with a second mill (e). [3] In the third phase the settlement becomes a true town within a high earth bank and a wide moat (5). The church is expanded further (f) and a town hall (g) is built. A new manor house (h) is erected outside of the town. The market square (i) is now a formal space within the layout.

Although the pattern is the same for all Saxon Borg-towns, each has known a singular development resulting in different layouts en spatial ensembles. Goor, historically the main Borg-residence, never grew into a full town for instance. The rounded shape of a Borg-town should not be confused with the circular layout of a Terp-village that are found in the northern Frisian section of the Netherlands. There the circular shape is the result of the planned raising of a flood mount.

Urban nature: happy amongst the stone

Many plants that only grow in urban areas find a specific niche there that mimics the growing conditions in its natural range or habitat. It is therefore not uncommon to find Mediterranean plants or species mostly associated with mountains and rocky outcrops in Dutch and Flemish water cities originally built in swampy and wet terrain. Especially less hardy species benefit from a stony environment as this material radiates solar energy during the night, thus creating the so-called urban heat island effect.

Verbascum -also known as Mullein- grows best in dry places, like here at the foot of a traffic sign at the side of the pavement. Cudweed (Helichrysum luteoalbum) can be found everywhere in the world. It favours disturbed soils and is very much at home in an urban environment. The plant tolerates wet winters making it an ideal pioneer for the Low Countries! Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) grows on many soils in open places. As the plants are drought tolerant and expand with underground runners they are often found in the city; here nestling in the gap between the pavement and a building.

EYE on Amsterdam

On the site of the former Shell Research Labs a new housing quarter is being developed called Overhoeks (the word literally means on the diagonal, a reference to the way the former Shell Office Tower was designed). As part of the development a plot on the northern edge of the Y was set aside for the new EYE Film Institute that came into existence in 2010 after the Film Museum, Holland Film, Film Bank and Dutch Institute for Cinematic Education were merged. The building designed by Austrian architect-couple Delugan and Delugan-Meissl stands behind Amsterdam Central Station. The location and views around are equally stunning!

Also the building is very spacious en pleasant on the inside, providing  a view across the Y towards the historic city of Amsterdam -to be seen in the background of the central station and quayside bus terminal. The seating for a restaurant is integrated into the large central staircase. Everything has been designed as a gesamtkunstwerk.

Betondorp: modernism in an Unwiseque framework

The central Brink square is surrounded by housing constructed in concrete. Here a look back towards the central garden square. The greater building height (an extra storey) creates the impression of "towers" on the corners making for a gate-like effect.

The same device is employed on the corners on the edge of the garden village. Here two three storey houses frame the central view of one of the axial ensembles.

By playing with the building line a sense of spatial uniqueness is achieved. This is a clear example of an Unwinesque design device. Here used in one of the small closes in this garden village. By using a different colour on the upper storey the corners are emphasised.

In a more subtle way colour and plasticity is used on the corners of rows of terraced housing (shown left). The chimney is part of the overall composition of the block. The shape and colour are picked up by the corner style. A slight recess above and below creates a thin strip of shade that emphasises the structural element  as ornamental. The doors are used as ornament everywhere in Tuindorp Watergraafsmeer, but especially so in the Betondorp-section. Here some lovely original doors in a graphic cubist design that was popular at the time.

In some places, especially as part of axial ensembles, one of the blocks is set back to make space for a small lawn to create an Unwinesque green.

Unwinesque urban design also features gates and exaggerated corners. On the left an good example of a gate within a row of terraced housing with columns and a block capital. Not all housing is plain off-white or grey, some has subtle colour. Here the grey upper storey has elongated corners that replicate the columns but inverted.

Another example of Unwinesque design, here with typical treatment of the corners to create an interior street space. For this the corner buildings have a building line closer to the street, so the street space widens beyond. Also note the subtle detailing emphasising the corners.

The corners often have slight embellishments that are part of the outer skin of the building. On the left a dynamic abstract composition reminiscent of the neo-plasticist Theo van Doesburg. In a similar way banding is translated into a modernist idiom (seen on the right).

Plasticity and subtle decorative elements create a varied streetscape as intended in Unwinesque design. On the left the corner building is set back with a chimney marking the stepped building line. The banding goes around the corner. The block behind has a protruding central section. The building opposite has a slightly protruding upper storey.  

The use of colour is mostly muted in this garden village, unlike the projects by Bruno Taut. Here gray tones emphasise the horizontality of the block. Such ribbons of windows are a feature of many Dutch buildings of the 1920s. The black plinth and roof trim are inspired by Scandinavian examples and the work of Dudok. The brightly coloured doors provide a splash of colour. Only primary colours are used for the doors plus green. This colour scheme of white gray black and primary colours is in keeping with The Style, an art movement of the time.

Some of the architecture is more decorative with great plasticity of shape. This makes for sculptural blocks with banded "towers" on the corners, protruding chimneys emphasising the shift in building line. The protruding sections used to house a corner shop, hence the shop windows that go around the corner. A separate set of stairs lead up to the apartment above the shop. Now it is a single dwelling.

Where the buildings take on a Bauhaus-type modernist style (on the right) horizontality dominates the facade. Only the bright red doors punctuate the lines and provide a rhythm. The clusters of 4 doors -again- indicates a duplex with apartments. On the left the main entrance in the southwest near where the church now stands. Here two protruding portals nestle in the corner of the protruding section of the block that is further emphasised by the banding on the upper storey and the sculpture of an eagle.

The two schools are built in brick and sit between the rendered concrete buildings of Betondorp. The contrast is very marked, but the building designed in brick cubism has a similar plasticity. So the two styles are married well on the square.

Where the brick built section of Tuindorp Watergraafsmeer meets the concrete built Betondorp the contrast is remarkable. Although similar Unwinesque design devices are employed the architecture is so different that the feel of the place is very different. The brick-built section conforms to what is usually associated with garden village design in the Netherlands.

A gate at the beginning of a street gives access to the rest of the garden village beyond. This is the typical architecture of garden villages and garden suburbs of the 1920s and 1930s in the Netherlands.