Architect · Netherlands · Born 1932
Herman Hertzberger Biography, Buildings and Best Books
Dutch architect, born in 1932, a leader of structuralism, known for the Centraal Beheer offices in Apeldoorn and his Montessori and Apollo schools.
Photo: Bert Verhoeff, Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Biography
Herman Hertzberger (born 1932) is a Dutch architect, teacher and writer and one of the leading figures of Dutch structuralism. His buildings, such as the Centraal Beheer insurance offices in Apeldoorn and his many schools, are made of repeated units that users can appropriate, with steps, ledges and corners designed as places to sit, meet and play. His book Lessons for Students in Architecture has become a standard text.
Amsterdam, Delft and Forum
Hertzberger was born in Amsterdam in 1932 and graduated from the Delft University of Technology in 1958. From 1959 to 1963 he edited the magazine Forum with Aldo van Eyck and Jaap Bakema, arguing for an architecture of human relationships and “in-between” spaces.
Structuralism
His Montessori School in Delft (1966) and the De Drie Hoven care home in Amsterdam (1974) were followed by the Centraal Beheer offices in Apeldoorn (1972), a grid of identical concrete platforms that its staff could furnish and personalise. The Vredenburg Music Centre in Utrecht (1979) and the Ministry of Social Affairs in The Hague (1990) applied the same ideas at larger scale.
Schools and teaching
Schools have been at the centre of his work, from the Apollo Schools in Amsterdam (1983) to many later primary and secondary schools. He taught at Delft and the University of Geneva, and his lectures, published as Lessons for Students in Architecture (1991), are read worldwide. He received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2012.
Lessons for Students in Architecture
Hertzberger’s classic lectures on how architecture can invite people to use and shape it, illustrated with his own buildings.
View on AmazonTimeline
- 1932Born on 6 July in Amsterdam.
- 1958Graduates from the Delft University of Technology.
- 1959Becomes an editor of Forum with Aldo van Eyck and Jaap Bakema.
- 1966Montessori School in Delft.
- 1972Centraal Beheer offices in Apeldoorn.
- 1979Vredenburg Music Centre in Utrecht.
- 1983Apollo Schools in Amsterdam.
- 1991Publishes Lessons for Students in Architecture.
- 2012Receives the RIBA Royal Gold Medal.
Best Books on Herman Hertzberger
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Herman Hertzberger known for?
Herman Hertzberger is known for the Centraal Beheer offices in Apeldoorn, the Vredenburg Music Centre, his Montessori and Apollo schools and his book Lessons for Students in Architecture.
What is Dutch structuralism?
A movement of the 1960s and 1970s, led by Aldo van Eyck and Herman Hertzberger, that built with repeated units and open structures that users could adapt and complete.
What is Centraal Beheer?
An insurance company office in Apeldoorn completed in 1972, made of a grid of small concrete platforms around light wells, designed to be personalised by its staff.
What is the best book by Herman Hertzberger?
Lessons for Students in Architecture (nai010) collects his lectures on space, use and the architect’s responsibility.
Which award did Herman Hertzberger receive in 2012?
He received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2012.
