Warenthuis: Revitalizing the role of a department store as public interior

Abstract

Revitalizing the obsolete. What happens to the traditional twentieth century commercial areas in major Dutch cities in an era where everyone is shopping online? In the historic city centres of Haarlem, Leiden, Dordrecht and Amersfoort for example, many buildings are vacant because traditional retailing is almost impossible. For over a century, the use of the city centre was dictated by commercial activities yet nowadays shopping streets are empty. Shops and department stores are closed, leaving a desolate image. In 2016 V&D (founded 1887) went bankrupt and all their buildings became vacant, leaving a gap of 354.000m2 of retail floor space. These large buildings with clear corporate identities and the smaller retail shops are in urgent need of transformation to secure liveability.

The physical void of vacant department stores in historic city centres can be seen as troublesome. The role that department stores played was not limited to commercial activity. Functioning as public interiors, these buildings housed the stage of many casual encounters. It was an extension of the public domain meaning that there was a great social significance to these interiors. With these buildings remaining vacant or with a potential transformation private functions such as dwellings, the quality of the building being a public interior faces a risk of being lost.