Tuindorp
Bergen, Netherlands
Bergen became known primarily as an artists' community. It also houses this garden village, a privately developed construction project.
| Garden City Type: | Mixed (housing association / municipality / other) |
| Country: | Netherlands |
| City: | Bergen |
| Years of construction: |
1922 Start construction 1930 Completion
|
| Initiator/client: | Piet and Cronelis Boendermaker |
| Architect or related: |
Arie Klomp |
| Heritage status: | No |
| General condition of Garden City: | Good condition |
General description
Art collector Piet Boendermaker (1877-1947) played a leading role in the Bergen art world, being the main stimulator of the Bergen School. Influenced by, and in collaboration with his father Cornelis Boendermaker, who had become big in the real estate business, he developed a small complex of 92 houses near the original hamlet of Oostdorp, along Oude Bergerweg, which became known as Tuindorp Oostbuurt.
Between 1922 and 1930, they developed the garden village in three construction phases, in collaboration with contractor Arie Klomp. Father Boendermaker, together with Klomp, undertook the first phase of construction in 1922. A second phase followed in the years 1926-1927 (father and son together) and the final phase in 1929-1930 (idem).
Architecture / Urban planning
The spatial character of Tuindorp Oostdorp is characterised by the greenery of private gardens and the greenery along the road. The neighbourhood has three public gardens: a square (Kogendijk), a rectangle (Tuindorpweg) and a triangle (Leo Gestelweg), connected by rows of trees and grass verges, green lines of sight across the streets. The space of the three green parks and the free, set-back position of the houses create an open image, typical of the garden village. An image reinforced by the large plots of the houses from the first construction period. The houses are positioned in such a way that long green strips are perceptible even through the private geldings. Thanks to the characteristic buildings and the ample greenery, Tuindorp Oostdorp unmistakably has the character of a garden village from the 1920s.
Residents and the Community
Initially, Tuindorp in the 1930s was mainly a middle-class neighbourhood. Many residents had their businesses there, including petrol shops, cigar shops, hairdressers, grocers, bakeries and fish shops.
