This thesis explores how Lotte Stam Beese’s exposure to functionalist architects in Eastern Europe influenced her architectural designs during the post-war reconstruction of Rotterdam. While Beese is often recognized for her contributions to Rotterdam’s urban development, this research focuses on her formative years abroad, particularly her time in the Soviet Union.

Educated at the Bauhaus under Hannes Meyer, Beese was introduced early on to functionalist design principles and Marxist-inspired architectural thinking. Her journey through Eastern Europe — including Brno, Charkov, and Moscow — brought her into contact with leading figures like Mart Stam and Ernst May, and eventually into the May-Brigade. Working on projects such as the Sotsgorod Orsk exposed her to the practical and ideological applications of socialist urban planning, including zoning, prefabrication, and the integration of communal facilities.

The thesis offers a comparative analysis of Beese’s Soviet experience and her later work on neighborhoods in Rotterdam, including Kleinpolder, Pendrecht, and Ommoord. Despite the differences in context, these neighborhoods reflect a continuity of functionalist principles adapted to local needs. Beese’s designs emphasized social cohesion, community life, and spatial clarity—goals rooted in her ideological foundation abroad.

Critical perspectives from architectural theorists such as Koos Bosma and Manfredo Tafuri are also considered, questioning whether Beese’s ideals were utopian or pragmatic. The study concludes that Beese’s architectural legacy is a product of cross-cultural synthesis: Soviet functionalist concepts reinterpreted within a Western European framework.