> Lippits and Scholte, housing block Amsterdam Zuid, 1919-1923, overview of the model.

A model dating from 1919-1923 of a housing block that still exists in the famous Amsterdam Zuid expansion district planned by H.P. Berlage has recently been added to the NAI collection. The model was discovered by chance during a clean-up operation at the premises of Het Oosten, the Amsterdam housing association that commissioned the building, and is now on show at the NAI. Illustrating a design by the relatively unknown architects M.J.E. Lippits and N.H.W. Scholte, the highly detailed model has survived in surprisingly good condition.

Varied building block
The model shows a typical residential block with courtyard found in the district designed by Berlage. The complex is located on Jozef Israëlskade where the Amstel Canal and the Boeren Waterway merge. Almost square in plan, the block encloses a courtyard shaped like a loop. An inner street extends the full width of the block and provides access to the surrounding streets. The five-level building is finished in brickwork and features bay windows extending up a number of floors and varied corner solutions.


_{> Lippits and Scholte, housing block Amsterdam Zuid, 1919-1923, overview of the model.}

Authentic model
The model of this residential complex is exceptional in many ways. First of all, it was probably made in the period 1919-1923 and is thus authentic. Evidence for the date is the colored cardboard is which it is made, a common model-making material in the years 1910-1920, and the newspaper with Gothic script discovered on the base of the model. Other models held at the NAI show housing schemes from the same period, but all these were made long after the buildings were erected. An example is the model of Mercator Square in Amsterdam (1925-1927) by H.P. Berlage, made for an exhibition in 1985.


_{> Left: housing block seen from the river Amstel. Right: the courtyard of the housing block.}

Intact and detailed
The fine condition of this model also makes it unique among the models held at the NAI. It is exceptional that a model from this period has survived so well and, apart from some minor discoloration, so colorfast. Moreover, the model is an extremely accurate representation of the erected building and is highly detailed. It includes all architectural details such as doors, balustrades, and garden fences. That is why the it was used when presenting the definitive design to the building client.

Acquisition for further research
The model by Lippits and Scholte turned up during a clean-up operation at the Amsterdam premises of Het Oosten housing association. Chance discoveries like this often turn out to be of great interest to the NAI. The model, for example, offers some historical context to the Plan Zuid and now forms part of the NAI permanent exhibition 'Living in the Lowlands' that highlights two centuries of Dutch residential architecture, including the Plan Zuid.


_{> Left: entrance housing block, current situation. Right: view on inner street from courtyard, current situation.}

The model "Housing Block Amsterdam Zuid 1919-1923" was donated by Het Oosten housing association in Amsterdam and realized with the assistance of the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam.

Further reading Berlage en Amsterdam Zuid ed. Karin Gaillard, Betsy Dokter. Amsterdam, Rotterdam: Municipal Archive Amsterdam, 010 Publishers Rotterdam, 1992. 112 p., ill. photos; ISBN 90-6450-174-2 Compact and complete introduction for anyone who wants to learn more about the Amsterdam expansion plan designed in 1915 by H.P. Berlage and known ever since as Plan Zuid. Expertly researched, highly readable, and lavishly illustrated with drawings and many old photos. This book can be consulted in the NAI Reading Room.

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