City Icons: Amsterdam - Don't Miss!

Festive City Icons Kick Off with Talk by Linda Vlassenrood

MORE MIES - Pure Architecture in Haus Lange Haus Esters

An Elementalist and Mediterranean Architecture

Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon

Modernism Week Lecture: 10 Years of Iconic Houses

Aluminaire House Grand Opening

Exhibition Icons of the Czech Avant-Garde

Icon for Sale - Loos Villa: Haus Horner

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

SPECIAL – German Greats!

SPECIAL - Vacances en France!

SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!

SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies

SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Housing

SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses

Winy Wants a World Wonder

Welcome Atelier Volten!

Public Screenings and Private Streaming of Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Sleep in a Modernist Gem – Huis Billiet in Bruges

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House

Exclusive Tour and Film Screening Package

The Last House Designed by Adolf Loos Will Be Built in Prague

Icons of the Czech Avantgarde

Icon for Sale - Casa Legorreta

Rietveld Day: 200 Enthusiasts Explored 3 Utrecht Icons

Hurray! 10 Years Iconic Houses

7th International Iconic Houses Conference A Huge Success

Meet Conference Co-Chair Iveta Černá

Meet Conference Co-Chair Maria Szadkowska

Eighteen Iconic Houses Under One Roof

17 June - 'Pioneers-film' Screening Amersfoort

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Eesteren House Museum

Welcome Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Zentrum in Vienna!

Welcome Vila Volman! Jewel of Czech Functionalism

Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects

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

Inside Iconic Houses at Taut’s Home in Berlin

Rediscovering Forgotten Loos Interiors in Pilsen

'Inside Iconic Houses' - Online Tour Program

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - The Diagoon House

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Rietveld Schröder House

Rietveld Houses Owners Association

Corberó Space: New Life for Hidden Jewel

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Pierre Cuypers' House and Workshops

Reeuwijk Celebrates Completion of Restoration Rietveld Homes!

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Doesburg Rinsema House

Welcome Rietveld's Van Daalen House!

Architect Harry Gessner Passed Away at 97

Watch Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House Now On Demand

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

Inside Iconic Houses Tours Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami

Casa Masó Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

Inside Iconic Houses tours Roland Reisley's Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright House

Rietveld’s Experimental Housing in Reeuwijk Saved

Serralves Villa after restoration

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!

Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970

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

Villa Henny, geometric style icon in The Netherlands

A Mendini temple in Amsterdam

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

Our Badge of Honour

Iconic Houses End Year Message

City-ordered rebuild of landmark house stirs debate: Appropriate or overreach?

Kohlberg House Restoration in Progress

Planned Demolition of Rietveld Homes in Reeuwijk

Renovation Gili House in Crisis

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

Jan de Jong’s House is Latest Hendrick de Keyser Acquisition

Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece

In Berlin’s Modernist Network

Rietveld-Schröder House Celebrates De Stijl Anniversary

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

Meet the Friends - Frederick Noyes

Sheridan Burke, GML Heritage

Meet the Friends - Raymond Neutra

Sidney Williams, Frey House

Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan, Museum Anarchists

Meet the Friends - James Haefner

Toshiko Mori, architect

Malachi Connolly, Cape Cod Modern House Trust

Meet the Friends - Penny Sparke

Lucia Dewey Atwood, Eames House

Cory Buckner, Mutual Housing Site Office

Jeffrey Herr, Hollyhock House

Speaking Volumes: Building the Iconic Houses Library

Sarah Lorenzen, Neutra VDL Studio and Residences

Ted Bosley, Gamble House

Keeping It Modern - Getty Conservation Grants

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

Work in Progress: Casa Vicens

Work in Progress: Van Wassenhove House

Work in Progress: Villa Cavrois

Work in Progress: The Pearlroth House

Conference calls!

Follow us!

