Mackintosh’s Hill House Becomes an International Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Czech Classics

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Iconic Houses Network Members' Meetup London, November 4

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Aluminaire House Grand Opening

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SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams Europe - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams North America - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!

SPECIAL - Vacances en France!

SPECIAL – German Greats!

SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!

SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies

SPECIAL – Iconic Collective Housing

SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses

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Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House

Exclusive Tour and Film Screening Package

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Icons of the Czech Avantgarde

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Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects

'Inside Iconic Houses' Case Study House #26 Webcast in Webshop

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Rietveld Houses Owners Association

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Welcome Rietveld's Van Daalen House!

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Icon Saved: Dorchester Drive House

Welcome Umbrella House!

Iconic Houses in the Netherlands – Berlage’s Masterpiece

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Het Schip

Inside Iconic Houses - Tour of Maison Cazenave

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Portraits of the Architect - Interview with Gennaro Postiglione

Test Labs for New Ideas - Interview with Natascha Drabbe

Inside Iconic Houses - Isokon Building

Inside Iconic Houses - 16 December: Sunnylands with Janice Lyle

BCN-BXL Coderch-De Koninck - Beyond Time

New Chairman Architect Nanne de Ru on The Perfect Platform

Health and Home - Interview with Beatriz Colomina

A Life Less Ordinary – Interview with Valentijn Carbo

Invisible Women - Interview with Alice T. Friedman

Winy Maas on the Green Dip

Anita Blom on Experimental Housing of the 1970s

Women’s Worlds - Interview with Natalie Dubois

The Culture of Living - Interview with Robert von der Nahmer

Hetty Berens: A Fresh Take on Modernism

Niek Smit on Supporting Modern Heritage

Alice Roegholt on Amsterdam’s Working-Class Palaces

July is Iconic Houses Month

Hans van Heeswijk on The Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Wessel de Jonge on Dutch Icons at Risk

Save Maison Zilveli - Sign the Petition!

How a Building Tells a Story - Recorded Event

Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House

13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage

Villa Beer At Risk - Sign the Petition!

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Exhibiting & Visiting Modernist Monuments

Fostering Well-Researched Responsible Design

ICONS AT RISK

Enjoy a virtual visit to the California House and a Q&A with architect Peter Gluck

Exhibition 'Modernism and Refuge'

A Hidden Gem of Postmodernism

New Centre for Historic Houses of India

An Online Chronicle of the Douglas House

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IH-lectures USA & Canada Feb 2020 on Melnikov House

Sponsors and Friends

An Afternoon with the Glucks

Chandler McCoy on Making Modern Houses Sustainable

Catherine Croft: Getting Away from the Demolition Mentality in the UK

Patrick Weber on Discovering an Unknown Icon

Fiona Fisher on Iconic Interiors

Jocelyn Bouraly on Villa Cavrois

Mireia Massagué on finding success through a new kind of partnership

Danish Moderns – Looking Back at Our Mini-Seminar

Venturo house complements Exhibition Centre WeeGee’s offering

Lecture report: Remembering Richard Neutra

Hôtel Mezzara and the Guimard Museum project

We welcome 13 new members!

BREAKING NEWS: 8 Wright Sites Inscribed on Unesco World Heritage List!

LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright

Iconic Reads

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An Iconic Saga

Restoring Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 and Clarifying the Controversies

Modernism on the East Coast

Iconic Houses in Latin America

Conference testimonials

House Tours May 2018 

Expert Meetings

Natascha Drabbe - Iconic Houses: The Next Chapter

Terence Riley -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Philip Johnson

New era for Villa E-1027 and Cap Moderne

Hilary Lewis on Philip Johnson and his Glass House

John Arbuckle on Great House Tours

William D. Earls on the Harvard Five in New Canaan

Stover Jenkins on Working for Philip Johnson

Frederick Noyes on his Father’s House

Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam on their Passion for Preservation

Jorge Liernur -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Latin American Modernism(s)

Fabio Grementieri on Modernism in Argentina

Catalina Corcuera Cabezut on Casa Luis Barragán

Renato Anelli on Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro

Tim McClimon on Corporate Preservation

Amanda Nelson on Building Donor Relationships

John Bacon on Planned Giving

Jean-Paul Warmoes on the Art of Fundraising in America

Chandler McCoy on Why Less is More

Katherine Malone-France on Moving with the Times

Anne Mette Rahbæk on Philanthropic Investments and Preservation

Peter McMahon on Saving Modern Houses on Cape Cod

Toshiko Kinoshita on Japanese Modern Heritage Houses

Roland Reisley on Life in a Frank Lloyd Wright House

5th Iconic Houses Conference May 2018

Kristin Stone, Pasadena Tour Company

Restoring the past: The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Home Studio

