Pieter Lodewijk (Piet) Kramer (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, 1 July 1881 –

Santpoort {{Infobox settlement , name = Santpoort-Zuid , settlement_type = Village , other_name = , native_name = , native_name_lang = nl , image_skyline = 37110 Ruine van Brederode ...

, 4 February 1961) was a Dutch architect, one of the most important architects of the

Amsterdam School The Amsterdam School (Dutch: ''Amsterdamse School'') is a style of architecture that arose from 1910 through about 1930 in the Netherlands. The Amsterdam School movement is part of international Expressionist architecture, sometimes linked ...

(

Expressionist architecture Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts that especially developed and dominated in Germany. Brick Expressionis ...

). From 1903 to 1911 Piet Kramer worked in the architectural practice of

Eduard Cuypers Eduard Cuypers (18 April 1859 Roermond – 1 June 1927, The Hague) was a Dutch architect. He worked in Amsterdam and the Dutch East Indies. Biography Cuypers was trained in the architectural practice of his uncle Pierre Cuypers, the countr ...

, where he came into contact with the architects

Johan van der Mey Joan (Jo) Melchior van der Mey (19 August 1878, Delfshaven – 6 June 1949, Geulle) was a Dutch architect best known for the landmark Scheepvaarthuis (Shipping House) building in Amsterdam located at Prins Hendrikkade, 1912. Van der Mey wa ...

and

Michel de Klerk Michel de Klerk (24 November 1884, Amsterdam – 24 November 1923, Amsterdam) was a Dutch architect. Born to a Jewish family, he was one of the founding architects of the movement Amsterdam School (Expressionist architecture) Early in his car ...

. In 1911 van der Mey received the commission to design the

Scheepvaarthuis The Shipping House ( nl, Scheepvaarthuis) is a building on the western tip of the Waalseiland near Amsterdam harbour that is one of the top 100 Dutch heritage sites and generally regarded as the first true example of the Amsterdam School, a styl ...

(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 The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

(1924–1926). 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 In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy ...

Cornelis van Eesteren Cornelis van Eesteren (4 July 1897, Alblasserdam - 21 February 1988, Amsterdam) was a prominent Dutch architect and urban planner. He worked for the Town Planning department of Amsterdam (1929–59) and was the chairman of the CIAM (1930–1947 ...

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. Lahayebijenkorf19

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 The Amsterdamse Bos (English: ''Amsterdam Forest'') is an English park or landscape park in the municipalities of Amstelveen and Amsterdam. Although most of the park is located in Amstelveen, the owner of the park is the City of Amsterdam. The ...

park. Besides the bridges he often designed the additional bridge houses, ironwork and landscaping. The sculptural work was generally done by

Hildo Krop Hildebrand Lucien (Hildo) Krop (February 26, 1884, Steenwijk, Overijssel – August 20, 1970) was a prolific Dutch sculptor and furniture designer, widely known as the city sculptor of Amsterdam, where his work is well represented. Life Krop wa ...

. 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.

Amsterdam South

De Dageraad (The Dawn), part of

Plan Zuid The Plan Zuid ("South Plan") is an urban development plan of Amsterdam South in the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands, designed by architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage. Berlage was responsible for the urban concept (1915) and the architects of the Amste ...

(Plan South) by

Berlage Hendrik Petrus Berlage (21 February 1856 – 12 August 1934) was a Dutch architect. He is considered one of the fathers of the architecture of the Amsterdam School. Life and work Hendrik Petrus Berlage, son of Nicolaas Willem Berlage and A ...

. Working-class Socialist housing by Piet Kramer and

(1920–1923). The architectural contribution by Piet Kramer is shown in this article. See also

. File:Amsterdam De Dageraad 008.JPG, Burgemeester Tellegen- straat / P.L.Takstraat (r) File:Amsterdam PL Tak Complex.jpg, Burg. Tellegenstraat Kramer (m), de Klerk (r) File:Amsterdam De Dageraad 018.JPG, Thérèse Schwartzestraat / Willem Passtoorsstraat (l) File:Amsterdam De Dageraad 012.JPG, Thérèse Schwartzestraat File:Amsterdam De Dageraad 014.JPG, Thérèse Schwartzestraat / Thérèse Schwartzeplein File:Amsterdam De Dageraad 004.JPG, Burgemeester Tellegen- straat / Talmastraat (l) File:Amsterdam Coöperatiehof 001.JPG, Burgemeester Tellegen- straat / Lutmastraat (l) File:Pltakbrt.jpg, De Dageraad, situation plan, Burgemeester Tellegenstraat = U-shape File:Plattegrond van Amsterdam-Zuid met daarin alle uitgevoerde gebouwen in 1922.jpg,

(Plan South) by

, state of construction 1922. - De Dageraad (r) File: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). File:P. Kramer Hoofdweg Amsterdam 1.jpg, Postjesweg in front / Hoofdweg in perspective (1923–1925) File:Gevel - Amsterdam - 20017582 - RCE.jpg, Hoofdweg / Postjesweg File:Hoofdweg hoek Willem Schoutenstraat pic4.JPG, Hoofdweg / Willem Schoutenstraat File:PlanWestAmsterdam1922-1927Architects.jpg, Plan West 1922–1927, architects

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

park. File:Amstelkanaal x Amsteldijk.jpg, Bridge 400, P.L.Kramer- brug, Amstelkade / Amsteldijk (1921) File:Amsterdam PL Kramerbrug 001.JPG, Bridge 400 File:Amsterdam PL Kramerbrug 004.JPG, Bridge 400 File:Nl 527832 lyceumbrug overview.jpg, Bridge 410, Lyceumbrug Olympiaplein (1927–1928)

The Hague

De Bijenkorf Store, Grote Marktstraat / Wagenstraat (1924–1926) File:Lahayebijenkorf19.JPG File:Den Haag De Bijenkorf 001.JPG File:Wendingen1925-11-12-p21-Kramer-Bijenkorf.jpg

References

*Bernhard Kohlenbach, ''Pieter Lodewijk Kramer 1881-1961 - Architekt der Amsterdamer Schule'', Wiese Verlag, Basel 1994 erman 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

External links

* Scheepvaarthuis (Navigation House) 1911-16 (Wikipedia in Dutch) * De Bijenkorf Store, The Hague 1924-26 (Wikipedia in Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kramer, Piet 1881 births 1961 deaths Dutch architects Expressionist architects Architects from Amsterdam