Wonderments

Willem Marinus Dudok, Networks & sources of inspiration.
 

The designs by Willem Marinus Dudok (1884-1974) are both beloved and resistant to the passage of time. Over 70 of his buildings are recognised as municipal or national monuments, are part of a protected town or village, or are designated as a reconstruction area of national importance. This book offers a chronological narrative of Dudok's life and work. His image as a maverick genius is nuanced by positioning him in a broader context of networks of ideas and people. From the hierarchical Engineering Corps, the development-oriented Hilversum city council, and the milieu of artists in Het Gooi, to committees with colleagues from the upper echelons of Dutch urban planning - they all influenced his thinking and designs to a greater or lesser extent. Dudok's ideas about the garden city of Hilversum and the wonders of his architecture are spectacularly depicted in the photographs by Iwan Baan.