Addressing the Audience

Jaap Bakema and City Exhibitions

Abstract (2023)

Authors

D. van den Heuvel Building Knowledge - Architecture and the Built Environment
Research Group
Building Knowledge (Architecture and the Built Environment) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2023 D. van den Heuvel
Modern Architecture Jaap Bakema Urban Design Exhibitions Architectural History
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Published Date

2023

Language

English

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Faculty

Architecture and the Built Environment

Department

Architecture

Research Group

Building Knowledge

Abstract

This paper examines the case of Jaap Bakema (1914-81) as a precursor to participation and co-creation processes in city planning. Besides his architectural practice and prolific teaching, Dutch architect and Team 10 figurehead Bakema was deeply engaged in creating exhibitions to communicate his ideas to layman audiences. He played a role in de-signing the Dutch pavilions for Expo 1958 in Brussels and the one in Osaka in 1970, as well as in the city reconstruction festivals for Ahoy’ and E55, both in Rotterdam. These public events provided Bakema with opportunities to develop his ideological agenda for urban planning in relation to the large-scale modernization processes of the period and a new Dutch national identity within a Cold War geopolitical context, built on the idea of an open society.