Hans Ibelings, Erna van Sambeek

Van Sambeek & Van Veen Architecten
Freedom of organization

Design: Rudo Hartman, Illustrated (colour and b/w), Paperback, sewn, 368 pages, Size: 24.5 x 19 cm
Text in English, ISBN 90-5662-365-6, € 50.00
Also available in Dutch edition, ISBN 90-5662-364-8, € 50.00

With the support of the Netherlands Architecture Fund

The main thrust of this book is the philosophy and methodology of Van Sambeek & Van Veen Architecten. The offices projects are presented according to seven themes, which all relate to organizational forms that are important to the work of Erna van Sambeek and René van Veen: neutrality, exclusivity, family, seriality, position, interiority and time.

For each design, the architects ask how the essence of the task can be reduced to a combination of two or more of these themes. Each project therefore appears at least twice in the book, but with text and image tailored specifically to the theme of a particular chapter.

The design philosophy of Van Sambeek & Van Veen Architecten demonstrates the richness that architecture can gain from a consistent concentration on the essentials and a clear separation of primary and secondary aspects, and the broader implications of this.