Getsewoud

• Date 1997-2002
• Address Duyvestein, Goudensteinpark, Kraaijensteinpark – 2151 ET Nieuw-Vennep, Haarlemmermeer (Netherlands)

Getsewoud is a major housing development situated to the west of Nieuw-Vennep, a town located between Amsterdam and The Hague. The project comprises a total of 5,800 homes, entrusted to several – mainly Dutch – architectural practices, which are developing a range of architectural styles, from vernacular to boldly modern. Vandenhove’s design plays on different housing types, combining detached houses with apartment blocks. Dominating the development is a row of 54 semi-detached houses arranged in a U-shape around a green space bordering a body of water. The houses are flanked, along the project’s central axis, by a five-storey apartment block. The principle of circulation between public space and an internal courtyard—a hallmark of Vandenhove’s work—is also evident here, with a covered passageway (arvô) incorporated into the block. At first glance and from the outside, the dwellings appear rather unremarkable. The rather ordinary street-facing façades seem to suggest fairly run-of-the-mill homes lacking any real architectural intent. But it is on the rear façades that the project reveals its qualities. Facing south-west, the rear rooms open outwards thanks to generous windows and a terrace that extends from the first floor. This terrace is supported by a colonnade that provides a covered outdoor space at ground floor level. It is here, too, that some distinctive features of Vandenhove’s style come to the fore, such as the architectural concrete columns that punctuate the windows on the ground floor and first floor. Outside the complex, Vandenhove has placed two landmarks within the landscape. An octagonal tower houses a four-storey dwelling, whilst at the junction of the footpaths, a composition by Vandenhove reminiscent of Middelheim stands on a stone floor engraved with a text by Patrick Corillon. Whilst the majority of the dwellings are arranged around a large square, Vandenhove has also been commissioned to design nine villas on the edge of the lake. Although the project features a variety of building types, Vandenhove has developed a highly coherent design language, favouring bright red brick and rounded zinc roofs.

• Description of the collection

  Correspondence, final plans, the housing development prospectus, photographs…

• Volumetry 11 boîtes d'archives (1,32 m)
• Bibliography

  Archives of the Jeanne & Charles Vandenhove Foundation

• AUTEUR ET DATE DE LA NOTICE Sébastien Charlier, 2023