Third Iconic Houses Conference a huge success

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

Conference Program 25 November 2014

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

Rent a house designed by Gerrit Rietveld

Barragán House on Screen

Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move

Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013

Prestigious Art Nouveau mansions in Brussels open

September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris

June's New Arrivals: Museum Apartments

Iconic Houses is now on Twitter and Facebook

Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture

Projekt Mies In Krefeld: Life-sized model of the Krefeld Clubhouse

New arrivals: Spain special

MAMO: Le Corbu’s ‘Park in the Sky’ open 12 June

Taut's Home wins Europa Nostra Award

Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May

Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen

Message from the Editor

Neutra’s House on Screen

Michel Richard, Fondation Le Corbusier

Symposium The Public and the Modern House

Melnikov House on Screen

Iconic Houses in the media

Message from the Editor

Round Table Review

Eileen Gray House on Screen

Copy Culture

At Home in the 20th Century

New 20th century Iconic Houses website launches

Philippe Bélaval, Centre des monuments nationaux

Updated 22 March 2021

Wessel de Jonge on Dutch Icons at Risk

In the run-up to Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House, our Iconic Houses online event in September, we talk to leading authorities on architecture in the Netherlands about the Dutch reinvention of the house in the 20th century. Wessel de Jonge is Professor of Heritage and Design at TU Delft, runs an architecture office specializing in the reuse of existing buildings, and is an advisor to the Getty Foundation’s Keeping it Modern grant initiative. We ask Wessel about Dutch icons at risk from an international perspective.

How is the Netherlands doing in Modern heritage?
Generally speaking, I believe the Netherlands is doing quite well when it comes to Modern heritage. Early Modern architecture, like the works of Rietveld and other members of De Stijl started to be appreciated again by a wider audience by the mid-1980s and the position of Modern heritage has certainly benefitted from that. Around 1992, when the Dutch government ratified the World Heritage Convention and decided to organize future nominations according to three main themes, one of those was Modern architecture (the other ones being the Dutch battle against the water and the Golden Age). At the time that was quite remarkable, as the number of 20th-century properties on the World Heritage list was less than a handful. In the Netherlands, a substantial number of Modern buildings and ensembles had already been nationally listed, and many have followed since then. But that doesn’t mean we don’t face challenges.

Can you tell us about getting the Van Nelle factory on the World Heritage list, and the current status of the Rijswijk ‘om-en-om-woningen’ (front-to-back-houses) by Rietveld? What do these show us about the Dutch situation?
The tentative nomination of the Van Nelle Factory was announced when our Ministry of Culture ratified the World Heritage Convention in 1992. Together with the Rietveld Schröder House and the former Sanatorium ‘Zonnestraal’, the factory represented the Modern architecture track. Therefore, the actual nomination was well anticipated, but it wasn't a runaway race. Firstly, we had a Dutch member in the World Heritage Committee and our government decided to put all nominations on hold for years. Then they felt the initial tentative nominations should be reviewed and we had to prove our case again. As an example, we were recently shocked to learn that the Minister of Culture is planning to remove Sanatorium ‘Zonnestraal’ from the tentative list – after over 25 years of preparation. But back to Van Nelle, even in the last resort, during the 2014 World Heritage Convention meeting in Doha we couldn´t be sure, since nominations from Western countries are critically reviewed by non-Western member states. But we made it.

As an advisor to Keeping it Modern (Getty), how would you say that this organization can help?
The Getty Keeping it Modern programme has been a great catalyst for Modern heritage in many countries where this is far from self-evident – think Armenia, Taiwan or Mozambique. It has helped put Modern heritage on the map. In the Netherlands we have successfully applied three times so far, for the Rietveld Schröder House, the social-housing museum Het Schip, and last year for the 1966 Aula building at TU Delft. Like most of the Getty grants the money for these projects is given for preparatory research and planning that is part of the look-before-you-leap approach that they promote, which is not so self-evident for recent heritage buildings that are often economic assets at the same time. For administrative reasons, the Getty grants are restricted to non-private properties, so when it comes to iconic houses these need to be owned and managed by non-profits. That proved to be a prohibitive condition in some cases. Anyway, it’s a pity that the Keeping it Modern programme will come to a close next year. We have one final round to go.

