Jjp Oud

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Dutch architect, co-founder of the art movement De Stijl. He was the second child of Hendrik Cornelis Oud (30 Augustus 1861) en Neeltje Theodora Janszen (20 July 1864 - 18 June 1932), who married 28 jan 1886 at Utrecht and got three sons: the jurist and politician Pieter Jacobus oud (5 Dec 1886, Purmerend - 12 Aug 1968, Rotterdam), Jacobus Johannes Pieter and Gerrit Kassen Oud (16 June 1895). His father traded in tobacco and wine, later also in stocks and served as an alderman in the local politics of Purmerend. Oud followed the French school in Purmerend and wanted to become a painter. But his father stimulated him to become an architect. He visited the art school Quellinus in Amsterdam (1903-1906) and the Drawing school in Amsterdam (1908-1910). He worked under the architects J.Th.J. Cuypers and J. Stuyt in Amsterdam as a trainee and finished his study at Delft technical University (1910-11). He wass influenced by the architect Berlage. In 1913 he started as an architect in Purmerend, later that year in Leiden where he cooperated with the city architect W.M. Dudok. Here he also met Theo van Doesburg who introduced him to cubism and The Stijl movement. In 1917 he was involved in the publishing of the De Stijl (The Style) magazine with the painters Theo van Doesburg, Piet Mondriaan, Bart van der Leek and Vilmos Huszar, the poet A. Kok and the architects R. van 't Hoff and J. Wils. The first example dated October 1917 appeared November 1917. The designer Gerrit Rietveld joined the group in 1918. De Stijl advocated pure simplicity and abstraction, by using only horizontal and vertical lines and rectangular forms. Furthermore, they advocated the use of the three primary colours (red, yellow, and blue) only and the three primary brightness values: white, grey and black. Mondrian was very influenced by the theosophical movement, as was Oud's elder brother, who was a Freemason. In 1918 Oud became the city architect of Rotterdam. His task here was to design decent but affordable houses for working classes. By building rationally, using standardisation but keeping an eye on aesthetics, Oud succeeded in this task. His work can be found in Spangen (1918-1920) and Tussendijken (1920-1921). In 1927 he got international recognition for it during the "Deutscher Werkbund" exhibition at the Weissenhof in Stuttgart (23 July 1927). He was invited to teach architecture in Düsseldorf (May 1927), Zürich (1928), Bauhaus (1929) and Harvard (1936), but rejected them all. Between 1926 and 1930 he lacked self confidence an even got into e depression after his design for the Stock market at the Coolsingel was rejected by a commission with chairman Berlage (1927). In 1933 he broke with the once admired Berlage. In 1922 Oud left The Style as an editor, as he found their approach to dogmatic to be used in architecture. But via The Style he got in touch with the members of the "Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar". Around 1930 he was considered as a major modernist "International Style" architect together with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. In 1933, during the Great Depression, he was dismissed honourably by the Municipal of Rotterdam that had no money to build new houses. With it started his silent years. In 1935 he succeeded the on 12 Augustus 1934 deceased architect Berlage, as a member of the Statte Commission for the conservation of monuments (Monumentenzorg). In 1941 J.J.P. Oud was appointed again by the city of Rotterdam to supervise the rebuilding of the on 4 May 1940 at 1:30 PM by the Rotterdam Blitz destroyed heart of Rotterdam. His elder brother Pieter Oud was till 10 October 1941 and from 1945-1952 Mayor of Rotterdam and was opposed to major tasks given to his brother to free himself from any allegations of protecting his family members. His younger brother felt humiliated and moved from Rotterdam to Wassenaar in 1954, where his only son lived. In 1955 Oud was promoted PhD honoris causa in Delft. Personal On 27 December 1918 J.J.P. Oud married Johanna Maria Augusta Dinaux (1893) in Heemstede. They got one son: The architect Hendrik (Hans)) Emile Oud (5 October 1919, Rotterdam - 2 Augustus 1996, Hemelumer Oldeferd). Oud died 5 April 1963 in Wassenaar. Link to Wikipedia