Martien de Vletter

The Critical Seventies
Architecture and Urban Planning in the Netherlands 1968 - 1982

Design: Beukers Scholma, Paperback, sewn, Illustrated (b/w), 260 pages, 17 x 24 cm
English / Dutch edition, ISBN 90-5662-383-4 / 978-90-5662-383-8, € 30.00 / OUT OF PRINT

Exhibition: June 19 - October 3, 2004, Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam

NAi Publishers in association with the Netherlands Architecture Institute

There is no other period in the history of the Netherlands which excites such emotion, resistance or aversion as the period between 1970 and 1980.
There are also varying opinions about architecture in the 1970s. Architecture at that time headed off in pursuit of new definitions and forms. Though a number of architectural movements were driven by a devoted social engagement and a profound belief in architecture as a means of moulding society, there was such a varied choice that it did not generate a single and unanimous alternative, resulting instead in polarization and pluriformity.

This volume focuses on architecture, urban planning and spatial planning in the period 1968 - 1982. Remarkable and specific projects from this period are discussed and extensively documented on the basis of six themes. An introductory essay considers the context in which the architecture and urban planning changed so radically during this period.
So far there has been little research into the architecture and planning of the 1970s in the Netherlands, even though it is a period when changes took on a definitive form. With the imminent demolition and renovation of much of the infrastructure and architecture of the 1970s, this book is a document that bears witness to the importance of this period for architecture in the Netherlands.