Architecture · 1923
Jan Duiker's Modernist Villas
A founder of Dutch modernism built here first. Almost nobody visiting Kijkduin for the beach knows that.
- Kijkduin's first modern villas, from 1923, were designed by Jan Duiker and Bernard Bijvoet.
- Duiker is a leading figure of Het Nieuwe Bouwen, the Dutch modernist movement.
- The villas show the influence of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
- Later development followed a 1962 plan by Frits van der Sluijs.
Who designed Kijkduin's first modern villas?
In 1923, the first new houses built in Kijkduin (modern villas rather than the older seaside-hotel style) were designed by Jan Duiker and Bernard Bijvoet, and built by contractor Joh. D. van der Houwen. The design shows the influence of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Jan Duiker is one of the defining figures of Het Nieuwe Bouwen ("the New Building"), the Dutch strand of architectural modernism that also produced landmark buildings such as the Zonnestraal sanatorium and the Open-Air School in Amsterdam. Finding his work this early, and this directly, in a small seaside district is unusual: Kijkduin's own architecture story rarely gets told alongside its beach story.
What happened to Kijkduin's buildings after 1923?
Much of what was built in the following two decades, including a large part of the Meer en Bosch villa park, was demolished during the Second World War for the construction of the Atlantikwall. Rebuilding was slow and only really took shape from the 1960s and 1970s, under a plan adapted in 1962 by Frits van der Sluijs, architect and director of The Hague's municipal Department for Urban Development.
Fourteen wooden "Austrian houses" (Oostenrijkse woningen), built shortly after the Second World War, also still stand in Kijkduin from that period of rebuilding.
Who built the modernist villas in Kijkduin?
Jan Duiker and Bernard Bijvoet designed Kijkduin's first modern villas in 1923, working with contractor Joh. D. van der Houwen. Duiker is one of the defining figures of Het Nieuwe Bouwen, the Dutch strand of architectural modernism, and remains the more widely known name of the two architects behind these houses.
What style are Jan Duiker's Kijkduin villas built in?
Jan Duiker's 1923 villas in Kijkduin were built in the style of Het Nieuwe Bouwen, the Dutch strand of interwar architectural modernism, with the design also showing the influence of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The style favoured function-driven forms over historic ornament, a sharp break from Kijkduin's earlier seaside-hotel architecture.
Where exactly in Kijkduin are the 1923 villas located?
The 1923 villas stand in Kijkduin Binnen, the inland part of Kijkduin around the former villa park Meer en Bosch, rather than directly on the boulevard or beachfront. Much of the surrounding villa park was later demolished during the Second World War for the Atlantikwall, which is covered on its own page.
Are the 1923 villas the oldest buildings in Kijkduin?
The 1923 villas are not Kijkduin's oldest buildings. A handful of hotels were already built in Kijkduin in the late 19th century, before the district saw the growth that later shaped Scheveningen instead, a contrast covered in more depth on the history of Kijkduin page. The 1923 villas are, however, the earliest example of modernist residential architecture in Kijkduin specifically.
Key terms
- Het Nieuwe Bouwen
- Dutch modernist architecture movement of the interwar period, of which Jan Duiker is considered a leading figure.