An architectural perspective drawing gives a naturalistic spatial representation of an architectural project, which is usually represented in orthographic drawings, such as floorplans, sections, and elevations. However, that same perspective drawing can also express theoretical architectural concepts and ideas in a non-verbal, but highly communicative way. To investigate that particular quality, this dissertation takes a systematic look at the historical case of the perspective drawings made by the German architect Heinrich Tessenow (1876-1950), focusing on the period between 1901 and 1926. Tessenow, one of the key figures in early twentieth-century German architecture, was mostly interested in the Kleinwohnung (small workers’ and lower-middle-class house) and the Kleinstadt (small town) Initially, Tessenow’s perspectives appeared in various well-read architectural journals, such as Bautechnische Zeitschrift and Deutsche Bauhütte. These journals not only offered the drawings (and their maker) a publishing platform but also actively invited various writers to respond to them, thus contributing to a lively public discourse on architecture. As a consequence, perspective drawings played a major role in Tessenow’s first three publications, Zimmermannsarbeiten (1907), Der Wohnhausbau (1909) and Hausbau und dergleichen (1916). In all three books, perspective drawings were much more than illustrations or building visualisations to his texts: they actively contributed to Tessenow’s architectural thinking and his emerging visual theory of architecture. This dissertation wants to address some basic questions that relate to this: what is the meaning of these perspectives in Tessenow’s visual theory of architecture and what role did they play in the development of his thinking on the Kleinwohnung? To answer these questions, a great number of perspective drawings are collected from various sources. Quite deliberately, these drawings are detached from their immediate context, regarding the projects they depict, the media in which they appeared and their chronological order. This collection of detached drawings is then subdivided into three main thematic categories that summarize Tessenow’s oeuvre in these years and all relate to the Kleinwohnung: Haus (house); Raum (room or space) and Sache (thing or object). To relate Tessenow’s perspective drawings to his architectural thinking, three epistemic architectural notions are distilled from writings by both Tessenow and some of his contemporaries. These notions are Empfindung (sensibility), Abstraktion (abstraction) and Gewöhnlichkeit (ordinariness) and their epistemic character follows from the fact that they not only define Tessenow’s architectural thinking but relate to a broader German architectural culture. By intersecting these notions with the drawings arranged in the categories of Haus, Raum and Sache, it becomes possible to select more than 20 sets of related drawings that are then subjected to a comparative iconographic architectural analysis, in which the typological organization of building, space or object; and the formal composition of its appearance are linked to aspects such as its immediate setting, spatial delineations and material expression. The method of juxtaposing perspective drawings with a similar subject and subsequently comparing these drawings makes it possible to reveal general patterns and qualities related to the depicted subject beyond the individual case. Together, these analyses form the basis of a series of speculative reconstructions of Tessenow’s inquiries into several relevant topics related to the Kleinwohnung. Besides the historical significance of Tessenow’s case, the analyses presented in this dissertation also demonstrate the significance of perspective drawing. They make clear that this kind of drawing was, and is, able to bring together different scales, elements and atmospheres in one image, which is immediately understandable to both architects and to all the others involved in architecture and building. They also show how perspective drawing can contribute to architectural thinking and thus forms an important theoretical tool that continues to be relevant in the present day. @en

Through the comparison of four interior perspectives that Heinrich Tessenow created between 1903 and 1913, this essay develops four different notions to understand the work of Tessenow. These drawings of living rooms can be seen to move from a density of hatches and scribbles, evoking Stimmung, to the Abstraktion of plain outlines on a white surface. As such, his drawings seem to focus more and more on Sachlichkeit, until finally, there is a shift towards an evocation of anonymous traditions of making things, expressed as a timeless essence through their Gewöhnlichkeit.

Aan de hand van een vergelijking van vier interieurperspectieven die Heinrich Tessenow tussen 1903 en 1913 maakte, ontwikkelt dit artikel vier verschillende begrippen om het werk van Tessenow te begrijpen. Deze tekeningen van woonkamers verschuiven van dichte arceringen en krabbels, daarbij een Stimmung oproepend, naar de Abstraktion van simpele contouren op een witte achtergrond. Zodoende richten zijn tekeningen zich steeds meer op Sachlichkeit, tot er ten slotte een verschuiving plaatsvindt naar het oproepen van anonieme tradities bij het maken van dingen, die met hun Gewöhnlichkeit een tijdloze essentie uitdrukken.@en