What issues in the Netherlands are putting heritage at risk? What are the causes, and what can be done to solve them?
The main challenge in the Netherlands is the sheer amount of recent-heritage buildings. Of course, they are often economic assets at the same time, owned by private companies and real-estate investors and it is not always easy to argue about their uniqueness when – as it seems – there is a similar building just a block away.
In the Netherlands, the issue of Modern social-housing estates is also problematic. Housing corporations claim that their main responsibility is providing affordable dwellings – which is correct – but they seem to forget about their own history. In Reeuwijk, Rietveld built one of his few social housing projects, involving 52 single family homes with alternating fronts and backs. As far as I know, this is the only realized example of this typology. Now, a few decades later, such dwellings can never meet present energy standards. Aspects of social cohesion and public appreciation don’t make it to the spreadsheets of financial management, and the Reeuwijk houses faced demolition and replacement. Apparently, now the housing corporation will no longer pursue this plan due to lack of resources. Saved by the bell!
What worries me a lot is that sustainability arguments are misused to disqualify heritage buildings and to do away with them. Embodied energy, CO2 and nitrogen could already cast another light on the true performance of these buildings when understanding that their lifespan will be prolonged as a result of heritage listing. But those boxes can’t yet be ticked in the managers’ manuals. One day, we’ll regret this.

Why is it important for TU Delft to have the Heritage and Design course? What can it contribute?
The master´s course in Heritage and Architecture at TU Delft is addressing all the issues that I have brought up. Together with the chairs of Heritage and Values and Heritage and Technology we teach students to analyze and understand heritage buildings before – guided by my chair of Heritage and Design – proposing conservation strategies and interventions for their adaptive re-use. The issue of adaptive re-use of heritage buildings is highly relevant right now. In Europe, more than half of all architectural commissions concern existing real estate and, also in real-estate investments, heritage buildings are the first ones to stand out for preservation. No wonder that around 25 per cent of all architecture students at the faculty in Delft graduate from Heritage and Architecture. Our master´s programme involves courses on 20th-century heritage at every level, so students who want to focus on that can do so. We find that many Asian students are also attracted to recent heritage, as it becomes increasingly topical in their home countries.

What issues are you looking forward to discussing at the Iconic Houses online event?
I believe that the whole issue of private versus public ownership, and the related regulations regarding sustainability and public access, remain a top priority. That means I will also focus on how to involve a next generation of dedicated young professionals in this field.

Do you have a favourite young heritage house (1965 or younger), and why?
I’m going to tamper with your cut-off date here, because one of the most special young-heritage houses I have ever visited is the Schaffer Residence in Los Angeles, designed by John Lautner in 1949. That’s where Tom Ford shot his movie A Single Man. It’s privately owned so alas, not on the Iconic Houses register. Another one is Rietveld’s House Van den Doel, built in 1958 and also privately owned. It’s a real masterpiece. I believe it will be included in the post-conference tours – perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see that house!

What are the most hopeful circumstances for heritage homes currently?
There is a broad and growing appreciation for Modern heritage homes. A large number of such houses are being embraced and cherished by a new generation of aficionados. Even if that means that such houses may not be publicly accessible, the most important thing is that they survive.

The Midcentury Modern Schaffer Residence by architect John Lautner in Glendale, CA, USA, 1949. Photo Matthew Letcher. 
Om-en-om woningen, Gerrit Rietveld, Reeuwijk, The Netherlands, 1959. 
Recently restored Private house Van den Doel, Gerrit Rietveld, Ilpendam, The Netherlands, 1959. 

Jane Szita

Updated 22 March 2021