Piet Zanstra (1905-2003) was a Dutch architect who designed a number of important buildings in Amsterdam in the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

period. He is best known, perhaps, for his

Maupoleum The Maupoleum (1971–1994) was a building on Amsterdam's Jodenbreestraat. Built in 1971, it acquired a reputation for being unattractive before being demolished in 1994. History The Waterlooplein area of Amsterdam had been a mostly Jewish neighb ...

, which was demolished in 1994, and for the Caransa Hotel, which still stands on the

Rembrandtplein Rembrandtplein (English: Rembrandt Square) is a major square in central Amsterdam, Netherlands, named after Rembrandt van Rijn who owned a house nearby from 1639 to 1656. History The square has its origins in the defensive walls constructed in ...

Biography

Zanstra was born in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of ...

, on 7 August 1905. He studied hydraulics there and became apprenticed to an architect. Soon he worked with notable architects such as W. M. Dudok and J. P. Kloos, and in 1932 started a design studio with Jan Giesen and

Karel Sijmons Karel may refer to: People * Karel (given name) * Karel (surname) * Charles Karel Bouley, talk radio personality known on air as Karel * Christiaan Karel Appel, Dutch painter Business * Karel Electronics, a Turkish electronics manufacturer * Gr ...

. With them he built a combined studio/apartment building on the Zomerdijkstraat in Amsterdam, now hailed as an early example of what in Dutch architecture is called ''Nieuwe Bouwen''. With his two colleagues Zanstra belonged to an architects' society called Group '32, a gathering of functionalist architects who were inspired by

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

in particular. He founded ZZDP in 1954, which became one of the largest architectural firms in the country in the 1960s and 1970s and built such notable buildings as the Rembrandt Tower.

Notable buildings

*Artists' studios and apartments on the Zomerdijkstraat, in the

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 ...

neighborhood Rivierenbuurt (1934, with Jan Giessen and

). * Europarking, parking garage on the

Marnixstraat Marnixstraat is a main street in the Dutch city of Amsterdam , on the western border of the Jordaan in the Amsterdam-Centrum. The street is located between Haarlemmerplein and Leidseplein, parallel to Lijnbaansgracht. History Marnixstraat is ...

, Amsterdam (1971, with Ab Gmelig Meyling and Peter de Clercq Zubli) *The

or 'Burgemeester Tellegenhuis' in Amsterdam, built 1971. Public opinion on this office building was overwhelmingly negative, and by the time it was demolished in 1994 it was known as 'the ugliest building of Amsterdam'.Het lelijkste gebouw van Amsterdam, of: het lijk in het Maupoleum
''amsterdamsdagblad.nl'', 31 maart 2017

Gallery

File:Atelierwoning noordzijde.jpg, Zomerdijkstraat, north face File:Atlelierwoning zuidzijde.jpg, Zomerdijkstraat, south face File:De Hoeksteen (Slotermeer).jpg, Church File:Europarking01.JPG, Ramps, Europarking File:De Ark, westzijde.JPG, Hervormde Kerk De Ark, Slotervaart, Amsterdam Nieuw-West

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zanstra, Piet Modernist architects 1905 births 2003 deaths Architects from Amsterdam People from Leeuwarden 20th-century Dutch architects 21st-century Dutch architects