Wonderments

The designs by Willem Marinus Dudok (1884–1974) are both beloved and resistant to the passage of time. Over 70 of his buildings are recognised as municipal or national monuments, are part of a protected town or village, or are designated as a reconstruction area of national importance. This book offers a chronological narrative of Dudok’s life and work. His image as a maverick genius is nuanced by positioning him in a broader context of networks of ideas and people. From the hierarchical Engineering Corps, the development-oriented Hilversum city council, and the milieu of artists in Het Gooi, to committees with colleagues from the upper echelons of Dutch urban planning – they all influenced his thinking and designs to a greater or lesser extent. Dudok’s ideas about the garden city of Hilversum and the wonders of his architecture are spectacularly depicted in the photographs by Iwan Baan.