Behind the Scenes: Hendrick de Keyser Association

Crosby Doe, Architecture for Sale

Latin America Special – Focus on Mexico

De Stijl in Drachten

Preserving the Nancarrow House-Studio

Meet the Friends - Nanne de Ru

Latin America Special – Focus on Brazil

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Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece

In Berlin’s Modernist Network

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Meet Our New Foundation Board Members

Maintaining Aalto's Studio – Linoleum Conservation

Virtual Tour of a Papaverhof Home in 3D

Getty Grant for Villa E-1027

Plečnik House in Ljubljana

Iconic Dacha

Iconic Houses: A Bohemian Road Trip

Work in Progress: Capricho de Gaudí

11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List

At home with Le Corbusier

Henry van de Velde’s Study in Haus Hohe Pappeln Restored

Lynda Waggoner reports

A Conference to Remember

4th International Iconic Houses Conference

Guest of Honor - Harry Gesner

Fallingwater: European Lecture Tour

Wright Plus 2016 Walk

Susan Macdonald, Getty Conservation Institute

John Mcllwee, Garcia House

Meet the Friends – Elisabeth Tostrup

Iconic Houses: The Story So Far

Willie van Burgsteden, designer Iconic Houses

Buff Kavelman, Philanthropic Advisor

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Sheridan Burke, GML Heritage

Meet the Friends - Raymond Neutra

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Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan, Museum Anarchists

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Toshiko Mori, architect

Malachi Connolly, Cape Cod Modern House Trust

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Sarah Lorenzen, Neutra VDL Studio and Residences

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Meet the Friends - Thomas Schönauer

Wim de Wit, Stanford University

Linda Dishman, Los Angeles Conservancy

Jesse Lattig, Pasadena Heritage

Join us in Los Angeles! Update

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Conference calls!

Follow us!

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Conference House Tours Barcelona

Marta Lacambra, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera

Natascha Drabbe, Iconic Houses Foundation

Special speaker Oscar Tusquets

Jordi Tresserras, UNESCO Network ‘Culture, tourism and development’

Christen Obel, Utzon Foundation

Elena Ruiz Sastre, Casa Broner

Fernando Alvarez Prozorovich, La Ricarda

Tim Benton, Professor of Art History (Emeritus)

Susana Landrove, Docomomo Spain

Rossend Casanova, Casa Bloc

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Jordi Falgàs, Casa Rafael Masó

Documentary La Ricarda

Marga Viza, Casa Míla/La Pedrera

Celeste Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

Conference 25 November 2014 at La Pedrera

Henry Urbach, The Glass House

Victoria & Albert Museum London November 12

Tommi Lindh, new director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation and Museum

Iveta Černá, Villa Tugendhat

Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater

Kimberli Meyer, MAK Center

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Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move

Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013

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September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris

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Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture

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Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May

Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen

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Neutra’s House on Screen

Michel Richard, Fondation Le Corbusier

Symposium The Public and the Modern House

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Message from the Editor

Round Table Review

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Copy Culture

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New 20th century Iconic Houses website launches

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Posted March 21, 2024

City Icons Kick Off with Talk by Linda Vlassenrood

  • Jakoba Mulder in the office. Photo: Amsterdam City Archives.
  • Light, air and space in New-West. No romantic neighborhoods, but strict rational and modern urban planning. Source: Amsterdam.nl.
  • Jakoba Mulder at a press conference in Amsterdam where the General Expansion Plan (AUP) was presented. Photo National Archives.
  • The AUP from 1935. The plan has largely been implemented. Source: Amsterdam.nl.
  • Jakoba Mulder at her retirement in 1965. Photo: National Archives.
  • Jakoba Mulder in the office. Photo: Amsterdam City Archives.
  • Light, air and space in New-West. No romantic neighborhoods, but strict rational and modern urban planning. Source: Amsterdam.nl.
  • Jakoba Mulder at a press conference in Amsterdam where the General Expansion Plan (AUP) was presented. Photo National Archives.
  • The AUP from 1935. The plan has largely been implemented. Source: Amsterdam.nl.
  • Jakoba Mulder at her retirement in 1965. Photo: National Archives.

