Jacobus Oud

February 9, 1890 (age 72)

Purmerend, Netherlands

His practical training came in the office of Cuijpers and Stuyt in Amsterdam and Theodor Fischer in Munich, but he was influenced as well by the work of H. P. Berlage and Frank Lloyd Wright. Oud's early buildings, those designed between 1906 and 1916, show a nearly total dependence upon the work of Berlage (for example, the design for a bathhouse for Purmerend, 1915). In 1917 Oud joined Theo van Doesburg and others to found de Stijl (the Style), a group of artists and architects that advocated an artistic expression, now best known from the paintings of Piet Mondrian, in which nature is abstracted into an interrelationship of rectangles of primary colors. Its journal (also called De Stijl) became the mouthpiece of modernism in the Netherlands. Oud's work now assumed the bleached, cubical forms characteristic of the new architecture of the 1920 (design for row houses, Scheveningen, 1917). He soon broke away from de Stijl. From his position (1918 - 1933) as city architect for Rotterdam, where his chief concern was mass housing, Oud became a leader in the European architecture of the International Style, the Dutch counterpart of Walter Gropius in Germany and Le Corbusier in France. For the series of books issued by the Bauhaus, Gropius's school of architecture, Oud produced Holländische Architektur (1926), which contains, among other things, an essay on the development of Dutch architecture from P. J. H. Cuijpers through Berlage to Oud himself. Oud contributed a group of low-cost row houses (1927) to the exhibition of the Werkbund, or German association of modern architects and designers, at the Weissenhof in Stuttgart. This exhibition marked the maturation of the International Style. Other outstanding works from this period in Oud's career include the facade design of asymmetrical rectangles for the Café de Unie in Rotterdam (1925; destroyed) and workers' housing quarters in the Hook of Holland (1924 - 1927) and the Kiefhoek area of Rotterdam (1924 - 1929). The workers' quarters show the plain stucco cubes, the efficient planning, and the social consciousness characteristic of the progressive architecture of the 1920 in Europe. From 1933 until his death in Wassenaar on April 5, 1963, Oud practiced as an independent architect. A period of inactivity was closed with the design of the Shell Building in The Hague (1938 - 1942), but his work of this later period, with an occasional exception such as the Bio Health Resort in Arnhem (1952 - 1960), failed to go beyond the achievements of the 19206.

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J.J.P. Oud: A Poetic Functionalist: 1890-1963 / The Complete Works

(This comprehensive overview of the life and work of J.J.P...)

This comprehensive overview of the life and work of J.J.P. Oud is a monumental scholarly achievement and will stand as the definitive statement on the career of one of the pioneers of modern architecture. Oud was an early proponent of the International Modern style, and in 1917 was one of the cofounders, along with Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian, of the Dutch art and architecture movement De Stijl. This book presents, in a clear and accessible manner, an immense body of material, including descriptions, sketches, drawings, and photographs of his projects, realized and unrealized, as well as published articles and Oud's correspondence. His own writings provide valuable insights into his activities, documenting his involvement in De Stijl and the Congres International d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM), his lectures and travels, his participation in exhibitions, and his personal and professional relationships. The introduction is a biography of Oud's life and work, and provides context for the rest of the volume. At over 600 pages, and fully illustrated, this book is by far the most comprehensive ever published on Oud. Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud was born in Purmerend, Holland, in 1890. Educated at the Arts and Crafts School in Amsterdam and at the Technical University in Delft, he worked for Theodor Fischer in Munich before settling in Leiden.~An original member of De Stijl, Oud eventually left the group due to philosophical disagreements. In 1918 he became Municipal Housing Architect for Rotterdam. In 1933 he established his own practice. As a young socialist, Oud stimulated an international and regional trend toward functionalism. He wrote magazine articles, acted as a correspondent for Soviet architectural journals, and contributed a book on Dutch architecture to the Bauhausbucher series. Oud's best-known works are for housing schemes in expanding areas. During and after World War II he became involved in larger commercial projects, but these never achieved the clarity of his early housing. Considered a pioneer of Dutch Functionalist architecture, Oud died in Wassenaar, Holland, in 1963. Essays by Dolf Broekhuizen, Ed Taverne, Martien de Vletter and Cor Wagenaar. 800 color illustrations 8.75 x 11 inches

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Jacobus Oud

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also known as Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud, J. J. P. Oud

architect

Background

Oud was born 0n February 9, 1890 in Purmerend, Netherlands, the son of a tobacco and wine merchant.

