Wim Quist. Photograph: Marcel Kentin, 2006
Wim Quist held the office of Chief Government Architect from 1974 to 1979. It was a period during which many large-scale building projects were realized, including the Department of Education, Culture and Sciences Building, the Royal Library (Hagoort), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Apon) and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (Hertzberger). Quist’s preference was for Functionalism, but his choice of architects was far from dogmatic. He strove to institute a ‘humane visual logic’: a building ought to be logical in its structure, he held, but also possess a visual coherence and have a human dimension. Quist had a considerable affinity for the visual arts and this sympathy underlay his establishment of an advisory committee on the use of art in government buildings.
Further reading
“Wim Quist vertrekt als Rijksbouwmeester met een zeker cynisme” / R. Brouwers. – In Wonen TA/BK (1979) 23, p. 9-15
Wim Quist : architect / Auke van der Woud ; photography: Kim Zwarts. - Rotterdam, 010 Publishers, 1989. - XV, 121 p. : illustrations, photographs, drawings ; 27 cm. - (Monographs on Dutch Architects ; 1)
“Voormalig Rijksbouwmeester Quist, strijder voor ‘humane beeldende logica’” / I. Haagsma & H. de Haan. – in De architect 10 (1979) 10
> The Royal Library, The Hague, designed by A. Hagoort, 1979. Photograph: Archives, Atelier of the Chief Government Architect.
[beeld: Kentin_Quist]
[bijschrift:] Wim Quist. Photograph: Marcel Kentin, 2006
Short biographies and publication lists of thirteen Government Architects
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The Vedute collection comprises a collection of ‘spatial manuscripts’,
three-dimensional objects representing the concept of space. This collection is on
long-term loan to the NAI.
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"I choose Quist's design, as being the most 'Rotterdam-like' building, business-like, without frills and other popular and calculated forms."
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