Berlage's Beurs - concept and method

Abstract

In the eighteenth century Dutch architecture still flourished, but it went into deep decline in the early nineteenth century. It was only in the second half of that century that building in the Netherlands made a fresh start. It was with the generation of Berlage, and his somewhat younger colleagues, that the new architecture began to reach international attention. The Exchange building in Amsterdam became the touchstone for the new architecture. Built between 1898 and 1903 the development of its design shows in plan, section and perspective how, little by little, the definition of a new architecture began. In this paper various elements of the building which require deeper enquiry than has been accorded until recently, are investigated. First, the riddle of the basic measures (the vertical and horizontal modules) related to brick sizes and bonds and the proportional system of the Beurs in plan, section and elevation are analysed. This is followed by an investigation into why Berlage changed the form of the trusses of the main hall in the period between the production of the specification drawings and the start of the construction works.