Education

He studied at the Quellinus School of Arts and Crafts, the National School of Graphic Arts in Amsterdam, and the Technical University in Delft. In 1955 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Technical University in Delft.

Career

His practical training came in the office of Cuijpers and Stuyt in Amsterdam and Theodor Fischer in Munich, but he was influenced as well by the work of H. P. Berlage and Frank Lloyd Wright. Oud's early buildings, those designed between 1906 and 1916, show a nearly total dependence upon the work of Berlage (for example, the design for a bathhouse for Purmerend, 1915).

In 1917 Oud joined Theo van Doesburg and others to found de Stijl (the Style), a group of artists and architects that advocated an artistic expression, now best known from the paintings of Piet Mondrian, in which nature is abstracted into an interrelationship of rectangles of primary colors. Its journal (also called De Stijl) became the mouthpiece of modernism in the Netherlands. Oud's work now assumed the bleached, cubical forms characteristic of the new architecture of the 1920 (design for row houses, Scheveningen, 1917). He soon broke away from de Stijl.

From his position (1918 - 1933) as city architect for Rotterdam, where his chief concern was mass housing, Oud became a leader in the European architecture of the International Style, the Dutch counterpart of Walter Gropius in Germany and Le Corbusier in France. For the series of books issued by the Bauhaus, Gropius's school of architecture, Oud produced Holländische Architektur (1926), which contains, among other things, an essay on the development of Dutch architecture from P. J. H. Cuijpers through Berlage to Oud himself.

Oud contributed a group of low-cost row houses (1927) to the exhibition of the Werkbund, or German association of modern architects and designers, at the Weissenhof in Stuttgart. This exhibition marked the maturation of the International Style. Other outstanding works from this period in Oud's career include the facade design of asymmetrical rectangles for the Café de Unie in Rotterdam (1925; destroyed) and workers' housing quarters in the Hook of Holland (1924 - 1927) and the Kiefhoek area of Rotterdam (1924 - 1929). The workers' quarters show the plain stucco cubes, the efficient planning, and the social consciousness characteristic of the progressive architecture of the 1920 in Europe.

From 1933 until his death in Wassenaar on April 5, 1963, Oud practiced as an independent architect. A period of inactivity was closed with the design of the Shell Building in The Hague (1938 - 1942), but his work of this later period, with an occasional exception such as the Bio Health Resort in Arnhem (1952 - 1960), failed to go beyond the achievements of the 19206.

Achievements

He was one of the Netherlands' leading architects of the International Style of the 1920. He attempted to reconcile strict, rational, 'scientific' cost-effective construction technique against the psychological needs and aesthetic expectations of the users. He designed projects such as the Spaarbank in Rotterdam, office-building De Utrecht in Rotterdam and the Children's health-centre in Arnhem (Bio-herstellingsoord).

Works

$J.J.P. Oud: A Poetic Functionalist: 1890-1963 \/ The Complete Works J.J.P. Oud: A Poetic Functionalist: 1890-1963 \/ The Complete Works$ $Mi trayectoria en \$

book
- Mi trayectoria en " De Stijl"
  (Colegio Oficial de Aparejadores y Arquitectos Técnicos et...)
- J.J.P. Oud: A Poetic Functionalist: 1890-1963 / The Complete Works
  (This comprehensive overview of the life and work of J.J.P...)

Religion

From 1933 until his death in Wassenaar on April 5, 1963, Oud practiced as an independent architect.

Connections

Brother:: Pieter Oud
teacher:: Theodor Fischer

References

J.J.P. Oud and the International Style: A Bio-Bibliography (Bio-Bibliographies in Art and Architecture)

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Jacobus Oud

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book

J.J.P. Oud: A Poetic Functionalist: 1890-1963 / The Complete Works

Mi trayectoria en " De Stijl"

Jacobus Oud

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Achievements

Works

book

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