Building review. In het tweeluik ‘De Vloek van het Museum’ staan twee onlangs grondig verbouwde en uitgebreide musea in Leiden centraal. Wat is de ontstaansgeschiedenis van deze gebouwen en hoe heeft die het uiteindelijke ontwerp beïnvloed? Het eerste artikel richt zich op de interventies in Museum De Lakenhal door Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven en Julian Harrap Architects.@en

Building review. In het tweeluik ‘De Vloek van het Museum’ bespreekt Jurjen Zeinstra twee musea in Leiden, die onlangs grondig onder handen zijn genomen door gerenommeerde Nederlandse architecten. Wat is de ontstaansgeschiedenis van deze gebouwen en hoe is het uiteindelijke ontwerp erdoor beïnvloed? In dit tweede artikel staat de uitbreiding en verbouwing van Naturalis door Neutelings Riedijk architecten centraal.@en

The ‘Learning by Models’ exhibition held in the Faculty of Architecture of TU Delft in the spring of 2018 comprised a number of models representing various works by the architect Heinrich Tessenow (1876-1950). The models were made in three architecture schools, namely the Maastricht Academy of Architecture , the Accademia di architettura in Mendrisio and the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment in Delft, and the clear differences between these models showed the various ways that Tessenow’s work is addressed in architectural education today. The exhibition’s closing event was a symposium that brought together teachers, architectural historians and practising architects to share their views and ideas about Tessenow and his relevance to contemporary architecture. This text was one of the contributions.@en

Op dinsdag 19 juni 2018, op de dag af dertig jaar na de opening, werd de toenmalige curator Mark Wigley namens The Berlage door Salomon Frausto gevraagd terug te blikken op de MoMA-tentoonstelling ‘Deconstructivist Architecture’ uit 1988. In een voorbeeldige lezing, genaamd ‘What just happened? Revisiting Deconstructivist Architecture After 30 Years’, doet hij een aantal opvallende uitspraken over het fenomeen architectuurtentoonstelling.@en

Recensie. Het begrip ‘identiteit’ is alom vertegenwoordigd in het hedendaagse debat, of het nu gaat over gemeentepolitiek of beeldende kunst. De nieuwste publicatie van Neutelings Riedijk architecten, Ornament and Identity, maakt dan ook nieuwsgierig, zeker omdat de twee begrippen al ruim twintig jaar een grote rol spelen in hun werk.@en

Boek review: Rem Koolhaas / Elements of Architecture. Met het onlangs verschenen Elements of Architecture hebben Rem Koolhaas en zijn team een boek gemaakt dat qua afmetingen en gewicht niet onderdoet voor een keramisch metselblok. Koolhaas betoogt dat de vloer, trap, en alle andere ‘elementen’ die in het boek voorkomen, in de zeer nabije toekomst, of eigenlijk nu al, actief gaan bijdragen aan de grote verandering in onze samenleving.@en

As part of the renewal in 2013/2014 of the bachelor education curriculum in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, a new study programme was prepared on the Fundamentals (in Dutch: Grondslagen) of spatial design. The teaching approach, visually presented by some examples and explained in this paper, consists of three closely related elements: (a) lectures and readings on basic concepts of architectural, urban and landscape architectural design, (b) a canon of 160 projects illustrating these concepts and (c) a typomorphological project analysis exercise. This new, integrated programme was the follow-up of three former, separate study programmes, Basic Concepts of Architectural Design, Basic Concepts of Urban Design, and History of Architecture, Urbanism and Art. The faculty had serious doubts about the educational quality of those study programmes, consisting of 11 small courses of only one or two EC. The curriculum renewal brought a fresh look at study contents, teaching approach and assessment strategies, based on the didactic principles of integrated learning.@en

Book review - Frans Sturkenboom, De gestiek van de architectuur. Een leerboek hedendaags manierisme, ArtEZ Press 2017, Nl, p. 240, isbn 978-94-91444-34-0. In het onlangs verschenen De gestiek van de architectuur stelt de auteur Frans Sturkenboom dat wij op dit moment een maniëristisch momentum beleven. Door de verscheidenheid aan voorbeelden dreigt maniërisme een containerbegrip te worden en dat is jammer.@en

As teacher and researcher, supervisor construction of 1:50 en 1:10 models. Exhibition on 3/24-05-2017 at TU Braunschweig Germany@en