The social missions of Dutch 'hofjes' in architecture

The social missions of Dutch 'hofjes' in architecture

Wilms Floet, W.W.L.M.

Architecture

Architecture

2011-09-09

The Dutch 'Hofje van liefdadigheid' [little charity courtyard] as a building type has a number of qualities which attracted the attention of social committed builders up until today: the form of the 'hofje' - a central outdoor space enclosed by dwellings - holds the natural expression of 'community': small individual single room houses being a part of a bigger collective whole oriented to a garden. Hofjes are a green and quiet enclave, often associated romantically with oases in the middle of hectic urban rush. Density and seriality are other causes why the hofje was studied and reinterpreted more than once. This contribution to the European Almshouses-conference 2011 is addressed to the question about the relationship between the social and architectural representation of hofjes in the Dutch City. What is the role of architecture concerning socio-cultural and urban dimensions of hofjes? Which social ideas about community and founders are represented in architecture? How and why this is done? The paper will focus on the 'hofje van liefdadigheid', but will also look into its adaptions by the 19th century speculative developers, 20t h century social mass housing corporations and 21th century private developers.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5e655b6c-8e4d-4d83-bb55-63fd99f78009

IISH

Conference: Almshouses in Europe from the late Middle Ages to the present : Comparisons and peculiarities, Haarlem, The Netherlands, 7-9 September, 2011

Institutional Repository

conference paper

(c) 2011 Wilms Floet, W.W.L.M.