2011#08 PI Magazine

Monthly Column Studio Lawrence

It’s the mid-sixties and an Italian architect is on his way to the Netherlands. He’s fascinated by the view of the polders from the air; rectangular green parcels of land with shining seams of ditches. This observation was captured in one of the most beautiful modern buildings in the Netherlands; De Bijenkorf  (The Beehive) in Eindhoven.
Gio Ponti designed a rectangular green box sitting above ground floor shop-windows; the divide is articulated by a bronze canopy roof which rises over the entrance. The green façade is split into strict vertical planes of individual compositions with narrow vertical windows and honeycomb shaped motifs. Small rectangular ceramic tiles, individually glazed in varying tones of green, catch the eye. These faceted tiles are arranged into segments, grouped by positive and negative reliefs, creating a textured and dynamic landscape surrounding the larger elements. The final flourish is a handful of vertical rectangles made from golden glass-blocks that light up the green landscape. The result is a rich layered composition adorned with artisan materials, reflecting the distinctive Dutch landscape.
Within the controversial urban development plan for Eindhoven, Cityplan Eindhoven (1967-68) by Dutch CIAM-members* Van den Broek en Bakema, Ponti succeeded in introducing a form of Modernism that is still unrivalled in the Netherlands today. De Bijenkorf exposes the rift in the development of Modernism in Dutch Architecture. Take the expressive Amsterdam School (1910-30) with its innovative use of traditional materials, artisan adornments and, not to forget, a strong narrative façade. It’s typical that an Italian architect at the end of the Sixties has shown how the Amsterdam School principles could have been transformed into a contemporary shape: A missed opportunity.
Ponti was not only the designer of the Superleggera chair, architect of the Pirelli tower and the founder and editor of Domus magazine. He’s an impressive all-round designer who left a rich and layered oeuvre from tableware, furniture, tiles, private residences to museums and a cathedral. Even the cathedral chalices caught his attention as he turned his hand to designing the communion cup.  Similarly, while completing the interior of the Arts and Philosophical faculty in Padua, he couldn’t help climbing up the scaffolding to paint the fresco’s in the stairwells himself. How much talent is needed to develop our own heritage?
* CIAM: Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne
 
Download PDF