De Damkwestie

This thesis deals with the transformation Dam-square in Amsterdam around the year 1900. The history of the Dam and its pivotal role in the development of Amsterdam is explained in short to gain an understanding of the spirit of the city and how the situation of the Dam-square came to be in 1900. Without this, the big changes on the square would be incomprehensible. Explained are the factors that contributed to the state of the Dam-square at that time and why this was so problematic. After this historic background, the situation of around 1900 is dissected and elaborated. The main story deals with the architectural competition that was held in 1908 and the aftermath which resulted from it. The competition was held to provide an answer to the ‘Damkwestie’ (Dam-issue). This issue was about the question of what the vision of the Dam-square should be and how it should be changed to accommodate the reality of the future. After this competition the situation changed considerably rendering the outcome of the competition almost useless. The newly added idea for the return of the town hall to the square, whether it be by regaining the Palace or a by building a new town hall, would be the main subject of discussion afterwards, as well as about the commission that was founded to provide an answer to this question. The main story of the text ends around 1914 with the start of the 1st World War. After that a short reflection is held about what happened after that period and how this affected the Dam-square in the present.

Subject

De Dam
Damplein
prijsvraag
moderne gemeente
raadhuis
publieke werken
Paleis op de Dam
gemeente
Raadhuis-Dam Commissie
Amsterdam
van der Mey (Meij)
beurs
Berlage
Kromhout
Damkwestie

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Student theses

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master thesis

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