Piet Kramer
Pieter Lodewijk (Piet) Kramer (Amsterdam, 1 July 1881 – Santpoort, 4 February 1961) was a Dutch architect, one of the most important architects of the Amsterdam School (Expressionist architecture).
From 1903 to 1911 Piet Kramer worked in the architectural practice of Eduard Cuypers, where he came into contact with the architects Johan van der Mey and Michel de Klerk. In 1911 van der Mey received the commission to design the Scheepvaarthuis (Shipping House), a cooperative building for six Dutch shipping companies. Van der Mey sought the assistance of his former colleague-architects Piet Kramer and Michel de Klerk to realize this building. The Scheepvaarthuis (1913–1916) is considered the starting point of the Amsterdam School movement. Later Piet Kramer collaborated with Michel de Klerk on the well-known De Dageraad housing project in Amsterdam South (1919–1923). Outside Amsterdam he built one of his masterpieces, the De Bijenkorf Store in The Hague (1924–26). After the death of Michel de Klerk in 1923, Piet Kramer was the leading architect of the Amsterdam School until the end of this movement in the beginning of the 1930s.
In the years of economic crisis of the 1930s the expensive architecture of the Amsterdam School was passé. A new architecture and town planning was in process of development in Amsterdam, represented by CIAM-Rationalists like Cornelis van Eesteren and Ben Merkelbach. In the new architecture the principle of spatial corridors between functionalistic blocks was relevant. On the contrary, the Amsterdam School town planning was based on a town structure with streets and places.
In the second half of his professional life, the main job of Piet Kramer was architect for canal bridges in the municipal public works department in Amsterdam (Gemeentelijke Dienst Publieke Werken). He made the drawings for more than 500 bridges. The total number of realized Piet Kramer bridges is 220, 64 of them in the Amsterdamse Bos park. Besides the bridges he often designed the additional bridge houses, ironwork and landscaping. The sculptural work was generally done by Hildo Krop.
After the death of Piet Kramer in 1961, on the high point of the Rationalist movement, no architectural institution or museum was interested in his Expressionist work. For that reason all his drawings and models were burnt.
Contents
Amsterdam South
De Dageraad (The Dawn), working-class Socialist housing by Piet Kramer and Michel de Klerk (1920–23). The architectural contribution by Piet Kramer is shown in this article. See also Michel de Klerk.
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Amsterdam De Dageraad 008.JPG
Burgemeester Tellegen- straat / P.L.Takstraat (r)
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Amsterdam PL Tak Complex.jpg
Burg. Tellegenstraat Kramer (m), de Klerk (r)
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Amsterdam De Dageraad 018.JPG
Thérèse Schwartzestraat / Willem Passtoorsstraat (l)
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Amsterdam De Dageraad 012.JPG
Thérèse Schwartzestraat
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Amsterdam De Dageraad 014.JPG
Thérèse Schwartzestraat / Thérèse Schwartzeplein
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Amsterdam De Dageraad 004.JPG
Burgemeester Tellegen- straat / Talmastraat (l)
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Amsterdam Coöperatiehof 001.JPG
Burgemeester Tellegen- straat / Lutmastraat (l)
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Pltakbrt.jpg
De Dageraad, situation plan, Burgemeester Tellegenstraat = U-shape
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Plattegrond van Amsterdam-Zuid met daarin alle uitgevoerde gebouwen in 1922.jpg
Berlage developm. plan (1915), state of construct. (1922), De Dageraad (r)
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Amsterdam-topografie.jpg
Amsterdam and Amsterdam-South (below)
Amsterdam West
Plan West, working-class Socialist housing. Buildings by different architects of the Amsterdam School (1922-1927)
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P. Kramer Hoofdweg Amsterdam 1.jpg
Postjesweg, in front / Hoofdweg, in perspective (1923–25)
Amsterdam Canal Bridges
Piet Kramer made the drawings for more than 500 bridges. The total number of realized Piet Kramer bridges is 220, 64 of them in the Amsterdamse Bos park.
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Amstelkanaal x Amsteldijk.jpg
Bridge 400, P.L.Kramer- brug, Amstelkade / Amsteldijk (1921)
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Amsterdam PL Kramerbrug 001.JPG
Bridge 400
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Amsterdam PL Kramerbrug 004.JPG
Bridge 400
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Nl 527832 lyceumbrug overview.jpg
Bridge 410, Lyceumbrug Olympiaplein (1927–28)
The Hague
De Bijenkorf Store, Grote Marktstraat / Wagenstraat (1924–26)
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Lahayebijenkorf19.JPG
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Den Haag De Bijenkorf 001.JPG
References
- Bernhard Kohlenbach, Pieter Lodewijk Kramer 1881-1961 - Architekt der Amsterdamer Schule, Wiese Verlag, Basel 1994 [German edition and Dutch edition]
- Wim de Boer and Peter Evers, Amsterdamse bruggen 1910-1950 (Amsterdam Canal Bridges), Amsterdam 1983 and 1995
- Maristella Casciato, The Amsterdam School, 010 Publishers, Rotterdam 1991
- Joseph Buch, A Century of Architecture in The Netherlands, NAI Publishers, Rotterdam 1995
See also
- Scheepvaarthuis (Navigation House) 1911-16 (Wikipedia in Dutch)
- De Bijenkorf Store, The Hague 1924-26 (Wikipedia in Dutch)