Linda Vlassenrood is a curator, programme manager, author, speaker, advisor specializing in complex urban issues and the founder of Studio Linda Vlassenrood. At IH City Icons: Amsterdam, she explains how city planning has shaped – and is still shaping – the homes built in the city.

Photo Linda Vlassenrood: Gerard van den Dool. 



What’s the focus of your talk Coming Home to Amsterdam: A Century of City Planning for IH City Icons on May 24th?
Amsterdam grew enormously in the 20th century, more than doubling in size – all thanks to ambitious urban planning. Primarily this meant creating new residential areas. In 1915, Berlage’s Plan Zuid created a new southern district in the city. Post-war, the AUP (General Expansion Plan) resulted in an unprecedented 50,000 homes, for all levels of society, being built in just 10 years. The Bijlmermeer added a new – perhaps misplaced – optimism in 1968 and then by the end of the century you had the transformation of the old docklands. I will focus on Jakoba Mulder, a woman who played a hugely influential role in Amsterdam urban planning from 1930 to 1972 – not as a solo designer, but as a team player and coordinator.

How did these grand plans influence individual city homes?
Each plan put its own stamp on the city. With Plan Zuid, you see the use of closed residential blocks and long elongated street walls – as in the Amsterdamse School social housing we will visit with the tours. With the AUP, this changes to open, Modernist buildings, in green spaces, as you can see when we visit the Van Eesteren house museum. Then the Bijlmermeer takes a new high-rise approach – which Jakoba Mulder, interestingly and correctly, saw issues with, although she couldn’t stop it. The docklands’ transformation in the 1990s provided housing in a much higher density and with limited green public space, since the proximity of water was considered a major asset.

What kick-started this massive urban planning effort in Amsterdam?
The Dutch Woningwet (Housing Act) of 1901 – which was the first national housing law and quite unique at the time – ensured that local governments had the means and the power to improve the housing of the lower social classes in the cities, which was then of very poor quality. It gave, very early on, through financial support to housing corporations, new urban extensions, building regulations and utilities, a huge boost to the quality of social housing, such as was never seen before.

How far were Amsterdam’s planning initiatives part of an international movement?
In case of the AUP, Van Eesteren was chair of CIAM, so the Amsterdam plan got lots of attention and was part of this big international Modernist movement around the Functional City – which was the theme of the famous fourth CIAM congress. This took place in summer 1933 and was led by Le Corbusier, Cornelis van Eesteren, and the art historian Sigfried Giedion. Conference attendees analysed 34 cities, including Amsterdam, using specially prepared maps. The results were later shown at the exhibition De Functionele Stad (The Functional City) at the Stedelijk Museum in 1935. It is widely regarded as a defining period in Modernist urban planning.

Jakoba Mulder features in your talk. How important is it to recognize her and other women active in her time?
It’s very important – women like Margaret Staal-Kropholler, who worked on the De Wolkenkrabber (the garbage chutes and easy-clean pivoting windows are her design), and Lotte Stam-Beese, who worked on the Drive-In homes, had a big influence. But the main point is to acknowledge that city making is a collaborative effort – not just the work of one or two architects, but also civil servants, engineers, and so on. We should acknowledge that different types of authorship are possible – and necessary. Today of course, this should extend to residents too – something that was missing in the past.

How do you see Amsterdam’s future development?
Amsterdam – like many other places in the Netherlands – is currently dealing with an enormous housing shortage. Future ‘expansion’ will be all about transforming existing areas and property as there is no way to expand territorially without losing much-needed greenery and nature. We see this with the current major development Haven-Stad, which is transforming a former industrial area. Today the city faces multiple challenges to its development, including climate change, lack of biodiversity, giving shape to the energy transition, circular economy and water resilience, and how to be a more accessible, affordable and just city.

Can the past be an inspiration in this?
In some ways, although our situation now is much more complex. Jakoba Mulder for example was busy on all scale levels, from whole neighbourhoods to individual playgrounds. She was also a team player who collaborated with many different departments and people. This kind of collaboration is what we need today, especially in times of great transitions and uncertainty, but we have perhaps forgotten how to do it well.

Do you have a favourite house in Amsterdam?
Not a house as such but the Louise Wenthuis designed by Staal-Kropholler springs to mind because it was a medium high-rise with 170 units built for single women in 1963. It was an extraordinary project at the time, since single women had hardly any opportunities to live alone in an independent home.

Louise Wenthuis, Margaret Staal-Kropholler, 1963. Photo: Stadsarchief Amsterdam.

Posted March 21, 2024