The late 1910's is the period when J. J. P. Oud came to be widely known as a modern architect by contributing essays and projects to the periodical De Stijl. One of his contributions, published in 1917, was titled as "Het monumentale stadsbeeld." The present paper is an attempt to investigate the 'monumentale', an essential concept to understand what Oud was preoccupied with and how he viewed architecture itself, at that time. Careful study of his praises and criticisms towards Berlage and Amsterdam School clarifies the fact that he interpreted this concept in terms of the antithesis between the individual and the universal.