1. tower 2. ladderwindow 3. ‘the sigar’
Het Schip by Michel the Klerk (Image: Michiel Wijdeveld, patterns: Anneloes Kattemölle)
The wedge-shaped plans of the complex include eighteen different house plans. Behind the facades default floor plans go hidden, always mirrored on both sides of a common portal.
the building connects to the public life of the square.
The exhuberant decoration is typical of de Klerk’s designs. In a sculpture of Hildo Krop there are pelicans and winged horses. The tower is a typical visual element within the Amsterdam School. It is not accessible and is only for highlighting the visual hierarchy. Throughout the complex, construction follows the shape.
It was a miracle that there were Masons who understood the subject so that they could follow de Klerk’s imagination. In his residential blocks, the staircases, porches, balconies, corner solutions and roof edges, even tight window rows and flat facades seem to not stand still, but to wave. He sketched these elements as large, regular movements, as ripples in stone; as well as fast, notching waves, which asked for small detailed masonry masterpieces.
But how exuberantly is has been built, compared to the urban space the architect has been very modest. The architecture refers to any point of the urban situation. As an example, the post office on the corner of
Michel de Klerk’s position in the Amsterdam School
Michel de Klerk took had a prominent position in the Amsterdam School. He had
b r i c k // s t y l o s // g e n e r a l
an original approach to working with threedimensional forms, which did not seem to consciously follow an underlying principle. He was identified as an artist, a “form genius” for whom all practical conditions regarding building were subordinate to the essence: the shape. “By de Klerk a building is becoming materialization, approaching in building materials, of a leading total form. His schedule consists of large surfaces with small, finely detailed pieces, of which he makes a “party”. He can make all kinds of materials, even iron earthen pipes, decorative. His touch is smooth, supple, its decoration playful, whimsical and rustic. “ (Endt 1918)// >> “Michel de Klerk”, NAI publicers, 1997 >> “De Amsterdamse School”, Atrium, 2003
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